Interlude: Business and Pleasure
Travelling in this world was more complicated than Jadis was used to, but according to Himmler the steps he was taking were necessary. She trusted him because he had his best interests at heart – that is if staying alive was in his best interest. If he proved incompetent or stupid then he would be wishing he was dead for quite some time before Jadis was through with him.
Priorities weren't too difficult for Jadis to determine. World domination was her ultimate goal of course, but first there was the matter of Prince Caspian to deal with. That was as much for business as it was for pleasure. The weapon he carried possessed some great power – Jadis was certain of that. The Nazi would-be magicians' spell had located that sword first. Her wand was located second. That, or so Jadis deduced, most likely meant that the sword was more powerful than her wand, a fact that would have had her bristling had she not seen the weapon through the eyes of Heinrich Himmler.
Caspian's sword had a lion-headed pommel. It was the same sword that that maggot King Peter carried into the battle that ultimately led to Jadis' defeat. There was power in it, Jadis had no doubt, and if that power could defeat her once it could defeat her again. She needed to rid herself of that threat while winter still had a natural hold on this world and before the little princeling realized how to harness its strength.
She did not know how much time had passed since her last encounter with Caspian, but it could not have been too terribly much. He didn't look a day older than the morning he'd nearly succumbed to her seduction and freed her with his blood. Peter had carried the lion-headed sword then, she remembered, which meant Caspian could not have been in possession of it for long. Certainly no more than a year, two at the very most. She would take the sword from him and add its power to her own and then her business with the prince would be done. What she did to him after that . . . well that would be for pleasure.
Chapter Twelve
"All right, wake up you two."
Caspian's eyes fluttered open to the grey of predawn light. He wondered what had happened to have caused him to be roused early and hoped that it was nothing too dreadful. Gritting his teeth against the aches and pains he expected to plague him as he rose, he forced himself to sit up.
But no pain came and he realized that someone else had been asleep, nestled against his chest. For one wild moment he thought it was his son, remembering how Rilian was once prone to nightmares and used to climb into his parents' bed at night, but Rilian had been kidnapped years ago and –
- and Queen Susan the Gentle looked up at him with sleepy blue eyes.
"Get up. I mean it," Edmund ordered irritably and the situation sunk in.
"I swear to you," Caspian said, nearly in panic, "I took no dishonorable actions against –"
"Oh save it," Edmund snapped. "And get up and get to your own beds. Mum will be up soon and you don't want to know what would happen if she'd found you."
Caspian sat up the rest of the way, carefully wrapping an arm around Susan so she would not fall off of the sofa. She blinked up at him and smiled. "Good morning, Caspian."
"Both of you! Bed! Now!"
"Oh, you're already down here, Edmund?" Lucy asked, entering the parlor and rubbing her eyes sleepily. "I was coming to wake them before Mum got up, but I guess you beat me."
Caspian blinked rapidly at the two youngest Pevensies in disbelief. He had been expecting Edmund to challenge him to a duel for compromising his sister's honor, but, while Edmund didn't appear to be particularly happy, that unhappiness seemed to center around the fact that he was awake so early. Then there was Lucy who seemed sleepy, but cheerful rather than scandalized.
"Good morning," Lucy told them all.
"There's nothing good about it," grumbled Edmund. "And I'm going back to bed. You'll make sure they're up and gone before Mum comes down?"
"Of course."
Susan stood up and stretched. "Thanks Ed," she called before her youngest brother disappeared into the hallway. A disgruntled mumble was her only response.
"You are not angry?" Caspian asked, bewildered. "Or is Edmund only going to get his sword?"
"Edmund doesn't own a sword here," Lucy told him, "And no one's angry at you, silly. Well, Mum would be if she found you two like that, and I don't know what Dad would do, but the rest of us know you wouldn't do anything improper. Still, you'd better get on up to bed."
Lucy hustled them upstairs, not really giving them the chance to say anything else. Caspian's mind was hazy from sleep and disbelief, and Susan seemed quite disoriented as well. Once he was in his own room and lying on his own bed, however, he seemed to awaken completely and even if he had wanted to, he could not have gone back to sleep.
"I think I could love you," Susan had told him.
He was surprised those words had not kept him up all night. He lay awake now, thinking, marveling at how happy he was and how perfect everything in this world seemed to be. He wondered how the Kings and Queens of Old had been able to bear leaving their world to come restore Narnia from chaos.
The grey light seeping in through the curtains took on a golden sheen as day broke. Shortly after that a light knocking on his door caught his attention.
"It's safe to come down to breakfast," Lucy told him when he opened it. She grabbed him by the hand and started pulling him toward the stairs. He let her lead him, smiling indulgently as he walked quickly to keep up with her almost-run. Downstairs they went and then into the kitchen where they both stopped short.
Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Mr. Pevensie all sat around the table with very unhappy expressions on their faces.
"What's wrong?" Lucy asked immediately, squeezing Caspian's hand tighter.
