The Gentle and The Telmarine

Chapter Two

First of all, thank you all so much for the positive feedback and all the Follows and Favourites; they truly motivate one like nothing else! Also, I am so very sorry for the long wait, but I hope this chapter makes up for it!

You will notice that Reepicheep is in Narnia and not Aslan's Country in this piece of fiction. That is because I wanted as many known characters as possible around to prevent confusion (I also kind of adore that little fella).

Without further ado, I ask you to let me know what you think, and hope you enjoy the second chapter to this story!

Love,

Lily

2.

The great King Caspian X of Narnia was, in a rare moment of solitude, lounging on a leather chair in his tent. In his hand rested a goblet, filled with dark red liquid, the only pleasure he allowed himself these days.

They had been pestering him again, his so called advisors.

Recent disturbances, caused by bandits in the lesser guarded regions of the kingdoms, had been the reason for Caspian's trip to this place. And while he and his fellow leaders had been talking about how to resolve the issue, more than one of them had made subtle comments on his age and unmarried state. It was a well known fact, that a king was vulnerable as long as there weren't sons or daughters around to succeed him.

These little digs had presented his advisors finally with the opening they had been waiting for, after the last time Caspian had told them off. So they were urging him to get married, get himself an heir, and then, as if it were the obvious next step, get himself a mistress. As if they were trying to sweeten the prospect of marriage, trying to assure him.

Morons, every single one of them.

He understood the part about an heir, but the rest?

He took a long sip.

To be fair, he understood the rest too, for it was the norm in their day and age. Get a noble wife, get an heir – preferably more than one – retire with a mistress. But whenever he thought of one of the women they kept introducing to him at his side, said woman suddenly lacked blue eyes, and long, black hair. Her smile was never gentle enough, her demeanour too mellow, too accommodating. She knew how to ride, but not how to fight, and she usually gasped in fear, or shock, or amusement at the Narnians.

He did not need an oracle to decipher the underlying meaning.

Almost a decade had come and gone since the last time any of the Pevensies had visited him; even more than that since he had last seen her. And through all that time, he had not managed to leave her behind. He did not want to forget her, for he cherished the memory of Susan Pevensie, the Gentle Queen of Narnia, too much. He would never dare to let himself forget, or even consider giving his heart to another woman.

And that was what held him back. He could not marry a woman when his heart belonged to another. And he could also not bring himself to lose hope. Aslan help him, that tiny shrivel of hope was the only thing getting him through the day at times.

It was in a state of wistful melancholy, his valet Mika found him in, some hours later.

Mika was a tall man, tanned, with dark hair and soft eyes. One of the closest confidants Caspian had. The young man was followed by Aleko, a large and intimidating soldier, the head of his Telmarine forces.

"The hawk has reported back movement from near the sea, Your Majesty," Aleko announced, just as Caspian became aware of tumultuous voices from outside. "A small group of foreigners has managed to come close without our...uh..."

Caspian furrowed his brows at his man, as he got to his feet. "Without you noticing?"

They had been expecting some difficulties on their way back from these damned talks. Caspian knew from the years trying to regain and keep the peace in and around Narnia that peace talks rarely ended without differences. How his men failed to notice the approach of potentially hostile groups was beyond him, though.

"Do you know who they belong to?"

Aleko shook his head. "Not yet, Your Majesty. They don't seem to be soldiers, however."

To say Caspian was confused would be the least. He had sent a part of their congregation already ahead, just in case something like this would happen, but as usual, he himself had stayed behind with the most capable of his soldiers, to make sure all the advisors and noblemen and women accompanying him would be safe from harm, before crossing the closest borders. Who would come so close without their knowing, unarmed?

That was, when something of an inkling awakened the dormant hope in his chest. Could it be?

The London-sun seemed to be nowhere in sight, as the Pevensies and their cousin landed. Susan looked around to see Lucy, Peter, Edmund and Eustace just as inelegantly on their bottoms as she was. It wasn't a pretty sight; all of them were quickly soaked by the heavy rain, and only clad in their light summer clothes. Brushing away her long hair, she tried to see beyond the falling drops.

"Are we...are we..."

Surrounding them were woods, and to their right, Susan could make out the storming sea through the trees.

"Is this Narnia? Are we back?" Eustace asked in a hurry, scrambling to his feet.

