As the day of the ceremony neared, which was also the day of Sophie's nineteenth birthday, a big task was thrown at her head – choosing her crown. 

It was a Telmarine tradition that the Triumvirate would choose the crown but since Trumpkin and Reepicheep had no interest in this, and Sophie didn't have a Triumvirate of her own, the task was entirely her own. 

Every day, the royal crown maker would show her designs about what her crown could look like. Sophie felt bad for him to work with an uncooperative person like herself. Important decisions like these made her very indecisive, and after seeing all the designs and the sample pictures, she told him the same answer that she had before. 

"All the crowns look good, Alessandro."

"You have to choose one." He was very patient in general, having met countless royal members for designing several crowns and masquerade masks. He knew how even the little decisions were important.

Sophie had already answered his questions about her favourite flowers and how she wanted her crown to look like. She hated that it couldn't be a simple ceremony since the Narnians only wanted her to show up to the ceremony and pledge to serve rightfully and take her oath, which made her thankful to them.

Everyone was making a fuss as the day approached. The entire castle was cleaned, every room was made into a brighter place, every chandelier was polished and carpets were laid down in the ballroom and the throne room.

The royal artist, Master Kadumba was behind both Caspian and herself to get their individual paintings done. Caspian was stuck with him because he could only paint Sophie's portrait once she had decided on the crown.

Alessandro and Master Kadumba were half-Fae. They worked for the crown while two humans worked for the Fae to keep part with the Peace Treaty that was reformed by Caspian after the Telmarines had broken it. 

"You need to have your first dance as well," informed the Professor during one of the meals.

"I can take care of that," said Caspian, smirking playfully at Sophie.

"I know you can," chuckled the Professor, finding it amusing that the Caspian he knew to be playful and pull pranks on people was slowly returning after being succumbed by Miraz all his life. He had Sophie to thank for that. "But Sophie has to be really careful with her royal gown."

"My royal gown?"

"Yes, your royal gown," said the Professor. "Hasn't Claire informed you yet?"

Sophie shook her head. That was another fuss that she was going to have to deal with - the extremely potentially heavy dress. Then, she spent the majority of time at Claire's, who figured out how she wanted Sophie's gown to look like. "Can you please try to make it as simple as possible?" All Sophie could do was sit in one place and stay as still as possible. She didn't want to make things harder for Claire.

"I can try my best but I need all eyes on you."

"And that's exactly what I don't want."

Claire brought out various shade cards and kept them near Sophie's face. "White seems to be the best option now. Considering the weather."

As Sophie left Claire's with Trumpkin by her side, a group of people at the end of the street near the pub seemed to be gawking at her. The five or six people gathered there had been aware of the new ruler being present in town through word of mouth. 

"Who are they?" Sophie asked Trumpkin, who was stuck with chaperoning her for her own safety as she hadn't appointed anyone as her personal guard.

Trumpkin looked at the group of people and cursed silently to himself. He should have known that they would make an appearance after all. "No one you need to know." He tried to pull her away but Sophie, being stubborn, stopped walking.

"But who are they?"

He sighed. "Do you really want to know?"

"Do you think I will let you be at peace if you don't?"

He blinked. "Fair enough. Sophie, there is a group of people that basically doesn't want you ruling the kingdom ever since news broke out." 

Caspian's Triumvirate, who were working for Sophie on a temporary basis, had received death threats to kill her so that the crown remained secure. Sophie did not know any of this, and he couldn't tell her right then.

Because there was a secret plan that no one knew about.

"Which is why we need to go back to the castle as soon as possible," he revealed and started walking uphill.

But Sophie turned around and looked at the group of people before walking towards them. Trumpkin rolled his eyes as he cursed her for always doing the opposite of what he told her to. Sophie could figure out that something was going on with Trumpkin's tone and it was up to her to put an end to it.

"Good evening." The radicals were just as surprised that she was talking to them as she was - freely. "I heard that you don't want me to be the ruler of this kingdom from my dear little friend here."

The people looked at each other and were taken aback. Trumpkin tugged on her arm but one look from Sophie made him stop. Maybe the girl has a plan after all, he thought. He just wished that he had a glass of beer with him so that he could enjoy the show.

