A/N: Wow, thanks for all the reviews everyone! To make up for the last wait, I updated quickly, see? I felt rather accomplished...

CHAPTER 21: Delirium

Caspian was exhausted and wet when he climbed back into the carriage after helping the driver push the carriage out of a rut. Immediately, he closed his eyes and when he next woke up, his body was stiff and achy. An invisible force pushed on his temples, and he felt like he was burning up, yet chills ran through his body.

"It is awfully hot in here, you think not?" he asked Kaden, who wore a worried expression. His companion rapped on the window.

"Faster!" he cried. "We're going to get you back to Cair Paravel quickly, Your Majesty." Caspian leaned his head against the cool window with the solitary thought that Astra was going to be absolutely furious at him. However, this was not the case when he next saw her.

Kaden had pulled him out of the carriage, dripping with water and sweat, and lead him to the castle. All Caspian wanted to do was sleep—each step seemed to take an exorbitant amount of energy. Astra ran up to him, a blanket wrapped around her body, not noticing the dirty puddle water that splashed up onto her dress, soaking the hem. Her eyes met him for a moment and she seemed to search for a joke.

"Did someone not eat their vegetables?" he remembered her asking and then she was gone.

Maids bustled around Caspian's room, building up the fire, putting endless layers of sheets on the bed, and bringing pitchers of waters. Astra watched in a corner as Maria guided Caspian behind a curtain for him to change. She tossed the wet clothes to the unfortunate maid standing on the other side of the curtain, dashing around to catch them in mid air. It would have been funny, had it not been him. Caspian leaned on the old maid for support and was helped into bed.

"Everyone out!" Maria barked and within moments, the once bustling room was silent. A healer entered the room, examining Caspian and speaking in hushed tones to Maria and Malvolio.

"He has a fever right now. This is simply something he will have to sweat out. Ensure that he is hydrated and warm, and change the sheets often so he does not become chilled. If his fever spikes to delirium, give him a cold water bath. If there are any drastic changes, have someone send for me." The doctor left with a grim look on his face, not even noticing the young lady cowering in the corner. The next person to enter the room, however, did. The young man strolled right up to Astra, eyeing the figure limp in the bed.

"How is he doing?"

"He has a fever that probably won't break anytime soon," Astra said, not even looking at the stranger.

"I'm Kaden, son of Lord Bentmark." Astra was silent. "He'll get better, Lady Astra." She finally looked at the young man, handsome and tall, with piercing eyes but a concerned and caring gaze.

"I hope so," she whispered. Then, after a moment, "How do you know my name?"

"Word travels fast when the King has a woman as a companion." Astra snorted. "I like you already," Kaden announced.

"Sir Kaden, out please, His Majesty needs his rest," ordered Maria. "You too, Lady Astra."

"I'm not leaving."

"What?"

"I said I'm not leaving." Maria glared at her, but then conceded.

"If you are going to stay, make yourself useful," she said. "He could use a cool rag on his forehead."

Caspian heard voices around him, all around him. He felt himself being pulled and tugged, he shed his skin, or was it just his clothes? Cool air hit him, then hot air… a fire burned in the room, he remembered its warm glow, like Aslan's aura. Aslan, where was he? It had been a month since he had last seen him.

There were so many people! They moved so fast he could not count them. He wondered why he wondered how many of them there were. Maria guided him to his bed. His eyes couldn't focus, but he knew it was Maria by her smell. She smelled like dry clothes and salty olives and she had rough hands from washing clothes and cleaning up after him. He didn't know why she doted on him so much. He could take care of himself… usually. Today was an exception.

His bed was soft and welcoming and he gladly let Maria tuck the covers around him. Maria shrilly yelled something and Caspian winced, his head pounding, but soon the room became very quiet. The healer came in and poked him. Caspian thought it tickled a little, but was too tired to laugh. His eyelids felt heavy and so he kept them closed, letting the darkness and the blurry light from the fire dance and flit across his obscured vision. It was highly amusing.

