Author's Note: Well, here's another long awaited chapter. Hope y'all enjoy it.
Disclaimer: Isaiah, Davina, and the Commander are mine. That's all.
Chapter 14- All Gone Wrong
Caspian, Isaiah, Peter, Susan, and Trumpkin entered the Doctor's room after being dropped off by the griffon's and killing all the guards who'd seen them. Edmund was in one of the towers, waiting for Peter's order to signal the rest of the army with his electric torch.
So far, their presence was unknown by the rest of the castle.
As they stepped through, each surveyed the study where they were supposed to find Doctor Cornelius. Their eyes were bombarded with papers and books lying haphazardly on the ground and halfway off the bookshelves. Susan noticed a Narnian arrow protruding from one book in particular. She walked over to see it was lodged into a painting of the royals during the Golden Age as they rode horseback with Isaiah. Next to it was a picture of her horn, but she turned away without further study.
"Where is he?" Peter asked.
"Miraz." Caspian ground out angrily and looked at Peter. "He'll be in the dungeon. I have to find him!"
"You and Isaiah have to get to the gate." Peter answered. "We can't risk it."
"I'll get there in plenty of time." Caspian answered. "If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here. And neither would you."
"Let them go, Peter. We can handle Miraz." Susan said, then leaned toward Peter and said in a lower voice so Caspian wouldn't hear, "Besides, Isaiah will keep him in line if anything gets out of hand."
Peter nodded and looked to Caspian. "Fine, but hurry. If you don't get there in time, you could put the entire raid in jeopardy."
"Thank you, King Peter. I will make all haste."
As this was going on, Susan pulled Isaiah aside.
"Make sure he gets there on time and keep him in line. He's young and more likely to act rashly if something unexpected happens."
"You make it sound like we're elders." Isaiah chuckled quietly.
"Well, we are over a thousand years older than him." she answered, then said more seriously. "Be careful, alright. We don't want to lose you again."
He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.
"You won't lose me again. And you be careful as well. Stick close to Peter." She nodded.
"Are you two ready?" Caspian asked as he finished talking to Peter.
"Yes, I'm coming." Isaiah answered. He started to leave, but Susan grabbed his arm. Standing up on her toes, she planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Don't get hurt." she said as a final warning. Isaiah smiled, and felt his face begin to grow hot. He quickly turned to Caspian and the two ran out the door for the dungeons.
"A little affectionate, aren't we, sister?" Peter chuckled.
"Shut up, Peter."
As the two entered the dungeon area, the Prince and the King made quick work of the guards before they could shout an alarm to the others. Snatching the keys, Caspian opened the cell where the Doctor was bound.
"What are you doing here, Caspian? I sent you away for your safety, not for you to save me. And who is this?" He asked, somewhat irately. Isaiah smirked before bowing slightly.
"King Isaiah the Noble. How do you do, sir?"
He watched as the Doctor's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
"We have to go, Doctor. The raid on the castle will fail if we don't." Caspian urged him up the steps. Doctor Cornelius turned around and looked him in the eye.
"Don't underestimate Miraz as your father did." he said.
"What do you mean?" Caspian asked, taking a step back in shock. The Doctor hung his head sadly.
"No!" Caspian said, eyes wide in a mix of shock and panic.
"Come on, Caspian, we have to get to the gate." Isaiah urged, fighting off the wary feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Murderer." Caspian seethed. "That murderer!" He said, a new fire blazing in his eyes.
"What's done is done, Caspian, we must go."
Caspian drew his sword and had it at Isaiah's neck in an instant. Isaiah was aghast at this change of events. He saw the tears in Caspian's eyes as he leaned in.
"I will avenge my father!" he cried, before running off and sheathing his sword in mid-run.
Both Isaiah and Cornelius stood in shock for a moment before the King turned to the Doctor.
Susan was right, he is young and rash and if we make it out of here alive, I'll... he left the threat hanging in his mind.
"Tell me the way to the gate. Then find a horse and get out of here the moment the gate open." Isaiah instructed.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Cornelius answered before giving Isaiah the instructions he'd requested.
"Is this it?" Susan whispered as silently as possible. Her brother nodded and they climbed through a large window into a nicely furnished bedroom. Sure enough, in the bed were the sleeping forms of Miraz and his wife, Pruniprismia. Silently, Susan pulled out a bow and arrow as Peter drew his sword. They crept toward the bed, but before anything could happen, the door burst open and banged back against the wall with a crash, causing the two sleeping forms to wake.
In strode Caspian, a fiery anger apparent in his eyes. He drew his sword and put it at the usurper's throat.
"Get up, murderer!" he hissed.
"Caspian!" Peter said angrily, "What are you doing here? And where is Isaiah?"
