Watching the Stars

The days passing were hot and humid, and Estella was nervous about Caspian’s party.

What if she were shunned because she was poor? What if the other guests didn’t want to talk to her, because all day she did laundry while they sat on fancy chairs and sipped cold beverages and gossiped?

As Estella was cooking later that day, she couldn’t help but feel wrong. She had to tell Caspian that she could not attend his party, and that she was... busy? Traveling to another land? She knew that none of those excuses would work, but Caspian was gullible sometimes, maybe he would believe one of her more elaborate excuses.

She didn’t want to be rude. She didn’t want to challenge his authority... but she just didn’t feel like being humiliated. Sometimes Estella thought that Caspian invited her to these things just to mock her. Or maybe he just wasn’t bright enough to notice that Estella was uncomfortable with these things.

No, he wasn’t bright enough to notice anything at all, Estella decided.

* * *

It was the night of Caspian’s birthday party, and Estella was nervous. One of the Prince’s servants had been over a few hours before, to deliver the dress that she was going to wear to the party. And she’d honestly forgotten, so she was cursing as the servant made sure that the dress fit properly.

And it turns out, the servant had the ‘perfect’ hairdo for Estella, and she couldn’t just leave without trying it on her, so Estella ended up sitting in her chair for half-an-hour while listening to the servant rave on about how exciting the party must be for ‘someone like her’.

‘Oh, so that’s what everyone’s going to think tonight, isn’t it?’ Estella thought to herself.

It had been hours since the servant had first arrived, and it was beginning to get dark out. Estella needed to leave for Caspian’s party soon, so she quickly closed the front door behind her and shuffled outside. She turned towards the castle, and already there were fireworks flashing above it.

* * *

Caspian stood in the corner of the room, not daring to touch his feet to the dance floor. He wouldn’t, yet.

In his hand he held a bouquet of wildflowers, freshly picked from that day. He remembered going to borders of Telmar, almost into what others would call Old Narnia, and picking the most beautiful white and blue flowers he had ever seen.

The young prince bit his lower lip, twirling the stems of the bouquet between his fingers. He kept murmuring to himself, “Would you like to... no, no... I got these for you, would you...? Dance with me, Prince’s orders? I need a first dance and I pick you?”

“Do you need anything, Prince?” a servant asked as he passed by Caspian. Caspian shook his head and stared at the door. The moon was already in the sky, she wasn’t going to miss his party, was she?

No, Caspian gave Prince’s orders, and Estella wouldn’t dare disobey them... unless she felt like moving in with the ghosts in the forest. But Caspian wouldn’t be that cruel. He wasn’t Miraz.

“A drink, please?” Caspian asked a passing servant. The man, with a tray in his arms, stopped and bowed to Caspian, before offering one of the drinks in crystal glasses. Caspian nodded, taking a glass and gulping the entire thing. The brandy seared fire down his throat, but it made him feel a little more confident.

“Your Royal Highness, another guest arrives,” a servant announced, rushing up to Caspian and then to the castle door.

Caspian grinned as he saw who it was.

Estella appeared to be huffing, of course. Caspian knew of her bad temper, and how if something was wrong, she’d throw a fit.

She trudged over to the Prince, ignoring the eyes on her.

“We match!” Estella hissed, folding her arms. “This... this is a plan to embarrass me, isn’t it? Isn’t it? Caspian, your rules!”

“Welcome to my party,” Caspian grinned. He eyed her dress. “Yes, it looks nice.”

Estella rolled her eyes. She was still a little mad at their matching outfits, because she didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of a many people who were royal or famous.

“Dance with me?” Caspian murmured quietly. He then quickly added, “I’m, um, making all the other girls jealous.”

Estella sighed. She couldn’t resist his chocolate eyes, and the dull voices starting to gossip about the girl who’d come in late. Before she could react fully, though, Caspian took her sigh as a ‘yes’, and softly grabbed her hand.

