Chasing Princes
"Welcome, Prince." said Aslan. "Do you feel yourself sufficient to take up the Kingship of Narnia?"
"I-I don't think I do, sir." Said Caspian. "I'm only a kid."
"Good." Said Aslan. "Because if you had felt yourself sufficient, it would have been proof you were not."
-From the book of Prince Caspian (1951)
"What do you mean you couldn't find him? This is my brother for Aslan's sake! He might be somewhere out there in danger as we speak. Let the whole palace search until he is found. That is my final decision on the subject." An unfamiliar pattern of words heard from the Valiant Queen herself. The Magnificent and the Gentle had gone to Archenland to arrange proposed meetings with the Tisroc, leaving the youngest siblings to look after Cair Paravel. Unfortunately, only one is.
"We have searched everywhere your Majesty. It has been days since the search party has dug deeper and deeper into the woods of Lantern Waste." Oreius said, in complete surrender to Lucy, who has become quite terrifying these past few days.
"I request Sir Flynn and Floyd's presence Oreius."
"Very well, your Majesty." Oreius traced his hands towards the doorknob and expectantly, Flynn stood before the Valiant Queen as he entered. Flynn had dark, charcoal hair and his eyes took the color of winter moss that quite complimented the sleek features he had. He looked dark and unapproachable. Next, Floyd entered and the moody tension around the room shifted on the quiescent spur of the moment. His face was as warm as the sun whereas his smile was so lovely and welcoming.
Completely different brothers they were.
"Sir Flynn, I would like to know the incident that occurred morrows ago. Mind you explain?" Flynn trembled for a bit and nodded his head.
"Of course not, Your Majesty. Though I would like to state that the blame is mine, I warily admit. For it was my carelessness to overlook the premises of the gates." He replied, in a tone very hush and there was regret that was conspicuous in his quivering voice. "I apologize, my Lady. But it will tire me not to search for the Just King, for it is payment to what I had compensated."
"Well…" Lucy began, pitying the humble boy. "I do pin my faith in Aslan that it would be enough to see my brother again." There was a quiet and still moment as she looked out towards the beautiful view of the Eastern Ocean that mirrored her eyes. She looked below and a familiar velvet carriage had already pulled up from the foot of the castle. Lucy was overjoyed to finally see her siblings again, then it dawned on her the problem was still there.
"Peter!" Lucy cried, running towards them and burying her face relentlessly. Peter returned his sister's embrace, locking her in his arms until her eyes had grown tired from swelling.
"Where's Susan?"
"She is still offering her duties at Archenland. What in Aslan happened to you?" Peter stared at her reddened face, her nose was actually the reddest of them all. "Lucy, Lucy. What happened?" Peter solicited.
"Its Edmund." Lucy said.
"What did he do this time?" Peter asked amused, expecting a story where Edmund had been threatening Lucy's suitors, which greatly annoyed the Valiant Queen. Edmund was quite an overprotective brother, and the more she thought of it, the more remorseless the situation became. She missed him greatly, and could not bear it if anything worse than she expected fell on him, as much as Edmund could not bear putting his sister to risk.
"Nay. What I have failed to do is the more likely question." She sobbed.
"What about it, Lucy? Trouble yourself not. We may have the problem unriddled." Peter reassured, kissing her auburn hair.
"Aye. But even Narnia has riddles none could resolve."
"Lucy, I am much perplexed. Tell me."
"Its what happened to Edmund…" She answered, muffling words in her brother's tunic. She slowly tilted her head upward. "He's missing."
A cool autumn breeze sighed throughout the quiet forest and the pleasant marmalade sky streaked itself across the horizon of the setting sun, spreading a radiant ray on the far edge of Glasswater forest, where there, a little house stood itself up, with a camouflage that hid itself in the shelter of many thick trees.
"I'm not at all sure about this." Edmund woke up with a start, eyeing suspiciously the surroundings he was in. Inside the room, there was an odd tree supporting the little room, with only its trunk visible from the inside. But oddly enough, there was a lovely kind of flower that sprang on its trunk. It looked like a perennial bulb, with an exquisite shade of white shaped in spiral and a yellow centrepiece remarkably dominating the beautiful look of the flower.
