Hi again, readers and people-on-alert! Sorry for the looooooonnnggggggg wait. So much happening in life, and I didn't find the inspiration to move on until I pushed myself to keep writing. Ever since I've started this story, I've been able to write more fanfics (not yet posted) and my own original works too. It's been pretty awesome! Yet when I look at this fic, I say to myself, "Wow, I need to either throw this fic away or just completely rewrite this story." I started this story at the second half of my ninth grade year (I think), and now here I am an adult graduated from high school. So...I decided to finish this fic and not leave it hanging for the rest of my life. ;)

As for the new Narnia movie...THEY RUINED IT! I mean, what on earth happened? The acting...the story...the music...the whole movie lost the feel of the first and second Narnia movies! Wahhh!

Okay, so what lies in the future for the franchise? The books will remain a favorite, but the movies...get Peter Jackson or somebody amazing to reboot the whole thing. (Not that the first or second movies were terrible.)

Disclaimer: Narnia is owned by C.S. Lewis. I own Faith and Rovin. psychpineapplelover owns Robyn. That is all.

I just about died when Peter told us that we had to fly to the castle.

Well, only the first group entering the castle had to fly…which unfortunately included me. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't forced into the group which consisted of all of the humans (except Lucy who had stayed at the How) and Trumpkin. I didn't know why on earth Peter chose that dwarf to come with us. And it seemed that Trumpkin had grown closer with the Pevensies than with Caspian.

Anyways, we had to fly. And to understand my distress, I don't get along with heights (which includes flying in airplanes and soon gryphons), but I don't get vertigo. (By the way, that Hitchcock movie Vertigo is just plain bizarre to me. And at the end, I was like 'Seriously?')

It was midnight…for the nth time, and I was between nervous and passing out. Staying up so late and being aware of my lack of hygiene for the past few days were starting to take a negative effect on me. But I didn't voice my discomforts. Not even to Robyn.

Our current position was at the edge of a plateau before a canyon that ran all the way around Miraz's castle northeast of us. A ridiculously small river snaked through the canyon, and towering pillars of rock jutted at random areas, nice way to skewer yourself if you felt like it. With a fog steadily settling in, moon light was slightly obscured. The Telmarine town had no lights whatsoever. (Well, duh, who parties all night in Narnia? We do! And we're gonna party by cutting soldiers' throats! Yippee!)

I hugged myself tighter when chilly air blew since the cloak I wore didn't help much.

"Are you ready?" a voice behind me asked.

I turned to find Caspian approaching. "No. It's pretty cold, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." He came up beside me on my left and stared ahead as if he had a lot on mind.

"Are you ready?" I asked a minute later. "I hate to be morbid, but you're gonna start killing your own…" I hesitated to use 'people,' "soldiers."

The prince said nothing for a while when I said that. And I didn't blame him for his hesitation. Not until now had Caspian ever slain (as far as I know) his own. If I were him, I would refuse to kill someone. Even in battle. But here the choice was inevitable. If he had to win the throne, he would have to shed some blood.

Caspian looked at me. A dull, emotionless gaze had replaced the naïve face I first saw.

"You're not, are you?" I felt like I was seeing a different person until his stony face broke into a torn expression, a shaky breath escaping him.

"No," he finally answered. "I'm not."

"Oh."

He decided to change the subject. "You really want to come? Even if you're afraid of heights?"

I gave Caspian a reproachful glance as if he were stupid. "I promised to stay by you. And I will. Even if it means I have to face my fear of heights."

No response.

"Hey." I lightly nudged him. "Your wish is my command."

"Faith."

"Yeah?"

"Stay behind. You'll be safe."

"Wha-no!" I tugged at Caspian's arm for emphasis. "I take back what I said. You are not leaving my sight!"

His patience with me was obviously running thin again. "Faith, will I have to take extreme measures?" he asked.

"Such as?"

"Tying you up and sending you back to the How."

I flinched and scrunched up my face. "Well, that's one way."

Caspian sighed and ran fingers through his brown hair.

"Why can't I-oh…" I suddenly realized it. "You're afraid that-"

"You'll be in harm's way," he curtly replied.

