The Princess's Secret [completed]

41: Not Over Yet.

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Caspian.

“Your Majesty?” Caspian looked up, finding Herschel standing in the doorway of the tent. “The Royal Knights are ready to leave.” The young warrior informed him.

“Good. I’ll be out in a moment.” He assured, turning his attention back to the orders he’d written. He was giving his seal of approval to the building plans for the castle and city defenses, among other things.

Now that he was moving his headquarters to Adrelawin, he would be unable to personally oversee the work at all times, so he was writing out instructions to limit the need for messages back and forth.

Finally he added the last paper to the stack, and grabbed his cloak. Stepping out into the fridged air, he smiled at the sight of the Princess, seated on her steed. Her head was high, with a confidence he admired. Her dark, long hair rested in gentle curls, settling just above her waist.

He blinked and shifted his attention to the reins being handed to him, pretending not to notice the silent look of scrutiny he was receiving from Isidro. Hiram seemed oblivious to the silent battle of observation around him. “Lets move out!”

The group started moving, quickly settling into formation, with The Royals and their personal bodyguards in the center.

The ride was mostly silent, aside from the occassional banter between Hiram and Isidro. Caspian found himself glancing at Tamar often, particularly while crossing through No-Man’s-Land.

Although her hands tightened on the reins slightly, she hid the stress well, keeping her expression blank. He had to smirk. Hiram’s version of a blank expression was more that of an angry serial killer.

“Hey Isidro!” Hiram’s voice interrupted his thoughts, and Caspian glanced over, watching the two warriors’ eyes meet. Then Hiram nodded towards the small stream they were passing. “Don’t fall in!”

“Don’t worry, unlike you I can swim.” Isidro shot back, returning his gaze to the trail.

Caspian glanced at Tamar, whos’ only reaction was to bite her lip. The incident had evidently bothered her deeper than she cared to admit.

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Isidro.

“I see you haven’t managed to lose the King and Princess during my absence.” Jamaal noted as Isidro entered the room.

He smiled and shook his head. “No, things have been pretty quiet.” He glanced around. “I see you haven’t managed to cause Adrelawin to riot while we were away.” He rebuttled, recieving a smile and shake of the head in return.

Isidro glanced towards a large window, studying the city below. All damage which had occured in the battle was now repaired, but the fear and suspicion was thick in the air. “How’s the body recovery going?”

Jamaal sighed, making him tense for bad news. “We have a lot of bodies recorded, but we’re still missing key generals, as well as Thaddias.”

“So the chances of them still being alive-” Hiram began, but Isidro turned and interrupted him.

“There’s still a chance.” He turned to Jamaal. “How many are working on the recovery, and how much is left to clear away?”

“I have about fifty percent of my men working on it, as well as the lower-class soldiers from Adrelawin’s army. We’re down to three sections of wall, about thirty percent of what was destroyed.”

There was a few moments of silence while he thought carefully. “Okay,” The doors opened and Caspian strode in, followed by Tamar. “-first thing tomorrow we ride out and take a look at the clean up, so if there’s a faster way of doing it.”