Chapter Twenty-one: Dare We Go Any Farther?

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~ Narnia ~

Lucy gazed thoughtfully at the blue star that shone above Ramandu's Island, and wondered if they might even get there. So little was sure, but she had a feeling though, that like Peter would have, Caspian would go on, saying they must stop this coming darkness which was trying to take over Lumea. She glanced at Edmund, wondering what he was thinking. But he was staring down at his sword hilt, absently running his thumb over the gold and the emeralds on it. Without him having to speak, she knew he would agree to going on, and that currently he was trying to think of how to tell everyone else. She'd seen him like this enough in the Golden Age to know that.

Serene wore an unreadable expression, she was watching Edmund too, but Lucy knew she'd follow him wherever he went. Susan was looking off absently, stroking Rilian's hair, letting the little boy rest a while longer, his head tucked under her chin. Lucy wondered what she's do. The silence stayed over the room for several more seconds, before Caspian spoke, and nearly at the same time, Edmund voiced his opinion.

"I am going on, I must," Caspian began.

"I agree, I do not know what everyone else thinks, but I believe that at least I have to go on. Aslan brought us back for a reason, and this could very well be it," Edmund declared, looking at Lucy.

"But we do not know where this island even is, nor if the Lords even made it there. What if we never find the six missing swords?" Susan said cautiously, and perhaps placing a bit of her logical sense behind it as well.

"Susan, this is not some adventure for us, this is for Narnia, for all our subjects, for Lumea. If we do not do this, perhaps nothing will come from this place in our time, but what of Rilian's? We do not know what will happen then. If we can do this, then we should not leave it for our son to do, it could become harder to accomplish this task later," Caspian reasoned gently.

"He's right you know, we may not be Stars of wisdom or knowledge, but this is something we know must be done," Arran spoke quietly, him and his brothers looking at the Narnians while they waited for their decision. For the first time, they seemed a people truly of their own, from the world of the skies above Lumea.

"I will go wherever you wish, Sire. I have no part in this argument," Drinian dismissed himself, stepping back when Caspian asked for his opinion.

"Susan, come with us, this is Narnia, Aslan will help, we don't have to be alone," Lucy encouraged with a hesitant smile in her sister's direction.

"Very well, I suppose we all go on then," Susan replied, smiling back at her sister, looking around the room.

"You have decided then?" Coriakin re-entered the library, looking around curiously, even though he knew the answer.

"Yes, we will do as you have asked us. We will try to stop this mist, or, whatever lies behind it," Caspian replied.

"Then you shall need these," the magician pulled three scrolls from inside his robe, leaving a few – Eustace for one – wondering how he managed it. He threw them out as he had the large living map; they seemed smaller copies of that one. "For you, Lord Drinian," Coriakin murmured, motioning to the map on his left. "Speak all that you have seen, and it shall appear. If you did not name it, or think of several names, it will go with the one it prefers. What you cannot complete it will finish." He walked over to the one on his right. "King Caspian, this one is yours, for there may be a time when your captain is away, and you are in need of one of your own. The same rules that apply to Lord Drinian's map apply to yours," Coriakin moved his hand and the maps once again became scrolls, which Caspian and Drinian each took.

"This one, however, is for myself, and I would like all three maps to be marked at once, later of course, when we have the time. Now, for lunch, I am sure there are many of you who are just as hungry as I," he smiled, bowing slightly.

"I'm starving; we've had nothing to eat besides that horrid ship's fare! I for one would like some real food," Eustace exclaimed, walking forward.

"I suppose they all arrive faulted, do they not? At least the good of it is one never enters Narnia alone," Coriakin murmured, glancing heavenward as he turned and walked from the library, motioning for them to follow.

Lucy and Edmund shared glances, startled to realize that they had never – except for the first time each had entered the wardrobe – come into this world alone. They had always had company. And Edmund and Lucy had known more about Narnia than any of their traveling companions had, excluding the last time when they'd come to help Caspian. This thought surprised them, and made them thoughtful as they followed after Coriakin.

