Chapter Two
Someone asked me in a review where Ciera was. Well, here she is! Enjoy :)
The sword fight went rather well.
"You've grown stronger my friend," Caspian complimented.
"It seems I have," Edmund gasped, giving his sword back to a crew member. Caspian wondered up to the helm whilst Edmund took a drink from someone, thanking them.
"Edmund, do you think, if we sail to the end of the world, we'll just . . . fall off the edge?" Lucy asked as she came and leant against the railing with him.
"Don't worry Lucy, we're a long way from there," Edmund answered, sipping his drink.
"I see you're still talking nonsense and drivel," Eustace said as he came from below deck.
"Are you feeling better?" Lucy asked in a somewhat kind voice.
"Yes, no thanks to you. It's lucky I have an iron constitution," Eustace replied and Reepicheep joined them.
"As effervescent as ever, I see," he said. Eustace looked irritated. "Find your sea legs?"
"Never lost 'em. Simply getting over the shock of things. Mother says I have an acute disposition, due to my intelligence," he said cockily. Edmund choked on his drink.
"I don't think he has a cute anything," Reepicheep said.
"I'll have you know that as soon as we find civilisation, I'm contacting the British Consul. Have you all arrested for kidnapping," he said and walked straight into Caspian. Edmund almost laughed.
"Kidnapping, is it?" he asked and tinkling laughter was heard.
"I thought we saved your life," a female voice said. Eustace whirled around and his jaw dropped open. Caspian was smirking AGAIN at Edmund. Eustace seemed to regain himself.
"You held me against my will! In, what I must say, are the most unhygienic quarters. It's like a zoo down there!" he yelled.
"He's quite the complainer, isn't he?" Reepicheep commented.
"He's just warming up," Edmund added.
"Well, he better cool down," said the female voice, entering Edmund's line of vision. She was wearing black leather knee high boots with a slight heel over tight brown trousers. An off the shoulder white top was visible underneath an emerald green, one shouldered wrap with gold stitching. The entire ensemble showed her muscled figure, the result of vigorous training regimes, Edmund assumed. She had bright red hair lightened by many hours in the sun and she was, no mistake, royalty.
"Princess," Caspian greeted. The woman snorted.
"Don't call me that Caspian. Now, you must be Eustace Clarence Scrubb. I've heard so much about you from Reepicheep," she said in a tone that was caught between charming and amused and Eustace actually blushed as his feet shifted nervously. Edmund never thought he would see the day when Eustace was intimidated by a female.
"Who are you?" he asked in a strangled tone. Edmund choked to hold back his laughter.
"That's information for later. Now, if you so believe that we are holding you against your will please feel free to jump overboard. Otherwise, I don't want another word of complaint about the conditions on the ship, or any complaints at all really. Understood?" she asked and Eustace looked shocked. Edmund was extremely impressed by this woman.
"I don't have to take orders from you!" he protested. The woman laughed in a way that made Edmund's stomach do wonderful back flips.
"I have the authority and I'm willing to use it," she threatened although Edmund detected a slight hesitance. Eustace puffed out his chest.
"I demand to know who you are!"
"I'm Princess Ciera the Fierce, pleasure to meet you," she said and Edmund gaped. Lucy gasped. Eustace continued staring at her.
"Land ho!" the man in crow's nest called.
"Stop staring, it's rude," Ciera said to Eustace, turning away from him and hitting him in the face with her shining hair. She faced Edmund and his heart stuttered as their eyes made contact; they were still as green as he remembered. But her eyes couldn't hold his for long as his drifted across her face. She was older, more mature in her beautiful features but that wasn't what caught his attention. He noticed her smile sadly as he focused on the three raised scars running from the centre of her forehead diagonally across her face to her left jaw line. They were a pink colour caught between dark and angry and pale. There was no missing them. A surge of anger pulsed through Edmund as he thought of who had caused his Ciera, his angel, to be marred in such a way.
"Might I present her Royal Highness, Princess Ciera the Fierce," Caspian said, standing next to her in an obvious attempt to break the tension building, mostly from Edmund. It occurred to Edmund that he finally knew why Caspian had been smirking and he also understood the sad look. He'd known how Edmund would react. An adorable scowl lightened Ciera's face.
"Caspian stop using my title. I only said that to shut Eustace up," she complained. Caspian laughed.
"I'll leave you for a moment. Prepare to land," Caspian said and walked off. Ciera looked between Edmund and Lucy.
