Maddie inhaled deeply, enjoying the cool air and the feeling of flying…even though a griffin was helping her with the last one. After all had been said at dinner, all those who had been chosen to be included in the ambush of the castle then got ready. As much as Maddie disagreed with this idea, she couldn't bear the thought of three of her dearest friends off in battle without her. So, she gathered all the daggers she could find and also decided to take a crossbow with. The hardest part was telling Lucy that she wasn't going to stay behind, even though she was on her side. Surprisingly enough, Lucy told Maddie that she completely understood… It made Maddie realize that the youngest Pevensie was the wisest of them all.
She looked over at Edmund, who caught her looking and smiled. At least, she hoped he was smiling. She couldn't really tell in the dark.
Looking away from Edmund, Maddie fixated her eyes on the castle in the distance. Every moment it grew closer and closer.
And just like that, they were there. Maddie aimed her crossbow at a guard in one of the towers and shot an arrow at him. He fell down instantly.
The griffins dropped off Maddie and Edmund and began to circle the sky above them. Maddie kept guard as Edmund pulled out his flashlight—or torch, as he liked to call it—and began flicking it on and off, the signal for everyone to enter the castle.
Still held up in the air by griffins, Alyssa, Caspian, Darby, Peter, Mallory, Logan, Susan, and Trumpkin all braced themselves for their landing.
As soon as they landed, everyone split: Peter and Darby raced down the tower; their target was the courtyard, where they would wait for word that the D.L.F., Logan, and Mallory had met up with Reepicheep and his Mice. From there they would all begin to open the gate and lower the bridge.
Much to Alyssa's distaste, she would accompany Caspian and Susan as they went around the castle and locked every single person inside their chambers.
They were nearly almost done and were about to meet up with the D.L.F. and the others, but Caspian turned direction on them randomly. Alyssa, who didn't notice anything, was still running until Susan pulled her by the arm, so they could catch up with Caspian. "WAIT!" yelled Susan. He didn't look back.
Alyssa yanked her arm away from Susan's grip. "Caspian, stop," she said softly.
He did, even if his back was to them.
Susan scowled and said, "Just what do you think you're doing, Caspian? We have a plan to fulfill!"
"I have to know," said Caspian, still not facing them. "My professor… He once told me that Miraz killed my father… I need the truth!" He ran off down the hallway.
Susan was about to scream at him, but Alyssa hit her in the arm. "Shut up!"
"I didn't say anything!"
"He needs to do this!"
"So you're encouraging this?"
"Go to the dungeons and get his professor, then meet up with the D.L.F."
Before Susan could protest, Alyssa was gone, running after Caspian. She was almost to the door of Miraz's room when she collided into two people.
"OW!" they all yelled simultaneously before recognizing each other.
"Darby! Peter! What are you doing, you're supposed to be in the courtyard!"
"Where's Susan and Caspian?" asked Peter. "Why aren't they with you?"
"Oh, yeah," said Alyssa matter-of-factly. "Susan went to go rescue Caspian's professor and alert the others to lower the bridge. Meanwhile, Caspian went in there to avenge his father's death by murdering Miraz."
Peter and Darby merely stared at her. There, as though on cure, they all heard Caspian's aunt say, "Put the sword down, Caspian… I don't want to have to do this."
Alyssa drew her sword, kicked open the door, and said, "We don't want to either." She inched towards Caspian's aunt, who was sitting on the bed with a crossbow aimed at Caspian. Alyssa stopped when the blade of her sword was against his aunt's neck.
Peter and Darby burst in on the scene, their swords drawn as well.
Miraz chuckled.
Caspian prodded Miraz's neck with his sword. "Shut up! I need to know… Did you kill my father?"
Glaring, Miraz said, "Of course I did."
His wife lowered the crossbow. "You told me you didn't! You lied to me!"
"Everything I did was for our son!" said Miraz, pointing to the bassinet that held their child. His wife re-aimed the crossbow at Caspian, shaking, as Miraz said, "I did everything to guarantee our son would not turn out like Caspian."
Wailing in despair, Caspian's aunt lost her aim. Knowing what was going to happen, Alyssa pushed Peter and Darby aside and leapt across so she could reach Caspian. She dragged him down, but he landed on top of her. The arrow, which would have gone through Caspian's temple, now flew across the room and latched itself in the wall. The baby started screaming.
Caspian pushed himself up a bit so he wasn't crushing Alyssa. "You saved my life."
Alyssa couldn't think of anything to say. She was very conscious of the fact that their lips were only inches apart…
"Get up, lovebirds, we have to get out of here!" cried Darby, running out of the room. Peter was already gone.
Blushing, Caspian helped Alyssa up, and they proceeded to follow Darby and Peter, leaving Miraz and his wife.
Back with the D.L.F., Logan was pacing around, impatient. "It shouldn't have taken this long," muttered Logan. "Something must have happened."
"I wouldn't worry," said Mallory, "Let them take their time."
"Just a minute ago you said that they should 'Hurry their asses up or risk getting smacked,' " said the D.L.F.
"I, for one," said Reepicheep, "agree that we've been waiting too long… I think we should lower the bridge. Our army members can then cross it and wait until the gate opens."
"My thoughts exactly," said Logan. He positioned himself by the turning knob. "Everyone push!"
Back in one of the towers, Edmund had stopped flashing the flashlight. Both were keeping watch, extremely quiet.
After a long time of silence, Edmund blurted out, "Maddie, you're my wife!"
Maddie's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"
"I-I mean…what I meant to say was that we were once married when we both were here before… Do you remember?"
She did. Memories flooded back to her, as they did with Darby. She saw the same things, but her last few memories were quite different than Darby's… There was Edmund, injured from a battle, and Maddie was tending to his wounds… Edmund had kissed her, and they both blurted out their confessions of love… The last thing Maddie saw was her and Edmund's double wedding with Darby and Peter…
"Oh, I remember," she said sadly, standing right by the edge of the tower. "I do, I do…"
Edmund wrapped his arms around her but lost his footing. He pulled back with Maddie in his arms, but the two watched in horror as the torch fell down, down, down.
