A/N -Sorry, its late and it's short, but to make up for it I'm going to post a second chapter in just a few minutes! My apology this time involves a lovely chest infection which has been lingering for about 5 weeks now and managed to get in the way of my exams. (Middle of the exam and I have a coughing fit soo badly that I was given a glass of water twice then told to keep it and ask for more if I needed it! I'm sure everyone else loved me for that one! :-/ )
Again, I don't own anything other then the general storyline and my original characters (Although if someone will sell me Ben Barnes then I will gladly take him off your hands! I don't care who he is at the time, i'll have him :P)
Chapter 6 – Aslan's How
I lowered myself from the wagon I had spent the last three days travelling in, glad for the opportunity to stretch my legs at last. Looking around I was met with a glorious sight of lush green grass surrounded on three sides by a dense forest, and at the furthest side a stone structure, so old that it was covered in grass, and in places bushes and trees clung to rocky ledges. "Aslan's How." I whispered gently, smiling as I did so. No matter what my company was like, this place somehow had a good feeling to it, almost as if Aslan himself was watching, making sure that everything would be alright in the end.
I was jerked from my daydream as my guard moved up beside me and grabbed my arm painfully. "Move."
I done as I was bid and moved away from the line of carts at the edge of the cleaning my long skirt trailing through the long grass and mud, towards Aslan's How where a small stone paved area, surrounded by broken columns stood.
"My Queen, I trust your journey was comfortable?" asked the Lord Commander as he spread his arms wide as if to give a favourite child a warm hug. I was pushed into his arms which locked around me, "You will do as you are told, nothing more and nothing less." He snarled into my ear before releasing me.
"Why is our Queen wearing irons? Remove them at once and find her something more comfortable." He demanded of his soldiers who were quick to obey, removing the cuffs before tying my wrists with a length of reasonably soft rope instead which for extra security was also tied around my waist, preventing me from raising my hands above my shoulders. While I am a fan of neither irons nor rope, after 4 days of iron cuffs chaffing at your wrists, rope feels gloriously soft and gentle in comparison, even if it did come with restricted movement.
It was at this point that the Lord Commander shooed his soldiers away leaving me alone with him in the small ruined ceremonial area where he told me what my role in his façade would be.
I was to stay within the confines of the ruins, there would be guards nearby to ensure that this happened, and would only be supplied with food and water if I was able to hit a distant target 4 times in a repeat of my first display every day for 3 days. Of course, he didn't expect to wait until the 3 days where over, after all King Caspian should be on his way to rescue me. If the king didn't show up then the Lord Commander 'couldn't guarantee my future'.
So there I was left, in solitary confinement with only my thoughts for company. I hoped that King Caspian didn't show but then that would almost certainly see an end to my life and naturally I wasn't overly fond of that outcome either. Noticing a boulder which must have been thrown into the area during the attack on Aslans How in the reign of Miraz the Usurper four years ago I sat upon it and lowered my head into my hands. There was nothing I could do now but play my part and hope for Aslan's protection.
It was some while later, during the last hours of light that I noticed a slight glint of something in the far woods to my right. I looked behind me and saw the Lord Commanders men happily standing around fires and cooking stations oblivious to the movement in the trees. Smiling slightly I looked back to where I had seen the movement and saw three men hiding at the edge of the woods watching the Free Telmar camp intently.
'And so it begins' I thought dryly to myself, as men on both sides began to debate my fate.