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Sleeping Kingdom (Collector x Autumn Queen)

A

Autumn Queen

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There was once a wicked step-mother...

...well, actually, she wasn't a step-mother, she was in fact a mother, and she wasn't just a woman but a queen. Queen Lenore was her name, and she had grown accustomed to being the most lovely in the land. Even the neighboring kingdoms agreed that she was lovely, and Queen Lenore became quite used to being fawned upon by the eligible noblemen within a month's journey of her husband's kingdom.

Oh, did I forget to mention that she was married? Yes, as a matter of fact, she was quite married. So married, in fact, that they had a son named Caspian who was the apple of the king's eye. The queen, on the other hand, blamed baby Cass for the stretchmarks on her abdomen, the sagging in her 'girls', and then overall aging of her mortal form, for Queen Lenore was a human woman and all humans aged, given enough time.

When she was quite younger, however, she turned even the heads of the Elves in the neighboring kingdoms. One in particular, a King Heradlyn, was quite fond of young Lenore. But, as it happens with humans, Lenore became Queen Lenore, then a mother, and when a handful of years passed the Elven king took an Elven wife as his queen, and Queen Lenore was furious!

How dare he? How could he take anyone, lest of all another Elf, and...and...and love her? And have a child with her? A lovely girl who people said was sure to grow up and be the most beautiful woman in the realm?

Queen Lenore could not let that be, so she conspired with her favorite knights (who still found her quite fetching) to kidnap the child for her own. And then she conspired with her mages (for this was a magical land) to inscribe a rune on the child that would keep her parents from detecting her, and to create a collar for the 'beastly child' to keep her from harming the royal family. And so it was that the child grew up to serve the royal family like some novelty, and she was hidden away from prying eyes. She grew and was trained quite expertly, but always...always this child was told that she was not worthy. She was just a pet, a beast, a servant who should be honored to breath the same air as the royal family, and she came to reach the age of eighteen when her story truly, fully, begins to be written.

This is the story of a princess reduced to a servant and a prince without a purpose, a curse, an adventure, and the events that led them finally to the happily ever after that should have been theirs from the beginning.

If happily ever afters existed.
 
Nethys awoke in the place she usually did: in a small little cupboard in the Queen's room. Nethys had never known anyplace else. Sometimes she dreamed of a forest, with noonday light filtering through the leaves of the canopy, creating dancing shadows on the ground. She'd shared these dreams with the Queen once, when she was much younger, but had only been laughed at. It was just more proof that the little elf was nothing more than a beast; after all, she had been given accommodations in a castle and all she could dream of was the outdoors. Only an animal did that.

Everything Nethys did was used against her in one way or another. She was a savage for using one too many sugar cubes in the Queen's daily tea, a brute for scrubbing her back too roughly during a bath and a wanton for accidentally making eye contact with a visiting noble one time during a feast. Nethys was never mad at the queen for yelling at her, though. After all, the Queen was the wisest and most beautiful woman in the kingdom: of course she would know better than stupid, sub-human Nethys. Still, the elf tried her best to please the Queen, and any other member of the royal family, really, hoping to one day hear the Queen praise her. And she knew that the Queen was capable of praise: after all, she praised Prince Caspian all the time, so there was something Nethys was doing wrong that he was doing right. If she could figure out what that was, maybe she could finally figure out how to be a good pet for the Queen.

Nethys was a petite little thing: even for elves. She stood at 5'3" with lank, dirty brown hair and deep green eyes that always sparkled when given a command, a chance to do something right, and became deep pools of sorrow whenever she invariably made a mistake. She was thin, practically skin and bones, having survived mostly off of table scraps her whole life, and had a pair of long, pointed ears that moved to capture new sounds or to reflect her emotions. There was a chip missing from the top of her left ear, about an inch away where her ear met her skull, that had been torn out in a particularly vicious beating she'd received the previous year when she'd been ill and accidentally stumbled into the queen. Nethys wasn't allowed to look her betters in the eye, let alone touch them, and her clumsiness had caused the Queen to drop a wine glass, staining the rug with wine. Needless to say, the cost of the rug had been taken out of Nethys' hide.

