I am SO sorry that I haven't updated recently, but if you all had any idea how much stuff I'm doing right now, you'd forgive me at once. But I'm assuming you don't care about any of that, and most of you probably aren't even reading this part.
Disclaimer: You all know I own nothing
So to get to the actually important part, I present to you: Chapter Four!
Caspian had been taught many lessons as a child. He'd been taught not to run away from a particularly grotesque lord, or to hide under his bed whenever he was upset. But the lesson that had been drilled into from birth was never to stare at people.
He was having trouble with that lesson at the moment.
It was extremely difficult not to look at those in front of him. He stared at High King Peter. During his reign, he'd been a man of great stature, tall and muscular, with glowing blond hair and a neatly trimmed beard. Instead of the man whose features were undeniably kingly, Caspian was faced with a clean-shaven adolescent, whose blond hair was cut short, with no more muscle than any other boy his age. The same went for King Edmund.
The little Queen surprised him as well. Queen Lucy was known for her thin frame that was taller than many a man, but this was a little girl! For all the battles she fought in and the men she'd killed, she looked tiny and innocent, an untried child.
But the most surprising was the elder Queen. Professor Cornelius had always told stories that had praised Queen Susan as the most beautiful woman who'd ever lived. But his entire youth, noblewomen had come to the castle, praised as great beauties, and were invariably plain at best, doglike at worst. He had suspected that she had been plain as well, and those who had desired alliances with Narnia had claimed her to be exquisite solely to reassure the men they intended for her. But Queen Susan was incredible. With her flawless features and curvy frame, her graceful poise and her kind eyes, she seemed to be more beautiful than any woman had a right to. His dreams had not done her justice.
He marvelled at the monarchs' youth. The Kings had explained their own theory of why they were nearly as young as they had been during their first visit. But he had barely paid attention. He had been looking at Susan. She had blushed and looked away, but often glanced back and smiled. So enthralled had he been with this moment that he had caught only a few words of the speech. It would seem they had gone back to Spare Oom as children, precisely as they came, and remained a year. It was a dreadful thought, the idea of repeating one's childhood.
Trufflehunter was the first to speak after nearly half an hour's silence.
"I am so honoured to meet you all, your Majesties, but we must get serious. We must find a way to encourage the Narnians to accept the Prince."
Caspian froze.
"Why wouldn't they accept me?" he inquired nervously.
"Isn't it obvious?" Edmund asked. "Whether or not you're meant to save them, they aren't going to welcome a Telmarine prince with open arms. You've been enemies for centuries, and it will take a while before they trust you."
"But they have to trust him," Lucy protested, "if they want to win. There's no possible way to win without him."
"I know that and you know that, Lucy," Peter reminded her. "But the Narnians have scars that have not healed, and we have to accept that. They might not like him, might even think he's a spy."
"What do you think, my Queen?" Trufflehunter asked Susan politely.
"I think that…" Susan seemed to be choosing her words carefully. "I think that the best way to show the Narnians that Caspian can be trusted, is to show them our own faith in him."
Caspian smiled, enjoying the way she had said his name.
"Got any suggestions?" Nikabrik asked grumpily.
"Yes. I have one." Susan's smile grew.
Susan had a plan. The great Queen Susan had a plan for him to gain favour with the Narnians. He reassured himself with that. But his nerves were not eased. After all, she had not explained the plan to him; she had only told him that he would have to speak to the Narnians alone.
So now, he stood in front of the strangest Creature he had ever seen. Centaurs, Minotaurs, Animals, they were all real. And they were all screaming things at him.
"Punish him!" a Leopard cried.
"Kill him for his crimes!" a Minotaur shouted, and a Wolf howled his agreement.
Nikabrik seemed to have gotten caught up in the bloodlust, and he too was shouting out punishments, his more gruesome than most.
"Make him pay! Cut off his hands for thievery!" the Black Dwarf cried.
"I didn't steal anything," Caspian replied, his voice dangerously low. Nikabrik seemed to have betrayed him, and he'd had to deal with more than enough treachery recently.
"Didn't steal anything!" another Minotaur roared. "Show me a list of the things he's taken from us!"
"Our homes!"
"Our freedom!"
"Our lives!"
Caspian could barely keep his indignation in check.
"You would hold me accountable for the crimes of my people," he stated angrily.
"Accountable, and punishable!"
Reepicheep came to the young prince's defence at that, for which Caspian was eternally grateful.
"Ha!" the Mouse scoffed. "That is rich coming from you, Dwarf! Or need I remind you that it is your people who fought alongside the White Witch?" He smiled smugly as Nikabrik searched for a response. The Dwarf recovered quickly enough.
"And I'd gladly do it again," he shot back, "if it would rid us of these barbarians!"
"Then it is very lucky indeed," came a very regal woman's voice from close by, "that it is not within your own power to bring her back."
