"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Isadora snapped.
"Milady, that was a nasty tumble you took in the night!" the camp physician said patronisingly. He bent over the gash on her leg again and dabbed at it with an alcohol-soaked rag.
"It's clean! I'll be fine!" she growled and shoved him away. She tried to stand and grimaced as she put weight on her leg. The physician gave her a pointed look over his glasses. She stuck her nose in the air and limped out of the medical tent into the morning sunshine.
Typical.
A raid on the camp, by parties currently unknown, and she was the only one to be injured. Her injury had not even been sustained in some death-defying act of heroism. She had merely fallen over.
She hadn't slept a wink all night. There had been confusion and panic for hours after the night raid. She had been returned to the tent while her father and the other Lords held an emergency meeting.
But she hadn't slept. The image of the horrific creature looming over her replayed over and over in her mind's eye. The sun's first rays had been peeking over the tree-tops by the time she became aware of the dull ache in her leg and had lifted her skirt to see the gash.
Her father was meeting with Glozelle and Sopespian beside the tent she and the General had seen the first of the shadowy figures slide from. She limped over to join them.
Miraz watched his daughter approach with a hard look in his eye and then turned back to Glozelle.
"Your report?" he said coldly.
"They took all the stores we had here, which were enough weapons for three full regiments," the General said. "And there's more. It seems they left a message for us."
He gestured to one of the wagons next to the tent. It was one of several around the camp; slow, clumsy vehicles used for the transfer of goods around the kingdom. Miraz swung its open door up and the message was clear to see.
"You were right to fear the woods. X," he read.
"X?" Sopespian asked.
"Caspian. The Tenth," Miraz spat and Isadora's heart gave a horrible lurch.
No. No, Caspian could not have had anything to do with this! It was preposterous!
"I'm sorry this happened," Glozelle said. "The blame lies entirely with me."
Miraz stared once more at the message carved into the wagon and then turned his steely eye back to Glozelle.
"And how many men were killed in the raid?" he asked.
Confusion crept over the General's face. "My Lord?"
"Well, this was clearly a brutal attack. My own daughter, Lady Isadora, was injured," Miraz hissed in a voice like a thrown knife.
"Father, I fell over in the fog," Isadora said timidly.
"They appeared from nowhere. Like ghosts. It was a miracle that Lady Isadora's leg was the only injury sustained," Glozelle added.
"Then explain your own injuries," Miraz said.
Glozelle shifted from foot to foot. Isadora snuck a glance at Sopespian. He was smirking again. Whenever something was afoot, he always had that horrible little smirk on his face.
She jumped as her father struck Glozelle around the face.
"I'll ask again, General. How many men were killed in this bloody Narnian raid, of which you were a fortunate survivor," he said. He drew his sword and offered it hilt first to Glozelle.
With a small look behind him at a nearby group of soldiers, Glozelle hesitantly accepted the sword.
"Three," he said.
"Good man," Miraz said and turned away. "Come, Turtle Dove. We'll be returning to the castle as soon as possible."
Not entirely understanding what she had just witnessed, Isadora meekly followed after her father.
"So it would appear that there is a link between this Narnian uprising and the disappearance of Caspian after all," Sopespian mused as he accompanied them towards their awaiting horses.
"What?" she exclaimed. "This is madness! Caspian can't possibly have anything to do with last night!"
There was a pause as Sopespian glanced at Miraz with raised eyebrows. "She doesn't know?" he asked. When Miraz did not respond, Sopespian gave a short little bark of laughter and turned back to Isadora.
"The Old Narnians are not as extinct as we thought. It would appear that they have been in hiding and, how was it you put it the other day, Miraz? Breeding like cockroaches under a rock, was it?" he smirked. "And it also seems that our daring young Prince decided to join them."
Isadora opened her mouth to retort and then closed it in an instant. Caspian had always loved the stories about Old Narnia when they were little. She had been the one who begged the Nurse for the Old Telmarine tales and he had begged for the Narnian ones. If he heard a rumour about the Old Narnians being more than legend then she was certain he would have rushed out to find them.