He groaned when he felt the sharp pain that teaseled in his thigh. He held a hand over it, and then noticed the soft, cotton like cloth that was bandaged over it. There was a slight shade of crimson surfacing up the cloth.
He was alone, in a small, wooden room that was lit with a candle on the foot of stained glass door. Through it, ripples of shadows were outlined and rustles of voices beamed there. The voice he had heard belonged to a male, whose voice was quite husky but young.
"Hush, Bane. He had come across this far near our home. If he finds out about our whereabouts, then we're as good as the dust the lion walks upon. Besides, you had always been the one to teach me about gratitude. Why so are you acting otherwise?" Beamed a female voice. Edmund's feet scrambled off the bed and crept near the door, creaking it open slowly. There he could see a fox, sitting calmly in a timber chair. Its fur was in a beautiful eloquent red with rich white fur draped on its entire underside. He was not at all surprised to hear it talk, since the fox had looked so wise and barely resembled those of wild animals.
"I have got to teach you about not taking it so seriously amongst people who want you imprisoned." It said, gliding down the chair, positioning itself near a dark figure where he could not see.
"Well, whether I take him in or not, I suppose he'll surrender me to that wretched King Tarquin one way or the other." The figure remarked. Edmund sensed they could have been talking about him, so he listened rather carefully to their conversation.
"And probably torture you." The fox replied. "And you still haven't explained to me what in Archenland you were doing out in the woods. You know about the wild wolves there, bigger than any ordinary wolf that I have ever seen. You were lucky to come across only one. Dear me, I would dread a Guardian Wolf."
"Guardian Wolf? Look, Bane. I appreciate you trying to look after me. I know my father entrusted you, but I just wanted well enough to be alone for sometime. And Guardian Wolves don't exist, Bane. This is another one of your mythical fairy tales. I suppose the next thing you'll be telling me is that a Rider exists too." The figure said.
"Well, they actually do." He could see its shadow step into the light and then, he saw her familiar face. It was she, Reth Winter's daughter. The daughter of the man Archenland has been trying to chase down for many years. And now, his daughter was arraigned for continuing his uncharted works. Reported deaths of many were casted throughout the country, alerting both territories. They never found him, and now, the Just King was in their house, without much of a plan. The girl tied her dark hair in a messy bun, with strands still falling near the side of her jaw.
"My sole purpose was to look after you, Calla."
"I know that Bane."
"Your father shall be coming in a months time. From there, you should know what you have accomplished." Bane walked over to the side of the door and buried his face in its dark edge. When his head popped out, an envelope was gritted on his fangs. "He sent you this letter." He said, words quite muffled with the barrier on his mouth. Calla took the envelope from the fox's mouth, and read the inscription on the very front; To a flower that sprung in the time where crescents of leaves are left golden.
"Peculiar, rather. Quite unfathomable?" Bane asked, sitting right next to her as she sat down near the fireplace to get a better view of the writing. Calla gave him a bewildered look. "I mean, its just, your father has quite a way with words."
"Yes. He can't trust much anyone whenever he sends a letter; so instead, he makes up these peculiar words. Its sort of like a riddle and a puzzle you put together." She smiled. "Sometimes its very hard to decipher."
"Well then what does the inscription mean?"
"Flower; he means me. He derived my name from a flower called Calla Lily. That riddle I could spot." She paused for a moment, looking at the crimson ring on her fingers. Not a wedding ring, of course. It was a gift: from her mother.
"Calla? Are you alright?" Bane questioned. She snapped out of herself, shaking her head.
"I'm fine. Well anyways, crescents of leaves left golden means…um…I think autumn. Since I was born in the fall or sprung rather. Hmm, that was quite difficult. And it was only the beginning." She laughed, amused.
"Oh!" Bane exclaimed, remembering something. "This also came with the letter." He dug in beneath the carpet, pulling out a lavender cloth. "I guess this was what he meant by sending an odd clue to the puzzle. Over all, he said this letter would let you know where his whereabouts are. And where you'll meet him."
Edmund heard himself gasp at the situation he was in. He needed to know where this person was. It would mean such a great deal to both Narnia and Archenland, more importantly the King. Reth had caused stirrings in many territories, and the Tisroc had almost tolerated him, until one day his wife, the Queen Calissa, was kidnapped and returned a year later, only to find her dead.
