Ahhh! Finally an update! Just so you know, I have withdrawn from the college that is so far from home and for the rest of this semester I will be taking online classes and working and then going to a local university next year. So I'm good(: I am actually sitting in the dorm waiting for my mom to pick me up and she will be here in a few hours so I should be able to finish chapter 8(: thanks to everyone who wished me luck with this situation! you guys are great!

Chapter 8

CASPIAN'S POV

Caspian woke, feeling happy and yet disheartened. He loved the look on Lucy's face at his words explaining to her just how beautiful he thought she was. But then again, he had only told her that she was beautiful, he did not, however, tell her that he admired her. He knew that if he did, that he would end up heart broken even more so when Aslan snatched her away. As he got out of bed, and stretched, he chuckled to himself once again about Lucy's previous lack of confidence in herself. How could a girl like that not how how gorgeous she was? Beauty aside, there was so much more to Lucy. Unlike his past crush on Lucy's sister, he was not only drawn to Lucy for her beauty. Lucy made him calm, happy, and sometimes frustrated, all at the same time. Unlike Susan, Lucy actually spoke her thoughts when she was unhappy with a person. Most Kings would prefer their wives to be frail, defenseless, and quiet, but Caspian fancied Lucy so because she was the exact opposite of all of those things. As stubborn as a rock, firm in decisions when she made them, and yet playful as a child, and able to break any man down with her smile and laughter. Caspian shook his head once more with a smile, it was becoming hard for him to think of anything other than the little Queen. He quickly dressed and made his way above deck, he looked around, feeling slightly upset that he did not yet see Lucy, and went to join Drinian near the Helm. He followed his eyes to see what he was staring at, and was suprised to see yet another island, he obviously hadn't been paying much attention. Caspian observed it for a moment, then made his way over to the ship's captain.

"I doubt any of the Lords would have stopped here, Drinian. It looks as if it's volcanic. If they were searching for food, they would have had enough common sense to realize that not much would grow on a volcanic island." Drinian shrugged, agreeing with him.

"But it won't do any harm to look anyway, will it?" Both men turned at the voice but Caspian already knew who it was. He smiled as Lucy made her way to them, giving him a smile back. She still looked shy, but very happy. Drinian shrugged once again in agreement, turning to Caspian for a decision. Caspian only nodded quickly.

"Alright then, we should be close enough to get onto the boats in just a few minutes." Drinian said authoritatively. Lucy and Caspian nodded, and with that, they stepped down from the elevated area where Drinian and the Helm stood and took a few steps away. Before they could get any further, Lucy stopped Caspian with a hand on his arm, and wrapped her arms around his stomach. He felt warmth spread through his body at her touch and was happy to embrace her back. It was a quick hug, and after Lucy pulled away she smiled at him and said "thank you." He laughed and shook his head, saying it was nothing. Lucy gave him one last quick smile before the two went off to get their morning rationed water and food. Caspian caught a glare from Edmund, and he instantly knew that Edmund had figured him out. He looked away quickly, really not wishing to talk about it. He noticed that Lucy had left his side and was now talking to Rynelf merrily. He turned and saw that Edmund still had the look on his face, and was starting to make his way towards him. Even though he knew that he was older, stronger and could probably take Edmund in a fight, Caspian was still worried that Edmund would tell him to stay away from Lucy, and that was something that he just couldn't bear to do. To Caspian's relief, Drinian shouted to the crew that it was time to load the boats, and get on land. He turned swiftly and rushed away, leaving Edmund looking furious. Caspian wasn't far away from Edmund for long though, because he sat in the same boat as him, with Lucy as well. The crew loaded the boats, and in a few minutes time everyone had reached the little island. It wasn't very attractive looking, no grass grew and it was simply a bunch of rocks, volcanoes, and mud. Nevertheless, Drinian sent a few members of the crew to go search for any food or water they could find. Caspian, Edmund, and Lucy went on to explore. Caspian was in the clear for now, as Edmund would never say something in front of Lucy.

"It's very quiet." Lucy declared, looking around her in all directions.

"Not very bright either." Edmund added, but instead of looking around at the scenery as he said this, he looked right at Caspian. Lucy didn't notice. Caspian shot him back a glare and turned forward. It's reasonable for a brother to be protective of his little sister, but there is no reason to be angry with a person for having feelings for someone. The three looked around for a while, not seeing anything that would indicate to them that any of the Lords had been there.

"Hey, look at that." Lucy exclaimed, pointing to a hole in the ground. They walked over to observe it, and saw that it was like a cave. It looked as if it was big enough for a person to fit in. Judging by the fact that there was a rope limply hanging down, someone had tried.

