RE-WRITTEN/RE-POSTED
Clara put slight pressure on the king's injured thigh. "Ow!" he yelled. "It's not bad at all," The maid and queen chuckled. "You need to lie down and rest, your highness. You've had a long day." Clara tied up his leg, made sure he was comfortable, and left.
Caspian lied in his bed and stared up at the top of the tent. It wasn't very fascinating. Susan came in with some food, "I thought you might be hungry." He nodded and ate. She simply sat and watched him. When he was finished, susan took the silver tray and said, "I'll let you rest now," and started to turn around. "You could stay… here..." Caspian looked down when she raised an eyebrow. He could tell she was considering the offer. "You're right, I could." She started walking away. Caspian rolled his eyes. "WILL you stay?" he sounded more convincing. "I do hate being alone..." he added with a little grin.
Susan let out a sigh, "And what would we do if I stayed?" she asked cautiously. He grinned, "We could talk." Susan glared at him for a moment. "I don't know…." Slowly, she moved over to his side. She could see how his eyes lit up when she was near him. Silently, they gazed into each others eyes. Susan broke the silence by saying, "Is it ever possible for us to spend time together WITHOUT kissing?" Caspian smiled and let out a soft laugh. "I don't really know." They both laughed, and decided continue talking.
It was lovely the next morning. The sun was shining, everyone seemed happy, and the whole air just seemed peaceful. Caspian was waiting for Barthemellow. "Where is he?"he was rather impatient. "Miss Author, didn't you write my character to always be anxious and impatient?" Of course I did. Now stop talking to me so I can write more of the story! He shrugged, "Alright. I'm sorry, carry on…." Thank you.
"King Caspian! I'm sorry to keep you waiting. Here it is," The advisor handed him a small box. Caspian lifted the lid, "It's absolutely perfect!" "I knew you'd like it," he shrugged. The king then spotted Barthemellow holding something behind his back.
Caspian nodded towards him, "What is that for?" The advisor looked a bit startled, but replied, "Clara... with your permission of course." He smiled a broad smile. "Of course." The young king also noticed how anxious his advisor looked... as if he was waiting for something. "Go on! You can't keep her waiting all day," Caspian laughed as Barthemellow rushed out of the tent.
"Thank you for the breakfast, Clara." The maid nodded and opened the trunk of dresses. "My, my, What do you need all these fancy dresses for?" Susan sighed. "I don't. Caspian refused to let me dress like a peasant." "Come now, those dresses aren't nearly as fancy as the ones back the castle," she pointed out.
Clara pulled one out. After getting dressed in a simple yet elegant crimson dress, Susan pulled the pin that held her bun in place and spun around so her curls went flying. The queen smiled at herself in the mirror as Clara shouted, "Beautiful! As usual..."
Susan viewed Clara for a moment. "Have you ever noticed how Barthemellow looks at you?" Clara blushed as red as an apple. "Y-yes... we've talked about it." The young woman smiled an ran over to her trunk. "Clara," she pulled out a pretty blue dress, "You would like nice in this." The maid hesitated.
Clara spun around the mirror, "I look great!" Susan giggled and walked up behind her. "You should undo your braid," Her dainty fingers unlaced the long black rope of hair. "Clara!" she gasped. The pretty maid smiled at her long, curly black hair, which fell to her waist.
"I don't think I've ever looked so pretty before," she twirled around and Susan laughed. "Barthemellow will faint before you even speak to him." "I certainly hope not, I like talking to him," they both giggled.
"Knock knock," The advisor spoke before walking in. The two women stopped giggling as the king and advisor walked in. "King Caspian, Barthemellow," Susan bowed. Clara bowed as well. "My lady, Clara," Barthemellow started, "Would you care to join me for a walk?" he put on a very genuine smile. Clara couldn't help but to say yes. Susan thought for a moment. "Wait a minute..." she remembered Caspian was there too. "You're not going to leave Caspian and I ALONE, are you?"
