A Tale of a Prince

Disclaimer: I don't own! Oh, and the story Hannah and Lucy tell Caspian mostly belongs to Lirenel. (You guessed it; profile link under my favorite authors) WARNING: If you are going to read her story, entitled 'Terror Gold', be forewarned, she goes into detail about the torture Ed goes through. As does another story 'Golden Fire' by Thalion King's Daughter, detailing the story as it happened. And, you guessed it; she is also one of my favorite authors.

Chapter 7: A Worried King

"For the last time, Pete, sword up! If you let it drag for even a second, you'll die, and I don't want that to happen."

"Neither do I, Hannah. Like this?"

"Yes; perfect." Faith and Ed walked over, followed by Su and Lu. "Time for us to go." Faith said.

Rose came from where she had been watching me try to teach Peter. "Stay safe, you two." She said, engulfing Faith in a tight hug. Peter did the same with Edmund. I hugged Faith as soon as Rose let go. "Come back, and bring him back with you." I whispered.

"I will." I released her to hug Ed, whom Peter had finally let go of. Then Su and Lu hugged him and they left. Peter turned and ran toward the overlook. "We'll watch him now; he'll need you two more later." Susan said, motioning to Rose and herself. They followed Pete, while Lu and I ran to the Table room. We went to a certain carving. As we studied it, she asked, "Where are you?"

"I think I'm right there." I said, pointing to the pictures of a girl trying to stop the boy standing dead bodies as flames licked up a castle behind them. "That's right; that is you."

We suddenly heard coughing. We whirled around, hands at hilts, and saw Caspian. "Oh, did you need us for something, Caspian?" I asked.

"No, your Majesties…" he started, but I cut him off.

"Just Hannah and Lucy, please."

"All right. I was wondering why you would want to look at this carving. It doesn't strike me as comforting."

"It isn't. I'm surprised this was recorded, aren't you, Lu?"

"Yes; most Narnians pretend it never happened."

"What did happen? I never heard a story like this." Caspian asked.

I hesitated. "It would explain quite a few things, but are you sure? It is a violent tale."

"I am."

"All right. It was four years into their reign. We had received word that human raiders had been attacking villages, killing Narnians. Ed, Pete, Faith and I set out with some of the army to stop them." I sighed. "We had received bad reports about their numbers. We were ambushed and badly outnumbered. Peter was wounded, awfully, and Edmund ordered me to get Pete out of there while he, Faith, and a few of our troops protected our escape. We ran, and barely made it. Peter almost died." I stopped and looked at Lucy.

She took a deep breath and continued. "Back at Cair Paravel, Susan, Rose, and I heard what had happened. We took more men and hurried to help, well, Rose and I did; Su stayed at the Cair."

"You were in the battle?"

"Oh, yes. I fought many times."

"You weren't with us for the attack on Miraz's castle."

"That's a different story, so I'll just say that we never went to battle if we didn't think Aslan would approve. Not that that usually happened back then. A lot has changed."

"Anyway, once they caught up with us, Lucy had to give Pete cordial as soon as she arrived, because he was dying. After which we left to go to the battlefield. It was horrible. These- these- creatures, for I cannot call them men, had shown no respect for the dead. There was not one body left completely intact. The only thing we could see they had left of Ed and Faith was their helmets." I glanced at Lucy. "Am I exaggerating?"

"No. That made Peter's anger, which was already red- hot because the men had taken his brother, flare up even more. He ordered that the slowest soldiers be put to the task of burying the dead, while the rest of us pursue Edmund, Faith, and their kidnappers. The- the raiders-" Lucy was too broken to finish.

"The raiders made sure we could follow them. Suffice it to say, they were leaving a trail of the remnants of the torture they were subjecting Ed and Faith to. Everyone's anger was kindled, because, though only Edmund was their king at that point, they all respected the three of us, at least. That, and most of the ones with us were adults and Ed was 14 and Faith was 12 when this happened."

"14? 12? And they were being tortured?"

"Indeed. It broke all our hearts but Peter's. It strengthened and angered his. Strengthened in a bad way. By the time we found the castle, Peter was nigh on uncontrollable. We laid siege for two days before breaking through. We attacked at sunset, and we fought our way through the men into a tower. We got in and found them. They- they were not tied up nor restrained in any way. There was no need. They were in no condition to move. There was a boy in the room. Pete hurried toward the boy to kill him. Edmund was somehow conscious enough to stop Peter before he fainted. Lucy flung herself at Ed, cordial in her shaking hands. Two crimson drops fell from the bottle into each of their mouths. Peter stormed out of the room after instructing Rose, the two boys with us, and I to take care of Edmund. The boys and I kept an eye on Peter because that was the best way to look after Edmund, to look after Peter. We followed Peter down the stairs and saw at the same time he saw four men who had surrendered. He- he stalked over to them and murdered them. It took Ed and Faith weeks to recover."

