Chapter Two

"The food here is excellent, Caspian," Lucy said, lifting another spoonful of soup to her lips. "It's been too long since I've had the pleasure of real Narnian dinning."

"Edmund looks like he'd eat just about anything right now," Caspian said with a chuckle, shaking his head as Edmund looked up at him sheepishly.

"The lunch that you had sent up to us was good," the boy replied after a few moments of chewing, having long since finished his soup and moved onto the next course, "but honestly, not all that filling. I don't mean to be rude – I'm just hungry."

"It's alright, I was merely joking," Caspian reassured him, passing Edmund another heaping plate of food for him to take from. "Eat as much as you'd like, there's plenty. Perhaps after you've finished, you'd like to take a ride through the city, perhaps a little outside of it? I'm sure you're anxious to see how Narnia is fairing. After all, the country is just as much yours, as mine."

"That would be lovely, Caspian," Lucy replied, looking over at Edmund with a grin. "Don't you think, Ed? I've missed Narnia so much!"

"I'll have to find a litter, or a carriage, perhaps for you, Lucy. I don't know that you would want to ride horseback –"

"Nonsense!" Lucy said brightly, "I'll be riding horseback just as the two of you shall. It isn't any fun on in a litter, nor a carriage either! Caspian, you mustn't know your history very well – don't you recall how much I hated such things?"

"If you insist," the King resigned, shrugging. There wasn't much he could do about it either way; Lucy was a Queen – even if she had been queen hundreds of years before – and he couldn't very well tell her what to do. He didn't really want to anyway, and besides, riding alongside her would be far more fun than riding in front of, or behind her.

"I should like to meet some of the dignitaries you are undoubtedly housing here," Edmund said around a mouthful of food. "I wonder, are the Calormenes as pushy as they were in our day? That one hardly gave Susan a choice when it came to marrying him – it was rather lucky that we managed to get out of there."

"I've read of it," Caspian said, still unable to get past the fact that one of the Kings, and one of the Queens, that had reigned during the Golden Age were actually sitting here before him… eating at his table and speaking with him like they would an equal! He had been just as stunned during the battle of Miraz, though he had definitely had far less time then to properly process it. He considered them friends, certainly, but he also considered both of them with the highest regard. "And yes, they haven't improved much. I shall introduce you to the ones we have here at present. The good Lord Basilar and his Lady are here from Archenland; the Lady is heavy with child and they will undoubtedly be returning to Archenland shortly, it would not be wise for them to wait much longer, from the looks of it." Caspian paused as though hesitant to continue. "The Tarkaan Radidesh is here from Calormene. He isn't the most amiable Lord I know, but he is beloved of the Tisroc and I would not dare cause harm to the already shaky alliance."

Edmund nodded. "Wise choice. We also did our best not to get on their bad side, though there were a couple of times we could do nothing but."

"Poor Su," Lucy said sadly, "she must have been awfully concerned when that horrid man tried to keep her in Calormene."

"Indeed," Edmund replied, his look growing distant as he obviously lost himself in the memories. Caspian wished that he could share in such memories, but supposed that he was pleased with the memories they did have – and now that they were here again, they were sure to make many more.

"Let us finish our dinner," Caspian said after a few moments of silence, looking down at his still rather full plate, "then we can make some introductions and hopefully go tour the city before it gets dark. There is no need to rush; tomorrow we'll have plenty of time to do much more."

Lucy and Edmund both nodded their approval and Caspian smiled to himself. Thank you Aslan, he thought, for giving me this opportunity to spend a little more time with these two, a King and Queen of old. I have much to learn from them.

OxOxO

"And these are my dear friends Lord Edmund and Lady Lucy," Caspian said to Tarkaan Radidesh. "They are siblings and very close to my heart." He wasn't sure what else to say about them – he couldn't very well tell the Tarkaan that they were brought forth from out of history, and that they last time they had come it had been because Narnia was in dire need of help. Best not to go about giving the conniving man any ideas.

Caspian had never liked Tarkaan Radidesh. The man always looked as though he was eyeing Caspian's throne a little too greedily – something that had set the young King on edge. The older man was a rather manipulative fellow, something Caspian had learned first hand when the Calormene had attempted to convince him to join the Calormenes in some silly, hastily waged war on the Archenlanders. Caspian had refused and the war had ended in a matter of hours.

Relations had been strained between Radidesh's country and Caspian's since then, which was why Caspian needed to make sure that this Tarkaan's stay went well.

"A lovely girl," the Tarkaan said, his tone portraying far more interest than he ought.

Lucy, slightly unnerved, took a little step back just as Edmund took a protective step forward. Caspian wasn't really sure what to do or say, so he merely stood there. "Yes, she is. Now then, how goes –"

"Lady Lucy, would you like to accompany me for a walk in the castle gardens?" The Tarkaan said, oblivious to the fact that Caspian had been speaking. Caspian, unused to such behaviour, froze and looked from Lucy and Edmund to Radidesh. Edmund was fuming – he had nearly lost Susan to a Calormene and he certainly wasn't going to let Lucy anywhere close enough to him for it to be nearly possible. Lucy looked most uncomfortable and Caspian felt a little protective; just as Edmund obviously was.