This time, the man led them past all the doors, keeping careful watch that no one tried to enter any of them. He allowed Lucy to lead the party to the next door they would have to enter, telling them to wait for him there. He turned to make sure every person had come through the hall, and was startled to see Eustace standing in front of the door that led to Mindel Eras. He regained his composure, and walked back down to the boy, who was staring at the carvings intently.

"It is lovely, is it not," he whispered.

Eustace turned and looked at him quickly. "I was simply admiring the carvings," he said hurriedly, rather nervous because of the mysterious air that seemed to hang about the magician.

"Of course you were," Coriakin replied in an absent tone, motioning with his hand for Eustace to walk forward. He led the boy back to the door the others had gone through and closed it behind the curious boy quietly. But after the magician returned to the door that they'd left, Eustace poked his head out into the hall. All he saw was a brief flash of light as the door was opened, and smelled a musty sort of smell, before the door closed and the hallway was empty, the magician not in sight. Shrugging, Eustace closed the door and turned down the hall, entering the door that had just closed to join the others.

~|:Xo0oX:|~

Eustace looked around the room; it was quite large, going against the outward structure of the mansion. It was like a Victorian garden observatory, with perhaps thousands of hanging plants, trailing vines and letting their wonderful scents perfume the air. Eustace noticed several flowers of an English variety, and wondered how the magician had managed to get them here. When he thought of the magician, he wondered if he should tell the others that he'd vanished through a door, looking like he would be going away for a long time. As he was pondering the peculiarity of the man's actions, and wondering just how to tell everyone without seeming too involved or concerned, the doors to the room opened and Coriakin walked in, staff and all.

"I apologize for keeping you waiting, but I had to attend to business. Now that I have finished, perhaps I might serve you. Lucy knows how this comes about," here he paused to smile at Lucy. "Now, I think I have a good grasp on what most of you want, so, please be seated!" With a flourish, as if he was a sower throwing seed, he motioned, and instantly food and a linen tablecloth covered the table. Everyone except Lucy and Arran took a step back. The Star grinned slightly at the girl, before walking closer to the table.

"Come, eat, please," Coriakin insisted, taking a chair himself. Slowly the others joined him at the table.

Each began to eat, surprised that they all received what they had been thinking of since the rationing and short water began. After a short silence, everyone became comfortable, and began talking with one another, what they had learnt in the library momentarily forgotten in that room.

~|:Xo0oX:|~

And that was the way it went, after lunch Coriakin, Drinian and Caspian went and talked over the maps that Coriakin had given them, and then asked if there was anything he might tell them further of the Eastern Ocean. He told them; sadly, there was nothing more he could offer. But, when they turned away, he seemed rueful, looking skyward though, his expression quickly vanished and he followed after them. Surprisingly, everyone did not worry over a great many things on this Island, like they had in Narrowhaven.

Coriakin, assisted by Serene, mended the mast and other damages with their magic. He gave supplies and things they could truly use on ship-board. He talked with Reepicheep over something unknown to the others, and when asked, the Mouse would only smile and shake his head, denying the particulars of the conversation. The magician also told Lucy that she could try to change the Duffers' opinion about themselves; but, try as she might, with Edmund and Susan also helping, she could not. They did somehow manage to get them to change their name, however.

It came about because of all the Narnians calling them 'Monopods' instead of Duffers. All sorts of odd names were thrown around by the bouncing individuals, but before long they confused these names with their old title of Duffers. But all was not lost even then, for they managed to confuse this name with monopod and before long, all agreed on the title of 'Dufflepuds'; and that is probably what they will be called for centuries. As evening drew on, Coriakin once again had them all for dinner, and then put them up in a few of his many rooms.

As they had been taken to these rooms, he mentioned in passing that he could walk down these halls and sometimes there was a new door, causing Eustace to look around, secretly hoping that something of the sort might happen and he could get to see it. All the Narnians slept uneventfully, as they had on the shores. But the Stars stayed up and talked with Coriakin, who did not seem to need sleep either.

