Author's Note: So here's the third chapter. Two changes: I added Caspian's POV, and a short clip of a flashback to when Susan and Peter started to fight. I hope you enjoy it! By the way, in the first chapter I said my original character was Isabella. Well, as you can see, I changed her name to Rylyn. So, I own no one but Rylyn.

Chapter Three

King Caspian X stood next to a very large ship.

It wasn't a fully built ship. In fact, it was barely built at all. But he had to stand there and make sure everything was to be pieced together according to his plans he had charted weeks ago, before construction on the ship began.

He watched as men lifted heavy boards and pieced them together with nails, watched as men with large tubs of paint color the boards according to the colors on the Telmarine flag, and watched as Dr. Cornelius walked up to him. He was a heavyset man, even more so now that he was getting older.

"You wish to speak with me, Professor?" he asked, locking eyes with him. Though Caspian had become king three years ago, Cornelius was not entitled to be his professor any longer, but Caspian longed to learn more about the Golden Age, so he was still his professor- unofficially, however.

"Yes, my dear boy," Cornelius said, his voice even more of whisper than it had been. "I wish to ask you about Rylyn. What are we supposed to do with her?"

Caspian groaned. He had one flaw in his plan to build the perfect ship and sail to the forgotten islands far from Telmar that he had heard so much about. That flaw had a name called Rylyn.

"I don't know," he said gruffly, glancing down at the plans in his hands. "Build her a cabin, make her stay at the castle, send her back to wherever she came from, I don't know and I frankly don't care."

Cornelius sighed and scratched his balding head. Yes, the lady was incredibly bothersome, rude, stubborn and brute-ish, but she was still the daughter of Duke Adrian, (who happened to be coming with Caspian on his voyage), so, really, what choice did they have?

"Her father is her only family, Caspian. She needs to come with us."

Caspian groaned again. "I understand that. But I would prefer it if she was left behind."

Cornelius sighed and gave the king a small smile. "Trust me, my boy, we all wish that. Unfortunately, there is not much we can do."

Caspian nodded and sighed, folding up the plans. "Where is the girl?" he asked, wishing he was not the one who had to talk to her. Cornelius pointed toward the half-built bow of the ship, and Caspian immediately saw her: golden-skinned, white blonde, incredibly frustrating 18 year old girl that she was, barking at one of the men like she was in charge.

Caspian strode over to her and shouted, "Rylyn!"

Rylyn's head snapped up in surprise, and gulped. Caspian could almost read her thought: I hope I don't get in trouble, even though I was ordering around a servant when the king specifically told me never to do it again.

This time, however, she wasn't in trouble. Though Caspian wished she was.

"Come here," he said, beckoning to her with his finger. Rylyn gripped the sides of her sky-blue skirts, and held her head high as she walked purposefully toward him.

"Yes, Oh High and All Mighty King?" she asked mockingly, her topaz eyes playfully seeking his response. Caspian, however, did not find this at all amusing. But he was used to it by now, having been around her for months.

"You are coming with your father on the voyage," he said quietly, wishing he could take his words back. If it was his decision, he would have Rylyn shipped out of the country with a snap of his fingers. But it wasn't his decision. Even though he was king, it was still not his decision.

Rylyn's eyes lit up. "Really? Oh, excellent!" she said ecstatically, beaming and showing off her pure white teeth. Caspian grimaced.

"Don't count your lucky stars just yet," he said, pushing back his dark hair. "You know the rules, obey them."

Like she will take my words seriously, Caspian thought bitterly, staring into her eager face. Rylyn rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes, I understand, don't order people about, don't order YOU about, don't get into trouble, don't touch your stupid sword, blah, blah, blah," Rylyn said, ticking off each thing with her fingers. Caspian sighed again.

"Glad you remember them," he muttered. She SHOULD remember them, he had said them so often- the question was, would she actually take them into account?

The answer was no.

He turned and stalked away from her, already irritated. She had that sort of uncanny power to make him incredibly irritated with the world just by talking. She didn't even have to be talking to him to get him annoyed. Just hearing her annoyingly rude, faux-perky voice got him peeved.

He walked into the cabin that had been made especially for him (and was the only thing finished on the ship, actually) and sat down at the desk that had been built into the wall. He took a deep breath and put his head in his hands, massaging his temples. Caspian unbelted the sword from his hip, and looked down at it. He pulled the sword from its scabbard and stared at the fine hammered metal and the inscriptions upon it.

And again, he was filled with nostalgia. This was High King Peter's sword. The sword he had decided to guard with his life, even though he knew Peter would never come back. He just felt that he owed SOMETHING to the great king, and if that was making sure the sword he had owned didn't get damaged or stolen, then so be it.

He wished the king was with him now. He could really use some advice that only a king could give. Ruling a country was much harder than Caspian had ever imagined- and trying to keep peace between the Narnians and the Telmarines was proving to be impossible.

But what could he do anymore? He had tried everything to keep the peace, and nothing seemed to be working.

Caspian thought of the queens. He knew that Lucy would be capable of keeping peace. It was her way with all things- both human and not- that he felt sure would keep everyone at bay. But she wasn't here, so that idea was for naught.

And Caspian knew that Susan could have come up with ideas to have them STAY at bay. But, then again, just the thought of Susan made his blood run cold, and his eyes feeling moist. He knew he shouldn't show emotion like this- he was a Telmarine king after all, and the people expected him to be strong. He wasn't going to be like Miraz, obviously, but he was still a Telmarine. And no one expected a Telmarine to be as soft as Caspian truly was.

