"starry eyes lighting up the darkest nights"

-

TEN.

HER FAMILY ALWAYS TOLD CADY SHE LOVES AND ACTS UNCONDITIONALLY, that she will follow the people she loves without looking back, whether it be jumping off a cliff or dashing into battle. They aren't wrong of course, Cady has always been wild and without rules.

Cady draws her pair of swords from their sheathes and follows Peter into the fight with a war cry. She slashes her falchions at incoming soldiers, their faces blurring together as she tries not to think whether or not her blades cut through anyone she knows.

Everything comes at a roar to her, each move is based on instinct and muscle memory. And Cady has a perfect memory.

Each spin and step, dodge and slash, are perfectly calculated, completely relying on intuition and skill. Cady hopes that her mother would be proud of the warrior her daughter has grown into.

Cady makes her way up a flight of stairs as archers line up on a balcony, aiming for her Narnian friends in the courtyard below.

She spins as she cuts a soldier across his chest, grunting as she stabs another. When she thrusts her falchion swords forward, the soldier dodges it, and she nearly loses her balance when he pushes her aside.

"Princess Cadence?" The soldier asks when Cady moves forward to attack him again.

She holds her falchions in place instead of attacking him, stunned, then says, "General Walter?"

Cady's face pales but he doesn't strike, he looks away and continues down the stairs as if he hasn't seen her at all.

"Fall back!" Cady can hear Peter shout from below.

But before Cady can start moving downwards, Telmarine soldiers swarm into the stairway, blocking her exit.

"Up there!" One of the men shouts.

Cady dashes up the tower as soldiers follow her, bursting through the door at the end and sliding the wooden lock across to block their entry. The soldiers slam into the door forcefully, their armour clanking against the door as they try to break through.

"No, no, no, no," Cady murmurs, looking down the side of the balcony and realising that she is in one of the Northern Towers. Cady watches from above as their troops scatter the ground, running towards the gate to escape.

The minotaur holding the gate up struggles to keep it open as arrow after arrow lodges itself into their body.

Cady can almost hear Caspian's "I told you so" ringing in her ears when she realises that there is no escape up at the tower.

The Telmarines close upon her Narnian troops quickly as they all make for the gate. Cady takes a look back at the shuddering door of the tower. It wouldn't hold long.

Cady jumps up, grabbing the doorframe and hoisting herself up to the roof just as the wooden door below breaks with a sharp crack. Telmarine soldiers fill the landing of the tower, their swords held up and ready to strike.

A whoosh comes from above as a familiar figure falls backward from a gap in the balcony and lands on a griffin from an even taller tower. Show off.

Cady looks down at the soldiers before waving at the brunet perched on the griffin. "Edmund!"

He looks her way, his eyes widening before directing the griffin towards her.

"Up there!" A soldier below her shouts, pointing up towards CAdy.

"Quick, someone get her!"

"Don't just stand there you idiots! Get her!"

The soldiers begin heaving themselves up the roof, their swords swinging at her as Cady steps up even higher until there is nowhere else to go.

"Cady!" Edmund shouts as he swoops down her way.

"Ed!" Cady points at the edge of the tower and launches into a run off the roof, soaring into the sky as she jumps from the tower.

Please catch me.

Cady swings her arms frantically as she plummets through the thin air, the soldiers shrieking and yelling behind her. The griffin dives below her and Cady reaches out, grabbing Edmund's outstretched hands just as the griffin soars back up.

"Gotcha!" Edmund grins, pulling her up to the creature's back.

"Thanks." Cady wraps her arms around Edmund's waist as the griffin swoops down, passing over the silent courtyard where their troops stand, the gate closed shut with a minotaur wedged between the ground and the gate.

They watch helplessly as they pass by them flying after the retreating troops towards Aslan's How. She ducks her head into the crook of Edmunds neck, trying not to think about how Uncle Miraz will deal with the Narnians.

The griffin soars towards the drawbridge, following Peter as he gallops after their escaping troops.

"Are you okay, Cady?" Edmund asks, helping her down the griffin when they land at the how.

Cady nods. "Yeah, I think I'll be fine." She rubs her sore arms as Edmund grabs her hand, joining the troops walking back to the entrance.

Cady stares down at their interlocked hands and lets herself smile, just for a moment before they join their troops. Edmund tugs her towards the front of the group, joining Susan as Narnian's gather at the How's entrance.

"What happened?" Lucy runs out, her features laced with worry.

