The Lost Queen (a Caspian Romance)

2. The Birth of a King

It happened in the night. Zoelle had been summoned two hours after supper with a hasty order from the queen. She had barely enough time to redress in her slip, corset, and dress and don her veil over her hair before she was hurried again. She could hear the queen's screams from the moment she stepped foot in the hall. It seemed that labour was well-started. She quickly entered the room and was instantly bossed about by the midwife to fetch towels and hot water.

It was a long, stuffy, and hot labour as the queen insisted the windows be kept shut, but finally, after three hours, the child was born and held in his mother's arms. The moment it was confirmed, Zoelle stepped outside to find General Glozelle.

Dropping into a quick curtsey, she said, "It is a son, my lord."

With a deep nod, he turned and disappeared down the hallway. Zoelle was just turning to return to the queen when a faint shuffling sound caught her keen ears. She waited another moment before bending down to take off her shoes and follow the sound of the shuffling. She had only been going for five minutes when she found that the cloaked figure had stopped in front of the room of Prince Caspian.

Once he had gone inside, Zoelle pressed her ear against the crack to listen. There was only the sound of faint shuffling for a minute before another door opened and she could hear faint voices, but they were so faint she could not tell what they said. After another moment, the interior door opened again and she could faintly hear the sound of shuffling with the occasional thump.

"What is that for?" Caspian asked softly.

"Food for you, my prince," the other, who Zoelle was now sure was Doctor Cornelius. "Have you your sword?"

"Yes," Caspian whispered back.

"Then put this mantle over all to hide the sword and the wallet. That's right. And now we must go to the Great Tower and talk."

Zoelle quickly and quietly got out of the way as their soft footsteps approached and the door opened. Neither dared to make a sound as they quickly crossed from the room to the other side of the hall and down the corridor. Glancing down the other side of the hallway, Zoelle followed them down the corridor, through a few more, and finally up a winding staircase.

When she had pressed her ear against the door, she just caught the Doctor saying, "Dear Prince, you must leave this castle at once and go to seek your fortune in the wide world. Your life is in danger here."

"Why?" asked Caspian.

"Because you are the true King of Narnia: Caspian the Tenth, the true son and heir of Caspian the Ninth. Long life to your Majesty," he replied.

"'What does it all mean? I don't understand," said Caspian in confusion.

"I wonder you have never asked me before,
said the Doctor, "why, being the son of King Caspian, you are not King Caspian yourself. Everyone except your majesty knows that Miraz is a usurper. When he first began to rule, he did not even pretend to be king: he called himself Lord Protector. But then, your royal mother died, the good queen and the only Telmarine who was ever kind to me. And then, one by one, all the great lords, who had known your father, died or disappeared. And when
there was no one left who could speak a word for you, then his flatterers (as he had instructed them) begged him to become King. And of course he did."

"Do you mean he now wants to kill me too?" Caspian whispered. He voice was barely audible.

"That is almost certain," said Doctor Cornelius gravely.

"But why now?" said Caspian. "I mean, why didn't he do it long ago if he wanted to? And what harm have I done him?"

"He has changed his mind about you because of something that happened less than two hours ago. The Queen has had a son."

"I don't see what that's got to do with it," Caspian whispered indignantly.

"Don't see!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Have all my lessons in history and politics taught you no more than that? Listen!" Here he lowered his voice. "As long as he had no children
of his own, he was willing enough that you should be King after he died. He may not have cared much about you, but he would rather you should have the throne than a stranger. Now that he has a son of his own, he'll want his own son to be the next King. You're in the way. He'll clear you out of the way."

"Is he really as bad as that? Would he really murder me?" Caspian asked in surprise.

The Doctor was silent a long time before he finally said, "I can tell you the whole story. But not now. There is no time. You must fly at once."

"You'll come with me?" His tone was half-pleading and half-hopeful.

"I dare not," he said solemnly. "It would make your danger greater. Two are more easily tracked than one. Dear Prince, dear King Caspian, you must be very brave. You must go alone and at once. Try to get across the southern border to the court of King Nain of Archenland. He will be good to you."

"Shall I never see you again?"

"I hope so, dear King. What friend have I in the wide world except your majesty? And I have a little magic. In the meantime, speed is everything. Here are two gifts before you go. This is a little purse of gold - alas, all the treasure in this castle should be your own by rights. And here is something far better."

Then, for the first time in the conversation, Zoelle cursed the fact that she couldn't see them. There was a long pause filled only with silence as Caspian looked at whatever the Doctor had shown him. It wasn't until the Doctor spoke again that she knew what it was.

"That is the greatest and most sacred treasure of Narnia," he said softly, speaking as thought whispering of a most solemn and sacred treasures known to man, only just discovered again. "Many terrors I endured, many spells did I utter, to find it, when I was still young. It is the magic horn of Queen Susan herself which she left behind her when she vanished from Narnia at the end of the Golden Age. It is said that whoever blows on it shall have strange help - no one can say how strange. It may have the power to call Queen Lucy and King Edmund and Queen Susan and High King Peter back from the past-"

But at this moment, he broke off, for through the cracks of the door, he and Caspian heard a sharp gasp.