Chapter One
A/N: Disclaimer, I do not own Narnia, it's characters, or its dialogue.
Caspian has never truly felt fear until now. He was alone in the middle of the woods, weaponless, dizzy from his fall, and scared for his life. All he sees is two small, hairy figures approaching him with some type of gleaming weapon and he panics. "He's seen us." One says. Heart racing, Caspian reaches to his side for his sword, but grasps empty air and skitters backwards in an attempt to escape. The two hairy men hesitate at the thundering sound of approaching horses and one of them, a blonde one, scurries off in their direction. "Take care of him." He asserts.
Prince Caspian looks at his attacker, his fingers seeking out anything to use as a weapon: a rock, a twig, something that he can defend himself with. Something smooth brushes against his fingertips and he yanks it off the ground. It is the horn that Doctor Cornelius had given him. What had the old man said? Use it at your greatest need?
Blood pounding, Caspian lifts the horn to his lips and sucks in a breath before blowing out a deep chord. He hears the small man yelling out "No!" before he lunges and delivers a blow to the prince's head.
All Caspian feels is a sudden sharp pain to his head and then the forest around him swims for a moment before fading into black.
Faint voices trickle into Caspian's consciousness and he slowly begins to awaken from his blackout. He can't really make out the words, but he has a feeling that they're talking about him. Why am I not dead? Or perhaps this is what death feels like…. Maybe I'm a ghost of some sort, destined to haunt the lives of these two murderers for eternity.
A dull pain begins to make itself known and Caspian fights off a wave of grogginess and blinks. Pain. Pain is a good sign. Perhaps I'm not dead after all.
He sits up in a tiny bed, blinking against the dim lighting and takes in the brownness of the room around him. He feels something tighten around his forehead at his motions and then tugs off a bandage. Throwing it aside, he gets to his feet quietly and looks around the room for a moment, noticing all the nooks and crannies. His eyes scan for his sword or other type of weapon, but all he sees are books.
"No, I said I'd take care of him." One of the voices says firmly, cutting through Caspian's foggy mind and bringing him back to his dire situation. "Besides, we can't kill him now. I just bandaged his head. It would be like murdering a guest!"
"Oh, well how do you think his friends are treating their guest?" the second says. Caspian sneaks a peek around the corner and sees a small, hairy man sitting at a table. There is a creature standing nearby, holding a bowl.
"Trumpkin knew what he was doing. It's not the boy's fault. " The animal-creature mutters sadly.
Caspian doesn't process his situation and eyes a nearby fire poker. Lunging out from behind the wall he yanks it from its holder and faces the short hairy man. He parries a blow from the hairy man's dagger, knocking something from the second creature's hands with a loud clatter. "We should have killed him when we had the chance." The small man states at the badger.
"You know why we can't!"
The small man pokes his small sword at Caspian, but the well trained prince blocks the blow. "Well we can't let him go. He's seen us!"
The door bursts open and a familiar figure enters wielding twin daggers in her hands. Haven? What's she doing here? He shakes off his questions, relieved to have backup and faces the short man once again.
"Nikabrik, that's enough!" the small black and white creature barks. Caspian is astounded to hear the large badger talking. "Or do I have to sit on your head again!" the animal threatens.
Nikabrik shoots the Badger a dirty look before reclaiming his seat at the table, red in the face. "And you!" The Badger turns to Caspian. "Look what you made me do. I spent half the morning on that soup." Both look down at the overturned bowl and spilled liquid. Caspian is taken aback, thoughts reeling from the encounter.
"What are you?" Caspian asks suddenly.
"You know, it's funny how you would ask that. You'd think more people would know a badger when they saw one." The animal replies, glimpsing at Haven for a brief moment. The Telmarine guest follows the badger's gaze.
She smiles at her friend and takes an empty seat at the table, obviously choosing not to answer his unspoken question. Caspian refocuses his attention on the badger. "No. No I mean you're Narnians. You're supposed to be extinct."
"Sorry to disappoint you." The small man sneers.
Silence falls in the small house as the Badger bustles back into a corner and returns with another steaming bowl of soup. "Here you go," he tells Caspian, placing it in front of the Telmarine. "It's still hot."
"Since when did we open up a house for Telmarine soldiers?" Nikabrik asks bitterly, eyeballing Caspian with obvious contempt.
