"So what am I supposed to do while you're all out saving the world?" Eva asked Edmund.

"It would probably be beneficial for you to learn how to swordfight."

"…Swordfight? As in…fight with a sword?"

"Yes, that would be the definition."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"It's a useful skill that you'll need to know while you're here if you want to help." He approached one of the fauns who was staying behind to continue forging weapons. "Excuse me, sir."

The faun turned and quickly bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"What is your name?"

"Talus, my lord."

"Are you handy with a sword?"

"I wouldn't do well on the front lines, but I know enough, sir."

"Good. Then I would like for you to teach Eva what you know."

The faun bowed again. "It would be my honor, sir."

Talus led Eva over to their sword collection in order for her to choose a good one to begin training with. She spared Edmund a nervous glance, but he just smiled and nodded to silently tell her that she would be fine.

If he was being honest, he envied her. He'd much rather be here training than preparing for a raid which may or may not work.

Meanwhile, Elaine tied her hair up in order to keep it all out of her face for the raid and changed into a dark dress woven with pieces of chainmail that would hopefully protect her if and when the fighting broke out.

"Do you actually agree with all this?"

Elaine turned to see Lucy at the entrance to the small space she had used to dress. "No," Elaine admitted. "But…I don't know how to change Peter's mind. And if something happens, then I need to be there." She noticed that Lucy had not changed or chosen a weapon more adept for fighting than her dagger. "You're not coming, are you?"

"I can't. It all feels…wrong." She took a few steps towards Elaine and took her hands in her own. "Just promise me that you'll look after my brothers and sister."

"Of course I will."

Peter, Elaine, Susan, Edmund, and Caspian exited the How with the rest of the soldiers who had been selected for the raid.

The air between all of them was tense and awkward, and no one was sure how they were going to cooperate and fight the enemy like this.

Then as dusk quickly began to approach, the army set off for Caspian's old home.

After traveling for about three hours, the castle was in sight and the raid had officially begun.

Elaine approached the griffin who was to silently fly her over the castle wall. "This is not my first time traveling by griffin, but I must tell you that I am uncomfortable with great heights. So I am going to have to wear a blindfold if I'm to stay calm for the duration of our travel. I will need you to signal me when we're close so I'll know to take it off."

"Very well then," the griffin said. "I shall tap you twice with one of my talons."

"Excellent, thank you."

Elaine tied a black piece of cloth over her eyes and then allowed the griffin to heft her into his talons and begin soaring through the air towards the castle.

From a young age, Elaine had always had a paralyzing fear of heights to the point where she'd nearly been attacked and killed by wolves on her first trip into Narnia because she had been too afraid to climb a tree. Over the years and the battles she'd fought, her fear of heights had decreased dramatically. However, flying high above the ground with nothing but a griffin's talons keeping her from plummeting to her death was still too much for her to fully bear and the only way she could make it through with her sanity intact was if she was unable to see how far away the ground was. Peter had come up with the idea for her to use a blindfold with a signal from the griffin to tell her when it was okay for her to remove it. It was that very idea that had allowed her to participate in more raids and battles by Peter's side.

After one of the griffin's had flown Edmund over to the highest tower and he had successfully taken care of the posted lookout, he used his torch to signal the next round of people which consisted of Peter, Elaine, Susan, Caspian, and Trumpkin. While Reepicheep and his comrades snuck across the bridge and through the closed portcullis in order to take care of some of the other guards and make it safer for the others to get through the castle, the rest of the army remained on the outskirts of the surrounding forest awaiting Edmund's signal to charge.

Elaine felt one of the talons tap her twice and she quickly removed her blindfold and wrapped the fabric around her wrist. She and the others landed on one of the battlements, and Peter quickly dispatched a guard who was attempting to fire a crossbow in Edmund's direction. The griffins flew off to rejoin the rest of the army and wait for their next orders.

Caspian tied a rope around part of the wall and carefully climbed down to land on a window ledge that led to his Professor's study. According to him, it was the best place to enter into the castle unnoticed and the Professor, being the one who had found Susan's horn to call the others back in the first place, would assist them in any way they needed.

"Professor?" he whispered as he lightly knocked on the window. He gently opened it and stepped inside.

