Hey everyone, it's me! Or should I say, us. Yes, us. I am co-authoring a new Lucy/Caspian story with my beta reader and very good friend, Sany. Sany and Jenny, sitting in a tree, w-r-i-t-i-n-g. I decided to post the first chapter, since I'm waiting for the last two reviews to come in for chapter seventeen of 'Lucy and the Future King' (hint hint nudge nudge). Unlike LATFK, which is my work alone and will be fucking EPIC, this story will be rather short, maybe ten or fifteen chapters, and will actually be pretty canon. But here's a rather strange disclaimer for it.

Sany and I want you to treat this story like a piece of chocolate. What do we mean by that?

Well, when you eat a piece of chocolate, you don't really worry about where the chocolate was made, or how many workers handled it, or how many days it took to get to the store. You don't care about the chocolate's history, you just care about the chocolate - how it tastes, how rich it is, how it melts, how it smells. And when it's gone, you remember the chocolate as being good or bad, not the effort behind it.

What we mean is, don't worry about a back story, or lengthy explanations. Enjoy this story for what it is - a short and sweet period piece.

This is going to be a short story, not an epic poem. Just imagine that the original characters are playing dress-up. Don't ask any questions about a back story, because we might not be able to answer them.

Don't worry, I'm not abandoning LATFK. All I need is two more reviews, and the next chapter will be posted. Yes, I am laughing evilly right now.

And now, chapter one!


There were very few boats on the ocean as of late. The winter storms were just ending, and merely getting past the shoals was challenging. It was easy to run aground, or to capsize under the pounding waves. Few captains were seasoned enough to steer past the craggy shoals, and even fewer could navigate with no starlight. Schooling fish were scarce, and whaling was too dangerous in such uncertain weather. It was a foolish, wasteful endeavor to be out on the open water when there was no need.

But coming over the crystalline blue waves, a mere speck against the rising sun, was a handsome ship with a gilded prow shaped like the head of a dragon. She had a single mast, and one crisp white sail. In the crow's nest stood a man with wild dark hair falling around his shoulders, ruddy brown skin, and a full beard matted with salt. His keen black eyes were narrowed by the morning sun as he stared out over the ocean. Though his clothing was poor and tattered almost beyond repair, he commanded respect with a single, thoughtful glance. This was his ship.

"There's land off the starboard bow!" someone shouted up to him from the deck. He turned his face to the right, scanning the horizon until he spied the patch of tell-tale patch of green. Even though they were at least a league away, he could smell and see each pine tree. He could feel every blade of the returning grass. He heard the deer sprinting through the trees and tasted the first of the spring peaches.

His mouth spread in that roguish, self-satisfied grin so often seen on a sailor's face.

He was home.

"Let's take her in, boys!" Scaling down the mast with scarred and callous hands, he quickly took up position at the wheel, pulling the vessel towards the shore with a few determined spins.

"You're looking fairly confident." The hoarse and slightly slurred voice came up behind him, accompanied by heavy, uneven footsteps.

"I couldn't trust you to not steer us into a reef. Unless you have a doppelganger, you hit the bottle pretty hard last night."

"As did the rest of the crew. We were mourning our last night on this wretched boat." The other man didn't look too different from the one holding the wheel. He was sun baked and bearded, with long black hair woven into braids and dreadlocks.

"I believe you sing dirges when mourning, not songs about large-breasted, naked women."

"To be fair, she was married."

The man behind the wheel stroked his beard thoughtfully, brushing away some salt crusting over the corner of his mouth.

"Do you think she'll still be waiting?" With the din created by the waves and wind, it was almost hard to hear his question, but the other man heard it loud and clear.

"I don't think she really had any other choice. Who else would she wait for – her brother? It's not the same. Anyways, she is the last of your worries." Someone called out about tangled rigging, making the man with the dreadlocks shout out an obscenity in regards to his sailors' incompetence. As for the man steering the ship, he allowed himself one brief look of desperation and longing, one brief moment of weakness. Then, so quietly it was little more than a sigh, a name dropped from his lips like a hopeful prayer.

"Lucy."


"Lucy! Lucy, come quick!" Caspian banged his fists against the tree trunk, rousing everyone within fifty feet from sleep. Everyone, except the one person he desperately needed to see. With time on the enemy's side, he could not afford to linger; but he needed to see the youngest Pevensie before he left, else his heart forever wonder.

