"Timeless" - Narnian Autumn Writing Challenge - Oneshot Collection

"Temptations Of My Future"

Word count: 922

Prompt: Candles

Notes:

• After The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, I changed the timeline to fit my own stories. Rilian is now eleven when with The Green Witch (kidnapped as a toddler).

• Also thanks to StorySnippets for helping me with some lines and for the encouragement💖💖

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It was a silent night- like every night. Rilian was bored; again, this was nothing new either.

The darkness, which was always present, chased itself down the dirt halls and howled around in the Underland.

It could look scary underground, but Rilian knew all the twists, turns, and corners. He'd made it a priority to know exactly every pathway, he had gotten so bored that he had even mapped everything out. But in fear that his aunt, The Lady of the Green Kirtle, Meralda, would not like how he was mapping everything out, he'd put the prized piece of paper under his pillow.

Maybe soon, the Earthmen would dig a new tunnel and then he could add that to his map, he would like that.

He loved his aunt and she took care of him, but she was constantly off doing things, so he was left alone, feeling very bored-sometimes unloved.

And he always felt guilty for having strange memories or dreams. Almost every night he dreamed of a woman holding a candle close to a book and reading the words to him.

Her voice was soft, much unlike Meralda's strong, authoritative one.

His memories of when he was, very, very young were murky and dark, none of which included his aunt, but of someone else. Of the same woman from his dreams.

The woman from his dreams held him safely, and gently, and he could remember a fuzzy face of the woman. It was pale and her blue eyes were full of love and wonder. All for him.

Sometimes, rarely, he could remember different arms- not dangerous ones, just firmer ones. But there was no face for that figure.

None of these could've been memories of Meralda, because she did not look at him like that. She almost looked at him like he was a prize she had won; which, he supposed wasn't a bad thing, but he often wondered why he had the memories that he did.

Perhaps they weren't memories, only dreams. Dreams of something he wanted.

Not because Meralda wasn't a good aunt, no, she just, wasn't a mother, and she could get angry very fast. But he'd learned to dodge that and what not to do so as not to upset her.

Rilian would have to be extra careful, tomorrow was his eleventh birthday, he hoped she was in a good mood, he hated spending his birthday alone- like last year.

His stomach growled and he slowly stood up from his desk and moved to the door, he didn't know if Meralda would be present for dinner or not, but he hoped so.

Eating dinner at a large table with only his chair scooted up close was boring and lonely.

Sometimes he wondered if anyone felt as lonely as he did- but he wasn't complaining, his aunt was... wonderful in her own way. Rilian just wanted to know what a mother and father would be like, that was all.

"Rilian, dearest!"

That was Meralda's voice, but she didn't sound angry to his relief.

He sighed and opened his door, "Yes, Aunt Meralda?" Hopefully, she said dinner was served, he was soon to be starved!

"Dinner is ready, my sweets," She came closer, her green dress trailing behind her in a magnificent train of fabrics, glitter bejewelling every inch of seen material. Her hand met his chin with a cool touch, and she moved it up to firmly caress his cheek.

Smiling, Rilian stepped out from his room and took the outstretched hand she held out.

"Let's get my starving Prince some food in his belly." Meralda patted his head.

His aunt had so many nicknames for him that he could barely keep up anymore. And some of them didn't make any sense- like "prince", but he let it go, after all, it was only a nickname.

As they strode through the underground tunnels and reached the dining hall, Rilian frowned a bit as another dream yet again resurfaced in his mind.

" Hush now, stay silent
the nighttime is close
My little child, do not fear though
darkness does not last forever
I hold you near and safe
Hush now, stay silent. "

The woman from his dream sang these lyrics to him, cuddling him close.

They were meaningless words, and when he had asked Meralda if she had sung them to him, she had become a furious fit of anger and had even come close to slapping him.

But then she'd contained herself with a tight smile and had patted his shoulder.

He would never forget what she had said to him that day.

At first, she had sounded amused, "What foolishness. A dream is simply a dream, my Prince."

Then in a harsh and ominous whisper she had slithered out, "But, dreams are best forgotten, never to be remembered again..."

He shivered a little bit at the memory and shook it off, after all, he didn't want to ruin his appetite.

Reaching the table, Meralda beamed and settled down, moving her skirts and waving for a servant.

Rilian sat down beside her, his mind elsewhere.

The dreams he was supposed to be forgetting still swam in his head, and he often wondered, where they had come from.

But that wasn't important and they would only get him in trouble.

It was best if he just forgot like Meralda had said to do, he had to learn to ignore the weird tugging at his heart.

They meant nothing, they were just memories.

And it was best to forget.