He had always been rather headstrong in that way.
"If we ride hard then we can be back to the castle by noon," Miraz said as he mounted his horse. "The Council will convene in the afternoon to discuss Caspian's defection."
"I need to stay here to oversee the construction for another day," Sopespian said. "Tell Lorrin to take my place on the Council; he could use the experience."
"But I need you there, not your son! I need your support!" Miraz hissed, his face flushing.
"You know the moves you need to make," Sopespian said firmly.
Isadora made a great deal of mounting her horse and rearranging her skirts. As she was doing so, Sopespian leaned in close to her father and she only just caught his whispered advice.
"Scythley is your only true adversary left on the Council. The others will back you if you play them right."
Her father set a terrifying pace back to the castle. They had barely clattered back into the courtyard before he had swung off his horse and vanished back into the castle with the other Lords following behind closely.
Isadora followed at a more sedate pace, partly due to the stiffness of her injured leg.
Returning to her bedroom was bliss. She shut the door behind her and lent against it. Her weak leg began to tremble as, once again, that horrible shadow loomed over her in her mind's eye.
She pulled herself together and started to limp across the room towards her washstand. The reflection in her mirror caught her attention and she stopped to look properly.
Her beautiful new dress, the one she had twirled in so happily for Ghaliya only yesterday, was ruined. The fabric had torn where she had slipped, revealing her petticoats underneath. How could she have only just noticed it?
She tore it off with a disappointed sigh and slipped into an old favourite.
Ghaliya slipped into the room as she was washing her face. She curled up neatly on the foot of her sister's bed and waited for Isadora to finish up.
"Is it true?" she asked. "Are the Old Narnians really back?"
"You were so sure the other day," Isadora snapped. "That thing in the dungeon perfectly matches the description of a Red Dwarf!" she said in a cruel, sing-song mimic of her sister's voice.
Ghaliya didn't reply. Isadora busied herself with plaiting her hair, fully aware of her sister's eyes boring into her back.
"Sorry," she said eventually, leaning over her washstand.
"It's OK," Ghaliya said quietly. "Did a giant really attack the camp by the bridge?"
"No," she said. "The time it takes for a rumour to become completely skewed in this place astounds me."
Her sister chuckled. "It's the maids. Tell them a robin landed on the Southern Tower and, before the hour is out, everyone will be swearing it was the Black Eagle."
"Well, I can tell you there was definitely no giant there," Isadora said. She crossed the room and sat down beside Ghaliya on the bed.
"Father's upset," she admitted. "He thinks Caspian has something to do with the attack and the Old Narnians."
"No way," Ghaliya scoffed. "Caspian probably just decided to go off to Archenland or Galma without telling anybody."
"There's talks of defection. The Lords are holding an emergency Council this afternoon," Isadora said with a shake of her head. "Ghaliya, I'm so scared. I think Cas could be in real trouble. And I saw the Dwarf from the dungeons there. Oh, what if Caspian has somehow met up with the Old Narnians?! Even if this preposterous idea that he is leading them is false, what if he's been kidnapped by them?"
Ghaliya looked at her sister carefully and then turned to look at the clock above the mantelpiece.
"Come on, there is no use sitting here "what if"ing. We're going to listen in on this Council," she said, standing up.
"Are you mad?!" Isadora yelped. "If we got caught-"
"It's only half one; they won't convene until at least two," Ghaliya said quickly. "If we get to the Council Chamber now we can hide before they start arriving. I know a place where we can hide."
She led Isadora to one of the upper galleries of the Council Chamber. The room was actually the Great Hall but, in the current absence of a King, the younger generations knew it better as the place where the Council met. It was a handsome room; the throne raised opposite the main doors and the twenty seats of the Lords lining the walls. Around three of the walls ran a wood-lined gallery, where the sisters currently stood. Once upon a time, the Council sessions had been open to the public but ever since the death of Caspian IX, they had been held in private.
"They'll see us here!" Isadora moaned, looking down at the throne and the Lords' seats below them. Ghaliya rolled her eyes and headed for one of the wooden carvings at the far end of the gallery. She scanned it for a moment and then pushed the carving of the Black Eagle. A door slid back, revealing a black space beyond.
