Chapter 9:
"I doubt the lords stopped here, your Majesty," Reep said from the helm of the longboat on which he stood. "There's no sign of anything living."
Susan was sitting in the second boat, along with Edmund, Eustace, Lucy and Caspian. "We have to check, Reepicheep. Once we get to shore, take your men and search for food and water. The four of us will look for clues," Caspian shouted back.
"Hang on, you mean the five of us," Eustace interrupted.
Everyone in the second boat turned to look at the youth. Susan didn't want to say it out loud, but chances were that if Eustace accompanied them, he'd muck things up sooner than help. "Come on, please don't send me back to the rat…" he pleaded.
Privately, Susan suspected that Eustace and Reep would make good friends once both of them let go of their preconceptions of one another. But that might not go over well, so she kept her silence.
"I heard that!" Reep called over, glaring at Eustace.
Eustace blushed. "Big ears," he muttered under his breath.
"I heard that too!"
Their bickering, though annoying at times, did break some of the tension this time around, as everyone let out a quiet chuckle.
They rowed the rest of the way in silence. As the last time they went ashore, Susan was glad to have solid ground under her feet again. Ships were for short trips, not voyages that went on for weeks without an end in sight.
As soon as the boats were pulled safely onto the beach, Eustace scurried away, probably to avoid having to actually do some work. Susan just rolled her eyes. Eventually, even Eustace would come around. Probably.
"Come on, let's start this way," Edmund suggested, leading the rest of their little group off towards a hill. It didn't really matter where they started looking. While it wasn't a particularly big island, it was still a big place to search when there were only 4 of you.
After a while walking under the hot sun, Ed noticed a rope tied to a rock, which led into a crevasse. Caspian speculated that the lords must have come through here.
"Wonder what's down there," Lucy commented as Caspian dropped a pebble into it to gauge the depth.
"Only one way to find out," Ed said, and tested the rope for its strength.
Once they'd all descended, they found out that it was a cavern that hid a small lake of crystal clear water. Underneath its surface, a golden statue crouched, reaching as if to touch something.
Edmund pulled one of the dry roots that protruded from the cavern walls and stuck it in the water to see how deep it was. But as soon as the wood touched the water, it started turning into gold.
"Ed, drop it!" Susan shouted. Needlessly, as it turned out, because Edmund had already dropped the stick in surprise.
After a beat, Susan looked up from the water at Caspian. If this water could turn anything it touched into gold…
"He must've fallen in," Caspian mused, turning back to the water, and crouching at its edge.
"Poor man," Lucy whispered.
"You mean poor lord," Ed corrected, pointing at a halfway submerged golden shield.
"The crest of Lord Reston," Caspian murmured. Susan took a step forward and put a hand on his shoulder.
"And his sword!" Edmund gestured to the weapon in question. It was fully submerged just a meter further, but it didn't look like it lay very deep.
Caspian got up, and Susan let her hand drop. "We need it," the King said, though he did glance at Susan for a moment.
She shivered, though it had nothing to do with Caspian this time. She felt uneasy as she looked around the cavern, despite the cheerful sunshine still lighting their way.
As Ed lifted the sword out of the water with his own - Caspian steadying him - Lucy commented on how both blades seemed unaffected by the water.
"The swords are magical," Caspian replied, reaching for the latest sword with his free hand.
"He mustn't've known what hit him," Lucy said sadly as she looked down at the golden lord again.
"That's a good thing, Lucy," Susan said, coming to stand by her sister.
"Maybe," Edmund muttered, causing both girls to turn to him. "Or maybe he was onto something." Ed crouched by the water again, grabbed one of the shells laying around, and dipped it in the water.
"Ed!" Susan exclaimed, taking a step towards her brother. But Ed had already let go of the shell, quickly putting it on the rocks beside him. They all watched as it turned to gold. The light refracted and lit up Edmund's face in a way that Susan didn't like. Once again, she shivered.
"What are you staring at?" Lucy asked when Ed picked the shell up and examined it.
"Whoever has access to this pool…" Ed said quietly, "could be the most powerful person in the world."
Susan supposed it was true, but everything inside her recoiled at the idea of using it. This gold was cursed somehow.
