"Tessa?" whispered Caspian, gently shaking her from her sleep. She had finally slept for the first time since the nightmare. She lay on her side, his arms around her. "Tessa." he whispered. She groaned, rolling over and burying her face in his chest. He smiled softly, pressing his face into her hair. "Good morning, beautiful." he said as she blinked, her eyes full of sleep. "Good morning." she said softly. "How'd you sleep?" he asked, his arms secure around her. She felt more safe in those arms than she had ever felt before. "After my little, uh, performance, last night, fine." she murmured. He smiled, pulling her into a sitting position with her back pressed against his chest. "How bad was it?" she asked tentatively as he pulled all her hair over one shoulder to expose her neck. "Mmmm..." he whispered, dipping his head and raining kisses on her pale ivory skin. She sighed gently, "Please tell me." she whispered. "Tessa..." he said gently, whispering softly against her ear. "You're okay. Why should it matter how bad it was?" he asked, turning his attention back to her neck. She half smiled. "You're very good at trying to distract me..." she whispered, reaching up and twining her fingers in his hair. "But I really want to know." she said.
He smiled into her shoulder. "Trying?" he asked. "I thought I was doing a good job." he whispered. She mumbled something angrily. "Caspian." she said sternly. "Tell me." He sighed, pulling his lips away from her bare neck. "You were screaming and thrashing all over the place." he said, pain in his voice. "You were crying and I tried to wake you up, but you smacked me and covered your face, screaming about wanting people to leave someone alone. Edmund eventually pushed you down and we got you to wake up." he said. She sighed, looking down at the floor. "I'm so sorry." she whispered, and felt arms wrap around her waist and pulled her even closer. Turning her around in his arms, he looked into her pretty blue eyes. "Don't be sorry." he said gently. A tear slid down her cheek, but her face stayed the same. "But I put you through all that, you and Ed and Lu..." she whispered, her hands pressed against his chest. "Don't be sorry for something you had no control over." he breathed, cutting off her protest with a soft kiss. When he pulled away, she sighed. "Alright.." she whispered. He smiled, kissing her again. This time, he didn't pull away. Her hands slid up his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck as he pushed her gently to the floor underneath him. A small gasp escaped her lips as his mouth trailed down her jawline, her neck, her shoulder. "Caspian..." she breathed in his ear, tangling her fingers in his hair. "We.. we should stop..." Her words held no conviction and she knew she didn't want what she was saying. "Mmmm..." he breathed against her neck. "You don't sound so sure." His voice was full of amusement.
There was shouting from the deck, and it sounded as if someone was calling for Caspian. His head flew up as she sat up. "Come on." she whispered. Reluctantly, he pulled away and stood up, pulling her from the floor. As he walked away towards the door, Tessa following, he stopped, his hand on the handle. Turning around, he cupped her face. "Tessa, I love you." he whispered, brushing his lips against hers tenderly. "My Tessa..." he whispered, longing to stay with her as he opened the door. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him back to her, both their minds flashing back to the night when she had pulled him back to her, kissing him innocently and hesitantly. But this was different. Wrapping her hands around his neck, she kissed him once very, very softly, a butterfly kiss that he could barely feel. "I love you too.." she whispered, smiling and leading him out onto the deck. His heart skipped a beat when she whispered those words. Her fingers intertwined with his, as she led him onto the deck of people shouting as long boats were being loaded. There was an island about four hundred yards off shore, and it was obvious that that's where they were going. As Eustace climbed into the boat, he saw Tessa, walking out of the cabin with her hand in that King fellow, Caspian's. He glared, but shoved the image to the back of his mind. Tessa climbed down into the boat that sat Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace. Two of the crew members were working the oars, and Ed and Caspian rowed them too. Reepicheep climbed down into the other boat, standing on the prow. Eustace sat beside Tessa at the back of the boat. "I doubt the lords would have stopped here, my liege." said Reep, looking at the island as they rowed closer. "There's no sign of anything living." He was right, of course. It was rocky and sandy and dry, and even as they grew near, they couldn't find anything green in sight. Jagged rocks and boulders stuck out of the ground, and there were large cliffs in the distance. Nothing moved but the sand picked up by the slight breeze. Because of this, the island had a sad, isolated air about it, and it looked a sandy yellow color.