At ten the next morning, after a breakfast at Coriakin's table, they sailed from his cove and back toward the Ocean. The parting was perhaps slightly bittersweet, with the Dufflepuds all shouting goodbyes and standing around the magician as if he was their friend, though Lucy was sure another rift would come up between them from the Dufflepuds' stupidity. The island was a welcoming green, with well-tended hills and trees rolling away into the morning fog-covered distance. Ever after, sailors would tell stories of the magical island somewhere in the vast Eastern Ocean, near the place where the water touched the sky.

And the island was called 'Coriakin's Island', or 'Land of the Dufflepuds', where little men bounced as high as kangaroos and a magician went round being constantly misunderstood by them, who was keeper of a beautiful enchanted manor for the Great Lion of the sky, Aslan himself.

~|:Xo0oX:|~

Everyone was almost a bit reluctant to leave, more so than they had been on the Lone Islands. But they knew they had to go on, and no one wanted it to be said of them that they had forsaken the quest that Aslan, through Coriakin, had told them to go on, to stay on an island where nothing ever happened – in a good way of course. Eustace was careful to stay out of everyone's way, though he was still just as irritable if talked to by Susan or Caspian. The days on shipboard were calmer now; things back to the way they had been when Caspian and Susan had first sailed from Narnia.

Everyone was nervous of course, as one usually is when you have been warned about tests and dark powers brewing. I always think people behave better if they don't know what is going to happen to them, that way they aren't on such an edge. Edges get messy.

~|:Xo0oX:|~

Lucy was sitting on the rear deck, drawing some of what she remembered from Coriakin's Island on a sketch tablet Susan had given her from the chart room, the older woman mentioning as she had given it to her, that Caspian and Drinian wouldn't really be using it since they had the magical maps from the magician. Gavan was leaning against some rope and barrels, sharpening his sword for lack of anything better to do. Reep was there and gone continually, talking to Lucy, sometimes to Gavan and then recalling something important he would dash away to go tell someone else.

"Back there, on Coriakin's Island, why did you and your brothers glow, or, shine, or… well, why?" Lucy asked, not pausing from her drawing.

"We're Stars," Gavan said simply, sliding the sharpener along his blade quickly, creating a rasping sound.

"I know that, but, I don't understand," Lucy tried again.

"In your world, do stars shine different colors, or are they all just white?" he asked, glancing up at her briefly.

"No, some are blue, some are orange, red, green, and I'm sure there're other colors too," Lucy acknowledged.

"There, an excellent example!" Gavan exclaimed energetically.

"What? Oh, wait, you mean…?" Lucy finally caught on.

"Yes, we're Stars, and all stars in the sky shine different colors, well, so do we. Arran – fittingly if I might say – shines red, Zephyr green, and well, I shine blue. So now you know the reason Stars shine. If we had just come from the sky, Zephyr, Arran and I would all glow, now though, we only do that around– around certain people," Gavan finished.

"Thank you for telling me, I appreciate it," Lucy smiled, before returning to her drawing. Gavan went back what he had been doing as well. After another few minutes passed however, she looked up again.

"Do you miss anything – ever?" she asked, tucking a strand of her hair over her ear when the wind blew it across her face.

Gavan thought about it for some time, head cocked, before answering. "Yes, I miss being a normal sixteen year old sometimes. I wasn't always a 'star' in that sense, neither were my brothers and sister. Of course, we aged slowly, but still, I remember being normal, more mortal. That's something that is a problem for my siblings and me; we are constantly fighting star and mortal emotions alike."

"How so?" Lucy asked.

"Well, one example would be yesterday, in Coriakin's library. We did not stand beside you; we were with you, but not. I'm sure you noticed the difference. Our, if you will," Gavan laughed slightly, "indifference toward your problems. Stars like to watch things play out, not be a part of them, while our more mortal side wants to offer our opinions, as Arran did." Gavan shrugged.

