I am to be a free spirit. Some people don't like that, but that's the way I am.
Lady Diana, the people's princess.
AN: Ce as in 'Ce'cilia +'an'ne for Cean.
Chapter I
"My lady," the familiar voice ended the dreadful silence. I lifted my neck as I took in the familiar shape of the dwarf in front of me. His dark hood hid his face, but I could tell by his stature who he was. I forced myself to gently rise from the ground I was laying on, and walked towards the bars. He took my hand, and kissed my knuckles.
"Cornelius, my dear friend," I whispered, glad to see a friendly face, "you shouldn't be here, especially here."
He shook his head, letting his hood fall down revealing his bald head. "Nothing matters more than your safety."
I smiled.
"I ask only a favor," the dwarf said. I blinked. I hardly thought I could do anything in a place like this, especially for a loyal friend. Most likely taking my silence for obvious confusion, the doctor produced a large bag attached to his grey belt.
"Some of the old councilors would desire a true account," he whispered. "They say that the High Queen has gone mad." I stopped myself from nodding in agreement.
"An account could give you rights…a fair trial, which you have neither been granted, nor requested I might add."
I looked at the ground. How could I explain to the dwarf that my sentence had already been carried out, and that I had no right to trial no matter what he hoped to accomplish? He noticed my hesitancy, and sighed.
"My lady, the future lies in your hands…" he whispered. He unfolded several layers of parchment he produced from his bag, as well as a quill and bottled ink. He placed the paper on the grimy stones, and before I had any chance to protest, Cornelius dipped his quill in the black ink. This he transcribed: 'By order of her majesty, Queen Sariel of Narnia, Doctor Cornelius transcribes this following account…'
He looked at me, his eyebrows arched. I simply stared at him, "Shall we begin?" And I did.
We were not always enemies.
There was a time I think, when I could well have loved her, but my hate for her had always been stronger than any affection I ever bestowed upon her. Her strong personality always dominated our relationship, even as children. When I was little and our mind consisted nothing, but our family's small castle in Archenland, I idolized her. I cared more about her opinion then I ever did our parents. There were times, I even felt guilty whenever she caught me disobeying her.
When she was about seventeen, and I had just turned sixteen, father had purchased a score of horses all the way from Calormen. One of them, named Ako by my sister, caught my eye. She, however, was obviously picked by Cean. By right, she had first picks on everything as first daughter. I didn't complain, she told me it was for the best since she was protecting me by choosing first. It was around that time I started to rebel.
If Cean could ride Ako, why couldn't I? I was just as an approved horsewoman as she. We had both gone through the gruesome training since we could walk. Mother had only tolerated father's insistence upon our lessons, because she loved horses as well. King Lune had even bestowed us each a royal saddle, he was so impressed by our horsemanship. Cean later said it was because his wife had died, giving him no daughters of his own, so he gave us gifts to make up for his loss.
Cean and I went to the stables after we had eaten with our parents, and hosts of other nobles, who had traveled with our father to the Calormen court. The meal lasted well into the afternoon, and eventually we managed to sneak off once the grownups started talking about some place called Tashbaan. It sounded so exotic and foreign like a place in my novels that I often read that I wanted to stay. Cean, on the other hand, wanted to go look at her precious horse.
We managed to arrive at the stables with no trouble. There was a servant here and there, but we were too excited to see the horses. Cean pulled me towards Ako's stable by her sleeve. His long, black neck rose high, immediately intimidating, but the fact that he was Cean's made me want to claim it. He was every inch a war horse, and every inch belonged to my sister.
"Father says only I can ride it," she boasted, giving Ako an apple she had grabbed from the table earlier. I watched her with envy as she patted its nose. I would ride the horse, I told myself, if it was the last thing I did. And I did.
Later that night, when I was sure Cean was asleep in the bed beside me after I tugged at one of her precious curls, I crept out of the castle. I used one of the servant's staircases, and a boy's shoes to add to the adventure feelings that enthralled me, I found Ako. He watched me idly as I quietly readied him. I was so short then, that I had to use a wooden box once used to store food to sit in the saddle.
One thing my father had forgotten to mention to Cean was that Ako had once been in the Tisroc's army. He was a warhorse, and he knew how to run wild.
I stopped speaking when I noticed that the doctor had paused writing. He was sitting cross legged. I, on the other hand, was leaning on a wall, but still near enough to make out the letters he formed.
"Forgive me…," he started, his eyebrows forehead, "but what does a warhorse have to do with your testimony, your majesty?"
He couldn't see it, but I smiled. "Everything."
"How?" he asked, trying to get a more direct answer out of me.
"The horse was the reason I went to Tashbaan," I replied, shifting against the wall for a more comfortable position.
"Ah," said Cornelius, and dipped the tip of his quill in ink.
I don't know for how long we rode. I had long since given up using my reigns, and instead held onto the horse's mane in sere terror. When I said before that I had a high quality of horse riding skills, I only repeat what Cean told me to whenever I complained about our lessons. The horse was out of my control, and soon my father's castle was out of sight. Ako wouldn't listen to any of my commands, because I did not have enough strength to control it.
