A/N: Yes folks, I have finally, finally updated this story! I know it's been ages, but I've had the worst writer's block, and I sat around waiting for inspiration when really the best thing to do is write through it. I'm really hoping to have another chapter soon, but I dare not make any promises lest I jinx myself. To all the people who have not only reviewed but requested updates when I thought this story was long forgotten, my many and most sincere thanks. I hope you like this chapter (feel free to tell me if you don't) despite its short length. And now, on with the story.

Of Kings and Heroes

(Eustace)

14th April. For the umpteenth time I am left thinking that Narnians make no sense whatsoever. This is the story as I understand it so far. C. has been in love with L. pretty much since we were on the Dawn Treader and he made that mad proposal to Edmund. Then Renna showed up and she fell in love with Caspian and that made her jealous and not very nice because it all comes back to the fact that C. is hopelessly in love with L. Fine. Then C. and L. make some profession of love and start kissing each other in the woods, in the open air and act all bashful and surprised when people find them. (This has happened more than once, and I even came upon them when C. was practically naked.) After that was a long period of time when they had stars in their eyes whenever they looked at each other and made me think it might be nice to know someone like that. Then they slept together and everything was weird and now things seem to be fine, only C. and I are riding through the south of Narnia while L. and E. go to Archenland. Why C. and L. don't stay together is beyond me: it's so clear that they want to.

Before we left, Edmund took me aside and said I wasn't to mention anything about what I thought might be going on between C. and L. Right. As if it's not patently obvious. I suppose this is another one of those rules of chivalry that I will also never understand. I was raised to believe that such things never existed. There were no knights, no chivalry. Harold told me again and again that ideals were for fools and there is no honor in people, that only rules could create any kind of fairness. He said that in order to create the rules, people have to look at the world for what it really is and not blind themselves with faith in something that doesn't exist.

That's what Harold said. Blatantly he's wrong. I've figured out that much since I've been in Narnia, but that's about as far as I've gotten in three years. If he's wrong, than what's right? The only examples I can follow are Caspian and Lucy and Edmund.

So fine. I follow C. Maybe I could even say we're friends. I definitely look up to him. Maybe he loses his temper every now and again, but everyone has their faults. His yelling hurts my head, but he's not pigheaded enough to stick to his guns when he knows he was wrong. He wants to do right by everyone. He cares about those around him more than he cares about himself. Harold never taught me about that. I don't even think he believed in taking care of others. I think that's part of chivalry. The other part, the giving up your nice room for someone just because she's a girl and serving ladies first and all that, that's just the outside. The real things that make you chivalrous are underneath: honor and loyalty and bravery.

All this I learned from Caspian. I watched him, the way you watch someone well born at a dinner party where there's far too many forks. He's been my example. And for months, ever since he's been with Lucy really, he's been on about how he's not good enough. Narnians make no sense whatsoever.

16th April. Reached Lord Argoz's house today in the late afternoon and he gave us a great feast in the Narnian fashion. Am used to Narnian food now and I can say it was quite good. This is really the first time we've seen Argoz since the Dawn Treader docked at Cair Paravel and Caspian granted Argoz his old estates here. Argoz likes Caspian tremendously; you can tell by looking at him that he has a very fatherly sort of affection for C. He asked about the liberation of Narnia from Miraz, and you can be sure I perked up my ears. I still haven't heard the story in full.

So Caspian talked about being raised in Miraz's house and his nurse's stories of old Narnia and how Doctor Cornelius told him of his birthright and his flight from the castle in the middle of the night. Then he told of finding Trufflehunter and Trumpkin and Nikabrik and rousing the Old Narnians and beginning a war with Miraz even when they had little chance of winning. I thought all of this was very brave, but in the end, Caspian gave all the credit to Peter and Susan and Edmund and Lucy, particularly Peter. "He met Miraz in single combat," he said with some wonder. "And we thought for a moment he might not win, but he came out victorious in the end. So you see, Argoz, the victory does not belong to me, but to the High King. He and his royal brother and sisters returned to restore me to my throne."

I snorted. I couldn't help myself, really. Caspian turned to me and raised his eyebrows. "Eustace, you know this to be true."

"Well, yes, they helped. But you did a lot too. And besides, you act as though they're all better than you somehow when really they're just the Pevensies." I looked at Argoz. "They're only from Finchley, you know." Of course, this didn't mean anything to Lord Argoz, nor to Caspian.

