1
☆
CATALINA WAS always the girl who loved adventure- well....to read about adventures. She loved the idea of being her own saviour or her own knight in shining armor. Alas, a girl could never be an adventurer, you'd never get a husband if you'd acted ever so dauntless-instead you had to sit quietly and needlepoint a design onto cloth or fabric.
It was worse for Catalina. As a princess of Telmar, she had many duties to uphold, such as studies, etiquette lessons and the charitable work with the people of Telmar. For as long as she's known, Catalina has never felt free. Free from responsibility, free from worries, free from anger and frustration- not once had she experienced such freedom.
Caspian, her older brother by a mere year, has never once been asked in his entire life to 'sit properly' or 'stay quiet unless spoken to.' She found it almost aggravating, that Telmar was so biased and misogynistic that the only thing she could look forward to in the future was marriage.
"Catalina! What did I just say?" Catalina snapped out of her daze, as the Professor clicked his fingers in front of her, making a snicker erupt from Caspian.
"Sorry, Professor. Please- continue." She replied, shooting Caspian a glare and ridding all stray thoughts as the Professor shook his head, smiling as he sat back down at the large book the siblings were studying.
"As I was saying, High King Peter, King Edmund, Queen Susan, and Queen Lucy ruled over Narnia for the entire fifteen years of their reign." The Professor read from the book, "However- as the fifteenth year came to a close, the two kings and two queens disappeared- never to be seen again."
Catalina frowned in shock as she listened into the story. They'd begun to learn about Narnias and it's origins a mere month ago- every lesson was spent educating the two siblings on what was really out in there beyond the woods.
As the faint ringing of bells echoed through the tower, Caspian and Catalina rose from their seats. Time seemed to pass quicker when they were studying Narnia- hours slipped by within the blink of an eye. They quickly thanked the Professor and soon were making their way back down the tower to attend dinner.
Catalina had linked her arm with Caspians as they walked along the corridors of the castle. "What was your daydream about today?" The older boy asked almost teasingly, knowing the girls attention span was ever so short.
Catalina sighed and a soft smile graced her lips, "I was thinking about the bigotry in Telmar actually." She answered, "It's unfair that I am always scolded for the littlest things and you are allowed to roam free of care."
Caspian stopped, looking at her almost guiltily, "Lina, you know I don't like the way things are- but it's life as we know it." He told her, as he draped an arm around her shoulder.
Catalina nodded, "I know" she answered monotonously, "But tonight, can we please go horse riding? I haven't been out of these boundaries forever...Please Casp!"
Caspian looked around quickly, to see if there were any guards or maids present, after seeing they were alone, he nodded, "I'll fetch you after Miraz and Prunaprismia have retired for the evening- then we go." He instructed.
Catalina grinned wildly, "Thank you- thank you- thank you!" She exclaimed, as her brother laughed at her. The two siblings were closer than regular siblings- they'd never once fought or argued with one another, in fact- Catalina couldn't imagine life without her brother, not after the faithful night that the news of her parents death had broken out.
☆
☆
A nine year old Catalina sat at her window completely immersed in her novel and when a loud scream rang through the castle walls. Catalina ignored it. It was a regular occurrence for guards and prisoners to fight, yet as more time passed, the screams grew louder and more excruciating to hear. The girl slowly set down her book, and exited her small room. Catalina turned the corner of the corridor, only to spot Caspian being forcefully pulled away by Miraz as he kicked and screamed.
"CASPIAN!" The small girl called out, lurching towards her brother as his red eyes met hers, however, she was stopped from going further by Prunaprismia.
"Now, Now Catalina! The castle is no place for unruly yelling and screaming." Her aunt scolded her as she tightened her grip on her nieces wrist, "Now come along, I have some rather unfortunate news."
Catalina was dragged through the vast hallways of the castle, finally reaching Prunaprismias private boudoir, where a maid had already prepared tea for the two.
"Why was my brother crying?" The small girl asked, her fingers twitching anxiously as her aunt sipped her tea slowly.
Prunaprismia placed her cup down gently, before crouching in front of the small princess, "My dear, there's been an awful occurrence-" the older woman began, "I'm afraid your mother and father are...no longer with us."
Catalina scrunched her eyebrows together, "When will they be back?" She questioned, her innocent voice sounding tiny in the big room.
"Unfortunately...they won't be rejoining us." The woman broke gently, making the smaller girls chest heave as she stifled a loud cry of discontent. Catalina rose feverishly to her feet, escaping her aunts quarters despite Prunaprismias yells and commands for her to stop.
Her parents couldn't be gone. They wouldn't leave her or Caspian here- Surely they wouldn't.
The girl ran through back through the now, baron halls, and up the tower steps to the room in which her brother inhabited. Catalina didn't stop to knock, instead she burst into the room with tears streaming down her face.
Caspian sat on his bed, his red, puffy eyes meeting his sisters, "Is it true?" The girl whimpered, her lower lip trembling in fear.
Caspian nodded slowly. Catalina gasped forlornly, breaking into a sob as she ran to her brother who welcomed her with his open arms. The smaller girl dug her face into his shoulder as her tears soaked his shirt.
They'd lost their parents- their mother would never sing to them again, their father would never ruffle her hair and encourage them both to dream, her parents wouldn't be there when she had nightmares. All she had was Caspian, and all Caspian had was Catalina.
That day changed the siblings forever but the one thing that didn't change was their bond, which had only gotten stronger.
☆
My babies deserve the world...
Don't forget to comment + vote because I'm needy and need constant reassurance.. ;)
Love yall!
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro