Well, I looked on here yesterday and I was like, it's been a week since I've updated! Oh my gosh the fanfiction people probably hate me...lol
So I tried to hurry up and post this. I originally thought Lucy would find out what that dang piece of paper says, finally, however it didn't work out that way. But you will find out in the next chapter. Promise.
Chapter 11-The Man Outside the Gates
I opened my eyes, awakened from my dreamless sleep by the smell of something sweet. I kept my eyes closed so I could take in the comfort of my warm bed and breathe deeply of the sweet scent, though I wasn't sure what it was, it smelt familiar.
"Good morning, Your Majesty." Elle's bright voice startled me out of my moment of peace and into a sitting position.
I groaned in protest, but asked. "What time is it?" The tightly drawn draperies of my room, gave no indication of the time.
Elle, noticing my wandering eyes answered. "It is well past noon, my lady, past time for you to be getting yourself up." She pointed out, rather bluntly. Then she strode purposefully over to the window, flinging back the curtains before I could think to argue with her.
"Come now, up with you, Majesty! I would've been up here bright and early to wake you, but His Majesty insisted you needed your rest. "She flicked another curtain open to let in dazzling sunlight, making me cringe and cover my eyes. "And you know what I told him?" She continued without waiting for my response. "I told him, Aslan knows you're a young thing! There'll be plenty of time for you to rest when you're old and gray like me." She chuckled at herself. "And do you know what His Majesty said to that?"
She swung around, hands on her hips, looking for a guess from me. "I've no earthly idea." I said. And despite the woman's claims to being old, she was just as, if not more, lively than me. Perhaps more! I thought ruefully.
Elle gave a huge, long suffering sounding sigh. "Why, he told me that I had no idea what you'd been through these last couple days,"
And neither does he, not really. I wanted to say.
"And that I should just stay silent on the matter because you were sleeping late!" She finished. The woman waved her hands about in the air, as if swatting at a bothersome fly, but instead asking. "Can you even imagine?"
I slid from under the comfort of my bedclothes and covered my mouth with a hand to hide the smile and giggle that wanted to escape at the woman's contrariness.
Elle's mouth twisted mockingly as she said. "I mean no disrespect to His Majesty, of course but that is just so like a man, especially a young man. I've really no-"
I couldn't contain my laughter any longer; I could just see Caspian trying to go about a normal morning with the old woman flittering around him, clucking like a mother hen. Caspian's brow creased in frustration with the headache he probably had. "Elle." I tried to quiet her. "Elle!"
She turned to pierce me with her blue eyes, hands still perched on her hips. "What is it Queen Lucy? And for Narnia's sake, get out of that bed! His Majesty wishes for you to join him for the midafternoon meal in the gardens."
My head reeled from all the different comments and orders that flew out of her mouth at the speed of a galloping horse. Does she ever slow down? I asked myself, inwardly smiling.
"Well?" Elle tapped a foot on the carpeted floor, it did not making a satisfying tap-tapping sound as she'd probably intended.
I jerked back to my thoughts about the sweet smell. "Oh, I just wondered what that sweet smell is." I took a deep breath, slowly sucking in so I could catch the fragrant odor again. It still reminded me of something.
I slipped to the floor, letting my toes sink into the intricate looking rug beside my bed. What does it remind me of? I wondered, thinking hard, waiting for Elle's answer.
For once I had the answer to a question. Home. It reminded me of home. It reminded me of home in London before daddy had gone off to war. Outside the little house we'd lived in before it had been bombed, there had been a tree. Daddy had planted it one year, long before I was born and all my life I had watched as each summer the old tree blossomed with the most beautiful pink and white blossoms you would ever have the pleasure of seeing. Unexpected tears sprung to my eyes at the memory, of a time when we'd been a true family.
What were they all doing now? Were they worried for me? Was Peter safe? Or had the people chasing us gotten to him? I felt sick at that.
Elle's matronly voice broke me out of unwanted thoughts of danger for my family. "Oh, it's a tree outside your window, there." Nonchalantly, she pointed to the farthest one from the bed, unaware of the direction of my thoughts and the scared feeling that still weighed heavy in my chest for the safety of my family.
I paused for a quick moment to say a prayer. 'Aslan, please protect Peter, Ed, Su, Eustace, Mum and Daddy and if they are scared for me, comfort them, let them know that I'm okay. After a moment I added. 'And help Thomas too, though I'm not sure of his true intentions, he did help me.'
What happened to him? I wondered silently.
"Child, quit daydreaming, we have to get you presentable for His Majesty!" Elle squawked at me.
I jumped into motion as Elle motioned me to the room across from mine, telling me that my bath had already been drawn and was waiting. "Go ahead, Your Majesty! I must see to your dress ready." Elle called out.
I stopped right in the doorway to tell her that it would not be necessary to trouble herself over a dress, that I would prefer pants and a tunic for today. The smallest pair she could find preferably.
I had a lot of exploring to do, not to mention finding that stone.
I never got that far though.
A commotion that sounded as if it came from downstairs caught my attention, I heard shouting and what sounded like slamming doors. I jerked in the direction of the stairs. "What was that?" Even though I asked the question, I wasn't expecting an answer.
"It's nothing, child, go along to your bath." Elle ordered me firmly, but her tone held an edge, almost like she was nervous about something.
That tone made me glance at the old woman with curiosity. "You know what's going on?" Maybe she was right and I shouldn't have slept in.
Elle's eyes held a wary look. "There's been a strange man outside the castles gates," She looked over her shoulder as if she expected someone to be listening, ready to scold her for being a gossip. "They say he's been there since early morning."
My brow wrinkled as I felt puzzled. "Who is he? What does he want?" Inside I couldn't help thinking cynically. Not another question I can't answer. This whole conversation reminded me, though, that whenever Elle left the room I had to find out what that slip of paper said.
And soon.
Elle stepped closer till she stood in front of me, leaning her head closer, conspiritously. "It's not really my place Queen Lucy."
I gave her a sour look. When has that ever stopped you before? I had a feeling that she was not the kind of woman who followed the rules but rather made them.
"But," She whispered after a moment, confirming my previously formed opinion of her. "Just between the two of us, you understand?" At my agreement she said. "This man, I hear, has been causing quite a ruckus, saying that he must speak with King Caspian." She shook her gray head in disbelief, as if she couldn't quite picture such a tale. "They say he's a terribly rough looking man. And do you know the strangest thing of all?" She asked this as if she really expected an answer from me, as if I might have any inclination.
I shook my head, no, anyway.
"Well," She dropped her voice to an even quieter whisper. "He claims that he knows you," She paused letting that sink in, making me feel bewildered by the claim. "And he says that you know him." Elle's eyes were wide as she waited for me to decline any knowledge of the whole thing.
I didn't, just shook my head again and asked. "Did he give a name?"
The old woman looked positively appalled. "Are you saying you might very well know him?" She gasped excitedly. "That the rumors might be true?" If she had been a dog, she would have been frothing at the mouth in her excitement.
My lips twisted in confusion. Why do I always seem to end up more confused than I was to begin with whenever I talk with Dannsair and Elle? "What rumors?" Had I even been here long enough to be the source of widespread gossip?
Elle pursed her lips, pressing them tightly together, looking as if she hadn't meant to say that but it had slipped out anyway. "Oh, its nothing."
"Tell me!" I insisted.
"Well," She said reluctantly now. "It's really nothing, just someone said that he was an old..."
"An old what?" I prompted impatiently.
"An old love of yours. That he was so in love with you that when you said you did not love him in return he turned into a bandit, bordering on sanity."
My mouth was wide open. "What?" I sputtered. "Just I- What? What?" Seeing the look on my face, which was a combination of incredulity and disdain, Elle was quick to add.
"But no one actually believes it Your Majesty."
Well that just helps a lot. I thought caustically. "Why," I asked. "In Aslan's name does anyone even-" I bit my tongue to cut myself off.
This was just wasting time. Time I could be using to look at that slip of paper that seemed to be mocking me from its place in the bedside tables top drawer. "Never mind, I don't even want to know." Whoever thought up that story was bordering on sanity themselves.
Elle was watching me with anxious eyes. "Then it's not true?"
I gave her an incredulous glance. "Of course it's not true, its ridiculous, preposterous, absurd, nonsensical, irrational, and-" Before I could think of a few more words to add, Elle covered her mouth with her hand so I could not see her smile.
"Very well Queen Lucy, go ahead to your bath, you've dallied around enough."
Instead of arguing that it had not been my fault, that she'd been the one doing the talking, I nodded in agreement, wanting to get out of here and start answering some of my questions.
And I will answer them. I promised.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
With a good scrubbing and less than a half hour later, I was about to burst from impatience. Elle's 'finishing touches' as she put it and a waste of time according to me, not because I did not want to look my best but because I had to see what was on that paper, and soon.