"Finally." Calla sighed. "It's been how many moons since the last time I saw him."
"Yes, of course. You'll find where he is if…" The fox suddenly pricked its floppy ears up, and its nose thrust itself in the questionable air. "Wait a minute." It said, sniffing, with its ears up on alert.
Edmund's eyes darted worriedly around the room, wary if they could see him in the slightest crack of the door. Then, it a short pang, Edmund was knocked fiercely against the floor, with the paws of the gnarling fox baring its teeth at him pinning him down in full security.
"What have you heard?" Bane snarled, with every shade of threat glinting in his eye. "I told you this was not at all a good idea!" He kept his eyes focused on the Just King.
"You don't have to do that, Bane. He had just recovered. Or do you want to let him stay for a couple more days?" She questioned with arms crossed. The fox shook its head in defeat as it scrambled down, letting Edmund prop himself up without the weight of the fox pinning him down.
"I don't like him. I don't like him one bit." Bane muttered, quietly enough for Edmund not to hear, as he stood up wobbly, trying to gain support of a nearby table to lift him up. His leg had hurt for only a little now.
"Where am I?" Edmund's voice finally echoed for the first time in a few days. "I demand to know."
"Speak more properly." Bane scowled at Edmund. "A king like yourself should know proper manners."
"A quality you seem to lack." He returned, quite brave enough.
"Unfortunately, I'm not a king, now. Am I?" Bane replied. Edmund grew angrier and more tensed with the unfamiliar surroundings.
"I stress my release! My troops shall be ransacking your home and taking me away from this blasted forest." Edmund flared. Bane looked at him and was not at all gratified.
"Pleasant company, indeed. Suppose I'll have him for supper? I feel an unpleasant rumble in my gut and I'd be delighted to rid of it." Bane asked Calla who just smiled at him, as this was a way of showing her consent. Edmund only grunted, guarding himself.
"We are not holding you captive here; it's only a matter of time if you situate yourself out there, consider yourself dead. Glasswater is home to one of the most dangerous predators in Narnia." Calla stepped forward, eyeing the upset guest.
"If that is so, why are you even here in the first place?" Calla paused for a moment.
"It is none of your concern." She answered boldly, with a harsh tone as her head turned away.
"Wait." Edmund started, realizing. "You're Reth's daughter." Calla's expression did not shift.
"Make no mistake for the scarred reputation of my father to me. I am not at all acquainted to what he normally does." She said, still not looking at him in the eye.
"But…are you like him?" Edmund asked. She seemed to ignore this, or avoid, rather.
"You better get some rest. Bane...if you will."
Bane eyed the king, who showed no hint of fear as it returned the same dagger eye threat. Though, somewhere, Bane liked having a challenge, so he quite admired the boy, a bit. He shoved Edmund towards his room with his muzzle, growling whenever he'd show signs of rebellion. Of course, Edmund did not at all approve of the idea of getting pushed around. He was after all a king. But it was not his battleground, and people like him knew that knowing where you stand gives you an advantage. So for now, he was to wait.
And there, Bane spent the night awake, watching the Just King in his miserable state.
A quiet night it was in Cair Paravel, while the three rulers left had been worrying sick. Peter had ordered no stone left unturned and sent every search party there was in his castle. He sat alone in the balcony of Cair Paravel, looking and that somehow, he would see his brother in the distance on a horse galloping towards the castle with guards who have found him. Oreius quietly approached him
"I'm sorry, your Majesty. There were no signs of King Edmund. We have practically searched everywhere in the grounds of many forests far from here. I trust that you know your men need respite for such long days of questing." Oreius begrudgingly admitted to the devastated king. Peter stayed still. His eyes just suddenly met with Oreius.
"Do you have…a family, Oreius?" Peter asked
"Two daughters, your Majesty." Oreius replied.
"And what would you do if one of them was missing?" Oreius heaved a sigh.
"I, my Lord, would undoubtedly be doing the same thing you are doing." Peter stood up, and nodded his head at the honourable centaur.
"A noble creature, you are, Oreius. I trust your daughters are blessed to have a father such as you." Peter said looking over to the vast opening of the balcony.