Today was not a special day for Nethys, though it really should have been. Had she been told when she was born, she'd have known that it was her eighteenth birthday. But Nethys had never celebrated a birthday. Birthdays didn't matter for animals, though she'd always been confused by this statement since the king liked to celebrate the birthday of his favorite horse. Nethys had simply decided that the horse was a more useful animal than she was and strived to be as beloved as the horse was to little success.

Nethys slipped silently out of her cupboard and tiptoed across the room to make sure that the curtains were closed tight. The Queen did not like a draft, nor did she like to be awakened by sunlight in her face. Nethys picked up the bell beside the Queen's bed, moving with silence and grace that no human could ever hope to attain, and held it against her palm, making sure that the bell made not a sound as she walked towards the door to the Queen's room. Opening the door just wide enough that she could slip through, but not wide enough that the light would disturb the sleeping Queen, Nethys slipped outside and padded silently down to the end of the hall, where she finally rang the bell. Nethys had discovered this spot after endless trial and error, determining that it allowed the sound to travel to the servant's quarters without the Queen hearing it. The bell signified that a bath should be drawn and ready and the breakfast should be served to the Queen as soon as possible. Nethys then slipped soundlessly back into the bedroom, making sure that the light didn't wake the Queen, placed the bell silently back on the Queen's bedside table and climbed back into her cramped little cupboard and hoped that the Queen would wake up in a good mood for not having seen her at all during the process of waking up.
 
On the other side of our idyllic kingdom Prince Caspian Castiel Carson the First was stretching in his bed, a contented yawn filling the air. He slept on the finest of goose down, he was wrapped in silk and soft downy lamb's wool, and every position he could manage in his ample, kingly bed was one of comfort. He was spoiled.

As it should be.

His mother called him Cas Cas Car, her favorite knickname for him. She said it in one word; Cascascar, like a name. A title. Others addressed him as Prince Caspian. He liked to think that his friends would call him Castiel, or simply 'Cas', but...he didn't have friends.

No, it would have been unseemly for someone as royal, as perfect, and as pre-ordained for greatness to have mere 'friends'. His mother the Queen arranged for prim and proper introductions to other noble-born children at the proper times in his life, and at his last birthday all the nobles from the neighboring kingdoms gathered to celebrate his 'coming of age'. At least, all the 'human' nobles. The others were not invited, for the King and Queen saw them as slightly beneath the realm of humans and not desirable for interaction or...gods forbid!...friendship.

Today he was due to go for a ride and to practice his mounted archery, so Prince Cas' manservant helped him dress in leather breeches, a soft burnt orange tunic under a boiled leather vest, over the knee leather riding boots in dark grey with his favorite matching grey bracers, and to top the outfit off, a flamboyant blue cloak that matched the princes' eyes. He looked fabulous. His longbow was crafted of the best Yew wood and his arrowed fletched with brilliant blue and gold feathers. It was his signature fletching, and one day the colors would be on his standard.

Still, it was a long time until the prince inherited the kingdom. His father was yet hale and hearty, and his mother...well, she'd rule no matter who was on the throne. Prince Cas readied his gear and went to greet his mother in the morning. He always made sure to see her first thing in the day as he was her pride and joy, and he was not one to deny her the greatest moments of her day by being selfish with his visits.

As he strode confidently through the castle he noted the streaks of blue-orange light coming through the morning clouds. He could not remember a more perfect, more lovely day.

Queen Lenore woke up a little less happily; her eyes were gunky and her mouth cottony from imbibing in much too much wine the previous night. It was her habit to enjoy a night cap ever evening, but last night she had reason to celebrate. She rolled over and stretched, her body creaking and her muscles tight and achy. Last night had been a bit wooly but worth it, she thought as he went over the way her masseuse comforted her before she went to sleep. It was good to be the queen.
 
Right on time, a servant arrived in the Queen's quarters with her breakfast on a tray. Nethys in particular tended to bear the brunt of the Queen's wrath, but the other servants were not immune. If her morning routine was disrupted even slightly, the Queen was just as likely to beat them as she was the little elf. Along with the servant bearing the food, one of the royal advisers came in with a few sheets of paper bearing the day's news.

"There isn't too much to look over today, Your Majesty," said the adviser, a portly man in red robes with a silver chain dangling from his neck named Torvold. "The farmers are anticipating a large harvest this year, but they are also requesting extra guards for their crop so that they do not become a target for goblins or, gods forbid, orcs. Besides that, there are rumors that a unicorn was spotted on the edge of the forest in the southern part of your lands. The locals are taking it to be a good omen, but perhaps the prince would be interested in making it his quarry today?"