The Narnians all turned to locate the speaker. They were surprised indeed to see that the woman was not alone, but joined by another girl, and two men. But they were more surprised when they realized after a moment that the four were human.
The shouting began at once.
"You see? He is a traitor! He brought reinforcements!"
"Spies, the whole lot of them!"
Peter silenced them all with a look, and it seemed to occur to Caspian that although the monarchs may be young, they still looked regal as anyone ever had as they patiently waited for the crowd to quiet.
"Spies?" the High King said, looking a touch amused. "Reinforcements?"
"How clever of Caspian," King Edmund added. "He has the entire Telmarine army at his disposal, but he chooses instead to invade with the help of adolescents. Quite brilliant."
An angry growl ran through the crowd. They did not appreciate the fact that these boys were seemingly mocking them. Of course, the Kings were not. But the Narnians were unaware of the brothers' love of sarcasm and wit.
"Declare yourself," a Satyr growled, "before we kill you."
"I am Lucy," the youngest one started, "and these are my siblings, Edmund, Peter, and Susan."
A ripple of shock passed through those assembled. Could it be?
"Although now we seem to be known as the Kings and Queens of Old."
A Centaur came forward, his expression solemn, but his tone respectful.
"And what proof have you of this claim?"
Peter stepped forward, pulling out his sword. Immediately, the rest of the Narnians pulled out their weapons, but the Centaur remained motionless. Peter smiled gratefully, and then exhibited his blade to him.
"Does it seem familiar?" he asked, a smile on his face.
The Centaur motioned to take it, and Peter passed it over gravely. The Centaur examined it carefully, no expression disturbing his serene face. Finally, he looked up at his countrymen.
"Rhindon, the Wolf Slayer, the sword of the High King. It is unmistakable," he pronounced.
The crowd stared, dumbstruck, at the legendary sword, and the Centaur continued.
"Our ancestors kept it safely hidden in the treasure hold of the ancient rulers. The knowledge of the location of that hold has long since been lost. The only way he could have found it is if he had known the location all along, ever since it was built. There is no doubt in my mind. This is High King Peter, and these are his siblings. They are the ancient rulers of Narnia, the ones of the prophecy. And so the Telmarine is not a spy. He is the Prince we have waited for. We are the ones that shall fight, to regain Narnia's ancient freedom. We will serve them."
This was the undoubtedly the longest speech that Glenstorm had ever pronounced, but that was not the reason for the stunned expressions all around. The awed silence was heavy but pleasant.
But naturally, Nikabrik had to ruin the moment.
"The prophecy said nothing about our freedom. It said that there would be a massive war to help the filth regain his crown," his voice grew louder and angrier. "Who's to say that if we put him on the throne, he won't be as terrible as the rest of them? Who's to say that any of us will live to see free Narnia? Who's to say that he won't betray us all?"
"We say it," came Queen Susan's voice. It was as gentle as always, but there was an edge of steel to her words. "You're all so quick to insist that we do away with Prince Caspian, that we're better off without him. Don't you realize that without him, we'll just stay in the woods for another thirteen centuries? You would not take a risk, and follow him. Why? To wallow in the dirt, the same way you must do now?"
Edmund spoke up.
"We have to take risks here. Perhaps you loathe him because of his ancestors. Is that it?"
There came roars of agreement. The King continued.
"And yet, you sit happily with Minotaurs and Satyrs, and Black Dwarves. They served alongside an ancient enemy as well, and yet you sit next to them, without a worry in your mind. Why is that?"
"We've been tortured, we've had to deal with common enemies!" Nikabrik yelled.
"A common enemy unites even the oldest of foes," Trufflehunter pointed out.
Lucy replied this time.
"So why is it that you do not accept Caspian now? Miraz tried to have him murdered, which makes him an enemy. If you have a common enemy, why do you refuse to unite with him?"
The crowd was once again at a loss for words, except Nikabrik, of course.
"He's been raised with Telmarine beliefs. You can't trust him."
"I trust him," Susan replied, and Caspian realized with horror that he was blushing at her words. "We have known each other but a few hours, and yet I would trust him with my life. He is worthy; there is no doubt. He can help us."
Caspian smiled gratefully at her, willing the blood to leave his cheeks.
"I thank you, my Queen."
She smiled back at him, her beautiful eyes sparkling, and he noticed some blood rushing to her cheeks as well. He was surprised at how much he enjoyed that.
"He is trustworthy." Glenstorm's were a fact, not an opinion.
"How do you know? How can you be so sure?" a Faun inquired. He seemed to have been softened by the Queen's words.
The other Centaurs seemed to realize what Glenstorm meant, and smiled.
"We Centaurs watch the sky. And what we have seen is Alambil, the lady of peace, joined together with Tarva, the lord of victory. This Son of Adam will lead us to victory, with the ancient rulers at his side. We will have our home back once again."