"Lucy, we'd be so rich," Ed went on, looking at his younger sister. Once again, the light hit the shell, throwing spots of gold coloured light onto Edmund's face, casting parts of it in shadow. Lucy looked hesitantly at her and Caspian, but Susan herself had no more a clue as to what to do than her sister.
"No one could tell us what to do, or who to live with!"
"You can't take anything out of Narnia, Edmund," Caspian reasoned, stepping closer.
But Ed was looking at the shell again, seemingly entranced with the possibilities it presented. "Says who?"
Caspian took another step closer. "I do."
Susan rolled her eyes, as her brother got up and glared at Caspian. "Says experience, Edmund. We've never been able to take anything with us, only leave things behind."
He rounded on her then. "Yeah, well you would say that, wouldn't you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked defensively. Edmund stalked up to her and Susan had to resist the urge to take a step back. She'd never been afraid of her brother before, but there was something in his eyes now that she didn't trust…
"You don't even want to leave here. You'd abandon your family, and for what? A spineless sap like him?" he spat, gesturing to Caspian.
The King jumped forward then, grabbing Edmund's arm and pulling him away from Susan. "Do not talk to her like that!" he ordered.
"I am not your subject," Edmund hissed, forcefully pulling back his arm and glaring at Caspian..
"You've been waiting for this, haven't you?" Caspian said lowly, as the two men started to circle each other. "To challenge me. You doubt my leadership."
Susan and Lucy exchanged incredulous looks. What on earth had gotten into them?
"You doubt yourself," Edmund shot back, stepping into Caspian's personal space.
"You're a child!"
"And you're a cowering fool!" Ed shouted. "I'm tired of playing second fiddle! First it was Peter, and now you! You know I'm braver than both of you!" Ed said, his voice dangerously low, even as the hysteria was clear just underneath the surface. Caspian just smirked. "And why do you get Peter's sword? I deserve a kingdom of my own, I deserve to rule!"
Susan and Lucy had no idea what was going on, and no clue as to how to stop the men. They hadn't come to blows, and Susan was apprehensive about interrupting again, lest their anger turn on her.
"You think you're so brave," Caspian said. "Prove it!" he shouted, and pushed Edmund in the chest.
Edmund shouted and swung his sword, but luckily, Caspian parried it easily. That's when the girls decided to intervene.
Lucy pushed Edmund off balance, while Susan parried a blow from Caspian's sword with the steel tip of her bow. The men stopped attacking, but kept glowering at one another, their breaths laboured.
"Stop it!" Lucy snapped, her hands held up as she looked at Edmund. Susan glared at Caspian, her hand clenched around her bow, and ready to use it to knock some sense into him if she had to.
"Look at yourselves!" Lucy said. Susan was happy to let her little sister take the reins in this situation, she didn't trust herself not to get angry. "Can't you see what's happening? This place has tempted you, it's bewitching you!" she said. "This is exactly what Coriakin was talking about." Susan couldn't be entirely certain, but she thought she heard an undercurrent in Lucy's voice that she couldn't quite identify, and made a mental note to ask her about it later.
"Let's just get out of here," the younger Queen said, and started walking away.
But Susan wasn't quite ready. "You and Ed go on," she said, offering no further explanation. As she glanced from Caspian to Edmund, she could tell that the angry haze had lifted, and that they would be fine.
Lucy hesitated, but then nodded and preceded her brother out of the cavern. As soon as Susan couldn't hear them anymore, she turned back to Caspian. "Is that really what you think?" she asked quietly.
Caspian looked uncomfortable.
"You shouldn't doubt your leadership, Caspian. No one else does. You've done in 3 years what it took us almost 10 to accomplish, and even then, we never managed to get the giants to settle down completely." She sighed and stepped closer, putting a hand on his chest when he continued to look uncertain. "You're a good king, and an even better man," she said, echoing her own thoughts from the day before.
Caspian put his hand over hers. Susan decided to ignore how it tingled all over. "I shouldn't have said those things, I didn't mean them," he muttered.
"He knows," she said quietly. Then, she pulled back her hand and took a step backwards. You know, so she could breathe properly again. "Although if you ever speak to my brother like that again, I might have to slap you," she teased.
