Tarnished Crown

Caspian tried to keep Isabelle calm as they hurried to the lake in search of Lucian. He wasn't very successful.

"Alec and Lily are going to kill me!" Isabelle said, looking hysterical and on the verge of tears. Caspian caught her by the shoulders and shook her gently.

"Lucian is fine," he said calmly. "Take a deep breath and say it with me. Lucian. Is. Fine."

She drew in a shaky breath and muttered the words, though she didn't sound at all confident in them. Caspian scanned the lake, hoping that he was right and Lucian was all right; and hadn't fallen into the water. When he looked down he thought he noticed some tiny footprints in the mud.

"Look," he said, pointing. He followed the footprints until the muddy part of the bank ended. Some traces of mud led away toward the village.

"He must have headed into town," Caspian said. Belle bit her lip, looking unsure.

"But what if he's still around here and needs help? If we go into town something could happen to him..."

Caspian sighed. "Do you want to keep looking here and I'll go into town to look for him?"

She nodded and Caspian gave her a reassuring smile and hurried into Little Aveling, searching frantically for any sign of Lucian. He darted in and out of nearly every shop in the village until he passed by the bakery and skidded to a halt, backpedaling a few steps and glancing in the window. He sighed with relief to see Lucian sitting inside and stuffing his face with pastries.

"There you are," Caspian said, poking his head inside. A girl of about thirteen bustled out from the back, dipping into a curtsy and smiling shyly at Caspian.

"I spotted him wandering outside and brought him in until someone came looking for him," she explained. "My name is Prissy. I know Alec and Lily-er, the king and queen."

"Well thank you for keeping an eye on him," Caspian said. "Lucian, your aunt is very worried about you. We should probably head back now."

"Okay Caspian!" Lucian hopped down from the chair he'd been sitting on, face covered in frosting.

"Thank you again, Lady Prissy," Caspian said, bowing. She blushed and hid a smile behind her hand. Caspian grabbed Lucian's hand to make sure he didn't wander off again and hurried back to the lake. Isabelle looked like she might collapse from relief when she saw them, running to them and kneeling in front of Lucian.

"Don't ever run off like that again!" she scolded. "You had me worried sick!"

"I'm sorry Auntie Belle." Lucian hugged her. "You don't need to be scared. I'll always come back for you."

She managed a weak smile, hugging him back. "That's very sweet, but I'd still prefer you just don't run away in the first place." She stood and dusted off her skirt. "I think that may be enough adventure for one day."

"Caspian, will you walk us home?"

"I'd be happy to," Caspian said. His eyes flicked to Isabelle. "If it's all right with your Aunt Isabelle."

She looked taken aback, then she sighed as Lucian stick out his bottom lip and looked up at her pleadingly.

"All right," she said. Caspian gathered up the painting supplies, having to carry it all tucked under one arm as Lucian took both their hands and walked between them. They were nearly to the castle gate when Caspian heard an alarmingly loud bark and a girlish scream and turned to see Lara and Harrison walking Lara's enormous dog, Baby. People were quick to scurry out of their path as Baby growled at them. Lara paid them no attention, sidling up to Caspian.

"Scaring the locals already?" Caspian asked. He studied her outfit and noticed that the sleeves had been torn at the shoulders and the skirt had been cut on the left side nearly to her hip. He sighed.

"Do I even want to know?"

"As I'm sure you can guess, Mother stopped by to try and make me go home and be wooed by Lord 'I Like Teenagers' Ackenberry. She gave me the usual speech." Lara adopted a shrill voice that was a remarkably good imitation of her mother Luisa. "'Lara, what do you think you're going to do with yourself? Go join the world of academia with your brother? That's no way for a girl to live. You need to find yourself a good husband. And that dress is entirely inappropriate; you're too chesty for it. Oh how I wish you were more like Princess Annemarie. She's the picture of grace and poise.' So I asked her if she wanted to see a truly inappropriate dress and proceeded to cut it into what you see now."

"Why am I not surprised." Caspian tried and failed to hide a smile. Baby sat down next to Lara, his tongue lolling out. Caspian was fairly certain the huge black dog was in fact part bear and he terrified most people but Lara adored him.

"Anyway Caspian I was hoping you'd want to accompany us to a charming little bookstore I've heard about this afternoon, unless you have plans with Princess Prim and the child creature."

Isabelle wrinkled her nose and Caspian swallowed a laugh.

"I'll catch up with you," he promised. Lara blew him a kiss and bowed to Isabelle, carefully avoiding stepping too close to Lucian before sauntering down the street. Baby loped along beside her and Harrison sighed and hurried after them.

"She's...something," Isabelle remarked.

"Don't take it personally. Lara's always been blunt. But she's really a sweet girl."

They made their way into the castle and Lucian scampered off in search of his assorted pets. Caspian was prepared to take his leave but Isabelle stopped him with a surprising question.

"Why aren't you married yet, Caspian? Your family is wealthy and plenty of girls seem to like you."

Caspian arched an eyebrow. "I assume Annemarie has told you about my...heritage."

"You mean that your father had an affair when he first married his wife," Isabelle said reluctantly. "Yes, she told me."

"Then you have the answer to your question."

She frowned. "You mean no one would marry you just because of that? But women fairly throw themselves at you."

Caspian chuckled. "They like a little scandal in their lives. But they don't want to marry into one. I should go catch up with Lara and Harrison." He bowed slightly. "Until next time, Your Highness."

"Belle," she blurted.

"Beg pardon?"

"You...you can just call me Belle."

He smiled slightly. "See you soon then, Belle."

He found Lara and Harrison waiting for him outside the book shop, Lara lounging on the bench while Baby growled at passersby.

"You like that girl, don't you?" she asked as soon as Caspian walked up. He shrugged.

"She's intriguing."

"Uh huh." Lara rolled her eyes. "Come on, idiot. I need a new summer reading list."

Caspian thought about Belle, always sitting and reading her history books while he and Lucian sketched and painted. An idea crossed his mind and he smiled slightly as they entered the book shop.