Beneath A Silvery Sky•Prince Caspian x Reader

6. Penance

Caspian was, apart from Magister Lux and Doctor Cornelius, the only other person that I trusted wholeheartedly. His promises were effervescent yet unsaid. Caspian was trustworthy because I felt so. He wasn't the type of person who needed to boast their kindness (although true kindness is never boasted) nor would he ever. My Prince would be the type to sow and tend to poppies all through the winter in order to help a family he barely knew. 

On my quest to find Caspian, I passed close by to the birthing suite. By now, the sun had fully fallen beyond the misty mountains and returned to slumber in the silvery sky of night. The moon was full and cast a bluish tint over the entirety of the stronghold. Streams of light wove through the stained glass windows and fell onto the floor in elaborate strands of dancing flecks. 

I rounded the next corner harshly as I fought to get away from the terrible cries of Miraz's wife. My head turned away for just a moment, but even a second was long enough to evoke disaster. 

White linen blankets feel to the ground into a heavy heap of fabric. A bowl of water, that, by the smell, I assumed to contain roses, soaked onto the floor and blankets. I grasped onto the linen and tossed it from my eyes to reveal who I had run into. 

Before me was another noble girl, who I quickly recalled was named Zoe, adorned in a reddish dress and a dark head covering. Her outfit, in addition to the materials that were now scattered about the narrow hall, signified to me that she was assisting with the birth. 

"I'm sorry," I began slightly feigning concern. Truth be told, after being sure that Zoe wasn't injured, all I wanted to know was how the birth was progressing. I handed her the now rose-water soaked linen. "How's it progressing? The birth, I mean." 

Zoe was hesitant, for she knew of my status amongst the Telmarine nobility. I was the mistake, the imposter, the heinous crime and mar upon their history. To my surprise, however, the curly haired girl was more than willing to converse after a moment of reflection. I was sure I was one of the first people she'd spoken to outside of the birthing suite for the past day. 

"That's the problem. The birth keeps stalling. Starting and stopping. It's like nothing-" there was a loud cry from the birthing suite causing Zoe to look over my shoulder. "I really have to go. Just keep the Regent's wife in your thoughts." 

"Of course," I called out after her. "You keep them safe." 

Zoe nodded and scurried off. 

Truth be told, I had no ill will towards Miraz's wife nor his unborn child. Of course, I secretly hoped that she was not pregnant with a boy, but I knew that the baby, despite their gender, was innocent to all of this. 

Miraz, however, likely felt very different. 

***

From the Second Tallest Tower

Miraz had not stirred from his upright position by the small window in hours. The garden below was bleak and grey in the dying sun. His ears were hot and pulsating from the incessant screams that rang out from the birthing suite below. 

Miraz concluded that he would do anything to stop the noise. He decided, definitively, to give his wife (a mere vessel for an heir) another hour before he himself would go to the suite and cut the wailing babe right out of her. After all, Miraz knew just enough about births that the unborn was at risk anytime they were trapped within the mother for too long. He justified his potential act under the notation that if he did not kill his wife, surely his child would suffer for it. 

 It was no secret that Miraz was an evil man in every sense of the word, but with his shrewd astuteness, Miraz was able to conceal such malevolence behind charming words and promises. Even still, the nobility feared him far too much to love him. The peasantry hated him, and the hatred of a ruler by the masses is a very dangerous thing. 

The cries ceased again and then there were cheers. 

***

In the Prince's Quarters

I reached Caspian's room out of breath. Sweat pooled at the base of my neck causing my hair to stick to my green dress. I rushed into the room in a fit of wild limbs flying in all directions. I had to, first, update Caspian about the birth and then make him promise me to take care of the Magister and his family. 

I was shocked that the noise I made coming into his room didn't wake him. It seemed that the blue light of the full moon reflecting across his tanned cheeks was enough to lull him back to sleep if my intrusion had in fact stirred the prince. I walked forward in a hushed jog and shook Caspian from the confines of sleep.

"Caspian-" he swatted my hand away. "Caspian wake up, this is important." The prince shot up immediately upon realizing that I was speaking to him. 

"What is it?"

"It's-"

Caspian's eyes left my own and instead anchored themselves with a hooded figure that stood in the entryway. The figure removed their black hood carefully thus revealing themselves to be Doctor Cornelius. 

"Professor?" We both said at the same time. Caspian pulled the covers up to his neck in hopes of deterring any thoughts that our professor may have of us being in the same room so late into the night. 

"What-" I began. I looked between the two frantically. "Did Caspian have an astronomy lesson tonight?" 

Doctor Cornelius said nothing and instead ushered Caspian and I to follow him into the nearby wardrobe. He opened the door with fervor and revealed a hidden walkway that wound downward into the dark heart of the stronghold. 

Caspian must have been going far too slow for his liking which evoked the doctor to storm over and practically pull the young prince from the soft covering of the duvet. "You won't be watching the stars tonight, my prince. Come, we must hurry." 

I began to head down the passageway, far too preoccupied with safety to ask any questions. To me, it was obvious as to why Doctor Cornelius was ushering us out with such a stern voice and sure countenance. Miraz's wife had given birth to a son. Panic started to set in. 

"Professor, what is going on?" Caspian asked from the entryway to the hidden tunnel, sleep still clinging to his eyes. 

"You're aunt has given birth...to a sun." 

Sleep left and instead was replaced by fear. 

Caspian was deeply afraid.