A/N: And here's another chapter! We finally get to read what happens next!

Enjoy!

Chapter 10:

Before they reached the shore, though, they heard Edmund shouting.

"Eustace!"

Susan and Caspian exchanged one worried look, before hurrying on. As soon as she saw her brother, the Gentle Queen broke into a run. "What happened?" she shouted.

"Eustace wandered off, we can't find him!" Edmund responded, closing the distance.

"Susan, look out!" Caspian yelled from behind her.

She only just had time to glance over her shoulder before an honest to goodness dragon grabbed her in its talon and lifted her up. In her shock, she dropped her bow, though she still carried her quiver over her shoulder.

The beast carried her further over the land, away from the ocean and her family. Susan reached up to grab an arrow to defend herself with, but was unable to get it out of the quiver. Just as she cursed her lack of bladed weapons, the dragon swooped, and she automatically grabbed its talons for balance.

That's when she noticed the scorched ground. It spelled out 'I am Eustace'.

"You have got to be kidding me," she muttered. "Eustace?" she called up to the dragon, who looked down at her with baleful eyes.

He swiftly took her back to the beach, where Caspian, Edmund, Lucy and a handful of others were gathered. "Don't shoot!" Susan yelled as soon as she noticed the crossbows pointed at her cousin.

"Hold!" she heard Caspian shouted. The men look uneasy, but at least Susan didn't think they'd fire on them any time soon.

Eustace dropped Susan when she was about a foot from the ground, and then landed with a heavy thud beside her. "Don't shoot!" she repeated, holding up her hands. "It's Eustace."

"Excuse me?" Edmund said, frowning at her.

"The dragon, it's Eustace. He somehow managed to get himself turned into… this," she said, gesturing to the scaly beast cowering behind her.

"But how?" asked Lucy, who stepped forward fearlessly to get a closer look at her cousin.

The dragon bent over and bit and scratched at a large golden bracelet that was stuck around his right forearm. It looked painfully too small, so when Lucy removed it, Eustace let out an understandably pained growl.

"He must've been tempted by the dragon's treasure," Edmund said, sounding sad and a little guilty. Susan was reminded of his fight with Caspian in the cave. It wouldn't be the first time a member of their family was tempted by riches.

"Everyone knows a dragon's treasure is cursed," Caspian replied. He probably hadn't said it to offend, but Eustace still snorted and glared at him. Possibly aware that Eustace was now large and dangerous enough to take on even the King, he backtracked. "Well, anyone from here…"

"Is there any way to change him back?" Susan asked.

"Not that I know of," Caspian said regretfully, before turning to Drinian. The First Mate generally knew more about these things than anyone, but here, he seemed as stumped as the rest of them.

They stood around in awkward silence for a moment, contemplating their next move, until Tavros shouted that the longboats were ready to return back to the ship.

"We can't leave him here by himself," Lucy argued.

Eustace was too big to go on board, so it was decided that Drinian would take the men back to the ship, while Caspian, the Pevensies and Reepicheep would stay ashore to figure out what to do. Luckily, Eustace's fire would keep them warm, because it didn't seem as though the day's heat would keep them warm much longer.

/*/

That night, they all sat around the fire that their new resident dragon had provided. Reepicheep kept Eustace company, while Lucy and Edmund discussed revisiting the treasure to see if they could find some clues as to how to undo this.

While they had no provisions - as Mr. Rhince had pointed out before he'd left with the others - they had plenty of fresh water. Drinian and his men had found a small stream not too far, and Lucy had located some flavorful leaves, which Susan brewed into tea. It wasn't much, but as they sat silently around the fire, it was somehow enough.

Susan sat next to Caspian, leaning her head on his shoulder as she clasped her locket. No one had commented on their newfound closeness, thank Aslan, so she was going to take it as licence to relax a little more. The only other ones here were her family and Reep, after all.

"I've never seen these constellations before," Edmund muttered.

Lucy was lying on her side, already fast asleep, and Reep was quietly talking to Eustace a little ways away, so Susan and Caspian were the only ones to have heard him.