Nethys couldn't help but feel a little sad for the unicorn. She'd only ever seen one in the tapestry at the base of the western tower and they seemed so beautiful to her. She didn't understand why anyone would want to hunt one, but she supposed the prince knew what he was doing. The Queen doted on the prince, so he must have been doing something right, if not everything. So, she supposed that if he wanted to hunt the unicorn it would be the right thing for him to do, though she secretly hoped that he'd chose to leave it alone.
 
Queen Lenore nearly clapped her hand in youthful joy at the mention of taking the unicorn for sport. The unicorn was a rare beast. More importantly, it was the symbol of the Fae King Heradlyn's lands; a symbol of purity and strength. It would be more than perfect if her dearest Cascascar took the beast and brought it's beating, bloody heart to her as a gift. Her mouth nearly twisted in selfish glee.

As she contemplated that joyful image the door opened and her son entered. He was one of the few who would dare enter the Queen's chambers with a weapon, but as Nethys noticed he could never do wrong in her eyes. He smiled warmly at her as she held out her hands to him, and in a practiced and well-rehersed move he went to her bed and embraced her. "Mother! Again your beauty astounds me ever time I am graced by it."

Queen Lenore tittered happily and patted her chest in a flutter, her eyelids blinking rapidly as if she had just been complemented by a suitor instead of her own son. "Oh Cascascar! You always know what to say!" She waved at her adviser to come closer. "Torvold! Tell my love what you told me about the beast that was spotted." Her eyes flicked unconsciously towards Nethys as she thought of the link between the unicorn and the Elf in her sevice.

The prince listened impassively to the adviser's thoughts. He nodded as if in agreement, and turned to his happy queen. "I agree that a unicorn would make a fine trophy, Mother dear, but...would it not be better to capture it alive? You could show off the creature to the other nobility, perhaps have it pull your personal carriage before a group of four sleek black draft horses? Then you'd be in possession of something that no other queen in history had ever had."
 
"A fine idea, my prince!" said Torvold. There was always a slight drone to Torvold's even when he was excited. "Any man with a bow could kill a unicorn, but it would take a great deal more skill to capture one alive. I could have your hunting party outfitted with blunted arrows and nets, if that is your wish."

Nethys let out a silent sigh of relief from her cupboard. She'd long since learned better than to open the door of her cupboard and peer out when the Queen had company, or really any other time she wasn't explicitly ordered to be outside of her cramped little room since the Queen didn't seem to like being reminded that the little elf existed. Still, the conversation was loud enough that she could hear it, even with the door closed, so she supposed it didn't really count as eavesdropping. She was glad that the prince wanted to take the unicorn alive, not only because it meant that the beautiful creature wouldn't die, but also because it meant that she might get a chance to see it up close. Still, she didn't get her hopes up quite yet: if the Queen had her heart set on killing the unicorn, there was little question that it would wind up dead.
 
The prince leaned against the queen's bedpost even as her servants laid out her clothing and escorted her to a chair to have her ample, thick hair brushed and braided in the intricate patterns she adored. "Isn't it legend that unicorns only come when a virgin is about?" He asked curiously. He smiled flirtatiously at the youngest of the queen's servants. "I'm certain that you don't qualify, do you?"

The young lady twittered nervously and blushed deeply. She was many things, but virginal wasn't one of them.

"So..." the prince looked at his mother. "Do you have anyone we can use as bait?"
 
Nethys couldn't help but smile as she heard the prince flirting with the servants. She hoped that someone would talk to her like that one day; she knew that the prince never would, but sweet words from anyone would have been appreciated. She was a virgin, though she didn't know if she counted because the Queen made sure to inform Nethys quite frequently that she was undesirable. Perhaps that was why the Queen always dressed her in rags? She'd have volunteered herself for hope of being useful, but she doubted that the unicorn would actually want her.

"I'm sure that you could find a young lady in town, my prince," said Torvold. "I'm sure some farmer has a daughter they wouldn't mind giving up for a handful of coins or even just the privilege of saying that they were of service to the royal family."
 