Caspian ignored the High King's questions as Miraz stood, the sword pressed firmly against his throat.
"Caspian, what are you doing?" Pruniprismia commanded as she sat up in bed. She started to get out of it, but Susan trained her arrow on the woman.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Susan threatened, and the woman heeded her advice.
The next few moments came in abrupt flashes for Susan. Miraz speaking about Caspian IX's death. Pruniprismia suddenly holding a crossbow she'd taken off the wall while they'd been distracted, now aiming for Caspian. Miraz saying Caspian wasn't fit to be king and something about his son being fatherless. Pruniprismia pulling the trigger and falling in a weeping mess on the ground. Caspian dropping his sword to clutch his hurt arm. Miraz running, leaving his wife for dead like the coward he is.
She snapped out of it quickly and ran to Caspian's side.
"This is going to hurt." she said quietly and she pulled out the arrow as quickly as possible. Peter tore off a piece of the white bedsheet and handed it to her to bind the wound. She did so and put some pressure on it to stop the bleeding.
Pruniprismia whimpered as Peter approached her and tried to move away. He grabbed the crossbow and broke it before snapping the remaining arrow in half and dropping both on the ground. He turned away and offered a hand to Caspian as he stood.
"What were you thinking?" she scolded him irately. "Where is Isaiah? You irresponsible child, I can't believe you-"
"Susan." Peter stopped her. "We don't have time for this. Let's get to the gate- he'll likely be there."
She nodded and the three hurried off to help their friend.
Isaiah grunted as he fought the six Telmarine soldiers around him, obviously they'd found that they were here. Likely Caspian's rash actions. He bit his lip as a sword grazed his upper arm and he turned to stab the soldier in the stomach.
Suddenly, the one next to him fell and he saw a red arrow in the man's neck before he landed on top of another of Isaiah's defeated opponents. Smiling, he realized his friends were fast approaching. Moments later, each of his opponents were lying on the ground.
"Hurry! Our army is waiting." Peter said.
"Are you sure it's wise to continue, Pete?" Isaiah asked as they ran down the corridor and into the courtyard.
"We can't just give up now!" Peter answered and fought off an attacking soldier. "Ed, signal the troops!" He called to a nearby tower.
"Kinda busy, Pete!" a voice yelled back. Isaiah looked up to see that he was fighting a Telmarine soldier for the electric torch, but was too occupied to grab his sword.
"Cover me, Susan." He said quickly as three Telmarines approached his right. She strung an arrow and got on that side of him as he pulled out his own bow and arrow. He notched an arrow quickly and sent it into the man Edmund had just kicked away from himself, seeing Isaiah's plan. The arrow lodged itself just under the man's armpit and he fell. Edmund retrieved the torch quickly and began flashing it to call the trooops.
Isaiah put away his bow and ran over to Peter and Caspian who'd just started lowering the bridge.
"This isn't going to work, it's too late." Susan cried over her shoulder as she shot arrows at the oncoming soldiers in protection of the three royals behind her.
"Yes it will!" Peter persisted stubbornly. "It has to!" He said almost desperately.
She turned to look at him.
"Just who are you doing this for, Peter?" she asked.
He grunted as the gates finally opened and the Narnians came charging in.
"For Narnia!" He yelled.
"And for Aslan!" two voices cried after him as he charged into battle. The two who had yelled shared a troubled expression. Both Susan and Isaiah saw the answer to her question when he didn't join them in their part of the battle cry- he was doing this for himself.
The battle went quickly. At first it almost seemed as if they could win, but the tides quickly changed as the gate fell and a minotaur held it up for the others as long as he could. The royals escaped, along with many Narnians. But when the minotaur fell- many were also left to be killed, now way of escape.
Isaiah watched as Peter's eyes brimmed with tears as he stood on the safe side of the gate. He felt like his own heart was going to burst and shatter into a thousand tiny peices. Susan reached across from her horse and slipped her hand into hers as Peter came their way.
A griffon flew by with Edmund atop and the five royals lead their people back to Aslan's How.
Davina sat rigidly in the center of the tent wishing desperately she was back at the How. She shifted her position slightly as the rope rubbed against her now raw wrists. Her captors had made camp far into the woods. The 'Commander' was in this tent, while the four others slept in another. She was made to sit in the middle of the tent on a small cushion. Her wrists were bound behind her back and the gag was still over her mouth, while her torso was tied to the center of the tent, which consisted of a large wooden stake that was over seven feet tall and driven securely into the ground.
Davina knew she wouldn't be able to sleep, and she was sure she didn't want to. The way these men looked at her made her taste bile and she most certainly wasn't going to let her guard down. She had to find a way to escape. Any way to escape.
"Oh Aslan," she whispered. "Where are you?"