A/n:

Thanks to my wonderful reviewers AlanaFaith2, lairyfight, cupcakemania22, EarthToNarnia, Caspian the Navigator, elomeno, BarnCat23, and Guest!

Now in this chapter you will have the following:
1) the 4 characters' reactions to the letter you so very much enjoyed reading
2) more kissing!
3) Kalyn's introspection!

Enjoy!


~Narrator's POV~

Whilst Levin was gone, there were two things Helena could not wait for. One being Levin's return, the other being reading Caspian IX's letter. As soon as there were knocks on the door, Helena leapt off her bed and rushed to the door, pulling it wide open. Once identifying the knocker as Levin, she had smashed her lips onto his, without prior warning. He entered her room and without breaking the kiss, closed the door. She only pulled away when she ran out of breath. "Welcome back, darling."

"'Darling'?" Levin chuckled.

"My Prince," Helena grinned, caressing Levin's cheeks. Levin began to notice the mischief in the expression she wore. And indeed an idea had crept into her mind. Again taking advantage of the element of surprise, she licked her lip enticingly and, taking his hand, watched as the expression on his face turned to one of curiosity and amusement and eagerness.

She pulled him closer and he saw where she was leading him – to her bed. He deliberately told her not to get ideas. He was about to raise a concern when she had made the first move and had pushed him onto her bed. She wasn't strong enough to get him to lie down, but it wasn't her intention anyway. He sat on her bed while she stood and was kissing him fervently. In a matter of minutes he was kissing her collarbone, her hands fisting his elegantly tousled hair. She felt her knees go weak and she leaned on his firm body for support, gasping his name and gripping the hem of his shirt, even tugging on it. He chuckled satisfactorily and, while smirking at her, pulled her onto his lap. She held his face in her hands and kissed him with a passionate flame, a fire that burned behind her alluring lips that felt just like the petals of a rose to him. He thought that that must be how the warmth of a fire-flower felt like.

Her lips traveled to a spot below his ear. She nibbled on it softly. Inexperienced she was, but whatever move she made that had earned soft grunts of pleasure and enjoyment from him would be continued.

Levin felt as if he was burning; the touch of her fingertips and her lips set him ablaze. But it was a fantastic way to burn, to him. For all he knew, she could be leaving marks that would be visible at dinner, which wouldn't be long from now, he thought.

"Going too far?" Helena asked, giggling.

"We have all the time in the world if you want us to go all the way, my beautiful Princess." Levin beamed. "But I'll wait. We should wait."

"Yeah," Helena nodded shyly. "We have all the time in the world. Except now it's time for dinner, isn't it?"

"Indeed." Levin replied. "Well I guess we'll have to leave the unread letter till later then." He stood up and touched the spot on his neck and felt a light bruise forming. His eyes widened for a moment before realizing what Helena had just done. "Oh, my Lady," he scratched his head cutely.

"Something the matter, darling?" Helena batted her eyelashes innocently.

"No, nothing." Levin played along.

"Good. Then let's go for dinner." Helena linked arms with Levin and they proceeded to the dining room, both of them wondering and predicting what questions their families would ask.


At dinner, Salvador and Lisa were telling the Narnians about their lives on Earth. Levin did listen, but he was more focused on teasing Helena. Occasionally, he'd lean in to whisper endearments into her ear, quite effectively making her blush, and she couldn't stop thinking of how they made out just then. Oh, all the ways he could make her feel. Out of this world.

"I want to kiss you," Levin whispered. Helena shot him a look that expressed a mutual wish to lock lips, but she teased him to no end by biting on her lip, and by smearing some chocolate on the corner of her mouth when dessert was served. The attraction was driving both of them insane. They still couldn't come to terms with the fact that they had been acting their dreams out. What could possibly be better than this?


The next day, after breakfast, Levin went to Helena's room again, one of his favorite places to be. This time, they greeted with a quick peck on the lips instead.