Queen Lorena nodded as the hairdresser struggled to keep her braids tight. "Indeed, dear love. Some farmer's daughter or a baker's child; there are probably a good two or three dozen you could pick from. You have the coffers to dispose of, my sweet Cascascar, take more than one girl if you like and stake them all about the forests. Like little lobs of meat," she chuckled. "One is certain to call forth the attention of the unicorn if there even is one out there."

Prince Cas nodded, walking around thoughtfully as he considered the fairy tales and what he had heard of unicorns. "You're right of course dear Mother. If I recall correctly, and I am always correct," at that the small audience in the room laughed agreeably at his cleverness. He smiled and nodded. "Thank you. As I was saying, if I recall correctly the young maiden must not be a child, per se, but a maiden in truth. Marriageable and yet still pure." He frowned slightly. "After our last spring festival I'm not certain that many in the kingdom would qualify, for the nobles were quite adamant about partaking in their First Blooding rights." He leaned against the cabinet that Nethys was hiding in, crossing his feet as he pondered the heavy decision of the morning.

His foot tapped her door just enough to open it a few inches. "Hmm, what's this?" Prince Cas pulled the door open farther and peered in.

"Oh, it's just my little Fae," the queen replied disdainfully. "Don't mind her."

Prince Cas made eye contact with Nethys briefly before losing the mental grip on the little one but an idea began to blossom in his mind. "Your pet is quite isolated, is she not Mother? There's no chance she'd be tainted by anyone without your knowledge?"

"Tainted?" The queen laughed. "More like the other way around; no chance anyone would taint themselves dipping a finger into that creature without my knowledge if you ask me." Her ladies laughed as they piled her hair above her head and pinned it in place with golden and silver pins worth more than most households earned all year. "No, that would be like asking if anyone has deflowered the king's hunting hounds. The male ones," she laughed.
 
Nethys shied away from the door to her cupboard as it was opened. Despite the hollow, wooden nature of her enclosure, she made hardly a sound as she scurried to the darkest corner she could find and curled up in a ball. It was uncanny how well she blended into the shadows, a skill she'd honed over the eighteen years of her life so as not to be seen when the Queen was in an ill temper. The only thing that distinguished her from the shadows were her large, brilliant green eyes, wide with terror as the Prince peered in at her. Besides her oversized ears, Nethys' eyes were a mark of her elvishness as well; they were not grotesquely large, but still took up a bit more space on her face than they would on a human's.

The elf hid her face in her knees, hiding her eyes from view and making it significantly more difficult to pick her out of the darkness, and her ears drooped as she heard the mocking laughter from everyone in the room. She knew she was filthy, below even the rats that lurked in the dungeons, but that didn't make being reminded of the fact any easier. There were plenty of times she wished she were a hound: hounds were useful creatures to be adored. Hounds could track prey by scent across great distances and knew how to drive it back towards their masters. Nethys had never been given a chance to test her speed or agility, so she didn't know how well she'd stack up against a hound, though she was fairly certain that the hound would be better. Still, rather than crying, which she knew the Queen hated to see her do, Nethys tried to keep her thinking positive. After all, this was hardly something she could screw up on: all she had to do was follow the Prince into the woods and continue being a virgin to attract the unicorn.

It wasn't like she was at risk of being defiled: her form was distinctly inhuman. Her from was thin and lithe, even more so for her malnutrition. She had a distinct hourglass figure, but it was like someone had simply scaled it down to be more streamlined. Her breasts were just barely on the larger side of a B-cup and her hips were rounded, but her figure was altogether too slim. It seemed like the smallest pressure would snap her in half like a twig. And, of course, there were here ears and eyes which were simply too different from a human's to be ignored.
 
The prince knelt down and looked deep into the cupboard at the little creature. "I want to use your pet," he told the Queen, reaching in and clamping a hand around Nethys' arm. "Why risk a perfectly good human girl when you have this little thing? Besides, I think that the unicorn will come faster if we have someone who we know is a real virgin...even if it's not human." He tugged at the Elf and began to slide her out of the hole.

The Queen raised an eyebrow and watched her pride and joy groveling on the ground with the little nuisance. "Cascascar, must you get down on the floor like that? It makes you look so...so common."