"Alright, Reep, when we get to shore, you and your men gather food and supplies. The four of us will search for clues." said Caspian, continuing to row and stealing a glance at Tessa, smiling. She grinned, looking away as blood rushed to her face. "Hang on." said an annoying voice. "You mean the five of us." Eustace was looking at them pleadingly as they turned, glaring at him. "Oh, come on, please don't send me back to the rat!" he begged. I suppressed a laugh as Reepicheep, still standing on the prow of the other boat, yelled over to him, "I heard that!" Eustace rolled his eyes and looked away, muttering "Big ears." "I heard that too!" yelled Reepicheep. Caspian, Tessa, Lucy and Edmund laughed. When they reached land, they all jumped out of the boats. As Caspian gave instructions to Reepicheep and his men, and Lucy, Tess and Edmund waited, no one realized that Eustace had wandered off. Finishing his instructions, Caspian turned to the waiting three, and motioned for them to go.
Tessa walked along beside Caspian, her hand rested easily on the hilt of her sword that was strapped to her hip. "Look!" he exclaimed, seeing a rope tied to a rock. "We're not the first ones on this island." Tessa looked down into the hole that the rope was lowered into. Picking up a small rock, she tossed it in. As they listened, they heard the rock bounce off a few others, before rolling to a stop. "What do you think is down there?" asked Edmund curiously. "Only one way to find out." said Caspian, looking at Edmund and climbing down into the hole. Edmund ushered Tessa and Lucy in, before climbing down himself. Tessa looked around as she entered the underground cave. It was still dry and sandy, with a ceiling that arched about four or five feet above their heads. Natural columns of rock attached the floor to the ceiling in various places. It was a one room cave, and on one side was a pool. Clear water stood undisturbed in the small pond, and when she looked closer, Tessa saw a golden statue of a man, his arm outstretched and his mouth open as if he fell in screaming. "What's that?" wondered Lucy out loud. "I don't know, it looks like a statue." said Caspian. Edmund looked around and saw a large stick laying on the ground. Walking over and picking it up, he turned his attention back to the pool. "Be careful." said Caspian, worry in his voice. Edmund nodded, his full concentration on the golden man. Reaching down, he stuck the end of the stick into the pool to touch the statue.
As Edmund jerked the stick out of the water, they all stared in surprise. The brown wood was turning into gold. Right before their eyes. The gold crept it's way up the stick, and as it neared his hand, Edmund threw it into the pool with a startled cry. "He must have fallen in." said Caspian, realizing that the statue in the water was not a statue at all, but a man who had fallen into the pool and turned to gold. "Poor man." said Lucy sadly. "You mean poor Lord." said Edmund, looking into the pool. A shield lay beside him, also gold. "The crest of Lord Restimar." said Caspian sorrowfully. "And his sword!" exclaimed Tessa, pointing to the silver metal in the pond. "We need it." Edmund nodded and drew the sword given to him by Caspian, and leaned forward. Hooking the tip of his sword under the handle, he slid it out of the water, slowly and carefully. When it was finally pulled completely out of the pond, he turned around and Caspian took the second sword.
"He must have fallen in." said Tessa, thinking out loud. "Maybe." said Edmund, his gentle and loving voice gone, replaced by something that sounded possessed by something. "Or maybe he was onto something." kneeling down, he picked up a shell. Caspian, Lucy and Tessa looked at him, confused. "What are you talking about?" asked Caspian. Edmund dipped a small segment of the shell into the water, dropping it quickly on the stone. A tinkling sound came off the shell as it's surface changed from a colorful shell into shining gold. Tessa looked at Lucy, who seemed just as confused as she and Caspian were. Reaching down hesitantly, Edmund touched the golden shell, and then picked it up carefully. Holding it in front of his eyes, he stared at it, as if entranced. "Whoever has access to this pool, could be the most powerful person in the world. Lucy..." he said, "we'd be so rich." he looked up at her, a light in his eyes that she'd never seen before. "No one could tell us what to do, or who to live with!" he said, turning his gaze back to the shell. "You can't take anything out of Narnia, Edmund." said Caspian, trying to sound gentle, brotherly and understanding. "Says who?" retorted Edmund.
