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✩.･*:｡≻───── ⋆♡⋆ ─────.•*:｡✩🤴🏻Prince Caspian🤴🏻✩.･*:｡≻───── ⋆♡⋆ ─────.•*:｡✩

"Charlotte, Ed, wake up!" The hysteria in Susan's voice jolted everyone awake.

Charlotte's eyes flew open, immediately scanning the environment like a cat on a hot tin roof.

"What, what's wrong?!" Edmund barked anxiously, mirroring his sister's panicky tone.

"Peter and Lucy, they're gone!" She cried out.

"What's that sound?" Trumpkin rose immediately, prompting them to be quiet.

Clanking metal echoed in their ears, followed by aggressive yelling and grunting by some men. Charlotte's heart pounded at the thought of Telmarines nearby, especially when she lacked combat skills. However, Susan seemed to recognise one of their voices.

"No, stop!" A familiar feminine cry echoed from the far distance.

"Lucy," Susan inferred, glancing worriedly at Edmund.

She bolted off with her bow without warning. Trumpkin followed after her. Edmund drew his sword out at the ready, sprinting after them.

"Come on!" He prompted her urgently.

Charlotte followed after him. Together, they dashed past the trees, shoving branches blocking their path and manoeuvring about the pebbles and twigs lying on the ground.

"Peter!" Susan finally cried out, coming to a halt.

They stopped in their tracks, meeting eyes with Peter. He was in the middle of a fight with a strange man with long, dark hair. Lucy stood a stone's throw away from them, with an alarmed expression in her features.

Charlotte's eyes widened as she gazed at the variety of Narnian creatures that stood before her. Badgers, wolves, cheetahs, and other animals and mythical creatures that she has read about in every fantasy book appeared in her view. Minotaurs, centaurs, other dwarves. She gasped lightly in awe, her eyes darting from creature to creature.

Realising that they were no longer standing in the face of danger, Edmund retreated his sword. His eyes surveyed the grounds, appalled that creatures that were once foes stood united.

The strange young man, or rather an adolescent like them, shifted his gaze from Peter to the rest of them, before examining Peter's sword in his hand. Upon realisation, his eyes widened and he glanced at the boy before him.

"High King Peter," he deduced.

"I believe you called," Peter confirmed his suspicions confidently.

"Well, yes, but," the stranger, whom Charlotte now understood was the Telmarine prince, looked to the rest of them strangely, "I thought you'd be older."

"If you'd like, we could come back in a few years," Peter suggested dryly, raising his eyebrows.

"No!" Prince Caspian exclaimed, still baffled by the whole situation, "No, that's alright, you're just.."

He looked at them all, pausing shortly to gather his thoughts, "You're not exactly what I expected."

His eyes fell on Susan, and his stare lingered on her in particular. They met eyes, gazing at each other in awe. Susan shyly turned her gaze away.

"Neither are you," Edmund said with a perplexed frown, glancing cautiously at the minotaur leaning against a tree who growled lowly at him.

"A common enemy reunites even the oldest of foes," a badger shared some words of wisdom.

Charlotte gave Edmund a questioning look. Edmund shook his head, mouthing to her that he would explain later on.

"If there are five of you, one of you must be the offspring from the prophecy," Prince Caspian remarked, analysing the five of them.

"That would be her," Peter pointed to Charlotte, "Charlotte, daughter of King Simon, the Sagacious, and Queen Audrey, the Graceful."

Prince Caspian shifted his gaze to Charlotte.

"A pleasure to meet you, Princess Charlotte," Prince Caspian greeted, lowering his head in respect.

"Likewise, er, Prince Caspian," Charlotte greeted with a polite curtsy.

Edmund eyed both the Telmarine prince and Charlotte. When she met his gaze, he ran his fingers through his hair and cleared his throat in an aloof manner.

"We have anxiously awaited your return," an overgrown rodent approached Peter with a fencing sword by its side, bowing in respect, "my liege. Our hearts and swords are at your service."