He looked over his shoulder at his mother and chuckled. "Oh Mother dear, I am many things but 'common' is not one of them. Besides, I'm in my hunting clothes. Don't you think that we touch the dirt on occasion when taking down game? This is much the same, only without all the blood and screaming." Prince Cas looked back at Nethys and grinned. "I much prefer hunting when there's no blood involved. Don't you?"
 
Nethys didn't struggle as the Prince pulled her out of the cupboard. In fact, she crawled out at his guidance so that he didn't have to strain himself pulling her out. She was nervous being so close to him, worried that she might somehow inadvertently harm the person the Queen loved more than anything, but she figured that not resisting would lower the chances of that happening. She kept her eyes downcast and her lips shut, not making any noise at all. She did her best not to tremble and wrapped her hands around the hem of her rags, clutching them as if they were a lifeline of sorts. Nethys wore the remnants of a tattered brown dress and nothing else. The dress, while rough around the edges, wasn't torn anywhere particularly important and covered her torso, though left much of her legs and all of her arms exposed. She wore no shoes or anything else to protect her feet, but that felt right for some reason. Even if her feet were mostly just touching the cold stone floors of the palace, Nethys enjoyed being able to take in the texture of the floor and ground beneath her with her feet. Of course, she'd been ridiculed as a girl when she'd tried to explain this to the Queen, but the Queen had also taken it as an excuse to not bother trying to find shoes for her.

Nethys nodded at the Prince's question, still not saying anything. She found that not talking unless she absolutely had to was a good way to stay out of trouble. The Queen had done a good job of explaining it to her: no one liked a dog that barked overmuch, just like no one liked an elf who talked more than she should, and elves should hardly ever be talking. She wondered how much blood was usually involved in hunting; the Prince had always changed out of his hunting clothes when he returned from a hunt, so Nethys had never seen how dirty they normally got. She hoped that there wasn't too much blood spilled during this hunting trip; the Queen seemed to hate it when Nethys bled on things after a beating, which would often earn her another beating, so she doubted that the Queen would be too pleased if she got another creature's blood on any of her possessions either.
 
The prince looked over the little elf and gave a slight scoff. "This? This is your pet? She's filthy, Mother! My dogs bathe more often then she does, I reckon."

The other servant girls giggled at that comment. They continued to powder the queen's hair, rub her shoulders, roll her fingers between their own and generally pamper the noblewoman.

He hooked his finger around the collar at Nethys' neck, unaware of its magical properties. "Does she even know how to heel, or is this merely a decoration?"

The queen's eyes widened. "Oh! That is very important, Cascas! You must never take that off, understand? Never." She actually sat up slightly in her cushioned seat and leaned forward.

The prince was not frightened of a little slip of a pet, though, and waved his mother's concerns away. He pulled the Elf closer and sniffed at her, surprised when he smelled nothing unpleasant. She certainly looked like she should smell unpleasant. He turned to one of the Queen's servants. "I want this creature bathed and in some kind of clean, intact dress that makes it look likes she's going to be good to eat. There's no reason to scare away our unicorn because our bait looks yucky."

He smirked at the Elf and then turned towards the human servants. Hooking an arm around the waist of the one he was talking to he drew her close. "Bring her down to the stables in an hour. If you do well I might reward you tonight." His eyes traveled over the voluptuous and very willing serving woman approvingly before he released her.

"I'll see you after lunch Mother dear." He leaned down and kissed both his mother's cheeks as she pursed her newly-reddened lips and smacked the air with them. "Thank you for the loan of your little plaything."
 
Nethys' ears drooped as the servants laughed at her, making her look more miserable than a human possibly good, but she perked up visibly at the promise of a bath. She wasn't too scared of the unicorn eating her: if a unicorn was anything like a horse, then it wouldn't care much for meat. She'd have been far more distressed if they were hunting a werewolf or something. Nethys was bathed on occasion, though it was hardly a routine occurrence. It normally happened either when the Queen needed blood washed from her body or when there was a visiting dignitary coming so that Nethys could be paraded about as a pet. Granted, she was still berated for her inhuman appearance even then, but the Queen liked everything of hers to be as beautiful as possible when guests were over, and that included Nethys.

