Flatline ⤞ Peter Pevensie [2]

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Fallon didn't move for a few seconds. She simply stood, still leaning against the wall, ignoring the professor's pleas to go after the prince. She knew what Caspian was feeling. She'd felt it too, hundreds of years earlier.
In the weeks she'd gotten to know Caspian, she'd learned that he wasn't as impulsive as he seemed. But finding out that someone had murdered their parents –an uncle, out of all people– could make anyone lose their heads.

The castle walls seemed to morph with the shadows rippling from the Huntress as she finally made her way up the stairs and towards the corridor. She didn't need to follow Caspian's scent to know where he was headed.

"You know, some families might consider this inappropriate behavior," Miraz's voice echoed from the chamber as Fallon got closer, one of her throwing daggers already unsheathed.

"That doesn't seem to have stopped you," Caspian spat the last words as though it were poison in his mouth.

Fallon stopped next to the door.

"But you are not like me, are you?"

When the prince didn't reply, Fallon nearly rolled her eyes. She knew she wouldn't intervene unless she had to. This was Caspian's decision to make.

"It's sad," Miraz continued. "The first time you've shown any backbone . . . and it's such a waste."

The shifting of the sheets reached Fallon's ears in a split second, but she stayed unmoving, hidden behind the door, even as steps made their way towards her from the other end of the hallway. She could only hope that the siblings wouldn't intervene. Caspian could handle himself, Fallon knew that. But stepping in now would only make things worse.

"Put the sword down, Caspian." The woman sleeping next to the newly elected king now held a loaded crossbow aimed directly for the prince's throat. "I don't want to do this."

"We don't want you to either."

The Huntress suppressed a groan as Peter and Susan walked into the room, weapons drawn.

Peeking once again from outside the room, Fallon saw Miraz put his hands on his hips, and with a clearly annoyed voice said, "This used to be a private room."

If the situation had been different, Fallon might have laughed. But as she moved away from the darkness of the hallway, her throwing dagger glinting in the moonlight, she ignored Peter's voice as he talked to Caspian. She could already see how this would end as she watched the scene unfold from outside the chamber.

"Tonight for once, I want the truth." Caspian's knuckle turned white as he gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. "Did you kill my father?"

Miraz stepped back to avoid Caspian's blade slicing his skin.

The Telmarine king didn't hesitate before replying. "Now we get to it."

"You said your brother died in his sleep," the woman on the bed said, still aiming the crossbow at the prince.

"That was more or less true," Miraz replied.

The moment of silence was interrupted by Susan. "Caspian," she started, "this won't make things any better."

But her words seemed to scatter before even reaching his ears as Miraz spoke. "We Telmarines would have nothing had we not taken it. Your father knew that as well as anyone."

The woman finally lowered her weapon as she stared at her husband. "How could you?"

The pain in her voice was enough for Fallon to understand who she was. The Queen had remarried her husband's brother once he was killed. Caspian's mother had been aiming a loaded weapon at her son's neck.