"But I think what hurts Pete the most is the consequences of releasing the boy." Lucy said.

"Consequences?"

"Didn't you notice the banner?" He looked up at it and saw the banner of Telmar. "You mean…"

"Yes, but there's more."

"What more could there be?"

"The boy… his name was Caspian."

"You- you mean…"

"Yes. Caspian I was the only Telmarine to survive the carnage that night." I said.

"It- it might have been worth it if the High King had killed him."

"No. Aslan let him live, and there must have been a good reason for it. I would imagine that reason is you."

"Me?"

"Yes. Another Telmarine might have conquered Narnia, but he might not have had a descendant like you who would have brought back the old days."

"The High King doesn't seem to think so."

"I just told you, Peter doesn't forgive easily. There's a very good reason he is not called The Just. He has a hard time separating the individual from the actions of the group and he blames every Telmarine for what happened to Edmund."

"Including me. I don't blame him for hating me."

"Ed does. Has he ever treated you like you didn't deserve to be here with us, with the Narnians?"

"No. I do not understand why, though. He of anyone has the right to hate the Telmarines."

"Edmund remembers everything about what happened. Everything. Not just the torture and the pain, but the kindness that Caspian showed him. He remembers his own failings in life, and came to the conclusion that just as he was responsible for his individual actions, so was everyone else. The criminal was punished, not the criminal's family. Caspian was responsible for his own actions and showed himself to have a caring heart. He was not responsible for the crimes of his children. Just as you're not responsible for the crimes of your ancestors, Caspian. Edmund knows this, and he's been constantly beating Peter over the head with it. It's just taken awhile for it to sink in. And even Peter trusts you now. You aren't a Telmarine any longer to him. You're a Narnian, chosen by Aslan to rule His land." Lucy said.

I looked at Lucy. "Wouldn't it be about time for us to relieve Susan at the overlook?"

"Yes." We left Caspian alone to contemplate what we had said. I recalled the rhyme that the Telmarine children had said in my dream: Two kings, two crowns
Silver and Gold crowns
Lost Silver stand strong
Silver of the right and wrong
Gold comes, terror Gold
Riding forth, fierce and bold
Silver tarnish, Silver dire
Burning west a Golden fire
How many does the Gold one burn?
One, two, three, four…

We sat down by Peter. I put my arm around him and Lucy laid her head on his shoulder. We watched until we finally saw them returning. "Look. They're safe." I reassured Peter.

"Yes, they are. They are." He rose to go meet them, but Caspian was blocking his way. He hesitated before saying, "My lord, I rejoice that your royal brother has returned safely."

"As do I." Peter said coldly.

"I also regret and beg your forgiveness for what your royal brother endured at the hands of my ancestors. I would have taken his place in an instant."

Peter's eyes went from ice blocks to flaming blue- pointed at me. "You told him." It wasn't a question.

"Yes, we did. We had to, what with you being so- so-"

"So what?"

"So prideful and judgmental."

"Caspian- I- I'm sorry."

"What have you to be sorry for?"

"For treating you like I might have the men who did that to my brother."

"You have nothing to apologize for. Still, I forgive you." Just then, Edmund and Faith appeared almost out of nowhere. "We're back." Edmund said, wrapping his arms around his brother.

"Thank Aslan nothing happened. Did he accept or deny?"

"Accept."

Faith suddenly burst out laughing. Peter looked at her like she was crazy. "What is wrong with you?"

"I've been holding that back for what seems like hours."

"Why?" Ed asked.

"When he thought you were a prince, and you corrected him, I think I was the only one to get your pun."

"Oh, that. So do I."

"What did he say?" Peter asked.

"'It's King Edmund, actually. Just King, though; Peter's the High King.' Get it? Just King? Edmund the Just?"

"Oh! Yeah, I get it."

"Peter, we need to get you ready." I put in.

"Yes, I suppose. Lucy, you and Susan need to leave to find Aslan. Edmund, go with her and tell Susan you're all right."

"Of course, Pete." Lucy said. She and Ed quickly exited. Peter and I went to get him suited up for the duel.