xxxi

To make the lie much more believable, Caspian and Ophelia had already packed some luggage and stuffed into what they were riding in. Kahlil was standing outside, talking to them. Ophelia had changed from her wedding dress into a simple knee length dress.

"Come back safely!" Kahlil was saying to Caspian as Ophelia walked from the castle one last time, looking at Caspian over Kahlil's shoulder. The message was clear: let's get this over with.

"We must be leaving if we don't want to be on the road all night." Caspian said, holding his hand out for Ophelia to take. She walked the rest of the way down the front steps and grabbed his hand.

They both ducked into the vehicle and shut the doors. The car pulled away. "Now we wait." Ophelia said, smiling to Caspian. She leaned forward and told the driver to just drive to the gates and let them out. "Hide the luggage, don't let them know anything." The driver nodded. "Yes, your highness."

The car pulled to a stop at the front of the gate and they climbed out, walking through the grounds, back up to the round-about, hiding behind some bushes.

Kahlil had started talking. "It's about time you got here!" Shuffling came from the bush to Kahlil's right. Aisling walked out, her white fox following behind her. "Don't rush us." She flicked her hair and it smacked Kahlil in the face.

Caspian tensed. I was really rooting for you, Kahlil. Ophelia closed her eyes. "Stay here." She whispered. Caspian knit his eyebrows together. "What, wait. Where are you going?" Caspian asked quietly. "I gotta stop them." Ophelia answered. Caspian shook his head. "No. You're not going by yourself!" Ophelia knelt down and glared at him. "I can talk to the dead. I just don't want to be in such a vulnerable spot."

Caspian glared right back at her. "You forget I can protect you." He whispered back. More shuffling got their attention.

Yuki walked from the woods, steam surrounding the air around her. Her face was stern as she looked at Kahlil.

"You should've gotten rid of Ophelia. Not crowned her queen!" Yuki flicked her wrist and a dagger of ice was in her hand. She held it up to Kahlil's throat. At this point, Ophelia had all the proof that she needed.

Ophelia closed her eyes. "I'll go ahead and teleport us into the castle." Caspian whispered. Ophelia opened her eyes. "You can teleport?" Caspian nodded. "Oh, I thought you were just really quiet."

Caspian shook his head and gripped her waist, closing his eyes and picturing the darkest shadow on Ophelia's balcony. When they opened their eyes, they looked out and noticed Kahlil walking them into the castle.

Ophelia's jaw tightened. She flung the balcony doors open and stood in the middle of her room, arms crossed over her chest.

Caspian walked in behind her and sat on one of the chairs. Ophelia huffed, causing all of the light to go out. Huh? What the? Before Ophelia could turn around and ask, the door to her bedroom opened.

She heard Kahlil talking to Yuki and Aisling. "Huh, I didn't think she turned off her light before leaving." Kahlil thought out loud. Once he flicked the switch, the light immediately came on, illuminating Caspian and Ophelia.

"Oh gods!" Kahlil yelled, jumping backwards. He immediately dropped to his knees. "My king, my queen! It's not what it looks like! I swear. They made me do it!" Kahlil babbled on.

Caspian stood up and knit his eyebrows. "I had so much hope for you." Ophelia took a step forward and Yuki released a laugh.

"Little pretty princess-" " I'm a queen-" "Thinks she can intimidate me!" Yuki took a step forward, but Ophelia didn't back down. Aisling let out a clicking sound and Caspian appeared behind her, covering her mouth.

Yuki reached up and drugged a nail down the side of Ophelia's face. "Little Princess thinks she can win against me. Cute." Ophelia suddenly reached up and twisted Yuki's wrist back.

She looked at her, surprised. "So, you've gotten stronger." Ophelia closed her eyes and felt something wrap around her.

She thought that it was Yuki's power, wrapping around her legs. "H-Hey, let me go!" Yuki yelled. Ophelia opened her eyes, noticing that the edge of her vision had turned black. "You entered the wrong kingdom. You messed with the wrong Queen."