Caspian playfully grabbed her by the waist and raised an eyebrow, "Why not?" Susan took a deep breath and swept a curl out of her face. "Alright then. I was just curious," she spoke with a nervous smile. Clara and Barthemellow laughed, then walked out of the tent. The young queen wanted to disappear at that moment. She turned her blue eyes to the handsome young king, "Don't even think about it."
He laughed, "I already did." She stared him in the eyes. She hated that he was taller than she was because he could always stare her down. "You make me feel small." "Do I?" "Yes." She backed up and sat on the bed.
"Wow," he laughed, "Are you really that scared of me now?" "I'm not scared of you..." she crossed her arms. "Oh?" "I'm scared of me." He raised an eyebrow. She sighed, "I'm scared that I'll lose control… I can't trust myself." Caspian nodded, "I understand," and smiled. He strode over to her. They simply smiled and stared at each other. "If it makes you more comfortable," he looked away, "I'll try to have more control of myself…. if I can." She smiled even more, "That would be nice." After that, Caspian took Susan for a short walk around the camp, showing her all the tents, and lead her to one in particular.
"And here is where I've been spending most of my time," he led her into small tent. There was a solid looking wood table that stood in the middle of the tent. On it, rested piles of maps, new and old, different languages, some with riddles, some with pictures.
Susan gazed at them all. "What are all these for?" she picked one up and noticed the young king's handwriting on it. "These," he took it from her, "Are for something I'm looking for." "Well obviously."
He let out a little laugh. "I guess I could tell you why we're here now..." Her face lit up, but then changed to an expression of worry. "I don't have to kiss you first... right?" He chuckled, "Not if you don't want too, " and winked. She giggled along with him.
"I came out here to look for hidden gold mines." She looked shocked. " Gold mines, Caspian?" she also looked confused. " Yes... gold mines..." he sounded rather hesitant.
She slowly walked over to him, "Why?" It took him awhile to respond. When he was finally ready, he spoke, "My kingdom is becoming poor." A great look of sorrow filled her eyes as she stared at him.
"Caspian... I'm... sorry," she rested a hand on his shoulder. "How did it happen?" The young king lifted his head towards the top of the tent. "When you and your siblings left Narnia, I struggled to raise money for the first few weeks of my rule, because some of Miraz's friends, the ones who didn't fight against us, stole money from the castle and fled.
Susan had noticed that with every word he spoke, his eyes slowly dimmed. "Thankfully, Barthemellow, who used to serve Miraz, told me of my inheritance as the son of King Caspian the 9th. So we traveled together." He took a break to stare at the map in front of him.
"We came across the hidden tunnels where my father had placed everything I would ever need to run a kingdom, for he did not completely trust Miraz with my treasures. Then again... who could..." they both smiled. Susan was really starting to get a grip of how hard this all was for Caspian. After all, he was only 18. "Sir Spades was wrong then, because you had already found your inheritance," She told him.
He nodded and continued. "Amazed and thankful, I made Barthemellow my right hand man. I can always trust him. For the past year or so, Narnia has been running on my inheritance. I made everyone in my castle swear not to tell a soul about the fact that it was only a short while before all the money..." he paused to look away again, "Well..."
Susan couldn't believe what she was hearing. "And now," he choked, "Narnia is nearly broke, " a tear slid down his cheek. Eventually, he couldn't hold it any longer, and let the tears stream out. "Oh, Caspian," she embraced him as tight as she could.
He hugged her back with all his strength. She could tell by his embrace that she was something precious to him, something he was afraid of loosing, someone he'd never forget. Susan stood there forever simply telling him it would be alright. Caspian was glad that he had someone who was always there for him. After about half an hour or so, Caspian wiped his tears away and viewed the maps. "Have you found any mines yet?" she wondered. He smiled, "Thankfully, we've already found two." She clapped her hands, "That's wonderful!"
Susan peeked out of the tent. "Do you know where Clara and Barthemellow are?" Caspian gave a sly smile. "Maybe." She put her hands on her hips, "Well are you going to tell me?" Just as he was about to speak, an exited scream came from outside, along with some laughing.