"Change is never good for anyone," one of them said. Sophie looked at the girl that was younger than her by a few years. She had gorgeous brown skin and thick black hair which was in a braid. She was hiding her beauty in dull clothes, perhaps hiding altogether.

The radicals' main aim was in preventing the change in the rules and regulations that Sophie might bring about if she were crowned as the ruler. They had already faced Miraz's wrath and they were finally getting used to Caspian's rule. They did not know who she was and what she would do if she sat on the throne. After all, she would always be the Girl from the Other World.

"I completely agree," said Sophie. "I know a lot about things changing and I've been I've enemy to it all my life. I want you to know that I have no intention of forcefully taking the kingdom from King Caspian. He is my king as he is yours."

"How do we know that you won't?" The other woman among them asked. Sophie noticed that she looked Chinese-American as per the Other World's identification, which would make her Calormene.

"Change is never good, right? I have been feeling the same way ever since the news broke out. All the different behaviour and fuss is driving me crazy! I wish things could go back to the way they were but they can't. We are on the same side here."

"All right," the Asian woman nodded after thinking about it clearly. "I believe you."

Sophie was surprised that all it took was for her to talk to them but she did not let it show. "It would be of great help if you could spread the word around." Trumpkin started to drag her away. "I hope you can make it to the coronation!" She told them, turning around, making them smile.

While she was talking, what Sophie did not notice was that Trumpkin and the woman had shared a look between them as if they had known each other for a while. Only they would know that this was a test. The Asian woman and the Indian girl would share a look between them, an approving smile passing. They knew that Sophie had passed the test.

But the Heir of Narnia would find it out only when her life was in danger.

"I don't know what you were thinking," said Trumpkin, irritably.

"I wasn't. I need the people on my side, Trumpkin. I can't have them hating me. I may be an outsider, but I cannot be an ignorant one."

Little did she know that the people she had met weren't the actual radicals after all.

Alessandro was waiting for her in the study, getting fed up when she couldn't make her decision after hours of discussion. "I beg of you, Miss Soph. Please just choose one."

"I'm trying, Al, but this is too hard! You've put me in tremendous pressure here."

He laid out five pictures in front of her, keeping them in an uncertain order to change Sophie's initial thought process that seemed to be muddled. "These are the final designs."

"All of them are pretty."

"I know that all of them are pretty. Please just choose one." 

She looked through the designs seriously on more time. All of them looked the same but one spoke out to her. She touched the ring around her neck and felt like her parents were with her when her heart made her decision. "That one."

"Perfect choice." He let out a sigh. "I was going to choose that one for you if you hadn't made the decision within the hour."

She laughed. "Maybe I should have waited for an hour then." He looked at her furiously. "I'm kidding!"

A loud cackle filled the silent woods, breaking the stillness and tranquility that was supposed to last, as the person made their way into the deepest parts of the forest. There was something they were holding in their hands, something so cold that it burned. But they didn't care about that. All they cared about was seeing her again. 

They had waited so long for the opportunity to bring her back and after decades of searching, they was only a few minutes away from seeing her again. They weren't going to disappoint her again, definitely not. They were not going to trust anyone just to fail again. They had escaped, almost dying as they did so. Nobody knew about the secret entrance to the stupid table apart from them and their mistress.

At last, they reached the destination that they were heading for. The lone house that stood in the middle of the forests, breaking in on itself, had been on their sight for a while now. It may have been surrounded by darkness but it still provided a ray of hope for the mother and the boy that were taking refuge there.

Very poor and in need of help of direction, they lived their lives by stealing and collecting resources that the woods had to offer until the two could make their way to Narnia. They had moved away from their abusive husband and father and searched for Narnians for a long time but lost all hope when their search led them nowhere. They accepted their fate and continued to live in the middle of nowhere.

The stranger waiting in the shadows had once heard the mother and the son pray for someone to help them out. They had prayed for someone to find them and remove them from the misery that was their lives, and the stranger knew exactly how to use the situation to manipulate them into getting what she wanted. 

After all, she only needed one drop. Just the one.

