𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐀𝐍 || 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚 [ I ]

Chapter 26

The next day the morning sun had slowly risen to the point where her room had been filled with sunrays and Muriel's eyes had to adjust to the light once she finally opened them. When they had, the first thing she saw was a fully decorated ceiling. She frowned at the sight and it took her a total of five minutes to remember where she was. It was the softness of the mattress and the luxurious furniture in the room that gave it away.

The Archenlander princess smiled when she realized she was laying in one of the fancy decorated chambers that Miraz' castle, which Caspian had told her used to be called Caspian's castle, had to offer. However, when she sat upright she found herself groaning to the feeling of a thousand knives stabbing her in the back, or at least, that's what it felt like. She quickly rubbed her hands up and down her lower back to soothe the sore muscles. The pain had to do with the fact that she hadn't slept in such a comfortable bed in two years and that she was by far the worst dancer Narnia had ever seen. She had made fun of Caspian's dance moves, but she herself had two left feet when it came to it. It was rather odd, seeing as to how she stayed perfectly well-balanced with a sword in her hands, but when it came to dancing Muriel was simply the worst. She grimaced. She just hoped that no one had really paid her ungraceful performance any attention. After all, it wasn't very common: a princess that didn't know how to dance. She blamed her teenage self for that.

Though both her brothers had taken many, she'd never taken more than two dance classes. Her father had told her that she would regret that one day, but twelve year old Muriel did not have a care in the world back then. Her mother had been well aware of that and instead of giving her daughter dancing shoes, she'd handed her a small, but proper, sword.

A small chuckle left the princess' lips when she realized that, yes, in a way her father had been right, she did kind of regret not knowing how to dance. But at the same time, would Caspian have taken the time to take her by the hand and learn her the steps if she had? And would it have been just as fun if she'd stuck to the proper steps? She was glad that she hadn't. Last night she'd decided to forget everything for a moment and dance like she'd never danced before.

Right now, she could definitely feel that.

Muriel kicked the blankets off of her and swung her legs to the side of her bed. A shiver ran up her spine when her feet touched the cold, stone floor and she hurried towards the window near her bed to soak in the golden glow of the sun. She pushed the curtain aside a bit to look outside.

For some reason the castle suddenly seemed a lot brighter now that a big part of the Telmarines had left. She was looking out over the courtyard, the place where many Narnians had lost their lives the night of the raid. She bit her lip, kept her gaze on the empty castle grounds for a couple of seconds longer, before turning around to look for some fresh clothes she could wear.

Fifteen minutes later she stepped outside of her chambers, into the hallway and closed the door behind her.

Even though she had wandered around the castle late last night, she had no idea where she had to go right now. Her stomach was rumbling, so the ultimate destination would've been the kitchens, but of course she had no idea how to get there. For a second she considered going back into her room and accept her fate to starve, but Muriel had to remind herself she wasn't one to be over dramatic. If she wanted to eat something then walking around aimlessly would be the best option. She sighed, took a few steps away from her door and then turned left.

From the outside the castle looked huge, but the inside was so much more gigantic. She felt utterly lost and she had not even rounded two cornors yet! The Archenlander princess wondered if people who'd never set foot in Anvard felt like this whenever they first visited her home. Muriel couldn't imagine that annyone, not even Caspian, could know all the spaces, corridors and secret passages by heart. But it made sense that he did though, he had grown up running around here, away from responsibilities and his uncle's treats. A bit like Muriel had done when she'd been younger.