She was never a great dancer, even when Caspian tried to offer to teach her (which she gladly refused). But now, she was just slightly side-stepping and everyone seemed to follow along.

“You remind me of the Nameless Boy,” Estella whispered into Caspian’s ear. He laughed nervously, but didn’t know how to take her compliment. So he just continued to dance with her.

“Who are these people?” Estella asked. She kept her voice in a low whisper so as to not disturb anyone else, or offend them. She had leaned her face into Caspian’s brown locks, and didn’t feel as self-conscious in front of the other guests anymore. She was dancing with the prince. At least she knew that she wouldn’t get kicked out of the party.

“I don’t even know half of them,” Caspian admitted. This made Estella smile for some reason, and Caspian smiled back. They both blushed and turned away at the same time.

The song that they had been dancing to soon faded away, and Caspian and Estella hurried off the dance floor. They were laughing and sharing jokes, when a princess from a faraway land walked up to them, batting her eyelashes at Caspian.

“Is this your special friend?” the princess asked. Caspian had forgotten her name.

“Uh, yes,” Caspian stuttered. Estella raised an eyebrow, but said nothing in front of the princess. She looked far too royal to insult and get away with it.

“Ah! I see then. What kingdom do you intend to rule when you are of age?” the princess asked, her eyes clearly insulting Estella. She knew that she wasn’t a princess, or anything special.

“I think we are being called,” Caspian interfered. “Estella, come with me, I have to show you the food brought in from across the land.”

He dragged Estella out before she had opened her mouth to the princess. She didn’t struggle against Caspian’s grip, though, for she was glad to see the princess’ face turn green with envy as they walked away.

“The stars tonight,” began Caspian to Estella, and Estella rolled her eyes.

“Caspian!” she huffed. “Is that really all you care about? Why don’t you enjoy the party?”

They both stopped walking. Caspian whispered, almost so that Estella couldn’t hear, “Not when they act like that towards the greatest friend of mine.”

Estella gulped. That was probably the sweetest (or the closest emotion to ‘sweet’) that she had ever heard from him. It was certainly a type of shock to her ears.

“So you’re leaving your own party... because someone addressed me in that way? Caspian, I’m not a princess, I’m not royal—”

“I know! But still, they’re just... they’re rude, and I can’t...”

“You know I can handle if someone talks like that,” Estella said. “And dressing me up like this? Why create so much more of an illusion? I can’t pretend, especially in front of your friends.”

“They’re not my friends!” Caspian’s voice was raised, and his emotion came out with a slap on the wall next to him. “I invited them to show... to show Miraz that I can be a good king. I don’t like the way he rules. I don’t like how you live like that and he lives like... like a king.”

“Of course, Caspian, but it’ll all be well when you take the throne,” Estella comforted him. She slipped an arm around his shoulder.

“Yes, and then I shall rule over you,” Caspian replied playfully, a smile creeping upon his lips. “How would you feel about that? Seeing your best friend rule over all of Telmar and Narnia.”

“I’d die for my king, of course,” Estella chuckled. “What do you mean, ‘And Narnia’? Can we live there?”

“Probably,” Caspian shrugged. “Miraz will not have his rules. I will set new ones.”

Estella rolled her eyes. Honestly, the thoughts about being king bored her. She did want to hear his changes, but of course, it was inevitable that he’d ascend to his rightful heir. She would hear it in a while, during the coronation.

“The stars,” continued Caspian, as he watched Estella’s mind wander, “they are bright tonight. Very bright. You can almost touch them.”

“Caspian, what would happen if you touched the stars? Would your finger be burnt off, like it would with fire?” Estella asked. “That wouldn’t be smart if you are to lead people in the future.”

“I’m not very smart at all, really. So, I say, we sneak up to the roof and watch the sky. It’s better than that party.” Caspian offered his hand to Estella, and she took it gladly.

“What if they wonder where you are?” she asked.

“They won’t,” Caspian grinned, and then they raced up to the rooftops.