Nethys followed the servant girl that the Prince had handed her off to. The Queen's bath had already been drawn, but the elf doubted that the queen would let her take that one. She would likely have a bucket of water thrown over her head and soap and shampoo scrubbed all over her, but even that sounded appealing to her. She liked being clean: at the very least she couldn't be criticized for being dirty after having just bathed. The idea of wearing something more fetching than her tattered dress was also nice; Nethys loved being dressed up, even if she never could meet anyone's standards of beauty. At the very least, she had a happy little moment to herself before the criticism started once more where she could enjoy her new outfit, even if she'd only wear it for a day.
 
The queen gave the elven girl a haughty look, but what she was really thinking of was ways to lessen the girl's beauty. Perhaps she could have her hair shorn short once they returned, or force the lass to wear more shapeless, clothing. If Queen Lorena could bear it she'd make sure that the servant/slave was outfitted with clothing that stunk of the pig stye. Every time she looked at the now-blossoming Nethys all the queen could think about was the way King Heradlyn rejected her so long ago.

She began to jot down ideas. Yes, when her son returned from his little adventure Queen Lorena would make sure that the Elf girl was never at risk of being thought of as attractive...perhaps acid...the queen's lips turned up in a smile.

The servant girl was enthusiastic about cleaning up the Elven girl and getting her delivered to the prince on time. So enthusiastic, actually, that she scrubbed the lass's skin rather harshly. Still, by the time Nethys was finished she had been scrubbed, soaped, rinsed, had her hair tied back in a simple ribbon, and was in an old but clean simple shift of the palest blue.

The prince had a small hunting party with him of only eight men. Most of them were on foot, but there were two others on horseback as well. When the Elf was brought to him he nodded in approval. "Much better," he complemented the human servant. "I'll be seeing you later," he promised with a wink. Then he turned to the Elf and looked her over. "Have you no shoes? No sandals at least?" He tapped her leg with a crop, expecting her to pick up her foot like a horse and show him the bottoms of her feet.
 
Nethys was practically glowing with happiness as she was lead to the Prince. She wasn't so fond of the bow in her hair, preferring to let it simply flow free, but she was hardly in a position to complain. Now that her hair was cleaned, it was apparent that her hair was a deep, rich brown reminiscent of the color of chocolate. The dress she wore was plain, but it was a lovely shade of blue, at least in the elf's eyes, and it felt far better on her than the scratchy rags she usually wore. She still had no undergarments, but that didn't bother her.

Nethys' mouth split into a toothy grin as the Prince talked to the servant. She doubted that she was personally responsible for the girl winning the Prince's favor, but she was happy to have at least been involved in the process. She shook her head at Caspian's question and raised her leg obediently when it was tapped with the crop. She didn't know for certain that that was what Caspian wanted her to do, but it was the only thing she could think of doing. Unlike a human, Nethys' feet were not dirty or calloused from her walking around barefoot all the time. Her skin was soft and smooth and she always seemed to know just how to step to avoid damaging her feet, even when there were sharp rocks underfoot, and dirt simply didn't cling to her. She hoped that the Prince wouldn't be mad that she never wore shoes; she wasn't blaming the Queen, but she didn't think it would be fare for the Prince to get mad at her if she had no control over the clothes she was given.
 
Once Prince Cas saw the soft underbellies of the Elf's feet he frowned with disapproval. They were going to cover many miles to get to the spot where the unicorn was last seen. He didn't want to be slowed by a limping little slip of a lass. He was about to order one of his assistants to put the creature on their horse when he remembered an incident from his youth.

He had to be about five or six years of age, and the Elf was perhaps the same age. The queen had the castle practically torn apart looking for the lost pet creature. It turned out that the girl had fallen asleep underneath a chair, but the way Queen Lorena had carried on, as if she had lost the crown jewels themselves, had always made an impression on the prince. No, if something were to befall the Elf creature then the queen might be distraught.

Prince Cas nodded to himself and tucked the crop away in his saddle. "Come on," he said, lifting Nethys up onto the saddle in front of himself, her legs over to the same side to remain 'modest'. With a whistle and a clattering of hooves the hunting party was on its way.
 
Nethys let out a cry of surprise as Caspian pulled her onto his horse, but did not resist him. She'd learned early on that she was never to resist: not only would her body not allow her to resist, but struggling only made things worse. Of course, being too passive had its disadvantages too; the Queen had once put her under a chair because she didn't want to look at her during her tea, but had never told Nethys to come out from under the chair. The elf had wound up spending the night under the chair and had awoken to a great commotion the next morning. Apparently, staying put was not what the Queen had wanted from her, as evidenced by the beating she had received the moment she was alone with the girl.

