Hey everybody! How are you all? I'm fine, knee deep in books and readings - and that is the reason for the time it took to update. But oh well, since I am here with this chapter, it doesnt matter now, does it?

So, CrazyKitCat is kinda busy these days so I'll be writing the next few chapters (including this one) - but she has agreed to be the beta for these chapters! :) Sadly, she is sick at the moment :( Could you all please pray that she gets well soon? And do read her story 'The King & the Sea'.

For all those who reviewed: thank you so much. I love you all!

Now, go on: read, enjoy and review!

Disclaimer: Narnia is not mine. Destiny trio is.

.

Desires and Destiny

Chapter 9

.

A hand on his shoulder startled Chad and he looked up to find his sister staring at him. "Kayla, when did you come here?" he asked.

"A couple of minutes ago," she replied, sitting down next to him on his bed. "I knocked on the door but you didn't reply."

"Sorry, I was… thinking."

"I figured. You look," she tilted her head thoughtfully, thinking of a word that fitted, "Tired."

He chuckled. "I am; I barely got any sleep last night."

She ran a hand through his hair. "Why is that?"

He didn't reply.

She smiled slightly, deciding to change the topic. "My little brother is getting married today. I bet you will be the most handsome groom ever!"

"Will I be?" he asked.

"Definitely."

"And what about a good husband, will I be that too? I doubt it."

Her smiled faltered. "What?"

He sighed, looking away. "What happened last night, are you angry at me?"

"… I am." She replied, unsure with the sudden change of topic.

"Then why aren't you shouting at me?"

"Because it is your wedding day."

"And that is what frightens me."

"Chad," Kayla shook her head. "What are you talking about? One second you're talking about your wedding and the next you're talking about how you hit Harry."

"Don't you see? They are connected."

"How?"

"Didn't you see what I did last night?" he asked. "I beat Harry so badly. I couldn't control my anger. I admit that there is a part of me that is glad – I mean, I wanted to hit him ever since the moment I saw him kissing her. "

"You would have killed him if I had not stopped you." Kayla pointed out, her voice dipped in disapproval.

"Yes," he agreed. "I was blinded by rage. I would not have stopped and that is why I'm worried. I cannot control my anger. I cannot control my thoughts and actions once my rage takes over me."

"You've been going through a hard time, Chad," Kayla sighed. "It's just –"

He stood up, shaking his head. "It's not just something. It is serious. I'm becoming an angry monster. And what is even worse – I'm getting married today." He took a deep breath. "What if…"

"What if what?" Kayla asked.

"What if Alianna becomes the victim of my fury?" Chad asked in a low voice.

"Chad, you are not like that."

"Who can guarantee that?" he asked loudly. "My father, Bryce treated his wife Ellyn like hell. He had her locked in a room. She was driven mad because of what he did to her."

He ran his hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. "And Estella. She died because of what her husband did to her. And her husband was my brother! As much as I hate it – Alfred was my brother!"

Kayla flinched at the name.

But Chad didn't notice. He had his back towards her as he went on with his rant. "That same dirty blood runs in my veins," he said, his voice a mixture of disgust, anger and worry, "What if I turn out to be like them too? Look at what Alfred did to you and to Estella. He ruined so many lives. What if I hurt Alianna too? What if –" He turned around and stopped.

Kayla sat on the bed, trembling with what he knew was fear, tears trailing down her cheeks.

And guilt filled him instantly.

It had been years, but his sister was still afraid of the memories. She still experienced the demons, the panic, and the fright whenever Alfred was mentioned…

And that is one of the many reasons why Chad never talked about him.

"Kayla!" Chad rushed over to her and embraced her. "Are you okay?"

She tried to nod but failed.

"I'm so, so sorry for bringing this up."

She buried her head in his shoulder, crying. "I-it is n-not your fault."

"I shouldn't have –" he shook his head. "But I had been thinking and all these insecurities and worries are taking over me. I don't want to be like him."

