A/N: Ok. So that didn't take long :D This is the sequel to "Drawn to You." You definitely should read that first before delving into this story or else you will be pretty lost. Anyway, I've had more time than I thought I would, but I probably won't update as fast as I did last time…at least that's what I'm telling you so you can't get mad if that turns out to be true.
I don't own Narnia or the characters other than the OC's. Alright….here we go...
CHAPTER 1
Six months. That's how long we have been governing our country. In some ways, it has been exactly like I expected and also very different and surprising. As I expected, it is fairly routine. We meet with the council daily, and we have been pleased with the men who were elected and are now in office. We also interact with the people and assist in settling disputes and other various mild issues. Other than that, we build relationships and try to keep the peace in Narnia as well as within the walls of Cair Paravel. The hardest part for me is not being able to help everyone and keep them happy; however, it has been a lot better when I realized that we will never be able to please everyone. We rule with justice and fairness and we respect our laws. We can't do more than that.
But most important, by six months in, I realized that we can do this. Not that I had any doubt of our abilities, but rather, I had so many fears in becoming queen. I feared danger and war, politics and the time requirements for the position. But now, I have a healthy fear. A realistic fear—just enough to keep me focused on what is important. There are real challenges and dangers, but some of them we can't even control. So our time is spent on what we can control.
Since being crowned, we haven't even left the castle once for longer than a day. Caspian found a wonderful, trustworthy man to perform the duties of ambassador, so he has been taking all the trips to visit our allies throughout the land. I am also thankful that everyone we are close to, like Molly, Dr. Cornelius, and Glenstorm, all decided to make the move with us. Their families came too, of course.
What I am most thankful for though, more than anything else, is for Caspian. In some ways, our life reminds me of what it was like when we were kids. We used to spend every day together, learning and growing together. Now we do the same but have greater responsibilities. I had been terrified of losing so much personal time with him, but it has turned out to be the opposite. Since I'm queen, I stay with him all day and weigh in my opinions on matters. Like any married couple, we have had a few arguments here and there, but usually we will spend a few hours apart and by that time, we're desperate to reconcile. That's what has always worked for us, even when we were kids, so it's really no different now. And of course physically, we have the same level of desire for each other that we've always had once we realized how we truly feel about each other. Compared to others, there's no competition.
I'm just walking in the hallway to our room to find him when I hear his voice behind me.
"Anna! Wait up!"
I smile and turn to face him as he jogs up to me. My heart still flutters when I see him. He doesn't look too different as king, although he's grown out some facial hair. I didn't like it at first, mainly because he looks a little different. And it's scratchy, so he tries to keep it on the shorter side. But I've slowly come to appreciate it because he looks even more masculine. Not that he needs help with that, but I do like the way it shapes his face. He still has his entrancing dark brown eyes and long hair. And perfect lips, which I thoroughly enjoy kissing many times every day.
He finally reaches me and stands in front of me. "Hey there," he says cheekily in a low voice. I giggle because I love his personality more than I love any of his physical attributes. He cradles my face between his hands then he presses his perfectly soft, kissable lips against mine. We kiss a long time, since I hadn't seen him this morning. He had to get up before sunrise to assist Glenstorm with something important out in the woods. I don't even realize that we've moved until I feel my back press up against the wall. But then I push back and give him one last long kiss.
"We're still in the hallway," I say matter-of-factly.
He scrunches his face up. "Ugh. I know. But I missed you. And it was so boring this morning. We just had to go over some safety issues out there," he says, then wraps his arm around my waist. "All I could think about was being with you…" he gently tilts my head to the side and kisses my neck. "…alone…" There's another kiss even lower on my neck. "…in bed." He then sucks on my skin in that same spot.
I close my eyes and concentrate on the feeling of my skin between his lips and the ministrations of his soft but textured tongue. He even smells amazing. "Hmmm. Well, if I'm too much of a distraction for you, maybe I should go…" I say teasingly.
His grip on me tightens and he backs me against the wall again. He stops what he is doing to my neck and looks down the hallway. The guards patrol up here, but not as often as they used to. We're completely alone. He looks back at me, directly in my eyes. The next thing I know, he's pressed up against me and he pulls the bottom of my dress up to my thighs. Before I even realize what's happening, he pulls my right leg up around his waist and he pushes my underwear to the side and sinks a few fingers into my pussy. He starts slowly, moving them in and out of me, but it feels best when he curls his fingers towards him. Then his thumb starts rubbing against my clit. I close my eyes again and rest my head against the wall. He starts kissing and sucking on my neck again, so it doesn't take me long to get close to an orgasm.