Peter's face drops into a frown, gesturing to Caspian beside him, and his voice is poisonous when he snarls, "Ask him."

"Peter." Susan sighs.

"Me?" Cady can hear the bitterness in her brother's voice. "You could've called it off, there was still time."

"No, there wasn't, thanks to you," Peter retorts back. "If you kept to the plan, those soldiers might be alive."

Caspian can't help but raise his voice. "If you'd stayed here like I suggested, they definitely would be!"

"You called us, remember?" Peter scoffs.

Caspian grits his teeth and hisses, "My first mistake."

"No, your first mistake was thinking you could lead these people." Peter scowls, turning and walking towards the How.

"Hey!" Caspian hollers back, his voice dripping with venom. "I am not the one who abandoned Narnia."

"You invaded Narnia!" Peter points a finger at Caspian. "You have no more right to lead it than Miraz does."

Caspian pushes past Peter as the High King continues to speak, "You, him, your father! Narnia's better off without the lot of you."

Cady's heart shatters when he finishes that sentence, drawing Edmund's sword from his sheath and running towards Peter. Tears blur her vision as she holds the sword up against him and growls, "You do not talk about my family like that!"

Peter doesn't stand down, his sword drawn to Cady's neck without hesitation. Cady holds her ground as the High King glares at her, spitting out, "Don't think you're any better, you're Telmarine, just like your murderous uncle."

"What?" Cady's voice hitches, lowering Edmund's sword slightly and taking a step backward in surprise.

Peter seems to realise what he had said to her and moves his sword down, his eyes widening in regret. He opens his mouth to say something but Edmund is already cutting in, "Stop it!"

Cady turns away, wiping her face with her sleeve and finding the fabric wet with tears. Behind her, Edmund and Glemstorm place an unconscious Trumpkin on the ground. She follows her brother back into the How without a backwards glance as Lucy dashes past her, dropping to the ground with her cordial out already.

"Cady, wait!" Cady ignores Peter's shout after her and steps into the dimly lit chamber, basking in the darkness.

Furious tears threaten to spill from her eyes and Cady wipes them away with her sleeve, climbing a flight of stairs at the side and emerging at the highest level at the back of the How where it overlooks a nearby waterfall and trees around the den give the platform coverage. She breathes in shakily as she sits down, swinging her legs over the edge and placing down Edmund's sword, her tears running freely down the sides of her face.

Cady lets out a frustrated yell and buries her face in her hands, choking on a sob.

"Cady?"

The girl grabs the sword from the ground and holds it up at the voice, her hands trembling. A warm hand wraps around hers, gently pulling her fingers from the hilt until she releases the sword.

"Cady."

She looks away as Edmund sheaths his sword. "Hey," he starts, sitting down beside her. "Peter didn't mean it."

Cady laughs sourly through her hot tears, finally looking at him. "He sounded like he meant it."

Edmund cracks a smile. "He can be like that, but he cares about the people."

"He cares about you," the boy adds. Cady catches the slight bitterness in his voice.

"It wasn't my fault that my ancestors invaded this country." Cady wipes away a tear, sniffing.

"I know, it was like how we didn't want us leaving to happen," Edmund replies, reaching around her shoulders to give her a side hug. Cady inhales the cool breeze and lets herself relax, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Cady!" A familiar voice shouts from inside the How.

Cady shares a glance with Edmund and says, "I don't think I want to talk to him right now."

"Don't worry about that, I'll knock some sense into him for you." Edmund grins cheekily.

Cady shakes her head, already standing up. "It's okay, I'll talk to him at some point."

When she steps back indoors, Cady turns the corner and immediately runs into an armoured chest. "Oh, no, I wasn't looking, I–" Cady looks up and immediately forgets what she is about to say.

Peter looks down at her with his warm blue eyes but before he says anything, Edmund comes up from behind her and looks his brother right in the eye. "Cady, I–"

"Look Pete, you hurt her, at least let her have some breathing space." Edmund places one hand on her shoulder and gives Cady a reassuring squeeze.

The High King rubs a hand over his face and turns to Cady. "Look, I want to apologise, I didn't mean to say that you're–"

"Murderous like my uncle? Shouldn't have existed?" Cady crosses her arms and looks him in the eye. "Because you made your point clear."

"Cady, I didn't mean it," Peter apologises, shifting around in frustration and dragging a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry."

Before Cady could open her mouth to reply, Lucy dashes over and blurts out the most dreadful words Cady has heard all day: "Come quick! Caspian's in trouble!"