"Chad!" she sobbed, still not looking up. "You are not like him."

"And who is to say that I won't be in the future?"

"You will never be like him."

Chad remained silent, just holding her close until she stopped crying.

"You are Chad," Kayla said, looking up, her eyes a bit red. "You are not that beast."

"Really?"

She nodded. "And you always say how you don't accept that family. Then why all this?"

"Because I couldn't control myself last night," Chad explained. "I wanted to hit Harry, but I knew that doing it would be wrong. And when he mentioned Lucy – I just couldn't control it. My feet moved forward and then next thing I knew, I was beating him mercilessly. What if I lose control with Alianna like that?"

"You won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

She placed a hand on his cheek. "Because you are my brother and you would never do anything like that."

Chad looked away.

"Do you really think that you would become the man you've hated all your life just because you share the same blood with him?" Kayla asked after a moment of silence.

"… No," he mumbled. And he sighed. "I just… I don't know. I'm confused."

"How come?"

"I'm both happy that I beat Harry, but I'm also guilty about it."

"You can apologize," Kayla suggested.

"NO!" his reply was instant.

No matter what, Chad would not apologize. Not to Harry. Even though Chad was not proud of beating him, Harry had deserved it – because he was the reason behind the problems between Chad and Lucy.

Besides, Chad had been fair and told him to leave. Not one, not twice, but thrice. Harry should have listened and obeyed.

"Then you need to stop thinking about Harry," Kayla told him. "In any case, I bandaged his wounds and everything is fine for now."

"You're right," he sighed.

The two sat in silence for a while.

The Lord of Daelhr glanced at his sister to find her staring at the floor, worried. And he felt guilty for burdening her with his worries.

"So," he said with a smile, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Are you ready to see your brother getting married?"

It worked – A smile brightened her face in an instant as she turned to look at him.

"Yes," she replied. "Are you ready to get married?"

"I am."

"Any jitters?"

Chad paused, thinking. "Not anymore."

"That's my brave brother!"

He chuckled. "Would you like to have breakfast with me?"

"I'd love to," she smiled.

"I'll see you in the dining hall in ten minutes."

[][][][][][][][]

Chad was walking back to his room to get ready for the wedding when he noticed a lone figure in the balcony.

He stopped. Blinked. And then hesitated.

He should be getting ready for the wedding. They had to leave for Fulton Manor soon and there was not much time left. What was worse: Kayla was beginning to freak out – again, and Chad wanted to face anything but a freaked out Kayla.

He hesitated for another second and then with a sigh walked to the balcony. A few minutes won't hurt, would they?

"Hello, Irene," he smiled at the girl who was sitting on the chair with her elbows rested on her legs and her chin resting on her palms.

The blue eyed princess looked up and smiled. "Hi, Chad. What are you doing here?"

"I was walking by when I saw you sitting here alone so I thought I should ask you if everything is alright."

She waved a hand. "You're such a gentleman!"

Chad chuckled. The princess was the most amazing little girl he had ever met. And growing up surrounded by queens and so many nobles, she was turning out to be an interesting person.

"I'm fine," Irene went on. "Just bored."

"Why are you bored?" he asked.

She sighed. "It's a long story."

"I have time."

"No, you are getting married today."

He smiled. "I am."

Irene looked at him. "I always thought you would marry Aunt Lucy."

Chad's smile faltered. "So did I," he said quietly and took a seat. "Anyways, why are you bored?"

"I don't have any friends to play with today." Irene complained.

Chad blinked. "What about Estella and Caleb?"

"They are almost of same age and they always team up so it is me against them in every game."

"How unfair," Chad commented.

"Exactly. And they think I lecture them."

"Why would they think that?"

"They were thinking of climbing a tree and I stopped them," she replied. "I'm the big sister. I cannot let them get hurt, right?"

"Right," Chad agreed. Irene was just like her father when it came to her cousins or sibling. "Well, what about Patrick? You love playing with him."

"I don't like him anymore," Irene grumbled, crossing her arms as she pouted.

