I am very sorry for the long waiting :S ... I just had my final exams at university (and I passed them all yay :)) so I really hadn't any time to write. But the good news is that summer break is here (at least in Austria ;)) and I have just one more paper to write and then I have more time to write :) ...
Well I would like to dedicate this chapter to Jill G. Lowrey, who is betaing this story from this chapter on (so it's thanks to her that there are less mistakes ;)) ... thanks for the corrections and all your input concerning the plot :) ...
Enjoy reading everyone :) ...
"So your son allied with the Calormen against his own people, against his own father?" Susan asked, being the first one to break the silence.
"I am afraid so." King Nain conceded looking up, meeting the disbelieving gazes of the others with guilt in his eyes.
"Well every one of us knows how easily someone can be tempted by power, don't we?" Edmund defended their new confederate.
"But your daughter told us that her brother was dead." Peter stated, not able to mention her name. His eyes looked sad. Had she lied to him yet again?
"Well to an extent that is true. The man who is leading the Calormen army isn't the son and brother we knew. Three months ago my son's wife died during childbirth. It was a stillborn." King Nain started to explain, bitterness in his voice, "My son loved his wife more than anything in the whole world and he couldn't get over her death. From the moment she died, he changed into an entirely new person. That day, the son that I knew died."
The older king paused, taking a deep breath. Everyone looked at him spellbound; everyone except Caspian who could not tear his eyes away from Susan. He imagined losing her like that. He remembered how hard it had been to be apart from her, but he had at least known that she was well, that she was alive. How much harder must it be to know that the person you love is dead, that there isn't the smallest change you will see her again?
"In his anger he joined with the Calormen to overthrow me" the old man continued, "We didn't see them coming. They attacked us in the cover of the night. I was imprisoned and everyone who didn't swear an oath to follow the Tisroc was killed. The Tisroc and my son intended to conquer Narnia as well. From their spy at your castle, they knew that the king was currently searching for the seven lost lords. So they sent out a ship to attack you and to capture the king to destabilize Narnia."
"So it was the Calormen who attacked us when Edmund fell into the sea?" Caspian asked.
"Yes, it was." Edmund answered, continuing the tale, "They found us in the water afterwards and unfortunately I introduced myself as King Edmund from Narnia. They thought they had captured the one they were searching for and sailed back to Archenland, where we were imprisoned. There they learned that I wasn't the current king of Narnia, so they sent somebody else to destabilize the lead."
"Cora..." Lucy whispered, everything falling into place.
King Nain nodded, "My daughter asked to be sent, because she thought that she might be able to adjust things. She thought that your powerful weapons, of which they both, her brother and her, had heard much about in their childhood, might satisfy his thirst for power or that your cordial might heal his psychotic pain. Corinne still believed that there was something good in him. She couldn't believe that the brother she had looked up to for all her life, who had always been there for her, had changed into such a monster."
Susan looked at Peter with tears in her eyes, touched by the sad story. She imagined what she would have done herself if Peter had turned into such a monster. What could be worse than to have your own brother as an enemy? She glanced over at Edmund, remembering the time when he had betrayed them to the white witch. Luckily, he hadn't gone as far as Corinne's brother.
"And we sent her away..." Lucy said, looking at Peter who kept his gaze on the ground, "We shouldn't have sent her away alone. She's in danger out there in the woods. We have to search for her." Lucy worried about her friend. She had always known that Cora hadn't intended to hurt them. She had understood what Cora had done, even though she would not have done it in the same way.
"My daughter knows how to defend herself. And even if the Calormen catch her, I am sure that Cain won't do anything to her. He may have changed but he would never hurt her, not even now." King Nain assured them, "It's more important to make ready for battle. No matter how much I wished this day would never have come, the Calormen will attack soon and they will not spare anyone."
"We will show you what we've worked out so far," Caspian offered, "but I would first like to know how you escaped."
"Well it was Eustace really who freed us." Edmund said as he gave his cousin a pat on the back appreciatively.
The young man looked a bit embarrassed, "Well it wasn't that difficult. I overpowered one of the soldiers when he brought us something to eat. From then on it was rather easy. Most of the soldiers had gone to Narnia and out of those who remained some were still loyal to their king."
