Hi there,

to connect it all – the events immediately preceding the action of this chapter are in the first half of chap 14 of the main story ‚La Vida Telmarina', just in case you'd like to check that out as well.

Have fun!


The weeks and seasons passed, and soon the evening had come when Caspian had to learn of his aunt's pregnancy – in dispute with Miraz, in front of everyone …

His life had felt almost half as cynical until then, thanks to Tayana and his friends, but this revelation changed it all. Whatever had seemed to turn out for the better got reversed in the blink of an eye, by the certainty that Caspian would likely have to leave Telmar behind soon – if he did not wish to die like his parents.

So it also happened to be the very night Caspian began to see his uncle for who he really was. Miraz had turned to darkness a long time ago, as a man to whom nothing was sacred, and where murder was a mere means to an end.

Should Pruna give him a son, he would try to get rid of Caspian immediately, and despite everything that had already happened between them, it still felt insulting.

But the worst part was the helplessness Caspian saw himself exposed to – he could do nothing against this loud injustice as Miraz had long since seized all power in Telmar.

And yet, Caspian was mostly angry at himself. How could he have been so stupidly blind for all his life? Perhaps, given his foolish faith in the good of all people, he deserved no less. But after years of indifference and emotional numbness, it almost drove him insane to suddenly feel so clearly.

And it was rage he felt.

"You're bleeding," Tayana whispered at the sight of his hand wrapped in linen cloth. She rushed towards Caspian as Lorella led him into Ratón's tavern with Emilio and Cyrena.

Cuervo, Leya and Juanito had arrived hours ago, but apart from that, the tavern was unusually empty that evening – the castle's festivities with fireworks and all sorts of surprises probably attracted more people than expected.

And Caspian had already guessed what the occasion might be, still he had wished to be all wrong.

"What happened?" Tayana asked again when no one at all began to explain the situation.

Caspian, however, did not react. His darkly intent face was proof of him not even listening to her.

Tayana glanced at Lorella and Cyrena impatiently, but both seemed lost for words when the Prince just headed directly to Ratón.

The old bartender knew exactly what he wanted and without long hesitation he placed two shot glasses full to the brim on the counter, which Caspian emptied one after the other.

Cuervo and Juanito also began to worry, Leya just shrugged her shoulders.

"Príncipe, look at me," Tayana finally demanded, putting her hands on her hips. "¿Qué pasó?"

Caspian gave her a dull look and then glanced at Ratón again, who proceeded to fill a third glass. After Caspian had also emptied that, he finally said, "Pruna is with child. That's it. That's today's surprise."

The silence that followed these words lay heavy on them. Everyone knew exactly what the consequences might be for Caspian.

"So the rumors were true," Tayana said under her breath. "One for me, too, Ratón," she ordered, quite in shock.

"And what about your hand?" she asked when she put her empty glass down again. "Say something, Caspian, I'm worried! What is it with your hand?"

"It's nothing, I was just angry – Miraz basically admitted that he'd walk over dead bodies for the throne," he replied and briefly buried his face in his uninjured hand. "And he already has, I'm certain he murdered my parents. That and his child changes everything …"

"We can only hope for it to be a girl," Cuervo sighed and sat down next to them at the counter. "We all know what happens otherwise when he's even sacrificed his own brother for the throne."

Tayana nodded, trying to swallow the rush of anxiety this new set of information caused her.

"Ratón, please don't talk to anyone about this," Caspian asked, and the old man nodded as a matter of course. To see the pity on his wrinkled face was as heartwarming as it was depressing, and Ratón only knew one way to help.

"On the house, chicos." He put a bottle on the table and gave them a crooked smiled. "I'm glad at least you're here and not leaving me for that spectacle in the woods or the castle hustle and bustle …"

"What's in the woods?" Cuervo asked. If there was a chance to distract Caspian, they definitely had to take it.

"Oh, it's just a festival of lights," Ratón replied, snidely rolling his eyes. "Supposedly one in accordance to ancient Narnian traditions, but you can hardly say that out loud these days. It can't be very spectacular."

Cuervo's face lit up and Tayana nodded at him, too. They had to go there.


The flames of the great fire in the middle of the forest was illuminating the night in warm light. Thick smoke kept moving with the wind in the most arbitrary directions, but it did not disturb the people. The smell of resin, coal and coniferous trees was in the air. Garlands meandering through the trees above, and artists showing their skills in shadow plays in front of an astonished audience everywhere.

"And what's Narnian about that?" whispered Cuervo, seemingly puzzled.

"Do you see what he's forming with his hands?" Caspian asked, pointing to one of the shadow players. He took a large, careless sip from the bottle he had taken with him, then added, "A badger, a wolf, perhaps Maugrim, the witch with her scepter …"

"Does one have to be as drunk as you to see that?" Emilio tried to jest, but Caspian just gave him a gloomy look.