"Why not?"

"Whenever I play with him, he pulls my hair."

Chad laughed. "Two year old boys do that."

"But it hurts." Irene said. "And it is annoying."

"He doesn't know that." Chad told her, "Besides, every brother loves annoying his sister."

Her eyes were wide. "Really?"

"Really. Haven't you seen how your father or your uncle Edmund joke around with your aunts?"

"Do you do that with Kayla?"

"Occasionally." He replied. "I'm not much of a fun person."

"No," she disagreed. "I like you."

"I like you too," he winked at her and then pretended to be deep in thought. "If we both like each other, then why don't you marry me?"

Irene laughed. "No. You're big and I'm small. And you're marrying Alianna." She paused, "I will have to play Caleb's and Estella's unfair games at the wedding without Hadiya."

"Hadiya?" Chad asked.

"She is my friends," Irene told him. "She is really nice. She doesn't come to our palace much but when she does, I team with her and we four play."

"Do you?" Chad asked, smiling at the little girl who was telling him her tales so excitedly.

"Yes. And when Caleb and Estella don't want to play, Hadiya and I play and it is so much fun. Have you met her?" Irene asked. "She also came here."

"She did?" he asked. "I haven't seen her."

"She has small chores to do." Irene seemed sad all of a sudden. "And she will stay here because she is not invited to the wedding. So I won't be able to play with her."

"And that will make our sweet little princess sad," Chad guessed.

Irene pouted sadly and nodded.

The Lord of Daelhr briefly wondered how anyone could resist that puppy dog face before smiling and picking up Irene in his arms as he stood up. "Well, we'll have to change that."

"How?" she asked.

"How?" he laughed. "It's simple: who is getting married today?"

"You."

"Me," he said with a nod. "So I will simply go and tell the servants to make sure that Hadiya is ready by the time we will leave. I'm inviting her to my wedding."

"You can do that?" her eyes widened.

"Of course!"

She cheered. "I love you!"

He laughed and kissed her cheek. "Me t–"

"Irene, Isabel says that you have to get ready for the –"

And the room was silent for a short moment.

Chad started at Lucy.

And Lucy – who had come to call Irene – stared at the Lord of Daelhr.

Then, Chad slowly let Irene down and the girl ran out of the room, excited now, leaving him and the Valiant Queen alone.

Lucy was ready for the event, he noted. The strapless red gown that fell to her feet, her brown locks tied in a bun with a shiny clip, a simple necklace - she was gorgeous (A/N: Link to the picture of the dress in profile). Her brown eyes were full of emotion, her pink lips still parted as she stood there in a slight shock...

His heart ached to see her.

Everything was wrong.

Things shouldn't be like this.

Lucy shouldn't be in love with Harry.

Chad shouldn't be marrying Alianna.

And the two of them shouldn't be so far away from each other… so distant.

But just because things shouldn't be like this didn't mean that they weren't.

Lucy was in love with Harry. And she cheated on Chad.

Chad was marrying Alianna – he will, he will fulfill his promise to Demetrius.

And they were no longer together. And that was not his fault.

When he had walked to her room with Peter and Kayla that day, he had seemed nonchalant from the outside, but deep down inside he had been hoping. He had promised himself that the minute he saw Lucy, he would tell her to forget everything. He would tell her how much he loved her. He would tell her to kiss him if she loved him back.

And a part of him was sure that she would - but that part was proven wrong when he had seen her kissing Harry.

She had cheated. And he had left her.

Simple as that. And now, nothing could change that.

With fire burning in his eyes, Chad glared at Lucy for another moment before walking past her and back towards his room to get ready for his wedding.

This was not the time to think about Lucy.

[][][][][][][][]

Lucy looked around, continuously telling herself to keep on smiling no matter how hard it felt. She was standing in the huge gardens of the Fulton Manor that were decorated beautifully for the wedding of the Lord of Daelhr and Alianna.