"Do you really think there could be peace? I mean really?" Patterwig the Squirrel's speedy voice reminded the Pevensies of how Lucy talked when she had too much sugar.
Caspian looked over at Susan, and she smiled encouragingly.
"Two days ago," he began, "I didn't believe in the existence of Talking Animals, or Dwarves, or Centaurs. Yet, here you are, in numbers far greater than we Telmarines could have ever imagined."
Susan smiled. He was born for speech making.
"With this horn, I have brought back the greatest leaders Narnia has ever had. And all of us together, united, we can defeat Miraz's army, and take back what is rightfully ours."
He smiled as he saw the admiration and loyalty in everyone's eyes. Even Nikabrik could only grumpily point out:
"You still haven't given Queen Susan her horn back, boy."
Caspian glared at him for a moment, and then faced the lovely girl apologetically, her horn in hand.
"My apologies, my Queen. I did not mean to keep it from you."
Susan smiled sweetly.
"Might you keep it for me? Until we find a place to stay, I risk losing it. You should hold onto it for me."
"My Queen, I dare not - "
"Please," she interrupted, placing her hand on top of his, trying not to smile at the way it warmed her, "watch over it."
She smiled, and he realized the subtext of the conversation.
"I trust you with it."
She trusted him with the Narnians too.
The Narnians started to smile at the sight. Glenstorm stepped forward.
"My sons and I are for you. We offer you our swords."
Reepicheep came to the front.
"And we offer you our lives. Unreservedly."
It was quite a sight to behold, as the various creatures came to pledge their loyalty to him. But the part that Caspian would always remember the most vividly, the most fondly, was that Susan's hand was still on his own, still making his skin tingle. He always treasured that memory.
Susan smiled as she walked. The Narnians had announced that they had a location in mind where they could build their camp, although they would not say what it was. She was wondering about this when she caught Caspian's eye. He smiled and came over to her.
They walked peacefully in silence for a few minutes, until he finally spoke.
"I, uh," he said, looking rather nervous, "I wanted to thank you. For helping me back at the Dancing Lawns."
She tried not to grin at that.
"We all helped you," she reminded him.
"Yes, you all helped me," he amended, not quite meeting her eyes. "But you helped more than I ever could have asked for, and I wanted to express my gratitude."
He finally looked into her eyes, and she was taken aback by the sincerity in them. But more than hat, she was taken aback by how dizzy and light the action made her feel. She reluctantly looked away.
"The Narnians are … scared," she said after a moment. "And Narnians' fears are my brothers and sister's fears. They sympathise with them, and they know you very little. They can't help but be a little bit worried."
"And you? Are you afraid of me? Do you worry about what I can do?"
"No." There was no trace of hesitation or doubt in her voice, only absolute trust.
"Why not?"
"I trust you. I thought I had made that clear," she teased lightly, her eyes glittering. "You are honest, and you are kind, and you already care for the Narnians. You are an ideal King."
Caspian froze as he considered that.
"I will be King."
"That never occurred to you before now? You've been raised all your life, knowing you'd King."
"Yes," he acknowledged, "but there was always someone there to do my duty for me. But now, I must be an actual ruler, in the midst of a war, no less."
"Well, we'll be there," she reminded him, and his eyes seemed to brighten at the thought. "We'll guide you while we're here, and we'll do our best to teach to be a great King."
"If one must teach me to be a beloved ruler, there is certainly none more appropriate for the task than yourself," he said, smiling mischievously.
"Charmer!"
"I am honest," he said. His voice was soft, and - dare she say it? – tender. "You must have had no problem gaining the love of others. It would be simple for you to do so."
Susan had no idea how to respond. She'd had many men say such things to her over the years, but they had never said it like that. They had been pompous, as if she'd achieved something quite useless, something that they themselves would never need. But Caspian said it with admiration, and something else she could not name.
It excited her.
She stared at him, and he stared at her. He moved a tiny step closer to her, and her heartbeat raced. He opened his mouth, as if to speak.
But Peter chose that moment to stroll over, casually – or not so casually – between Caspian and Susan. He spoke politely, but there was a warning edge to his voice. He said that it was late, and they would set up camp for the night, and did Caspian approve?
Caspian responded stiffly, seemingly irritated with the High King. Susan couldn't be sure if that was how he felt, but she knew she knew it was how she felt.
As Peter casually led her away from Caspian, towards the women's camp, Susan glanced back over her shoulder. Caspian was looking at her.
And she liked it.
Okay, that was Chapter Four! Once again, I am so, so, so, so, so, so, sorry that I haven't updated in a while, but if it makes you feel any better, I've got some killer finger cramps in my pinkie. Ouchie!
So, I hope you liked this chapter. It was very difficult, writing all those speeches. I repeat, finger cramps!
Please review! They make me smile!
