Watching the Stars

A few days passed and Estella was trying to forget about the party. Not only had she had a headache in the morning, but her insides felt almost mixed, like cake batter. Just very well... mixed.

They had been trying to catch the stars—Estella had forgotten whose great idea it was, anyway—and they had gone to the towers where no one could hear them. Perhaps it had been the many drinks that Caspian had drank that made him loosen up, and made Estella loosen up as well.

The bright orbs had been right at their fingertips. And then came the idea that perhaps they had lean farther, away from the castle. The people entering and exiting below looked like tiny insects from the towers, and that fact had only made the two laugh harder.

Then Estella had leaned out too far, but Caspian had caught her...

And that was why she was lying on her bed, sleepless and staring at the stars. Had they been so close that night? Close like Caspian’s hands on her hips?

Why had she felt so exhilarated by his touch, a simple gesture? The gesture that had saved her from tumbling over the brick, castle wall...

But no, she could not think of him like that. He was to be king, and she was doomed to housework for the rest of her life, unless she managed to find a husband. It was unlikely, though, because the people in the village had seen her talking with the prince. They had thought that they weren’t good enough for her, and that she only socialized with royalty.

Well, it wasn’t like she wanted to socialize with the other youth. None, in her opinion, were as exciting as Caspian was. It wasn’t because she was biased, either. He had quite the personality.

Suddenly, there was a distinct knock on her front door. She knew that it was Caspian’s way of knocking. He had a specific little tune that he knocked to, which Estella found ridiculous. She opened the door anyways.

Caspian came stumbling in, looking more than tired. Of course, it was in the middle of the night, so of course he would be crazy to travel at this hour.

“Caspian!” Estella hissed. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be... you know, in your castle, in your bed? Asleep? The sun will come up any minute now! What will your uncle think?”

Estella knew that Caspian’s weak spot was trying to please his uncle, for he could never seem to live up to his expectations. Estella only played the ‘uncle’ card when in need, but she found it quite necessary now, when his breath smelled of fine alcohol and he laughed a little too loudly.

“No, no,” Caspian chuckled, regaining his composure. He burst out into laughter again. “That was funny!”

Estella rolled her eyes. If Telmar could see how he was like now, they would not have a king later. Caspian hardly ever drank so much, for his duties called to him far louder than partying. She wondered what could have brought on this sudden behaviour.

“Caspian!” Estella sighed. “No. You are better than this, do you hear me? You are going to be the best king that Telmar has ever had. Please, let this be the last time you touch too many drinks.”

“But it is funny,” Caspian breathed, nodding his head. His eyes were half-lidded, but Estella could tell that he was trying to stay awake, for whatever reason that made no sense in her mind.

“What is funny, Caspian? The fact that you come in here, stumbling drunk, disturbing my house? Is it funny when Telmar doesn’t see you as a fit king? Where will you go?” Estella asked, dragging him to her couch. “Don’t make any more noise. Go to sleep. You’ll have a big headache if you don’t.”

She started up the steps to the higher level of the house, when she heard Caspian whine her hated nickname, “But Ella...”

“Caspian!” Estella shrieked, and then she stomped her foot. “Enough! Go to sleep. I’m not talking to you anymore, not when you’re like... this.”

Her tone upset Caspian. “F-Fine! You see if I will make you Queen of Telmar anymore.”

Estella froze. Did Caspian just tell her that he was... going to make her Queen? That would definitely be a step up from housework. A very, very big step.

But before she could say anything else, Caspian was passed out on her couch, snoring loudly. Estella sighed, and continued on her way to bed, where she didn’t sleep at all.

* * *

The following day, Estella got up to find Caspian gone from her couch. She checked in the kitchen, but he wasn’t there. She decided that he must have gone back to his castle.

She kept wondering what he meant by making her Queen. Estella was not of Royal blood, if that were not painfully obvious. The closest she was to Royalty was being friends with the Prince Caspian, or her father who fought and died in a war for his kingdom. But that could only leave...

No, Estella thought. No, he could not mean that.

She finished up her housework and thought of going for a walk by the castle, but they probably would not let her in to see Caspian. So she decided to take a walk nearer to the fields of flowers, one place that the army had not destroyed.

The bottom of her dress rested on the grass, and she didn’t worry about washing it. She just needed to think. She sat among the daisies and other sweet-smelling wildflowers. The sun was hot and the braids in her hair were thick, making her sweat. She tried rolling up her sleeves, for they were long, and she felt better.

Falling back on the grass, Estella sighed. She didn’t know why she was giving too much thought to this. It was better to relax; she’d gotten her chores done early, it was a nice day, and nothing else could ruin it—

“Miss, are you okay?” an approaching voice asked.

Estella was quick to jump up, the ends of her dress getting stained from the grass. “I’m fine,” Estella breathed crossly. She didn’t like talking to other people very much, and she enjoyed staying very antisocial.