"Don't stop. That feels so good."
He kisses me then pulls my bottom lip into his mouth. "Cum for me."
"Oh Caspian…" I say, and then my orgasm overtakes me. My muscles contract around his fingers as the indescribably amazing and concentrated feeling of my climax slowly subsides.
He looks rather smug as he wiggles his fingers around inside me one last time before pulling them out. I grab his wrist and bring his hand up, then lick his fingers clean. He's not the only one that can play dirty. He's so distracted as I suck on his fingers that he lets go of my leg. I drop his hand and walk the rest of the way through the hallway into our room. We should have been in here the whole time, but I have to admit there is a certain exhilaration of being out in the hallway.
I sit on the chaise lounge and he comes and curls up next to me. I know that he's tired, since he got up so early, so we take a nap for about an hour. When he wakes up again, he has to immediately meet with some of the council members about his time with Glenstorm this morning. Thankfully I don't have to attend with him. I'm alone in the room reading a book when Molly stops by since I told her to come by for a visit. We're closer now more than we ever were before. During our first week in Cair Paravel, I pulled her aside and asked if she would be Caspian and I's personal servant, and she accepted. Really she just spends a lot of time with me, but she does assist the other servants with projects sometimes. Now that she's in the room, we walk out to the balcony to take in the warm sunshine. She closes her eyes and tilts her head up towards the sun.
"Mmmmm. It's beautiful today. I needed a little sun."
"So you're just using me, then?" I say.
"Hey! You're the one who summoned me, remember?"
"Ah, yes. So I did. I don't need anything. It's just been a few days since I really talked to you."
"Sorry, Queenie. I've been pretty busy." It never takes her long to create new colorful nicknames. Lucky me.
"You've seemed a little distracted lately. Everything ok?"
"I'm fine." She answers just a little too quickly. I glare at her, disbelief plastered all over my face, which makes her look guilty. "Alright, fine. I guess there is something."
She's quiet for a few moments. "Are you going to tell me, or what?" I finally ask.
She looks over at me. "Yes, I'm just not sure where to begin."
"Well, what's it about?" I ask.
"Harman," she says. Harman is the man she started courting right around the time of our wedding. I'm surprised he's the reason for her to be a little off, though. They have always seemed to be a great couple and she's been very happy with him. Well, until now apparently.
"What about him?"
"Well, there isn't just one thing. It's not a big thing either. I don't know. I'm not making any sense, am I?"
I look over at her and I chuckle. "Not really."
"Tell me some of the things that have been happening. Maybe that'll help."
"He's seemed a little distant lately, for one thing. We're together almost every day, but he doesn't seem to be interested in talking. Like last night. I was telling him a story about Ty, and he didn't say a word. He barely even looked at me."
"Okay. What else?"
"Last week, he was supposed to be at work. I actually had to go down to the blacksmith for my job because I had to bring down a few of the swords to be sharpened. When I got there, he wasn't there, which is odd. So I left to come back to the castle, and I go the back way down some of the side streets. As I'm walking, I just happened to look down one of the other streets and I see him, but he was talking to some strange looking guy in a cloak. The man handed him something, but I couldn't see what. So then they both look around, like they're scared that they're being watched. And of course I'm still standing there, so they see me right away. Anyway, Harman starts acting strange and nervous and quickly says goodbye to the other guy he was talking to."
"That is strange. Did he say who the man was?"
"No. I asked him, and he said it was a private matter. But then he told me to go back to the castle since he had more to take care of. And he's been so reserved ever since that day. I don't know. I just have the feeling that something is off, you know what I mean?"
"Yah. And that is pretty strange. What do you think it could be?"
"I have no clue. But I told him this morning before I came to work that I wanted to talk to him tonight."
"That's a good idea. He should at least tell you why he's acting the way that he is."
"I hope he does. He's been so amazing so far."
"Do you love him?"
Even though she's bothered with his most recent behavior, her face lights up. "Yes, I do. We said it to each other about a month ago, actually. He even said it first. So I thought things were getting more serious, but now I don't know." She pauses for a moment. "How long was it for you and Caspian? To say I love you, I mean."
My face perks right up too. "Well, with us it was different, since we have always said 'I love you' to each other. But after we were finally together, I knew that we were in love. I just needed some time after breaking up with Stephen. And then a while after that, we went on a day trip away from the castle and we had our first kiss. Then we both admitted that we were in love." I smile just thinking about our first kiss. It seems so long ago. At least a year ago by now.
"Anna, that is the sweetest story!"
