Hello everyone! And welcome to this other little story! :)
This is just a little one-shot that I am dedicating to my lovely follower, maddie-babz1993! ;) For those of you who are not aware, she was the 100th reviewer in my other Narnia story, Adventures and Romance on board the Dawn Treader, and I told her that as a little kind of prize, I would write a one-shot in her honor. So here it is! So this little thingy down there is set after the movie PC and obviously the Pevensies stay in Narnia! Just a fluffy, lovey-dovey story as requested by my dearest friend Maddie! Well, at least I hope it is! :P I hope you all liked it but especially you Maddie! Please leave me a review! :D Love, kate xxx
"Pssst!"
Queen Susan's head jerked briskly at the hiss that cut through the peaceful silence.
She looked over her shoulder, cerulean eyes scanning the area to locate the owner of that hiss.
She caught a shadow motioning violently to follow him, for it was a man's shadow, and so she did.
She walked carelessly through the wide corridor of the now restored Cair Paravel, her heels' clapping sound echoing through the cold, stony walls of the castle.
Cair was almost lifeless for it was midnight and even the gentlest of sounds seemed too loud than they normally would.
She turned to the corner she had seen the shadow and a soft smile graced her full lips at the sight of the young High King Caspian supporting his muscular back against the wall with his arms crossed on his chest, waiting impatiently for her.
"Hi..." Susan's timid voice made his face break in a cheeky grin.
"Good evening, Your Majesty. I fretted for a moment you would not come."
"Forgive me for the delay but Lucy… she invaded my chambers and crawled on my bed begging me to tell her a story! I am sure you're familiar with Lucy's angelic smile that makes you grant her every wish!"
"I am indeed!" he almost laughed in a whisper before they both became silent.
The Gentle Queen had to look away in embarrassment when she noticed his intent stare at her. It wasn't making her uncomfortable, just awkward. She felt as though his chocolate orbs penetrated her blue ones and saw right into her soul. She almost felt naked.
"Well, we've not got all night!" Caspian broke the silence after a moment. "And we'd better head downstairs before King Peter runs into us and gets the wrong idea!"
With a faint nod and a soft, shy smile, she accepted his open palm and let him lead her hurriedly wherever he had planned to.
The day before, as Susan had been watching her older brother and the Telmarine King practicing swordfighting as usual, she got the sudden wish to be taught how to handle a sword as well. She found the skill of swordfighting quite impressive and challenging. And the Archer Queen of Narnia just loved challenges.
So she had asked of her brother to teach her but since he refused, Caspian eagerly offered his help provided Peter would not be aware of their secret lessons. And Susan was more than happy to accept his generous offer.
Caspian had never been intimidated by the young King but he did not wish to destroy the friendship that had started to form between the two of them since the end of the Narnia Revolution.
"Caspian, where are we going?" Susan asked laughing as he dragged her gently through the corridors and down the endless stairs of the great castle.
"Well, as I told you before, you need to learn to trust your senses before we started our lessons. You can't rely only on your eyesight. So we are going to check on how good your other senses are. If that's all right with you?"
"You're the teacher! I'm the pupil! So lead on!"
Soon she found herself out of the castle, practically running among the bushes and trees of the magnificent Royal Garden before finally ending up in a small room next to the stables. Susan had been in there a couple of times. The Kings kept their weapons safely in that little room. They had asked to have her quiver with their swords too but she preferred to always keep it in her room. She could never know when she would have need of it.
As she looked around the small room, she noticed that the usually covered in weapons and clothing table was almost empty and only two dry brunches were resting on it. She only hoped they didn't belong to a dryad or a dancing tree. "Professor, can you please tell me what we're doing in here?"
"Hold on." He mumbled looking around the room for something and let a delighted 'ha!' when he located what he needed. He quickly walked around her and before she knew what was happening she found a black scarf gently wrapped around her skull, blocking her eyes from the rest of the world and everything went black. "As you have probably realized, you can't really see anything."
"You don't say...!" She said mockingly, her playful tone not missing his notice but he chose to ignore it. Getting playful with the Queen would only distract him and he would forget what he had originally meant to do.
"You must have also noticed how even the faintest of sounds seem louder than when you could see. So we are going to exercise your hearing. I want you, before you start handling the sword, to be able to hear your enemy. When they come to attack you from behind, you will be able to defend yourself much easier. Plus, you'll have the element of surprise, not they. Am I making myself clear?"
He had been so excited with their first secret lesson that he wasn't sure whether the words leaving his lips made any sense. But apparently they were or she was extremely smart since she nodded with an amused smile.
"Inescapably clear, professor!"
"Good. I am going to be moving around you and try to attack you with this brunch. Here, you take this one." He took her hand in his, gently placed a brunch in her palm and closed her fingers around it. Noticing the blush on her already pink cheeks, he grinned to himself and continued. "So starting from now, I want you to shout out loud each time you think you have located me and try to block my brunch with yours. Through your hearing, of course. Understood?"
"Yes but how will I be able to block you when I don't know how to?" she rested a hand on her hip and she suppressed a chuckle when an 'Oh!' of realization escaped him.