And besides, nobody she knew called her ‘Miss’, so that already annoyed her.

The person came into view, and Estella recognized him as Felix, one of the well-known boys around the village. He was known to be one of the strongest workers, and supposedly known well to the King. Estella believed none of it, and if it were true, she rolled her eyes at the thought of being known to the King. She knew that Telmar had no official King, though, but if they were to pick the person ruling over Telmar, it would be Miraz.

“Oh,” sighed the boy. Estella rolled her eyes at him. It was one of her weapons.

“Yes?” Estella asked, her voice taking a rough tone. “Is there something you wanted?”

Felix, though liked and respected by the village (and the girls of the village, especially), was not liked by Estella. She thought that he was rather rude, and used to being liked so much that she felt she had to teach him a lesson and be the one to hate him. He was a year younger than Estella, but looked much older and stronger.

Felix was grinning. “You’re Estella, yes?”

“Yes, and you’re Felix. Thank you for the wonderful observation, now I must get back to lying on the grass, if you please,” Estella rushed on. She was about to turn her back when something Felix muttered caught her ear.

“You’re Caspian’s wife?” Felix questioned quietly, knowing that it would hit her hard.

No sooner than a second that she had begun to walk away, Estella whirled around, her angry brown eyes meeting Felix’s playful dark ones. “Caspian’s... excuse me?”

“Caspian’s wife,” Felix repeated, emphasizing on the second word. “What are you—”

“No,” Estella cut him off firmly. “I am not Caspian’s wife.” She folded her arms, glaring at Felix.

“Really?” Felix purred, playing on, “Because the whole village sees you together, all the time. Always together, laughing and talking. You talk to none of the other boys, so what is there to assume? Perhaps your mother owes a debt, and has offered her daughter—”

“Stop it!” Estella cried, rage surged in her scream. “I am not Caspian’s wife, my mother owes nothing to the Royalty of Telmar. I do not belong to Caspian.”

“Hm,” Felix was enjoying teasing Estella, “So, where is he? He was taking a walk around the village last night, yelling your name. What a king he will make.” Felix laughed.

“A better king than you, if you were of Royal blood,” Estella glared. “Leave me alone! Why are you here? Are you here to tease me of my friendships? If you dare to insult my mother again, my friends, the Prince—”

“What ‘friends’?” Felix laughed again. “Caspian is your only friend, and you know it. Is nobody else good enough for you? And anyways, I guess I should be going, I am done my work here.”

He gestured to a pile of wood.

“Coward! You’re just afraid that I can fight back! I am not like the other village girls—”

“Exactly! You are not like them, because you don’t stop talking,” Felix folded his arms. “You should be taught discipline, shut up like the other girls!”

“How dare you!” Estella screamed, and she was nearly in tears. “How... how dare you speak to me like that! There is no rule against speaking out my opinion—”

“Attention! By the name of my father, Caspian the Ninth, what is this yelling?”

Both Estella and Felix turned to see who was coming, the horse trots coming closer. Caspian appeared, dressed fully in mail and armor. In his eyes, there was an air of authority.

“Boy, are you harassing the young lady?” Caspian asked. Estella felt her insides twist when Caspian made no eye-contact with her, glaring only to Felix.

“Certainly not, your Majesty, I was simply on my way,” Felix grinned, gesturing to the wood again. He bowed slightly towards the Prince, and Caspian watched him with unchanging eyes. Soon Felix was on his way, not daring to look back at Caspian or Estella.

Caspian started to trot away on his horse, and Estella jumped at the chance to talk to him. “Caspian, Caspian please wait!”

He stopped, but did not turn his head to look at her. Estella sighed.

“Thank you!” Estella breathed. “I hate Felix, he is such a horrible person. Caspian, are you okay?”

He was not meeting her gaze in the friendly gesture. He treated her as if she weren’t there.

“I apologize for last night’s intrusion,” Caspian started, his eyes meeting Estella’s finally, but in a cold way. “It will not happen again, and I assure you, by the name of my father, Caspian the Ninth—”

“Caspian!” Estella gasped. “Of course I forgive you, but you are welcome in my and my mother’s home anytime you need!”

The prince flinched. “No, I am in no need of that. If you will excuse me, I must survey the village to see if that Felix boy is causing more trouble. He might have been bothering you, but there is no reason yet to arrest him.”

“I’ll come with you, then,” Estella proposed, still trying to catch the familiar gleaming look in his eye.

“No,” Caspian disagreed softly. “I realize my mistakes, socializing with the village people. This is not good on my image. I now need to maintain a professional relationship with you, Estella.”

“You can’t be—” Estella was cut off, aghast that he had started to ride away from her. “Caspian! Are you... I cannot believe you!”

But her words were a lie, for she had seen this coming. She just didn’t realize how soon he would do this to her.