I can't help but blush a little. "It worked out with us. Maybe it will work out for you and Harman."
She smiles. "I hope so. Although I also wanted to tell you…"
She stops talking when she hears Caspian come in the room. He always comes in at the wrong times. "Do I hear Molly Mayhem?" He asks.
"Yes, my KING." She says loudly.
He comes and joins us on the balcony. "So, you're still upset that you can't call me Princey, huh?"
She rolls her eyes. "I'm still coming up with a better one. Don't you worry."
"Oh, I won't."
She looks back over at me. "Well, I better get going. I promised I would have dinner with Harman. Do you need anything before I go?"
"No, we're fine. And just talk to him about everything. I'm sure it will be fine."
She hugs us both then leaves.
Caspian wastes no time pulling me into his tight embrace. I settle comfortably into the arms of my husband. He kisses the top of my head.
"How is Molly?"
"She's okay. She thinks she is having problems with Harman. But do you want to know what I think?"
"Always."
I smile and kiss his neck. "I think he's getting ready to propose to her."
"Really?"
"Mmmhhmmm. He's been acting a little strange lately and she saw him getting a small package from someone in an alley. I think he was getting the ring! She said he started to act nervous when he realized she had seen him. I don't know for sure, but that's what it sounded like to me."
"Interesting. Well, I hope that's it. He seems good for her."
"Me too. I've always liked him."
"Did I act strange when I proposed?" Of course he gets stuck on that detail of the story.
I laugh. "Not really. You were just very excited and energetic that day."
"Well, of course. I knew you couldn't say no to this," he says, gesturing all over his body.
I slap him hard on the butt then rest my arms on his shoulders. "Well, I should have had second thoughts because you're so much trouble."
"Oh really? Well surely there are some benefits to our marriage, my lady." He says, picking me up. I wrap my legs around his waist.
"Hmmm. I seem to have forgotten them. Perhaps you can remind me, my dear king," I say, then press a few delicate kisses against his lips.
"In that case, there are many things I can show you…" he says, walking me inside.
The next day, Caspian and I meet with Dr. Cornelius in his office to review some policies. His new office in Cair is laughably familiar to his old one in the Telmarine castle, since he brought everything with him and arranged it in almost the exact same way. He told me that's how he finds what he needs, so at least it makes sense. But it is still funny because of how it is almost exactly like the old office. I did convince him to let Molly come in and help decorate a bit. And I insisted on a more comfortable seating arrangement, for his benefit as well as ours. No more uncomfortable chairs and benches.
Molly usually checks in on us in the morning to see if we need anything. She knew that we would be in here this morning, so it's unusual when she doesn't show up. I don't think anything of it, though. She's still been busy helping with the different departments of our wonderful servants, so it wouldn't be the first time she got pulled away for a different task. I shrug it off and spend the next few hours of the morning pouring over documents and having lighthearted discussions with the Professor and Caspian.
When it gets to be lunch, we wander to the kitchens. Ty is busy as always, rushing around and preparing food at various stages of completion.
"Good morning Ty!" I say.
"Well, good morning to you all. Go have a seat. I'll get your food right out to ya."
"Thanks. Actually I had a quick question, too. Have you seen Molly this morning?"
"Oh, no. I heard some of my girls say that she didn't come to work today."
I look at Caspian, concerned. He looks a little worried too, but he's trying to hide it. Unsuccessfully, I might add. "That's not like her. We need to go to her house, see what's happening," I say to him. I'm not sure why, but I have the feeling that I should have checked on her earlier. Something doesn't feel right. Normally if she was sick, she would send word somehow by coming in herself or telling someone on her behalf. She didn't do any of those things this time.
"I agree. I'll get a few guards, and then we can go," says Caspian. I hate that we assume that we need guards, but if there is a chance of any type of hostility, we need to be protected.
Her house isn't far, so it doesn't take us long to get there. I knock on the door, but there's no answer. I knock again and call her name. Same result. I look over at Caspian, who looks like he's thinking about our next options.
"Before we do anything else, let me go to her family's house. Maybe they know where she is. Or maybe she's with them," I suggest.
We leave a guard at Molly's and head over to there. They don't know where she is either. All they know is that she spent time with Harman last night. We tell them to stay in the house, but her mom refuses to stay, so she comes with us. I knock on Molly's door one more time, but there's still no answer. So that's it. The guards kick in the door, and it flies back with a loud crash. They go in first, and then I go in with Caspian and Molly's mom.
I was right to feel uneasy. We were right to kick in the door. The house is in chaos and there has clearly been a struggle here. Molly is gone. She has been taken.