"Oh my gosh," Lucy said softly, leaning towards Susan, "he is so cute."

"Who said that?!" The rodent drew out his sword instantly.

"Sorry," Lucy apologised sheepishly.

"Oh, uh..." he stammered, extremely abashed that he had been sternly addressing the young queen, "Your Majesty, with the greatest respect, I do believe courageous, courteous, or chivalrous, might more befit a knight of Narnia."

"Well," Peter began, peering down at him, fairly impressed, "at least we know some of you can handle a blade."

Charlotte bit her lip, discomfited at his words.

"Yes indeed," the rodent replied to Peter, "and I have recently put it to good use securing weapons for your army, Sire."

"Good," Peter beamed proudly, "because we're going to need every sword we can get."

"Well then," Prince Caspian responded, handing Peter his sword, "you will probably be wanting yours back."

They began marching on as a group through the large forest of Beruna. Peter exchanged information with Prince Caspian while the rest walked on behind them. Edmund caught a glimpse of Charlotte looking ahead at the both of them. He frowned at her, eyeing her and the two boys in front back and forth.

"Interesting lads?" He cleared his throat, relaxing his face when she turned to face him.

"Hm?" She hummed quietly, "Oh, no, that's not it."

"I just think they may make great leaders," she explained, nodding in their direction, "Look at them, holding discussions with each other. I hope they work well together."

"I could be a great leader too," Edmund added.

"I'm sure you could," Charlotte patted his shoulder, "a just leader is the best leader."

Hearing that fall from Charlotte's mouth instantly caused Edmund's features to brighten.

"So what did that badger mean, by a common enemy reuniting the oldest of foes?" Charlotte reminded him, her features conveying inquisitiveness.

"Oh, well, back when the White Witch ruled," Edmund ran his fingers through his hair, "Narnians were at war with each other. Some of them, like the dwarves and minotaurs, fought alongside her."

"I see," Charlotte looked around, before turning back to him, "I think it's beautiful that they're all coming together now."

"Indeed," Edmund nodded, "still feels weird in my perspective that I went to war with their ancestors. But you're right. It is wonderful."

They came to a temporary halt before an empty field, looking upon a fort at the end of it. The fort was made of earthly ground, with a passageway downwards. Charlotte spotted centaurs from the far distance, walking around nearby. It almost looked like an earthly castle from the outside, accompanied by trees and the bright blue sky behind it.

"It's beautiful," Charlotte sighed, in awe.

"Welcome to our camp," Prince Caspian announced.

"It's been abandoned for hundreds of years," the centaur revealed, "only the mice knew of its existence."

They continued to walk across to the site of the fort, where the centaurs aligned themselves in straight rows be either sides of the entrance, and presented swords proudly in the air in anticipation of the Kings' and Queens' arrival.

Charlotte stood with the Kings and Queens, only to feel inferior as she was only known to be a Princess. She stood alone with Caspian, while the Pevensie siblings marched onwards into the fort.

"Princess Charlotte," Prince Caspian gestured for her to walk with him.

"Thank you," she uttered, matching his pace.

"How did you know about the prophecy?" She questioned, her voice filled with inquisitiveness, "I thought Telmarines don't believe in Narnian superstition, as we've been told."

"My professor taught me everything I needed to know about Narnia to know my history," he shared, "but I wasn't aware Narnians still existed until a few nights ago, when I needed help most. I suppose that was when the prophecy began to unfold."

"What happened anyway, that you summoned us with the horn?" She questioned once more.

"My uncle tried to assassinate me," he revealed, hanging his head low, "my professor warned me and aided my escape that night."

Edmund noticed Charlotte's absence beside him and turned behind, seeing that she was walking and conversing with the attractive Telmarine prince. He frowned, but continued walking, accidentally gaining Susan's attention. Susan gave him a teasing smile, which he ignored. All he thought about at that moment was the fact that they both looked attractive and well-suited as a couple, and he felt nauseous about that concept.