"Hmm, I was only wondering, thank you, again," she smiled. Gavan nodded with a grin before bending back over the weapon.

~|:Xo0oX:|~

"Caspian, why are you doing this?" Susan asked, stepping away from the cabin window to face him. The sunlight bounced off the waves as if they were jewels and dance across the ceiling in beams of light. Susan had put Rilian down for a nap and had come here after to think, it really was the quietest place onboard for that sort of work. Not long after she had been there, Caspian entered, she didn't know why, but assumed it was for something off the shelves or desks. He paused and glanced up at her after she voiced the question she had been pondering since the night before.

"Why do you ask that?" He replied, slowly straightening as she walked closer.

"You know why," she answered, waiting for his response.

"I'm not sure I understand, Susan. Remember we talked about this in Coriakin's library, you know why we're going on," he said, slightly confused. The confusion showed through his tone as well.

"I have lived with you for four years, and if you agree to something, it's usually because there's a deeper reason than simply 'going on'." Susan crossed her arms and looked up at him, raising one eyebrow.

"Perhaps I don't know why I want to continue, except for the sake of 'going on' as you put it," Caspian answered, annoyance and aggravation seeping into his tone.

"This would be the first time," Susan replied, her own aggravation rising. He didn't have to act as if she was making him admit to murder or some other crime; she only wanted to know his true reasons!

"Well, there is always a first for everyone," he retorted, walking to the desk on the left.

"We're talking; you're not going to continue as if we haven't?" She asked, as he pulled the papers from the drawer and started going through them.

"You hadn't finished? Forgive me; I thought we were through arguing over my lack of planning ahead. But if you're not, I'd rather we moved on to something else," he answered sarcastically.

"'Arguing'? I thought I was simply asking what your real reason for going on was. But if it puts you out, go about your business, which is apparently far more important than your wife and her simple question!" Susan returned.

"I never said you weren't important! But if that's what is causing you to act this way, what can I do about it? I spend all day dealing with complications and leading these men, what's left I spend talking or dealing with your siblings and cousin, who I might add, has given me a great deal of grief these past days, at night I sleep, if your cousin, again, doesn't plot something new for me to get him out of," Caspian said, his voice rising. The tension from the past several days was making him lash out far more than he would have under normal circumstances.

"I'm not some dog or horse that constantly needs your attention; in fact, I could do very fine without it! I was merely thinking that as your wife you would tell me your real reasons for going on; that's all, but you've turned it into a nightmare! I can barely ask you anything anymore, it's as if you don't trust me," Susan replied, her anger leaving the fight, replaced by confusion and hurt.

"I never said I did not trust you! You're twisting this into a different picture, just because I don't tell you the reasons or backing behind my choices, you act as if I keep everything from you, that really isn't fair," he returned, his temper still high.

"There, you do have a reason, which is all I wanted, if it is too personal, I mustn't hear it, I didn't ask to! I simply wanted to know if you had one!" Susan replied, trying to keep her injured feelings from entering the argument.

"Now you know. Are you finished?" he asked after a pause, the quiet between them tense.

"You'll be finished whether or not I want to keep talking, so just go do whatever it was you were doing!" she shouted, her voice catching, as she pointed toward the door. He started to walk past her to leave, but turned and looked down at her, instantly regretting what had gone on between them. "Just go," she murmured, not looking at him. But however much he wanted to mend the rift he'd caused, he didn't know how, so he left.

Susan walked back towards the windows and stared down at their wake. There were times like these when she wished she had her mother there to ask things of. She brushed her tears away, laughing through them at her own patheticness. A marriage is not without its rough patches, she reasoned. Her parents had argued, but they'd come out of it all right in the end, she tried to console herself. Susan couldn't help feel a sense of foreboding, however, that this was not the last time they'd argue on this journey.

