Status: On hiatus. Have no fear! It'll still be written eventually...

Awaiting Redemption

Capitol Arrangement

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"You did what?!"

"Dame, you must understand I thought they would come after the shard, which you took into your room with you. I stood guard simply to protect it."

"Inside my room?"

I felt the color drain from my cheeks as I realized I slept in nothing but my undergarments last night after returning from my chat with Aslan. Caspian had been watching over my room to 'protect the shard' and suddenly, standing in front of him, I felt naked.

"The cheetahs were patrolling the halls and the griffins the rooftops, but your balcony is still an opening that needs to be protected."

I simply huffed out an unappreciative breath and left the room. I had no particular destination in mind but I did need to leave Caspian otherwise I would've torn him to shreds. Did he really think I'd let the shard leave my sight? Little did he know I've had the glass weapon sheathed and attached to me since we first happened upon it.

Oh my– what if he had searched for it while I was sleeping and didn't find it in the room? He didn't seem disturbed this morning so he knows I have kept it safely.

What if he pulled back the covers and found it? Oh my–

"Dame?"

I was pulled out of my flustering thoughts by none other than Caspian's old tutor.

"Are you alright?"

I looked around and found that I had brought myself to his chambers.

"Yes, sorry, I was distracted."

"Troubling thoughts, I presume?"

Oh, you have no idea.

"Come, I'll prepare some tea and you can tell me all about it."

My eyes widened. "Sir, I don't think that I could."

"Dame, you're going to have to share the story of what happened all those years ago eventually and you might as well start with someone who will infallibly be on your side."

I smiled slightly. He was talking about something else. Of course.

"You're right, forgive my rudeness. I'll have some tea."

***

"So you see, my plan would have worked. I just– I shouldn't have kept it to myself. I should've trusted in my generals and commanders instead of fearing them as potential traitors. I see that now," I wrapped up, wiping the tears that escaped from the corners of my eyes.

"My lady, that section of land was thought to be indefensible. How did you convince your armies to enter it?"

"My armies had complete confidence in me... a confidence betrayed. Which is why the Narnians don't exactly trust me or regard me very highly. The trees, Cornelius. They were our allies."

"Trees?"

I turned and looked at him.

"That section of land wasn't indefensible– it was defended by a different type of tree spirit of Narnia, some who have never before had contact with Narnians. They protected their territory against any who tried to lay siege to it or mar it with pointless warring. But since we were fighting for Narnia, I was successful in making the trees our allies."

"And when you left, the trees turned on your armies, just like that?"

"I assume that the Narnians who saw what had happened to me couldn't explain the magic behind it, so when it came time to report it to the rest of the camp, they explained it as though the tree spirits had betrayed me. The tree spirits, of course, didn't like that, which is why they lay dormant for so many years. And so, Narnia fell."

"I see," Cornelius empathized, reaching out to lay his hands on top of mine. "M'lady, you know that the magic of Narnia works in weird ways. Have heart, all will fall into place in good time."

I gave him a quick smile and thanked him for his kindness. Then, we sat in silence, enjoying the rest of the tea that sat in the kettle. Every so often my eyes would wander around the room and land on various artifacts from the different eras of Narnian history that I had been a part of. Cornelius would follow my eyes and share the story of how he acquired the piece, and I would tell him what I knew of it. In Cornelius's study, I felt more at home with Narnia.

Eventually some guards came and found me and insisted I rejoin King Caspian for strategy discussion. I politely excused myself and followed them out and into the throne room. Generals of different species had gathered around a map of Narnia that was laying across the floor. Little figurines symbolizing army regiments were placed around the Narnian landmarks and places of magic. Overnight our defenses had taken a large hit. We figured that the minotaurs and black dwarves could carry inside information to our enemies, so we needed new plans. We talked for hours but kept going in circles.

"Let's start with the obvious," I interjected, frustrated at the lack of progress. "We know they've kept their base at Aslan How, our scouts have told us that much. We also know they need the blood of a son of Adam in order to complete the ritual. We should monitor the routes into the castle that the minotaurs and black dwarves usually guarded."

I shot a pointed look at Mirestorm, the centaur who had taken charge of our armed forces.

"That's already been taken care of, m'lady."

"Perfect. The ritual requires a Narnian place of old; the magic is stronger there," I stood up from my seat next to Caspian at the table and began to pace about the room. "But which place should we rise to defend?"

"Hags aren't very smart, maybe they'll try the How again," suggested a different Centaur.

"Don't be daft, they'll try the Witch's old palace," suggested a Telmarin general.

"Who's in charge of them? Do they have a leader?" I asked, before anyone else could throw out an inane possibility.

"The White Witch."

…alright.

"They can't summon the spirit of the Witch anymore, not while we have the staff. They'll be growing restless. Where would the Witch want to be awakened?"

My question was met by silence. Of course.

"It's so clear. We need to think like her to beat her. Where would she raise her army once she was brought back into this world? What place means so much to her?"

"Her palace," muttered the Telmarin general.

"That's not a bad idea. But it's far from here. Much too far from the How where they've kept their base. It would be too much trouble to secure the palace as well as the How and as far as we know, they don't have that big of an army."

"M'lady," King Caspian spoke calmly, seated at the head of the table. His eyes were focused on a speck of dust in the table. Until now, I thought he had zoned out. Apparently not. "I think you're asking the wrong question."

All eyes were on the King's form as he rose slowly from his chair. "We shouldn't be asking what place means a lot to her, we should be asking about the place she'll have no quarrels about destroying. Wherever she is awakened there will be a war… why would she want to damage a place of importance to her?"

"You're right, my lord," Mirestorm said. "She'll look to destroy a place that is important to us."

"This palace isn't old enough, nor is it Narnian. It doesn't hold magic like other places do," I pointed out. But as soon as I said it, I realized exactly what she intended to do. And from the look of his face, so did Caspian.
♠ ♠ ♠
Sorry for the long wait, but I have some bad news. I've been having a lot of trouble with this story lately. I've had these ideas in my head for such a long time, and I suppose its my fault for not writing this story often, that the ideas have been escaping me. I see the main action sequence of the idea in my head but I don't remember how I got there plot-wise. It's been awful :( So, until further notice, I'm placing this story on hiatus. Better than being inactive for months at a time, right? I'll still be working on it like I have been, but my inspiration for this story has been sorely lacking.

On another note, I've been pounding out chapters of my X-men story that I'm co-writing with Bekah. I guess my inspiration has shifted over there because only one chapter has been posted but I'm writing number six right now with no indication of slowing down :X So, if you're a Marvel nerd or just like sci-fi types of stories or the way that I write, go check that out! It's called X:Men: The Next Class.

Comment, please. If you have any suggestions or ideas to help this severe writer's block, pleeease let me know!