"Come on, there's a peephole on the other side," she said, looking back at her sister.
"How do you know it's here?" Isadora asked.
"Oh, the castle is full of secret passages. This one comes out near the wine cellar. In case the King and the Lords got thirsty, I guess?" Ghaliya replied with a shrug.
"But, how do you know it's here," she asked. Ghaliya flushed hotly.
"I like to listen to the Council meetings," she stammered.
"You are so weird," Isadora said but followed her into the close space.
She wasn't aware of exactly how long she spent cramped in there with her sister but eventually they heard the sounds of the hall doors opening and the hubbub of the arriving Lords.
Ghaliya opened a small panel in front of her which allowed both sisters to see down the length of the hall.
"Is that Lord Sopespian's son, Lorrin, talking with Grandfather?" Ghaliya whispered.
Isadora pushed some of her sister's hair to one side so she could lean down and properly take a look.
"Yes, I think so. Sopespian is still at Beruna," she whispered back.
Lorrin was only a few years older than her but had never been part of her circle of playmates growing up. He was instantly recognisable at court since he looked distinctly un-Telmarine. Lord Sopespian's first marriage had produced four snooty and sour-faced daughters that the Lord had been quick to marry off as soon as they had come of age. His second marriage had been to a lady much younger than himself who hailed from the Seven Isles; an archipelago off the Ettinsmoors. Their union had produced only one child, Lorrin.
The gossip at court said Lorrin wasn't actually Sopespian's; a rumour mainly perpetuated by the young man's light brown hair and paler skin. Isadora thought it was a stupid rumour. His mother's skin was so pale she was almost white and her hair was a pale blonde in colour. Lorrin obviously just favoured her more.
Besides, he had the same scheming smirk as his father. She had never really associated with him but his smirk had always prevented her from considering doing so.
"He's cute," Ghaliya noted, breaking Isadora's contemplation of him.
"Ghaliya! He's ten years older than you!" she hissed, nudging her in the back.
"Pot calling kettle black?" her sister muttered.
Isadora was about to retort hotly when the door to the hall opened once more and their father stormed in, Glozelle at his heels.
"Lords of the Council, we have discovered the fate of Prince Caspian," Miraz said as he walked down the hall. He turned and faced the assembled Lords. "He has left our care and joined the remnants of the Old Narnians with the intent of starting a rebellion."
The voices of the Lords rose up in disbelief and the two hidden girls watched as they turned to each other. Miraz held up his hands and pleaded for calm.
"How could this happen?" their grandfather, Scythley demanded.
"We are unsure of his motives. He is, after all, less than two years away from ascending the throne. Two years must be too long for him," Miraz mused. "All we know is that the construction site of the bridge at Beruna was targeted in an attack last night. The Narnians responsible for the attack were led by Caspian."
"Were they now?" another Lord said drily. "Where is Sopespian? Why has he sent his cub to play with us instead?"
Lorrin's pale cheeks flushed but he stood and drew a piece of parchment from inside his doublet.
"My Lord Father felt it necessary to remain at Beruna to oversee the clean-up operation in the aftermath of the attack," he said. "He sent this letter and asked I take his place for this council."
He unfolded the letter and read it aloud.
"My fellow Lords.
At approximately twenty two hundred hours last night, a faction believed to be the Old Narnians raided the camp. They left behind an indication that their leader was none other than Prince Caspian. Three of our men were killed in the attack and Lady Isadora, daughter of Lord Miraz, sustained an injured leg in the confusion. A full report shall be compiled upon my return."
"Where is Isadora? I wish to hear her testimony," Scythley said as Lorrin took his seat again. "She knows Caspian better than any of us; she can tell us if this supposed behaviour is within his character."
Isadora swore quietly but her father swiftly and unknowingly came to the rescue.
"Dor is resting," he said coldly. "Caspian's betrayal was a nasty shock for her, as you can understand, and coupled with her injury she is feeling a bit delicate."
Ghaliya snorted. "You, delicate?"