Caspian was tired of this harsh façade he always had to put on. He put it on with Rylyn, he put it on with the lords, and he put in on with his people. It had to stay that way, no matter what. The only person he could let his entire guard down with was Susan. And she was long gone, so he felt empty. He couldn't even show his true self with his professor- it just didn't seem right.

A knock came at his cabin door.

"Yes?" he said, his voice sounding tired and hoarse. Caspian was exhausted, actually.

A servant spoke. "Your lordship, you're needed by Andres. He's not sure whether you said blue or white for the railing."

Caspian sighed and nodded. "I'm coming," he said, groaning inwardly and putting his belt back on his hips. He opened the door and walked out of the cabin, rubbing his temples again and praying that he would get help soon.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Susan, Peter, and Minni had somehow wound up next to the construction site of the ship.

Minni was in total awe.

"Oh my Gods, this place is AMAZING!" she whispered, staring up at the sky longingly. Susan tried to smile, but she couldn't. Standing in Narnia hurt, and standing next to Peter hurt even more. She had been wrong- he wasn't the brother that he had seemed to be yesterday. He was still the same angry man who didn't seem to regard her as family anymore.

Flashback to a year ago…

Susan hugged the scarf emblazoned with her sorority's name to her chest. She was finally one of them, and couldn't be happier. Now she could be closer to her mom. This was what she had always wanted, and she was finally getting it.

She rapped on her brother's door, smiling at his roommate Alex when he opened the door.

"Is Peter here?" she asked. Alex nodded, twirling one of him drumsticks in his hand, and led her into the room. She saw her brother lounging on the couch at the end of the dorm, scribbling on a notebook. Alex sat in a chair and began working out a beat on his drums.

Susan dashed over to her brother, grinning from ear to ear.

"Peter! Guess what?!" she said ecstatically, her blue eyes shining.

Peter looked up lazily at her, and gave her a lopsided smile. "You won the lottery? Can I have some money?"

Susan rolled her eyes. "Ha, ha, very funny. No- I got into Mom's sorority! Isn't that great?"

Peter was silent. The only sounds Susan could hear were coming from Alex's drums. Susan waited for his answer expectantly, clinging to the scarf like it was her life force.

Peter stood up and gave her a firm look. "What?" he whispered, causing her to freeze.

"I got into Mom's sorority. Doesn't that please you?" she asked, pushing back a brown curl nervously. Peter sighed and placed his notebook on the couch.

"Su, I don't like it. I don't like sorority girls. They think they are above everyone when they're not. They think they're queens, and they're not."

Susan rolled her eyes. "Peter, in case you don't remember, I WAS a queen."

"I know. I was a king. But those girls weren't queens. And I don't want you to become one of them."

"I'm not going to, Peter," Susan said, smiling. "I'm in the sorority to experience what Mom had. I want to be closer to her and this is a way to do it."

"There are other ways," Peter said a little bit louder than was necessary. "Send her letters."

Susan sighed. Why wasn't he happy about this? "I DO send her letter, Peter. Every week."

Susan noticed that Alex's drums were getting louder as they argued. Obviously not coincidental.

Peter did not look convinced.

Susan sighed, biting her lip. "Peter, please. Just be happy for me."

That had ended in a giant shouting match. A shouting match which Susan did not wish to remember.

Minni gasped. "Susan, Peter, HIDE!" she hissed, bolting toward an overturned barrel. Susan and Peter turned and saw why they needed to hide.

Caspian, walking with two servants holding dishes of paint, was coming toward them. Susan gulped and bolted behind the barrel, biting her lip as she felt her heart break again.

"Susan, get DOWN! Ignore him- you're the one who said we weren't supposed to be seen! So DON'T BE SEEN!" Peter snapped at her, shoving her down to the ground as they waited for their shadows to pass. When they did, Susan lifted her head up again, only to duck back down.

"Don't look up!" she hissed, watching out of the corner of her eye Edmund and Lucy approach, looking incredibly confused. She watched them walk toward Caspian and sighed, wishing that she could stand up and run toward her siblings to embrace them. She hadn't seen them in so long, and she felt sad that this experience- being in Narnia again- wasn't something that they could all share together, as a family. Not even she and Peter could share it because they were so upset with each other.

She watched as Edmund and Lucy shouted, "Caspian!" and watched as Caspian turned in surprise, grinning from ear to ear at the sight of the young king and queen. Susan sighed and looked at Minni, who was smirking.

"So THIS is what's keeping you from enjoying Narnia? Well, damn Susan. I would think you would enjoy Narnia with THAT."

She raised her eyebrows mockingly at Caspian, who was embracing Lucy. Susan rolled her eyes.

"Minni..." she said with a sigh, pushing back a curl that threatened to escape from her braid. After a moment, she groaned and tugged the braid out of her hair, letting her curls fall freely around her shoulders.

She wasn't really focusing at that point because she didn't want to watch her siblings and Caspian (her heart hurt too much when she did) so she didn't see it coming.

"SUSAN! DUCK!" Minni screamed, and Susan whirled around just in time to see an arrow flying toward her, and piercing into her forearm. She gasped in pain, wrenching the arrow from her forearm and watched the blood run down her arm. She turned, seeing where the arrow was coming from, and watched as a girl about her age came running toward them, her white-blonde hair flying, and her mouth twisted in horror.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" she shouted, just as Caspian was turning to see who had screamed and why they had shouted "Susan", and just as the barrel started rolling, and just as Susan was being shoved to the ground by Peter.