I'm in Love With The King

Part One

It's a cold night. I can see my breath in the air every time I exhale. The stars pop at every point in the sky, their light casts deceiving shadows everywhere. The woods are dark, the shadows make it even harder to determine where a tree starts and ends.

My horse's ears turn back and her eyes show the whites. I turn my head back to see behind us. I hear another horse moving quickly towards us and I draw my bow and nock an arrow. I pull the string back, ready to aim. The figure emerges. It is a Telmarine on horseback coming towards us, uncomfortably towards us. I aim at him. But instead of letting go of the string, I yell.

"Stop where you are Telmarine! Do not come closer if you want to live!"

He stops so quickly he almost doubles back.

"Do not shoot!!" he begs.

"And why should I not end your life as you have ended the Narnians lives?' I ask, pulling my bow string back further.

"Because I am Prince Caspian the tenth, and I am rebelling against my uncle, King Miraz, brother of King Caspian the ninth," he defends himself.

"All the better to shoot the one who wanted them dead," I say, re-aiming my arrow.

"But, as I have told you, I wish to disown my forefathers for that reason," he tells me.

I hear more horses riding through the woods. "Follow me or die," I whisper harshly, letting my bow down.

"You do not play games, do you?"

"No, not when it comes to my own life," I tell him, turning my horse around and going back the way I was heading.

I lead him quickly and quietly through the woods but the other men are right on our tail.

"Caspian, your Highness, you must hurry, run that way!" I command him.

Caspian gallops off in the direction in which I point and I keep on my course. The men are even closer now and I discover that they are Telmarine soldiers. One comes up near me and I fire my arrow at him, it landing right in his neck. The soldier collapses and his horse keeps going, on it's own course now. Other soldiers cantered close to me.

We are near the cave which houses myself, Trufflehunter the badger, and two dwarves Trumpkin and Nikabrik. I see Caspian on the ground, Nikabrik comes out of our house, coming after Caspian. Before I can shout, Caspian pulls out an ivory horn and places it to his lips and blows loudly. The soldiers stop and I take this time to shoot four more of them. This leaves two others. They capture Trumpkin before I can do anything. I am torn between helping Trumpkin and Caspian. Something tells me deep inside that Trumpkin does not need me, but Caspian does.

"Caspian, where did you get that horn?" I snap.

"You know him?" Nikabrik snaps back.

"Unfortunately, but he claims he is here to free the Narnians. And I believe him."

"Well, I would like something explained please," Caspian asks as he stands from the ground.

"What is it, Prince Caspian?" I ask him.

"Are you Narnians?" he asks, slightly dumbfounded.

"Yes we are. Right down to the bone too," Trufflehunter confirms as he emerges from the hidden door in the dirt under a tree.

Caspian stares at me,"I could tell by your voice that you are a woman, but now in the moonlight I see how beautiful you really are," Caspian states, uncomfortably confident.