~|:Xo0oX:|~

Edmund leaned against the railing, enjoying the refreshing breeze from the west. Every so often, however, he would glance down at the sword at his side, wondering as to its significance in this whole endeavor. He knew that they would have to lay it at Aslan's table, but he wondered why they couldn't just place any set of seven swords upon it. He knew that the swords were unique; his blade was the only one on the whole ship that matched Rhindon's quality. He also wondered as to the Guardians, and what they had been like. Would he and his siblings have liked them? Would they have been pleased with their work?

"All these questions and for the first time, no one to really answer them," he muttered. It was a pity so much of the Narnian writings from the Dark Age had been lost, he thought, turning to stare out across the ocean. If it hadn't, then perhaps he could learn more about these seven guardians and the magical powers they possessed through their blades. As he mused on the subject, Caspian came up on his left. The King leaned his arms against the rail, staring down at the water, before speaking.

"Do you have a moment, or are you thinking of something?" he asked, glancing across at Edmund.

The Just King shook his head with a smile. "Nothing of grave importance, just questions I usually have when I return here," he explained.

"Might I ask you something then?" Caspian queried.

"Of course, but, if Peter were here to tell you, he'd say it's not certain you'd get my answer." Edmund smiled fondly.

"I answer or not, as long as I have someone to talk to, it would be a great ease of burdens," Caspian replied.

"Well then, let's hear your problem," Edmund coaxed, waiting expectantly, head cocked in interest.

"I don't know if it's so much a problem, its more confusion than anything else. It's about Susan." Caspian paused and glanced at Edmund, wondering how he would react to that.

"What? I am not Peter. I don't become alarmingly offended if anything is said against my siblings, unless it's treasonous. Besides that, you're her husband, not some stranger from a ball or gala suddenly asking me this. I'll hear you out without ruling judgment, so please continue." Edmund watched Caspian intently, wondering.

"We had an argument. She wanted to know my true reasons behind continuing this voyage. I lost my temper and I shouldn't have, she only wanted to know. But, what she asked, I've been thinking it over in my mind, and I realize I couldn't give her an answer, and that's what frustrated me. I don't know what my reasons are for doing what I say I must. And I said things I shouldn't have to her," Caspian finished, frowning as he spoke, recalling the quarrel.

Edmund was silent, and as Caspian slowly straightened, thinking Edmund was not going to respond as he had said he might, Edmund spoke; "Remember when you first met us? Peter very nearly killed you and you him," Edmund smiled and looked down, before glancing at Caspian.

"Yes, I remember, I felt incredibly stupid and impetuous because I lashed out instead of asking who he was first," Caspian replied.

"Peter said something toward you that was uncharacteristic of him. He ridiculed you, and also acted superior toward you. That's his way of hiding his pain, but that's beside the point. The point is, the night of the raid, when things went wrong, Susan asked him what his reasons were for doing what he was doing, recall?" Edmund's eyebrows rose as he watched Caspian, giving the man time to respond.

"Yes," Caspian replied slowly.

"He could not give an answer. When he told me about it, not long before he challenged Miraz, he said that the reason he didn't answer her was because he didn't know why he did what he did. He simply had no answer to give Susan. He sounded like you did just now, telling me you don't know what to tell her. But, I know, I should say knew, because in my early years as king, I did things that had no reason. I was trying to live up to a standard – my siblings' standard – I wanted to be everything they wished I would be. I was also trying to prove to myself that Jadis no longer had hold of me. I was trying to prove things to myself and to everyone around me. Just as Peter was, just as you are now; perhaps yours is deeper than that, but time will tell," Edmund answered.

Caspian met his eyes, slightly surprised, but mostly grateful. "That is a reasonable answer, one I wish I had given her instead of angry words. Thank you Edmund, that was greatly helpful," Caspian said, resting his hand on the young man's shoulder before walking off.

"There are times like these when I wish my reputation and my title had not carried across three ages," Edmund murmured thoughtfully. He was good for more than swordsmanship lessons and answers to questions, but it seemed that no one ever realized that.