The hag walked towards the house and poked the boy, who was lighting a fire, who was malnourished and just wanted to eat. He got scared and moved away from the hag, screaming for his mother. "Don't worry," the hag said in a croaky voice.

"Do it." An icy voice that filled her ears - her voice.

The boy's mother came out of the house and stood in between her son and the hag. "Who are you!" 

"I'm who is the one who has listened to you pray every night," croaked the creature's voice. "I'm the one who has been able to find you when no one else has. I'm a creature of the night, the gods in my bones."

"Are you a Narnian?" The boy asked, just an innocent.

"Do it quickly," the icy voice spoke again.

"I am." It pained the creature to say so because she was just a humble servant and nothing more.

"Can you take us to the nearby Kingdom?" 

"I can," replied the hag. "But first, you need to help me."

"What could we possibly help you with?"

The hag chuckled and went at the two innocent lives with what she was holding.

"No!" Sophie screamed as her right hand stretched out, thinking that she could save them from the creature but felt someone tackle her, the same force that had saved her before.

Sophie opened her eyes. 

The scene of what she had witnessed before seemed to be imprinted right before her. A strong wind blew past her, making her shiver. This wasn't right. Something wasn't where. When did her room get so cold?

She blinked a few times to come back to reality, but when she did, she realised where she really was. "Oh no." 

She was standing at the very edge of the North Tower. 

An invisible presence shoved her forward - a cold force that nobody could prevent. Sophie lost balance but was quick in turning around to hold on to the tower railings. Blood started to rush to her brain as her heart raced faster, releasing the adrenaline that she would need to beat this panic. 

"Help!" But nobody could hear her. Tt was the middle of the night and she was dangling from one of the highest towers. 

Sophie tried to pull herself up and she would have been able to do it because of Trumpkin's training if it wasn't for the stone top being wet from the snowfall. She looked down and tried to think of another way that could get to safety and when her eyes fell upon the stones leaning out of the tower, she had an idea. It was a crazy one really but it was the only idea that she had. The stones leaning out made a pattern that let down. 

"This is going to be like rock climbing," she reassured herself as she slowly placed her leg on the first stone nearby. When the stone did not wobble, she let out a shaky laugh. Maybe she could save herself after all.

Continuing this process, she climbed down hallway till she was only a couple of feet from the balcony of the lower tower, but there were no more stones that she could use to climb down. She could make a jump for it but she would break an ankle or her wrist at the best.

That's when the voice of her saviour came across.

"Sophie!"

"Caspian!" Her eyes filled up with tears as the terror of the reality of this situation got to her. "Help me, please!"

"How did you get there?"

"I would love to tell you!"

"Right. Sorry," he said. "Let go!" 

"What!"

"I'll catch you. Trust me!" He screamed against the wind speed.

Sophie thought about her odds. She could let go and hurt herself. But Caspian was asking her to trust him, and she didn't want him to get hurt. She was going to jump anyway. "No time to think, Sophie! Let go!"

She had no other choice. "You'll catch me, right?"

Caspian had a soft smile on his face when he heard her concern. If only he could tell her exactly how important she was to him. "Always."

Sophie took a deep breath, prayed to her Saints, prayed to Aslan, closed her eyes and let go. She was expecting to hit the ground but she was in Caspian's arms and a little squeal of terror left her. "Caspian?" She whispered as she dared to open her eyes.

"I'm stronger than I look," he joked. 

The weight on Sophie's chest took over as she wrapped her arms around his neck, starting to sob as Caspian got on his knees and slowly set her on the floor, careful not to startle her. He took Sophie's face in his hands as he brushed the hair from her face. He had never seen her so shaken up before. "What happened?"

"I wasn't trying to.....I didn't jump."

"I know you didn't." He pulled her into a hug and brushed her hair softly. Sophie needed his warmth more than ever then. "What happened?" 

*****

Cast

Jonathan Majors as Master Kadumba

Santiago Cabrera as Alessandro

Ming Na-Wen as the woman

Geraldine Viswanathan as the girl

I'm so excited to reveal who
the woman and the girl are!
But all in good time