Awaiting Redemption

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For a moment, there was complete silence. Then, from behind a large redwood tree, came Trumpkin and a badger. I smiled and welcomed the two with a sarcastic, "Charming."

"Andrea," Aslan began to chide me, but sighed and continued, "Trumpkin and Trufflehunter were with Caspian since the beginning. They will fill in the blanks of the story and will tell you what you want to know."

At this point, Trumpkin looked as if he were going to interrupt Aslan with excuses and white lies, but a single glance from Aslan was all it took for him to oblige. Aslan looked to Trufflehunter, and he merely nodded.

Then, Aslan looked to the sky and said, "I think it is time we get back to the Castle. King Caspian will be wondering where we are."

Aslan lowered to the ground and instructed us to climb on his back. It was only a matter of time until Trumpkin, Trufflehunter, and I were all perched on his back, racing through the woods.

And the only thing I was thinking was this: Prince Caspian is most definitely not the King.

***
In a much shorter time than what it took for us to get to the clearing, we arrived back at the Castle. The only difference that I observed was that the courtyard was no longer filled with civilians, but instead empty with an occasional piece of trash on the ground.

Aslan lowered himself again and one by one, we all climbed off of his back. Before I could say anything, Aslan fixed his gaze across the courtyard and I followed his eyes. There, in the distance, was Caspian, instructing what looked to be two soldiers.

As if Aslan's eyes were a powerful force, Caspian hesitantly looked in our direction to reassure himself that he was, indeed, being watched. After finishing with the two men, he patted them on the shoulders, and began walking towards us.

For the first time, I took a good look at Caspian the tenth. As he jogged to reach us, his brown hair whipped around his face as if obeying the wind. His dark brown eyes focused on the ground in front of him, his forehead creased in thought. Oh, and his body? Tall and lean. He was easily taller than Peter, and reached somewhere around 6'1.

Overall, he was really good-looking. And of course, after I thought this, he caught my eye and I began to blush. Bugger...

Caspian bowed to Aslan and for a moment, I thought that I should be bowing too. But then I remembered the controversy that occurred earlier on in the day and scowled at the pighead that was standing before me.

"Rise, Caspian, and listen to what I request of you. Please take Andrea to her room and ensure that everything is settled."

Caspian nodded and started walking away. I stood watching him for a moment, and then all at once Aslan, Caspian, Trumpkin, and Trufflehunter turned to look at me. I raised an eyebrow and then all of a sudden, it hit me: I was supposed to follow him.

I smacked myself on the forehead and sighed as all four of them began to snicker. I jogged to catch up with Caspian and moments later, we were deep into the castle.

***

We walked through two corridors, crossed a courtyard, passed a fountain of a centaur shooting an arrow at the sun, ascended two flights of stairs, walked through another corridor, and then finally opened two large wooden doors to arrive at our destination: my room.

And I would just love to take this time to mention that for the whole walk there, we were silent. Dreadful.

Anyhow, I walked into the room and immediately noticed two large windows, a bed with sheer curtains hanging around it, and a wardrobe.

I stood for a moment, taking in my surroundings. Then, I walked over to the bed and collapsed, face-down. It felt good.

Caspian felt this a great time to speak, "Well, Andrea- I see you like your room. Um... I'm probably needed downstairs. If you need anything, just let us know. Your stuff has been gathered and put into that trunk over there-"

I shot up from the bed and turned to face him. I think I scared that bugger... Looking around I didn't see my trunk so I faced Caspian again and raised my arms in a sort of shrug. He pointed to a space under the wardrobe.

It was clearer to me now. There was a box no bigger than my mum's old briefcase stored in the space under the wardrobe. The golden latch was the only thing that made it distinctable from the wardrobe itself.

I frantically rushed around to the other side of the bed, running by a very confused looking Caspian, and slid the remainder of the way to the box on my knees. I yanked the case out from under the wardrobe and frowned at the size... there was no way all of this was what I had left in Narnia.

"That was all that was salvaged by the Old Narnians of your belongings, everything else is believed to have been destroyed by the Telmarines," Caspian cleared up.

Why didn't that surprise me at all? I sighed deeply and turned to face the Prince, who was standing rather awkwardly in the doorway.

"Well feel free to come in and sit down, yah?"

Prince Caspian reluctantly walked over to my bed and sat on the edge. I lifted the box onto the bed and together, we rifled through what had been saved. There was my old sword sheath made of leather (which was in a terrible condition from overuse), a dagger, a map used to plan battle formations, and a shiny necklace at the bottom of the box.

The necklace was peculiar and I had almost forgotten what it had looked like. It was made from a silver and a copper wing forming a circle, with a blue stone encrusted in the middle. Peter had gotten it for me last time I saw him... the blue stone was supposed to represent everything we had in common. I was the silver, he was the copper.

"That's a strange necklace," Prince Caspian commented.

Without looking up, I nodded. He continued, "Can I see it?"

I handed it over to him and sat down beside him, looking straight ahead.

"Where'd you get this?"

I smiled and answered, "Peter. He got it for me a week or so after we defeated the White Witch. We were sitting down by the banks of this river and he just pulled it out of nowhere. It's pretty, right?"

Caspian just nodded and handed it back.

"So you and High King Peter were ...acquainted?"

I stopped fiddling with the necklace for a moment and lifted my head. I had been nice to this guy, trying to give him a chance, but I wasn't going to talk to someone I had just met about the most important details of my life.

"That would be a little too close for comfort," I said, standing up and making my way across the room to stand in front of a window. I found myself lost in the happenings of the courtyard, where men were trying to calm a startled stallion with ropes. Caspian came to stand beside me.

"I am sorry, Andrea-"

"Please," I interrupted him with a smile, "call me Andy."

He merely smiled back and nodded. We stood for a while, admiring the Stallion's perserverance to set himself free. After a while, the stallion gave in with a huff, and Caspian left to go see what was going on.

I stood at the window for a while until I saw Caspian emerge from the hallway shadows and into the courtyard below, and I turned to go back to my belongings. It was then that I felt a blade digging into my side. I looked down to notice that Rhindon was somehow bending itself into my calf.

I had forgotten to give back Peter's sword to Caspian. Crud.

I shoved all my belongings into the box, slid it back under the wardrobe, and raced down the hallways, looking for Mr.Pighead.