His Majesty, Her Grace - Prince Caspian Love Story

Chapter 6 - Rescue

Caspian's POV

After Althea left, we all head to a small clearing to meet with the other Narnians. Arguments had broken out as soon as they saw me.

"All this horn proves is that they've stolen yet another thing from us," Nikabrik yells, pointing his finger at me.

"I didn't steal anything," I say calmly.

"You didn't steal anything?! Show me a list of things the Telmarines have taken."

"Our homes!"

"Our freedom!"

"Our lives!"

I quickly start to feel overwhelmed by the amount of Narnians yelling at me. I regret letting Althea leave. She'd know exactly what to say and at least I'd have someone who I know doesn't hate me.

"You would hold me accountable for all the crimes of my people?" I ask, hoping someone will listen to my point of view.

"Accountable and punishable," Nikabrik says, walking down to me.

"Ha! That's rich coming from you dwarf, or have you forgotten that it was your people who fought alongside the White Witch?" Reepicheep speaks up, pointing his sword at Nikabrik.

"And I would gladly do it again if it would rid us of these barbarians." He snaps back, motioning at me again.

"That is lucky then that it is not in your power to bring her back," Trufflehunter says, limping into the clearing to stand next to me. I instantly feel relieved. "Or are you suggesting that we ask this boy to go against our side now?"

After he said that all the Narnians broke out into roars and shouts of anger.

"Some of you may have forgotten but we badgers remember well. That Narnia was never right except when a son of Adam was king." I clutch the horn tightly in my hand and muster the courage to speak again.

"He's a Telmarine! Why would we want him as our king?!" Nikabrik shouts, throwing his hands in the air.

"Because I can help you," I say firmly. "Beyond these woods, I am a prince. The Telmarine throne is rightfully mine. Help me claim it and I can bring peace between us."

"It is true." Says Glenstorm, the centaur leader. "The time is right. I watch the sky for it is mine to watch as it is yours to remember badger. Here, a son of Adam has come forth to offer us back our freedom." I nod to him in gratitude, which he returns.

"Is this possible? Do you really think there could be peace? Do you? I mean really?" A jumpy red squirrel asks from a tree branch.

"Two days ago, I didn't believe in the existence of talking animals or dwarves, or centaurs. Yet here you are in strength and numbers that we Telmarines could never have imagined. Whether this horn is magic or not, it brought us together, and together we have a chance to take back what is ours."

"If you will lead us, then my sons and I offer you our swords." After Glenstorm says this all the Narnians start to lift their weapons and fists in unity.

"And we offer you our lives, unreservedly," Reepicheep says, bowing towards me.

"Miraz's army will not be far behind us, sire," Trufflehunter says.

"If we are to be ready for them, we need to hurry to find soldiers and weapons. I'm sure they will be here soon."

"Where do you expect to get all these weapons?" Nikabrik asks me, clearly not pleased with the outcome of the meeting.

"The Telmarines are building a bridge across the nearby river. They're planning on moving all their troops across it, to attack. They have half of their armory there, waiting." I explain.  "I will take a small group with me, the rest will stay." The group splits into two, Trufflehunter, Reepicheep, Nikabrik, and Glenstorm, and a few more Narnians are waiting.

I lead them under the cover of darkness towards the river. It feels like we've been walking for hours and my body feels heavy with exhaustion.

We finally reach the river. Only a few torches are still lit. I motion for the Narnians to take cover as two figures slowly walk towards the edge of the camp.

"My lord, I will get her to talk." Someone says. It sounds like General Glozelle, which means that the other man must be my uncle.

"You will. She's our only lead on Caspian." Miraz growls. "I'm going back to the castle tonight. Stay, and take care of things."

"Yes, my lord." And then they walk off in different directions. I can see the carriages full of weapons on the other side of the camp and motion for the Narnians to follow me.

We get to the other side and three soldiers are slowly patrolling them. I signal to a few fauns and they silently take them out and drag them into the woods. The Narnians slowly start to empty the carriages making sure to remain completely silent. I carve a message 'You were right to fear the woods -X' onto the back of one of them.

"Caspian." A voice whispers from behind me, something pulling on my cloak. I turn around and Trufflehunter is looking up at me, holding something in his arms. He looks distraught and extremely worried.

"What is it?" I ask quietly.

"We found this in the back of one of the wagons." He holds up a bag and a very familiar-looking pair of daggers. My stomach drops.

"It's Althea's. We have to find her." He says.

"Tell the others to hurry up and wait in the woods," I tell him. He nods, and everyone starts to pull back. I look around desperately, not seeing any trace of her. Then my eyes catch on a small figure curled up on the ground next to a tall post a few yards away. I soundlessly make my way over, making sure the coast is clear.

When I reach her, I kneel down and lightly reach out. She instantly gasps and scrambles away from me. Even though it's completely dark, her eyes are glisten with tears, a stark difference from the bright girl I saw only a few hours ago.

"Althea?"

"Caspian?" She asks, her voice cracking. She tries to move towards me, but the shackles around her wrists stop her.

"It's okay," I whisper, unsheathing my sword. I pry the blade in between the post and the metal ring and twist, prying the rusty metal apart.

She stands and wraps me in a tight hug. I can feel her shaking. She lightly sniffs and when she pulls away, her eyes are still watering. I hold her steady as we walk back towards the woods.

"Oh thank goodness!" Trufflehunter says gently, waddling forward to meet us. "I sent everyone deeper into the woods, but I came back because a faun found keys on one of the soldiers." He holds up a small ring of keys and I take them.

"I'll go tell the others, they were almost as worried as I was." He says.

My attention is back on Althea. I quickly unlock the cuffs, sliding them off her wrists. They were already bruised from how tight they were and she self-consciously pulls her sleeves down to cover them.

"Thank you." She says meekly.

A small cut is under her eye and I instantly realize who put it there. Before I can stop myself, my hand has gone up to cup her face. My thumb lightly brushing her cheek, her skin burns beneath my touch. She stares back at me, her eyes still wet but smiling happily again. She shivers so I take off my cloak and wrap it around her.

"We should catch up," I say. She nods and we head back to the Narnians together.
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I'm super duper grateful for all the support on this story so far, so thank you so much.

Hope you guys enjoyed and I'll update next weekend as planned ;)