Threads

Chapter 2

When Miraz's newborn son had been born a million festivities erupted in the Telmarine castle. Eirene must have been around 10 years old when her nephew was born, but she recalled everything perfectly as if it had only been yesterday. She remembered that despite the flamboyant and apparent happiness that permeated the atmosphere, there was a quiet sense of discomfort growing within. In particular, there was an uneasiness around her brother Caspian. There were countless whispers, which she failed to understand at such a young age.

Amongst that whispering were rumors of Professor Cornelius conspiring against Miraz. Eirene had no time to ask him if there was any truth to them—instead, in the fortnight that followed the birth of Miraz's child, Professor Cornelius made a strange set of petitions to Eirene. The first was to retrieve as many books containing old Narnian tales as possible, out of her late father's library. The second was to familiarize herself with the relics of the Ancient Kings and Queens of Old: a bow and arrow, a horn, a sword, a dagger, and some sort of potion.

The third request came on a rather rainy day. Professor Cornelius looked particularly nervous when he asked Eirene to keep Caspian in her chambers. 'Keep him alert and awake, until I come looking for you', he'd said.

Cornelius had also asked Eirene to dismiss all of her ladies in waiting. He had also asked both her and Caspian to change into riding garments.

Eirene complied with the Professor's requests without complaint; after all, he was the one she trusted the most after her father's death. And while she didn't question what he asked, still she wondered what was the point.

Hours after nightfall, locked in Eirene's chambers, she wondered how to keep little Caspian awake. They'd already played all of the games they knew. And if Eirene had to be honest, she was growing drowsy as well.

Caspian sat by the fireplace, and it was then that she remembered she still had one book about Ancient Narnia. She had only found it the previous day, she hadn't been able to give it to the professor. She took it off her desk: The Old Tales of Narnia's Magic. It was an old book, thick and heavy, but with marvelous illustrations.

'That should help me keep my brother entertained', she thought.

"Come on, Cas. Today is storytime day!"

Caspian smiled and opened his black eyes wide.

"Oh! Let me fetch Mr. Knightling!"

"Of course!" Eirene said, looking at the stuffed toy that Caspian had left on the bed. The toy was a stuffed Telmarine soldier that his father had given him years before.

"Come on, then!" Eirene said, as she waited for her brother to sit down next to her.

"Which story would you like to hear today, little brother?"

"Mmm...The one about the magical stag! Do you think we'll ever see it?" Caspian said excitedly.

"Maybe one day," Eirene laughed.

She opened the book to where the story was and then turned to her brother. He was too distracted playing with Mr. Knightling, fighting an invisible enemy. Eirene fumbled her brother's straight hair before she began reading.

"The Kings and Queens of Old", Eirene read "ruled Narnia fairly and prosperously. But as summer rolled in, the early signs of fall were beginning to show. The winds swooshed in and leaves fell," Eirene made swooping wind-like sounds and tickled her brother, " and a new cycle was about to begin."

"The four siblings, Peter the Magnificent, Susan the Gentle, Edmund the Just, and Lucy the Valiant, were always fond of feasting their beloved Narnian subjects before the beginning of each season.

"Just as they were preparing for the feast and exactly one day before fall began, Mr. Tomnus, the most loyal fawn and Queen Lucy's best friend, presented himself in the throne room.

"'Your royal highnesses, a white stag has just been sighted near Lanter's Waste-'"

"Where is that? We've never been!" Caspian turned to look at his sister, away from the illustration that depicted the four siblings at their thrones.

Eirene flipped the pages of the book until the last chapter, where a detailed map of Narnia gleamed. She was already familiar with the geography, and she pointed to the place quickly. Caspian leaned closer.

"Wow! Uncle Miraz's maps look nothing like this!"

Caspian traced his finger over the map, trying to read the names slowly.

"Cair Perevel," Caspian said.

"Paravel," Eirene corrected. "It's as if it were a completely different country, isn't it?"

But Caspian didn't answer.

"Look! Another castle!" He pointed at one that was hidden between mountains. The label read 'The White Witch's Castle'.

"Are witches real?"

"Perhaps they were once, little brother."

Caspian kept looking.

"And what about this?", he pointed at something else.

"That's the stone table. Aslan's How."

"What's a How? What's an Aslan?" Caspian asked, ever curious.

