The Lost Legacy

Chapter 9: Here Comes the Groom

Weddings are all about the bride. Seeing them walk down the aisle with a kind smile on their face as the rest of their life was about to change was a happiness nothing could beat. The music that would play in the background - the wedding march - would make everything better.

But why don't we talk about the groom for a while?

Caspian was restricted to the walls of the Telmarine castle while Sophie was travelling somewhat frequently to the town - either to meet Claire for the change in measurements or to meet Rumira, Nina's daughter - but Caspian was busy with the change in council meetings. In a way, he was back to being the teenager that was hiding from the family that was going to kill him one day, but this time, he was surrounded by the people that genuinely loved him.

"Are you happy?" The Professor asked as Caspian wore the black and gold tunic that he was going to wear on the happiest day of his life. "I don't mean to intrude but I've known you your entire life, my boy."

Caspian adjusted the scruffs as he turned his head to look at the Professor. "I am....delighted. I've never felt this way before and I'm grateful. To all of you. And especially Sophie." He smiled softly to himself. "I wanted to thank you. You have been there for me, and with me, through the highs and the lows. I owe you my life, Professor."

The Professor waved his hand down. "I did nothing."

"You saved my life. Countless number of times."

"Well, I had to make sure that Narnia would have a good ruler once again." He stood up to adjust Caspian's collar himself. "I miss the little you pulling pranks around the castle because you didn't want to learn astronomy. And look at you now. It's your favourite subject and you're getting married!"

Caspian chuckled. "The only reason that it's happening is because of you. And Nina. I wouldn't be the King without the two of you holding me to the ground. I'm grateful to know you."

"If Nina heard you, she would give you a good smack on the arm for giving her such a high position."

"That she would." He looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. "Everything will be okay....right?"

The Professor gaped at him jokingly. 'My my, Your Majesty, you're not having second thoughts, have you?"

"No," Caspian snickered. "It's not that. I love Sophie with all my heart. I love her to the ends of the earth. I wouldn't want to go through what I did when I lost her....when I thought I lost her....but I would do it again if that's what it took to meet her. But with the Witches of Charn coming about, do you think everything will work out in the end?"

The Professor patted his back as both of them looked into the mirror. "You've grown much beyond what I thought you could have, Caspian. When I tell you that I was worried you would be a bratty child, you proved me wrong. When I feared that you would be an ignorant ruler, you proved me wrong again. How about you prove yourself wrong now by not worrying? We've doubled the security and General Tavors is going to meet Coriakin and secure our forces. Enjoy your life with Her Majesty now."

Caspian nodded, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a few seconds. "I can't wait to be united with her. Isn't that what the Telmarine tradition is about? To have souls unite with each other so that they are never separated? That they would find each other even after they are separated in this life?"

"That's true. But you mustn't think about the end just yet." 

The story was only beginning for them. Their marriage would take them to the next step of the life that they were going to be spending together.

But if they had known what this union would bring, or what the stars were conspiring against them, maybe they would not have submitted to any feeling that they had for each other. Caspian and Sophie were doomed from the beginning, and this would seal their fate.

"But can't we meet each other at some point?" Caspian asked. "I know that you are trying to honour both our traditions but sometimes you can take things a little too far."

"Must you really ruin the fun for us?" The Professor laughed. "You've spent the entirety of three years together, some time apart as well. This is going to teach both of you just how much you love each other and how much you are going to need each other's love and support to any difficulty coming your way. Do you remember how both of you reacted when Samar went missing and the woman interrupted the coronation?"

Caspian nodded. "How could I forget?"

"Well, that was when we first noticed the tremor of your feelings for each other." Caspian's eyebrows furrowed. "The two of you were so young into your courting and you didn't know each other as well as you do now. You couldn't trust each other well but you trusted how you felt about each other. Sophie left the Caspian and we know what happened. This is basically our lesson to make you realise just how much you will need each other in the future."

Caspian let out a deep breath. "Wow. I certainly did not expect that to be the reason." He nodded, accepting what was going on, but decided to bend the rules a little. He was the King after all. "I thank you for that as well. You keep looking out for me when you have no reason to. How am I to repay your kindness?"

"Does a thousand bags of gold sound good to you? My boy, if I had been doing this for money, I would have died a long time ago. You are like my own son, if I was to have one. But your mother trusted me with-"

"Wait." Caspian turned his head sharply to look at him. "My mother?"

The Professor's eyes filled with sorrow and shame as he realised that he was to reveal a certain detail that he had been keeping from Caspian his whole life. "Your mother was the one who wrote to me to come here, Caspian. She feared for her life and yours and wanted me to keep you safe from everyone."

Caspian sat down in the chair facing the opposite wall as his knees buckled. All of his life, he had wondered how the Professor was his secret saviour, but not once did he think about how he found him at the palace in the first place. "My mother....she knew about Miraz?"

The Professor did not know how to tell him the next truth. "Caspian....your father and Miraz both were going to kill each other. It was only because of your mother that Miraz succeeded in his motive. She had loved him as her brother, and that became her loss in the end. I haven't told you this all this while because grief may be a good motivation, but revenge would only blind now."

His shoulders shook. Caspian found it hard to breathe. But this meant that his parents had known all along of the dangers of the crown. This was something that he would not allow to pass onto his children in the future. He certainly wouldn't be the father to do that, that is, if he and Sophie were to have children.

"Did he do it?" Caspian asked as he looked up. "Did Miraz kill my mother?"

The Professor shook his head. "It was Glozelle."

That was it.

General Glozelle had hesitated to kill Caspian during the Second Battle of Beruna. Why? Caspian did not know, but he always wondered what it could have been that stopped the young general from driving his spear into Caspian and ending it right then and there. But how could he have known that Glozelle was regretting his decisions ever since he killed the King and Queen of Narnia? He had been the one to pull the trigger and he had caused the fall of Narnia. He had toppled down every dynasty that could have flourished.

And now Caspian had his answer.

"I always wondered why he...." He shook his head. It didn't matter any more. General Glozelle was to lead a good life with his aunt and cousin in the Other World. Wherever they were, Caspian would only pray for their happiness. "Thank you. For telling me."

The Professor nodded. "I'm proud of you, my son."

Caspian stood up and pulled his teacher into a hug. "Thank you for everything."

*****
This is not there in the other version of the story
So if you are reading this, you're awesome

This was a theory that I had that I'm revealing a little later that I had planned but I'm glad I could write it down the way that I wanted to. Hope you're enjoying this so far!