|| Hecre's Theory ||

Written by Coretta

Disclaimer: Anything recognisable belongs to either J.K. Rowling or C.S. Lewis. Everything else belongs to me.

|| Before you begin reading ||

I have the bad habit of starting new stories without finishing previous ones. That is all.

|| Prologue ||

King Caspian the Tenth sat on his throne, listening stoically as a Dwarf reported on the latest of their skirmishes. His face was blank, showing no emotion, but inside, his chest was beating erratically.

Three years. It had been three years since that fateful night. The night that had changed his life, forever. That night when he had last seen his beloved Tutor, Doctor Cornelius. That night when his aunt had given birth to his cousin, Prince Ancais, and he had been forced to flee his home, the home of his father.

In three years, not much had changed. Indeed, if the Old Narnians had not watched with their very own eyes how their young king grew handsomer, older, wiser and tireder by the day, they would have believed that no time had passed at all.

Miraz – for he had no desire to call his uncle by the title which he had usurped – was not a very astute, nor a very good commander, and neither were the people he had surrounded himself with. It seemed when he had weeded out Caspian's father, he had also murdered each and every one of the people with any sense of battle knowledge. It showed.

He sent his soldiers to Aslan's How, their headquarters, at least once a week, if Trumpkin's timekeeping was anything to go by. In return, Caspian's forces – the Talking Animals, the Giants, the creatures that the Telmarines now had no choice but to believe in – clashed with them. Due to Caspian and Trumpkin's sharp logic and skill in the art of battle, and the agility and competence of their men, the Old Narnians won every time, but with horrific casualties. Despite their superior knowledge and training, Miraz had a larger army. If it were not for the stream of Old Narnians that had gradually been coming out of hiding over the years, Caspian was quite sure he would not even have an army.

"I'm sorry, but did you say that forty had fallen tonight?" Caspian sharply inhaled. That was almost half his people. The Dwarf nodded solemnly, but Caspian paid him no mind. That was the largest loss since their very first encounter, when Miraz had first discovered their location and his people had not yet been trained. If this continued… "You may go now, Duhedler." The Dwarf bowed and then left.

Caspian sat alone in the central chamber, and he felt like a joke. He and his uncle were still at an impasse, and meanwhile so many of the Old Narnians were losing their lives because of it. If it hadn't been for their undying loyalty to the Old Ways of Narnia, most of them would have left by now. His throne wasn't even a throne – it was merely a chair, although crafted lovingly for him by Trufflehunter out of sticks and twigs. He felt no more capable than he had at fifteen, when he had first entered this dangerous game. His thoughts of misery clouded his mind, and it was then that he wished, more than ever, that he had Doctor Cornelius. His Tutor would know exactly what to do.

It was as if by magic. Caspian had been staring at the lamp that lay on the ground across from him, flickering and sending dancing shadows across the earthy walls, when he heard the shouts. They were coming from outside, and the King raised his head, confusion evident in his eyes. The Telmarines had long gone by now, but was it possible that they had decided to return?

He stood up, drawing his sword. His stance was instantly alert and cautious. If there was another attack, someone would come to inform him. Even he knew his worth to their cause, and he would not go out there blindly.

He heard foot- and hoof-steps now, in the tunnel that led to this chamber. Eyes narrowed, he breathed heavily. There was the sound of struggling, yelling, and there arrived at the entrance of the chamber after a few moments the Dwarf Duhedler and Caspian's friend, Trumpkin, another Dwarf. Standing impassively between them was someone Caspian knew well, but that he had not seen for so long. Short, fat and ugly, with his beard long and eyes twinkling, Caspian immediately recognised Doctor Cornelius.

Caspian gasped, and then gave a shout of delight. "Doctor! You're here!" He immediately left his throne to approach Cornelius.

"You know him, your Majesty?" Duhedler asked, disgust plain on his face. The Dwarf could already tell that this newcomer was a brother of his, but a disgraced one at that.

"I do," Caspian nodded, "and you'd do well to lighten your tone, Duhedler. He is an old friend of mine. Release him, please, release him!" The two Dwarves immediately released the taller one between them.

"He says he has something for you, your Majesty," Trumpkin said. "Says he's got a right treasure, but I say, if that's a treasure, I'm a rabbit!" He went back into the tunnel, fumbled around for something, and re-emerged with something long and dirty in his hand. He handed it to Caspian, who examined it, before returning his attention to his Tutor.

"But Doctor," Caspian said excitedly. "Where have you been all this time? I am sure most in Narnia know of my location now, and it has been three years since we last met!"