"The Great Lion," Eirene stated. "That was the place where he sacrificed himself, to make amends for one of the King's mistakes, and to save the whole world of Narnia."

"Can kings make mistakes?" Caspian wondered.

Eirene turned to look at the illustration and looked at the Kings and Queens of Old, trying to identify which of the two Kings Aslan had sacrificed himself for. Then, her eyes landed on King Edmund the Just, dark-haired and thoughtful-looking. Eirene remembered the tale she'd read: Aslan offered to pay for what Edmund had done. After all, he was only just a boy when the White Witch—

But before Caspian could say anything else, or before Eirene could start telling King Edmund's story, the door opened. The Professor came hastily and barred the door behind him.

"Miraz has sent soldiers, we have to leave. Now!"

Eirene stood immediately and took Caspian's hand.

"What, why?"

"There's no time, child. Leave your fireplace on, that way they'll still think you're here."

Eirene did so without question again. They left through a secret corridor and slipped past all guards in the night. They took only two horses. Eirene held her little brother, as the Professor had instructed. Before leaving the castle grounds, the professor checked his bag, looking to see if he had everything. Eirene saw a white horn tied to his belt. 'One of the relics', she thought. She wanted to say something, but Cornelius spurred his horse on and Eirene kept quiet. After, they ran off in the night.

They rode towards the sea, but Eirene didn't recognize the landscape. Telmarines didn't venture beyond their ancient established cities. Ghosts and ghouls , they said.

Still, Eirene tried to know where they were going. She didn't recognize it from memory, but she recognized it by the map she had just seen. They rode in direction of the port, where the map had marked Cair Paravel. Eirene overlooked the horizon, waiting to see the shadow of the castle over in the distance. Perhaps it would still be illuminated, perhaps people still inhabited it.

Then, the Professor came to an abrupt halt near a creek. He descended the horse and helped Caspian down. He mounted him on a rowing boat, floating in the water. Cornelius passed bags from his horse to the boat. Eirene was about to get in the boat herself, but the professor stepped before her.

He looked into her eyes with a fatherly gaze. He smirked, but there was nothing but sadness in that smile.

"The dynasty needs to be saved. You two are key pieces. You are of royal blood, they'll never harm you, Eirene," he touched her shoulder.

"You're young but you will learn. You already know about the Ancient Magic, about the Ancient Kings and Queens. This is what will save us. And I l love you both dearly."

Cornelius tightened his smirk and held on to her gaze, "I hope you'll forgive me. One day," he finished.

Eirene was startled and came closer to the professor. But he walked away.

"Wait! Wait! Why are you saying goodbye? Where are you taking him?"

Cornelius turned around, tears streaming down his face.

"I'm sorry," he said.

As they rode away in the boat, Caspian began to cry. Eirene could only see her brother's hand extended in the distance, reaching for her. Eirene stepped into the creek, the water reaching her knees. She ran as far as she could, and then she divided into the water. She screamed for her brother.

Caspian screamed back and lunged forward. The Professor, trying to catch him in a hurry, sprung forwards, too. Mr. Knightling, which Caspian had been holding in his hands, fell into the water.

The boat rocked, making Caspian lose his balance. He didn't fall. Instead, he tried to break free of the Professor's protective grip, but with no success.

The last thing Eirene saw, was Caspian blowing the white horn.

The sound was loud and impressive, and the entire forest seemed to be silenced by it, too. After it blew, Eirene was able to make out certain shadows stirring slowly in the dark. She narrowed her eyes and saw small creatures emerging from the tree line. Some walked on four legs, some merely on its rear part. Some were creatures of illusion that she recognized from her fantastical books.

'Is that a minotaur?' she wondered to herself.

But before she could notice anything else, she heard someone dive into the water behind her. She was unable to turn around, being knocked unconscious by an unknown figure.

Eirene woke the following day in her bed, with the sound of bells tolling.

Caspian was gone.

She had been left behind.

Eirene woke up from the memories that came flooding into her in dreams. She woke up with cold sweat on her brow, nine years later from that actual night.

Bells tolled again and she turned to her window. She groaned, knowing that the bells marked another anniversary of Caspian's disappearance.

Back then, they alarmed the city of the crown prince's disappearance. Now, they tolled in memory of that day.