The sky was clear and a soft breeze blew. The decorations were lovely. The guests stood in small groups – chatting merrily.

Lucy eyed her brothers, who were standing with a few men, talking about who knows what. Caspian and Susan stood nearby talking to a couple. Isabel and Adeline were talking to Estella who seemed to be complaining about her Edmund calling her 'Stella' again. Kayla was talking to a few servants, no doubt about the remaining of the arrangements.

The Valiant Queen sighed. She was standing alone on one side, trying her best to do her duty – which was to attend the wedding and seem normal. Whenever a guest came to her, she politely replied and talked, but otherwise was content to stand alone.

A laugh caught Lucy's attention and she turned her head to look at Chad, who was standing, talking to a small group of nobles who sat there. His green eyes were filled with glee at something that had been said and then he turned to Philip – his best man – and slapped him on his back.

Lucy inspected him closely. She had seen him before at the mansion, when he had been with Irene but he had left without a word. He still hated her. And then she had seen him getting into the carriage for the wedding.

He looked handsome, without any doubt. Dressed in formal robes of black, with his hair combed – and still having a messy edge to them – and the aura of nobility that surrounded him, the Lord of Daelhr looked extremely graceful.

And that made Lucy's heart ache.

It hurt to see Chad as the groom at a wedding that was not hers. She had always imagined him to be her groom, to be her other-half. She had always wanted to get married to him.

But now… look at what was happening.

Everything was wrong.

With a sigh, Lucy looked away and froze.

She spotted Harry standing far away, his head lowered, trying to act as if he was invisible. But even from the distance, Lucy could see his head bandaged, his jaw bruised and his lip was clearly hurt too.

What happened? She wondered. This was the first time she had seen him since last night and he had been absolutely fine then.

She walked over to him. "Harry!"

He glanced at her and bowed. "My Queen."

"Harry, what –"

"Ah, Queen Lucy," a woman came up to her. "How are you?"

Lucy glanced at Harry before turning to her and greeting her. "I'm fine and you."

"Perfectly fine," the woman smiled. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you."

"It must be hard for you to be here, right, after you and Lord Chad have courted for such a long time?"

Lucy stiffened. "We're friends and I wish him well for his future." She replied sweetly. "Excuse me."

She turned and motioned to Harry to follow her. "Harry, what hap –"

"Later," he said quietly, "Right now, there are lots of people around who want to talk to you and I think it would be inappropriate if you keep your attention fixed on me."

Lucy glanced at Chad, who seemed happy here at his wedding, then back at Harry. She took his hand and dragged him towards the manor.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked.

"You're right, we cannot talk in front of all the people."

"But –"

She hushed him up as the two entered the manor, which was bustling with servants, and walked down the hallway, looking for a place where they could talk in peace.

"Have you been here before?" Harry asked her.

"No." she came to a stop by the staircase. "Now, may I ask you –?"

Footsteps.

She groaned.

"We can talk later," Harry told her. "We should head back."

She shook her head as she started up the stairs. "I don't want to go back unless I have to. That open garden is suffocating me."

"Lucy –"

"Please, Harry! It is harder than I thought. The decorations, the guests, everything..." she shook her head. "This is real and I don't like it at all."

He remained quiet.

The climbed up the three flights of stairs and Lucy dragged him into the first room on the right.

It was a bedroom, lavishly decorated with heavy wooden furniture. A huge window on one side overlooked the back side of the estate.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"I have no idea," she replied and then turned to face him. "Now, tell me what happened to you."

"Nothing," he lied.

She gave him a flat stare before placing her fingers on a bruise and pressing lightly.

He winced. "Alright, I… got into a fight."

"With whom?"

"It doesn't matter," he told her.

"It does," she said firmly. "Who did this to you?"

Harry hesitated and then in a low voice said one name. "Chad."

Lucy blinked in surprise. "Chad hit you?" shock and anger seeped into his voice. "Why?"

"Because I went to tell him how much he was hurting you," he mumbled.