"As you know, Sire," Cornelius said, speaking for the first time. His voice was husky, earthy and very much tired, "it has been my life's goal to search for Queen Susan's Horn. In fact, ever since-"

"But you don't mean Queen Susan the Gentle, from the stories of Old Days?" Trumpkin asked sharply. "Poppy and cock! Her Horn was nothing special. Why ever would you spend your life searching for it?"

"I am sure you've heard the stories of the Horn, Trumpkin," Caspian said patiently. "Her Horn was meant to bring help to those in need of it."

"That is correct," Cornelius nodded. "As you can see, this Horn would be quite useful in these present climates. I merely hurried my search, for I know for certain that Miraz has an ally."

"Allies?" Caspian gasped. "Who would ally themselves with Miraz? Everyone knows he is not the rightful king of Narnia."

"Any man would do anything for the right amount of gold," Cornelius said gravely. "I have yet to find out who these mysterious allies are, but it seems he is still in the negotiating stage. They are not Calormene, though, I am positive. As of now, he has yet to reach the other kingdoms' demands, but I am sure he will soon find a way to overcome that obstacle. And while he is doing this, we will need help. I have reason to believe that that object-" Cornelius nodded to the thing in Caspian's hand, "-is what I have been searching for."

"Where did you find it?" Caspian asked in awe. If this was truly Queen Susan's Horn…his people might be saved. Old Narnia might once again flourish. Suddenly, he felt much too unworthy, much too unclean to be touching this ancient, powerful object.

"It was in Cair Paravel, the castle where the Kings and Queens of Old reigned once. I was quite astonished to find it lying right in the centre of where the great hall might have been, but nevertheless grateful." Cornelius looked incredibly joyful, eyes twinkling brightly. "I am thankful that I have been able to find this before the end of my lifetime."

"You have done well, Doctor," Caspian said. "I must hold council at once. Trumpkin, please call Trufflehunter and Nikabrik. Duhedler, you are dismissed."

The two Dwarves left immediately, and Caspian turned to his Tutor, eyes with a light sheen of moisture. "I thank you so much, Doctor," he whispered to the shorter man. "So much, you do not know how horrible a commander I have been. But you have given me hope, and I will be forever in your debt."

"Do not deprecate yourself so, your Majesty," Cornelius said gently. "You have led your forces to many victories. As I hear it, your army has yet to lose a battle to the Telmarines. You are a fine king."

"You give me too much credit, Doctor," Caspian said bitterly. "I-"

His sentence was cut short as the others arrived noisily. "And I was saying, he was quite rude! Just because us Dwarves are made to do the dirty work, doesn't mean they can talk down to us!"

"He wasn't being rude," another voice responded exasperatedly. "And you've got some nerve, Nikabrik, when you obviously dislike him as much as he dislikes you!"

"Trufflehunter, Nikabrik," Caspian said loudly. "Welcome."

The two stopped their arguing abruptly. "Thank you, your Majesty," Trufflehunter said. Nikabrik merely nodded, shooting another glare at the badger before crossing his arms across his chest. Trumpkin looked quite amused at the proceedings.

"This is my Tutor, Doctor Cornelius," Caspian announced. "Doctor, these are Trufflehunter and Nikabrik. They are a part of my council."

"Wonderful to meet you."

"You're the renegade, eh?" Nikabrik sneered. "The half-half?"

"Nikabrik!" Caspian's voice was sharp. "I will have you know that I trust Doctor Cornelius with my life, and I will not have you speak that way to him."

"Oh, I'm sorry, your Majesty."

"Galloping gumballs!" Trumpkin shouted. "Is that any way to talk to the King?"

"Please, gentlemen!" Caspian barked loudly. They fell silent. "We are not here to argue. I wish that you treat Doctor Cornelius with respect, but that is not our sole issue as of now. Doctor Cornelius has come with a very…special object." He looked to Cornelius, who addressed the two newcomers.

"That which the King holds in his hand," he said, "is Queen Susan the Gentle's Horn."

Trufflehunter gasped, and Nikabrik's face morphed into that of shock. "The Horn?" he asked. "How can you know that?"

"Oh, but don't you feel it?" Trufflehunter said excitedly. "The magic, the ancient air around it…of course. The days of Old are coming back!" He looked ecstatic. "Us Badgers always knew the time would come! Patience is our virtue, mind, and we've been waiting for some time!"

Caspian nodded in approval. "What I called you for is to ask as to whether you believe now is the time to blow it."

