The crying and screaming seemed to last forever. Every few seconds you could hear the screams echoing through the hallowed halls of the castle. I never knew Prunaprismia could yell so loud. I found it difficult to sleep, as my bedchamber was only a few rooms away. I tried to cover my ears with my pillow, but I couldn't block out her antagonising cries. I couldn't believe that she was in so much pain. If that was how much pain it was to give birth, I am never going through with it.

Eventually, the cries of suffering died down before abruptly stopping. Thank goodness, peace and quiet. Finally, I began to drift off to sleep.

"Princess, Princess Cassandra!" whispered a hurried male voice, startling me awake. I sat up, half-asleep, frantically looking around the room. I looked to my left to see my Professor, Cornelius, standing by my bed, a horror-stricken look upon his face.

I eyed him in confusion, "I thought we weren't going to look at the stars tonight, Professor?"

"That is true, my princess. Now come, we must find your brother at once!" He continued, whispering anxiously.

I hoped off my bed and lightly rushed over to my wardrobe. The Professor turned around as I quickly got dressed in my Telmarine hunting clothes. I shoved my feet into my brown boots and turned, following my tutor out of my chamber and down the hall. He began to drag me along the corridor, towards the East end of the castle.

"We must hurry, Princess!" he ordered, and I immediately obeyed.

"Forgive me, Sir, but what is the rush?" I asked when we stopped outside Caspian's sleeping chamber.

"Hush! I shall explain later, my dear, but now we have to wake up the prince," he said frantically, whilst hurrying into my brother's room. The Professor made long strides over to Caspian's closed bed. He quickly opened up the bed curtain surrounding the bed. I looked down at my peacefully sleeping brother, when the Professor lowered down and covered Caspian's mouth with his hand.

Caspian gasped and opened his eyes to find us both standing there, staring down at him. He removed the Professor's hand from his mouth with a small pat. "Five more minutes," came his reply.

"You won't be watching the stars tonight, my prince," Professor said in his hurried tone, "Come!"

He heaved Caspian out of his bed, grabbed me by the arm along the way and pushed us towards Caspian's wardrobe. The Professor continued to whisper in his alarmed tone, "We must hurry!"

"Professor, what is going on?" Caspian asked warily.

"Your aunt has given birth…" The Professor replied as we stepped inside the wardrobe, "To a son!" Both our eyes grew large, as realisation hit us like a battering-ram. Now with a son, our Uncle Miraz will stop at nothing to get rid of us – to kill us.

Caspian pushed me further into the wardrobe, making sure I was safely inside before shutting the door quietly behind us. After leaving the door slightly open, he peered out into his chamber. I, being so small, crouched slightly and glanced through the gap the door had made; Miraz's men were standing in a semi-circle around Caspian's bed with bows in hand ready to take aim. General Glozelle nodded to the rest of the Telmarine soldiers. A few seconds later, Caspian's bed was covered in arrows that were shot by the Telmarine's. Feathers from the pillows and mattress were floating in the air. Glozelle, seeing that the bed was empty, marched out of the room, with his men closely following. Once we were sure they were a long distance away, we silently left the room.

"Hurry!" Cornelius said whilst hurrying us down a winding staircase that led into the weaponry.

Caspian and I strapped on protective leather covering and wrist protectors; I also put on some chain mail. Caspian grabbed his sword and dagger as I strapped my bow and arrows onto my back, while my small sword hung at my left hip. The Professor threw a black cloak on Caspian and a midnight blue one on me.

Caspian's horse, Destier, was waiting for us both outside; I knew we had to leave as quickly as possible. Caspian lifted me up onto Destier's back, and then mounted the horse so he was sitting in front of me.

"You must make for the woods," The Professor said as he began to prepare the horse for the journey ahead.

"The woods?" I asked, as I wrapped my arms protectively around Caspian's torso.