"I do not believe that would be entirely appropriate," Caspian said, thinking on his feet. This startled the Tarkaan, who turned and looked coolly at Caspian.

"Why ever not?" His expression was challenging and Caspian nearly backed down, but the look on Lucy's face only prodded him on.

"The Lady Lucy and I are betrothed and I don't think that –" The words surprised even him though he continued on – he could not risk being exposed as a liar now. No, they would all have to go along with it –

"What?" Edmund demanded, his eyes wideneing. Caspian could tell he wasn't sure who he wanted pummel more – him or Radidesh. Caspian was glad that Lucy, at least, was handling the comment decently well. Either that or she was so shocked that he had only a few moments before a slap and a storm of words.

"It's a secret engagement, I would appreciate you not telling anyone," Caspian said to Radidesh, looking out the window and at the setting sun. "And by the looks of it, it's time to start turning in. We shall see you tomorrow, perhaps, and I bid you farewell."

Taking Lucy by the arm – both she and Edmund had been rather silent throughout the whole thing though Caspian could tell that Edmund was angry – he led them from the hall and up the stairs. Once out of Radidesh's hearing range, Edmund let loose. "Betrothed, eh? Lucy! Were you not going to tell me? When could that have possibly happened that I wouldn't have --"

"Edmund, I assure you, I don't have a clue –"

"We're not betrothed, Edmund," Caspian said quickly, "I don't know what made me say that." He turned to Lucy and looked at her quite sadly. "I'm quite sorry, Lucy, for my words. I did not think of how they would affect you. However, you likely won't be here long and it shouldn't impact you much at all but I still should have –"

"It's alright," she said quietly after a few moments of silence, "Don't you see Ed? He didn't like that Tarkaan staring at me any more than you did. It was nice, what he did."

"I suppose," Edmund said, sulkily. "I still don't like it. Something bad is going to come of it – you'll see."

"Nothing bad will come of it Edmund," Caspian replied, smiling gratefully at them both. "You'll see, everything will be alright. Radidesh is the only one who will know, and considering his apparent interest in the Good Queen," he nodded to Lucy, "I dare say he won't tell a soul in the chance I might tell anyone who asks that he was making unwanted advances."

"I suppose it sounds logical enough," Lucy said, shrugging. "And I don't think it could do all that much damage to us, Ed. But Caspian, it could make you look awfully bad if things don't turn out."

"I know," he murmured, "Which is why I hope they do."

OxOxO

A couple of days passed and both Edmund and Lucy found themselves enjoying their time back in Narnia. Caspian took them on tours of the city, tours of the countryside, and gave them as many opportunities as possible to experience Narnia without actually revealing who they were. There were a couple, such as Reepicheep, who knew that their majesties had returned. He accompanied them on a couple of occasions, as did Trumpkin. Glenstorm too was pleased to see them, though rather confused as to why the stars hadn't told him that they were coming. He retreated to his maps and gazing in an attempt to figure out what problems might befall them.

On the fourth night, Lucy crawled into the lavish bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. She was exhausted – she was getting used to all the riding again, though months without it had really taken its toll on her.

She could hear someone outside and, not concerned in the slightest, rolled over and shut her eyes. Lucy knew that the castle was well guarded, and that no one should be able to get past Caspian's guards. Likely someone had decided to take a stroll outside.

She drifted off, finding herself in that stage halfway between sleep and consciousness. Moments later, everything was dark.

It seemed like mere seconds had passed, when in actuality nearly two hours had gone by, when she woke to the sounds of a scuffle going on in the room. Peering around and hardly making sense of the activity in the darkness, she felt her heart race. Something was going on.

"Lucy!" She heard, as she huddled back against the headboard of her bed. "Caspian? What are you doing in here?"

"Lucy, get out of here!" He called, his voice strained. She could hear the clang of swords and gasped as, in the movement, her curtains were stepped on and ripped from the wall. As the moonlight streamed in, she managed to make out the sight of a very tired Caspian, fighting a not so very tired Radidesh.

"What's going on?" She cried, darting from her bed in a momentary lapse of judgement. She wanted to settle the fight so she could go back to sleep – but one question lingered in her mind, why were they fighting in her room?

"Lucy! Get out of here! Go to Edmund and tell him to draw his –" And then Caspian fell. Lucy screamed and flew to him, her face pale and her hands shaking as she looked up at Radidesh. "What did you do to him?"

"He's unconscious," the man said, sounding very out of breath. "Now you and I can be free to be together in peace!"

"What? Wait, I –"

Out of seemingly thin air, Lucy saw two more men climb out of hiding. They came towards her. "Stop!" Radidesh said, "I'll get the girl, you two get the King. We cannot leave him behind now, he'll just have to come with us until I figure out what to do with him."

Lucy, still partly asleep, watched him come at her, unable to move. He grabbed her and swung her over his shoulder like one might do a heavy sack. Lucy, not used to this sort of thing, did something most unexpected of her. She fainted.