"Why wait?" Nikabrik asked. "If you truly believe that is the Horn – which I'm not completely convinced it is – then surely now would be the time. We have lost many tonight, and the sooner we get some help, the better. We aren't faring well at all."

"I do believe his argument makes sense," Caspian said. "The only thing I have to ask is this: does anyone know where our help would most likely appear? I believe that our help will be the Old Royals – High King Peter, Queen Susan, King Edmund and Queen Lucy – for they saved us from a dark age once before and I hope they will again."

"The Ancient Places of Narnia, I think," Cornelius said. "This place, Aslan's How, is the most magical of all, but I believe there are two others. Lantern Waste, where the Royal Children first appeared in Narnia, and down at the river-mouth, where their castle of Cair Paravel once stood. It is my suggestion that we send a messenger to each of these places, to await the arrival of our help."

"Very good idea," Caspian said. "Who shall we send?"

"Squirrels are best for getting through enemy country without being caught," said Trufflehunter.

"All our squirrels are rather flighty," said Nikabrik. "The only one I'd trust on a job like that would be Pattertwig."

"Let it be Pattertwig, then," said Caspian. "As for our other…I don't suppose any of you would like to go?"

"I would be far too slow, your Majesty," Trufflehunter said apologetically.

"I won't go," said Nikabrik. "With all these Humans and beasts about, there must be a Dwarf here to see that the Dwarfs are fairly treated."

"Thimbles and thunderstorms!" exclaimed Trumpkin. "By Aslan, you are quite infuriating, Nikabrik. Sire, send me. I shall go."

"But I thought you didn't believe in the power of the Horn?" Caspian said amusedly.

"I'll go," Trumpkin repeated. "Lantern Waste, you say? I will be there in a day."

"Thank you, Trumpkin," said Caspian sincerely. He fingered the Horn in his hands, brushing the dirt away from it. Underneath he saw ivory. "Shall I blow it now?"

"Please," Trufflehunter said. "I am quite honoured to be sitting here, watching upon this historical moment, your Majesty."

Caspian looked around at his fellow fighters and his Tutor, and with one deep breath, brought the Horn to his lips.

The sound that was blown that night was so heart-wrenching that it would forever be ingrained in the memories of those who heard it.

|| Author's Note ||

Hey guys! I'm back again, with a new story. As I said at the start, it's a bad habit. It's a prologue, and although it's a bit long, I couldn't see this as an actual chapter so in it goes.

To anyone curious, as of now, I don't have plans to continue with my other two stories – really sorry to anyone holding out for updates to Amnesia, but I lost my muse and besides that, my computer crashed and stupid me destroyed my only backup. So I forgot which direction I was taking Amnesia in, and whilst I still love that story and the storyline to bits, I can't summon enough motivation to go on. If anyone wants to continue it, that's fine, and I'd even be honoured, as long as you credit me with the storyline and the first few chapters. :)

So on to this story now. I was actually inspired to write this after I read a beautiful, beautiful Edmione story called When Two Worlds Collide, by WickedlyAwesomeMe. I couldn't even contain my feels when reading that masterpiece, I swear. I never thought of Edmund or Hermione as being good together, but I was curious and let's just say it was one of the best decisions I've made. I have a thing for rare pairings – which actually isn't a good thing for me because I end up having to write my own stories – and that was just brilliant. If you haven't read that already, GO DO IT NOW. It's amazing.

This story takes place when Caspian is 18. They are still at war with the Telmarines (Tales of Narnia: Prince Caspian) when Caspian blows Susan's horn. It'll be very AU, though – everyone's ages are different, the Pevensies won't be coming from the train station and there will probably be lots of differences to Narnian canon. I'm pretty much messing up Narnia's timeline, but I need it this way.

Warning now: I never really liked Ron for some reason, which will probably reflect in the story. I've been warming up to him recently, though, so I may or may not be good to him. It really depends on the direction this story flows. :)

I'm not a big Narnian – I'm a Potterhead all the way. I do like Narnia, though, and I've always found Edmund to be adorable even if he did betray his siblings in the first book, so I'm here, doing this story. If my facts are wrong, please don't judge harshly. Just think that it's part of the story. :) I wouldn't trust anything that is remotely relatable to Narnia canon in my story because I've only got two of the books and will have to rely on the Internet for the rest.

That's it for now. Please, review and tell me what you think! I'm not a very quick writer, so you'll have to excuse the slowness of my updating. I also don't have a beta, so any grammatical or spelling mistakes attached to the end of your review would be appreciated greatly.

Love,

Coretta