Caspian's face darkened as I expected it would. "Whatever they were born to in your world, they have become far more than that here."

I wasn't really in the mood to hear another speech about how Peter was the greatest King this land had ever seen and his reign was the Golden Age and all that—well, it's not exactly rot, but sometimes it is a tad exaggerated. So I scraped back my chair and faked a yawn and said "Fair enough, Caspian. Thank you for the dinner, Lord Argoz. I'm going to bed." Caspian's mouth was hanging open. I knew he wanted to continue the lecture, but I really wasn't in the mood to hear it.

17th April. If I thought that going to bed would get me out of the lecture, I was wrong. C. came to find me this morning after breakfast. "You always doubt the four monarchs," he said.

I couldn't think of an answer that would get him to shut up, so I didn't say anything. I thought maybe he'd go away if I seemed like I didn't care.

Not so. In fact, this seemed to fuel him. "Don't you realize who your cousins are, what they've done for this country? I know you've heard the stories of the Witch. I know you know all this."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, maybe I do. But does that make them gods? Does that change the fact that Edmund was a bit sharp with me when we were back in that other place and that Susan turned her nose up at me? Does that excuse the fact that Peter was a little harsh when I was hard on Lucy? For goodness' sake, Caspian, they're just people. Even Lucy."

He sniffed and straightened his shoulders. "I know they're just people. Otherwise, Lucy and I wouldn't have…" He paused searching for some vague phrase.

"Had sex?" I offered. Perhaps I didn't learn a whole lot about chivalry growing up with Harold and Alberta, but at least I could call things for what they were.

"You make it sound so common," Caspian answered, his face darkening. "I didn't use her like that."

"Maybe not," I agreed, partly because it's pretty plain that he loves her and partly because I didn't want him to start yelling. "But that's still what you did. It's got nothing to do with using her. You wanted her. She wanted you. You slept together. Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but that's usually how it works." I saw him scowl and open his mouth so I pressed forward. "The thing is, Caspian, if you would learn to treat her like a regular girl instead of some legendary queen, you might get on a little better."

"I get on fine," he said coldly. "I give Lucy the honor she deserves. I cannot look at her as some ordinary girl simply because she is not ordinary. She never could be, whatever you may think." He turned on his heel and walked out.

18th April. C. has stayed clear of me all yesterday and today. I have had some time to think. I thought about Lucy a bit, and what I said. Perhaps Caspian was right in a sense. Lucy wasn't like other girls. Renna was regular. Lucy's a little more special. The trouble is really that Caspian thinks he's ordinary when clearly he's not. I suppose this means I'd better go and apologize. I hate that.

21st April. The nice thing about C. is that even when he gets mad at you he's always quite ready to forgive. I told him I was wrong about Lucy and he grinned and shook my hand and made it pax right away. Then I told him what I thought the problem really was and he frowned a little and said "We'll see." I suppose it's progress in that he didn't feel guilty and start the whole Telmarine bit again.

Still, now we are riding to another town in Narnia. Caspian wants to know more about his father and what kind of ruler he was, so Argoz sent him to a village that is mostly Telmarine to find out. We're nearly halfway there. I miss sleeping in a bed. That was nice, at Argoz's castle.

I had to ask C., though. "Does it really matter who your father was?"

"It does to me."

"But why? It never mattered to Edmund and Lucy and Peter and Susan."

He shrugged. "Maybe because their father never ruled Narnia or came here. I have a legacy I'm part of, a family I know nothing about. Look at you. Even now, even after three years here you still remember the things your parents taught you. Maybe you forget some things, but at least you have such a wealth of memories that you have the luxury of forgetting. I don't have anything. I don't even know if I have to live up to my parents or overcome them. That's why we're here, Eustace. That's why we're doing this."

I realized something then. Caspian is my friend. And because he's my friend, I want to help him.

25th April. For the past few days C. has been sort of holding court in the different pubs and barrooms of town, trying to understand what kind of man his father was. It's not easy going. People usually like to butter up a king, so they're all full of nothing but praise. I don't buy all the flowery words, and neither does C. So tonight while he was fielding competing compliments, I went down the street a bit and did some investigating myself. This is what I found out.

