~By the Lion's Mane: See You Again~

Chapter Seventeen

 

Chapter Seventeen

I stayed with Caspian or Rilian. I followed from room to room, only being able to watch over them, but not able to affect them or to speak to them. Caspian took to spending long hours alone in his study, not talking with anyone other than Drinian, Trumpkin, Trufflehunter, or Dr. Cornelius unless he had to.

Rilian was much worse. While Caspian grieved, he kept it hidden behind an expressionless mask, only showing true emotion when he was alone. But Rilian, as he was given to do, didn’t bother to hide it. He no longer went on rides or hunts with his friends, no longer sparred with them in friendly competition. He seemed to have aged, and his former companions were too young for him now and not as mature as he needed. They didn’t know how to react to him, and so he took to spending time with Drinian, or going on long, solitary rides in the northern woods. I accompanied him, though he knew not, and I knew that he hoped to find the serpent and avenge me.

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I began to notice a curious thing. Time seemed to pass more quickly, events flying by with great speed. Before I knew it, several months had passed since my death, although it seemed hardly more than a day.

I noticed that a change had come over Rilian. He returned from his rides weary and with dark circles under his eyes, but his horse seemed as fresh as if it had just come from the stables. I was unnerved when I looked in my son’s eyes and saw what stirred in them. There was talk about the castle that Rilian had been seeing visions. I didn’t know what to believe, and so I followed him the next time he set out.

He rode with a strong purpose about him, and emerged from the forest in the same meadow where I had met my death. The stream gurgled underneath the layer of ice that had formed over it, fallen autumn leaves trapped beneath. Rilian dismounted and let his horse wander about the clearing to graze on the short, brown grass. He sat down in the leaf-strewn meadow and waited.

The sun moved across the sky. And then, across the meadow, a lady appeared. She was ravishingly beautiful with long, curling black hair that gleamed in the cold light. Her skin was pearly white, and she was swathed in a shining green garment.

Rilian leaped to his feet and stared at her. His eyes were glassy and focused solely upon the woman, who beckoned to my son. And then fear gripped me; her eyes were unnervingly like that of a reptile, with yellow irises and a slit-like pupil.

“Rilian! Get away from her at once!” I shouted at my son. But of course he could not hear me. I had no voice.

I felt hopelessly helpless. But just then, the lady stepped back, and vanished. Rilian was left, standing as if in a trance, his eyes like that of a mad man.

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Thankfully, I was not the only one who had noticed the changes in Rilian. Drinian, whom Rilian had grown closer to after my death, questioned him one evening.

“Your Highness,” he began tentatively, “you must soon give over seeking the serpent. There is no true vengeance on a witless brute as there might be on a man. You weary yourself in vain.” There was pity in his eyes. He had been my good friend, as well as captain of the Dawn Treader and one of Caspian’s closest friends.

Rilian looked surprised, as if he had just woken from a nap. “My Lord, I have almost forgotten the worm these days.”

Drinian frowned. I could tell he was surprised and confused. “Then why, I inquire, do you ride so continually in the northern woods?”