It was decided that they would strike at night. Peter, Caspian and a few of the Narnian leaders discussed it late into the day. They argued over the plan late into the evening. Caspian was forced to explain as much about the castle as he could, repeating the guard shifts and the timings again and again. Peter paced, hand on the pommel of his sword as he listened to the others suggest ideas. After a few hours, the plan was formulated and everyone knew their role.

Peter looked over the hall, full of flickering torches. He was stood on top of a blacksmith's anvil so that he could see everyone. The torch light reflected off everyone's faces, animal and human alike as they listened. "We shall strike tomorrow night", He announced. "So get some sleep. Tomorrow we shall storm the castle". The room filled with cheering and animal calls at Peter's words. The sound began to die as everyone broke off to groups to go to bed.

Peter deflated slightly and jumped down. He ran a hand through his hair and grinned over his siblings. The rest of the Pevensies had been standing slightly to the side as Peter talked, visible but allowing Peter to take the limelight. Otto was leaning against the wall behind them. Peter waved at him to come closer and he crossed over to join them. "How about we test your skills before bed Otto", he suggested. Otto nodded.

"While you two try to kill each other, we're going to bed", Edmund muttered. He yawned and stretched his arms. Lucy nodded, also yawning widely. Susan smiled at Otto and rolled her eyes fondly, before tugging her younger siblings away.

"May I join you?" A voice asked. Prince Caspian was standing at their shoulders. Peter's expression soared slightly at his appearance.  Caspian noticed this. "I'm sure you have a lot to teach me and I am always hoping to improve my sword skills King Peter". The flattery appeared to work as Peter relaxed slightly and nodded in permission. Otto huffed at Peter's petty jealousy. He was jealous of the fact that Caspian could live and rule in Narnia just like he had. Peter knee that at the end of this, he would leave again.

The main hall was practically empty now. All the sleeping areas having been set up in the other chambers, or outside for some of the Narnians. Peter and Otto moved out into the centre of the room. Caspian retreating back to a safe distance to watch. Otto took a deep breath and spun the spear blade over his head before falling back into a fighting stance. The pole gripped tightly in both hands. Several paces away, Peter unsheathed his sword and fell into his own fighting stance. The torch light emphasising the gold of his hair and the shine of the blade. Their eyes met and they stared at each other for a long moment. Otto's gaze was blank with calm ease. While Peter's glimmered with sharpness.

Otto stuck first. Then spear point jabbing out in a assessing way that Peter easily deflected with the point of his blade. Peter swung his sword round and began trying to move closer. Every time he got within a certain distance, Otto was blocking the attack and returning with one of his own. The length of his spear able to keep Peter a distance away. Not good when using a sword, which was designed for close proximity. After several minute of this, Otto almost playfully batting away Peter's attempts to get closer, Peter groaned loudly in frustration. "Are you going to let me get serious with you Birch? Or are you going to keep playing?"

"What?" Otto smirked. "Not used to fighting against a spear your majesty?" He deflected another attempt to step in closer and swiped the spear point round in a arch. Peter was forced to step back to avoid a slash across his chest. He twisted under it and managed to bring his blade up over Otto's head. Otto caught it on the strong wood of the pole, the two boys locked close.

Peter let out a gasp as Otto kicked him in the chest and danced away. The blonde staggered back slightly before regaining his balance and moving forwards a to attack again. Otto spun the spear in his hands, over the back of his shoulders and round his body in a dizzying arch. Each time Peter went to strike, he was deflected. Normal swordplay unable to counter the speed and length of a spear. Each attack Peter tried was blocked with increasing speed. Otto was spinning the spear round his body faster and faster. His feet moved round as he twisted with his weapon, almost dancing closer and closer. Peter was panting heavily with exertion as he went for a low strike. The spear blade came up twisted round Peter's arm so that he was forced to drop his sword. Within seconds Peter was half knelt on the floor. Otto standing over him, the blade of his spear pointed down at Peter's neck. Both boys sweaty and breathing heavily.

Peter's eyes were wide in surprise. "You weren't kidding when you said you could use it", he grinned as he pushed back his damp hair. Otto chuckled and lowered the spear. He helped Peter to his feet.

"No. I don't really joke about much". Both of them stared at each other. The slowly dawning realisation that, for all their friendship and easy teasing and inside jokes, they didn't know much about each other's pasts. They knew each other's personalities and could read the other's expressions, but not much else. Neither boy talked about their backgrounds and family much and they never felt the need to. But in that moment, where Peter was a legendary king and Otto was much more than he appeared, the lack of information seemed so stark and unsettling.

"I'm glad I have someone like you watching my back", Peter said after a long awkward silence.

"Of course Peter. When have I ever let you down in a fight?" The answer was never. In the dozens of fight Peter had gotten Otto involved in since they met months ago, Otto had never backed out or walked away. Peter smiled widely and patted him on the shoulder. He turned to where Caspian was watching. The dark eyed prince had a unreadable expression on his face. The torch light made his eyes glitter.

"I'm going to retire. We shall have to spar another time Prince Caspian".

"Another time then King Peter". Peter nodded and gave Otto a questioning glance. Otto shrugged his shoulder and waved his hands, signalling that he was staying up a bit longer. Peter nodded and disappeared down a corridor to sleep. Caspian and Otto waited for him to leave before turning their attention to each other.

"May I talk to you?" Caspian asked, voice uncertain and low. Otto blinked in surprise and nodded. Caspian looked around the brightly lit room. The corridors leading off into the sleeping rooms. "Not here. Come outside?"

