Tyranny of the Heart

Chapter 9: Night Raid

"Aurina?" A knock at the door interrupted the story. The King poked his head into the room, and smiled when his eyes fell on his son. "Am I interrupting?"

"Yes." The old woman joked, folding her arms.

"Oh, good." The King entered the room with a large smile. The King had grown a long beard, that had flecks of gray in it. His crown laid on top of his head, which once was full of luscious locks, but now was thinning and growing a light shade of white.

"Mother is telling me a story." The boy explained.

"Oh, what a surprise." The King nodded, placing an aging hand on his son's shoulder. "Which one is she regaling today?"

"I am telling him about the days of your coronation." The old woman stated, looking at the King carefully.

The smile on his wrinkled face slowly disappeared, as he processed her words. "I thought we were going to wait to tell him." He replied.

"He is ready now." She told him.

"He is also quite confused and still seated here." The boy interjected.

The two adults paused for a moment, before the woman turned back to her son. "My apologies, dear."

"Would you mind if I were to sit in for a moment?" The King asked.

"As long as you can keep your mouth shut, so that I may tell the story." She said, with a smile. The King put up his hands to indicate that he would so as he sat. "Now, where was I?"

"You had fallen asleep with the book of Narnia in your arms." The boy repeated.

"Ah, yes."

I can not remember the dream I had that night, but I know that in the middle of it, I was awoken by a hand covering my mouth roughly. I squirmed for a moment, and instinctively reached for the emergency dagger I kept under my pillow. When I opened my eyes, I moved the dagger closer to my attacker, but he caught my wrist. My eyes adjusted to the darkness and they met a familiar set of soft brown eyes.

There was a chuckle, and then he said, "Aurina, we have talked about this. You should not sleep with a dagger. You could hurt somebody."

I inhaled sharply, and dropped the dagger on the bed. Could it be? "Caspian?" I whispered as I cupped his face. I could feel his cold cheeks and hear him breathing. He was real. He was alive! "Oh, Caspian!" I exclaimed throwing my arms around him and squeezing him close. Tears stained my eyes as joy filled my every corner. "You're alive."

"Not for much longer." He grunted. It was then when I realized that I was squeezing him too tight. I released him and apologized. "You must get dressed." He instructed. "Grab whatever provisions you can carry and meet me at the stables." Caspian got up to leave, but I grabbed his arm to stop him.