Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing. Nada. Nichts. Rien. Niente.

A/N: Wow, two chapters in 2 days J Praise be to the amazing brainwaves that grace you in the shower. And just in case you were wondering what the last 3 words of the disclaimer were, its just three different languages saying nothing. i.e. German, French, and Italian.

Chapter 2

Away from the grey, dreary streets of London, King Caspian X was having his own problems.

For one, he couldn't focus, he thought, frustrated, as he rubbed his eyes for the third time. Unfortunately, this did nothing to aid in his effort to understand the document in front of him.

Caspian sighed and stood up from behind his desk, giving up for the time being. He walked over to his open window and gazed at the view, resting his shoulder against the side of the frame. The view was one that never failed to captivate him, for it was a view of the sea.

For some reason, Caspian had neglected to tell Edmund and Lucy his news: that he had rebuilt Cair Paravel. Well, it was in the same spot. It was hard to recreate it exactly due to the lost history of the Golden Age and the extent of the damage to the original structure, but he knew that he gotten one area exactly right. Everything in the great hall was the same, except for one detail – the four thrones at the end of the hall were reduced to two.

Thinking of the second throne made Caspian wince. That empty spot was quite a heated subject of debate for his people and a sore spot for him. That throne was reserved for his future spouse.

Despite how hard he has worked in finding peace between the Telmarines and the Narnians, there is still some bitterness. Unfortunately, that bitterness seemed to have manifested itself in the subject of Caspian's future bride (or groom, if you were going by Caspian's tastes). The Telmarines wanted their king to marry one of their own, so that their people would have more sway in the government, as Caspian was so annoyingly neutral.

The Narnians thought the exact same thing. They knew that even though he was supportive of both types of people, he wasn't truly a Narnian, the way the Kings and Queens of old were. Because of that, they wanted a true Narnian on the throne and by Caspian's side. There was no way they would accept another Telmarine on the throne. In their opinion, there had been far too many of those already.

Now, they weren't unreasonable. The Narnians knew that their people weren't going to be entirely appealing to the King, as most of them had some sort of animal part. That was why their main candidate for Caspian's bride was Lilliandil, Ramandu's daughter. She was of good standing, a true Narnian, and beautiful. Even if Caspian didn't like the way she looked, she was a star and could change forms in order to suit his tastes.

The Telmarines were far less picky. They took pretty much every girl of high class, mainly the Lords' daughters, and thrust them at Caspian, urging him to pick one of them.

The two sides were at an impasse.

Caspian had always known that he would have to marry for political reasons. Kings didn't get to marry for love. But this – this was impossible. He had to marry someone who would please both sides and that he had a chance of happiness with. He knew that all the Telmarine girls and Lilliandil were out of the picture. If he married either one of them, then one of the sides of his kingdom would be furious – it might even spark a rebellion because they feel they aren't being represented.

No, his only choice was to marry someone neutral – but there in lied the problem. He couldn't find anyone neutral. Everyone he had met that claimed to be neutral wound up trying to sway him to one side or the other, and Caspian always caught it, even when they were being "subtle".

This would be a whole lot easier, Caspian thought, if he hadn't already found someone perfect. This person was neutral, of good class and high standing - hell, they were the highest standing possible under his own! – and he was in love with them. But the only problem was that they were gone, and he knew without a doubt that he would never see them again.

Caspian gave a great sigh, and blinked the incoming tears out of his eyes. No, he wouldn't cry over this. He had already done that far too many times. He tried to block out his Uncle Miraz's cruel words, but it was no use. His voice rang out in Caspian's head, causing him even greater melancholy than he was already feeling.

"True kings don't cry."

xXx

Meanwhile, deep within the forests of Narnia, near a portal between the worlds that few knew about and even fewer could use, there was a great roar of grief. All the birds and creatures in the area fled from the noise and feeling of great sadness that permeated the air.

xXx

Lucy blinked down at the package in her hands once again, still not being able to grasp what she was seeing. She had gone to see the Professor only two days ago! How had the post gotten here so fast?

Then she felt like slapping her forehead at her own stupidity.

Duh. Aslan.

"Who is that from, cousin?" Eustace asked curiously, not being able to hold back. He had waited patiently for Lucy to explain, but after watching her stare at it for 5 minutes straight, he had thought he better ask.

His question worked, and Lucy was jolted out of her thoughts and back into the present. She opened her mouth to respond but, mindful of Edmund, who was in the same room, she jerked her head in the direction of the hall pointedly instead.

Eustace's brow furrowed, but he followed her out of the room anyways, Edmund not noticing the duo's departure.

In a hushed whisper, Lucy explained her plan to help Edmund and what she had done up to that point.

Eustace looked at her in admiration for a moment, before motioning to the package with his hand. "What's that, then?"

"It's Aslan's response." Lucy said reverently.

"Well go on, open it, then!"

Lucy smiled at her cousin's excitement, and turned her attention back to the package. Trembling fingers undid the twine on the outside before peeling the paper back. Inside was a tiny vial of clear liquid and a short note.

The note read: "For Edmund, to be put in his evening meal."

Eustace had read it over Lucy's shoulder and asked "How is a vial of medicine supposed to help Ed's depression?"

"Perhaps its an anti-depressant? Either way, we just have to trust in him." Lucy said, just as unsure as Eustace.

xXx

Edmund noticed his sister and cousin's anxious gazes as he drank from his cup of water, but was not bothered by it. They had been worried about his eating habits for ages now; perhaps they were now focusing on his hydration?

Finishing it off, just to appease them, Edmund stood up from the table, taking his dishes with him. He figured that he had done enough to please his family by drinking all of his water and that he didn't have to pick at his food any longer.

Maybe tomorrow I will run away, the brunette boy thought wistfully. He still had his plan of running away and letting his life peter out, he just needed to find a day to do so.

The feeling of exhaustion was nothing new to Edmund, he hadn't gotten a decent night's sleep in ages, but this was more intense than any he had felt before. He thought hopefully that he might actually get to sleep tonight as he headed to his and Eustace's room and threw himself on the bed, pointedly not looking at the portrait of the Dawn Treader on the wall.

Within minutes he was asleep, not knowing that his life was about to change drastically.