Together, they walked up the sloped entrance and out into the night. A chill breeze blew over the plain and Otto welcomed the cooling effect it had on his warm body. The moon was a waning gibbous, brightly lit above them and surrounded by stars. He followed Caspian round the temple and to the hill at the back. In the earth were several sets of steps and they climbed them up onto one of the ledges on the temple face. Otto leaned his spear against the wall and sat down so that his feet dangled over the edge. Caspian copied his gesture at his side.

It was still and quiet there, lit by the silvery light of the moon. All the Narnians who had chosen to sleep outside were unseen and probably hidden in the forest on the other side of the temple. The emptiness giving the two boys a semblance of privacy on their perch under the moon.

Otto took a deep breath and leaned back on his hands. "This still feels like a fairytale. Not something real that I'm living through". He spoke quietly and heard Caspian sigh next to him. The prince had turned his face up to the moon and the light gave a silver glimmer to his black eyes. Otto's eyes drunk in the sight in a open way that he had never been able to do before. A way that he had never allowed himself to do before. Never permitted a second look at any boy back in London. Lucy's words rang in his head. 'This is narnia. Where animals talk. Boys can like boys and girls can like girls'.

"I agree". The prince smiled, chuckling without humour. "A week ago I had no idea Narnian's even existed. I lived in a castle and was the heir to the throne. Now my uncle is trying to kill me, narnians are real, the kings and queens of old have returned and are certainly not what I expected. And I'm helping to lead a narnian rebellion against my own people". He sighed deeply and brushed back his long dark hair. His accent soft and beautiful in the night. "I know that I am fighting for the right cause, but I value my people. It's my uncle I want to destroy. Not my own civilisation. I'm no longer in control and it frustrates me".

Otto chuckled lightly. "Peter maybe a bit of a arrogant dickhead sometimes. But he is jealous of you. He's so desperate to be here and be a king again, it's making him a bit of a prat. Where we come from, we are nothing more than children under someone's shoe, to be seen and not heard. Nothing but an annoyance".

Otto grimaced as he spoke. His father's voice ringing in his ears. He closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose, bansiing they screaming insults to the back of his brain. Caspian watching curiously.

"Will you be leaving when this is over?"

Otto paused, the question catching him by surprise. Would he want to leave? London was familiar and comfortable. But here he felt freer than he had ever felt in London. He had more walls come down in the few days he had spent here than he had ever removed in London. "Ask me again when this is all over. Provided we don't die first".

Caspian laughed and Otto enjoyed the sight of a grin filling his face. This was the first time he had seen the other smile and laugh. He truly a fairytale prince. It was a shame that Otto was no princess. Just a stray tag along in someone else's story.

"Lucy mentioned something to me", Otto spoke slowly and hesitantly after Caspian's laughter had died. "Is it true that love is free here? I mean, romantic relationships?" His voice fell to a whisper. "Relationships between the same genders? Are they allowed here?" Otto's cheeks were burning brightly and he ducked his head down, hunching shoulder in embarrassment.

Caspian was silent for a long moment. Each second that went past increase Otto's nerves. "Is that not allowed in your world?" Caspian replied.

Otto shook his head. "It's illegal. Against the law. If caught, they are though insane and sent to hospitals". The thought of someone forcing him into a asylum to correct something that was not broken, made him feel sick.

"That's barbaric", Caspian replied, horrified. "Love is free here. Last month, a baker in the city got married to another woman. They are very popular in the city and the celebrations were joyful. I attended myself. To think that that is wrong..." Caspian broke off and ran a hand through his hair.

"My world is advanced in technology", Otto muttered. "But barbaric within its society. There was a war going on there. A world war full of death on a scale you would never see here. It took my mother and my grandparents. This is like a dream world in comparison".

"To think this is a dream world. I cannot imagine the place you come from if you think a place like this is a fairytale". Caspian shook his head, expression bitter. Otto looked at him eyes wide. He had never revealed that part of himself to anyone. For Caspian to so easily accept it like that. It filled him with a indescribable feeling.

He wasn't sure why he chose to tell Caspian, who he had known for precisely two days. But he just felt inexplicably drawn to him. Caspian was so unlike anyone Otto had ever known. In the same way the Pevensie siblings did, he carried himself with a natural grace and regality that Otto would never be able to mimic if he tried. The kings and queens of old, and this prince. They all had a air of magic, a other worldly aura that set them apart from the rest. It was why Otto had accepted Peter's friendship, and Later Edmund's and their sister's too. But, unlike the Pevensie children, Caspian had a natural aura of charisma to him. He did not inspire people to follow him, like Peter did. Nor did he earn people's respect like Edmund. He didn't charm them like Susan, or win them over like Lucy.

No. Caspian traded his own loyalty and respect for others. Otto could see it. Caspian would be one of narnia's greatest rulers because for everything he did, he gave back.

Otto stood suddenly, on suddenly shaky legs. Caspian looked at him in confusion. "Are you going in now?"

"Yes", Otto choked out, trying to calm his pounding heart. It was beating a song against his rib cage. His cheeks burned and he was glad for the low lighting for hiding it. "I should get some sleep. We have a attack planned tomorrow". He retrieved his spear and turned towards the steps.

"I wish you sweet dreams Otto Birch", Caspian smiled in parting. Otto gazed at the way the moon glinted off his breastplate and lit up his face. The crinkle of black eyes and the soft smile on his lips.

"As I do you. Prince Caspian", Otto mumbled in reply. He forced himself to turn and walk down the steps before he did anything he would regret. Like kiss the other senseless for example. The rising tide of desire had been so strong that Otto was almost overcome by it. He had never felt things this strongly before. It terrified him. So he did the logical thing and fled.

He missed the disappointed expression on Caspian's face as his form faded out of view.

Unedited