Ophelia pushed her backwards, and reached down and gripped Kahlil by the scruff of his neck. He released a yelp. Ophelia kicked the door open and flung them into the hallway. Yuki tried to use her power and Kahlil tried to turn invisible. "What did you do to me?!" Yuki yelled out.

She tried to get up and come closer to Ophelia but two guards leapt onto her, pinning her arms behind his back. "I took your powers. You can't threaten anybody anymore."

Yuki looked at Ophelia, defeat laced through her eyes. "Take him too." Ophelia told a guard. The guard bowed and pulled Kahlil up by his bicep. He started to fight, but another guard rushed over and helped. "Put them where no one will be able to find them."

Ophelia commanded. She turned around and noticed that the kitsune was still wrapped in Caspian's arms, trying to fight.

Ophelia slowly walked forward until she was face to face with the kitsune. "Run, little foxy, and don't come back, or I will break your neck." Aisling eyes widened in fear as she looked at Ophelia. She nodded her head. Caspian looked to the last guard that had come up to make sure everything was alright.

"Take the kitsune to the edge of the forest and let her go." Caspian commanded before letting her go. The guard gripped Aisling's bicep and led her away.

Ophelia closed her eyes, exhaustion rolled over like her like a wave and she fell forward. Caspian rushed forward and held her upright. She had fallen asleep due to the amount of energy she had used to drain their magic.

He carried her to the bed and laid her down, taking her shoes off and pulling the blanket over her body. Caspian walked over the door and shut it, turning off the light. He kicked his shoes off and climbed into bed with her.

"Goodnight, Ophelia darling." He kissed her forehead.

---

Ophelia's breath came in and out softly. She turned onto her side and her hand landed onto Caspian's chest.

Slowly, Ophelia opened her eyes and looked up to see the sleeping face of Caspian. She smiled to herself and rolled out of bed. She stretched her hands out and ice shot out, freezing one of the balcony windows.

Ophelia released a scream, causing Caspian to jump up and look at her. "What's wrong?" He asked, his voice raspy with sleep. She slowly turned to face him, and held up her hand. "What did I do last night?"

Caspian looked at the balcony doors. "Oh shit." He said slowly. Caspian jumped out of the bed and ran around the bed, gently touching her hands. "We'll figure this out." Caspian reassured her. Ophelia looked at him, eyes widened "What happened to me?"

"You took Yuki and Kahlil's powers." Caspian explained, closing her hands with his own. "How did I do that?" Ophelia asked, looking down at their hands. Caspian shrugged. "I wanted to ask you the same thing, but you passed out."

Ophelia blinked slowly. "Passed out?" "Yes, I guess it takes a lot of energy to take two different people's powers from the bloodstream."

"Yea, I guess so." Ophelia agreed.

Later in the day, Ophelia went to the training room to work on controlling the new powers she'd acquired. She had just gotten the hang of stopping the ice from shooting out of her hands at random when Caspian walked in.

"Hello, my love." Caspian said, causing Ophelia to jump. Ice shot from her fingertips and hit the corner of the roof. "Whoopsie." Ophelia grimaced. Caspian chuckled. "At least it wasn't aimed at me." Ophelia nodded.

"True."

Caspian walked up behind her and leveled her hands with her chest. "Point your palms towards the wall." Ophelia did, looking back at Caspian. "How's this going to help me out?"

"Calming your mind is the best way to control any type of power. Imagine whatever makes you the most calm."

Ophelia breathed in and closed her eyes, searching her mind for her most calming memories. The faces of Caspian, Abraxas, and Natalia flashed through her mind. As well as faces she has yet to meet. The gods gave her a view of the future. The last face was that of a baby's. It was giggling, looking up towards Ophelia.

Tears pricked in the back of her eyes. Ophelia opened them and looked at the wall. She breathed in, focusing on the wall. Her fingertips grew colder with each passing second and ice shot out, sticking to the wall like a spiderweb.

"Perfect. What were you thinking of, if I may ask, Darling?" Caspian kissed the side of her neck.

"Family."