"Me neither," Caspian replied softly, gazing upwards.

"We're a long way from home," Susan added sleepily, already closing her eyes as she burrowed into his shoulder.

"When I was a boy," Caspian started, his voice barely above a whisper, "I used to imagine sailing to the end of the world… finding my father there."

Susan opened her eyes and lifted her head to look at him, but Caspian kept his eyes on the stars above.

"Maybe you will," Edmund offered as he settled in to sleep as well.

But Susan couldn't tear her gaze away. There was still so much she didn't know about the boy sitting next to her… "Do you miss him?" she asked, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb the others.

Caspian considered that question for a moment. "I think I miss the idea of him more. I was a mere babe when he died... "

"I can't even imagine," Susan whispered. "My parents are both well and alive in England… Do you know much about them? Your parents, I mean."

Finally, Caspian looked down, shifting his gaze from the heavens to her eyes. "I've only been able to find out more these past few years. Before that… it was only the professor who could give me an honest answer to my questions."

He sighed as he looked down, and, though she wanted to ask more, Susan knew that she had to keep her silence now. He would tell her when he was ready, be that now or… or never. But Caspian, it seemed, had only needed a moment to collect his thoughts. "Everyone always says that my mother was kind, and gentle, easy to laugh and slow to anger. My father had more of a temper, but one look from my mother and he'd quiet down." A smile tugged at his lips. " She was evidently not above using her charms to get my father to be reasonable at times."

"Ah, a woman after my own heart," Susan commented.

At this, Caspian looked up again, a little startled. Had he forgotten that she was there, or had he just not expected her to say anything? Or perhaps he was noticing the mirror their relationship presented to that of his parents'. Except for the laughter. Susan was ever generous with her smiles, but her laughter was reserved for a select few only.

Caspian blinked and the moment passed. "I like to imagine they would have liked you," he said, his eyes once again focussed solely on hers. "Your family, too."

"I would have liked to have met her," Susan replied. In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but imagine what that might have been like; to be presented to the King and Queen of Telmar as their son's… whatever she was to him. Meeting a boy's parents back in England was a significant step, but Susan wasn't sure how it was viewed here in Narnia. After all, the only experience she had with anything of the sort was that dreadful situation with Rabadash and the other suitors who came to ask for her hand. And in those situations, she'd been a Queen, a ruler of Narnia. What must it be like for regular Narnians or Telmarines?

He was smiling at her.

"Sorry, did you say something?" she asked, aware of the blush staining her cheeks.

He chuckled. "You just seemed lost in thought, is all."

"I was just… thinking what it would have been like. Meeting your parents," she explained. "I've never been presented to anyone's parents before, so I'm sure I would have been dreadfully nervous."

His eyes softened. "Probably only as nervous as I would have been."

Susan hid her smile and leaned down to lay back. "It's beautiful here," she whispered. Caspian joined her on the ground, and she could feel his gaze on her. "There's too much light in England, you can barely make out the brightest stars. But here… even the most faded ones, the ones struggling to shine at all… even those have a chance to be noticed."

"Breathtaking," Caspian said, so quietly, Susan wasn't sure she'd heard it at all. Even so, she couldn't hide the blush that once again graced her cheeks.

"Good night, Caspian."

"Good night, my Queen."

/*/

They were awoken the next morning by Lucy, shouting gleefully.

"Wake up! Everybody, wake up! It's the Blue Star!"

Susan lifted her head from her pillow - which, incidentally, happened to be Caspian's chest - to look up at the sky. And there, hovering just above the Dawn Treader, was the infamous Blue Star that would guide them to Ramandu's island.

Finally, finally, they'd find some answers, and perhaps be able to defeat the evil that had taken Mr. Rhince's wife and so many other citizens from the Lone Islands.

Caspian grinned down at her, before swiftly getting up and offering her a hand up. He quickly set off to the longboat, readying it for departure. Susan caught her brother's eye, who raised a brow at her, a slight smirk playing around his mouth. "You know when I said that you should live in the moment, this isn't what I meant," he said, but Susan could tell he was jesting.