The loving tone was gone from Caspian's voice, replaced by power and authority. "I do." Edmund stared at the shell for a moment longer, before picking up his sword and turning around to face him as he walked away from the edge of the pool. "I'm not your subject." he said. "You don't rule me!" Caspian sneered at him. "You've been waiting for this, haven't you?" he asked, "To challenge me? You doubt my leadership." he snapped angrily, his voice full of hostility. Tessa stared at the boys, an expression of worry and pain on her face. She barely recognized them. "You doubt yourself!" snapped Edmund, lunging forward so he was in Caspian's face. "You're a child!" shouted Caspian, staring into Edmund's eyes as he screamed back "And you're a spineless sap! Why do you get Peter's sword? I deserve a kingdom of my own, I deserve to rule! You know I'm braver than both of you." he sneered as Caspian just glared at him. "If you think you're so brave," said Caspian, his voice dark, "then PROVE IT!" he shouted. Tessa screamed at the two strangers in front of her as Caspian shoved Edmund and swords began flying. Metal clanged and then stopped as Lucy jumped in between the two. "STOP!" she screamed.
The boys looked at her. Tessa stepped away from the wall shakily, staring angrily at the boys. "Don't you see what's happening?" asked Lucy, looking desperately between them. "This place has tempted you. It's bewitching you!" she cried pleadingly. Caspian's eyes dropped to the floor, ashamed. "This is exactly what Coriarkin was talking about." said Lucy as her voice softened. "Let's just get out of here." She looked sternly at each of the boys before walking back to the rope and climbing out. Tessa followed after her, looking back at the two boys as they stood where they were, looking at each other. "You know, it's sad when a bit of gold can turn two people you know and love into strangers right before your eyes." she said softly, before climbing out of the hole after Lucy.
Tessa's words stung Caspian, and he looked at Edmund sadly. Nodding once, he gripped the sword by it's handle and turned away, followed the girls. Edmund stood there for a moment, staring blankly at his feet. "Ouch!" he mumbled, looking down at his hand where the pain had come from. He still gripped the gold shell tightly, tight enough to draw little droplets of blood. "It's sad when a little gold can turn people you know and love into strangers..." Tessa's voice whispered in his mind. He groaned as he realized what he had done was wrong, childish. Looking once more at the shell, he felt disgust rise in the pit of his stomach and he hurled it against the wall. It clanged loudly and fell into the pool as he walked out without a backward glance.
The walk back to the boats was silent, awkward. When they got there, the boats were being re-loaded. "Is this all you found?" asked Caspian, looking sadly at the baskets that weren't even half full. Rhince looked up at him apologetically. "It's volcanic, your majesty." he said. "Not much grows." Caspian nodded. "It's alright." he said with a smile. "Where's Eustace?" asked Lucy curiously, looking around. Reepicheep looked up from supervising the loading. "I believe he's out NOT helping us load the boats." he said, half a laugh in his voice. "Eustace?" called Lucy. "Eustace!" Tessa looked around, searching for any sign of her brother. "Edmund, I have a bad feeling..." said Lucy. Tessa nodded. "I'll go look for him." said Tess. "I'll go with." said Edmund, grabbing his sword. "Me too." said Caspian. Tessa looked at both of them, still upset with what had happened in the cave. Rolling her eyes, she walked away to look for her brother.
