A/N: I almost didn't post this tonight because I am exhausted and ready for bed, but then I remembered that I had promised to post chapter 9 tonight so here ya go.

I hope this will keep you until Monday night because that is when I will be posting one last time before I go on vacation for a week.

WARNING! Now that I have your attention I am stopping the capital letters, but anyway; there are a lot of P.O.V. changes in this chapter so just be careful when reading it. I really don't like the fact that there are tons of P.O.V. changes, but it was what worked. STARTS OUT IN CASPIAN'S P.O.V.

Disclaimer: Nope, I still do not own Narnia.


A couple hours later Julia comes in to see Lucy, but she isn't awake yet so Julia and I sit by a window and talk. A few minutes later Lucy starts to stir, and is fully awake within a few minutes.

Julia rushes over to the couch and they start talking. They talk for a few minutes before I ask if I can speak to her alone for just a few minutes, and then suggest helping Lucy back to her room and letting Julia help her freshen up, and get dressed while I go do the same, and they both agree. "I'll just wait right outside" Julia tells us as she walks out.

"What do you want Caspian?"

"Do you know who did this Lucy?"

"No, I told you during the night; one of the gardeners, but I don't know which one."

"Can you describe her?"

"It was a man Caspian; he was a little taller than you, light hair, and I think he had dark blue eyes, and he had a lot of muscles that is for sure."

"Lucy, we only have one male gardener, and he was still in the dining room with me and Trumpkin until we started to wonder where you had gone… he couldn't have done it, and I am pretty sure he hasn't hired any new staff, and besides if he has then he broke protocol because everyone is supposed to bring new employees before you, me, and the entire council."

"But if this was someone just posing as a gardener then how did he get a gardeners uniform?"

"Forget that; how did he get passed the castle guards? I mean I know we aren't the most protected castle around, but that is because we trust Aslan to keep us safe."

"Maybe that was Aslan telling us we need a few more guards."

"Maybe… you can draw faces from memory can't you?"

"Some, why?"

"After breakfast I want you to see if you can draw the man's face."

"I didn't really get a good look at it, but I will do my best."

"OK, thank you; anything to find who did this. Now we should probably get going."

"Yeah, probably."

She attempts to stand up by herself and makes it so she decides she is going to walk on her own, but we hardly make it a quarter of the way to her room before she's having trouble, so I wrap my arm under hers, like you would do if you were helping someone with a sprained ankle, to help support her, and after that she does fine. We get to her room and she walks in and I tell her I'll be back to get her for breakfast in an hour.

I walk to my room and run a hot bath, I know I don't have long to sit and relax, but it will feel amazing while it lasts. I undress and climb in the bath and the hot water hitting my aching muscles feels wonderful. I just sit there and relax for a few minutes and I don't even feel like I have already been awake for hours, I guess it's just the fact that I can relax now, knowing that Lucy is okay.

I wash off and get out of the now cold bathwater, grab my towel and dry off, then get dressed in fresh clothes, which also makes me feel better since I haven't put fresh clothes on in three days. I finish getting ready then walk back to Lucy's room to find her and Julia sitting on Lucy's bed laughing, and it brings a smile to my face because I haven't seen Lucy this happy since me and her were back on the Dawn Treader headed back to mainland Narnia, and the fact that she is alive, healthy, and not worried about her brush with death at all it… it makes me more attracted to her… "wait…did I just really think that? And what do I mean by more?" I ask myself, then brush it off and help walk Lucy down to the dining room.

As we eat breakfast it becomes apparent that Lucy has not at all lost her appetite, which is good, and everyone at the table is also very aware that I am quite hungry after having barely anything to eat in the past three days.

"Caspian can we please go walk for just a couple minutes please?" Lucy asks me when we finish eating, and I just can't say no to her.

"Sure, but just for a few minutes" I tell her, and she nods in agreement.

She walks by herself for a few minutes, but I can tell she's getting tired because we are going slower, so a wrap my arm around her again, and it just feels so natural, like I should do it all the time, even though it is a bit awkward because of our height difference. We come to a bench and I say "do you want to sit down? You seem to be getting tired."

"That sounds good… as long as you keep your arm around me, the last time I sat on a bench I fell off and was asleep for three days" she half joked.

