And all you wanted was somebody who cares' (Mel)

[King Raoul II]

Raoul

Archenland's King walked through a hallway in the castle, breakfast in hand, which was a piece of fruit. He was looking at a painting on the wall of his ancestor whom had built the castle oh so long ago. Indeed it was a very old place; lately Raoul had been getting reports of leaks and cracks and things not working right. The King was considering whether it would be better to do some construction on the castle, or simply leave it and see to the building of a new one. He decided he would make a real decision when the war was officially over.

Raoul went into his study where a large stack of papers waited for him on his oak desk. The man was just about to sit down when he suddenly heard screaming on the castle ground floor below him and rumbling from what seemed to be people panicking, causing the King to almost fall over in shock if he had not grabbed the edge of the desk.

A soldier came into the study and said, "Sir, its the Calormene's! They are invading!"

No, Raoul was not home in Archenland, but sleeping inside the tree hollow he had made his dwelling for some time. It was not the most comfortable place to sleep, but it was better than freezing to death outside in the snow. What a dream...as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, the King wondered if the old and crumbling castle was still there or if the Calormenes had burned it down. If those blasted Calormenes thought they were getting a place of extravagance when they had thrown the King out, they were gravely mistaken and would soon find it out when a floorboard broke or there were problems with the plumbing.

Raoul stretched a little before exiting the tree hollow outside to the falling snow. The man was growing tired of looking at the snow, of the cold weather. Yet, he still had faith that some day things would turn around, even if that day was not soon, it would come one day. Where was Aslan? Much to Raoul's relief, the snow stopped, though he knew it would not melt until that awful Witch's power was over. He wished to find the Narnian rebels, but could not find where they were hiding yet. Ah he would have to search harder; they were in hiding for an obvious reason after all.

Word count: 452

[Melisande Ardell]

By now Melisande was breathless. Oh, she knew Dagg'or would be furious she had left again, but Dagg'or was no longer her main priority. Her daughter was, and always would be. The servant who had taken her Mel trusted, and yet, she couldn't shake the idea her daughter was somewhere, perhaps being treated the way Melisande had been. When it boiled down to the truth, Mel had to know, and she couldn't just announce to Dagg'or she had a daughter. It would have killed him, seeing as Alyia's birth hadn't exactly been Melisande's choice. But no use fretting over that now... first she had to find the child.

Dagg'or had long since gone to work, and the breath of the morning was cold on Melisande's collar bone as she set out. She walked through the snow in Dagg'or's shoes, which were easily too big for her but most efficient and warm then what she had been wearing. Her brother had promised to get her new clothes, new things, but as of now it had been unkept. She couldn't blame him... he seemed busy and distracted. But the wind bit through what she was wearing, and it wasn't long before the somewhat healthy pink tint in Melisande's cheeks had vanished, replaced by a pale white. She started to shiver, but movement kept her warm, and she had dealt with worse pain before.

Like a horse in a harass, her mind was focused on one thing only. She would visit the towns, examine the children, find Alyia. Melisande, of course, didn't realize how bad things were in Narnia having just come from Telmar a week ago. She was foolish for wandering around alone, but at the very least she had a small dagger tucked in her bag. It was the same dagger she had held when she was attacked by her brother's men. Currently it was hidden, but if needed she could get it quickly.

Melisande reached the Beruna Woods, and finally decided she needed to rest. She was horribly frail, years of malnutrition and abuse had rendered her body skeleton-like and fragile. Her bones were visible where her skin showed, and her heart raced as she tried to catch her breath. She took a few more wobbly steps forward, and then stopped suddenly. Her eyes caught sight of Raoul, no more then a few meters before her, and her hands searched frantically for a tree to cling to. Her eyes widened, lips parted as she quickly tried to determine whether or not he was a threat to her well being. Like a deer in the headlights, she stared at him, motionless.