"Oh, Harry…" Lucy began. "You shouldn't have."

He remained quiet.

She sighed. "If Chad doesn't realize that I really love him and that he is hurting me through his actions, then maybe he doesn't love me. And if he doesn't, then I have no right in going to him and telling him all this."

"I didn't like seeing you so sad."

She smiled. "How can I be so sad when I have such an amazing friend?"

He smiled too.

"But it was wrong of Chad to hit you," Lucy said, her smile vanishing. "I'll talk to him."

"You don't have to."

She shook her head. "I will. And I want you to stay out of this. Is that clear?"

She could see that Harry did not like the idea, but he nodded because he understood the order.

"Is this why I didn't see you since the morning?" she questioned. "You wanted to hide your injuries?"

"That is part of the reason," he mumbled. "I was assigned some minor other duties too."

"Well, you should have –" And Lucy stopped, her eyes going wide. "Do you hear that?"

Harry was silent for a moment before his eyes went wide too. "Footsteps," he said.

"Someone is coming."

"And we are in this bedroom, just the two of us," he said, worried. "We cannot be seen like this. It is highly inappropriate."

She bit her lip, nodding in agreement. She didn't care what others thought, but even she knew that being found like this in a room with her bodyguard was highly inappropriate.

"It's too late to leave," Harry said, looking around and grasping her hand. "We have to hide."

With that, he dragged her to the huge closet and opened the door. She quickly got in, hiding herself behind the hanging clothes that clearly belonged to a man, and moved so that there was enough space for Harry. Once he was in, he quietly shut the door of the closet.

It was extremely uncomfortable, Lucy realized. Her body was pressed against Harry's and her face was really close to his.

She held her breath when she heard the door of the room open and someone step in.

From the tiny opening in the closet door, she peeked to see who it was. Next to her, she felt Harry do the same.

Philip moved towards the bed, whistling a tune, and opened the drawer of the bedside table. He picked something up, closed it and then turned. He blinked in surprise and then smiled. "What are you doing here, father?"

"I wanted to ask you the same thing," a voice she recognized as Demetrius' said, and a moment later, the old man walked into her view as well. "The ceremony will begin in an hour."

"I just came here to get the wedding rings. As the best man, it is my duty to take care of them."

Wedding rings. Chad's wedding rings…

The rings that would bind Chad and Alianna to each other…

"Isn't it great, father?" Philip was asking. "This day is finally here. We've been waiting for it for a long time now."

"Indeed, my boy. Today, Alianna will finally become the Lady of Daelhr."

"I, frankly, never thought that Chad would ever agree to marry my sister, considering how madly he was in love with Lucy…" Philip shook his head.

Lucy's heart skipped a beat as broken dreams came to her, making her insides hurt even more. The loss of what could have been washed over her.

Philip was smirking. "… But I guess we have to thank our Valiant Queen for making it all possible."

Lucy frowned. What?

"Yes, yes, the foolish girl went on and kissed her pathetic guard," Demetrius said. "And then it was too easy to take advantage of Chad's anger and make him accept the proposal of Alianna's marriage to him."

"And once my sister becomes Chad's wife, it will be too easy carrying out our plan ahead," Philip said. "I don't think it will be long before the rule of Daelhr is in our hands, father."

Lucy's eyes widened.

The world seemed to stop and Philip's words echoed in her ears.

What?

"Quiet, Philip!" Demetrius scolded. "Even the walls have ears."

"No one is going to hear us here," Philip shrugged.

"True, but we must still be wary," the old man said. "We don't want anyone to know our true intentions. That would be a thorn in our path to success."

Philip nodded in agreement after a moment of thought. "We don't want that. Not now, when we have waited so long for our revenge," he turned away, his face contorted in anger. "Chad will pay – he will pay for what he did. I will make him fall on his knees and beg for mercy, beg for forgiveness for what he did to our family."

"We will, my son, and even then I will not forgive him," Demetrius said. "But for that, I want you to control your anger. Be patient – that time will come when we will strike down our beloved Lord of Daelhr."

