If Caspian had a coin for everytime he missed dinner in favour of continuing his studies, he'd probably have access a fortune of his own large enough to rival his uncles. As it was he did not turn a profit from unintentionally starving himself; instead all he had thus far was cramping in his stomach and a looming headache from continuously reading the same paragraphs over and over in an attempt to commit them to memory. Which was being made expeditiously harder by the fact that the more he tried to focus the louder his stomach growled.
A glance out the window of his study showed the moon high in the sky, well past the time that the other nobles should be in bed, and honestly fairly close to the time that his professor would come fetch him for their late night lessons. He should be able to venture down to the kitchens and grab a late night snack without running into anyone besides the patrol guards. Keyword there being should.
These days it was getting harder and harder to predict the motions and movements of the castle. It seemed as if the castle was in a constant state of paranoia, with Caspian's birthday about a year away and finally being able to claim the throne that was rightfully his, and his uncle acknowledging his existence considerably less then he used to, which Caspian didn't think was possible. Adding to that was the fact that his uncle was no longer hiding the fact that he and his wife were trying for a baby. Miraz had also made it abundantly clear that he was hoping for a boy. If that happened then his uncle had no more need for him.
Which was the reason that Caspian and his professor were devoting more time to his studies, he needed to learn as much as he could in not as much time as either of them would like.
And as much as he would like to push those worries to the side as he contemplated how best to go about finding sustenance, it was hard not to think about it when on his journey to the kitchen he wondered if any of his uncles loyalist soldiers were lurking behind any of those shadowy corners awaiting their moment to strike.
In the end though his hunger outweighed his doubtful thoughts of self-preservation and he set out into one of the castle's many hidden passageways to make his way to the kitchen. He did, however, pause long enough to ensure that his mini dagger was concealed on his hip.
These days it's better to be safe than sorry.
If Alessandra had a coin for everytime she got burned from the unnecessarily large pots in the kitchens, well she wouldn't be working the palace kitchens that was for certain.
As it was, she was the last maid left in the kitchen scrubbing pots and pans alone as punishment for dropping a pot of soup. The pot was nearly empty by that point but Anastasia wouldn't hear that, nevermind the fact that the reason she fumbled the pot was because when Anastasia slapped her favourite wooden spoon on the countertop Alessandra jumped the pot burning her forearm thus resulting in the spillage.
And heaven forbid that Anastasia showed an ounce of sympathy towards her workers, because rather than at the very least checking that the burn wasn't severe, she screeched at Alessandra to clean up the spilled soup and get started on a new batch, and then as further punishment she was to be left in the kitchen all by herself to cleanup from the day. And one might think that the head maid would show some semblance of mercy and at least give Alessandra a slight respite before the morning shift. But no. She was to work throughout the night, and into the morning, and then continue working.
Luckily, or perhaps unluckily she'd been in this position before, and thereby knew the best way to clean up fairly quickly, enough to grant herself a slight respite. Not that she ever allowed herself more than an hour, since she made that incredibly irresponsible decision to devote that time to sketching. Not that she didn't already spend too much time doing that on her already dismal downtime. But if she were honest her alone time in the kitchen, even though it was produced via punishment, was one of the only times she was truly alone.
Since she spent so many late nights in the kitchen, she was fairly familiar with the nobles venturing past the kitchens during those last hours. During those times Alessandra tried to stay as quiet as possible so as to not draw attention, she'd heard quite a few stories of those entitled nobles or even a guard, taking advantage of a lonely maid that they came across; she'd thus far been able to stay away from their more physical advances. So when she heard unfamiliar footsteps venturing ever closer to the kitchens she abandoned her sketchbook and moved over to the sink where already cleaned pots rested, as well as a few knives hidden below the soapy water.
Better to be safe than sorry.
It took longer than Caspian would've liked to get to the kitchen, since the hidden passageways were mostly meant to get away from the innermost parts of the castle, he eventually had to exit the relative safety of the shadowy hallways to get into the kitchen.
He was sincerely hoping that the kitchen would be empty, but it appeared that luck wasn't on his side. Perhaps he'd be able to grab something quickly and leave, maybe he could get by without disturbing her or her realizing he was there.