Once they had reached inside, Narnians everywhere were crafting weapons of their own, just as they had seen with the Telmarines. The clanking metals rang in their ears from all directions, and they halted to observe.

"It may not be what you are used to," Prince Caspian spoke, "but it is defensible."

"Peter," Susan called from the end of the room, "you may want to see this."

Peter gave a small nod, and followed after Susan, prompting the rest to do the same. They passed through dark halls, and Charlotte took notice of the illustrations and images depicted on the concrete walls. At first, she stopped in her tracks while the rest walked on, catching a glimpse of a King and Queen whose fingers were intertwined with each other.

"Charlotte," Edmund's voice echoed through the halls.

Charlotte jumped in surprise, and caught up to him and his siblings. They then came across more illustrations on the walls. Two ladies galloping on a horse, and four of the Kings and Queens beside their thrones at what seemed to be illustrated as Cair Paravel.

"It's us," Peter remarked, holding a fire torch to gain a better look at it.

"What is this place?" Lucy asked Prince Caspian.

Prince Caspian looked at them, perplexed, "You don't know?"

He then grabbed a stationary fire torch, leading them further down the halls. He led them to a separate room, and lit up the room.

Huge cracked stone debris laid on the ground, and an image of a lion sat on the wall behind it between two pillars.

"Why," Charlotte began, "is that... Aslan?"

"It is," Lucy confirmed.

The Pevensies exchanged looks, and Lucy carefully treaded on the ground towards the cracked stones, tracing her delicate fingers over them.

"He must know what he's doing," Lucy suggested, turning to Susan.

Silence filled the room as they all stared at the image of Aslan.

"I think it's up to us, now," Peter declared to his siblings, ignoring Lucy's input.

Lucy exhaled a sigh, looking to Edmund and Charlotte for reassurance. Charlotte mirrored her look, raising her shoulders slightly. After all, what could they say against the High King?

"Come on," Prince Caspian urged, "you should get settled. What do you suppose we do then, High King Peter?"

"We'll have to train," Peter decided, pointing a finger at Charlotte, "especially you, Charlotte. You will need to learn how to fight."

Charlotte swallowed her saliva with a gulp, and nodded weakly.

"Edmund can train you," Peter suggested, turning to Edmund for a confirmation.

Edmund nodded silently.

"We'll all train," Peter added, turning to the rest of them, "first thing in the morning."

With that, Peter left the room, and the rest followed suit.

"I still believe in Aslan," Lucy declared to Charlotte when her two older siblings left with Prince Caspian, "he'll come around to help us."

"I hope you're right," Charlotte nodded.

"This is the Stone Table," Lucy shared, "it's where he sacrificed himself for Edmund. And he came back, to help us all against the White Witch."

Charlotte looked at Edmund when Lucy left the room to join her older siblings.

He simply stared at Aslan's image and the cracked stones deeply in thought. He was silent, but his eyes conveyed his fears and misery.

"Edmund?" Charlotte placed a hand on his shoulder, "is everything alright?"

"It was for my betrayal," he whispered, "he sacrificed his life in my place. It was because I was a traitor. I belonged to the White Witch."

"It was because of the Deep Magic," she suggested softly, pausing for a few seconds, "wasn't it?"

"You, you know," Edmund looked up at her, "of course you do. Your mother's stories."

She nodded in response.

"Lucy still believes Aslan will come to help us," Edmund shared his insight, "but I think Peter has abandoned that faith, thinking that we're on our own."

"Well..." Charlotte paused to gather her thoughts, "What do you feel?"

Edmund was silent for a moment, pondering over her question. His eyes fixated on Aslan on the wall, and he took deep breaths. He understood Peter's belief in hard work and preparation for war, but also Lucy's faith in the lion elevating their hardships. He was torn.

"I feel that they are both right," he suggested, turning his attention to her, "it would take hard work and faith."