"Queen Lucy, pay attention!" Elle jerked me unceremoniously from my thoughts of the paper. "You are ready."
The dress I was to wear today was blue, a deep blue. The kind of blue you see at night when the moon is hiding itself from prying eyes, almost like it's embarrassed to be looked at.
The dresses white lace that touched each sleeve and wove itself around the bodice made it extremely too beautiful for simply a day outside, or that's what I thought, but Elle wasn't aware of the snooping I would be doing today. That is, if I ever got out of here.
At the woman's words that I was ready I started towards the door, stopping after only a few steps when I realized that my behavior might seem rude. I stepped back to the old woman and reached to grasp her hand. "Thank you for your help, Elle. It's very kind of you." I smiled with sincerity.
Elle looked almost taken aback by my thanks, before saying. "Oh, hush child, its nothing. It is my duty." She did not look me in the eyes as she said it, making me think that perhaps she did not believe my words. Then she met my gaze with her steely grey one. "You know, I have not changed my mind."
"About what?" I inquired.
Elle gave me a friendly wink. "I am going to enjoy your presence in the castle, it has stood silent for too long. An impulsive young woman is just what we need around here."
Before I could ask her to elaborate on that, she gestured at the door. "Come, you must go, King Caspian is waiting."
At that moment I felt slightly chagrined. I could, of course, just look at the paper now. But Elle would want to know what it was and call it a hunch, but I figured it might not be something she needed to know.
If I didn't want it all over the castle, that is.
Elle made an impatient sound by the door and I said. "Just a moment, I need to get something." Ignoring her questioning look, I darted to the bedside table and slid open the drawer.
My eyes landing on Thomas' ring and the slip of paper I'd rolled up and slid through it, to keep them both together.
My fingers itched with my want to open it now. "Hurry child." Elle ordered, making me shove the ring and paper in a fold of my gown to hide them. Why do they not sew pockets into these gowns? I complained inwardly, but smiled outwardly. I had asked that very question hundreds of times before when Peter, Ed, Su, and I'd lived here before.
I followed Elle calmly downstairs and what seemed through a dozen different doors and finally to a grand little room that for what it lacked in size. It made up for in beauty. Elle murmured something behind me. I turned in a circle, too caught up in my study of the room to see her leaving.
The small room's walls were a light blue that, with the accompaniment of the large colored glass windows on one side of the room, seemed to make the room burst with light, if the sun was kind enough to grant you its golden rays.
My eyes wandered further to take in the bookshelves that lined the wall both to the left and the right of the door as you walked in. The furniture, a creamy color, edged in gold made the room even more beautiful and yet they were very simple.
What really makes it so perfect, I figured, is the sunshine. It made the whole thing seem imminently more...more...
I searched in vain for a word that fit such simple beauty.
"Its very charming, isn't it?" A rich, accented voice asked from beside me.
Charming. That was it. The word to describe this room. I looked to my companion, already knowing who it was by his accented voice. Caspian. The smile curving my mouth up at the corners made me feel ridiculous at being so happy to see him, even when I knew the circumstances at which this meal was taking place. "Caspian." I greeted him, my heart coming alive in my chest. "Yes, it is. It's a very quaint room."
Caspian smiled in return. "You're awfully dressed up for a meal outside today. I thought I might show you around Calormen but you're too lovely for me to share with everyone else." I sucked in a breath looking to meet his eyes. Does he mean it? He smirked. "I'd never have recognized you if you hadn't spoken."
I glared at him.
He gave a quick laugh. "Are you hungry now? I wish to talk to you."
I was indeed hungry, the real question being, could I swallow the food in front of me whilst the butterflies whirled and danced in my stomach that simply refused to settle whenever he was near. But I nodded my consent. "And I need to talk with you as well."
"Oh?" Caspian looked more amused than surprised at my statement. "Should I be worried?" He grinned to show he was teasing.
I gave his arm a shove. "Perhaps you should."
He stepped to the door that opened to a balcony, stepping onto it revealed to the right, a set of stone steps leading down into the gardens. From the view of the balcony you could see dozens of paths leading every which way, twisting in and out, throughout the garden that seemed more like a small forest than a garden.
The green lushness of the trees' leaves and the grass told me that this was indeed, Narnia. Nothing grew in London like this. The flowers that grew along each path twisted among their kind, all turning their blooms to the sun, soaking in its warmth. Their scents filled the air with breathtaking odors.