"Th-thank you for you kindness, Master," squeaked Nethys, her voice timid. She'd been taught that she should always be thankful for every kindness that was done to her, but sometimes the Queen didn't like hearing her voice, even if it was to thank her, so she was never entirely sure if she should speak up or not. Nethys had never ridden a horse before, so being placed perpendicular to the Prince and in front of him was comforting. She knew she wasn't supposed to touch him, but when the horse started moving she let out another cry of surprise and clutched at his shirt with her hands. She quickly relaxed, though, finding the rhythm of the horse's movements and learning how to adjust her movements with it to make herself most comfortable. Once the initial surprise was gone, her large smile returned and her ears were held high, reflecting her happy mood. Perhaps if she did well today, the Queen would let her go hunting with the Prince more often and she'd get to ride the horse again.

Soon enough, Nethys felt herself growing tired again. She usually rested during the long periods of the day when the Queen simply didn't want to see her, so she was usually able to get a good hour or so of rest while the Queen prepared herself for the day. On top of that, though, Nethys hadn't been given nearly enough food in the past few days, so she was running on fairly low energy. So, against her will and aided by the movements of the horse, the elf found herself drifting off to sleep with her head rested against the Prince's shoulder, a contented little smile on her face. Nethys was a very light sleeper, so the slightest disturbance would wake her, but her last thought before drifting off to sleep was that she hoped that the Prince wouldn't be mad at her for getting some rest.
 
The warm Summer sun hadn't given away to the coolness of Autumn yet, but hints of the changing seasons were seen in the leaves above them. Brilliant gold, orange, and reds sprinkled across the green canopy of the forest like scattered jewels. Prince Caspian had been startled slightly when the pet spoke. He was used to thinking of her as something that only answered "Yes my Queen", and then only very rarely. The idea that she could put entire sentences together was a foreign as if his favored horse had decided to discuss politics with him over afternoon tea.

With a smug smile he tucked an arm around his little bait and continued down the path. The two mounted hunters were both experienced trackers and fine archers. They took turns leading the little party, and the men on foot jogged and walked the entire way. The prince didn't want to wear out his hunting party so he took it rather slow. Still, he had assumed that Nethys would never had been able to keep up with them especially with her soft feet. He didn't know of the Elves' symbiotic relationship with nature or how swift and sure-footed they truly were. It was likely that the little slave had no idea either.

When she fell asleep against his shoulder he was reminded of a tired puppy sleeping in the sunshine. Though...she was awfully slim to be compared to a puppy. An hour later the trackers swung around to let the prince know that the next ridge was where the unicorn was spotted not more than a week ago.

"Good, then let's eat and let the hunters rest a spell, shall we? The unicorn is apt to come about during the dusk like others." Prince Cas knew of a stream that ran through the next ravine. It was a favored watering spot for many game and he assumed the unicorn would act like any other animal. He still held his mother's pet close as they walked the horses into a small natural bowl to hide their scent and sight from their quarry.
 
Nethys seemed to relax even more the further they got from the castle. Even asleep, she got the feeling like she was going home. Were she awake, she'd find that feeling incredibly odd: after all, her home was the little cupboard in the Queen's room. Still, the scent of soil and beast invigorated her, giving her something of a healthy glow despite the obvious fact that she was malnourished. The closer they drew to the forest, the more vivid her dreams became; it wasn't just her laying on the forest floor, staring up at the sunlight filtering through the trees anymore. Now, she was hurtling through the trees at break-neck speeds, frolicking with squirrels and birds and pausing only to pick berries and nuts from various bushes. She seemed to instinctively know which ones were safe for her to eat, like it was the most natural thing in the world for her. While part of her knew that she was just dreaming, the rest of her didn't want to wake up. The dream was so wonderful and she didn't want to return. A little part of her even started to resent the Queen for keeping her away from the outdoors for so long, but the rest of her was horrified at the thought. Everything the Queen had done for her, she'd done out of the kindness of her heart! No one else would want to deal with such vermin, such a creature as the elf.