"Do you think we should check it out?" Edmund asked the other two. Caspian noticed that as he was preoccupied with the exploration, he was not focused on being mad at him over Lucy. Caspian turned and looked down into the cave. He picked up a rock and threw it down, and saw that it was not that deep.

"Anything's a possibility." He said simply. With this, Edmund climbed down first while Lucy and Caspian held it, then Caspian held it for Lucy. He looked around, finding a nearby large rock, and tied the end of the rope around it tightly so that he could get down himself. They looked around for a while, at first not seeing anything more that rocks and twigs, but then they came to a nearby pond. Lucy walked closer to it, and Caspian watched her eyes turn to amazement, before going to get a closer look. There was a golden statue of a man at the bottom of the pond! Caspian and Edmund's mouths dropped, and Lucy just stared for a while.

"That's peculiar, why would anyone put that there?" Lucy asked, turning to both men. Caspian only shook his head, he was not thinking along the same lines. He stared at the statue for a few more moments before realization struck.

"Lord Restimar!" Both siblings turned to him. Edmund's face held looks of pure astonishment, while Lucy stared at the King as if he was just downright silly.

"Caspian, that is the most ridiculous thing-"

"His sword!" Edmund stated, pointing under the water. Sure enough, the sword held remarkable similarity to the one given to Caspian by Lord Bern. Before Lucy could get another word in, Edmund hand taken the sword he was using that just happened to be the sword from Lord Bern, and used it to fish the other one out. Caspian took Restimar's sword from him, analyzing it intently. He was positive that the golden man was his father's friend.

"So the water turned him to gold?" Lucy asked hysterically. Edmund answered by taking a nearby twig he found and throwing it into the pond. Right in front of their eyes, the twig turned from wood to gold. Now it was Lucy's turn for her mouth to drop. This made Caspian chuckle, and he nudged her side gently, shaking his head. Edmund's eyes had a new look in them. He grabbed another twig, dipping it into the water, but instead of dropping it in, he pulled it out and dropped it on the ground. It turned completely to gold, just like the previous one.

"Restimar must have tried to use the pond to turn everything around him to gold, so that he would be rich." Caspian said, staring at the statue man who had his arm slightly outstretched, as if he had been reaching to dip things in the water when he fell in.

"Good idea," Edmund said softly. He looked dazed and out of it. He started working fast, picking up random objects he found and dipping them in the water. He started huffing and puffing and breathing much faster than normal. Caspian and Lucy exchanged looks, clearly worried. Lucy stepped forward cautiously, putting a hand on Edmund's shoulder.

"Edmund, what has gotten into you?" Edmund shoved her away, turning to her quickly and looking annoyed as if she had asked him a stupid question.

"Don't you see Lucy? Whoever has access to this pond could be the most powerful person in the world," Once again, Lucy and Caspian exchanged worried looks. "Lucy, we would be so rich. No one could tell us what to do, or who to live with." Lucy continued to look at her brother as if he had gone mad, because he clearly had. Caspian however, rolled his eyes and shook his head, starting to become annoyed with the younger King.

"You can't take things out of Narnia, Edmund." He pointed out, talking to him as if he was a child.

"Says who?" Edmund said, still working, and not bothering to turn around to look at Caspian.

"Says me." Edmund turned slowly towards the King of Narnia, a look of pure hatred on his face. He picked up his sword, pointing it at Caspian and making Lucy gasp. Edmund ignored her, his whole attention was focused on glaring at Caspian. He held his sword with a shaking hand. He blinked a few times, shaking his head as if to regain focus.

"You know what? I'm tired of this. I will not listen to you. I'm not your subject, you cannot order me around. I'm tired of playing second fiddle. First Peter, and now you. Well I'm not going to take it anymore!" Caspian squinted his eyes, glaring back at Edmund. How could he say those things? Did he not know how to properly speak to the King of Narnia. Edmund may have been King once, but now, HE was in power.

"You doubt my leadership!" Edmund smiled slyly, shaking his head in confirmation.

"You doubt yourself. You act like you are so tough, but all you really are is a bloody coward!"

"Edmund!" Lucy gasped, once again rushing forward and grabbing her brother's arm. He shoved her away roughly, treating her more harshly than he had ever done before. Caspian glared at Edmund's roughness towards Lucy, and pulled his own sword, pointing it so it was barely an inch from Edmund's face.

"Well if you think you are so tough, then prove it!" Caspian roared, shoving Edmund hard before he began to swing his sword, guarding Edmund's blows. Out of no where, Lucy had pulled her sword, and jumped in between the two men.