"My parents don't have much to do this morning, so how would you like it if you and I were to bring the enveloped parchments to them? I guess they deserve to read the letter and the poem after all." Levin suggested.

"I think it's a good idea," Helena grinned. "Let's go then."

They then headed to a royal lounge where the King and Queen were, and jumped into a discussion.

"You found this in the How?" Kalyn inquired, as Levin and Helena nodded in reply.

"That's curious; I never knew my father wrote a letter and a poem to me. Not even the Professor mentioned it to me once." Caspian began reading.


"Curse?" Levin asked, frowning slightly. "What is the meaning of this?"

Helena was getting nervous, thinking of what she saw and interpreted from the hieroglyphs in the How yesterday. She was already falling for Levin, and as much as she wanted to enter into a romantic relationship with him, she was scared of being Queen, because she suspected that was why Aslan brought her here to Narnia: to take her place as the eleventh Caspian's Queen. She wasn't Telmarine, and she didn't consider herself Narnian yet, so perhaps she would be an eligible candidate. She kept telling herself that the next Queen wasn't necessarily her, as there were thousands of other ladies who fit the criteria as well, but she couldn't think of any other reason why Aslan would have sent her here. She knew there had to be a reason why she was dead, but her cousins weren't. It was because her stay here was indefinite, but that was not the case for Salvador and Lisa who would one day have to return to Earth. Then she'll truly be all on her own, and she had never felt so scared in her life.

King Caspian turned to his Queen, tears pooling in his eyes. He couldn't stop himself from getting emotional. He never thought his father had written him this letter so many years ago. He was glad he found this letter now, and most importantly relieved that he had made his father proud. After all, the green mist had shown him that one of his worst fears was disappointing his father. Caspian felt blessed to have Kalyn, and to have his family now. Sometimes he felt as if he was neglecting his family due to his kingly duties, so he told himself that he must seek to strive for a balance as his father had advised him to, even though he was eternally thankful that his family understood him so well and knew that it wasn't easy being King, being the busiest person in whole the nation, with so many responsibilities. He was so grateful for what he had now. And he was going to cherish those closest to him, those who meant the most to him, those who were an inalienable part of his life.

Kalyn grasped Caspian's hand in support and comfort whilst speaking to her son. "It means that you will be punished if you marry a Telmarine-Narnian woman. In what way, I know not, but I hope there never comes a day when we'll know."

"When we got engaged we didn't know of this curse; it was the magician Coriakin who informed us." Caspian said. "But I still want you to marry the person you love, Levin, and don't let the curse affect your choices."

"How can I not let it affect my choices? What if I am in love with a Telmarine-Narnian? What am I to do then? Take her as a mistress, and marry someone else?" Levin questioned, clearly frustrated. "That's always an option," he said sardonically, though of course he wasn't really considering the option.

"You aren't in love with a Telmarine-Narnian woman, are you?" Helena turned to Levin anxiously. Then the image of the young prince kissing and courting another woman crept into Helena's mind. She frowned at the thought, and tried to ignore it.

"No," Levin replied. "I was speaking hypothetically. We inherited this kingdom by primogeniture; I can understand that, but I shouldn't have to face the consequences of a mistake my forefather has made! This is unfair!"

"Well I've…never really thought about that." Caspian stroked his chin. "Do we Telmarine Kings have to be penalized because we invaded Narnia and took it by force?"

"I don't want to have to live my life in fear." Levin shook his head and bit his lip anxiously.

"I won't let that happen." Helena spoke up, sounding more determined than ever. She didn't know where this newfound kind of bravery came from, but she suddenly had the guts to say this. "Maybe that's what my cousins and I are here for. To find you a bride, a beneficial match who won't expose you to the threat of suffering a curse. I'll take care of that."

Kalyn gulped. When Aslan sent her here to Narnia she was told by the Great Lion that her mission was to find a Queen for the King. And now she became the Queen. She wondered if this was the case for Helena. The High King's daughter. It all seemed befitting.

