Tarnished Crown

Practically the moment his feet landed on the sand of Murrha Island, he was accosted with family members who treated him as if they'd known him forever. Aside from his grandfather and one of his uncles, he had never met any of his mother's family before. Now he was surrounded by them.

First came the spine crushing hug from his Uncle Thierry. "Good to see you again, Cassi-boy! You grew up as strapping as any of the Sefenti men!"

"Of course he did, you idiot. Now move and let me see my son."

Caspian couldn't help but smile at the sound of his mother's voice. Thea Sefenti was still a breathtaking woman, with wildly curly chestnut hair and the same piercing silver eyes that Caspian had. Elaborate tattoos of flowers and birds covered her arms shoulder to elbow, and a small sun was tattooed beneath her right eye. She gave him a dazzling smile, not seeming to have aged at all since he'd last seen her.

"My darling boy," she said, pulling him into a hug. "I'm so happy to see you again. Everyone has been dying to meet you."

Then she stepped back and Caspian was swarmed with a flock of children; the youngest couldn't be more than five. The young ones crowded close, all calling his name and trying to hug him.

"Children, children! Give Caspian some room!" A woman slightly older than his mother laughed, shooing the children back.

"It's all right," Caspian said, feeling slightly overwhelmed. After spending so long with his father and Helene it was strange to be greeted with such enthusiasm by his family members. So many family members. He had never realized just how large the Sefenti family was. The laughing woman hugged him next.

"I'm your aunt Delana," she said warmly. "Thierry's wife."

"It's wonderful to meet you."

Thea kept a hand on his arm as she introduced him to all his aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins. Caspian was sure he would never be able to remember all their names. He wouldn't have been surprised if his own family made up nearly the entire population of Rehan. They made their way slowly to a sprawling house atop a hill covered in greenery and the sound of bird calls.

"Your granddad would have been with us to greet you, but it's hard for him to travel or even walk down the hill anymore," Thea said quietly, sounding sad. "But don't bring up his ill state of health. He's a very proud man, Harim Sefenti."

"So that's where you get it," Caspian teased. The interior of the house was simple but beautiful, filled with wood and sparkling green and white stone. It had plenty of wall to floor windows, all giving a stunning view of the white sand and blue water below.

"Papa?" Thea called. "Rafe? We're back."

"Who's Rafe?" Caspian asked. "I don't remember you having a brother named Rafe."

"That's because I'm not her brother."

Caspian looked up to see a man leaning in the doorway of one of the rooms, looking amused. He had a small gold hoop in one ear, tousled reddish-brown hair in need of a trim, and a cat-like grin that was oddly infectious.

"Caspian, this is Rafe Dunnerow," Thea said, looking as close to nervous as Caspian had ever seen her. "He's..."

"Her lover," one of the cousins volunteered. Thea scowled and smacked them upside the head. Caspian's eyebrows shot up.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"I wasn't sure how you would take it."

"I take it fine, Mama. Even if he does look like a rogue out of a fairy tale book."

That made Rafe laugh, and he came forward to shake Caspian's hand.

"That's precisely the sort of look I was going for," he said jovially. "I'm originally from Dreama, but I found I had a knack for sailing and couldn't wait to get far away from that foggy, depressing rock. I made a decent living catching indecent people and returning them to their home countries to face punishment. But then I came here and one look from those pretty eyes of your mother's and I never left."

"A bounty hunter," Caspian chuckled. "You're probably much better suited to my mother than my father was."

"Tell those two fools to stop clucking in the halls," a deep voice bellowed from inside the room. "I want to see my grandson."

Caspian entered the room to find his grandfather sitting on a balcony, reading a book and smoking a pipe that filled the room with the scent of the sweet tobacco grown on some Rehani islands. His long beard was tied into two braids, his tattooed head shaved bald. Even in his late age and with his worsening condition, Harim was still the intimidating man Caspian remembered. He rose stiffly from his chair to inspect Caspian, standing nearly seven feet tall. His sharp gray eyes took Caspian in and Caspian resisted the urge to fidget nervously.

"He's a good man, Thea," Harim declared. "He has your soul."

Harim stepped forward to embrace Caspian. Barely in Rehan for an hour and he already felt more comfortable and at home than he ever had in Elbis. The only place he felt more at ease and complete was next to Belle.

"We're going to celebrate your arrival," Harim announced. "Everyone has prepared a feast for tonight. All that's left to do is to gather the firefruit, and the children wanted to wait until you arrived."

"Firefruit?" Caspian repeated. "I think I remember mother mentioning something about those once. But-"

"Come on Caspian!" The younger cousins herded him out the door before he could remember what was so special about firefruits. He remembered half an hour later when he had had to wrestle the little red, star shaped fruit from the hordes of temperamental birds that inhabited the tops of the trees. They nearly pecked his eyes out and made him fall out of the tree. He shimmied down with a cut on his cheek and tears in his shirt, but held up a bushel of fruit triumphantly.

The children cheered and promptly ran off with most of the fruit, which burst with sweet flavor. It was like fire colored candy. Then they all crowded into and around the house to eat. One little girl with her dark golden hair cut short and framing her chin approached Caspian and stared up at him with big eyes the color of sea glass.

"Aunty Thea said you once fought a wolf," she said seriously. "Is it true?"

"No," Caspian said. "There were two wolves. That's how I got this scar on my calf, see?" He pushed up his pant leg to reveal a long scar. Her eyes widened.

"Wow," she breathed. "I've fought stuff too. Mostly my brothers and cousins, but that's about as bad as fighting a wolf. Or a bear even."

"Do you win the fights?"

"Pretty much always," she said proudly. "I'm Mylia, by the way."

"Giano's youngest, right?"

She nodded, sitting up straighter.

"Well I'm not so sure I'm ready to fight you just yet," Caspian said. "I don't know if I have that level of skill."

"Probably not," Mylia agreed. "But give it some time and maybe you'll have a chance."

She darted off to play with the other children and Thea laughed.

"They like you."

"I seem to have a way with kids," Caspian shrugged.

"Probably because you're kind of a kid yourself at heart."

"I'm not too much of a kid," Caspian protested. Thea arched an eyebrow.

"Oh? Is there something you'd like to tell me, Cas?"

"No," he mumbled, but the faint blush on his face gave him away.

"You have a girl back in Aegaera," Thea guessed, smiling. "What's her name?"

"Mom," Caspian groaned. Thea just stared at him until he caved. "Belle. Her name is Belle."

Thinking about her made him miss her even more, so that evening Caspian sat down to write his first letter to her.

Dearest Belle,