"I guess Cornelius just couldn't help but tell you lots about Narnia all the time, eh?" Cuervo concluded.

Caspian shook his head. "I wanted to know everything. Every detail."

"Sons of Adam, Daughters of Eve," a juggler suddenly greeted them, right before he was well startled.

"Prince Caspian," he said under his breath, clearly astonished. Then he pointed to the distant castle, mumbling, "but … aren't you supposed to be … isn't your uncle celebrating? How can you be here?"

"I didn't exactly feel like celebrating," Caspian said, recklessness hardly hidden in his voice.

And that seemed to upset the man even more. "Your family forbade festivities like this in the forest, centuries ago, but the custom survived, and we really mean no harm, we –"

"I'm the last one to betray you – if you don't mention my presence," Caspian replied firmly. He kept looking around for a moment before he asked, "Do you have a place by the fire for us?"

The man caught some air again, visibly relieved, and then led them to the other side of the meadow. There indeed was a free place in front of the huge bonfire, so the friends sat down and as it was getting quite crowded, Tayana moved onto Caspian's lap, as Leya did with Emilio.

"It will be alright, Príncipe, don't worry," Tayana tried to find soothing words of encouragement, but Caspian shook his head fiercely.

"I can feel that I'm out of lucky." Once again, he took a sip from the bottle and seemed more lost than ever.

"You mustn't think that way. Maybe –"

"No, not this time", he interrupted her, pulling her closer to him nevertheless. "Everything will change, it's inevitable. I'm just not ready for it."

"Oh yes, you are," she was quick to say. "If not you, who then? You're a soldier, stand up like one! You're the rightful heir to the throne, you –"

"No, the blood running through my veins alone …" He sighed irritably and paused. "My ancestors have murdered whole nations, what kind of inheritance is that?"

He took the bottle again and Tayana shook her head in disbelief when she grabbed the alcohol to put it away from him. "Stop it!" she rebuked. "You're completely oblivious in your anger. Not only blue blood is in your veins, also that of your mother! She was a fighter. The daughter of a minority of this country and she certainly didn't sing you to sleep with songs of freedom and rebellion for nothing while she could!"

For a moment there, Caspian saw his mother's beautiful face before him, as if she had never left him. Lykiana's bright eyes, the occasional freckle, her devoted smile. And yet, with every thought of her, also Miraz crept into his consciousness. A man who had loved her and yet managed to become her murderer. A man to whom he could not even prove his crimes and who therefore remained unpunished.

"Her life taken for that of a traitor who still longs for my father's crown," he whispered. "But everyone's hands are tied, even mine, as he's already seized all power when I was a child!"

"Caspian, don't give up." Tayana watched him motherly, pulling the bottle away yet again when he tried to reach for it. "And stop getting drunk, cariño. You need to stay focused."

She raked her fingers through his hair, looking at him intently. "You are the rightful King. The day will come when you will face Miraz, you know it yourself, deep down."

"It's not as simple as that," Caspian moaned, but she did not let go.

"No, mark my words," she said, raised an index-finger on him. "Sooner or later, you must face your destiny."

She was so unusually serious that suddenly, he could not help but smile.

"If you say so … But let's agree on later today, for the sake of simplicity," he retorted with a smirk as she bit her lips in amusement.

"You're impossible," she said, closing her arms around him. They were no longer a couple, and yet she would never let go of him when he needed her.

They kept watching the people dancing and laughing in the smoke. Still Caspian couldn't shake the feeling that his time was running out.


His last weeks in Telmar were shaped by lethargy. He had planned to keep a cool head, not to let anything show, but for the first time in his life it was not easy for him to save face. Every month that Pruna pregnancy advanced, his desire to break out and start over far away increased.

His spirits changed, and even his friends could not deny it. He forbade himself any emotion – just as he had learned as a child. So the only times he truly found relief and tranquility was when he poisoned himself to the point of unconsciousness. And as much as he had tried to resist the urge, the circumstances let utter indifference arise in him, and he was soon only too happy to surrender to it.

"Caspian, I beg of you," Lorella hissed, dragging him along with her. "I can't stand by and watch you let yourself go every night. You need company! Don't push us away. And just think what this all does to your reputation …"

"Oh the damage," he replied, sarcasm lacing every word.

Shaking her head in annoyance, Lorella shoved him through the back door into the yard of Emilio's family estate. The son of the house had made himself comfortable with their friends around a table in the empty stables by candlelight and he was obviously more than a little tipsy himself. Tayana was whirling through the yard with Cuervo and Leya was playing cards with Cyrena and Juanito.

But when Lorella and Caspian came to join them, for a moment there, everyone fell silent.

"Tío, you look terrible," Emilio pitifully noted, but Caspian did not bother to respond.

