I'm not dead! :)
Let me start with an apology for how long it's been since my last post- 9 months- wow
Thank you to everybody who has read, reviewed, favourited and added this story to alerts :)
And now without further waffle on my part I present...
III: Shadows of the Past
The months that followed Queen Lucy the Valiant's return to Narnia were busy for both of the land's young monarchs. Caspian and a small contingent of the army went to Miraz' castle to tidy up the remains of the Telmarine occupancy; Lucy, Reepicheep, Doctor Cornelius, and young Tumnus worked with an Archenlander architect to redesign Cair Paravel so that it was both classical and modern. The talented young man - whose name was Peter - had also taken it upon himself to design a bridge between Cair's island and Mainland Narnia which could be easily mistaken as a natural part of the land.
"It is simply my homage to the Golden Age of Narnia, Your Majesty," the young man had told the girl Queen when she thanked him after seeing the designs for the first time. "When I heard that you and your kin had reigned from the Cair peninsula, I thought it fitting that you and his Majesty should reign in that way again."
When they first arrived outside of Miraz' castle, Caspian looked up at his childhood home in contempt- to think he had once been happy in the place. He had been raised with the fairy tales of the Golden Age - the boy kings and girl queens (the youngest of whom was to reclaim her crown as soon as the throne room was complete again)- and had begun to consider them myths before his cousin Miraz was born. Thirteen was, as his uncle had told him on his last birthday, far too old to have one's head filled with such whimsical nonsense.
"Sire?" one of the soldiers asked, concerned by his young king's lack of movement for the past ten minutes. They had become used to their queen being lost in the past, but their king was seen as more level, given that he had not returned to the land after becoming lost to legend.
"I'm fine," Caspian assured him. "This castle holds as many memories for me as Cair does for the Queen, though not all of them pleasant. I'll be fine as soon as we conclude our business here once and for all.
The inventory of Miraz' castle took two weeks. They were the longest weeks of Caspian's short life to date. He found himself wishing that Lucy was there; he thought she would understand what he was feeling as he sorted through everything in the castle with the small group.
Hindsight is always twenty-twenty- this was not a phrase that Caspian had heard of, but, if he had, would have agreed. Thinking back on the childhood he had considered happy, he could see his uncle's distaste for him. There had been a certain coldness in Miraz' eyes every time he looked at him.
Caspian was more than relieved when it was at last time to return to Lucy at Cair Paravel. The small contingent mounted their horses and set off back down the river.
Short I know- but I promise that subsequent chapters will be longer.
Please R&R :)