ENTANGLED

Chapter Eleven: The Land of Celestine

Andrantiel had to restrain herself from spitting the words out. "Forced-marriage?"

What did my parents tell him?

"Please excuse me for the severity of my words," said Peter. "But that is the way I see things like forced-marriages and slavery."

Andrantiel said nothing, but her flabbergasted expression must have been apparent, because a moment later Andrantiel found herself listening to more explanations from the High King. This could only mean that Peter had caught some of her incomprehension.

"I can understand why you opted not to tell me the truth and it is, unsurprisingly, something that is not new to me. Therefore I am hoping to convince you that we are on the same page and I give you my word, Princess; though I may be a young king, never would I imagine acquiring love over war."

Peter was smiling as he said that, but Andrantiel was too occupied to take any notice. There was a flood of thoughts in her mind; each one demanding more of her attention than the other, and it made her wonder subconsciously how she managed to blurt out, "I cannot possibly imagine what the right words to say are." to Peter.

But the fact that her parents had told Peter that the real reason they went to war was because the Tisroc (or whoever Peter had mentioned) wanted her love by force and that if she didn't comply to his wishes, they were going to-

To wage a war over her?

Now who did they think they were kidding?

"Well, I should not hold you up for any longer," said Peter, jolting Andrantiel back to reality, starting to walk back to the camp. "May Aslan guide you home safely, Princess."

"Thank you, Your Highness," replied Andrantiel absent-mindedly; completely forgetting what he had told her a few minutes ago. She followed the King slowly.

"It's Peter, remember?"

However, the Princess was not really listening.

Her mind was once again diverted, filled with the things that Peter said and it made her pay not even the slightest attention to what was happening around her. She was unaware of her passing through the Lantern Waste, unaware that she had traveled far into the West of Narnia and she was unaware of the fact that she had gotten much closer to home, as her mind strayed further away from it.

Andrantiel knew that she was supposed to view it all as a good thing. After all, Peter was once again warming up to her (and mostly importantly, had stopped staring at her with that look) and no one felt slighted: neither him nor her family. Nonetheless, Andrantiel knew, even though that she hated to admit it, that her family could really come to rely on the High King of Narnia now that as he had proved himself-

Yet, they kept lying on him.

Andrantiel was trying to figure out whether anything would make any sense when her ears caught a familiar melody, an old folk song, played on a woodwind instrument, maybe a flute, in the air. Its melody was cheerful and stimulating, and as Andrantiel became aware of a familiar group of trees; where the border between Narnia and Celestine was situated, she knew that she had finally reached home.

It was hard for Andrantiel to determine which one she liked better: Narnia or Celestine. True, Celestine was not as beautiful as its neighboring country, but she had only been gone for just over a week and she had missed the atmosphere that surrounded her now.

The smell of something delicious was definitely in the air: smelled not only sweet and salty at the same time, but also inviting and would make even someone who had just had his or her meal salivate all over again. It must be nearing dinnertime, and Andrantiel could not think of any other better time to arrive home.

The scent, fused with the fresh breeze that had traveled through the trees, embraced her as she rode through a row of edifices towards the palace. On either side of the path, her people gathered to greet her in many ways: they waved, smiled, grinned, bowed, some even offered her dinner, and though it looked tasty, Andrantiel politely declined.

She wanted to reach her parents without wasting anymore time.

However, soon her curiosity was forgotten, and she paced herself slowly and stopped occasionally to have a chat with some of her people. Perhaps it was just the very fact, that nothing could beat the feeling of someone returning to his or her homeland.

Finally, Andrantiel reached the palace. Its Great Hall welcomed her, and as she looked around, something struck her. It was a bit odd; the hall was looked and felt exactly the same as she had left it. Still dominated by the colors of green and silver, the chandelier was hanging in its place and the same majestic atmosphere was still there, but it was as if something had changed, though she could not exactly figure out what it was.

"A!"