"I believe your answer is just outside," he nodded. "Susan!" Clara yelled. "What is it?" she had never seen Clara this excited to tell her something before. " Look!" she pointed to a fine silver ring surrounded in sparkling diamonds on her ring finger.
Susan gasped, then stared at a beaming Barthemellow, who walked into the tent after waving. "Clara!" she jumped up and down, screaming with joy. Both of the men laughed when they walked out of the tent. "I knew it!" Susan hugged Clara. Caspian smiled.
Later that day, after everyone had eaten dinner, Susan slipped out of the tent and decided to walk. She didn't know where she wanted to go, so she let her feet take her there. The sun was slowly starting to sink through the clouds. When she stopped, she was in the middle of a beautiful grassy meadow. She stood on a hill and sighed as she stared at the horizon. The sky was turning a pale orange.
The young Queen took a deep breath and inhaled the fresh air... which she noticed was suddenly disturbed by another presence. "I thought I saw you walk this way," her favorite voice spoke behind her. She turned and smiled at Caspian.
For a long moment, they stared at each other. Susan eventually looked back to the golden horizon. The sun's rays shone over the rolling green hills, making them glow with the same radiance as gold.
Caspian gazed at her beautiful face. Here she was, the woman of his dreams, the one person he could never be without. "Are you happy for Clara and Barthemellow?" he asked. She nodded, "Very happy. They are perfect for each other. It was very unexpected..."
Caspian walked closer to her. She noticed that when the gleaming sun shone softly on his olive skin, it seemed to make his face glow. It also made his deep brown eyes flare with such a passion that she couldn't believe. He had never appeared so magnificent to her.
He took a deep breath. "Queen Susan the Gentle, you are the most wonderful person I have ever known. You're brilliant, encouraging, and absolutely beautiful," he paused to smile as she blushed and looked away.
He waited for the right moment to continue, "You are the gleaming sun in my sky, you are the hope that keeps me going every day, you are everything I need. Whenever I'm away from you, I feel as if I can not breathe. Without you, I am but a simple man, living for no purpose at all." Caspian took another breath when he realized how deep he was going.
Susan stared at him lovingly, waiting for him to continue. "If there is one thing I could not live without- could not breathe without, It is you. I would do anything in the world to win you. You alone, are worth dying for." He took her hands and started to caress them.
"I," he paused to choke back some tears, "I would give up my throne, for you. You are better than any treasure I could possess. Your smile is worth more than polished silver. Your laughter is worth more than pure gold. Your heart is more precious than a rare pearl."
A silver tear slid down her cheek. His words sounded so poetic. Oh, she wished she had paper to write it all down. "I cannot live without you. I love you more than the world...more than life. I value your life more than my own, Susan." He was pouring his heart out, just for her.
He took her hand. Susan almost gasped when he dropped down to one knee and pulled a small velvet box from his pocket. "Queen Susan, will you marry me?" Susan could have fainted at that moment.
Here he was, the only man she knew she could ever love... her soul mate, offering her a chance to stay with him forever. She gazed at the beautiful diamond ring in his hand. It started as a whisper, "Yes..." she said. "Yes." She came to realize the true meaning of what she was saying, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" She laughed and jumped into his arms.
He laughed as well. Not long after, he picked her up and twirled her around, laughing with joy. After a long twirl, he gently placed her down, staring into her glowing blue eyes the whole time. She stared up into his eyes. They could both feel the love, passion, and desire sparking inside of them.
As slowly as he could, Caspian lowered his head. Susan felt her love for him start to churn... she knew the reaction coming up. At last, his lips touched hers so softly, she almost didn't feel. Then he pressed a little.
At that instant, all the small sparks of... passion... desire... love... were all ignited. They burst into a wild fire of emotions of which neither of them could control. Susan pressed back, and the fire grew wider.
The young king wrapped one arm around her smooth neck, the other around her waist, and drew her in. She slid both her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss even more. Both of their hearts were screaming with desire deep within. The two kissed passionately until the golden sun sank beneath the dark depths of the night.
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