Brief little author's note: I know I said this would be Voyage one-shots, but I never said I wouldn't publish Prince Caspian one-shots, did I? Ah, well, sorry for taking so long to update, but as you all know 2020 has been a rather rough year. And, like I've previously said, this is just a sort of "dump" for me to put all my unfinished little fics in, because I don't where else I would put them, so there really isn't any sort of plot or point to this. (Yes, I know, I promised Eustace and Drinian too. I just need to edit a lot more...)
The best thing of all about this feast was that there was no breaking up or going away, but as the talk grew quieter and slower, one after another would begin to nod and finally drop off to sleep with feet toward the fire and good friends on either side, till at last there was silence all round the circle...
Once the battle and the knighting were over there was no particular reason why Caspian should stay in the battlefield now that Aslan and the Kings were there to be in command. So he'd begun to slowly creep out of the field, with his old Nurse—oh, how many things he had to tell her—when King Peter sought him out, crying:
"There you are, Caspian! I've been looking all over for you. Come on; the girls have been wanting to meet you too."
Nurse told him to go, and said that she would certainly be alright, now that Aslan was here, as well as Doctor Cornelius and Trufflehunter and all the rest. Besides, there certainly wasn't any reason a king needed a nurse.
"Oh, but—we shall meet again soon, shan't we?" Caspian said. "We must. There are so many things—"
She interrupted him with a chuckle. "Yes, there will be time for these things, your Majesty. There always is. Now go, the High King is waiting."
With a glad and relieved smile, Caspian joined Peter and together they went through the swarms of Narnians that seemed to miraculously make way for them—or, perhaps, they made way for King Peter. Before he knew it, there was Queen Susan and Queen Lucy, and Caspian was at a loss for words. In fact, he was quite certain that his face turned into a most embarrassing shade of red. But he must have managed a quick bow and stammered out some words, because Lucy laughed in response and enveloped him in a warm embrace.
"Oh, Caspian! Poor, poor Caspian. I do feel sorry for you, after all you've been through! Aslan is here, and so are we! Don't worry, Old Narnia's going to be all right from now on."
Anyone (and particularly a future king) might have been terribly offended by such a greeting, but Lucy had such a way of doing things that it seemed very charming and friendly instead. Caspian could not help but believe every word she spoke.
Susan only smiled; it was a very warm and gracious sort of smile that somehow made Caspian feel more at ease.
Meanwhile Edmund had arrived to greet his sisters—and what a happy thing it was! To see brother and sisters laugh and kiss and embrace one another unashamedly was something Caspian hardly ever saw in the Telmarine courts where he grew up. It made him unspeakably happy. But things, as Lucy said, would get better from now on, and in this she was right.
That night, they stayed by the river. A bonfire was lit and there was glad feasting and dancing all round. It was great fun to see everyone try to join the Maenads and their mad romp. The Fauns, of course, managed to do very well at this. Susan joined, and though she was not as wild a dancer as the Maenads, she was graceful and skilled and fleet of foot. Then Lucy joined, laughing as she missed the too-quick steps and imploring everyone around her to join the dance.
"Peter! Pete, Ed, come on!"
Peter laughed too, defeated, dragging Edmund along with him.
"Oh no, you don't—"
Caspian was pulled along by Edmund and, not bothering to resist at all, fell into the circle of Fauns and Maenads and tried to follow as best he could. He laughed more than he danced, really.
The romp, however, was not truly a Romp until Aslan joined in with his deep, rumbling laughter. He kept up the dance quite well.
The dance seemed to last for hours and hours. But soon enough everyone settled down around the fire in groups to rest and talk and eat once more. Peter and Susan had vanished (Edmund told them not to worry; they were talking with the Dryads, he said) but Lucy asked Caspian if he didn't mind staying with her to talk, and he said yes, rather. They both ended up in a comfortable little spot between the Dryads and the Fauns.
"I'm sorry—I—I can't help it," said Lucy, "I've wanted to make friends with you ever since the D.L.F. told us! I hope I didn't startle you too much earlier, when we first met. I was just so very excited; knowing that you'd met Aslan, that you are to be King now... and then we finally met Peter again and he told us how wonderful you were... oh, Caspian, you can't begin to imagine how happy I am that Narnia will have someone like you to be her King, because I think you'll be a very good one."
Caspian hardly knew what to say to this. You see, having grown up a prince with hardly any friends, Caspian was used to receiving compliments. Now, most of these compliments came from lords and visiting noblemen, and none of them truly seemed to mean what they said (particularly because, thought Caspian, most Telmarine lords had a disdain for little children). It is an unspoken rule that everyone must needs be extremely polite to a prince.
But now, Lucy's words, spoken with utter earnestness and sincerity, surprised Caspian a little. She looked so truthful it almost hurt him. He felt overwhelmed by gratitude. Then, he suddenly panicked, not knowing what to say at all, but saw that she understood exactly what he meant.
"Thank you," he said instead, eyes glistening with more than just a reflection from the fire.
"I know," Lucy replied. Then, suddenly, the spell of solemnity broken, she moved back a little to put her back against a tree and breathe a sigh of contentment and rest. Her eyes rested upon Aslan, some way off, the High King sitting beside him, and if it was possible she looked even happier than before.