Author's Note: Uhm, this was originally supposed to be a one-shot for Caspian and an original character. But, now I think it might be a full story. I'm not content with just this chapter so maybe it'll be like a two or three-shot? I dunno. Haha, tell me what you think!
Love at First Sight
By: Creative.Lannah
Caspian/OC
"Get back here young lady! Right now!" Her mother's voice was close and if she didn't want to be caught she needed to hurry. Rhea sat hidden behind a rather large bush, peeking through some branches. She glanced behind her to the woods, calculating the distance and contemplating whether or not she should do it. After all, the woods were haunted. But anywhere was better than here. The only way she could get out of the marriage would be to make a break for it.
She took a deep breath and bolted up from her crouching position, heading towards the cover of the trees.
"Rhea! Just wait until your father hears about this! He'll have you whipped for sure!" She threw a couple looks over her shoulder to see her mom following her at a quick pace. She wheezed as the pain in her side increased, but continued pushing her legs as fast as they could go. She had just barely entered the trees when she stumbled over her dress. She squeaked as she tumbled into a pile of rather sharp rocks. A hiss almost that of a snake emitted from her mouth and she quickly jumped back to her feet. She picked up the bottom of her dress, holding it up high on her legs.
Blood was oozing
from her knees where large gashes were. They didn't look too good.
She turned to see her mother pacing on the outside of the trees. "I
won't marry him mama. I can't." She called. Her mother sighed
in frustration. It was a good thing she was extremely superstitious
and refused to enter the forest.
"Why not? He's a perfectly respectable man honey. He's the King's cousin!"
Rhea rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I don't care who he is! He's a nice man but I do not love him."
"Sweetheart, no one marries for love anymore. It's the title that's important."
"Well I'm not marrying him unless it's for love. And I certainly don't love him. Call off the wedding and I'll come home." She waited patiently for her mother's response, but none ever came. "Mama?" She moved some branches to peer at where her mother was standing. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She didn't like the look of sorrow on her face.
"I'm sorry you feel that way." Her eyes were wet and she took a deep breath.
"Mama, please don't cry. What's wrong?" She reached her hand out but thought better of it. Her mom might try to pull her out of the woods and then she'd be stuck in the same predicament.
"You're not going to come home." She hiccupped and wiped at a lone tear that escaped.
"Just call off the wedding. Please?"
Her mom shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm afraid that's impossible at this point."
Rhea nodded stiffly, looking down at the ground. "I want to stay with you mama. But I can't marry him. I won't marry him. I'm sure Kylie would make a perfect wife for him." She knew her sister would jump at the chance to marry into royalty, so why not throw her in there.
Her mom watched her with sad eyes. "Please don't leave us. We love you honey. Can't you just stay and marry him for us?" Rhea watched her for a moment before shaking her head.
"I'm sorry mama, but I have to go now." Her mom jumped forward to the very edge of the woods, reaching in for her but jumped back a second later as if she were burned.
She blinked rapidly, clearing her vision. She turned and hurried further into the woods, ignoring the throbbing pain in her knees and hands. She glanced down noticing the blood on her dress where her hands clutched it tightly.
She bit her lip, bearing the pain and continued deeper into the forest.
--
Rhea didn't know how long she'd been walking, or where for that matter. Everything looked the same to her. She stopped and turned slowly, looking in every direction. She sighed and turned the way she had been coming from. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. She had made this decision in the spur of the moment and didn't think it through. What about food? She hadn't even thought to bring any.
She swallowed, pushing thoughts of food away. Her stomach was already angry with her for not feeding it; best not make it any worse. She groaned and sat down on the ground, leaning against a rock. She brought her knees up, hugging her legs to her body and resting her cheek against her knees. Her eyes closed and she just noticed how tired she really was. Within moments she was fast asleep.
"Miss?" Something hard prodded her softly in the side. "Miss are you alright?" She frowned and swatted the object away.
"Go away, I'm sleeping..." She mumbled, turning her head away.
"What are you doing out here by yourself? And you're a lady at that!" She sighed and sat up, stretching her arms up. Obviously whoever was bothering her wasn't going away any time soon. She slowly wiped the sleep from her eyes and opened them. She squinted and looked up into the face of her waker.
"I was sleeping." She blinked, disoriented, and stood up using the rock for support. The man reached out, grasping her elbow to help her keep her balance.
"How did you end up out here?" Her eyes widened and her voice caught in her throat upon seeing the man. He was utterly beautiful. She could have gotten lost in those deep brown eyes if it weren't for his smile. This was enough to make her believe in love at first sight; and the way she was feeling made her suspect that it was.
"I-" Her voice cracked and she blushed, making his smile grow. "Long story." She mumbled, wringing her hands together. She would have looked at the ground, but she couldn't break her gaze away from the sight of him.
"What's your name?" He was eyeing her curiously, but not in a perverted way. It was as if he were sizing her up and trying to guess where she was from.
"Rhea." She had finally broken the spell he had upon her and looked down at her feet. Her quiet intake of breath made him follow her eyes to her hands and knees. The dress around her legs was a deep shade of red, the blood crusty from drying. Her hands looked just as bad. The wounds were barely visible under the caked blood. Her cheeks grew hotter, as she turned her hands away from him.
