Forever Praying

The minute they started the trek in the woods, Candide was thanking the Lord that Aaden had made her wear such a simple dress. The branches would’ve easily gotten caught in it, and it was much more comfortable to ride a horse this way.

The forest smelled of damp grass and birch, not a particularly enjoyable scent but the princess could ignore it. Light filtered through the leaves, dimly lighting their way as it was so early in the morning.

Candide had been flanked in the middle of the men by Sir Christopher who was now at the head of them, sitting upright and looking as if he had just won a war. She shook her head while patting Callisto, trying to get rid of the negative thoughts that plagued her mind.

“Princess, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you decide to join us?” The young woman in question turned her head to the right where a knight was looking at her curiously. She gave him a surprised look, and the knights that were looking at her now probably mistook it because one of them elbowed the young knight in the ribs.

“No, no, it’s quite alright,” Candide said, not wanting the knight that had asked the question to get abused furthermore, “I wanted to come on this trip because I’d never been out of the kingdom without my father, also, I’ve always wanted to see King Caspian’s castle.” This was the truth, although she omitted to say that she wanted to meet Prince Caspian.

This whole thing, the whole wanting to meet King Caspian thing, it had all started when she was an infant. She had a cousin, Stephan, who always came and played with her whenever he could manage to come visit with his parents, and he always spoke of King Caspian. He was his best friend, see, and every time Stephan came he told Candide stories about the both of them and the adventures they had. King Caspian had since then become a sort of hero, someone to look up to. Then, Stephan died of illness and Candide didn’t play with her cousin anymore; didn’t hear anymore amazing tales. Since then, the feeling that she had to meet the prince had only heightened, because maybe if she did she would have a part of her cousin back.

Of course, Candide didn’t bother telling the knight that, or all of his friends who were listening in.
“I understand,” the knight said, and he really seemed as if he did but Candide decided not to enquiry about it, “but please don’t wander off, Princess. There are some nasty things in here, nothing like those fauns and badgers.”

“Shut up, Alexander.” Christopher called from the front, apparently having listened in to the conversation as everyone had turned quiet. Candide turned to the knight, who was presumably named Alexander, and felt bad as she watched him blush and look down at the ground.

“Thank you, Alexander. That’s very helpful; I’ll keep that in mind.” The young woman grinned as Alexander gave her a relieved smile.

The two talked for the most part of the morning, conversation easily flowing between the two. Candide learned that he was a year younger than her, and had that he’d been in her father’s army for a year. She also noticed things that he didn’t mention, like the way his blonde hair turned almost white in the light and how his green eyes sparkled whenever he talked about something that interested him.

Noon hit fast, and it hit harder than any of them expected. They had to take an hour break, where they mostly sat around and ate although some men had discovered a pond and were refreshing themselves in it.

Christopher and Alexander had stayed behind with her, as well as a couple of more men that she didn’t know. She came to the conclusion that Christopher was only staying because he wanted to prove to her that he was a gentleman, and more importantly he wanted to keep an on her so that if any of his men came back she didn’t see them. Or, that’s what she guessed. Candide was almost certain though that Alexander actually stayed for her company because he talked to her for the whole hour, having only removed his armor so that the heat wouldn’t kill him. Christopher was eyeing the two suspiciously, but Candide pretended she didn’t notice and following her lead, Alexander did the same although he didn’t speak as much.

Once they set out again, Candide was frowning because her thighs were hurting her and the heat didn’t help a whole lot. She tried to remain positive though, truthful to her regular happiness. The woman had to admit though; she was the only one who was trying. Most of the men looked about ready to drop because of all the heat (they had put their armor back on), and that took a toll on their spirits. Even Alexander, who Candide had already categorized as generally talkative and happy, was quiet.

The only sound that could now be heard was the steady beat of the horses’ hooves and the sound of the forest stirring around them. They hadn’t encountered any ‘magical creature’ as most villagers like to call them, and Candide was both disappointed and relieved. She hadn’t forgotten Alexander’s warning just yet.

Finally, night came and they had to settle down to sleep because no one was fond of the idea of going on at night. The men separated the task of keeping guard, and although Candide argued with them that she should have a turn just like everybody else, they just declined her and said that she’d better rest up instead. Fuming, she went inside her tent and lay down on the sheets that had been lain out for her. Christopher had proposed the two sleeping in the same tent so he could ‘protect’ her but she had immediately refused which had started quiet chuckling between the knights.

It was late that night before Candide could finally fall asleep. Usually, thoughts swarmed her head around that time, but that day she was just too exhausted. She did though conjure up the energy to think that maybe tomorrow she would meet a magical creature and that the night after she would possibly meet Prince Caspian.

The last thing she heard before going to sleep was the sound of an owl hooting and the odd sensation that she could hear music playing. She didn’t have time to question this though, because the young princess was carried off into her dream world.