Nethys' smile turned into a frown as her thoughts turned darker and she squirmed a little bit, clutching at the Prince's shirt again as the group came to a halt. She didn't wake quite yet, but the smallest movement from the Prince would cause her eyes to snap open.
 
The prince circled his horse in the clearing before deciding that the area was safe to use. He tightened his grip on the girl and shifted his weight to dismount. "Nap time is over. Time to rest before the hunt."

The other hunters set up a quick lunch site after setting a perimeter. One of the trackers tied a line between two trees to tie the horses to. The other began to set up incense bundles of sweet rosemary and sage to attract creatures of magic, and hopefully the unicorn.

Cas set himself down on the ground and lifted the creature down beside him. "You must be hungry. Let's have some lunch, hmm?"
 
Nethys' eyes opened the moment Caspian shifted in the saddle, bringing her to full wakefulness. It was a skill she'd honed through having the Queen as her Mistress: nothing got one to wake up faster than the threat of being beaten awake. Nethys really didn't need the help dismounting the horse, but the Prince seemed insistent on helping her down, so she didn't argue. She nodded at the suggestion of lunch, erring towards the assumption that the Prince wasn't actually interested in hearing her talk. She followed close behind him, not wanting him to be mad at her for lagging behind and knelt a respectful distance from him when they sat down to eat. Nethys wasn't expecting to be fed directly: if the Prince was anything like his mother, he would eat and she'd be given what he wasn't interested in. If she was lucky, that could be most of a meal. If not, she might only get a few berries and crumbs.
 
Prince Caspian exchanged light chit-chat with this hunters as they settled down to eat their meal and discuss hunting strategies. He noticed that his mother's little pet sat nearby, but not next to the men. Cas motioned for her to move nearer. Once she was closer he tore his sandwich in half and held half out to her.

"I don't want you to faint in the middle of our hunt," he said, smiling at her.

The other hunters nudged each other and made quiet suggestive eyes at the Elf. The Prince caught sight of their conversational shift and frowned. "We're here to hunt a unicorn," he reminded them. "And to bring it home to the Queen alive. Now, what is our strategy?"
 
Nethys' eyes went wide as she was offered half the sandwich. She heard Caspian's reasoning, but she didn't really understand it; lack of food wouldn't make her pass out, even if he decided to beat her for some reason. Still, she decided that contradicting the Prince would be a bad idea, so she took the sandwich and began eating it slowly. She'd long since learned that eating quickly on an empty stomach would make her lose everything she'd just eaten. She listened to the others as she ate, thinking over the situation along with them. She knew that she wasn't supposed to speak, but the hunters seemed to be at a loss as to how to take a unicorn alive. It appeared that their specialty was killing animals, not capturing them. The elf thought for a moment, then came up with an idea.

"Well, you could set up a net," she said, her eyes slightly unfocused as she thought. "You could hide a net on the ground, let it walk over it, and then make it get its feet all tangled up in the net. The largest danger from a unicorn is the horn: if it can build up some speed, the horn could seriously hurt you. So, if you lure it onto a net, pull up the net while it's standing on it and then run a few quick circles around it to tangle up its legs, the horn is a lot less dangerous. If you're lucky, it'll trip and then you can use rope to tie its legs together."

Nethys, having said her piece, went back to eating her sandwich. She wasn't sure how they'd transport an immobile unicorn back to the castle, but that wasn't the question that had been asked.
 
The hunters looked at each other in abject disgust as Nethey's began to speak. "What do you know about hunting you little cur?" asked one. He had seen the way the Queen had treated her pet, and she had never been allowed to talk freely.

The Prince stared slack-jawed at the diminutive creature next to him. "You...you speak?" There was a strange mix of confusion, shock, and disdain in the way he looked at her. "How do you know all this? Did the Queen teach you such things?" He almost looked like he was about to inspect her for a hidden mouthpiece or some magical spell that made her more intelligent than her species was capable of.

One of the other hunters shook his head and made a sound of disgust. "Nah, she jus' saw our nets and guessed is all. She's a tricky one. A trickster. They all are, don't you know? Every one of them filthy pointy-eared creatures; as ugly as a mule and less useful." The man yawned and stretched an arm above his head as he spoke. "Stupid, dirty, Elves...." He laid back against the tree and closed his eyes.
 
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