Elaine tightly squeezed her hands to stop them from trembling and then took two deep breaths before slowly rappelling down the side of the castle. She had hoped that after all the times she'd been in this position, her heart would stop trying to leap out of her chest but it didn't help that she hadn't been forced to do anything like this in over a year. After what felt like an eternity, she reached the window ledge and Peter pulled her inside. Susan and Trumpkin came in behind her.

They all realized that the place had been ransacked, and the Professor was nowhere to be found.

Caspian picked up a very small pair of glasses, and his heart sank. He was certain that the Professor would never leave without them. "I have to find him," he stated.

"You don't have time," Peter told him. "You need to get the gate open."

"You wouldn't even be here without him. And neither would I."

Susan looked at Peter and Elaine. "The three of us can deal with Miraz."

"And I can still get to the gate in time."

Peter reluctantly nodded, and Caspian left to find the Professor while Trumpkin went to assist Reepicheep in lowering the drawbridge for the troops once Caspian got the gate open.

Down in the dungeons, Caspian found his beloved Professor lying on the ground in one of the cells with his hands bound in manacles. He retrieved the keys and opened the cell door then knelt down next to him.

The Professor stirred awake at his touch.

"Five more minutes?" Caspian lightly teased.

"What are you doing here?" the Professor demanded. "I didn't help you escape just so you could break back in."

Caspian took off the manacles and helped him stand up.

"You have to get out before Miraz learns you're here."

"He's going to learn soon enough. We are giving him your cell."

Caspian started to leave but the Professor roughly pulled him back. "Don't underestimate Miraz as your father did."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry."

Caspian's eyes widened in horror as he realized what the Professor was implying. Anger boiling inside him hotter and stronger than it ever had before, he raced through the castle halls until he came to his uncle's room. He silently slipped inside to find his aunt and uncle asleep in bed. Caspian pulled his sword out of its sheath and pointed the tip of the blade at Miraz's neck which caused him to awaken.

To Caspian's fury, Miraz only chuckled. "Thank goodness. You're safe."

"Get up," Caspian ordered.

Miraz lifted the covers and tapped Prunaprismia in the process. She opened her eyes and quickly sat up when she realized the situation her husband was in. "Caspian?" she said softly.

"Stay where you are."

"What are you doing?"

"I should think it's obvious, dear," Miraz said coolly as he stood next to the bed with Caspian's sword still pointed at him. "You know, some families might consider this inappropriate behavior."

"That doesn't seem to have stopped you," Caspian bit out.

"But you are not like me, are you? It's sad. The first time you've shown any backbone, and it's such a waste."

Miraz's eyes darted to his right, and Caspian saw that Prunaprismia had taken a crossbow down from above the bed and was now pointing it right at him.

"Put the sword down, Caspian," she said warningly. "I don't want to do this."

Susan, Peter, and Elaine burst inside the room, bow, sword, and staff at the ready. "We don't want you to either!" Susan said.

Prunaprismia frantically turned the crossbow to the intruders then quickly pointed it back at Caspian.

Miraz put his hand on his hips. "This used to be a private room."

"Uncle!" a new voice called. "I heard voices. Are you all right?"

A young woman appeared in the doorway wearing a pale nightgown. Her thick black curls were tangled but she still looked stunningly beautiful.

"Caspian," she said softly. Her eyes glanced at the three young people who resembled the drawings in the storybooks of the Kings and Queens of the Golden Age. That was unnerving enough, but what caught her attention was the fact that her brother had a sword pointed at their uncle's throat. "What do you think you're doing?"

Miraz looked at Caspian with a glimmer in his eyes. "This is how you want to reunite with your sister? She's been so worried about you."

Peter didn't have time to question why Caspian hadn't told them that he apparently had a sister. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be in the gatehouse!"

"No!" Caspian yelled. "Tonight, for once, I want the truth." He glared daggers at his uncle and took several steps forward which forced Miraz up against the window behind him. "Did you kill my father?"

Cassia rolled her eyes and stepped into the room. "Caspian, this is ridiculous. He—"

"Now we get to it," Miraz interrupted coldly.

Cassia froze and looked at her uncle in surprise.

Prunaprismia slowly lowered the crossbow. "You said your brother died in his sleep."

"That was more or less true."

Cassia's legs weakened beneath her and she felt like she couldn't breathe. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be true. He was only saying this because Caspian had a sword pointed at him.

"Caspian, this won't make things any better," Susan told him.