Caspian offered his hand to help me down the stone steps. I took it, feeling his strength and the rough calluses that betrayed he was a hardworking man. His touch made my face feel hot with pleasure, though I was fairly certain that had not been his intention.
Even so, I enjoyed the feel of his strong hand wrapped around mine.
I looked sideways at him, so I could study him, as we walked down a path he chose. He was quiet, the afternoon sunshine making his deep brown eyes reflect gold, not that I could see that from where I was standing. I couldn't. But I knew that's what happened when the sun caught them just right.
The midday silence was only broken by the birds chirping above us in the trees or the squirrels that chased each other in a rollicking game of hide and seek amongst the flowers.
I took in Caspian usual clothing. The white cotton shirt, much like the one he'd worn yesterday, fit close to his body, hiding a muscled chest from his work on the Dawn Treader.
I swallowed hard. Forcing my eyes away for a moment. Have you lost your mind? I squeaked at myself. My face flushed and I felt hot all over. After I'd calmed myself I turned to openly look at him again. His attire suggested an early morning out among his people.
"What are you thinking about Lucy?" I jumped, startled at Caspian's question, he was staring at me with curious eyes. Needless to say, my face was even hotter under his quizzically amused gaze.
If he only knew the direction of my thoughts. But he never would if I had anything to do with it.
"You won't tell me then?" Caspian asked teasingly but his voice held something I did not understand. An edge that I was too embarrassed to define.
I didn't stop to think on it as we came upon a set of chairs and a table that sat under the shade of a large tree; it was completely covered with food. It was spread out across it, leaving you with at least a dozen choices easily. The plates and teacups resting clean, waiting for someone to have a sip of tea. The silverware shone despite the sun not quite being able to reach them in their shady spot. Caspian pulled my chair out for me to sit and I gave him a reply to his question, just not everything I'd been thinking about. "I was daydreaming. Narnia and its people seem twice as wonderful as I remember. I missed it so much; it's hard to believe that-"
"That what?" Caspian prodded gently, sitting down across from me.
"That it's almost exactly the same as I remember." I whispered, afraid to break the peaceful mood.
"Did you expect it to have changed?" He asked, looking surprised by that thought.
"Well, one of the last times we came back, a thousand years had passed and this really arrogant and funny looking Prince had started a war." I turned my sad thoughts into a joke, so I could tease him.
But what was really going through my mind? What if it had been the same this time? What if Caspian had been gone? Another thousand years passed over effortlessly? As if it was nothing more than a distant memory? Gone in the blink of an eye?
I bit my lip. Hard. There was no need for those kinds of thoughts on such a beautiful day.
Caspian gave a laugh. "And this Prince? A handsome man, I'm sure? A great man, perhaps?" His lips curving slightly, revealing his white teeth.
That made me smile and try to force a straight face long enough to say. "Oh, he was all right, I suppose." I tried to look indifferent. "He was rather stubborn, not to mention arrogant, back then." I taunted him playfully.
Caspian gave a rich laugh that rumbled his chest. "Arrogant? I was never arrogant." He made a serious looking face.
I burst out laughing, feeling the most happy than I had in months, since leaving Narnia the last time. It felt so good to see Caspian again, to hear his laugh, to see his smile.
Caspian joined me, laughing just as hard.
My mind shot back to the first moment I realized I was in Narnia and had stood looking up at Cair Paravel, seeing the beach again, tasting salt on the wind and the sweet but tart juice that ran thick from the red apples from the orchard. I grinned in contentment. It was almost easy to forget the circumstances that had gotten me here.
Cair Paravel. That reminded me of something. "Caspian?"
"Yes, Lucy?" His accented voice was smooth and relaxed; he sounded very much at ease and sounded as content as I felt.
"What happened to Cair Paravel? When I first got here, it was- it is-" As I paused he said.
"We're rebuilding it." He grinned looking pleasantly surprised at my question. "We've only just started but its coming along well." His grin was infectious once again.
"How long has this been going on?" I raised my eyebrows in question. "I thought you'd been gone, what with you returning and everything yesterday."
Caspian's grin did not lessen and his demeanor didn't change but something in his eyes lessened and I saw a glimmer of the wariness from yesterday replace it. "We've been gone near to a month, I believe." And though he owed me no explanation he said. "I had business to attend to elsewhere."
This cryptic statement, peeked, my already burning curiosity. "And what business of great importance called you away for a whole month?" The question was not meant to be an insult in any way but when he spoke again his voice held condescension.
