(2) TELL ME TO STAY // Edmund Pevensie

A WEALTHY, TELMARINE PRINCE

PRINCESS CATHERINE the III WAS KNOWN for being particularly sharp-tongued.

It was something that got her in trouble quite often; among her brother, among the Narnians; and among several Lords and Ladies who worked in and with the Narnian community.

She had a witty comeback for when her advisor, Lord Squire had asked her where she was going, demanding that she was to stay in her tower while her brother dealt with important business, and used the same one when the soldiers seized her after she had rampaged into one of these meetings and began to speak to Caspian about dinner.

When the Lords had lined up and requested that Caspian would be sent to sea in search for the Seven Lords of Telmar, Catherine had been denied access to travel alongside him, merely because she was not suit for battle. She responded with the same answer.

'I think you'll find that I'm the Princess, and I will do whatever I please.'

They didn't have a good enough response and Catherine instantly took this as a positive. So, with a smile and a large trunk filled with dresses and jewels, she boarded the Dawn Treader with her brother by her side and they set sail towards their latest adventure.

Catherine had felt comfortable at sea for as long as she knew, and had never found it hard to adjust to the difficult, brash waves or struggle with the foul, salty air that always smelt of rotting fish and fresh seaweed. She did, however, feel slightly nauseous after she was pulled into the Captain's office and handed a letter, not failing to take notice of Caspian's disapproving, tense posture, his hands resting on his hips and his eyes glaring at Lord Drinian, who himself was red with anger, proving that the pair had been arguing just minutes before her arrival.

A soft frown on her face, she stared down at the parchment resting in her hands, seeming to bear a heavy weight that she wasn't sure she wanted to know, just yet. The atmosphere in the room had turned tense and her stomach had began to knot in worry, although she wasn't sure what she was to worry about.

Unfolding it from the envelope, gently, she took note of the silver letter T that glittered against the seal – a symbol of a wealthy Telmarine Prince. The animal in her stomach curled up and she felt herself shrink.

The letter was a marriage proposal, stating that she was in dire need in the search for a husband and the newest proposition would be most beneficial towards the alliance of Telmarines and Narnians, something Caspian and Catherine had both deliberated for a while. Both Caspian and Catherine had equally decided that it was an unwanted arrangements on both parts, leading the siblings to effortlessly defend the other when the topic arose, only now, however, Caspian seemed to be at his limit and there was little else for him to do.

'I don't want to marry a Telmarine Prince.' Catherine said, her eyes wide and innocent as her tone was no longer laced with her usual demands, but instead scared and vulnerable.

Caspian swallowed the lump in his throat and took two long strides towards her, as if to protect her from Lord Drinian, who was easily persuaded and believed that the Prince would be a fine suitor.

'And then you shall not.' Caspian said, turning to Drinian and sticking out his hand towards him, as if he was pushing him away from them. 'Lord, this is preposterous. I have already agreed that neither I or the Princess will be pushed into an unwanted, pressurized marriage. I want nothing more of this.'

Drinian sighed, calmly. 'She is a Princess, My King-' 

'She is my sister.' Caspian interrupted with a dark, cold glare. His jaw clenched. 'You shall not dictate her life. I won't allow it.'