~|:Xo0oX:|~

Reepicheep stared fondly out into the wide blue ocean as the sunlight faded behind them. He had always preferred the ocean over land. You met the most extraordinary people on ship-board. He mused over what Coriakin had told him, about Ramandu's Island. He hoped nothing would come of what the magician had told him, but he knew from long experience that real magicians are more often than not, correct about everything they say.

"Besides the color of your feather, and the grey in your fur, you have not changed my friend." Reep turned around slightly as Arran climbed up the steps leading to the dragon's head figurehead.

"I thought that with all your years and all your vast knowledge to remember, you had forgotten me, after all, it was almost twenty years ago that Mezelzaz attacked Midalin," Reep replied quietly as the Star leaned against the smooth painted wood of the figurehead.

"A Star never forgets," Arran murmured, crossing his arms.

"Now you just sound like Daxworthy the elephant," Reep remarked with a reminiscent laugh.

Arran chuckled, sighing; "Well, at least I haven't ever crushed sixteen pounds of gold and silver into an unrecognizable mass, you have to admit."

"That was Edith's mistake; she should never have let him consume all that papaya juice at one sitting. But dryads are not always the most intelligent of the lot," Reep replied.

"Hmm," Arran agreed.

"You know you're toying with fire, being on this vessel with King Caspian. That's dangerous Arran, especially considering," Reep commented after a pause in the conversation.

"I have always enjoyed playing with fire. You of all people should know that well. It doesn't bother me in the slightest how close I come to the blaze," Arran returned calmly, but Reep detected the cynicism in the pirate's voice, and knew that trouble was brewing.

"I owe you an apology for going into a rage over The Sea Serpent, considering that I once knew both sides of the coin myself, and do indeed relish a good raid to this day," Reep acknowledged, deciding that the best tactic would be to change the subject of conversation.

"Think of it as payment for services rendered, after all, it was me who double-crossed you to help Winkworth," Arran reasoned.

"I told you that ferrets are not ones to associate oneself with when weighing smuggling and piracy. But it was entirely my fault about Mezelzaz. If I hadn't been so stupid, Mezelzaz would still be sleeping and Midalin would be here, not burnt to the ground."

"Midalin would have perished anyway, what with the rise of Calormene vessels and shipping control after Narnia's collapse and ocean-going decline. The Black Dragon simply sped up the process," Arran finished, slight sarcasm lacing his tone.

"I ask forgiveness from that," Reep requested, looking slightly sheepish.

"Of course you know you have it, I forgave you the moment I learned you had left my crew. I should like us to always be friends, for as long as either of us lives on Lumea," Arran remarked, looking down at the Mouse with a friendly smile.

"Of course," Reep replied, resting his paw on his hilt. "Now, how many of these stars do you know, and can you tell me their names?"

A/N: WOW, 60 reviews! I am so pumped out! (as Emmett says)

Oh I know; a filler chapter. But this is trying to explain things as they slowly get closer to the climax, all the betrayals and mistrusts that start happening as things get brought to a head. Starting from the end and going to the beginning again:

I haven't done much of Reepicheep throughout this story, and I figured that I needed to start making him a part of the bigger picture, so I'm working on it. I also know that he and Arran have a rather unexplained past that needs going into. This is part of it, which (once I go back to Before The Mast) will eventually be explained. In short, Mezelzaz destroyed a port in the Marea de Nord, (refer to my profile if you don't understand, Marea de Nord is in there somewhere) Midalin being a small pirate and smuggler's island where they could trade and sell stolen goods on the black market. I'm also building for the beach scene with dragon-Eustace and Reep.

I'm also trying to get ya'll to really like Arran so you can be really disappointed with him in the near future.

