Hehe having you all wondering what's gonna happen is making me positively gleeful. :D Guess you'll just have to wait and see!

As always, I remind you to go see the Dawn Treader movie, and keep your fingers crossed for Carrie Underwood's "There's A Place For Us" song to win in its category at the Golden Globes Sunday night! It's a great song that plays in the end credits of the movie.

Chapter Thirty-Five

After leaving the Island of the Star, everything became very strange. None of us talked very loudly, and we went to bed quite late at night and got up very early in the morning, because we were not very tired. We didn't eat and drink much, and the sun was too bright and big.

Lucy and I leaned out over the rail and watched the clear water racing by. We could see the shadow of the Dawn Treader right on the bottom of the seafloor, it was so clear and shallow. And then we saw wavy, purple-green plants like a forest on the bottom, with a gray path cut through them. We determined that it was a road, and then it climbed up a hill and we could barely believe our eyes. On the bottom of the ocean was a castle made of coral, complete with towers and minarets and domes. And then we passed over a large, open place that looked rather like a park, and saw merpeople.

"Lucy! Look, look!" I cried, hopping up and down in excitement and she squealed in delight.

There were about fifteen of them, all mounted on seahorses. But not the kind of seahorses that are small and really a strange kind of fish. These looked like the hippocampi from Greek mythology, with fish tails that blended smoothly into a horse's body, with the front legs and head. They were beautiful, in all different colors.

The people were unclothed, and their skin shimmered as if it contained tiny particles of micah. Their hair was wild and in unusual colors like purples, greens, blues, pinks, golds, and oranges. They wore crowns upon their heads and strings of pearls around their necks. When they spotted us, they rose up nearly to the surface, their hippocami thrusting their pearly tails hard to keep even with the ship. The men raised their spears and stared at us fiercely.

"What are you looking at, girls?" Edmund asked from behind us.

I jumped, startled by his sudden appearance, but then said, "Look!" and pointed out at the people.

Drinian, who had come over with Edmund, said in a low voice, "Turn around, Your Majesties, that's right, backs to the sea. And don't look like we're talking about anything important."

Lucy frowned, a bit worried. I did too. "Why, what's wrong?" she asked.

Drinian continued to talk in a low voice, leaning casually against the rail. "It won't do to have the men falling in love with a sea-woman and jumping overboard to be killed."

I understood. "I've heard of that happening in strange seas," I agreed.

Suddenly there was a plopping sound in the water and someone called 'man overboard!' I ran to the edge where others had gathered, followed by Edmund, Lucy, and Drinian. As I peered over the rail, I saw that it wasn't a man, it was Reepicheep.

Drinian began furiously muttering, "Damn the bloody Mouse! It's more trouble than all the rest of the crew combined! If there's any trouble for it to get into at all, he'll find it! It ought to be put in irons, marooned, have its whiskers cut off. Can anyone see the damned thing?"

As shocking as his talk was, I wasn't bothered, because I knew Drinian was only that upset because he was very worried about Reep, and that he didn't mean what he was saying at all.

I was worried too. I hoped we could get him back onboard before one of the merpeople spotted him. I tossed down the rope as he bobbed excitedly, chattering and spitting water. Then Drinian yanked him up on the line, whispering for him not to tell about the Sea People.

But Reepicheep wasn't worried about them at all.

"Sweet, sweet sweet!" He cried excitedly.

"What are you going on about?" Drinian asked crossly.

"The water's sweet, fresh! Not salt!"

We all just stared at him blankly for a moment. Then it dawned on a few of us, and Reepicheep repeated his prophecy. "When the waves grow sweet, doubt not, Reepicheep, there is the Utter East!" he said excitedly.

"Bring me a bucket," Drinian requested. One was handed to him and he lowered it into the water.

"Perhaps Your Majesty would like to taste first," offered Drinian.

Caspian took the pail and sipped, then drank deeply. We waited expectantly.