"He has a fever... Simply … he will have … sweat... Out! Ensure that … change. The sheets often … become chilled… Fever … delirium… cold water bath… Drastic changes, have someone send for me." It was all gibberish. In the haze, he vaguely heard the whispers of Kaden and Astra.

Astra was there! He had missed her presence so much. He was glad she was there. However, he wanted to be the one standing next to her in the dark corner, not Kaden. He burned with jealously, he could feel himself as Kaden, standing next to her, maybe his shoulder would brush her arm and he would feel warm, warm and good and he burned, he burned like the fever with jealousy. But it was just the fever, it was just the heat of the stifling room and the hot, heavy air that he breathed in and made him sleepy.

"I said I'm not leaving," she said and it was a little easier to breath. Having her sit next to him was a breath of fresh air.

From the doorway, Kaden watched the oddly pretty girl pull up a stool next to Caspian's bed and carefully take the warm and dry rag off Caspian's head. She gently dipped the cloth into the bowl of cool water next to the bed and wrung it out, before folding the cloth and placing it back on Caspian's forehead. He stirred for a moment, his eyes fluttering open, and Astra touched his face, whispering something to the ill king. The half-sleeping Caspian lifted his hand ever-so-slightly. Kaden held his breath as he watched Astra eye the hand, unsure what to do. Kaden mentally egged her on and after a moment's hesitation, Astra took his hand. The King relaxed under her gentle touch and Kaden smiled. Feeling accomplished, he slipped out the door.

Caspian is so whipped.

Astra pulled up a stool next to Caspain's bed. He looked like crap, a once proud statue reduced to a worn-down rag doll. His skin was pale and clammy—beads of sweat clung to his face and he had nearly sweat through his shirt. His golden hair, the only warm, glowing object in the room besides the fire in the corner, was plastered to his forehead and disheveled. Astra found this unnerving, as Caspian was always very clean-cut. She took the cloth off his head and dipped it in the cool water, wrung it out, and then placed it back on his forehead, being sure to fix his hair.

Caspian reacted to her touch and his eyes shot open. His eyes were dark and glazed over. He seemed to be looking at her, but not quite seeing her. Wordlessly, he searched for something or someone. There was a sort of suppressed panic in his gaze, a suffocating confusion that Astra was not sure how to answer. She did not know what happened to him—she wasn't there. She did not know exactly why he was sick—she was no doctor. And most frightening of all, she did not know when (or if) he would get better.

The only answer she could muster was, "Close your eyes, I'm here." Her fingers grazed his cheek, feeling the heat from his body. In the back of her mind, she wondered what his lips would feel like. He closed his eyes, suddenly more at ease.

Goodness, the room was stifling hot. She desperately wanted to throw open a window and let some fresh air enter the room (she knew how fond Caspian was of the ocean breeze), but he needed to sweat out the fever. It would make him better. He would get better.

Caspian lifted his hand a few inches off the bed and Astra froze, unsure what to do. She could feel the gaze of Kaden behind her, lurking in the corner she previously occupied. Caspian would kill her. No, he wouldn't, she realized a moment later, remembering the look of panic and fear in his eyes from that split second he came back to them. She leaned forward, taking his hand in hers. Caspian's tormented body relaxed and he drifted off back into a restful, easy sleep. She heard the click of Kaden slipping out the door and held Caspian's hand to her face, begging that Kaden would be right. "He'll get better, Lady Astra…"

When Caspian opened his eyes, he couldn't see her, well, not really, anyway. She was a blur, but it was a beautiful blur, swashes of chocolate for her hair, that indigo blue for her eyes, and the coral pink for her lips. He tried to tell her that he was thirsty, but the words never came out. He held his hand out for water and she, instead, took his hand. He drank in her presence, her touch, and decided it was much better than a glass of water. Delirium, he decided, was not too bad after all.