"Stop this! Both of you!" She looked at each of them. "Don't you see what is happening? Edmund this place has tempted you. And Caspian, it's making you act differently as well. If you want my opinion, both of you are acting like cowards and babies!" She continued to take turns staring into each of their faces, huffing angrily. "Lets just get out of here." She said, walking away without waiting for a reply, picking up Restimar's sword on her way out. Caspian stared at Edmund for a few more moments, seeing that the dangerous look in Edmund's eyes was now gone, but he was still looking at him as if he was angry. Caspian sighed, nodding to the other man in a silent apology, and turning to follow Lucy, seeing that Lucy had climbed the rope already by herself. He halted when he felt Edmund grab his arm. He sighed, knowing what was coming, and turned to face him.

"I may have acted ridiculous back there, but it is not ridiculous to tell you that I don't want you pursuing my sister. You're five years older, and you know she is going to leave eventually. I don't want to see her hurt when that happens." Caspian shook his head, angry that Edmund would try and tell him what to and what to not do with his life.

"Edmund, I've already thought about the fact that she is leaving. Believe me, I have no intention of telling her of my feelings. But I refuse to stay away from her. Lucy and I can make our own decisions to be friends and to spend time together. There is nothing that you can do about that. I'm sorry." With that, Caspian turned around, refusing to see the angry look on Edmund's face, and not wanting to hear anything else that he had to say. He pulled himself up the rope, and was faced with an angry looking Lucy. She had a sword in each hand, her own and Restimar's, and had her arms crossed across her chest. Her eyes were squinted and her face sort of scrunched up, and if Caspian was not being cautious to not anger her further, he would have cracked a smile at how adorable she looked. He walked slowly towards her, stopping with a few feet between them, wanting to give her some distance.

"I'm sorry, Lucy." He said, looking down at his feet like a little kid who was being scolded by his parents after doing something wrong.

"I know that Edmund was being a jerk, but you pulled your sword on my brother!" Caspian snapped his head back up, his mouth opening in suprise.

"Lucy, he pulled his on me first! I wasn't going to just let him strike me! Are you serious? And the only reason I pulled my sword on him was because I was angry at him for shoving you!" He was not having any of this. He did nothing wrong. Lucy kept her arms crossed, observing him, and her eyes flickered over Caspian's shoulder as, Caspian guessed, Edmund pulled himself out of the cave completely. She looked back to Caspian, not looking so angry, her eyes had softened.

"Fine." She said simply, uncrossing her arms and walking past him to Edmund. Caspian turned to look at the two, and thought that Lucy was about to embrace her brother, but his mouth hung open as he watched her slap Edmund's arm strongly. Edmund looked taken aback, grabbing his arm, clearly it hurt.

"That's for being a jerk to Caspian! And for pulling your sword on him! And for shoving me!" She gave Edmund no time to apologize, for she turned away, her long curls whipping his face slightly before she marched off. Caspian tried as hard as he could to not break out into laughter, and hurried to follow after the fiesty little Queen. Edmund waited a few moments before following the two, keeping his distance. As the three made it back to the boats where a very small amount of food was being loaded, Lucy turned around in circles, clearly looking for something. She turned to her brother.

"Where's Eustace?" She said slowly, looking around some more after she finished saying this. Caspian and Edmund now followed suit, looking around for the annoying crew add-on.

"Probably off somewhere not helping load the boats." Reepicheep answered the question that still hung in the air, Lucy shot him a glare before turning back to Edmund.

"Edmund, I've got a bad feeling." Edmund sighed, handing his sword to a nearby crew member.

"I'll go find him."

"I'll help you." Caspian offered, hoping to smooth the waters. Edmund looked at him with squinted eyes.

"I'm fine on my own, thanks." Caspian and Lucy gave Edmund suprised looks, but let it go as they watched him stalk away, clearly in a mood. Lucy looked to Caspian, looking for an answer. Caspian shrugged, obviously he could not tell Lucy that Edmund hated him because Caspian had feelings for her.

"How about we leave a boat and a few crew members to wait until Edmund comes back with the boy?" Drinian offered, clearly he did not want to wait on the island for an annoying boy whom he'd rather just leave on the island. Lucy huffed, but agreed, and she and Caspian went back to the Dawn Treader with most of the crew while Rynelf and a few more crew members stayed behind to wait for Edmund and Eustace. They got back, climbing back onto the ship. Lucy refused to go below deck, even though it was starting to get dark, and remained up above staring at the island in the distance where her brother still remained. Caspian had also chosen to stay above deck, just so that Lucy would not be lonely while she waited. He watched as she wrapped her arms around herself with a shiver, and he moved and wrapped his arms around her from behind. She thanked him, leaning back into his chest. Caspian looked down at her, and could see a faint blush on her cheeks. He tried not to think anything of it though, trying not to get his hopes up. He honestly doubted that Lucy returned feelings for him, she probably was repulsed by being with a man five years older. Caspian felt his heart sink as he thought about this, and hugged the girl tighter to him as he looked into the distance waiting for the boy who at the moment, positively hated him.

Thanks for reading!