"We Telmarines would have nothing had we not taken it," Miraz said to his nephew. "Your father knew that as well as anyone."

"What?" Cassia whispered.

"How could you?" Prunaprismia asked quietly.

"For the same reason you will pull that trigger," Miraz said. "For our son."

Miraz took a few steps forward, but Caspian's sword continued to dig in his neck.

"Stop!" Prunaprismia pleaded, aiming the crossbow at him again.

"Stay right there," Susan said firmly to the woman as she held up her readied arrow.

"You need to make a choice, dear," Miraz said, a trickle of blood starting to flow down his neck from where the sword had pierced his flesh. "Do you want our child to be king? Or do you want him to be like Caspian and Cassia here? Fatherless!"

"No!" Prunaprismia screamed. In anguish, she fired the crossbow.

"Caspian!" Peter and Cassia yelled at the same time.

The arrow hit Caspian in the arm, and he stumbled back in pain. Susan fired her arrow at Miraz, but it only lodged into the door as he raced out of the room. Cassia raced to Caspian's side and quickly pulled the arrow out of his arm. Fortunately, it was not a deep wound and probably wouldn't even leave a scar. Caspian then grabbed Cassia's hand and ran out of the room after Peter.

"Caspian!" Cassia said urgently as she made him stop.

Caspian turned to face her and he saw tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I'm…I'm so sorry. I…I didn't…"

Caspian took her hands in his. "I know."

Several different unpleasant emotions each battled for dominance inside of Cassia's mind and heart, but what hurt her the most was the crushing guilt that she had put her brother in harm's way all these years by not believing him about their uncle. Because of her foolishness, she had lost so much time with him that she would never be able to get back.

The warning bells started going off which meant the whole castle now knew they were under attack. They could hear soldiers running through the halls behind them preparing to fight.

"I'll hold them off and give you time to get out," Cassia insisted.

"No. You have to come with me. You're not safe here, especially now that you know the truth."

She gently pressed her hand to the side of his face, somewhat amused that he was a good several inches taller than her despite being five years younger. "I'll be all right. They trust me. But this land needs you, Caspian. You cannot become king if you are killed tonight. Go."

Caspian tightly hugged her.

"I love you, brother."

"I love you, too."

"Go!"

Though every part of Caspian wanted to stay with his sister, he forced himself to follow after Peter, Elaine, and Susan.

When they came to the hall that would lead them outside the castle so they could rejoin with the troops and call off the raid, Peter just continued on towards the courtyard to open the gate.

"Peter!" Susan called.

"Our troops are just outside! Come on!" Peter yelled.

"Peter, this is ridiculous!" Elaine said. "The element of surprise was the only way this was going to succeed and we don't have that advantage anymore!"

"No, we can still make this work!" He ran out to the courtyard and shouted to his brother in one of the towers, "Now, Ed! Now! Signal the troops!"

"I'm a bit busy, Pete!" Edmund yelled back in the middle of his swordfight with one of the guards who had discovered his presence.

Peter downed three Telmarine soldiers just as Caspian, Susan, and Elaine ran into the courtyard. Then he quickly went over to the wheel that would lift up the portcullis to allow the Narnian soldiers in and frantically began turning it.

"Peter! It's too late!" Susan yelled to him. "We have to call it off while we can!"

"No, I can still do this!" Peter said. "Help me!"

More Telmarine soldiers began to file into the courtyard from multiple entrances, all of them armed and ready to fight off the intruders. With no more time to argue, the three of them helped Peter turn the wheel to get the gate up.

"Exactly who are you doing this for, Peter?" Susan demanded.

Peter just looked at her as her question struck somewhere deep inside him. The answer should've been that he was doing this to protect Narnia from the Telmarines. But that wasn't the first thing that came to his head. The first thing that came to his head was that he wanted to prove to everyone that he was still High King.

Inside the castle, Trumpkin, Reepicheep, and the rest of the mice successfully lowered the drawbridge, and Edmund managed to get his torch working long enough to signal the troops to charge.

After taking out the two guards at the drawbridge, the Narnian troops burst into the courtyard and began fighting with the Telmarine soldiers.

Peter turned around and unsheathed his sword. "For Narnia!"

Elaine pulled out her staff, Caspian unsheathed his sword, Susan readied her bow, and all four of them ran forward into the battle in the courtyard.