"By the stars above, please…" He trailed off as she emerged, small and fair and clearly unhappy to be awake. She wore a white nightgown that was only a few shades lighter than her skin. The dark circles under her eyes were matched by her dark, tight frown. Standing in the doorway that was only visible from inside the tree, Lucy yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"One of us should be at the castle right now, and I know it isn't me." Her voice, quiet and slightly squeaky, was more beautiful than any ballad.

"I have to leave."

"That's right. You need to leave me and head back to the castle."

He could tell by her confused expression that she could see the way his face fell, despite the darkness. "No. I need to leave Narnia. Right now."

Her gasp broke his heart and almost destroyed his will to leave her.

"Why? What's happened?" When her voice went from a whisper to a slightly louder whisper, she stepped out into the night, closing the tree trunk's secret door. Her cheeks were alabaster in the pearlescent moonlight.

"Prunapismia has birthed a son." How silly it all seemed, that a baby no bigger than a loaf of bread could have him fearing for his life. But now that Miraz had a boy of his own, Caspian's assassination was all but assured.

"You cannot abandon us! You cannot leave me here!" Her sweet voice broke on a sob as her little hands fisted in his shirt. He winced and covered her mouth with his hand, as gently as he could in that moment.

"If I don't leave, we're both dead." She would understand later, when she was grown up. He had a feeling she would have to grow up for both of them. "I promise to return," he uttered as his hand moved from her mouth to cup her cheek.

"I don't believe you." And she didn't – Lucy was too honest to lie about something like that.

"I know you don't, but believe me – I will return. And when I do, everything will be wonderful. We'll be queen and king together."

He felt the tear drops against his hand before he saw their silver trails. "How do I know that you won't start over somewhere else? That you won't get married and have babies and let your kingdom become mortally ill under Miraz's despotic rule?"

What did he have, besides the ring he never bought for fear she would say no? What could he possibly give her to assure her of his affection and regard for not only her, but the other Pevensie children, his own Telmarine people, and the old Narnians he had sworn to protect?

"I shall leave Destrier with you."

The black stallion was the only thing he would ever come back for – besides her.

"I wouldn't risk taking him on the… I wouldn't risk having him break an ankle on the way to the docks." He meant to say 'I wouldn't risk taking him on the ship, for fear he wouldn't survive if it sank.' He knew that if he said that, she would tell him not to go.

And he wouldn't, not if she asked him not to. He could see she knew that, by the sadness, regret, and resignation in her eyes. She knew of her power over him, and would not use it out of some moral or ethical code of honor – no matter how much he wished she would.

"I will kill and eat your horse if you don't return." Again with the honesty, but she didn't say when he had to return, so he knew it to be an empty threat.

"I promise you, here and now, that I will always return to you – even from death." Lucy looked like she wanted to shout at him and strike him to the ground, but instead, she leaned forward and hugged him as tightly as her thin arms would allow.

"Please don't forget me. I couldn't bear it if you forgot me."

Then, for the first and maybe the last time, Prince Caspian kissed Lucy Pevensie under the trees in the Forbidden Forest. She was too young to understand why he kissed her, or what it meant for their future, but he needed it. He drew back within seconds of pressing his mouth against hers, staring down at her with fierce, dark eyes. Her own shone grimly with simultaneous anger and hope.

"Good night," Caspian said as he handed her the reigns to his beloved stallion. Lucy took the leather straps and stroked her hand down the horse's soft neck.

"Good night," she whispered in return as he drew away. Galloping up through the trees was Lord Drinian, who smiled sadly at Lucy as he pulled Caspian into the saddle. Then the two men were off, speeding towards the ruins of Cair Paravel, where a ship waited to take them away.

"Good night, Prince Caspian." With that, she pulled on the correct knot that opened the invisible door to Trufflehunter's den.

Caspian and Drinian rode away through the night, leaving Narnia far behind.


"Lower the anchor! We use the row boats from here!" Drinian's voice was still slurred, but loud and commanding as he shouted orders to the crew. "The first thing I'm doing when I get on the shore is cutting these damn dreads."

Caspian didn't know what he would do first when he got off the boat, but he was pretty sure it involved retrieving his horse.


There we go! Chapter One is up!

Remember, two more reviews, and we'll have another chapter of LATFK!

The next chapter will be the work of Sany. I am so excited!

Ta ta for now,
Jenny (and eventually Sany)