"You certainly wear those clothes better than I do, Lucy Pevensie," she said to the bouncing girl. Lucy leapt on her, hugging her tightly. Ciera hugged back just as hard and Edmund saw a bright smile light up her face. He was thrilled to see that the scars didn't affect the smile. He knew Ciera was scarred but this was so different than her wrists. These were right out in the open for everyone to see and they were horrific to look at. He supposed he was biased but he couldn't help but also think the scars represented Ciera's personality: strong, a fighter, a survivor.
"I knew I wanted to meet you!" Lucy was squealing. Edmund paid full attention as the two females released each other. A thought suddenly sprang to Edmund. If she was Princess, did that mean that she and Caspian were together? The King had mentioned her when talking about possible brides. And he was very affectionate towards her and her towards him. Edmund couldn't help but wonder. Ciera gave Lucy an affectionate smile before turning towards him in a hesitant manner. He guessed he was right in his wonderings. The youngest Pevensie glanced between the two of them then casually sauntered away.
"I kept my promise Edmund, just like you kept yours," she said assuredly as though she read his thoughts. He simply stared at her and watched as her face fell when he didn't react. He felt extremely guilty all of a sudden and took her into his arms, noticing how much taller she'd gotten but still didn't reach his height. She fitted snugly under his chin. He breathed a sigh of relief when her arms wrapped around him and he inhaled her wonderful scent (sea salt, rain and a perfume he identified as lilies).
"Oh how I've missed you," he whispered and he felt her smile against his neck. She pulled away and brought her hand up to his cheek.
"As I missed you," she said although she seemed quite confused. Knowing her as well as he did, Edmund knew that she was bewildered by his lack of reaction to her face. But her hand on his cheek was heavily distracting and he couldn't take it anymore. He lowered his lips to hers and she gasped, wrapping her arms around his neck immediately and he wrapped his arms as securely as possible around her waist. It was so much better than he remembered but she tasted just the same. In his euphoria at having found her again, he lifted her up and she giggled lightly, wrapping her legs around his waist. He didn't care if she was now technically older than him, she was here and he was here and that was all that mattered.
"That is disgusting." Edmund was going to kill Eustace. He slowly brought his lips away from Ciera's and gently put her down, turning to his cousin who was grimacing greatly.
"Did you want something?" Ciera asked calmly. Eustace looked positively scandalised, much to Edmund's glee.
"Honesty Edmund, can you not control yourself? You don't even know her," Eustace moaned. Ciera smirked which made Edmund smirk too.
"What makes you think that he doesn't know me?" Ciera asked casually. Eustace didn't seem to have an argument.
"Well, your public displays of affection are horrendous. Please refrain from them," Eustace said. Edmund was beginning to lose his temper but Ciera's soothing hand on his arm kept him from punching his irritating cousin.
"I thought we talked about complaining and you stopping it. Remember, Lucy may have problems with throwing you overboard but I do not. Just bear that in mind," she said and walked off laughing, taking Edmund with her, his arms still wrapped tightly around her waist.
ECECECECEC
Ciera took him to Caspian's cabin and locked the door, letting him know through action that she wanted a private conversation. Edmund perched on the bed and watched with amusement as Ciera flushed furiously upon seeing where he was seated. Instead of saying anything about it, she came and sat delicately next to him, carefully tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear. She readjusted herself so that she was sitting fully on the bed and cross legged. Edmund looked at her expectantly but realised he'd have to make the first move. Never being one for many words, Edmund simply reached up and ran his fingers along the puckered scars. They were smooth to touch. Ciera's eyes closed at the contact but she didn't flinch away, merely donning a look of pure sadness.
"You don't care," she stated, eyes still closed. Edmund cupped his hand around her cheek and waited until the grey-green orbs were looking at him again.
"No, I don't care. Why should I?" he asked, wondering what her answer would be. He knew she was self-conscious; it was a long time flaw of hers that continued to exist. She looked startled that he would ask such a question.
"Edmund, these scars are an eyesore. I wasn't exactly pretty before but these ruin everything," she said quietly. He had figured that it was something along those lines and he pulled her into his chest in comfort.
"Do you remember that conversation we had when Peter and Miraz were fighting, after I put my foot in my mouth?" he asked and she nodded.
"About scars," she answered.
"Yes, and you said that you thought I accepted you: scars and all. I told you that I did and without your scars, you wouldn't be my Ciera. Well, the same goes for these ones. They're different but you'll never stop being beautiful to me. These scars prove that you're strong," he said, using more words than usual. Her head left his chest and she looked into his eyes with her own watering greatly.
"What amazes me is that you are telling the truth," she said in awe. Edmund grinned.
"I can't lie to you. It just doesn't work," he told her. She giggled and curled up against him as he stroked her hair. He was so glad to be back.
Well, there you have it. I'll give you three guesses when we find out how Ciera got her lovely new facial feature. Love Bianca :) x