He had obviously forgotten that part.
"You aren't familiar with the swordfighting terms, are you?" he guessed and sighed when she shook her head negatively.
She slightly removed the scarf so he could demonstrate her. "Well, I will be always attacking you with my blade-."
"It's a brunch." She corrected laughingly.
"Yes, with my brunch raised above my head like this so you will-."
"I got it, prof. I know how to block this. We can start." She had the scarf back on in an instant and to Caspian's dreamy and imaginative eyes, she seemed as if she was born to take that little challenge.
So they started their lesson.
She practically struggled to listen to his footsteps but they were light as a cat's and her heavy breathing that was dominating the serene silence was making it even more impossible for her to hear him. So managing successfully to even her breathing, a soft grin formed on her lips when she heard his light breath and soft but not quiet footsteps on the wooden floor.
"Right!" she exclaimed zealously and without hesitation she turned to her right, raising her pretend sword in a blocking position and was not surprised when she felt the pressure of his own on hers. "I got it? I did, I got it!" she bounced up and down in excitement and had she been able to see she would have jumped on him and kissed him on both cheeks, a thought she decided to push away since it caused her to blush violently.
"Let's do it again." she egged him on.
"Most certainly!" he replied challengingly and distanced himself. They repeated that several times. Susan was delighted to have failed only twice out of the ten times they had practiced it. To both of them it was more like a game. But that game got boring after a while.
"This is just lame. I want a sword, Caspian!" she sounded almost like a six-year-old girl who wanted her father to buy her a doll. She heard him chuckle almost adoringly at her reaction and her heart melt. She wasn't sure whether the High King returned the love she had for him but she knew he wasn't uninterested in her too.
"You'll have it, my Queen. Now, let's do this one last time and I'll let you return in the comfort of your bed." He promised when she failed in swallowing down a quite unladylike yawn.
"Fine. But just one time!" she raised a scholastic finger. Hearing him laugh heartedly and amused from behind her she realized she was pointing her finger at empty space and she felt extremely embarrassed. "Oh, gimme a break! I'm a little blind at the moment!" she tried to defend herself jokingly.
Taking her usual readied position, she heard the Telmarine moving around the room but somehow, he managed to keep the sound of his boots down and somehow he got her confused.
No sound was heard in the room except her own breathing and she started feeling more and more anxious.
She turned her head to her right and left, hoping to catch a sound but still nothing.
"Caspian?" she called out his name checking if he had not left her but with a frown she remembered that even if he were still there, he would not give away himself.
But she insisted.
"Caspian, are you still here? I surrender I can't hear you."
And still no sound.
"Caspian, this isn't funny! I told you I surrender!" she practically exclaimed annoyed and irritated and spun on her heels hoping to get a sound of hi that time.
But instead of listening to his breathing, she felt it.
She felt the warm air he exhaled brushing the velvet skin of her neck and exposed, by her gown's v-neck, chest. It caused her skin to erupt in goosebumps and the hairs of her neck stand on end. She had never felt him this close and the fact she could not actually see him was making her heart race in anxiety.
"Surrender?" he breathed and she could feel him closing the distance between them as his hot breath tingled her lips. "You wish to surrender, my Queen?"
"I wish to surrender, my King."
Under any other circumstance, she would have incredibly felt stupid repeating these words again but now what she felt was excitement and desire.
"I'm an enemy." He reminded her of their little practicing game but instead of being playful, his voice was full of passion. "But I'm the perfect enemy to surrender to."
"Yes." She whispered and she would have said more had she not been interrupted by the gentle touch of his lips on hers. She instantly responded, snaking a hand at the back of his head and the other one clinging on his shirt pressing him harder against her.
He smiled at her approval and softly bit her lower lip, requesting her to deepen the kiss and his request had been instantly granted. They let all their passion and love they had tried for days to hide from everyone pour into that kiss and show to one another how much they both needed to be together, how perfect they were for each other.
Caspian brushed his hands on her soft skin as he reached for the black scarf and removed it hastily before cupping her face with both hands again. He sensed her smile a little when a contented sigh escaped him and that only made him more demanding and lustful in the kiss.
When he had been planning that night, he was very hesitant whether she would accept him or reject or even slap him across the face. When he felt her pulling him closer to her, his heart soared, his doubts of her not loving him all blown away by the wind of love and bliss that was now prevailing them both.
She carefully pulled away and was glad to be rid of the darkness. She opened her eyes and a smile graced her lips seeing his eyes were still gently shut. Without hesitating, she placed a small, chaste kiss on his nose that made him blink and gaze in her sapphire eyes with amusement and love.
"Tomorrow at midnight." She breathed as he rested his forehead on hers. "And I won't accept to work with make-believe swords next time."
"Whatever pleases my Queen she shall receive."
He bowed deeply and she gave him a quick kiss on the lips before she run in the gardens and back in the castle.
He stared at her running form until she was out of sight but when he started heading back himself, the figure of a young King watching from above caught his eye. Had they been caught? Well, he didn't care. There were always the practicing fields for their little lessons. And a voice in him told him these lessons would be varied by different kinds of training.