*    *   *
Herschel.

Everything ached and stung. He groaned, somewhat surprised at the sound. If he could hear himself… He was still alive! He dragged his eyelids open and tried to raise his head to check his injuries, but the cold muscles in his body cramped, sending flashes of sharp pain through his head. He flopped back down into the snow.

Now he could feel his injuries. He was certain his chewed-up leg wouldn’t support him, and his left hand had also been bitten, causing it to swell up beyond use. His entire body was covered with various other cuts, but thanks to his armour, that was the worst of it.

He squinted at the bright sky and tried to think. If he was still alive… Something had to have scared the wolves off. Something either more dangerous, or more numerous… Crunching snow drew his attention, and he slowly turned his head to see the source…

*    *   *
Tamar.

Her stomach flopped over inside. She had to speak to first the soldiers, then all the people? She bit the inside of her lip, trying desperately to push back the fear. But the silence only made it worse. Silence?! She blinked and lifted her gaze quickly, finding Caspian’s waiting.

He seemed to have sensed her nerves and had stopped speaking. She swallowed and forced an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, where were you?”

He just shook his head and took the seat across from her, leaned back comfortably, and waited. She lowered her gaze again and tried to sort out the thoughts in her mind. “I can’t speak to all these people!” She finally blurted, breaking out of her usual calm reservation.

He nodded, as though agreeing with her. She frowned. “Why are you nodding?”

“Because you’re right.” He replied easily.

She stared a moment, opening her mouth to speak, only to close it again, flustered. Finally she found her voice. “But if you don’t think I can do this, then why are you asking me to do it?!”

He raised an amused eyebrow. “Because you have to.” She stared at him, mind scrambling to sort out his logic. He finally pitied her and continued. “All throughout history, there are examples of people who couldn’t do something, yet they did it anyways because they had no choice.” He glanced towards the window, then stood and paced to it.

“The fact is, there are many things which we cannot do until we have no other choice. It is in those moments that we grow, that we gain the ability to complete the necessary task at hand.” He paused and turned back to her, leaning against the windowsill.

“When I first became King, I was not expecting it, and therefor not near prepared for such a task. I had to learn very quickly, and depended heavily upon my close friends. I still do, though as my generals and bodyguards rather than as personal supporters. Though they still do a fair amount of that as well.”

He paused, regathering his thoughts.
“My point is; you don’t know what you’re capable of until you are being stretched to your absolute limit. And even then, you can usually stretch further.”

He returned to his seat, leaning close to her, expression earnest. “I for one know that you are more than capable of this job. With some aids at your side, I believe you could do it even better than I.”

She bit her lip, though this time not entirely out of anxiety, but out of overwhelm in the midst of this man’s gentleness. She couldn’t recall the last time someone nearly made her cry out of joy… Out of overwhelm from recieving such… Love? Was that the word for it?

She studied his clear blue eyes. Her mind said no, but her heart… She had rarely been so divided, and it felt as though there were two people having a tug-of-war within her.

She banished the thoughts with a blink and returned her gaze to the table, nodding. “Thank you.”

He leaned back again, sensing the moment was over. “Now, lets get back to planning your speach.” He said quietly, mind visably drifting off into a different subject. “It needs to hold an air of strength, but also lay out the wrongdoings of Thaddias towards you and the members of the Treaty. They need to first be convinced of their King’s guilt and evil. Then we should throw in promises to make their lives better, promises like a fair court system, possibly lowered taxes, although I haven’t even begun to look at how those are run...”

She had to smile as he frowned, realizing yet another task, and wrote it down on a seperate paper which he had been adding tasks to all day.

“Before we make any promises, we must know the implications through and through. Perhaps we should make a list of things we could promise them, and them tackle the details they each entail one at a time.” Tamar suggested.

Caspian looked up from his pages of tasks and smiled. “I like the way you think. Let’s do that, then we can gather Adrelawin’s experts on each subject and have them run us through the implications and such.” He said, nodding as he added that too to his list…

*    *   *
Hiram.

He wasn’t a squealish man, but this was not how he would choose to spend his day, if there was indeed a choice. Still he refused to flinch, scanning the damage done to the man before him.

The soldier had denied knowledge of the events which had transpired against Caspian and Rayndra, as well as those against Tamar. The first two were lies, the third truth. Hiram was certain. But did that mean he had supported the first two, that he still did, or that he had merely followed orders blindly?

Hiram held up a hand, stopping the interrogation. He picked up a stool in one hand and strode over to the chained man, setting the stool down just two feet in front of him and sitting. He leaned his forearms against his knees, studying the man.

“I don’t like liars.” He began, his distain clear. The man kept his head low, and slowly nodded. “So lets cut the lies, shall we?” He paused, giving the man a moment to mentally agree. “The fact is, it’s not too late for you to be pardoned by the King.”

This offered hope had the man raising his head, meeting Hiram’s gaze. “The King I serve is merciful. But you need to come clean about what you know, and join our side. Otherwise, you will be treated as a prisoner, and broken by other methods.”

The man shook his head slightly, and Hiram pried deeper. “Listen. Look at me!” He ordered. “I am giving you the chance to walk out of here mentally stable, reasonably healthy, and with a pardon from the King. But if you don’t take this oppertunity, we will break you any way we must, and you will spend what remains of your life in this dungeon, mind messed up and far from healthy. You will never see your family again, or your friends.” He stopped, leaning back. “So what will it be?”

The soldier stared at him a long moment, then glanced at the interrogator and back to Hiram. “Thaddias and his personal knights are not dead…”

*     *    *
Isidro.

“Keep your blade up, no matter what! Your feet can move out of the way if need be, and when wearing armour they can withstand a blow.” Isidro shouted, making two more light advances, both of which she parried, though somewhat clumsily.

“Keep your eyes on my blade. Only focus on your own blade when fighting an unmoving object.” He added, watching as she realigned her focus.

Her expression was tense, concentrated. It had taken her a while to get back into the feel of things, still effected by her first real battle. She’s a warrior. She stuck to it dispite her earlier horror.

It was the first test of a knight, to fight their first battle. Most often, apprentaces were cut out of the ranks after their first battle, rather than during their basic training. While many young men could handle the work, they couldn’t handle the horrors. Tamar was exceptional.

Footsteps caught his attention, and he spotted the Princess’s gaze waver. With great grace, he knocked the sword from her hands and pressed the blunt side of his sword against her throat, shocking her back into the duel. Her mouth dropped slightly in surprise, but she didn’t panic, bending backwards to escape the blade, which he allowed to swing over her head as it would in a real battle.

She had her dagger out before he ‘recovered’ and dove forwards, knocking his back a step and placing the blunt of the blade to his throat. He just smiled and raised a hand, surrendering.

“Isidro.” He turned as Tamar stepped back and lowered her dagger. Hiram stood in the doorway, panting slightly, seeming as though he’d run to find him.

Isidro turned to Tamar. “Please excuse me, Princess.”

“Of course.” She replied, a hint of worry in her eyes, seeming to sense the urgency. He just bowed, then turned and exited the room.

The moment they were out of earshot, Hiram stopped him. “Thaddias and Damon are still alive!”

Isidro felt his heart drop within him. That was the last thing they needed. “We must tell Caspian.” He admitted unwillingly. He’d really wanted to spare his friend stress, but this was too much to keep from him, now that his suspicions had been confirmed…