Right, this is the sequel to I Couldn't Leave Her, don't worry if you haven't read it I don't think it'll matter too much, but if you've got some spare time then please do read it because the general feeling I get from the amount of reviews and alerting and favouriting is that people like it! But as I said...not necessarily necessary... Everyone please just remember that this is the first chapter and it's really not as amazing as the rest of the story! But stick with me and you'll enjoy it, I promise! Enjoy!
"You are unhappy again." Caspian said quietly, startling Esha. She'd been too busy staring at the sun's reflection in the sea flashing past them to notice his brown eyes on her. She smiled reassuringly at him after a pause.
"Just thinking about old times." Both of them were losing their Telmarine accents; their acceptance of Narnian culture meant that they mingled more with Narnians than Telmarine's, and so their accents had changed and both now only sounded Telmarine when they'd had too much wine.
Caspian smiled back at her and joined her at the balustrade. "You are not old enough to have old times."
Esha smiled and looked back down into the sea, trying to grasp at the tendrils of her interrupted memories.
"Have you made a decision about Eyari yet?" She asked conversationally.
Eyari was one of the numerous beautiful women Caspian had been exposed to as the new King of Narnia, and now that he had turned 22 he was looking intently for a future wife. Unlike Esha, he knew that the Pevensie he wanted would not return and so had moved on as quickly as he could.
"Will I be needed on deck in the next few hours?" She asked suddenly, intending to go down to her cabin and reminisce in the quiet instead.
Caspian rolled his eyes at her playfully. "Esha, you will never be needed on deck!"
She laughed and walked past him still chuckling. It was true; she was there as Caspian's companion and confidante, not a sailor.
Nothing exciting had happened since the Pevensie's had left. It had been over a year since their return to England and Esha was nearing her 18th birthday. Walking skilfully across the constantly moving deck she wondered how old the Pevensie's all were now; Edmund had told her that time in his own land didn't move at the same rate as it did in Narnia. Caspian was not the only one being pursued; as the daughter of a Lord she had always been a prominent member of Telmarine society with men young and old alike clamouring for her attention and claiming that they could provide for her better and love her more than various other suitors. The amount of male attention she received had increased as she'd aged and her figure and features had grown more pronounced. With her family still missing, Caspian was acting out the role and had given her a large dowry, much larger than her father ever could've, and this added to the amount of attention she received.
It seemed that her parents had indeed disappeared off the face of the earth for no-one knew where they had gone or knew anyone who would know. Caspian still had numerous men investigating it, though each month there were less and less searching, each month Esha grew more and more disheartened as reports came in with absolutely no news.
The minotaur nodded his head respectfully at her as she passed and she gladly returned the gesture. The Narnians had all been open to the idea of a women on board the ship, but a few of the Telmarine men were suspicious of her; believing a woman to be bad luck on board a ship.
She hopped down the stairs, used to the continuous movement of the ship now. Caspian had ordered her to have men's clothes roughly fitted for the voyage so that she could move around more easily and, just in case she fell overboard, trousers are easier to swim in than a long skirt. But she had brought dresses too for when they went ashore. They weren't sure what kind of reception they would receive and thought it would be best if they did at least look the part of nobility.
She opened her door and sat down on her slightly swaying hammock. Narnia was a wonderful place now, but on the ship she was lonely. As the only female, she had no-one to discuss the trivial things such as hair and dresses with, but instead had to avoid the sailors when they began talking about their intimate relationships with their wives and boasting about their sexual prowess. Caspian always tried to put a stop to it, but he could not always be around Esha.
But Esha internally scolded herself each time she had thoughts of how lonely she was, for she had begged Caspain to bring her on the voyage with him. He had said no at first; though he had embraced the old Narnian laws and ideals he could not help but believe that a woman was bad luck on a ship; he had grown up with the myth.
With a sigh she lay down on the edge of her hammock, gently swinging in time with the ship and staring at the wooden wall opposite her. She no longer cried about Edmund's long absence, but she did grow sad about it as she waited, forever hoping that the next day would bring him back to Narnia.
She visualised him in her mind, the time when he'd been smiling at her as they played in The How. Despite the war and everything that had happened with Miraz, that had been the best time of her life.
She drifted off to sleep with dreams full of multiple Edmunds smiling at her and awoke sharply with a jolt only an hour later to the sound of shouting and laughter coming from the deck above her.
She shut her eyes again, assuming it would be more male jokes that she didn't want to hear. After a moment she sat up with a sigh, realising that now that she was awake she would not be able to get back to sleep again, and if she slept to long now she wouldn't that night, and then she'd have endless hours with nothing to do but think about the past.
She allowed her body time to adjust to the ships motion (she had found out the hard way that getting out of the hammock quickly after waking led to bruised knees and elbows) before stepping delicately down and rearranging her clothes and hair in the mirror.
She gave another sigh as she looked at herself. Vain as it sounded she liked wearing beautiful dresses. She liked feeling pretty and confident about herself. Caspian had taken her in and, homeless as she was; had given her a room in the castle and a maid who was available whenever she needed her to help dress her hair or get into a dress and she was now missing these home comforts just a little, though she would never admit it.
Taking a ribbon she tied her hair in a side ponytail; washing on board a ship is not as easy as it is in a bathroom, and it was for the best that she kept her hair up and stopped it getting greasy quickly .She turned and walked out of her cabin with her head downcast as she prepared herself to put on a big smile and pretend to be happy again.