His long legs took me far into the night, and to places I had never seen before. Cean and I had grown up in a sheltered lifestyle, and the fact that I was now in unfamiliar territory frightened me. The moon was up now, and Ako was slowing down. It was then I started to notice how quite it was, how empty everything seemed.
I was alone.
Tears formed in my eyes, and like a coward I wished I was back at home, safe with Cean making all the difficult choices. I would never touch Ako again, never again in my whole life. It was difficult sobbing while riding, and through my blurred vision I noticed something different about the landscape. There was no more grass.
Terror hit me stronger at that realization. I had heard thousands of tales of dead man walking in the desert, feeding on blood. Some were about half crazed women stealing children away from unsuspecting mothers. Cean had scared me on more than one occasion with her bedroom stories. I shuttered, and clung onto the horse with more strength then before.
"What have we here?" asked a low, cracking voice. I shrieked, and Ako reared in surprise at my reaction.
"Stop!" the voice commanded, and stupidly the horse obeyed. I was crying now, pathetically so, and I could just make out an old man holding a walking stick. Was he an old man coming to drink my blood? Or was his wife waiting to carry me away?
"Come with me," said the man, and it was if I was under this spell the way I obeyed him. Surprisingly, he managed to carry me despite his old age. He pressed my face against his long white beard, and I found my eyelids growing heavy.
"Now," he said, "don't you fall asleep on me, miss." My arms snapped open just as we went under a stone arch. We were in a courtyard, and in the middle of which was placed a birdbath. It was heavily decorated with pictures of animals, but obviously made out stone. As I looked into it, I noticed a very odd thing about the water. There was no reflection of myself, or anything from the garden.
Despite the fact that there was a stone house nearby, and hundreds of lamps in the garden, the water was clear. Clear as the blue sky, even though the sky was dark at that moment, the water was a crystal blue. I stared at in puzzlement.
"It will show you things, child," said the mysterious man. He waved his hand over the water, muttering words I couldn't make out. My eyes widened as colors appeared in the water. Eventually, but ever so slowly, the colors turned into shapes, and people. Two very different sorts of people I had never seen.
They were in a sleigh, a white sleigh in a forest covered in white powder. One of the people was a woman, who was also white, but her lips were ruby red like blood. Her black hair cascaded down her shoulders, and on her head was a tall crown. She was obviously a queen, or some very important person. Beside her, a dark haired boy was eating something, some sort of candy. He seemed very happy to be with her, and she stroked his hair as ate.
They were talking, or at least she was. He concentrated more on his food. There was a point when the tall woman said something that caused the boy to look with a frown on his face. His reply made her eyes narrow, and my heart lurched that told me that the boy was in danger. His lady friend turned, and she seemed to stare right at her.
Her black eyes of nothing widened, and she rose from her seat on the sleigh, her lips moving. Wind whistled around the garden, and I shivered, but continued to lock gaze with the woman in white. She raised arms, and then, suddenly, the image changed into a roaring lion. There was no sound, but the beast was menacing, even in the water. I stared at it, transfixed.
'Peace, dearheart,' said a voice in my head, and instantly warmth covered my whole body.
"Was it the White Witch, who you saw in the pool?" asked Cornelius. I nodded.
"Yes, and the lion was Aslan, I know that now. As a child, he terrified me," I said.
"He has that effect on people, who don't know him by name," said the doctor. "Who was the boy?" I shut my head, memories screaming at me.
"It was Edmund, doctor, but I didn't know it at the time. The Hermit didn't tell me his name, in fact, he didn't reveal anything to me that night," I said. A sudden thought struck me, and I opened my eyes again.
"Do you know The Hermit?" I asked.
Cornelius nodded. "We've met, "was all he said on the subject, "now why did you go to Tashbaan in the first place?" he asked.
"The Hermit told me to. He told me that I would find love in Tashbaan, but he didn't say when, or who. After I somehow got back to my father's castle with Ako, who submitted only to my orders after that night, I planted the idea in Cean's head. Everything had to do with Tashbaan," I mused, twirling a short hair with my finger.
"Forgive me, but the High Queen never liked Tashbaan from what I heard," said Cornelius. I rolled my eyes. I had forgotten what a pretty little liar my sister could be.
"A rumor," I said, "she was from Tashbaan for her own enjoyment. My sister acted shamelessly with a certain Tarkaan. My father heard about it through his various connections, and she was sent home packing. She was ultimately humiliated, and blamed me for the entire thing. I on the other hand stayed with a certain Lasaraleen."
"The same Lasaraleen, who aided the lady Aravis?" I nodded, and almost smiled at the memory of my foolish young friend.
"She taught me everything I needed to know about beauty and men. I was her guest for nearly four years, and eventually Tarkaans believed I was her sister. Father asked me to attend the Narnian coronation, but I refused to put with Caen's control, and stayed," I said. "It wasn't until the year 1014 when an embassy from Calormen journeyed to Narnia caused me to be pulled from my friend, Lasaraleen. Father was there to represent Archenland at the tournament."
"The Hermit said you would fall in love in Tashbaan, your majesty," said the doctor, obviously confused.
"Yes, but it was in Narnia that I met Edmund," I almost but whispered his name.
"Ah," said the dwarf, with a soft smile on his lips as he continued to write.
next chapter...the Pevensies, and Rabadash the Ridiculous :)