"There are a great many things a King has to look after, no matter the cost or," An arrogant look here. "The time."
I gave him a dry look wondering how we could have been getting along so well and then for it to turn so quickly into a debate of sorts. "And when, may I ask, did you get so-" I was interrupted by the arrival of someone dashing through one of the gardens many paths. The man came to a stop in front of us.
"Your Majesty. Ja-" He cut his self-off catching sight of me.
I wasn't surprised. And before I could tell him to continue, very politely, of course, Caspian said. "What seems to be the problem?"
My annoyance rose as I recognized the man as one of the many from the courtroom last night. I felt I should say something too. "Yes, Trian, do tell us what's wrong." I did not have to fake concern but I did have to keep the caustic edge from my tone.
Both men stared at me as if shocked that I had dared to ask. And I couldn't help the small smile that spread over my lips at doing so.
"Pardon, My Lady," Trian gave me a look of respect as if he had not figured I would remember the name of a common man such as he. "I did not mean to interrupt your meal." To Caspian he said. "James wishes to speak with you when you have the time."
Caspian nodded his dark head, both men completely unaware that I was hanging on the edge of their words, willing them to inadvertently give me an answer to any of my questions. "I'll see him when I can" Caspian glanced at me. "Tell him I'm busy right now." Train gave a quick nod to the both of us and left.
Perhaps if I had not overheard everything last night I might have enjoyed Caspian's glance as if my company was really the reason he was sitting here. I might've thought his words sweet.
But I had, so I didn't.
I sent a disconcerted look to Trian's retreating back. "What was that all about?" I dared to ask Caspian.
Caspian turned his dark head to look down at the food in front of him as if it was the most interesting thing he saw. He was avoiding my gaze. "I'm not sure what you mean."
I felt my blood rising, ready to snap at him that he most certainly did. Easy. I ordered myself. I realized that kind of an approach to the whole subject would not get me anywhere. "If I asked you what..." I trailed off of my own accord, cutting short a rebuttal that probably also wouldn't get me anywhere.
Caspian, unaware of my annoyance asked. "If you asked me what, Lucy?" He didn't look up from his plate.
I stared out across the gardens, to get a tight hold on my tongue before saying. "Nothing." He looked about to say something to that so I hurriedly asked him a question that burned in my mind, not quite as hot as the others, but almost. "Caspian, who is this man that everyone is talking about? The one that's been outside the gates all morning." I explained at his puzzled expression.
He finally deigned his self to look me in the eyes again. "What man? Who told you this?" Curiosity edged his tone, no longer sounding irritated at my questions.
Slowly, I explained what I'd been told; leaving out whom exactly told me. "And he knows me, or so he's been saying." I finished. "What do you know about any of it?"
A frown crossed his full lips. "I had no idea; I was not informed of any of this." He muttered something under his breath, as if in thought, that I could not understand. "Are you sure of this?" He asked with no small amount of skepticism.
I scowled at his little confidence in my words. "Do you think I would just purposefully make up something like that?" My hold on my temper wavered at remembering his doubt at my words last night as well. "Why would I do that? A laugh perhaps? And I'm glad to see I'm not the only one being misinformed."
Caspian pinned me with his eyes, silent for a long moment. No apology evident in his tone. "What does that mean?" His dark eyes searched my face. "What did you mean by that?"
His eyes made me suck in a nervous breath as they always seemed to. But I wasn't taking back my words. "Why do you doubt me so much all of a sudden?" I didn't answer his question. "Since I got here yesterday, you seem..." He watched me closely making me my already parched mouth even dryer. "Last time I was here you trusted me, we were friends. What's changed that?"
Caspian looked speechless. I hardly believed I'd even dared to say all that. I hadn't even known that bothered me so much. I ground my teeth together. And now he really thinks me a silly little girl.
"Lucy, I don't doubt your words." He murmured. "And we'll always be friends; I did not realize I'd acted so rudely towards you." He cleared his throat in an uncharacteristically nervous manner. "Narnia is a different place now, Lu, no matter how much it looks the same, its dangerous."
His apologetic words did nothing to erase the lies I'd been told and the fact that he would be leaving me here in a fortnight, a young girl to be protected from some danger that I had to remain completely ignorant of. How did that make sense to anyone? Least of all me.
I was the Warrior Queen, why did that girl, that young woman I'd once been seem so far away? Where was she? Did I leave her behind along with the heart that now belonged to a King that said we would always be friends? 'Aslan what's happened to me?'
