𝑩𝑬𝑳𝑳𝑰𝑪𝑶𝑺𝑬 | 𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑎 𝑥 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟

𝐶𝐻𝐴𝑃𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝐼𝑋

─────⊰ ✧.*✦*.✧ ⊱─────

　　 𝐈𝐅 𝐀 𝐏𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 to be dropped in the room, one would only hear the soft thud of it hitting the ground and the resounding echo bouncing from the floor to the walls to the ceiling. Victoria stared towards the man she knew was King Nain and a much younger man next to him.

The younger man radiated royalty to Victoria. Unlike Nain, the wrinkles that come with age hadn't graced his face yet. His trimmed beard made him look a few years older than he actually was, but his eyes betrayed his youth buried underneath his role of king. His hair was resting on his shoulders, not a strand out of place. The tanned colour of his skin fit well with the dark brown of his hair and eyes which both glistened in the early sunlight which managed to reach him from the high windows.

Victoria instinctively held onto her necklace to calm herself from the initial shock that shivered through her body when she'd heard his voice behind her. The Neelam stone stood in stark contrast to the bronze chain that had faded over the years. Feeling the cold, smooth stone against her palm reminded her of all the times she'd held on to her necklace and she let go of it again at once.

King Nain gestured towards Victoria while looking at the other king with a frown on his face. 'Is she familiar to you, Caspian?' he asked him.

'She is not,' Caspian replied as he approached Victoria. 'What is your name?'

Victoria dropped into a hasty curtsy when she remembered that both of these men were kings here and it seemed like the appropriate thing to do. She held up the skirt of her dress in her hands so she could bow properly. It was the curtsy she'd learnt from her mother for if she ever met someone of high importance or royalty. Today was the first time she'd actually done the curtsy.

While she was curtsying, she bowed down to stare at the floor. The beige-coloured, ceramic tiles were placed in a diagonal manner which—together with the high ceiling—made the room appear vaster than it was. 'My name is Victoria,' she answered politely.

The king nodded, his face formed into a thoughtful stare. 'I am Caspian,' he said after which he smiled for the first time. 'Please, there's no need to curtsy. You may rise.'

Victoria did as he said and straightened her shoulders backwards to force herself back into her normal posture. 'Caspian, the king we've been waiting for I see.' The softness in her voice finally disappeared as she'd composed herself.

Caspian's chuckle had a shadow of its own when it echoed through the hall. Victoria's gaze wandered over the intricately weaved tapestries that showcased golden lions everywhere. She recognised the lion from the dome, though instead of being made of lit up water droplets, it was now made of golden threads which displayed much more fine detail.

Nain smiled proudly at the tapestries Victoria was admiring. 'Beautiful, aren't they? The one above my throne is my prized possession,' he said with such cheerfulness and walked over to the tapestry to grandly gesture towards it. 'Made in the Golden Age by none other than the Valiant Queen with the help of Mr Tumnus. She made it as a random act of kindness. She could've easily been given her sister's title.'