Caspian feared the worst – he suspected that Pevensie had learned of what transpired the night before and was furious. No doubt Peter was angry as well. It had been stupid of him to think that there would be no repercussions for having been caught spending the night on the sofa with Susan.
But then Peter spoke dispelling all his fears.
"There's a Christmas party tonight. . . at Aunt Alberta's and Uncle Harold's."
Lucy made a squealing noise and turned to her father. "We don't have to go, do we Daddy?"
"I'm afraid this one's out of my hands," Pevensie said with the air of one completely defeated.
"But Daddy –"
"Alberta is your mum's sister . . ."
"That doesn't mean we have to go all the way to Cambridge just for her bloody party," Edmund groaned. "Please Dad . . ."
"Children . . ."
"It's a formal affair and Caspian doesn't have any formal clothes," Peter put in. "And it would be rude to force our guest to go somewhere where we know he'll be underdressed."
"Almost as bad as leaving him home alone when he's only been here a few days," said Lucy.
"There's no help for it," Edmund declared. "The four of us shall have to stay here with Caspian."
Pevensie laughed softly and shook his head. "Caspian will have to go in his uniform . . . as shall I." He didn't look very happy at the idea.
"But Alberta and Harold will tear him apart," Peter said, almost angrily. "You know them, Dad, they'll think he's some sort of curiosity, what with us claiming he has amnesia and him having allegedly been brought up in Spain."
"His excuse for not knowing anything vital is an easy one, at least," Pevensie said in a tired voice. He looked up at Caspian, a spark of humor in his eyes, but other than that he was far from cheerful. "Whenever anyone asks you something you don't know you'll just have to tell them you don't remember."
"And if he forgets?" Edmund asked.
"Edmund . . ."
"Sorry. Couldn't resist."
Pevensie shook his head again.
"It's not all that bad," Susan said.
"You just say that because you like wearing fancy clothes." Lucy pouted as she sat down at the table.
"Dad," Peter said, a pleading note in his voice. "You know what Alberta and Harold are like. Let Caspian stay home at least. He'll be miserable."
"Especially if Alberta gets it in her mind to dance with him," Edmund put in.
"I'll talk with your mother," Pevensie said after a moment, "But I don't know how much good it'll do." He sighed and stood and left the kitchen.
"Who is this Alberta?" Caspian asked, sitting down at what had become his place at the table, between Edmund and Susan.
"Eustace's mother," Lucy said glumly.
"Will Lord Eustace be there?" Caspian asked eagerly.
"He won't have a choice," said Peter. "But I don't think he'll mind nearly as much as we do."
"He's gotten a lot better," Lucy protested.
"I don't think he's gotten all that much smarter," Peter grumbled.
"Will perhaps his friend . . . Lady Pole I think her name was? Will she be there too?"
"Can't say," Peter told him.
"I would like to meet her though," Lucy said thoughtfully.
"Perhaps we will," Susan said and Edmund gave her a disgusted look.
"You really don't need to be so cheerful about this, just because you get to dress up," he muttered.
"It's not nearly as bad as they make it out to be," Susan promised Caspian. "And we'll be there to keep Alberta from starting in on you."
"Lost cause, that," Edmund said. "Peter, perhaps you should loan Caspian your sword back. He might need to take the honorable way out and fall on it."
Peter nodded solemnly and clasped Caspian on the shoulder as he started away from the table. "I'll go get it at once."
End of Chapter Twelve
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Thank you RleFay, merlyn2, garnetred, Lara86, ray1, diva.divine, Kurai2Hikari, dean'sdreamingangel, Satan's Spawn1293, and NarnianFairyPirateAtTwilight for reviewing.
Erin-21 – Sorry, Jadis is going to be meeting up with our heroes before this story's over. If it's any consolation you won't see her again for at least two chapters.
flyingxdragonx123 and Solitare42 – I'm normally not a fan of Susan and Caspian hooking up either, believe it or not. I'm still not quite sure how I ended up writing it this way, lol.
cali-chan – Thanks, as always, for the insights. I'll work on trying to give more perspective from Mr. Pevensie. Ramandu's daughter isn't really fleshed out in the books so she's a hard character to pin down and satisfy everyone with. I'm interested in seeing what they do about her in the next movie. She's not pivotal to the plot and neither is her back story. If it were my call I think I'd leave her character out of the next movie altogether and focus on what's important, but give her a big, dramatic death scene in Caspian's arms in the opening of the Silver Chair movie. But I'm rambling and it's not my call, and some people are probably thanking God for that right about now, lol.
Miniver – I'm glad you approve. Thanks for all the comments, it helps me to know what people like and dislike so I can give you guys more of the former and less of the latter.
mae-E –I can't answer all your questions right now because that would spoil the ending, but I promise to tie things up the best I can, and leave as little unanswered as possible.
maristelle – Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not a good enough writer to work an original character for Peter to have a romantic relationship into the story at this point. I've said it before and sadly, it remains true, romance is not my strong point. Sorry
I will make every attempt to get the next chapter up tomorrow. My other work has gotten a bit backed up, so I need to work on that too so I don't starve, but I should have time to finish both.