Haven glares at Nikabrik. "He's not." Caspian hears distain in her voice. He wonders how long she had to put up with him and was somewhat relieved that the dwarf had not harmed her. "This is Trufflehunter and Nikabrik." She nods in the direction of each Narnian, ignoring the dwarf's remark. "They helped save your life." She adds, locking eyes with Caspian.
Caspian puts the fire poker back into its small cradle. "I am Prince Caspian. The Tenth." He states at the dwarf.
"What are you doing here?"
"Running away." The two Narnians look at each other with surprise. "My uncle has always wanted my throne. I suppose I have only lived this long because he did not have and heir of his own."
"That changes things." Trufflehunter mumbles quietly.
"Yeah, at least we don't have to kill you ourselves." Nikabrik says with a wicked smile on his face. The black dwarf can picture it now. When Caspian isn't looking, Haven kicks him underneath the table and gives him a stern glare.
"You're right." Caspian says, striding towards his vest which was hanging neatly on a hook next to the door. He tosses Haven her cape as well.
"Where are we going?" She asks.
"My uncle won't stop until I am dead."
"So you're just going to waltz back into the castle and fight him face to face? It's suicide. You'll be dead before you reach the drawbridge." Haven replies, eyes full of concern. Caspian knew his uncle well enough to know that Miraz would be after her too. He was scared for her.
"Haven is right. You can't leave. You're meant to save us." Both humans turn to look at Trufflehunter. He had the horn that the Professor had given Caspian clutched delicately in his paws. "Don't you know what this is?"
"No." he replies. "The professor gave it to me before I left. He didn't have time to explain. He only told me to use it at my greatest need."
"So you blew the horn because you thought I was going to kill you? Now I feel special." Nikabrik scoffs sarcastically, his lips pulling back to expose a wicked smile.
"What's so special about it then?" Haven asks.
Trufflehunter motions to the chairs at the table. "Please, sit." Caspian glances at Haven before both take a seat. The badger begins. "Have you ever heard of our stories, of our own kings and queens?"
"My uncle banned them, but the Professor told me some stories." Caspian confesses.
"Have you heard of the Four Kings and Queens of Old?"
The prince thinks for a moment. "I do believe so. There was High King Peter, Queen Susan, Queen Lacey, and King Edward."
Haven cocks her head sideways. "I thought they were Queen Lucy and King Edmund."
"Haven's correct, those are the younger two." Trufflehunter explains. "A long, long time ago, before the White Witch was defeated, the four kings and queens were journeying to Aslan's Camp. They stumbled upon Father Christmas, who gifted them with magical items. Among them was this horn. It belonged to Queen Susan.
"It is said that when the horn is blown, help will come. We Narnians believe that it can summon them back here, to come to our aid." Trufflehunter smiles at the two humans before him. "It also means that you are supposed to lead us." He adds, looking at Caspian.
The Telmarine is speechless. Haven, too, is somewhat astonished at the news and looks at the two Narnians in wonder.
"Why does he get to lead us?" Nikabrik whines nastily.
"He is a Son of Adam. That is why." Trufflehunter replies.
Caspian finally overcomes his silence and sits back against the small chair. "I can't lead a people that hate me and my kind. I bet you that half of them will try and kill me. My ancestors are the ones that drove you from your homes."
Nikabrik leans forwards, pulling out his sword and cleaning underneath his nails with it. "That is where Haven comes in." He chimes in, casting a look filled with dislike.
She pales and tenses up. "Nikabrik, no…" she mumbles quietly.
The dwarf enjoys her discomfort. Looking Caspian dead in the eye, he says "She never told you?"
"Nikabrik!" Trufflehunter yells, but it's already too late. The black dwarf has already sown a seed of curiosity.
"Tell me what?" Caspian asks, looking at his friend. He can see right through her almost at once. He's known her almost his whole life and can tell when she's lying. "What are you hiding from me?" he asks. A part of him is afraid to find out.
She winces. "Please, you don't want to know." She looks at Trufflehunter for help, but he drags the spiteful dwarf out the door with an apology in his dark eyes.
"Haven?" The forcefulness of his tone scares her. It wasn't the tone of the Caspian she knew; it was the voice he used when he would order guards or servants. She looks at him, seeing sadness and …. Disappointment? Anger? Betrayal? Hurt? She couldn't tell anymore.
She takes a deep breath, steadying and preparing herself for what may come. "I don't know where to start, so I'll start from the very beginning."
A/N: I hope you like it so far…. Sorry for the crappy ending though, it's not how I originally planned it to end.
Please review! Constructive criticism is much appreciated!