A/N: Hello! Thank you to all my lovely readers and reviewers! Here is another chapter for your reading pleasure.
Just a warning: from here on out, I will have to start including OCs. I just can't make a fully developed story using only Caspian, Edmund, the Pevensie's, Aslan, Professor/Dr. Cornelius, Lilliandil, and some random servants and guards. Remember that this is the movie-verse, so I really don't have many characters from canon to work with. I promise they will not take over the story, but some of them are absolutely necessary to the story line.
I am not C.S. Lewis. Ok?
Chapter 8
Reality hit Edmund like a slap in the face. He jerked his hand away from Caspian's arm as if it were on fire, and stepped away quickly. His heart throbbed painfully at the hurt look on Caspian's face, but he had to retreat from the dangerous territory he was approaching. Caspian didn't feel the same way about him, and even if he did, he would not be his whore on the side. Speaking of which...
"I don't suppose your queen enjoyed giving up her bed for 5 days."
"Queen?" Caspian said, confused. "What in Aslan's name are you talking about?"
"There were two thrones... aren't you married?"
"Two thrones?"
"Oh!" Comprehension replaced confusion on Caspian's face, and he hurried to explain.
"No, no! I have no queen. That throne is for any future spouse I might have; I am not married as of yet. But if the country has it's way, I soon will be." he finished quite bitterly.
Edmund's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"There has been quite the debate on who my future bride should be. The Telmarines refuse to let me consider anyone other than one of their own, and the Narnians are just the same. I have been fending off lord's daughters and Lilliandil ever since I got back from our journey to the Utter East six months ago."
"Six months? That's exactly the amount of time I've been in England as well. That's quite surprising, as usually time passes much faster here. The first time, a year for us was 12,000 for Narnia, and a year for me was three for you the second time."
Edmund paused, and then continued, "Besides, didn't you like Lilliandil when we met her on Ramandu's island?"
"You're right, I did. However, it seems that our personalities do not... mesh very well together." he said carefully. "Also, I absolutely need to marry someone neutral so that one of the two sides does not end up feeling angered or betrayed.
"This could very well threaten the peace that I have worked so hard to restore in Narnia."
"There is something else you are not telling me - I can see it in your face. What is it?"
Caspian let out a great sigh. He had forgotten how perceptive Edmund could be – too perceptive for Caspian's own good, anyways. His perceptiveness was what made him such a good politician in his Golden Age.
"Well," he started reluctantly. "This would be quite a bit easier if I didn't already have someone in mind. They are perfect, neutral, and well loved by both sides."
Edmund pushed aside his pain once more and asked, "Well, why haven't you gone after this person already?"
Edmund could not determine the expression that was on Caspian's face when he looked up at him.
"Because up until recently, they were unavailable. But don't you worry, they shall know of my affections very soon." he said with a devious smile on his face.
xXx
Lilliandil returned to her spot up in the sky in her true star form. She needed to think, and this was always the best place to do so.
Why is Caspian being so difficult? she thought unhappily.
Lilliandil had always gotten what she wanted in life, being the only daughter of a magician on an island that had always consisted of just the two of them. When her father had asked her to be the star that guided sailors to their island, she had of course agreed.
Her father had always done any and everything she had asked of him, she could not deny him this small favor. When the sailors had finally arrived, she was smitten. Having never seen any man besides the two elderly lords who slept at Aslan's table, the crew of rugged young men of course attracted her.
There were two in particular that dressed more regally than the others, and she knew one of them was the king her father had told her about. They, along with the rest of the crew, were quite in awe of her, never having seen a star before. However, their eyes did not hold the lust that the rest of the men's contained.
She took that as a challenge. No man should be able to resist the attentions of a star. It just wasn't logical. Stars were highly coveted, and if one of them chose you as the object of their affections, then you were considered the luckiest bloke around.
When they stopped at her and her father's island on their return journey, three of them were missing - one of the possible kings, a mouse, and a young lady. The remaining royal could not be anyone but Caspian, king of all of Narnia.
King Caspian would hardly look at her, and when he did, she saw heartbreak and despair in his dark eyes. There was none of the awe of earlier, and definitely no lust.
The challenge was suddenly upped a notch. This was no longer just about salvaging her pride, this was about getting that look out of his eyes. For all that she was vain, she had an equal amount of compassion in her soul. She could not bear to see this man in such pain.
And if getting him to fall in love with her made her queen, all the better.
xXx
The next day, on an island in the Far East, a young woman sat at her desk, recording her thoughts in a journal. Or at least, attempting to, she thought ruefully as she gazed down at the blank page before her.
Hello, my name is Hollis. she wrote down, figuring that was the best place to start.
Hollis, she wrote, what a dreadfully boring name. Nothing like my uncle Coriakin. Now that is a name.
My uncle suggested that writing in this journal might help me deal with my parents' death. I suppose he might be right, but somehow I doubt it. It has been nearly two months since it happened, and none of the stories I've penned have made me feel any better.
Maybe writing about myself instead of fiction might be more useful, but it's still rather difficult. Oh well, here we go. I came to live with my uncle because –
She broke off when Coriakin entered the room, muttering about foolish Dufflepuds.
"Locals bothering you again, Uncle?" she asked jokingly.
He let out a disgruntled sigh, but before he could say much else, another presence in the room made itself known. They both turned around to see, and gasped.
"Aslan!" her uncle exclaimed as Hollis scrambled to her feet.
"I need to speak with you." The lion rumbled.
"Of course!" her uncle said.
Hollis awkwardly started backing out of the room, saying, "I'll just let you two talk privately."
"No."
Aslan's deep voice stopped her in her tracks. She re-entered the room, and stood next to her uncle.
"This concerns you as well, dear one."
This caused Coriakin and Hollis to share a confused look, and then regard the great lion with curiosity. Soon, the two were absorbed in Aslan's tale of the woes of two great kings, both in the past and in the yet to come. As she listened, Hollis came to realize that one of the kings Aslan spoke of was her dear friend Caspian.
"How can we help?" she asked immediately.
When Caspian and his crew had stopped at the island to restock their supplies on their way back from Aslan's country, Hollis and her parents had been visiting. The two had immediately hit it off.
Seeing this, her parents had urged her to seek Caspian's attention in a more romantic way, but she had dismissed this out of hand. She and Caspian were friends, and they could never be anything more.
Not only did she think of him in a brotherly fashion, he simply wasn't her type. Plus, at the time, she had been 99.999% positive that he was in love with someone else. Now, hearing Aslan's story, she was certain.
Aslan looked at her with approval and pride, and suddenly a book was before her. She recognized it as one of the many magic books from her uncle's bookshelf that she was not allowed to touch.
"Take this to Caspian. He and Edmund will have great need of it, and of you. But take warning, this will only work if your intentions are pure."
Then he was gone, leaving behind a magician and his niece, both shocked into silence.
It was pure coincidence, Hollis was sure, that two days later, a ship and her sailors stopped at the island for supplies. And of course, a coincidence that they were headed towards Narnia with just enough room for one more soul aboard their ship.