Peter and Caspian quickly cut down multiple soldiers with their swords while Susan shot several of them with her arrows. At one point, she stabbed one soldier in the leg with an arrow then yanked it out and threw it at another where it sank into his chest.

Elaine used the blade in the tip of her weapon to defeat the attacking soldiers, then she leaned back and with an impressive twirl of the staff, she managed to take out four of them, one on every side of her. The Narnian wood held firm after so many years even as it clashed against many swords and bodies. Despite not using the staff in battle in over a year, all of her training was so deeply ingrained in her muscles that she was just as adept with it as she had been when she'd last been here.

"Archers!"

Elaine looked up to see at least thirty soldiers lining the highest balcony surrounding the courtyard with crossbows in their hands.

"Pick a target!" the commander yelled. "Take aim!"

The soldiers aimed the crossbows at the fighting Narnians.

Before the command could be given, Edmund slid down the roof and pushed the commander off the balcony.

Peter looked up at his brother. "Ed!"

The other soldiers realized that someone had killed their commander and began firing their crossbows in Edmund's direction. He quickly threw himself inside the door on the balcony and kicked it closed with his foot before any of the arrows could hurt him.

Miraz stepped out on the balcony of his bedroom that overlooked the courtyard and coldly stared down at the fighting beneath him.

On another balcony two rooms over, Cassia frantically ran out and looked down in horror. Her brother was supposed to get out of the castle. What good was all of this going to do any of them? Not only were they in the enemy's territory, but they were also horribly outnumbered.

One of the minotaurs hopped from the stairs to the roofs and landed at the edge of Miraz's balcony. However, before he got the chance to do anything, General Glozelle appeared and fired an arrow into the minotaur's chest with his crossbow. Miraz calmly walked over to the minotaur and pushed him off the balcony where he fell to the ground to his death.

Just a few hours ago, Cassia would've admired her uncle for staying so calm in the midst of a Narnian attack, but now she understood that he had no qualms about taking another's life, no matter who they were. He just wanted power, and he didn't care who he had to trample in order to get it.

"Get that gate closed," Miraz ordered.

One of the soldiers took an axe to the weight that held the portcullis open, and with the chain cut, it quickly began to close. Another one of the minotaurs, Asterius, ran under it and kept it open just enough for people to still get through.

Peter's heart sank. If the gate closed, everyone in the courtyard would be slaughtered. "Fall back!" he yelled. "We need to retreat! Now!" He looked at Glenstorm. "Go! Get her out of here!"

Glenstorm grabbed Susan's hand and hefted her up onto his back then ran for the portcullis. "Caspian!" she called back.

"I'll find him!" Peter promised. He then looked towards the back of the courtyard. "Elaine, get out!"

At the sound of Peter's command, Elaine turned to look at him, but the moment of distraction was just long enough for a soldier to cut through her chainmail and pierce her left side with his sword. She screamed in pain and hit the solider in the head with her staff before finishing him off with the blade.

She fell against one of the castle walls as she clutched at her side with heaving breaths. When she took her hand away, it was wet and sticky with dark red blood.

"Go! Get out! Go! Get out! Retreat!" Peter yelled to the Narnians.

As searing as the pain was, now was not the time to worry about it. Elaine forced herself off the wall and continued trying to get as many Narnians as possible out of the gate while Asterius used all of his strength to hold it open. She would not leave this castle until Peter was out as well. A wife never left her husband, especially in battle.

Caspian and the Professor burst out of the stables on two horses while Caspian held the reins for one more horse without a rider.

"Give the order," Miraz said to General Glozelle.

"My men are still down there," Glozelle protested.

"Caspian!" Cassia cried desperately. "Go!"

Caspian reluctantly galloped in the direction of the gate.

"Elaine, come on!" Peter yelled as he ran to the empty horse. He hopped onto the horse while it was still moving then grabbed Elaine's hand and pulled her up behind him.

Miraz took the crossbow from Glozelle's hands and aimed it at the minotaur holding the gate open. "Now!"

"NO!" Cassia screamed.

The archers fired their crossbows, hitting and killing as many Narnians as they could.

Two soldiers came up behind Cassia and began roughly pulling her back inside.

"No!" she screamed again. "No! Caspian!"