Susan wasn't sure. It didn't precisely look like Narnia. She knew every curve and every leaf, and these woods weren't the right shape.

"Not exactly," Peter affirmed her thoughts as he tried to shield his eyes. "This is Calormen."

Oh no.

The last time she had set foot to Calormen, Susan had almost been kidnapped by Rabadash, and as far as she knew from their last visit to Narnia, the tension between Calormen and the neighbouring countries had never quite disappeared, even though peace was reached.

"What?" Edmund looked around and let his shoulders sink. "You're right."

Peter turned to him with that authoritative look of his. "Of course I'm right."

Ignoring her brothers, Susan tried to gather her wits. Why were they here? What was the meaning of all this? They weren't supposed to return, none of them – well, maybe Eustace.

"We need to find out where exactly we are, and when exactly we are. Maybe Caspian is still alive?"

An ice dagger full of suppressed pain bored itself into Susan's chest, rendering her breathless. No. It was one thing to never see him again, but another to know he was dead. That couldn't be right anyway. Edmund and Lucy had seen him just a couple of days ago. Maybe a few years had passed, but surely not enough to have him dying?

"I think first we need to find a place to wait out this rain," Lucy interrupted the boys and grabbed hold of Susan's stiff hand, to pull her deeper into the woods.

It wasn't very clever to just blindly run somewhere, but the rain wasn't getting any lighter and they couldn't very well remain where they were, waiting for Aslan knew what.

"I think there is a clearing!" Edmund had outsprinted both girls and Eustace, while Peter was building the end.

Susan couldn't see much, as she was concentrating on not tripping over roots on the ground, and was caught off guard, when she ran into a hard back. Edmund had stopped. Susan tried to see past him, but before she even made the conscious decision, loud voices erupted, and she could make out movement beyond the line of trees.

There were many colourful tents in front of them and trumpets resonating. If the familiar fanfares or tents weren't indication enough, the minotaur who blew the trumpet was: they had stumbled upon a Narnian camp. And seeing what a grand affair it was, it could only mean royalty.

Soldiers, humans and animals alike, emerged from everywhere, halting in their tracks upon seeing them. Those were well-known faces, yes.

Susan's eyes darted from one end of the camp to the other, until they stopped at the opening of one of the smaller tents, where an achingly familiar figure appeared to see what was going on.

Susan's heart stopped as her eyes connected with his.

Caspian.

He looked right back at her, an incredulous expression forming on his clear-cut face, probably mirroring hers.

He had aged a little, Susan determined; while his hair was still shoulder length, his face sported a distinct but short beard. His posture seemed that of a man, not a boy anymore, although he couldn't be more than thirty years old. Despite the obvious changes, he still looked as handsome as she remembered.

Lucy's outcry interrupted their stare, as it was followed by a sprint and the younger girl launching herself at the King, who clumsily tried to catch her.

Susan managed to breathe again.

Following her brothers and cousin on shaky legs, they approached the warm and dry tents, to the noise of excited cheering and greetings. Susan wasn't even aware of the many bows in her direction, or the happy smiles she failed to properly return.

"Come inside, quick, you must be freezing," she could hear Caspian urge as she came closer, noticing the lack of the Telmarine accent. His voice had gotten deeper and it sent a chill down her already shivering body.

Once inside the biggest tent, Caspian stopped to take a good look at them. "How...how is this possible? What are you doing here?"

Edmund, who was being handed a towel by a maid, replied with a happy laugh. "That would be our question to you! We were just at home, telling Su and Peter about the Dawn Treader and the Lords, when we suddenly found ourselves in the midst of this blasted rain!"

Reepicheep, who had excitedly greeted them outside, and advised the attendants to bring towels and make a bigger fire inside the tent, emerged between the Telmarine soldiers and jumped up on a table. "Does this mean you had just returned, Sire?"

Lucy nodded immediately. "How much time passed here?"

Caspian's eyes darted around the group until they landed on Susan, who unsuccessfully tried to preserve some modesty as well as heat by wrapping her arms around herself. The sheer material of her dress clung to her form in an unfortunately revealing manner, something she had not expected having to deal with, as she put it on in sunny 1940's London. The King, realizing this, abrasively grabbed the towel from one of the maids, who was apparently not moving fast enough, and draped it over Susan's shoulders, shielding her. Taken aback by his sudden closeness, Susan didn't even notice the eyes that were immediately averted. She could feel his big hands coming to rest on her upper arms, until she grabbed the towel herself, at which point he stepped back in a hurry, leaving her in a different kind of breathlessness than she had endured before.