Isadora nudged her in the back again.
"So what do we do now?" another Lord said in the hall below.
There was a moment's pause and then Glozelle spoke up.
"Prince Caspian has made his loyalties clear," he said. "A soldier who deserts the army is stripped of all rank and honour. I regret to propose that we must do the same to Caspian."
Isadora clutched Ghaliya's hand in the darkness as the Lords' voices again rose into a hubbub and they began to debate the motion back and forth. If Caspian was removed from the order of succession, their father was next in line to the throne. Miraz would become king and their new baby brother would take Caspian's place as Crown Prince at less than a week old.
Finally, the motion came to a vote. Lord Scythley and surprisingly Lorrin voted against, but all the other Lords voted for.
"Congratulations, my Lord, or should I now say, your Majesty," Scythley said to Miraz coldly. "Someone send for the notary and we'll have this legalised."
Up in the hidden space, Ghaliya tugged on her stunned sister's sleeve and together they drew down the hidden passage. Sure enough, it led down a tight spiral staircase and emerged behind some of the casks in the wine cellar.
The sisters hurried up through the castle as quickly as Isadora's leg would let them. They eventually arrived in their family's private living room where their younger sister, Marisela, happened to be playing with her nurse. As Ghaliya moved forward to join their game, Isadora sank onto one of the armchairs beside the fireplace.
That was it. Caspian had been disowned. What had the silly, silly boy got himself in to? Where was he?
And, why had Sopespian said that three men were killed in the raid? She had had the only injury, she distinctly remembered Glozelle saying so. None of this made any sense!
"Ah, my aviary all together!" her father said from the doorway and she quickly forced a smile on her face.
"Is the Council session over so soon?" she asked.
"No, merely taking a respite while the notary draws up some documents," he replied.
"Nursie, where is Duck-Duck?" Marisela asked her nurse, referring to her favourite stuffed toy.
"I think he has gone for an adventure in the laundry," her nurse replied. "I'll go and look and leave you to spend some time with your father and sisters, my little lady."
Miraz waited until the door had closed behind her before turning to his three daughters with a smile.
"Girls, I have some exciting news," he said. "I am going to become King, and you, my darlings, are all going to become princesses."
Isadora and Ghaliya both gasped and made a great show of surprise as if this was both brand new news to them. Marisela, however, was less than impressed.
"Excuse you, Father, but I am already a Princess," she said primly.
Miraz roared with laughter and swept her up.
"And indeed you are, my Little Duck!" he crowed, swinging her around the room until she shrieked and giggled and clutched at his sleeves with her little hands. "But I am the only one to call my aviary princesses for now. And that will soon be changing. You shall be a little Duckling Princess with your very own tiara and feathers.
"And you, Ghaliya, will become just as regal as your dear namesake, and men shall travel far and wide to come and revel in your beauty," he added, hoisting Marisela onto his hip so he could grab Ghaliya's hand and pull her into an odd one-handed waltz.
"And you, Isadora," he said, bringing his odd dance with his two younger daughters to a halt. He smiled at his eldest daughter, a proud smile.
"You shall be a Princess; the Princess you should have been from birth," he said. "And Nain would be a fool to not make you a Queen as well."
She couldn't help but smile and moved forward to take Marisela from him. He pulled the two of them close again, gathered in Ghaliya, and all four of them spun again in a whirlwind of clothes and laughter. Prunaprismia, drawn by the sound of merriment, came through with the baby in her arms and they too were pulled into the dance.
For a moment, they were together and they were happy.
For a moment, her worry for Caspian was driven from Isadora's mind.
And finally I can introduce my final main OC for Ashes, Lorrin! He doesn't have that big a part to play in Ashes but trust me, he has a lot more to do in the next part. :D I'm also stating this now; whether Lorrin ends up a friend or foe to Caspian, he and Isadora will never ever ever have any romantic feelings for each other. I want to get that out the way before yous all start with the wild speculations.
Thank you to Ceara Einin for your review last chapter and to everyone who followed and favourited! Let me know what you think of everything unfolding! I shall see you next time, for a very special night indeed...