"Eustace?" she called, her cries echoing and mingling with the ones made by Caspian and Edmund. Looking around, she saw a shoe, smoking and smoldering beside a long canyon that stretched out almost as far as she could see, twinkling and sparkling with gold. "Treasure." murmured Edmund, his voice filled with disgust and anger. "Trouble." said Caspian, looking at him. There was a silence as their eyes met, an unspoken forgiveness. Edmund half smiled and grabbed Caspian's shoulder. Tessa watched, glad that they were finally back to normal. She looked down into the canyon, but was more focused on the shoe, that quite obviously belonged to Eustace. Edmund saw it too. "Oh, cousin." he breathed, jumping down off the small ledge, followed by Caspian and Tessa, who walked further along into the ravine. Smoke rose in little swirls from a small heap of clothing, tattered and torn on the ground. "No!" she shouted, running forward and falling to her knees beside them. "What?" called Edmund who had jumped up and was walking towards her. She picked up the clothes, wringing the smoldering material in her hands. Edmund looked down at it, and his face turned dark. "Eustace!" he said mournfully as Caspian walked up behind them. "I.. I'm sorry." he stammered as Tessa stared down at them. "He was just a boy..." she whispered. "I never should have left him." Caspian knelt down beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her to him. "What do you think could have happened to him?" asked Edmund. Caspian dropped his arm, stood up. "In this place? Anything. And he wasn't the first." he said darkly as he turned around and jumped at the sight of a skeleton. It was completely bones, but still sitting inside it's clothes. "It's Lord Octesian." he said, pointing to the shield sitting beside it. Edmund had stood up and walked away, kneeling down. "We should find his..." said Caspian, before looking over at Edmund as he picked up another identical sword to the two they had, "sword." Tessa stood up and dropped the clothes to the ground. "We should go." she said quietly, walking back to the ledge and climbing up with natural footholds. Caspian and Edmund looked after her, and followed.
It was another quiet walk back to the boat that was waiting for them, until they got there. As Tessa stepped onto the shore, Caspian behind her and Edmund leading, she felt a strong gust of wind hit her face, swirling her hair around her, followed by another, and another, like the flapping of huge wings. Whirling around, she screamed and ducked, realizing that it was indeed, the flapping of huge wings. A huge golden dragon flew above them, with bright blue eyes, a golden bracelet around his wrist and a jet of fire flying out of it's mouth as it roared and reached for Edmund. "Edmund!" screamed Tessa as Caspian shouted "Ed!" As Edmund turned, the dragon picked him up. "Tessa!" he shouted, squirming to get out of the dragon's grasp. It whisked him higher and higher, the wind whipping his hair about his face. "Caspian!" he shouted, as they flew around a mountain. Behind it was a black plain made entirely of stone. As he looked down at it, something caught Edmund's eye. A bright red line of fire, followed by others. At first he didn't understand, and then suddenly it came to him. It was a message, written by the dragon with fire to communicate without getting hurt. It read "I AM EUSTACE". Edmund stared, shocked, then moaned "Oh you've got to be joking!" as he soared away and was set down by Caspian and Tessa who were still on the shore. By then, night had fallen and the sun was dipping low over the horizon.
"Don't shoot, don't hurt him!" said Edmund as Tessa drew her sword and Caspian grabbed his crossbow. "And why not?" asked Tessa, hostile written all over her face. "It's your brother." he mumbled. Hostile turned to shock as she stared in disbelief. The dragon hung it's head in shame, biting at a bracelet on his wrist. "Oh you've got to be kidding me." said Tessa. "He must have been tempted by the treasure." said Edmund, looking at Caspian who smirked. "Anyone knows that a dragon's treasure is enchanted." he said. "Well, anyone from.. here." he said, looking down as Eustace whipped his head up and growled angrily in Caspian's direction. Lucy looked at him thoughtfully and walked over to where he was standing, gripped the bracelet that dug painfully into his arm, and pulled it off. Eustace roared as it stung, shaking his arm to make the pain go away. "Is there any way to change him back?" pleaded Tessa, as the crew came on shore. Before they could attack, Edmund explained to them what had happened and who the dragon really was. Drinian stared and Rhince almost laughed, before he realized that no one was joking. Reepicheep stared, and then looked away, smirking. "Sorry, old boy." he said. Eustace just stared at his feet. The minotaur, who Tessa had learned was called Tarvos, stood by the boats. "So you never answered my question." said Tessa. "Is there any way to change him back?" she asked, her voice full of desperation. "Not that I know of." said Drinian, and the rest of the crew shook their heads.