"I thought you were gonna say, 'You'll die,'" I muttered.

"Probably that too. Faith, look at me." I did. "Do this for my sake if not your own. I don't want to risk your safety. And I'm not sure that I want you to be part of this battle. It's…not worth seeing."

I carelessly waved a hand at him and shook my head. "I know, even as annoying as I am." I knew he didn't mean to sound (dare I say it) romantic, but he sounded concerned. Still, he didn't understand my situation, especially at a time like this. To me by now, it didn't matter if I died here tonight. If was I here to help, I would help even if it meant death. Death…huh, sounds more inviting come to think of it.

I was brought back to the present when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Ugh, I hate it whenever he touches me without second thought. Oh, another question. Why does he like putting hands on my shoulders?

"Faith?"

I pushed away his hand and broke eye contact with him as I began to walk away. "Caspian, it's better that I go. There's nothing more for me, and there's you can do to stop me."

As I silently made my way back to the group, I received no protest and immediately felt guilty. I'd just brushed off the Telmarine's authority as others had done. I felt more miserable, wishing now the Lion would simply bound into the picture and save Narnia Himself. Why did He leave Narnia for 1300 years? Is he trying to prove something to us?

Reaching the rest of the party, I saw five gryphons eagerly waiting to take off, Peter giving some final instructions to Edmund and Trumpkin, and Susan and Robyn chatting with each other. My BFF wasn't smiling or cracking a joke.

"Hey," I said softly, joining the girls.

"Hey," Robyn said. "The air help?"

Susan nodded in agreement. "You've been quiet since we had our talk."

The other didn't make a silly comment like I'd expected. "What's up?" she asked instead.

"Nothing," I lied. "Just needed some quiet and fresh air."

"That's what Caspian said too."

"Oh."

"Oy, Robyn!" Edmund called, mounting a gryphon with ease. "It's time to go."

And when did Eddy get so comfortable with Robyn? I looked at my friend incredulously. "Really? Caspian wants to send me back, and he lets you go with Edmund?"

She shrugged in response. "I dunno. Anyways, take care." She gave me a quick hug and squeezed my hand before jogging to the Pevensie who held out a hand.

Wait, a hand?

"Whoa whoa." Robyn skidded to a halt. "We're not taking two?"

The black-haired king sadly shook his head. "We'll be more likely noticed. Artemis here tells me he can handle two since you're small. No offense."

"None taken." She however looked extremely skeptical and risked a glance at me as if asking for help. "Ah…"

I only could shrug. What was I supposed to do? No, wait. I could easily protest. But only to Caspian and probably Peter too, but with Edmund. That was a different story. I felt a smile tugging at my lips.

"Come on, Robyn." Edmund offered his hand again. "We don't have all night."

That made the short-haired girl only more hesitant. "H-how will we both fit?"

"If you're in the front, I'll hold you. If I'm in the front, you'll hold me." The weird thing was that he said this as if it didn't bother him at all.

Just to emphatically remind you people: Robyn and I refuse to touch a guy except for family. Even in the dark, I could see (or really imagine) Robyn's eyes widening in horror that I had to slap a hand over my mouth from snorting out loud. Though I felt bad about my friend's predicament and knew I would react the same way, I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculously funny the moment was.

Susan not missing my strangled chuckle gave me a weird look. "What's wrong?" she whispered.

I went into a series of giggles before answering, not without receiving a glare from Robyn. "That didn't sound right."

"What's wrong with Robyn riding with Ed?"

"We still have the cooties."

"Oh. Right."

Chuckling, oblivious Ed tried again. "Robyn, I'll be in the front if that makes you feel better."

My BFF gulped, took a step forward, and reluctantly took his hand. "Okay," she squeaked.

With little or no difficulty, he hoisted Robyn up and told her to hang on to him. But when she grabbed the gryphon instead, the Narnian creature bolted in alarm.

"Hang on to me," Edmund let out a laugh, "not Artemis."

"Yes, please," the gryphon said. "Your grip rather frightened me."

