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Send me §, for my muse's reaction to yours slowly slipping a knife into their chest.
It had been an accident — Caspian knew that; Miraz’s army had them surrounded, and the heat of the skirmish had sent everything awry. The prince himself hardly realized who he was fighting by the end of it, whether he was crossing swords with enemy or friend.
Which was why he could not blame the fair-haired Queen when her knife burrowed into his chest.
The shock of it sent a rattling gasp through him, and with terrified eyes he met Elsa’s own; her face reflected his horror, and he knew then that she had intended the blade for the Telmarine behind him. If only he had not gone for the one advancing at her back, then this alarming circumstance could have been avoided.
But even as the prince dropped to one knee, the enemy pushed on, and through blurred vision did he see a general raise his sword high above his head, intent on bringing Elsa down as well. Before he could fell her, Caspian pooled his strength and drew his own sword up, plunging it deep into the Telmarine’s side. As the general dropped he took Caspian’s sword with him, and the prince fell back against the hard forest floor.
In anguish he attempted to sit upright, but Elsa’s gentle hand kept him where he was. His gaze found hers and his brow furrowed; she was crying. Tears trickled from crystalline eyes onto her pale cheeks, and with a weak hand and a waning smile, Caspian wiped them away. He knew what she had done had not been out of malice, and he had forgiven her the moment it transpired.
”Call for… Aslan.” the prince rasped, clutching the young woman’s hand. Sweat plastered dark hair to his forehead as he fought for breath, and when he attempted to swallow, he was met with a series of excruciating coughs. Once the fit had subsided, it left him with a pallor that was a grotesque contrast to his usual tanned skin. But he was determined to finish his command, and he willed himself to continue — to save Elsa from the wrath of the Narnians.
”Tell him… what happened… here. He… will listen. He will… set it right.”
And after a caress to Elsa’s cheek, Caspian’s hand fell, and his eyes became distant, dull.