"And I cannot wait for it!"

"Today, he will just take the first step that will lead him to his doom."

"Everything is great, isn't it?

Demetrius nodded. "You must hurry downstairs and join the party. Your sister is marrying your best friend, after all."

"Indeed. I'm so happy." Philip rolled his eyes while the words full of sarcasm left his mouth.

"Hush," Demetrius ordered, "I can hear someone coming."

The two grew silent for a moment, staring at where the door was. Sure enough, a moment later a maid walked in.

"Milords," she bowed. "Lady Alianna sent me here."

"Is she ready?" Demetrius asked.

"No, milord," she replied. "Her hair have been styled but she refused to get dressed and get ready any more."

"Why?"

Lucy could detect hints of anger in Philip's voice when he asked that question.

"I-I don't know," the maid spoke. "She requests your presence. I think she is nervous. It must be the wedding jitters."

"Very well," Demetrius said. "You may go."

The two were silent till she left and then –

"What is wrong with that girl?" Philip growled. "Does she not know how important this marriage is for our plan to work?"

"I'm sure she does," Demetrius replied calmly. "We've explained it to her in much detail."

"I doubt she even heard us father! The girl is a stone – she doesn't react to anything."

"Now, now, Philip," Demetrius said disapprovingly. "Don't say such things about your sister. She is intelligent and she understands what we all must do."

"Then why is she not ready when her wedding is barely an hour away?"

"I'm sure it is what the servant girl said – wedding jitters," Demetrius said. "She is, after all, getting married to a man she doesn't know much about."

Philip shook her head. "I'll go see her and put some sense into her." With that, he began moving towards the door and out of Lucy's vision.

"Philip?"

"Yes, father?"

"Don't be too hard on her. She is just a young girl."

"… Yes, father."

Silence.

Demetrius looked around the room. Sighed. And then walked towards the door; a few moments later they heard the door shut.

They waited.

No sound.

And then, slowly, Harry opened the door of the closet and stepped out, Lucy following him.

She let out a breath. "Did you hear them?"

He nodded, still seeming shocked by what they had heard.

"It is a trap and they do not mean well."

"Who would have thought that they were plotting against Chad?" Harry asked quietly. "They were his most trusted companions."

"I will not let them hurt Chad. I will not let them succeed."

He moved towards the door.

Lucy still tried to swallow the shock, but it was so difficult. Demetrius and Philip and Alianna?

These people wanted some sort of revenge from Chad. What had Chad done to offend them?

And an even more important question: what was their plan?

Lucy knew nothing of their motives and she couldn't think of any reason behind this hatred.

However, all of these questions left her mind when she heard the four words Harry spoke next.

"The door is locked."

"What?" she asked, trying her best to keep her voice from getting too loud.

"Demetrius must have locked it when he left."

"No, no, no!" Lucy said rushing forward and trying to open it. It didn't budge. "We have to open it."

Harry ran a hand on the surface. "It is made of pure wood. I doubt I'll be able to break it open."

"Do you think the key is in the room?"

Harry shook his head. "The door has been locked with the key. Demetrius must have it."

"What about a spare key?"

"I doubt it, but we'll have to search the entire room for a key that might or might not exist," Harry told her. "I don't think we have enough time. The wedding is in less than an hour."

Lucy groaned, her eyes moving around the room until they came to rest on the window. "The window!"

"No," he took her arm. "We're on the third story of the manor, and look outside – there is no branch or tree nearby that might help us in getting down."

"We have to get out of here, Harry. We cannot stay here."

"I know," he told her. "Let me think."

"We don't have time to think!" Lucy exclaimed, her voice a mixture of anger and desperation. "We have to get out of here as soon as possible. I'm going to stop this wedding."

*GASP*

What's going to happen next? Only the next chapter will tell... which will come soon.

Until then, have fun! :)

- Ennarre

Oh and

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW

VVVVV
VVV
V