"O-okay." Poor Robyn slipped her arms around the boy's waist, her expression of total disgust. If we had a video camera, I would've recorded all this. Perfect for a souvenir.

"Ready, Artemis, Robyn?" Edmund asked and then got a nod from both. "Let's go."

Then in one huge leap, the gryphon shot up in the foggy but star-filled Narnian sky and headed down to Miraz's castle, his wings flapping brilliantly in rhythm.

From the ledge, I collapsed onto Susan as I watched the trio fly at an amazing speed. "Maybe I do have vertigo," I murmured.

"Faith, are you sure you want to go?" she asked uneasily.

"Yeah, I already told Caspian," I said firmly. "He can't stop me anyway."

The said-prince appeared from behind. "I beg to differ."

I angrily gritted my teeth as I turned to face him. "And how do you plan to send me back?"

He looked at the dwarf. "Trumpkin."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Trumpkin nodded and produced a coil of rope.

"What? No!" I exclaimed, darting behind Susan for protection. "You were serious, man?"

"Yes," Caspian said simply.

"Oh, come on. Why can't I stay with you guys? Shows how much I care about…" Should I say 'you' or… "this," I finished lamely.

"Which means you're staying."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"Doesn't matter. You're staying."

"Am not!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Faith, no more!" Peter ordered stiffly. "You're going to stay, and that's final."

I smiled wickedly and stuck my tongue out at the dirty-blonde king. "You're not involved in this, airhead." By now, I was coming up with bully names and really desiring to strangle the Brit. Caspian had given up on trying to lecture me for my nonsense and this time 'foul' language.

"What did you just call me?"

"Oh, nothing. Just a compliment." I lowered my voice. "Idiot."

"I heard that, big mouth."

"Nice try, Your Majesty, but that…was corny."

"Faith, I told you," Caspian said sternly. "You are staying. Now, do I still have to persuade you with Trumpkin?"

I shrunk behind Susan again. "Is there another alternative?"

"Yes, there is. Listening to me and staying."

"Wait, you're staying too?"

"No!"

"But you just said-"

"Just-" He took a deep breath and willed himself to speak calmly. "You will stay. No more."

"Payback," I muttered before smugly grinning at him. Wow, I've been kind of evil tonight. Must be reeeally tired. "Make me."

Few minutes later…

"I can't believe I have to share with you." I tried to frown at the dwarf in front of me, receiving a grunt but nothing else. I couldn't frown at Trumpkin because my eyes were shut tight. I was clinging for dear life onto the red dwarf, my eyes closed and my knees digging into the gryphon's sides. And let me tell you, I hated the feeling of flying, especially when there was no windshield to protect yourself from the biting wind or any seatbelt to prevent from teetering from the sides. Ugh, and why did Superman's "Can You Read My Mind?" randomly pop in my head? "Are we there yet?"

"Let go, Princess," he said instead. He gagged when I wrapped an arm around his neck. "You're going to suffocate me."

I shook my head and held on tighter. "Not until we're down."

"Faith, we are down."

When I dared a peek, I made a mental note to clobber Trumpkin later but nervously laughed at the group in front of me. Trumpkin had a look that said, 'Really?', Caspian had his arms crossed, Peter had his sword drawn, and Susan had one bow in one hand and her other hand on her hip. None of them look pleased. I finally released Trumpkin from my death grip and slid off the gryphon that was impatiently waiting to fly off. I noticed we were near one of the lowest towers.

Caspian let out an exasperated sigh. "And this is one of the reasons why you shouldn't have come."

I pouted and crossed my arms.

The first part of the plan was to get the gate opened. Trumpkin, Reep, and two other talking mice (who were to join us later) were responsible for the drawbridge, and Caspian was to take care of the gate itself. (I immediately assumed I would help the prince.) But I had no idea what Peter and Susan were doing. (Didn't listen to most of Peter's plan earlier.) In order to get into the inside, we decided to enter through the professor's room since Caspian wasn't afraid of trusting his teacher.

Few minutes later, we reached our destination which was apparently a closed window right above the courtyard. Well, we still had to climb down to the room.