Eustace looked around, his eyes full of fear. "Aunt Alberta will NOT be pleased." said Edmund, all joking gone from his voice. Tessa smirked at that, before glancing away. "The boats are ready, sire!" called Tarvos. "We can't leave him alone." said Tessa. "But we can't bring him on board either." said Drinian. Caspian sighed. "We'll stay here tonight, work out what to do." he said. "But you've got no food, and no means of staying warm, your majesty!" protested Rhince. Eustace looked up, a smile in his eye, as he roared and fire flew out of his mouth, causing a small log in the middle of the beach to start burning." Caspian laughed and looked at Rhince. "You were saying?" he asked, as Rhince smiled too.
As the sun set, Edmund and Caspian left to get more firewood and all of the crew but Rhince, Gael and Reepicheep, Tessa lay down beside the fire, looking up at the stars. They looked nothing like what she had first seen when she first came to Narnia. The moon shone on the water and she smiled, the fire keeping her warm as the breeze played with her hair. She laid back on her elbows, still staring up. "Enjoying ourselves, are we?" asked an amused voice above her. "Hmm?" she asked, sitting up and looking around. Caspian stood above her, laughing quietly as he sat down and she laid back in his lap. "Aww come on, don't sneak up on me like that." she said with a smile in her voice. "Oh?" he asked playfully, leaning down. "Uh-huh." she grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck and cutting off his smart-alack comment with a kiss. He grinned against her lips. "Uh, sorry to interrupt." said Edmund, grinning as they pulled apart and he sat down. Tessa smiled. "It's alright, Ed, you weren't interrupting anything." she said. He laughed and leaned back on his elbows to gaze at the stars. Studying them for a minute, he smirked, amused. "I've never seen these constellations before." he murmured. "Me either." said Caspian. "We're a long way from home. When I was little, I used to dream of sailing to the end of the world, and finding my father there." he said. Tessa looked up at him, his eyes closed gently. She reached up and softly cupped his face.
He opened his eyes and smiled down at her, turning his face and kissing her palm. "Maybe you will." said Edmund, his eyes drooping as he laid down and fell asleep. "We should do the same." whispered Tessa, sitting up from laying in his lap and turning to face him. "Alright..." he murmured, laying down on the sand and opening his arms for her. She smiled and curled up beside him, laying her head on his chest. "Good night, my angel." he whispered, kissing her head as her eyes slipped shut and she fell asleep.
"I miss my mommy..." whispered Gael, clutching the necklace in her small hands. Lucy rolled over to look at the little girl. "I miss mine too." she admitted, smiling at her. "Don't worry, you'll see her again." said Lucy, trying to comfort her. "How do you know?" asked Gael curiously. "You just have to have faith about these things. Aslan will help us." she said quietly. Gael's face fell sadly. "But Aslan couldn't stop her from being taken." she said softly. "We'll find her, I know we will. I promise." said Lucy reassuringly as Gael closed her eyes and Lucy rolled over, going to sleep. Eustace stared at the sand, unable to sleep as he thought about what a predicament he was in. "How could I have been so stupid?" he thought, digging his claws into the sand. "I should have known it was too good to be true, that it was going to do something to punish me for my greed. Why was I being so selfish?" he screamed at himself. Reepicheep opened his eyes from sleeping beside the fire. Looking around he saw Edmund sprawled out on the sand, sleeping peacefully. Near him was Caspian, his arms wrapped around Tessa as she slept on his chest, both asleep with smiles on their face. Lucy slept beside Gael, her arms curled under her head and Gael with her little hands clutching the picture of her mother on small a small wood chip around her neck.
But Eustace was awake, a single tear running down his cheek and falling onto the sand. Reep felt a pang of empathy for him as he walked over to the dragon. "Trouble sleeping?" he asked. Eustace eyed him angrily and turned his head away. "No don't cry." said the mouse, trying to comfort him. "Things aren't as bad as they seem." Eustace looked at him and scoffed. "You know, extraordinary things only happen to extraordinary people." The dragon lifted his head, Reepicheep's words touching him as he realized maybe the little mouse was right. "Maybe it's a sign, that you have an extraordinary destiny! Something bigger than you ever could have imagined." By now Eustace was listening intently. "I could tell you one or two of my adventures, if you'd like, just to pass the time." he offered, shrugging. Eustace put his paws beneath his chin and settled in to listen to his new friend talk about his adventures and journeys until he too, fell asleep.