Just like Cuervo, Tayana approached them, and she pulled Caspian to the table with her.

"We were just talking about the fact that it might just as well be a girl," she tried to cheer him up in vain.

He sat down with a sigh, massaging his temples as he said, "In two or three weeks you'll see if you're right."

He then proceeded to fill one of the glasses on the table and emptied it quickly, obviously disinterested in talking to anyone at all.

"I see." Tayana crossed his arms over her chest as he filled his glass yet again, "so you're in a great mood again."

Everyone was looking up at them with big eyes – Tayana was the only one who dared to speak to him bluntly like that. But Caspian took only one deep breath in, then he stood up with a tired, bitter smile on his face. As he already began walking away, he said, "See, Lorella?That's precisely why I didn't want to accompany you."

"I just … I just thought we could cheer you up," she struggled for words, standing up from Cuervo's lap herself.

Caspian, however, only waved his hand dismissively, heading on for the cellar of the house on the opposite side of the yard.

"Oh no, please, not the cellar again …" Emilio moaned. He knew exactly what Caspian was up to.

"Why not?" Tayana asked. "What's in the cellar?"

Emilio glanced around the barn uneasily, and instead of answering, he preferred to take a quick sip of his drink.

"You really are like brothers," Lorella sighed, rolling her eyes. "Tell me, Emilio!"

"Well, what do you think?" he asked.

Tayana was alarmed at once. "Oh, I knew it, you know no limits!"

"Well …" Emilio shrugged. "What can I say?"

"We're talking about the almost harmless herbs, right?" Tayana tried to put the words she wanted to hear into his mouth.

But Emilio shook his head nervously. "To be perfectly honest, not necessarily …"

"Emilio!" Lorella cried in indignation. "You can't be serious!"

"Don't shout at me," he begged. "I know it's not good …"

"Not good?" Lorella huffed – and Emilio was only too happy that his parents were far away on Galma these days to not notice anything.

"Have you completely lost your mind?" Lorella shouted at him yet again. "Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?"

"I know," Emilio said, biting his lips. "And he knows it, too. He just doesn't care anymore …"

"You know he's not making good choices since he's found out about Pruna – you should have stopped this!" Lorella sighed. "We are his family – if we don't talk sense into him, nobody will!"

They all seemed to be lost for words, but Tayana had heard enough. She got up to hurry towards the cellar, and Lorella and Emilio quickly followed her.

"In here, I suppose," Emilio said, guilt piercing though him already. He guided them into the last cellar room – but Caspian was not there. Emilio hurried to the goods packages to briefly check them, then he turned around to the girls in relief.

"Untouched," he said. "Perhaps he's come to his senses after all."

"Then where is he?" Tayana was anxious to ask.

"The veranda in front of the house maybe, we used to go there a lot in the past," Emilio suspected, and he hit the mark.

Caspian had leaned himself against the house wall next to the door, although there were benches on the veranda. His empty gaze into the calles of the city before them barely reflected how he was really feeling.

"Tío," Emilio said, sitting down next to him, "I thought you were going to –"

"Me, too."

The two girls also sat down with them, right on the floor, and Tayana soon sneaked into Caspian's arm to lean against him. He pulled her closer and laid his head on her shoulder, clearly dead tired.

"This uncertainty is driving me insane," he said as though he wanted to apologize.

"I know, cariño." Tayana nodded, looking down on the ground. "I didn't mean to push you away – you need us now. No matter your mood, you belong to us."

A bleak smile spread across his face, then, after all these weeks, she finally worked up the courage to ask, "What if it's a boy?"

"Then we won't be able to say goodbye," he replied.

"And you really want to go to the woods?" Lorella added.

"For now." He nodded, staring into the distance. "I'll just have to see what comes next."

"I'm going with you," Emilio announced, but Caspian just shook his head.

"I'm not leaving you alone, how many times do I have to say this?"

"You can't," Caspian said, and his regret was obvious. "I can't allow you to put yourself in danger because of me. I owe that to your parents."

"We've spent every single day together, for years," he all but whispered. "I won't leave you alone when it finally gets exciting."

"I'll just be gone, Emilio," Caspian replied, clearly unhappy about it as well. "This we can't do together."

"That breaks my heart," Tayana said in a fragile voice, and Caspian hugged her even tighter.

"I'll miss you all," he said, feeling his stomach burn at those words.

But they were still together in this very moment – and that was enough for now.

The night when Cornelius hurried to wake him up because Prunaprismia had indeed given birth to a boy came very soon. And Caspian had not been wrong all those months before – Miraz had indeed intended to kill him.

He had escaped by a hair's breadth from the arrows of the soldiers who had trained him all his life, and he had managed to reach the woods with Estrella.

The rest was to go down in history and whether it was fate or not, the following weeks carried him away like an undertow. His life got turned upside down well before he finally wore the crown.