Eirene sat on the bed; that was the sound of her nightmares. She let out an exasperated sigh and bashed her sheets—how much she hated the eternal reminder that she'd been abandoned, that she'd never see her brother again. Her heartfelt was as empty as ever.

The bells tolled for an hour before dawn, and an hour before dusk. That was the great grand gesture of the Lord Protector Miraz, in his false preoccupation, to ensure that "Caspian's memory was never forgotten". Ladies, lords and commoners all bought his false mourning act at first, but Eirene saw right through it. If she hadn't seen the exact moment when Caspian and Professor Cornelius rowed away looking for safety, she would have probably believed it too.

And so the bells tolled year after year, all the while Miraz prepared his bratty son to steal the throne.

She got out of bed and stepped in front of the fireplace. She turned around when she heard the door open. One of her ladies stepped in; she looked at the riding garments that hung over her dresser.

"Do I ready the horse, your grace?"

"Please do, Rose" Eirene replied amicably.

Eirene heard the door close as she continued looking at the flames.

Every year was the same. She would wake up to the sound of the wretched bells. And every year she readied herself before dawn and leave the castle grounds when the first rays of sunlight emerged.

That year was no different. She crossed the castle grounds onto the stables. She greeted Ciro, the keeper, at the entrance. He was waiting for her with the reigns of the horse. Eirene smiled at the man.

"I see you've let your beard grow!"

"I have your grace, although I think it makes me look a bit older," he said. Eirene smiled still, looking at his completely white beard.

"Well, it suits you. And I apologize for making you wake this early," Eirene said as she patted Nyx, her black horse, on the nose.

"No need, your grace," Ciro smiled, "the bells would wake me up in any case."

Eirene chuckled, "That makes two of us."

"At least I get to see your grace off," Ciro said, before bowing his head and leaving the stables.

She checked the horse's saddle, making sure that Ciro had included her sheathed sword too. Once she ensured it, she tied Nyx to a post and walked towards the soldier's stables.

Making sure she didn't disturb any of the horses and that no one saw her, she unsheathed another sword from the rack in front of her. She let the sword down and only took the carcass with her. She tied it up next to her sword and climbed on her horse.

"Let's go, girl," she untied Nyx, reigned in and advanced.

She crossed the castle bridge at a normal pace and sped up once in the outskirts of town. She turned around to make sure she was not being followed; she smiled when she confirmed she was on her own. Even Miraz knew it was best she was left alone on the commemoration of that day.

She rode the same road every year, exactly the one that Professor Cornelius, Caspian, and herself had years ago. The last of Narnia Caspian saw before being shipped away, the last scene she had of her brother before being left behind.

She rode to the creek, contemplated the dawn there. Her hopeful self always half-expected him to return on the same day he had left. But year after year, Eirene failed to see the boat that had taken her brother away.

She regained her breath and took a sip of the wine that she had brought for herself. She inwardly toasted to the health of her brother, wherever he might be.

She wiped away a tear that had fallen on her cheek, knowing that simply hoping was no longer enough. The legacy of the dynasty had to endure, whether Caspian was here to ensure it or not.

She clicked her tongue and made Nyx run. It took her years to identify the white horn Caspian had blown that night, but when she finally did, all she wanted to do was find the rest of the relics.

She'd spent a long amount of time convincing lords and ladies at court of what had happened that night. Of how Caspian exiled somewhere, but safe. And how finding those relics could be of help—those could be clues as to where he was.

But none believed her.

So Eirene made up her mind to find the relics. 'Maybe those can bring my brother back', she thought, 'either with Ancient Magic or as proof that we need to send envoys looking for Caspian. It's my only chance.'

She needed those relics, desperately. To find Caspian one way or another. To convince people that Eirene should be the true Narnian heir, instead of Miraz's bratty toddler.

And that was her mission, year after year on the anniversary of Caspian's disappearance. She had committed to finding those relics. After all these years, she'd looked everywhere, with no luck. The last place left for her to look was in the ruins of the Narnia that Telmaries feared; the deep woods and the remains of castles. She had to look there, but she knew she couldn't disappear for a lot of time. Otherwise, they would come looking for her. She'd have to be quick in her search.

She was short of time, and she hurried Nyx to the coastline. At some point she was bound to find Cair Paravel; she knew the map of the country by heart. The old and the new.

'Please Aslan, let me find them. Let my find them so I can bring by brother home,' she said quietly as she rode on.