She rolled her eyes at him. "You said not to live with regrets. And I don't currently regret anything," she replied enigmatically.

A gust of wind distracted the siblings, and directed their attention to their dragonesque cousin, who - with Reep sitting on his head - was now flying towards the ship. He circled it, seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then landed on the water, spreading his wings like large sails to keep himself afloat. He wouldn't be able to keep it up forever, but it would be less exhausting than flying, especially at the snail's pace the ship could go in comparison.

It took but a few moments to ready the longboat and row back to the ship. Once there, Susan and Lucy made sure to be out of the way as every hand was on deck, preparing to leave. It seemed fortune was finally smiling on their journey.

Then again, maybe she'd celebrated too quickly. Barely an hour into their journey, the wind slacked until there was nary a breeze. They were stuck. And when it didn't pick back up again, Drinian gave the order: "Man the oars!"

For once, the upper deck was nearly deserted, so Susan and Lucy took the opportunity to take in some sunshine. So far, the crew had refused their help, but Susan had planned on offering again at a later time. If things kept going the way they were now, they'd need all the help they could get to man the oars.

"So I take it you talked to Caspian?" Lucy asked slyly, clearly holding back a smile.

Susan sighed and playfully rolled her eyes at her sister. "I did."

"So?" Lucy asked when her sister didn't elaborate. "What happened? Obviously it went well."

Tilting her head towards the sun, Susan mused on their conversation in the cavern. They'd agreed not to tell Susan's siblings, but now that Lucy was asking… And what, exactly should she say? "It did go well. It was… nice."

"You admitted how you feel?" Lucy prodded, sounding excited.

Susan looked down at her little sister. Lucy was of an age now that boys would interest her, and Susan had noticed her little sister eyeing her sparse make-up. "I did. And he did. I don't know, it was all a little… strange. But good… I'm not making much sense, am I?"

"No," Lucy said, grinning. "But I don't think you're supposed to. So what are you going to do now?"

The smile Susan had been wearing slipped away. "I'm not sure. We decided to just enjoy one another's company and see where we go from here. But…"

"You're scared," Lucy finished.

"I don't know how not to be. We've finally spotted the Blue Star, and we've collected almost all the swords… This adventure is almost over, and I'm not ready."

Lucy put her arm around the elder Queen. "I'm sure Aslan wouldn't have let this happen if you were just going to get hurt," Lucy assured her, ever hopeful.

"I just don't see how. Either I'll have to leave, which will be painful, or I won't. And both know the latter is impossible. Caspian is King, there's no place for an extra King and two Queens. Not to mention Eustace, what would he even do here? What would any of us do?"

Lucy's smile dimmed. "I don't know. I just trust in Aslan."

"I'm trying, Lu. I'm trying so hard for that steady faith you have, but I simply can't do it." She sighed. "So, I'm avoiding thinking about it altogether. I'll just take every moment as it comes and deal with the pain when it gets here."

Lucy opened her mouth to say something - probably to trust in Aslan - but Susan didn't give her a chance. "I'm going to see if they need help manning the oars."

She'd barely gotten below decks - and turned down - when something jolted the ship. Susan scrambled back up the narrow steps in time to hear the few men who were on deck cheering. It appeared that Eustace had found a way out of their current predicament by pulling the ship with his tail. Elated, Susan joined in on the cheering.

"Right, lads! Let's get this ship ready for when the wind returns!" Drinian shouted, putting the men back to work.

Grinning, Susan motioned to the First Mate that she would go find Caspian, and then went below decks. She wanted to tell Caspian the good news.

A/N: Okay, a bit of an awkward cut off point, but I had to end this chapter somewhere... Anyway, I really hope you're all still enjoying the story.

Please, take a moment and tell me what you thought, it really lifts my spirits and motivates me to write more. In this case, the fic is already done, of course, but there is always a possibility of a sequel... Especially with that ending ;) Which you'll get to read in 3 more chapters!