When you believe

Chapter I: "Learn to believe"

Author's note:

Dear reader, this is a story I started writing back in 2009 and just now I'm going back to it to finally finish it. The first thirteen chapters were written back then, and while I'm currently working on revising those, the writing style after that might vary a little. I hope you don't mind. You should know that this story is an AU that follows the adventures of Susan Pevensie's daughter, Bridget. Being an AU, don't expect everything to fit with the canon of the world of Narnia. You'll see what creative liberties I've taken as you read this. I hope you enjoy it!

-Eva

Chapter I: "Learn to believe"

"...and then, the High King turned around just in time to stop Miraz's blade from killing him, and with a swift twirl taking the sword, he pierced Miraz's shoulder with it. Everyone was staring at them both, wanting to know what was happening."

Her mother's voice was a bit too exaggerated as if wanting to give emphasis to the story. She tended to do that when narrating stories, especially when the purpose of them was a nightly entertainment for her youngest daughter. She was acting everything in front of little Alice, using an umbrella as a sword and she had a blanket tied around her neck and falling down her back as if it was a cape.

"All the Telmarines were expecting Peter to kill Miraz, which was what any of them would have done in such situation, but no, Peter didn't kill Miraz. Instead he passed the sword to prince Caspian..."

There was a brief pause there, letting the thrill sink in.

"And Caspian killed him, mommy?" sweet little Alice asked, bewildered by the tale.

In all the stories her mother had told her, she always spoke of Caspian as a very noble young man, never as ruthless as his own kin, the Telmarines. Alice never thought Caspian could be able to kill his uncle, not because he didn't dare or because he wasn't strong enough to do it... No, Caspian wasn't a weak man in the slightest... He was far too noble and had enough courage not to spill his uncle's blood.

"What do think he did, honey?" her mother asked tenderly, encouraging her daughter to think of the following part of the story.

"Well... I don't think Caspian killed him..." she said slowly and at the same time trying to figure out how the tale could go on. "But Miraz was a very mean king. I'm sure the Telmarines didn't like him at all!" Alice said with a funny frown on her brow and a small pout forming on her lips.

"Not even one bit" her mother assured her with a gentle laugh. "And yes, you're right. Caspian didn't kill his uncle, he was far too courageous to do such a thing. Miraz thought he was actually going to kill him in revenge of his father's murder, he even told Caspian he had the makings of a Telmarine king... to which Caspian responded he was not like him, sinking the sword in the ground in front of his uncle. The whole Narnian army burst in applauses for their prince as he did that..."

As her mother was sitting on Alice's bed with her improvised royal costume, telling yet another overly boring and childish bedtime story, Bridget was reading a novel. She was calmly scanning the written words and flipping though pages on the bed next to them, and even though she was trying to pay attention to her reading she was half-listening to the story her mother was telling her seven-year-old sister about that magical land her mother invented.

Another story about these Kings and Queens of Old and this pathetically noble prince named Capian, Casian or something... And there was even a bloody talking mouse! How could her sister enjoy that kind of stories? They were so stupid! And for God's sake, the heroes in these stories were merely kids! Bridget's reasoning was entirely against the likeliness of having children lead a whole army. That detail just added to the overall absurdity of her mother's nighttime tales.