Forgetting all my questions for the moment, I didn't have to stand here and be told what was going to happen in a fortnight and that I would be staying here. I already knew because I had eavesdropped on Caspian and James' discussion in the courtroom last night. I would not be told I had to stay. And I did not wish to hear an excuse, another lie, come out of his mouth because of it. I pushed my chair away from the beautifully arranged table. Standing to leave.
"Lucy, what-"
I glanced to the gardens surrounding us; I will not be here in a fortnight. "Yes, we're friends Caspian." The statement sounding bitter to my own ears.
Right then I made up my mind that when a fortnight had passed, I would not be standing around being guarded. I would have some answers by then, I reasoned. So I was going with Caspian. If I had to sneak out of the castle and trail him and his men all the way to...wherever it was they were going, I would.
I would find my answers and I would prove that I could be and was always the Warrior Queen; I would find the Queen I used to be.
That I chose to be.
And I would prove that I didn't have to be hidden from some great danger because I was a girl, I had fought many a war alongside my brothers, and I could do the same now. Maybe I'd regret my decision later on, but it would be dealt with in time.
"Lucy, where are you going?" Caspian stood also, tipping his chair onto the lush green grass, startling a chipmunk. "I still want to talk with you."
I was also not going to run from him. "Fine then, walk with me Caspian. I want to explore the gardens." I said calmly as if everything was perfectly fine. I waited a second to let him fall into step beside me and I chose a path to wander down.
We were both silent and the pause was awkward as we were both still irritated at the other.
A few moments later Caspian broke the silence. "You're angry with me." It was not a question, and I could not deny it.
"And you with me." I said, not arguing his statement.
"Just a bit...vexed, perhaps, not angry." He admitted. "Do you wish to tell me why you're so angry with me?" He tried to keep the question light but it bordered on an order.
I walked slowly, letting my eyes take in the Narnia he claimed was so changed from last time. But I knew better than anyone that looks could be deceiving. "It's not important." Evidence of that walked beside me.
"You don't say those kinds of things if it's nothing, Lucy." He said gently, but firmly. I didn't turn to meet his eyes for I knew they would have softened in a friendly sort of way that would make my heart skip, regardless of the anger I held against him.
If I looked into his eyes I might forgive him too easily.
"It is nothing. Nothing important."
He reached out, grasping my arm in a strong hand to pull me to a stop. "You're lying." As I pulled away from his touch he reached, touching a hand to my cheek, tilting my head so I had no choice but to look into his relentlessly beautiful eyes. "Tell me." He coaxed, the wary, irritated, young man gone for that moment, in his place the King I had known on the Dawn Treader. That I'd missed.
I felt my self-falling for him. Felt my willpower waver. Is he doing this on purpose? Does he realize what an effect he has on me? I forced my eyes to anywhere but his eyes. I would not relent. Not that easily.
My eyes dropped down, to his mouth. His unshaven chin was dark with the start of a beard, making him look dangerously tempting.
"I-" I had an urge to run my fingers across his face, to feel the roughness of his prickly skin. And I actually got so far as to raise my hand to do so when...
The sound of someone running through the gardens coming towards Caspian and me, made me stop and Caspian drop his hand from me face. We whirled around in unison as shouts accompanied the sound of even more feet trampling throughout the gardens in their haste.
Caspian and I both made sounds of surprise and he grasped my arm to pull me behind him just as a man broke through the beautifully thick foliage that made up the gardens.
The man was panting from running, and he looked haggard from what I could see of him, his clothing ripped and filthy, and his dark hair straggling in his face.
The man from outside the gates. I thought, but I had a sudden inkling about that man, that I did know him from somewhere.
And then I knew.
I knew who he was even before he shoved a masculine hand through his normally short brown hair, dark with filth and perspiration, to reveal his face. Caspian made some sound of warning as the man's eyes landed on me, a smile coming to the man's face as he spotted me.
And something like relief coated his features, though I guess I could have been mistaken as he was covered in mud.
"Unbelievable." I said aloud, causing Caspian and a whole group of soldiers who'd come sliding into the garden path all stop and stare at their Queen as if she was addled. They watched between the man and me, searching desperately for an explanation as to why I had spoken to the man as if I knew him.
The young man smiled broadly at me, looking relieved and happy at my recognition of him. "Queen Lucy."
I smiled disbelievingly at...
He he he. I am so evil. How about reviewing if you want to find out who it is? ;)