"Seven years."

At Caspian's announcement, Susan flinched. Seven years. That meant that it had been ten years since she had been last in Narnia, which thus meant, that their kiss had been ten years ago for him too, while she had barely gotten over the semester.

"But that makes no sense," Eustace felt the need to point out. "Didn't you tell me that when you returned one year after your first time, 1300 years had passed in Narnia, then only three years, and now seven while we were back only for two days?"

He was right, it didn't make sense. It seemed like the timeline between the two worlds was very...random.

"Don't overanalyze it," Peter advised his cousin, before slapping Caspian on the shoulder. "Good to see you, old chap. Thought we were done for a while."
Caspian nodded as suddenly the centaurs Glenstorm and his wife Windmane entered, followed by Trumpkin and other familiar faces.

The centaur quickly approached Peter and bowed respectfully. "King Peter, King Edmund", he turned slightly to the left, "Queen Susan, Queen Lucy. We are grateful to have you back."

Susan's chest ached at how Glenstorm addressed them. Peter nodded, just like he used to in the Golden Age, and Glenstorm rose from his position.

"This is our cousin Eustace Scrubb, but I assume, some of you have met him."

Reepicheep quickly pulled out his sword and bowed in between the greetings thrown his way by soldiers. "Master Scrubb."

Eustace, being a little out of his usual vigour, bowed his head in a humble way that surprised Susan.

It didn't take more than 10 minutes of excited talking by Lucy, Edmund and Reepicheep to update each other. Peter only smiled indulgently, while Susan still tried to get her bearings. Was it possible, that amidst all of her efforts to move on, she had lost her mind? That this was her brain's way of coping with the immense pain in her chest and the feeling of complete and utter loss, whenever she thought of Narnia? Whenever she thought of Caspian?

Watching him listen to Lucy's excitement, she was sure she couldn't have imagined him looking this attractive.

"Someone bring the trunk, they'll need their armour," Caspian interrupted the chatter and instantly some of the guards left the tent.

"The trunk?"

Caspian nodded at Lucy. "Old habits die hard. Even though you weren't set to return, I kept a trunk with all your belongings with me. This time there must be clothing in it too." His eyes weren't the only ones that wandered back to Susan's summer dress. He and Peter both made a small step closer to her, shielding her more than the towel could.

Susan blushed at this more than subtle action; but while she was thankful, her pride didn't let her play the damsel in distress and she lifted her chin, like the Queen she was.

And damn her, if she wasn't a true Queen.

Retelling herself that, she let Caspian lead her and her little sister to the smaller tent he had emerged from minutes earlier, obviously his own sleeping quarters.

"You can change your gowns in here, and I will have a second cot put in. I'm afraid we will have to spend the night, before we can catch up to the rest of our travelling party. It is not wise to travel before the storm passes over. And we will need to find out the circumstances that brought you back."

"You don't have to explain Caspian; we don't expect any more wonders." Lucy smiled serenely at him, as a maid entered the tent, loaded with garments.

He smiled at her and then left quickly, taking care to close the flap properly.

"Unbelievable that he kept these things around!"

Susan could only nod in agreement, as she watched the entrance from which he had just disappeared.

The maid proved to be efficient, as she quickly helped both girls out of their wet dresses and into Narnian garments, all the while eyeing their modern underwear curiously. Susan couldn't even begin to imagine what the woman must be thinking, but there was little point to dwell on it.

Caspian must have taken great care with choosing the dresses in this trunk. They were very similar to what Lucy and Susan had been wearing the last time they were here together, and also to the fashion in the Golden Age. Susan truly felt like she was becoming herself again, as she regarded herself in the beautiful silver-blue silk dress, adorned with lace and shimmering layers on the hem and cleavage.

This was surreal.

Just hours ago, while getting out of bed, she had struggled with the idea to face London, secretly wishing for the leaves to be greener, the people to be politer, for the animals to talk and laugh and for her outfit to include her bow and arrow, and now they were all in ultimate reaching distance.

And Caspian...

Susan smiled; for the first time in months, it even reached her eyes.