"They will not follow you there," He answered, gathering a wrapped object on the inside of his cloak, "It has taken me many years to find this." He handed it to Caspian, who took it delicately and put it away in his pocket.

"Do not use it, except at you greatest need," The Professor warned.

My eyes started to fill up with tears which were threatening to spill; this could possibly be the last time I see my Professor alive. He was normally such a jolly, clever man, who had become almost like a father to myself and Caspian. "Will we ever see you again, Professor?" I asked, my voice breaking with worry.

The Professor smiled sadly at us and grasped my hand gently, "I hope so, my dear. There is so much I meant to tell you. Everything you know is about to change."

He wrapped my hand back around my brother's waist, and shifted his eyes to look at Caspian. "Look after your sister, my Prince. She is destined for great things. You both are."

"Close the drawbridge!" A voice shouted in the distance; Caspian's horse whined and started to fidget about on the spot. Caspian and I turned around to look at the Professor anxiously.

"Now go!" he commanded, hitting Destier on the thigh. The horse started to gallop down the path towards the drawbridge. I turned back to look at my Professor one last time, but he had disappeared. Caspian and I had to fight off some Telmarine's as we made it to the entrance of the courtyard. When we got out of the yard, fireworks started to sound off in the background celebrating the newborn baby. Destier whinnied and stood on its back legs; the poor thing was startled by the noise of the fireworks. After calming down, it continued over the drawbridge. We had made it. I took a glance behind us, seeing that the Telmarine's were after us!

Our journey continued as we made it through grassy meadows, deep waters, and now through the middle of a forest. General Glozelle and his men were close behind us. Further in, Caspian looked behind us, while I looked forward to ensure we were going in the right direction.

"Caspian! Duck!" I screeched. He turned around just in time to get smacked on the head by a low branch, which I easily missed. He completely lost his balance and fell sideways off the horse, his foot caught in the stirrup.

As Caspian tried to free his foot, I grasped the reigns of the horse not knowing what to do. I had never ridden a horse before, and so I sat there in terror. Destier made a fearful noise and once again stood on its hind legs, tipping me off its back. I fell onto Caspian, who had just managed to free his foot. Destier trotted away, fleeing further into the woods. Gasping for breath, I rolled off Caspian and muttered an apology. He rubbed his head; a bump was already forming on it where he got hit with the branch.

"Cassie, are you all right?" Caspian whispered into the darkness.

I nodded steadily, forgetting he could barely see me. I began to look around, taking in my surroundings. We had landed in a clearing which was full of lofty trees. The trees in the darkness made the place give off a daunting presence.

Suddenly, the sound of a door creaking open drew my attention to my left. I looked over to a hollow tree, which had a square of light erupting out into the clearing. Two small silhouettes stepped out, standing in the light.

"They've seen us!" One of them yelled.

I heard the unsheathing of a sword, and one of the silhouettes came bustling towards us. The closer it came; I saw it was clearly a... dwarf? He – it – looked from Caspian to me, then down at the ground. I followed his gaze to see a small, white, lion-shaped horn lying on the grass between Caspian and I. The dwarf looked up at us both in understated awe. There was an abrupt sound of hoofs hitting off ground that filled the silence. The dwarf turned around to the other silhouette, which I assumed was also a dwarf.

"Take care of them!" he shouted over his shoulder. He ran off alone towards the Telmarines, sword tightly grasped in his small hand. He, honestly, stood no chance against them.

The other dwarf ran down towards us, sword also in hand. Out of nowhere, Caspian grabbed the horn and blew into it. "NO!" The dwarf lifted his sword and hit Caspian on the head. Caspian fell to the ground, unconscious. The horn had flown out of his hand and onto the cold ground.

"Hey! What did you do that for?" I yelled at the dwarf, who looked at me in deep loathing. He came over to me, his face very close to mine.

"I did it because I don't like your filthy people, Princess!" He said in disgust. I saw him lifting his sword once again, and then everything had gone black.