Arrow after arrow after arrow hit Asterius until it was too much for him to take and he collapsed just as Caspian, the Professor, Peter, and Elaine barely managed to clear the portcullis. The gate crashed down on top of his dead body and locked at least half of their army inside the courtyard.

Peter stopped his horse and turned around as he stared at his trapped comrades in horror. All of them pleaded for them to run and save themselves. Elaine watched as Glenstorm nodded to his son who nodded back in understanding. The ones trapped inside now knew they were going to die tonight but they were going to take as many of the Telmarine soldiers as they could with them.

"Peter! Elaine! The bridge!" Reepicheep yelled.

The drawbridge began to rise up once again which would trap the both of them in the castle as well. His heart aching, Peter urged his horse on and jumped the bridge just as it nearly became too high to clear. Elaine cried out in pain as the horse landed on the other side of the bridge and irritated her wound. But nothing was more painful than the knowledge that just behind her was an army of Narnians who would never again see their families.

Cassia cried out as the two soldiers tossed her into a dirty cell in the castle dungeons.

Her uncle slowly strode up to the cell with General Glozelle and smirked as he stepped inside.

Cassia glared up at him. "I have always been loyal to you. And the whole time…you played me for a fool."

Miraz knelt down in front of her and took her chin in his hand. "Well, you made it so easy, dear."

"So what happens now? Are you going to kill me too?"

"If you continue to comply, then you will still be welcome in my castle."

"You think I would listen to you after I learned what you did to my father?"

"You had no problem doing so before."

Cassia clenched her jaw. "I was willingly blind to your nature before tonight, but now I know who really are. Caspian is going to come back and he will defeat you and take his rightful place on the throne. As much as you desire it, you will never be the king that this land deserves. Your hunger for power will be your undoing. Next to my father and my brother, you are nothing."

Miraz backhanded her across the face. Glozelle and the other two soldiers flinched, but they made no move to help their princess.

Cassia put her hand to her bruising cheek. The action shouldn't have surprised her after all that she'd just learned, but she still could not stop her heart from aching.

But what was even worse was that no one did anything about it. All these years, she thought that she had earned her people's and soldiers' loyalty, but she had only succeeded in making them loyal to her uncle. And like an idiot, she had not only watched it happen right in front of her, she had allowed it.

There was no one on her side now.

Miraz angrily stood up to tower over her. "Get it into your head, princess. You are nothing. You believed everything I said because it was what you wanted to hear. You were never a leader and you never will be. Do you know what it felt like to practically run this entire country since your father died and yet everyone bowed to you as if you were actually doing something simply because of who your father was? Well, that problem will be taken care of now. I believe with you and Caspian now labeled as traitors to the crown, the next in line for the throne is me. After all these years of biding my time, you are looking at the new king of this land."

He exited the cell and one of the soldiers locked it behind him.

"The princess is hereby accused of treachery and aiding and abetting the enemy. She is to remain here in the dungeons until the date of her execution is set."

Miraz made his way for the stairs with Glozelle and the two soldiers following behind him.

"Was any of it real?" Cassia called after him as she stood against the cell door. "Did you ever care for me?"

Miraz stopped on one of the steps and looked at her coldly. "You were always a means to an end. Nothing more."

Cassia watched him disappear and then she was left alone in the dungeons. With a soft sob, she slowly sank down to the filthy ground while tears made tracks through the dirt on her face.

She felt so ashamed of everything she had said and done ever since her father died. She'd tried so hard to be the princess that her father would be proud of, but all this time, she had only aided the very person who had killed him. All these years, she had gotten into so many arguments with both the Professor and her brother about her uncle's ways of running the country and the Old Narnian tales when they could've spent all that time discussing it together in the hopes of reuniting everyone just like their father had wanted. Cassia had always known that he had been a firm believer in Old Narnia, but after he died, she had been filled with so much anger and sorrow that any talk of Old Narnia and especially Aslan only made her resentful because it had done nothing to save his life. And her uncle had used all of those emotions to gain her trust and manipulate her into turning her against the person she was supposed to protect with her life.

Cassia looked up at the tiny window at the top of her cell where the moonlight shone through.

"Aslan…" she whispered through her tears. "I don't know…if you can hear me. Or if you would listen…to the cries of a Telmarine princess who has rejected you. But I ask for your help and protection now not for me…but for my brother. He has always believed in you. He has always loved you. He is everything that a good king should be. Wherever he is now, please…keep him safe."