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grapejuice101- Thank you so much for the review! Here's another chapter for you. :)
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LovingBOBThePacific- I'm very happy to see that you like Dela! And there's no need to thank me, you're story is awesome! I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)
And that's wrap for the review responses! Thanks for reading and reviewing so much and I hope you like this chapter as well!
Chapter 2:
"Dela, why don't you check on the boy. . . He should be waking up soon," Trufflehunter said to her from the kitchen, where he was currently pouring some soup into a small bowl.
"You said you were going to get rid of him," Nikabrik said from the table.
"Nikabrik, please," said Adelaide, trying not to start another argument that would end with Trufflehunter sitting on the dwarf's head. . . again.
"I said I would take care of him," Trufflehunter continued. Directing at her, he wondered, "Do you think he'll like my soup?"
She shrugged, "Everyone likes your soup."
While Nikabrik muttered, "I don't Dela hit him hard enough."
Hearing this, the badger scolded, "Nikabrik, he's just a boy!"
"Oh, not again," Adelaide sighed as the two began to argue, getting up to go see the Telmarine.
"We can't kill him now, not after bandaging his head. . . It would be like murdering a guest."
"Ah, and how do you think his friends are treating their guest?"
Trumpkin, Adelaide thought with sadness.
"Trumpkin knew what he was doing. It's not the boy's fault," the bagder lowered his voice, looking at Adelaide as she nodded.
Finally, Adelaide started for her room but the Telmarine bolted for the door instead. Having little time to react, she grabbed for her sword at the side of her chair and pointed at him.
"This is how you thank us? By running away?" she said to the Telmarine that reached for the closest weapon. The words came out harsher than she intended, but that didn't stop her from trying to stop the young man to leave without an explanation first.
"Stop! No! Dela, stop! Hey!" Trufflehunter shouted as she slashed her sword at the Telmarine boy, he fighting back with a fire poker.
"I told you we should've killed him when we had the chance," said Nikabrik as the frightened boy retreated to take a seat on one of the steps that lead to Adelaide's room.
Her sword was still held at his neck, threatening to cut it off if he made a move.
"But we can't," she spoke, staring right into the Telmarine's dark-brown eyes that looked almost black next to the burning fireplace.
Her words surprised Caspian, as the girl looked more like she wanted to kill him than to spare his life. She did have her sword pointed at him after all, but something in her green eyes told Caspian that she posed no threat to him. Still, he did not move or speak, but he did study the girl- Dela, he remembered.
The girl had to be no older than him, he guessed. With her strawberry-blonde hair braided back into a messy bun that was held by white, black-tipped feathers, he could see that her eyes were a soft green color that stood out against her fair, creamy-white skin. Now that she wore no cloak, he realized how her green-brown tunic dress fit her slim and slender figure so well, and it was hard for him to take his eyes off her as the black dwarf spoke again.
"We can't let them go! He has seen us!" he argued with her.
She put on a pensive look on her face before finally saying, her voice dark as she smirked, "How about I cut out those gorgeous eyes, instead? His tongue, too, while we're at it. Let's see how he can communicate without his tongue, shall we?"
Trufflehunter's eyes were as wide as the dish he dropped, not believing what Adelaide just said.
The Telmarine seemed scared out of his wits, too, but Nikabrik smirked while she tried to hold back a laugh.
Finally, not being able to it any longer, she burst out laughing, "I'm joking!"
Relief crossed the young Telmarine's features and he relaxed his tense muscles as she lowered her sword, giving him an apologetic smile before having a seat at the table where Nikabrik seemed rather disappointed that it was all a joke.
Trufflehunter picked up the wooden bowl on the floor, scolding her, "Adelaide, look what you made me do! I spent half the morning on that soup."
"Sorry, Trufflehunter. Don't worry, I will mop the mess," she replied apologetically, getting up again to get the mop and bucket.
While she mopped the floor and Trufflehunter went to get another bowl of soup for the boy, the Telmarine asked, "Wh-what are you?"
"It's funny. You'd think more people would recognize a badger when they saw one," Trufflehunter said from the kitchen, earning a smile from Adelaide as she put the mop in the bucket.
"No. No, I mean. . . you're Narnians?"
"In the very flesh and bone," Adelaide smiled, putting the bowl of hot soup at the table for him. "Here, take a seat," she offered him her seat.
He stood up from were he lay and took a seat at the small table, thanking her, and continued, "But you're supposed to be extinct."
"Well, sorry to disappoint you," Nikabrik said sarcastically. Angrily, he added, "Since when do we own a boarding house for Telmarine soldiers?"
"I'm not a soldier!" the boy defended, standing up from the chair. "I'm Prince Caspian. . . the Tenth."
Taken back, Nikabrik asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Running away," Caspian lowered his gaze to the fire, his eyes sad as he proceeded, "My uncle has always wanted my throne. I suppose I have only lived this long because he did not have an heir of his own."
Adelaide placed the mop and bucket against a wall, feeling sorry for him.
"Well," Trufflehunter looked from Caspian to Nikabrik at the table, "that changes things."
"Yes," Nikabrik nodded. For a moment, he sounded sincere, but then he added, "That means we don't have to kill him ourselves."
"Nikabrik, stop being an ass!" Adelaide blurted, tired of his mean comments towards Prince Caspian.
Offended and mad, Nikabrik raised his voice as he told her, "As opposed to how you were moments ago?"
"I was only joking," Adelaide defended herself. She pointed a finger at the black dwarf, "You, on the other hand, are being a complete-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence, as Trufflehunter interrupted, "That's enough! Or do I have to sit on both your heads?" The room went silent then.
Caspian walked to the door, Adelaide asking, "What are you doing?"
"My uncle won't stop until I'm dead," he answered and put on his vest armor.
"Wait, you can't leave! You're meant to save us! Don't you know what this is?" Trufflehunter told him, holding up the ivory horn.
Caspian looked back at the horn and everyone went silent for a moment.
Then, Adelaide said to the Prince, "Why don't you take a seat and we'll explain things?"
Reluctant, he put his things down before sitting down and letting the Narnians tell him all about Queen Susan's horn.
He listened attentively while he ate, noticing how Adelaide's smile would brighten when she talked about the Kings and Queens of Old, and he wondered how more beautiful could she be?
A/N: This is a short chapter, I know, but it's the best I could do in the middle of studying for another final exam. Gosh, those pesky things never seem to go away! Anyway, I truly appreciate all of the reviews I've gotten so far! I've written a couple of Narnia fics a long time ago, when I totally sucked at writing, and I barely manage to get ONE review, so getting more than five is quite the magnificent surprise and. . . I won't bother you guys with my rambling anymore.
Don't forget, Adelaide's outfit for this chapter and the previous one are on my Polyvore account (link can be found on my profile). Please make sure you check those out, and pretty please leave a review below telling what you thought of this short chapter.
Thank you so much for reading/reviewing/adding this story to your list of favorites or alerts! I hope all you lovelies have an awesome day/night! :)