Chapter 1: The Arrival
A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the wait! And the shortness… it was going to be longer originally but I wanted to get it out sooner. And thanks for the reviews/feedback
Caspian sighed and leaned back in the chair. His advisors sat around him. Doctor Cornelius, his tutor since childhood, sat on his left, and at his right was the centaur, General Glenstorm. At the moment, Reepicheep was on the table, giving a speech about the growing danger of Narnia's former ally, Sareila, with Trumpkin rolling his eyes frequently as the mouse elaborated on his story with lots of tail flourishes and sword brandishing.
During the rule of Caspian's father, Sareila had been a valuable ally, helping the Telmarines several times during famines and foreign wars. Caspian had even been briefly betrothed to the King's daughter, Princess Aliena, when he was four. When Miraz had come to the throne, however, he had negated the alliance, causing much resentment from the Sareilans towards the Narnians and the former Telmarines, who now considered themselves Narnians as much as the talking beasts, who had inhabited the woods secretly since the Golden Age. Now, Bahlir, King of Sareila, had sent Narnia a formal invitation to visit his court in order to reinstate the old alliance. But over the past year, with unofficial raids on Narnian port villages near the coast closest to the Island of Sareila, Caspian wasn't sure he could trust the king.
And Reepicheep was just encouraging the nagging instinct, bringing up Bahlir's infamous hatred of talking beasts, which was one major reason he had supported Telmarine control of Narnia.
Caspian sighed again.
"And what do you propose we do, sire?" asked Trumpkin, effectively cutting off Reepicheep's continuing narrative.
Reepicheep, sulking slightly, said, "We can't accept their offer! They will lure us to their castle and then wage war on us!"
"But to refuse their offer would mean war, too," Cornelius reminded him.
"We will visit the court of Sareila," Caspian decided. "We will not yet accept their offer of a treaty. We must be cautious, but I see no better way to find out what is really going on."
A few of the men surrounding Caspian grumbled a little, including Reepicheep, but all nodded and offered to go themselves.
"Glenstorm, you'll be in charge of the palace while we're gone. Reepicheep, Trumpkin, Cornelius, Nelrin the Centaur, I want you with me. Kylasa, I want your spies all over that country as soon as possible. We need to know everything we can before we leave."
"And when will that be sire?" asked Nelrin, another of the advisors.
"Tomorrow at first light."
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"Oh!" exclaimed Lucy as she gave Peter, Edmund, and Susan a hug. "We're really back!"
The four siblings grinned at each other in wonder as they looked around the courtyard, the last place they had been in Narnia.
"Um, ex- excuse me, Your Majesties," stammered a voice. The Pevensie searched, finally finding the small centaur-girl who stood, terrified, in the corner. They turned to her as she bowed immediately, clearly nervous.
"Yes?" Susan answered for the whole family.
The centaur-girl opened her mouth but nothing came out.
"Oh, sorry, we must have really frightened you," said Lucy comfortingly, realizing how suddenly they had appeared. "To tell you the truth, we're quite surprised ourselves. Happy, obviously," she smiled radiantly, "but surprised. And what is your name?"
"Arehi," the young centauress replied.
"Is," Susan began hesitantly. "Is-" Edmund smirked knowingly. "Is Caspian here?"
"Yes, how much time has passed?" Peter chimed in.
"Just three years," Arehi answered. "His Majesty, King Caspian," she inclined her head slightly out of respect, "celebrated the anniversary of his coronation not two days ago."
Susan ducked her head quickly to hide her blush, but not quickly enough.
"Could we see him, perhaps?" Peter asked, also smirking as Susan's face lit up.
"Oh, yes, of course, very sorry, of course you would want to-" Arehi babbled, obviously nervous of messing up.
Lucy giggled. "It's alright, really." As Arehi led them down the steps from the courtyard and into the palace, Lucy fell into step with her, the two already fast on their way to becoming friends.
Ed and Peter were next, getting right back into Narnian life as they discussed what the political situation must be, and ideas about guarding the borders from the Golden Age that they had never discussed with Caspian, and so on.
Susan was last, and she was clearly lost in her own thoughts. The queen could not even notice the beauty of the country she was afraid she had lost forever. All she could picture was Caspian's handsome, dark face saying, "I wish we could have had more time together." His lips were close to hers, and she was staring into his captivating eyes. A whole year had passed since then. What would he think of her? Would he still like her, or maybe even love her? Her heartbeat quickened. What is he had met someone else? A Tellmarine woman, beautiful and dark like him? Oh, please, anything but that.
Her musings came to an abrupt halt as she ran into Edmund, who had stopped directly in front of her. A group of Narnians was standing in front of her siblings. Trumpkin, Reepicheep, Glenstorm- they were all there. And standing at the front, looking every inch the powerful king he was, was Caspian.
A/N: Thanks for reading, guys. And please review! -Charlotte