"Be careful going that way, I just waxed these floors."
Caspian froze, he wasn't as invisible as he'd hoped he would be. He took a moment to straighten his back and clear his throat, "Apologies my lady."
The girl had her back to him but he heard her scoff quite clearly, "I'm no lady."
"A term of proprietary, my l-" he paused, "Miss." There, the term was still respectful but didn't carry the same weight.
"It's a lie," Caspian wasn't used to being so openly contradicted, but he found that he didn't mind it, she dried her hands and turned to face him, he watched the amusement drain on her face when she spotted him, "My Lord," she greeted him, all traces of playfulness gone from her tone, Caspian didn't like it, she didn't bow to him but her head tipped lightly, "Apologies for my bluntness." Lion, she was an idiot, she was a damn fool, teasing a nobleman was incredibly foolish, and judging from how soft the fabric of his shirt looked and the delicate flowers embroidered in his shirt he was fairly high up.
"No apology necessary," Caspian said, he enjoyed the back and forth, however brief it was.
"Midnight snack?" She asked carefully.
"I was caught up in my studies, miss," he explained, "And I missed dinner."
She nodded, taking a step towards the pantry, "Craving anything in particular my Lord?"
"No," he said shaking his head folding his hands in front of him, "I don't wish to trouble you."
"It's no trouble."
"Watch where you step," Caspian's mouth spoke without his brain's permission, but when she paused he continued, "I heard that the floors were just waxed." Was that a smile he saw before she disappeared into the pantry, if that was a smile he glimpsed on her face, he thought it was quite lovely. Caspian couldn't recall another time that he'd seen a genuine smile sent his way, especially from a maid. Those were normally quite formal, barely a curling of the lip to show politeness.
Alessandra wasn't sure what to make of the young lord in the kitchen, similar to many of the others he was standing stiff as a board but there was a politeness to him that was, dare she say, endearing? He'd at least respected her enough to not call her by a title she was clearly uncomfortable with; she doubted any other Lord would be as understanding. Even if she'd only meant it in jest, she really ought to be more aware of her surroundings before she opened her mouth.
She emerged from the pantry with a cheesecloth wrapped around a slice of bread, and a piece of cheese, "Apologies again, the bread may be a bit stale from the day." she explained holding out the budle for him to take.
"It's quite alright," Caspian said stepping forward with a slight bow to gather the bundle from the bottom, "Thank you, miss." he added making the mistake of glancing up catching her eye as she nodded. Her eyes were the loveliest shade brown, bright despite the dimness of the flickering flames nearby.
"You're welcome." Alessandra breathed, similarly captivated by his eyes, were his eyes black? Was that possible? Or were they so dark brown that they appeared that way, perhaps it was a trick of the dim light in the kitchen at such a late hour, either way she found them to be quite lovely.
A moment later the trance was broken and Capsian stood to his full height once again, nodding his thanks before hastily making his exit. Alessandra turns back to her chores quickly so as to hide the pink crawling up her neck and into her cheeks.
She isn't even certain why she's blushing the way that she is. A nobleman is no one to be getting hot in the cheeks over, they don't often make it a habit of courting the maids. Their intentions are often much less innocuous. Still though, when she finally has a moment to herself, just before dawn breaks over the horizon she finds herself tucked away on the floor, she finds herself sketching away trying her best to mimic the darkness in his eyes before the memory fades entirely. It's highly unlikely that she'll see him again, so what's the harm in indulging herself a little.
Hey friends, I recently rewatched the Chronicles of Narnia and reawakened my dormant love of Prince Capsian. So the writing bug bit me again, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. What can I say, my constitution is weak. I will be updating my other long running stories eventually, but for now they are on pause.
This story will loosely be a three-parter (All in this book) starting pre- and during Prince Caspian, then post-movie followed by the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Each one will be based on a different song that I felt fit the story.
The song theme for part one is 'Everything Has Changed,' By Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran,
The playlist for this story:
Everything Has Changed- Taylor Swift & Ed Sheeran
This Love- Taylor Swift
Rewrite the Stars- Zendaya & Zac Efron
Lover - Taylor Swift
Shallow- Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
Young & Beautiful- Lana Del Ray