"Well Rhea, we should get you cleaned up. There's a stream just north of here." He kept his grip firm on her elbow as if daring her to run away or protest. "And while I'm helping you, I think you should tell me the long story. There'll be plenty of time." He smiled, and tugged her in the direction of the stream. She followed, her steps a little hesitant. He walked slow, keeping his grip on her loose yet firm enough so she wouldn't try to run away.
The walk to the river was silent as she mulled over whether or not to tell a complete stranger why she was in the woods. Although, she felt as if she had known him before, or at least seen him some where.
"Are you going to explain now?" The stream came into view and it only took a couple seconds to reach it. He found a flat area next to it and sat her down, crouching beside her. He pulled her hands into the current, ignoring her hiss of pain. "Leave them there." He commanded as he let go of her hands to tear off a piece of cloth from his tunic. He then used the piece to scrub softly at the dry blood. This time when she hissed, she pulled her hands to her body and glared at him.
"That hurts!" He sighed and nodded, clutching her hands again and pulling them back into the water a little more forcefully.
"It's going to hurt a little." She scoffed and continued to glare at him.
"Now tell the story." He glanced up at her, any traces of annoyment gone.
"Fine, if you must know." She was suddenly conscious of how he would think of her. Would he think it silly? Or maybe selfish? "I'm running away." He waited patiently for her to continue. When she didn't, he stopped his scrubbing and looked up at her.
"And what is the reason for your running away?" She sighed and watched as he finished with one hand and went onto the next.
"My hand has been offered in marriage and I do not want to marry him. I do not love him." He nodded and she was unable to tell what he thought of it. "Do not think me silly or selfish. My being gone gives my sister a chance with him. And I want her to be happy too. Why not, as they put it, kill two birds with one stone. I'm happy and she's happy." He paused in his scrubbing to look up at her.
"But you aren't happy. I can see it in your eyes. You want to go home, but you can't." She stared back into his eyes before sighing.
"I'm happy enough." He watched her examine her hands before grasping her leg in his palm. He began to pull up the dress before he hand slapped his away. "What do you think you're doing?" She demanded, a scowl etched across her gentle face.
"I'm washing your knees. Do you want them to get infected?" She blinked a couple times, having completely forgotten about those wounds before nodding. She slid her dress up to just above her knee, making sure her legs were tightly pushed together.
"Any funny business and I'll chop your fingers off." She growled, not getting the response she wanted. He just laughed it off and ripped off a new piece of cloth to wash her legs. She watched him intently, partly because she wasn't sure if he would try something and partly because she wanted to figure out where she knew him from. "Who are you?"
He stopped washing her first knee to look up at her. "Why do you ask?" He wasn't sure how she would react in finding out he was Prince Caspian X.
She shrugged. "Firstly, you're helping me and I'd like to know the name of the man who helped me. Secondly, you look mighty familiar and I might be able to figure out where I've seen you from if I knew your name."
"Promise not to over react?" She nodded eagerly, scooting a little closer to him. He went back to washing her knee and finished it quickly, moving to the next one. "I am Prince Caspian X." She froze, watching his face; he refused to look at her.
"Are you serious?" Her voice wavered as she stared unblinkingly at his beautiful face. "I knew I recognized you!" She exclaimed, smiling in excitement. "You just looked so familiar and it was eating at me that I couldn't place you!" She laughed and he looked up at her in surprise. "Now I feel silly for not figuring it out earlier. It's just that you haven't been around the city in a couple of months. The image of you wasn't fresh in my mind. Forgive me your majesty for forgetting you." She bit her lips, feeling as if she would burst from excitement. She had met the Prince!
"Please just call me Prince Caspian. No 'your majesty' business here." He was still slightly in shock at her reaction. "And there's no need to be apologizing fair lady." He smiled slightly, and quickly finished her knee before pulling the skirt of the dress down over her knees. He stood up, offering her a hand, which she gladly took. "All done. Now, would you like an escort back to the city?"
Her smile faded and she shook her head, backing away from him just a little bit. Truth be told she didn't want to move away; she wanted to be closer to him.
"I'm not going back to the city your maje-" She stopped, her lips curving up just an inch. "Prince Caspian, with all due respect, I'm not going back. I thank you for helping me clean up but I must bid you farewell." She curtsied and turned on her heel, heading in the opposite direction.
Caspian stood there dumbfounded for a moment before scrambling after her. "Wait!" He caught up to her quickly. "Where are you going to go?"
She shrugged, picking up her dress again so she wouldn't trip. "Anywhere but the city. Maybe I'll try to get to Narnia. I've head many great things about the place, but I've never been there myself."
She was thankful that she had put on her flat shoes this morning; anything with a heel would have slowed her down and could have easily hurt her.
"I'll go with you them. I know the way and a lady shouldn't be alone in a forest. You need me and my sword to protect you." She laughed and stopped walking to look at him. It took him a second to realize she stopped and he turned to look at her. "What?"
"Thank you for your kindness Prince, but I think I can take care of myself." He grinned, clearly amused.
"I'm afraid you've got no choice in the matter, Rhea." She felt a small thrill shoot through her body as her name spilled out of his lips. She put her hands on her hips, shaking off the feeling. Now was not the time for that.
"Fine. You can come with." She scowled at him, but as she walked ahead where he could not see her face, a small smile broke through.