"It's here," Caspian said. "Trumpkin, the rope." Then he tied one of the given ropes to a nearby sturdy post, tossed the rest over the border, and carefully climbed down with Peter joining a minute later. Susan who was watching them climb down motioned for me to go next.

I immediately backed up. "You first."

She shook her head. "No, you go first. It's better this way. Besides, Caspian would want you there." Then she quickly added at my pointed stare, "You said you promised him."

"When did Caspian come into the equation?" I poked the gnarly rope. "Oh, how much I hate heights."

"This is nothing compared to what I've had to do before," Susan scoffed lightly.

"Oh, really? And what was that?"

"Will you be quiet, Princess?" the dwarf hissed.

As I gingerly lowered myself down the rope, I grumbled, "Yeah, your incident is far worse than this." After successfully reaching the window sill with sweaty hands and steaming hands, I quickly leaped into the room, sprawled myself on the floor…and shot up at the annoyed stares I was given. "What? I hate heights."

Caspian being the first to recover from my bizarre act walked over to a cluttered desk, rummaged through scattered paper, and picked up a pair of spectacles, his eyes holding deep respect for the owner. He glanced at us. "I have to find him."

Peter moved forward. "There's no time," he sounded almost…sympathetic? (Ugh, no! Of course, he wasn't sympathetic.) "We need to get the gate opened-"

"You wouldn't be here if it weren't for him…and neither would I."

Susan who had joined a minute earlier (followed by Trumpkin) glanced at her brother as if understanding. "You and I can deal with Miraz."

Caspian returned a grateful smiled to her. "And I still can get to the gate on time." He turned to me. "Faith, go with King Peter. It'll be safer."

In response, I practically ran to the Telmarine's side, pulled out an arrow, and set it to my bow. "Nuh-uh! You're not leaving my sight; I'm going with you." I was pleased to find that Caspian had no point to argue with me.

"Come on," Peter gestured to the door, and all of us started to head out.

Having heard no protest from Caspian, I assumed that the prince either didn't mind me or was too occupied with his teacher's rescue. Either way, I followed Caspian silently. The problem was that he was fast. I mean, fast. And being short, you get the idea. I got worried whenever I was ten feet behind him and even panicked whenever he turned a corner. But thankfully, Caspian seemed to notice my handicap and slowed down a bit but continued at a quick pace.

Even as we flew by rooms and hallways, I didn't fail to notice how gray, dull, maybe even spooky the castle was. The Phaaaaantom of the Opera is thereeeee….Insiiiide my miiiiind…Muahahaha! We passed by occasional banners and Telmarine eagle emblems, and I jumped ten feet in the air when we ran by a stuffed head of a bear. I hoped it wasn't a talking one. After what seemed like nonstop torturing silence of running through a puzzling maze and dodging a large number of sentries (this wasn't encouraging either), we finally stopped at a wooden door with an iron-barred window. Caspian motioned for me to wait there until he said so. Quietly drawing his sword, he opened the groaning door (I cringed at the sound of its rusty hinges) and cautiously descended a spiral of steps.

But waiting at a door of a labyrinthine castle without someone beside you and sentries lurking everywhere is terrifying. I wisely turned my back to the open doorway and faced the long hallway before me, my shaking hands raising the bow and arrow in front of me. I was sweating like crazy, and my mouth was dry. Man, I hate suspense. I get too restless if there's suspense anywhere.

From beyond the door, there was a sound of swords drawn, and then a clash followed by a couple of simultaneous muffled grunts. Curious to what caused the noise, I tiptoed to the door and crept inside.

"Faith, come on," Caspian's whisper echoed from below.

I sighed and began the descent down the stairs. I edged around a Telmarine soldier's body and moaned from the sight of it. "What took you so long?" I hissed when I reached Caspian at what seemed to be the castle dungeon.

The other, however, didn't waste time to answer my question as he earnestly searched for something on the soldier's body. "Where is it?" he muttered but instantly grinned when he found what he was looking for: a pair of keys. Hastily standing up, Caspian sheathed his sword and ran into a round room of cellars with me at his heels.

"What's he look like?" I asked.

"Part dwarf," he answered absently as he scanned the five cells arranged.