"I would gladly do that" I reply smiling, and we sit down, and I wouldn't move my arm unless one of our lives depended on it. We chat for a while and then head back in.

"I'm glad we walked again today" Lucy tells me "even if we didn't walk too much."

"I enjoyed spending time with you, ya know without you being in a poison induced sleep" I tell her and she gives me a small smile in return, but it suddenly drops away like she remembers something.

"Caspian I…I would've told you this a couple days ago, but obviously you know what happened; I'm sorry."

"For what? I'm not sure why you are apologizing."

"For the way I acted the night of the party; when I wanted you to undo my dress after the party, it was wrong and I'm sorry" she told me, and it clicked in my head; of course Lucy would feel bad about that and want to apologize.

"It is fine Lucy, I forgive you, and I forgave you that night. Was I a little embarrassed? Yes, but I never thought any different about you, you just had a little too much to drink… And besides, when I found you passed out, there was no way I could ever stay mad, if I was mad… which I wasn't, not when I thought you could die at any minute" I tell Lucy, and she just replies by smiling shyly "Would you like to take today off other than the sketch?" I ask her, trying to move the subject away from that awkward moment.

"Well can I come sit in the throne room with you, I don't want to just sit around and do nothing all day, but I'm not sure if I can do a full day of work" she tells me and I can tell that she is happy to be moving on in this conversation.

"Sounds good" I tell her and smile, and we walk off to do our work.

The rest of the day I have something completely different than work on my mind; does she remember… does she remember me telling her she's beautiful? This question has been messing with my head all day and I don't know why, and it is starting to drive me nuts, but I try my best to act normal throughout the day and Lucy doesn't say anything so I guess I succeed.

We finish dinner and then me and Lucy head to the library to do some reading in our free time. After a couple hours we decide that it is time to head to bed, so I help her back to her room.


LUCY'S P.O.V.

The whole day I have been wondering how to ask Caspian something… how to ask him if he really meant it when he said I was beautiful. By this point he's walking me back to my bedroom so I figure it's now or never.

"Caspian?" I ask a little shyly when we reach my door.

"Yes Lucy?" he replies, looking curious.

"I was wondering something…"

"What are you wondering?" He asks me, and can tell that he is listening quite intently now.

"Did you mean it… what you said?"

"When? What are you talking about?"

"Did you mean it the other night when you said I was beautiful?" I ask him, almost desperately, I need to know if he meant it or if he was just being kind, I feel so insecure about myself, and I would just like to know what he honestly thinks "and be one-hundred percent honest with me" I add quickly.

CASPIAN'S P.O.V.


Lucy's question surprises me, but I can tell by the look in her eyes that she is desperate and needs an answer fast. She is insecure; I've seen it in a lot of girls… not that I am around girls a lot, but girls like... like Julia; she is insecure about her job, she doesn't want to disappoint, but Lucy, Lucy is insecure about her beauty. And then she adds that she wants me to be honest with her, like she thinks I would lie, but I push that thought out of my head because I can't stand to think that she thinks I might lie.

I look straight into her eyes and tell her "of course I meant it; I wouldn't lie to you, especially not about something like that. You were beautiful that night, you are beautiful now, and you will always be beautiful." I reveal, wanting her to know that I mean every word that is coming out of my mouth because even though I don't know why, I do know that I'm attracted to her, not just physically, but in some other way I can't describe.


LUCY'S P.O.V.

I don't know how to reply to Caspian, but I do know one thing; I know that every word he just said was true, and now I am overwhelmed with happiness; he thinks I am beautiful, and it makes me a little more self-confidant. "Thank you Caspian" I whisper in his ear, and then I give him a soft, swift kiss on the cheek, and then walk into my room before he can reply.

I change into my night gown and then just lay in bed for what feels like hours, when in reality it is barely an hour, before falling into a sleep full of dreams. Dreams which consist of me and Caspian never being apart; him with his arm always around me, or his hand holding mine. About the way my hand fits in his is so perfect, and the next morning I find myself wondering if my hands would really fit that perfect in his or if it was just in the dream.


End A/N: I hope you liked it! Was it good? Can't wait to here from you!

Until Monday,

Rebecca!