Moving on; I always felt horrible for Peter in the Prince Caspian film. Everyone's like: 'he's so bad, he's so mean' or 'Disney did a horrible job, Peter wasn't like that in the book at all'. I always thought that, yes, Peter was not like his book self, but that's all right. I liked what Disney was trying to do with his character. They made Peter more real, to my way of thinking. Here is this boy, not a man, but he was, who suddenly returns to this world he has been longing for, to his kingdom he loves to rule, and everything he ever knew has been destroyed, blown away by time and turned upside down by the greed of men.

He realizes he will not return to being an adult, or the king of his Narnian past, and that he will have to rebuild from the ground up. And that hurts him, hurts him a lot. He is then confronted by the fact that life for Narnians in Narnia is once again horrible, and this time none of the Narnians really want much to do with him, unlike before when they eagerly accepted him and his siblings as their rulers. He has to prove, not only to himself, but also to Narnians like Trumpkin and Nikabrik, that he is just as strong as the king from the Golden Age, just as good a leader. He also has to prove to himself that he can do everything the same as before.

He made the war to free the Narnians his personal crusade. He disliked, well I could also say hated, Caspian, because they were both very similar. Caspian never had a father, and was constantly having to prove himself to Miraz that he was good enough (remember; Miraz was going to let him be king, until Pruniprismia had a son). So the war to help the Narnians was also Caspian's personal crusade.

Caspian's to prove to Miraz that he was good enough, and revenge for his father's death; Peter's to prove to himself that he was good enough, and to show the Narnians that he could still lead. That's the way I always saw their dislike of one another, because both had something they had to get out of the war, and how similar their characters were.

Now, the argument: First of all, I must say (not to make you guys think I'm really weird or anything), I truly loved writing that piece. I have never written arguments well, but I think this one was pretty realistic. I liked writing this to get the point across that everyone has faults, and that everything isn't sunshine and flowers in Caspian and Susan's relationship. I want to keep their relationship as real-life as possible (which I think I have failed at up to this point).

I also think I liked writing it because I've always seen Caspian as having a short temper and Susan as being quick to get on the defensive. I think that yes, they do make an okay couple, but they could also argue very well. I mean, that's the way – if you want it straight movie canon – their relationship could not have worked, they're both opinionated, and they'll both fight for their opinions. As I said, Caspian has a short temper and Susan usually goes on the defensive in any argument. Example:

"Oh, so you knew this would happen?"

"I didn't know what would happen, which was why we should have left while we still could!"

She's constantly defending her place, or her reasons. Same as in this argument; "I'm not some dog or horse that constantly needs your attention; in fact, I could do very fine without it! I was merely thinking that as your wife you would tell me your real reasons for going on; that's all, but you've turned it into a nightmare! I can barely ask you anything anymore, it's as if you don't trust me." She's defending her side, stating that she would be just fine without him, but she only wanted to know something. Just some of the things I find interesting.

Mindel Eras is, never mind, you guys guess what Mindel Eras is.

The name for this chapter is basically because of all the goings-on in it. Dare they go any farther in whatever they're doing? It's starting to leave everyone a bit uneasy.

Well, I think that's all.

ILoveFanfiction:

Ok, I know I sort of left Eustace hanging in the balance, but, I prefer to tell his experiences from his POV since he isn't a full-on Narnian believer yet (Notice I say yet, lol). Eustace shall return in all his glory to whine and complain, and yes, Edmund did have a rage over it (as did Arran, Zephyr, Drinian, Caspian, etc.) so you will hear Eustace's indignance, to be sure!

I shall remember your advice on the semicolon! I was always confused about that, to be sure... I also saw your review on 7s7l, and yes, Rezef will largely be my Dad's character, my uncle's character, and my own attitude/character (no he is not a Mary-sue or Mary-Jane, or whatever those are called when the author inserters herself/himself).

I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I hoped you enjoyed this, short as it was.

Again, if there is anything I missed, {explanations, punctuations, grammar, misspellings, plot-that-doesn't-make-sense, something that I failed to clarify on, etc...} Please tell me so I can fix/tell you about it in a PM/Author's Note.

Happy reading,

W.H. 1492