They say Caspian IX was basically a good king. He could be willful and had something of a temper—don't know anyone like that at all—but also that he was very charming and had a generous streak. (ditto) But they also say that he didn't look to change Narnia or make it better, just keep it running. One of the men said to me "What you have to understand, laddie, is that Caspian IX wasn't an ambitious King. He didn't look for anything bigger. And if you ask me, I say that's why Miraz was able to take over. He was able to lure certain people with promises of glory."

Told all this to C. this evening and he only scratched his chin and said "But what about Aslan? What about Old Narnia? Did he believe in that?" Some gratitude.

26th April. Found out per C.'s request that his father didn't really hold with Aslan or Old Narnia. Apparently he was the sort who trusted his eyes. I may be new to some Narnian ways, but I at least know that there are things beyond what we can see. Told C. this evening and he sighed and turned a book over in his hands.

"Lucy found this when we were staying at Miraz's castle," he informed me. "It belonged to my mother."

"What is it?" I asked, sure that he would tell me anyway.

"It's her diary. She writes of being married to my father, being pregnant with me, her hopes for Narnia. She says she loves him, even though he can sometimes be difficult with his temper. She says she cannot wait to hold her baby. She says she knows Old Narnia is out there somewhere, but she doesn't know how to find it, or where to begin or how. Only that she hopes to see it resurrected." He frowned a little. "She had faith, but she was…well, she was scared."

"So what are you getting at?" I asked. I was sure he was in one of those moods where he didn't really want to have a conversation, he just wanted someone to listen.

"Lucy's never scared. Or if she is, she goes forward anyway. That's what I love about her."

I sighed and put my hand on his shoulder. "I think she'd probably say the same about you."

He gave me half a smile. "But what makes me want to seek adventure when my parents so studiously avoid it?"

I started to laugh because he sounded so ridiculous. "Honestly, Caspian! Do you really think we get everything from our parents? If that were true I'd be beyond redemption. Harold and Alberta would never hold with Talking Mice."

C. looked at me for a long moment, and then he laughed too.

30th April. C. pensive as we ride on. He heard from some of the townspeople that there was a castle with people who still have loyalties to Miraz so now we are going to Investigate. Wonder if he's ready to be a King and show his power if it comes to that. He's had a lot of self doubt.

1st May. At the castle. Reports were right—they are loyal to Miraz. Of course they wouldn't tell C., they're buttering him up, but they showed me over the castle earlier and pointed out all the antiques. That bureau dates from Caspian V, this sideboard from Caspian VII. I noticed there were no wardrobes in the house. If you want to know the truth, the furniture was stiff and ugly, and the Lady of the house showed off just as if she were walking through Cair Paravel. I didn't really see what she had to be proud of.

She sniffed when I didn't fawn all over the furniture as though it was the finest thing I've ever seen. "Can you not appreciate Narnian finery? Do you lack an artistic eye?"

"Not at all," I retorted. Maybe C. might have bit his tongue, but I couldn't. "It's just that this is not Narnian finery. Cair Paravel is a lot more artistic."

"How dare you? We are the finest and oldest house in the South of Narnia. All this reflects our worh," she exclaimed angrily.

"Actually," I answered coolly, "I think that title actually belongs to the family of Camillo the Hare and Glenstorm the Centaur. Their families trace back to before the Golden Age, during the Hundred Years' Winter."

"Don't tell me you actually believe in all that! You would hold with talking vermin?" she shrieked, getting shrill. I was rather enjoying seeing her get so upset when I kept my cool.

I raised my eyebrows. "You don't? You know the King only permitted Telmarines to stay in Narnia if they accepted the Old Narnians—and Aslan." She seethed, and I felt it my duty to add "We could check with him if you're not sure." I walked off in search of Caspian.

"No, don't," she begged, trotting after me. "He wouldn't understand—"

"Well, why don't we just ask him and see?" I asked, smiling only with my lips. I pushed open the door to the great room, where I knew Caspian was.

"Caspian," I announced, but the second he looked up at me, I forgot all about what I was going to say.

He was sitting in an armchair, and before him stood a very young boy with dark, prickly hair and a very angry expression. C's face, meanwhile, read nothing but astonishment.

"Who--?" I began, but the boy turned to me and announced himself.

"I am Miraz, son of Miraz I, rightful heir to the throne of Narnia," he said all in one breath, as if he had memorized it. He looked at C. and pointed to his head. "I want my crown!"