"Thank you, your Majesty. Where do you suggest we start looking elsewhere? " Oreius asked.
Peter did not look back, keeping his eyes over to the wide range of forests that bowed before him. "Where have we not begun yet?"
"Dancing Lawn, your Majesty."
"Do not look for the inevitable Oreius. Look where it is most unlikely."
"I'd claim Glasswater, but it is a forest tis with no problem. Its area barely claims any formidable grounds with such a close range with Cair Paravel, except wolves reign and makes their homes at such an abundant forest. A thief would think twice into setting up quarters there."
"And where searchers would least search for."
"This cannot wait until tomorrow, Calla. We have to go now." Bane said.
"I know we should have gone earlier. But this boy caused a delay in our plans. We cannot just leave while he is still worse in condition." Calla argued.
"We have no choice."
Sleeping, Edmund was nudged on his back, and he was aware it was Bane's doing, grunting at him to get up. He was not at all used to this, except whenever Susan would hit him with a pillow or have the curtains drawn to let enter the aggravating ray of the morning sun to irate Edmund's eyes as he tries to block them with his hand. Usually, she'll wake him up about preparations for balls or something.
Except now, at this time, it was still night. Dawn wasn't going to be breaking in anytime soon. The moon was still high and the stars have never left their recent course.
"What now?" Edmund growled.
"Forgive me for your sleeping disturbance. But we best be moving, pup." Bane returned, a voice more hostile and intimidating. Edmund got up quickly, following the wolf as he was led out of the hut. Bane sat on the ground, eyeing the vast forest in mid-autumn, where tree trunks are stained red and the meadows are perfectly in sun-burst colour. Calla came out with a lighted torch and moved ahead.
"Quickly, now. We have to be out of here until dawn." Bane shoved Edmund forward. He was beginning to fall weak, as the aggravating agony in his thigh did no help for him as he limped onward.
"Why the sudden rush?" He asked.
"Its midnight, in the middle of autumn." Bane replied, his paws padding and crunching the dried autumn leaves at his feet.
"I gather..." Edmund trailed off, hobbling to keep up. It would've been his instinct to escape but he was weaponless and injured. A wise king knows when to strike at the right time, unfortunately for Edmund, he won't be seeing opportunities anytime soon.
"Gather that at this time of the year, certain predators come out of their dens, every one of them, to hunt as many animals as they can that would suffice them. So it is probably best if we do not get in their way of finding a meal." Bane answered. They hadn't gotten quite far yet, as more trees started to encompass them and besides Calla's torch, only the moon and stars serve light but not quite enough.
"Suffice them for what?" Edmund asked, ducking into some branches.
"Why, dear boy, winter of course! Expect diminishes in resources, or food if you have taken it. " Bane answered thickly, as if it were obvious as it was.
"Why not just stay inside the cottage? Surely, it would be safer than out here." He asked.
"Well, you can't expect that tiny little cottage to be a fortress, now, can you? It's best if we get out of the forest." Bane replied. Edmund cringed at the idea of standing out there, being watched by wild animals.
Then he noticed Calla had stopped in her tracks. She held up the torch quite higher, and widened her eyes in horror.
"What is it?" Edmund asked. For a king, he asks so many questions.
There was a rustling in the far edge of the forest. Sounds of whimper and quiet growling, and figures that moved, and then gone within a blink of an eye. Uphill, there were shadows that bristled in the bushes, eyes silently following you in the trunk thick branches, with their coats camouflaged so skillfully, there was no difference between an animal, and a simple bush. Everywhere they turned, something seemed to move, hide, or poke their heads out. Yellow eyes scurried from every direction and each second; they all seem to approach closer.
Edmund did not at all know what to do, looking around everywhere and not making a move; careful to make threatening actions that could provoke anything. Bane kept his defensive stance. Eyes narrowed and locked on every corner and legs ready to lunge. His head was bent low, and his throat snarled fiercely.
"Any ideas here, Bane?" Calla asked, readying herself. Bane shivered, knowing this would be a battle they certainly can't win.
"Yes. Run!"
Reviews my lovelies? One of the longest I have ever done. I'll be updating tomorrow, or the day after that. You know what, just stay tuned.
-DawnDestination