"Are you sure that these men are loyal to you and that there isn't another spy among them?" Peter asked suspiciously, pointing at the few soldiers behind the King of Archenland.
"Peter!" Susan flashed Peter an admonitory glance.
"I stand surely for them with my life." King Nain assured them, his voice still friendly but definite.
"Then I had better show you what we've planned so far." Caspian said quickly, not wanting a fight to break out between the High King and their new ally.
King Nain nodded and entered the tunnels with Caspian. When the others followed as well, Susan grabbed Peter's arm, stopping him, "I need to talk to you."
Peter stopped but didn't turn to face his sister. Susan waited until the others were gone, then in a gentle voice, she said, "You have to forgive her."
"That's none of your business." Peter said with a trembling voice, his back still to Susan.
"Yes, it is my business. You're my brother and I love you. I don't want you to suffer. Don't stand in your own light. Forget the grief, forget the anger. Live every day as if it was your last. What would you do if you knew that you would die tomorrow? Wouldn't you want to tell her that you love..."
"She lied to me! She betrayed me! I loved her! I trusted her but she betrayed my trust!" Peter finally turned, shouting, tears of anger and grief in his eyes, "Tell me, do you betray and lie to persons that you love?"
Susan was shocked when she met her brother's gaze. In his eyes she didn't see grief and pain but rather hate and anger. "Well to be honest I would lie to anyone, if it was for the sake of someone that I love. I would lie to Caspian if it was for your sake, or Lucy's or Edmund's. And if you are honest to yourself you would do it as well. You would do anything to protect your family even if you hurt somebody that you love. Otherwise you aren't the brother that I know..." she paused, a lonely tear escaping her eyes, "Please tell me that I haven't lost you."
When Peter saw his sister sobbing, he calmed down and hugged her, "Of course I am still the brother that you know. I'll always be there for you. I would do anything to protect you. You know that."
He stepped back and looked into her eyes once more. The hate was gone. "But I cannot forgive her. At least, not right now." He added whispered, before he turned and entered the tunnels.
Susan sighed and turned to the fields, her eyes wandering across them, watching the soldiers prepare for battle.
"Live every day as if it was your last, quite good advice that you gave your brother." Eustace suddenly stepped next to his cousin, who looked at him surprised.
"Yes, I guess it really is." Susan said thoughtfully, looking into the distance again.
"Aslan gave me a message for you." the young man said suddenly, not mincing matters.
"What?" Susan was stunned.
"He appeared to me in the dungeon and before helped us to escape he gave me a message for you." Eustace repeated in a calm voice.
"Why didn't you tell everyone?" Susan asked, wondering why Aslan had especially appeared to Eustace, who was in Narnia for the first time.
"I didn't tell them because they aren't supposed to know. His words were only meant for you." Eustace explained, finally looking at her.
"And what did he say?" Susan asked, not really sure if she even wanted to know the answer.
"The future does not belong to fear. It belongs to freedom."
Susan looked irritated, "What does he mean by that?"
"I think it is as simple as it sounds."
Well that's it ... another shorter chapter and another kind of filler chapter - for those of you who are waiting for the war to come - it's coming soon promise!!
Well the chapter is mostly about the story of the royals from Archenland - I thought about that quite a long time - especially how to picture Prince Cain and his story and with him Cora's/Corinne's story - finally chose to make it like this - well what do you think about it?
For those of you who were disappointed by Edmund's and Eustace's arrival - I know that their arrival took kind of a back seat because of the appearance of King Nain and the introduction of Prince Cain and I am very sorry for that, but even though I never intended this, the story kind of centers the older two Pevensie children - Susan and Peter (and with them Caspian and Cora) and so the introduction of those two characters were kind of important ... BUT there's going to be more about Eustace and Edmund - so look forward to that.
Concerning Eustace there's one more thing to say - my describtion of his character is rather different than in the books. At describing his character I am really bad – I just never really had a picture of him in my head. So I just decided to make him kind of the voice through which Aslan is talking to them, kind of the voice of sense or of rationality... I just hope that doesn't bother you too much.
Yeah that's it for now - I hope you enjoyed reading - I try to hurry up with the next chapter :) ...
PS: As always I would like to hear your thoughts about the chapter ;) and as always I would like to thank those who reviewed so far. I just love all of your reviews!! :) ...