All the same, to actually hear that particular familiar cheery voice-

Andrantiel could not help smiling. She had really arrived home. Right on cue, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist. She did not need to look down to know who it was. A pair of bright brown eyes was looking at her, framed by straight brown hair just like hers.

"I missed you." Liandra said in her baby voice.

"Missed you too, L," replied Andrantiel, hugging her sister back. She looked around. "Where are Mother and Father?"

"Why does that matter? You can meet them later, after you finish telling me all about Narnia. They were too occupied to tell me much when they were here."

Andrantiel laughed. The truth was she would have expected the same thing from herself when she was still Liandra's age. "Hey, you know what they're like. Moreover, I do not want to be bored by their lectures at dinner table tonight, L. So, come on, where are they?"

"In the Throne Room. At least, Dad is. Are you going there?"

"Yes," said Andrantiel. "What's wrong?" she asked, seeing Liandra pout. However, Andrantiel did not wait for a reply, and wasted no time to continue, "Okay, here, accompany me, and I'll tell you about Narnia as we walk."

"Yay!" Liandra cheered, her face brightening up. Andrantiel watched her excitement, and she had no doubts that Liandra and Lucy had their resemblances.

Andrantiel ended up taking more time than she had expected to reach the Throne Room, thanks to Liandra, but she finally got there. Liandra left her in front of the doors and she messed her little sister's hair up one last time before she straightened herself out, ready to face her father.

She waited for the doors to be opened.

Inside, her father was at his desk, which was enormous but almost invisible under the piles of parchment piled upon it. He was leaning forward, inspecting each piece carefully.

The King of Celestine was a burly man. He indeed had a strong figure and his stern look and sharp eyes sent a clear message to people not to mess with him, but Andrantiel had stopped being intimidated by it a long time ago.

Her father used to be scary, but as she got older, the sensation of fear gradually faded as she encountered many more of these looks. She had just gotten used to him and his harsh expression.

"Hail, Your Majesty, King of Celestine," said Andrantiel, making a curtsey. "I'm home, Father."

Her father looked up, nodding. "Welcome home, my dear child. Please, sit. Tell me how Narnia was."

Andrantiel took her seat. "Everything there was wonderful, Father. I cannot wait to go back soon," replied her, fully aware that her father did not actually want to hear her story, because his gaze was diverted to the parchment again. "There were a few things, however, that concerned me."

The King of Celestine said nothing. Typical, Andrantiel thought.

However, she was not going to stop there.

"Father, I wish to know of the things you told the Kings of Narnia."

Silence.

"Father?" pressed Andrantiel. "I want to know what you said. You told them no truths, did you?"

"Andra, of course you know that I wouldn't tell them the truth." He scribbled something on the parchment paper.

"But they helped us with our battle!"

"Yes, yes, I'm aware of that," replied her father. "And watch your tone, I don't like it." He frowned reading something on the parchment. "It is true, of course, that Narnia had come to our aid, but I don't think it is ever a good idea to trust our secret to an outsider. Remember what happened with the Tisroc? He found out by himself, did he not? It was far to risky to tell the Narnians."

Andrantiel fell silent. Her father was probably right, but the whole marriage thing?

"So you just told them that the Tisroc wanted me to be his bride so badly that he was willing to risk the battle just for the sake of it?"

Finally, her father looked up. He was frowning. "Well, the High King of Narnia refused to kill without a strong reason. He inquired what the difference would be if we just captured them, and I was forced to tell him that the Tisroc held a strong desire to marry you, as he intended not just to make you his bride but also to control Celestine."

"And he accepted that excuse?" asked Andrantiel in disbelief.

"He understood. Apparently, he saw you as an exception of beauty also. Now, if you are finished, my daughter. There are still some things that I need to oversee before dinner."

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Quick author's note:

Geez, thank you! To all of you: all who review (you guys rule!) and all who, well, reads this, particularly. I can't believe I've reached the middle of the story already! Hope it's still interesting to read. XD Sorry for the not so frequent updates, I'll try to update the next chapter soon!

In the meantime, drop me some lines!

P.S. Mira, thanks always! XD