"Yes, it is sweet," he said, his brown eyes shining. "That is real water, that is. I am not sure if it's going to kill me. But it is the death I would have chosen, if I had known about it till now."

We looked at him, bewildered.

"What do you mean?" asked Edmund.

"It's like…it's like light more than anything else," Caspian said, staring thoughtfully into the bucket.

Reep agreed. "That's what it is! Drinkable light! We must be very near the end of the world now!"

Lucy took the bucket and took a sip. "Oh! I know what you mean! I shan't need to eat now." She exclaimed.

I took the bucket and drank, and immediately I felt it. It tasted golden, if that makes any sense, which it doesn't. It filled me with energy and strength like I had never felt before. I was almost trembling from it all. And I noticed another thing; the light, which had been much too bright, now wasn't so bad. I could look right into the sun without blinking.

More buckets were brought and everyone had a drink. Everyone felt the change. It was as if every surface were shining, and glowing from within. It felt wonderful, to have so much energy and strength. I didn't need to eat, I wasn't thirsty, I was almost never sleepy.

We continued to speed along, even without our sails, for there was no wind. We figured that we must be caught in some kind of current, which made me feel a little uneasy, especially if this world happened to be flat. I didn't want to go sailing off the edge of the world.

Even though the water made me feel incredible, I still couldn't be totally at ease like the others. I continued to have little twinges of worry as the sun got bigger and brighter and we got closer to the edge of the world. I had no idea what Aslan had in store for us, or more importantly, Edmund and Lucy, but I was still worried. I couldn't shake the feeling that I had very little time left.

Each day we drank more of the water, and excitement grew, but we only spoke occasionally, and never above a whisper.

One day though, when I was leaning against the rail, staring into the sun, I heard Caspian say to Drinian, "My Lord, what do you see ahead?"

Drinian studied the horizon for a moment before answering, "I see whiteness. All along the horizon, for as long as my eyes can reach."

Caspian nodded, his eyes never wavering from the horizon. "That is what I see too. But I cannot imagine what it could be."

I walked over and joined them. "I see it too. In higher latitudes, I would think it would be ice, but not here."

Drinian nodded his agreement. "All the same, let's hold back so we don't go crashing into whatever it is."

When we finally got near the edge of the white, we lowered down the boat onto the glassy sea. Inside were Reepicheep and Rynelf and a few other men. When they rowed to the very beginning of the white, we could hear their voices clearly across the still water, high and excited and marveling. Then they quickly rowed back to the emerald sides of the Dawn Treader.

"Lilies, Your Majesty!" Rynelf shouted excitedly to our questioning faces, leaning over the sides to peer down at them.

"What did you say?" Caspian queried.

"Lilies, I said!" Rynelf answered. "White lilies, as far as the eye can see!" He held one up. "The same as in any pool or garden!"

The boat was brought back up, and Lucy held an armful of the white blossoms, spilling them onto the deck. Their odor filled the air; a sweet, fresh, clear, almost lonely sort of smell. I inhaled deeply, and it made my heart thud faster.

Edmund bent down and scooped one of the flowers out of the pile, tucking it gently behind my ear. When I looked at him, I saw that his chocolate eyes were burning into mine, intense and passionate. He kissed me once, right on the deck in the open, with the sound of the sailors' whistles and catcalls around us.

When he pulled back, the corner of my mouth quirked up, though I tried to hide it. I was blushing deeply, feeling the heat of Edmund's arm around my waist. I wasn't used to be so affectionate in public, but the water and the sunlight combined with the fragrance of the lilies brought out our desires and wants more than we would usually allow ourselves to show. It made it almost impossible to restrain myself from kissing him back, even more passionately.

I carefully slipped out of Edmund's arms, smiling softly, to go and study the sea some more. But as I slid out of his embrace, I caught Caspian's eye. There was something on his face that was completely unreadable and when he saw me glance his way, he averted his eyes, turning to have a conversation with Drinian. I frowned ever so slightly, wondering what it was all about. But I quickly brushed it aside, tossing the moment behind me, forgetting for the while.