His Majesty, Her Grace - Sequel to A Prince Caspian Love Story

Chapter 12 - The Oppressor

Caspian's POV

I awake with a start like I've woken up from a bad dream but I know that's not the case. It's morning and the sun has just barely risen but the atmosphere feels off. Something's not right. I sit up all the way, taking the blanket off my legs. Enormous footprints are in the sand so I stand up to get a better view and they trail all along the outside of the camp.

My stomach sinks when I see that Althea and Lucy's beds are empty and disheveled. The warning from Lord Bern echos through my mind.

"Ed." I shake him roughly. "Ed, wake up."

He groans and looks up confused.

"Look."

He gets up and stares at the footprints the same way I'm sure I did.

"Where's Lucy?" He asks. "Lucy!"

"Althea!" I call out but there's no response from either of them. The men start to wake up from all the shouting, bewilderment spreading across their faces.

"Everybody up. Get up!" Drinian demands. "Get up I say."

I pull on my armor and grab my sword, everyone doing the same and following my lead.

"This way," I say, leading everyone in the direction of the footprints, Ed right behind me.

The footprints become more difficult to see the deeper we get into the forest but the remnants of crushed branches keep leading us in the right direction. A clearing comes up ahead, it's a garden with large bushes shaped into different patterns. My foot catches on something, kicking it across the dusty ground by accident. Althea's dagger. Fresh blood is covering the blade, caking dirt all over it.

"Is it Althea's your majesty?" Drinian asks.

"It is." Althea knows how to take care of herself and clearly used her dagger. But whatever fight she put up wasn't enough.

I grab it and keep moving, entering a garden with pristinely cut shrubbery. I signal for the men to spread out and find more clues and continue forward, keeping my eyes peeled for anything.

"Caspian." Ed points at Lucy's dagger on the ground.

I keep moving, hurriedly looking for the girls. Althea's second dagger is sticking out of a bush a few feet away but when I go to grab it, something hard hits the top of my hand making me real back.

"Stop or this one will perish." A deep voice shouts.

Althea steps out from behind a tree, more like dragged but whatever it is, is invisible. She looks unharmed apart from a bloody, floating hand gripped around her arm. We all draw our weapons and I try to get to her but something rips my sword out of my hand and what feels like a fist connects with my nose. I fall backward on the ground as my men are attacked by similar forces and are quickly disarmed.

"What sort of creature are you?" I ask, scrambling back to my feet.

"Big ones. With the head of a tiger and the body of uh..."

"A different tiger." Another voice says, this one from behind Althea. She stares at me worriedly but doesn't say anything which I find odd.

"You don't want to mess with us."

"Or what?" Ed asks.

These creatures clearly aren't capable of killing anyone otherwise they would've already done so to Althea and probably us in our sleep.

"Or I'll claw you to death." I almost feel like laughing as the once invisible 'creature' materializes to reveal a short, heavy-set man with one leg and one foot trying to balance on top of another.

"I'll run my tusks right through you!" One in front of me says, his white-streaked red hair sticking up at different angles.

"I'll gnash ya, with my teeth." Althea laughs at the one next to her.

"I'll bite you with my fangs!" Another one growls comically. None of them seem to have realized they are no longer invisible.

"You mean squash us? With your fat bellies?" Ed chuckles.

"Fat bellies?" They all ask, mirroring each other by looking down at themselves.

"Tickles us with your toes?" I tease. The creatures topple over in surprise, forgetting completely about Althea in the process. To my relief, she's bowled over in laughter as she runs to me.

"What have you done to my sister you little pipsqueak?" Edmund threatens, pointing his sword at the little man who looks terrified.

"Now, calm down." He says, cowering.

"Where is she?" Ed yells.

"Edmund, she's okay and she's in the mansion," Althea explains.

"What mansion?" He asks.

A mansion slowly appears farther in the center of the garden. It's massive and looks ancient with sprawling vines covering it but I'm preoccupied with making sure Althea is okay to work out the mechanics of how that's possible.

"You know, I'm really getting tired of you all leaving me behind-" Eustace emerges from the trees and freezes when he sees the one-legged men.

"It's the pig."

"The pig's come back." They all say.

"This place just gets weirder and weirder." He says.

"Is he calling us weird?"

Althea stifles another laugh.

Lucy emerges from the mansion, an older man leading her out. All the creatures start hopping about and shouting, trying to get away from him.

"Lucy." Edmund smiles at his sister, glad to see that she's okay.

"Your majesty's." The man holds his arm over his chest respectfully and bows.

"Caspian, Edmund, and Althea. This is Coriakan. It's his island." The three of us return his sentiments and bow as well.

"That's what he thinks." The ginger haired creature says, peeking his head out from behind me. I didn't even realize he was hiding back there. "You have wronged us, magician."

"I have not wronged you. I made you invisible for your own protection." Coriakan says, walking towards them forcing them to back away in fear.

"Protection?"

"That's oppression." They all echo each other, hoping backward all the while.

"I have not oppressed you." He says calmly.

"But you could've... if you wanted to."

"Begone," Coriakan says, throwing something white and dust-like that looks like snow at them. They all scream and retreat into the forest.

"What was that?" Lucy asks.

"Lint. But don't tell them." He explains a glint of amusement in his eyes.

"What were those things?" Eustace asks.

"Dufflepuds." He answers casually.

"Right, of course, silly me."
~~~
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