He looked up at her, frowning. "The way he spoke to you…"
Shrugging, Susan finally unstrung her bow. She doubted she'd need it again today. "He's said far worse. As have I. We're siblings, it's what we do," she said lightly. Caspian was still frowning when she looked up after she'd put her bow away, and she felt a small pang at the lonely childhood he must've had. "Once, when I was about 6, I told Peter I hoped he'd die because he'd hidden my dollie in the backyard and had gotten it all covered in mud. This was after I'd called his marbles dumb and him stupid for playing with them," she recounted, smiling amusedly at the memory as she fingered her locket. The picture inside had been taken a few years before they'd first found Narnia. "Siblings do and say hurtful things to one another all the time, mostly in ager. It's understood that we didn't mean them."
Once again, she stepped closer to him. "Neither of you were yourselves."
He finally managed a small smile, then. "Are you implying that Edmund is my brother?"
"Isn't he?" she replied simply. "We're all family."
"Then what does that make you and me?" he asked boldly.
Susan froze. They'd been getting closer, she was well aware of that, but they'd both so carefully stayed away from labelling exactly what they were to one another. What their feelings meant. "Caspian," she whispered.
He came closer, put his hand on her cheek. "What I feel for you is hardly what one should feel for one's sister," he murmured, and Susan promptly forgot how to breathe. Her heart was racing. He was so close, and this time, there would be no one to interrupt.
"We can't," she whispered, barely audibly.
"Why not?" he asked stubbornly.
Her rapidly beating heart recoiled at the pain she now felt. The pain she'd been trying to protect herself from. "Because I'll have to leave," she replied, her voice breaking.
Caspian's only response was to pull her closer, resting his forehead against hers and putting his free arm around her waist. Susan's hands rested over his chest, where she could feel his heart beating as fast as hers was.
But did she really want it to end here? Could she really walk away from him now and pretend that they didn't feel anything towards each other? That her heart didn't ache every time they were apart?
She wasn't sure that she could.
So, much as she'd done when she'd had to leave Narnia the last time, she snaked her hands around his neck, pulling his head down, and pressed her lips to his.
Where previously, it had been a kiss of what-could-have-beens, this time, it was a kiss borne of desperation. She hadn't loved him last time, not truly. But now, her heart belonged to him, and there was no going back. She wasn't sure that she would want to go back, even if she could.
His lips moved willingly against hers, just as desperate to hold on to whatever this was between them, for as long as they could. Susan longed to deepen the kiss, but knew that if she did, she'd be lost down here in the cavern forever. Perhaps this was her test?
With what willpower she had left, she pulled back, resting her head against his once more. They were both panting, and both strained to be together again. Susan was acutely aware of how closely she was pressed against Caspian, how all that separated them were a few layers of clothing.
Aslan, how was she supposed to resist this?
"Not that I'm complaining," Caspian started, and Susan could hear the smile in his voice. "But weren't you the one just saying that we can't do this?" he teased.
Despite herself, she smiled. "Prat," she said, pulling back.
"No, I'm sorry, I was kidding," Caspian said, though he was clearly struggling to reign in his laughter, as he pulled her back into his embrace. She went willingly, settling against his chest.
For a moment, they just stood there, revelling in each other's presence.
"I don't ever want to think about you leaving," Caspian murmured.
Sighing, Susan turned her head so that she could listen to his heartbeat. "Neither do I," she admitted. "But we'll have to face reality sooner or later."
"Must we?" His voice rumbled underneath her ear. "Can we not simply be happy in the time that is given to us?"
"I'm afraid I won't be strong enough to leave if we do," she whispered.
"What was that phrase Edmund used? We'll cross that bridge…?"
"When we come to it," she finished for him, smiling despite herself. Perhaps that was the best strategy: to take it one step at a time. "Then, I suppose we should find the others."
"Should we tell them…?"
Susan shook her head. "There's no reason to bring them into this… whatever this is."
Smiling softly, Caspian grasped her hand. "One step at a time, then?"
"One step at a time," she agreed.
And with that, they left the cavern behind.
A/N: I really loved writing the cavern scene. ALL THE FLUFF! And more to come in the next chapters. Only 4 to go!