"You have no obligation to do so. You shouldn't have to do anything for me. You are not indebted to me in any way." Levin replied. "And…who's going to take care of you?"

"It's not always about obligation." Helena explained. "It's about kindness. And altruism. And compassion. And I can take care of myself. I'm 18. I'm well educated. I've died once before. There can't possibly be anything I'd have to fear."

Levin felt as if his worries had been expelled, and smiled. "Now where would I ever find someone like you?"

Helena was about to say that there was no one like her, that she was who she was and people could either take it or leave it, but his appreciative smile was infectious and made her smile too.

Caspian and Kalyn noticed the blooming attraction between their eldest and the golden-haired Princess. They didn't mean to press a union between the two young ones, but they had to admit, love was in the air.


~Kalyn's POV~

The sightings of what I believed to be the Green Witch haunted and daunted me. This time, I couldn't share my burden with Caspian. I'd been doing my job, staying away from open glades, and offering alternatives when he suggested having a picnic in the meadows. As I didn't know which one of my sons the Lady of the Green Kirtle was going to come after, I made sure none of my children strayed in the grasslands.

What if that's not enough though? What if my efforts could not spare me my imminent death? I didn't want to leave my family behind. I knew it would shatter them. The thought of an afterlife in Aslan's Country didn't sound too bad, and I would get to see my brother again, but it just was not strong enough a relief to counteract my anxiety. I guessed, though, all in all I was just afraid of the unknown. Oblivion.

I believed philosophers and non-philosophers stood on a level of equality with respect to death. There were no experts on death. Not even those who studied the death process had an edge on the rest of us. We were all equals in thinking about death, and we all began and ended thinking about it from a position of ignorance.

Death and its concept were absolutely empty. No picture came to mind. The concept of death had a use for the living, while death itself had no use for anything. Was death a simple termination, or was it a portal to another life?

Perhaps I would have to resort to thinking of death metaphorically. Say, death was a blank wall. Each of us was born facing this wall. From that moment on, every step we took was towards it, no matter which way we turn. There was simply no other direction to take. Like a fun house mirror, the wall of death showed us our living fears and distorted images of ourselves. All we could see when we look at death was just a reflection of our own lives, scarily enough.

Death had no subjective meaning at all. Paradoxically, as long as I was alive, I would be living toward that future possibility of no longer having possibilities. I couldn't make sense of death, even though it was regarded as one of the most natural processes of life – its end.

Taking a more detached point of view, I realized that birth and death were the bookends of our lives. Living towards death in time gave one's life a direction and framework within which to understand the changes that life brought. The young looked forward. The old looked back. What mattered to us changed as we got older. The young had an intellectual understanding that death would come to us all, but their mortality had not become real to them. I saw that when I looked at my children. For the old, mortality started to sink in, and the thought made me shudder at times.

Why should I be so scared of death though? I had died once, after all. I hadn't seen it coming, and so ignorance was bliss indeed. In what ways would this time, this death, be different? Should I prepare myself for it?

For a long time, I had been puzzled by the idea of death. Death was inevitable, but I figured that in the end, it was useful to think about death only to the point that it freed me to live fully immersed in the life I had yet to live. Knowing the brevity of life, I should be inspired to live life to the fullest, and not to wallow in my misery. There was no point further lingering on this topic, if it would hinder me from making the best out of the short life I had. Well, technically, life should not be regarded as short. Because in truth, it was the longest thing we would ever experience. What a wonderful paradox life was!

I took a deep breath and tried to focus my mind on other matters. I inhaled deeply, simply because I never knew when my last breath would be. However I did send a prayer to Aslan, beseeching the Great Lion to keep us all safe. Into Him I commended my soul and I just wanted my family to be safe and sound, even if I could no longer physically be with them.


A/n:

So death could be drawing near! My questions to you all are:

1) do you want Kalyn to die?
2) which Prince do you think is most likely to fall into the traps and talons of the Green Witch?
3) did you like Kalyn's thoughts?

Please tell me in your reviews! Thank you all!