But my attention was drawn to the first one. Inside, someone was curled up into a miserable ball; his clothing was ripped at certain places, and several scratches and bruises were manifested on his pale skin. His body shivered violently, and his breaths were short and shallow. I felt a pang of pity for this poor guy. What did he do to get a beating like that? I knelt down in front of the cell to get a better look. "Poor you," I sympathized to the prisoner whether he heard me or not.

Though a few hair locks blocked his face, I could see his eyes closed and his mouth open, lips cracked from lack of water. He looked emaciated, but he was somehow familiar-looking. I heard the rattle of keys and then an opened iron door on my right and saw Caspian enter the third cell, kneeling next to a sleeping man who looked like Santa Clause.

Caspian gently shook the guy out of his sleep and murmured something inaudible, a second later grabbing the lock that held the prisoner's chains.

"What are you doing here?" an old voice came from the man whom I assumed to be Caspian's tutor. He was hoisted by Caspian and given his spectacles. Didn't know Caspian brought that. "I didn't help you escape just so you could break back in." But when he glanced over the prince's shoulder and saw me, he gave Caspian a questioning look. "Who is she? Such a young girl to fight."

For some reason, I felt insulted. I was tempted to say something rude like "Why, thanks, Santa Clause!" but Caspian answered, "A friend. Not much younger than I am."

"Who's that in there?" I asked the professor, pointing at the first cell. "What'd he do to be like that?"

He sighed and sadly shook his head. "One of my students. He just simply refused to tell Miraz about the Beruna raid."

Caspian seemed intrigued. "One of your…students? He was there that night?"

I reluctantly remembered our mission. We still had to get going. "Your Highness, now's not the time to chat." I tugged at his arm, but I was only ignored. "Caspian, we have to get that gate open."

""Professor, who is it?" he asked slowly.

The older man didn't answer, his eyes lowering to the ground. It was as if he was afraid of Caspian's reaction if he did tell him. But I wanted to find out who it was, despite the urgency of the situation.

So did the prince. His eyes were shining with suspicion…and then dread. Dread of what? Well, the guy did look awfully familiar. He looked a lot like…

I was now the one feeling dread and glanced at the cell again. There was no way that was… "Caspian…"

When his question was met with silence, Caspian grabbed his teacher by the shoulders and shook him once rather violently. "Who is it? Tell me who it is!" he almost yelled, making me nearly flinch at his sudden desperation.

I touched the prince's arm tentatively and cowered when he turned his attention to me. "I-I think I know who it is."

"No…" Caspian's voice wavered, "No, it couldn't be…"

"Rovin," we both said.

It was Rovin. I put a hand to my mouth and made my way back to the first cell. An unexplainable feeling began to bubble inside me as I knelt next to the bars. "We have a problem."

I risked a glance at the prince, and he looked torn between our mission and his best friend. He unexpectedly grinned and shook his head as if something was the most obvious thing in the world. "Professor, take Rovin with you and go to the stables. Just in case." He paused. "We're taking over."

The old man shook his head and bustled his Highness out of the cell. "No, you must get out before Miraz learns you're here."

"He's going to learn soon enough." Caspian's smile resembled something like a smirk. He handed the keys and the spectacles he had take earlier to the man. "We're going to give him your cell."

I would've laughed at Caspian's ironic statement, if it had not been for the moment's intensity, but I froze when the professor abruptly seized Caspian by the shoulder and pressed him to the iron door. His eyes borne seriousness.

"Don't underestimate Miraz as your father did," he said in a low voice.

I saw Caspian's shoulders tense. "What are you talking about?"

Yeah, what was he talking about?

But instead of answering, the other bowed his head and dropped eye contact once more. "I'm sorry."

A second later, Caspian pushed his tutor, ran past me and up the stairs, a fierce expression plastered on his face.

And then I realized something: he just left me all alone.

And that's that. Man, I really need to get moving with this thing. Anyways, R&R. Thanks!

Rovin: ...wow, seriously?

Me: What?

Rovin: You could've done better than that.

Me: Oh, shut up, Rovin.

Rovin: Will stop telling me to shut up?