Here it is-please review!!
Chapter 5-Breakaway
During the next two weeks, Caspian and Lucy would try and get the other alone almost constantly. They'd talk for hours in the privacy of Caspian's room, and though they hadn't kissed, they were perfectly content, and neither of them could be happier. Atleast until Araminta finally got fed up and was making Caspian spend the day with her.
"You're sure you'll be okay?" Lucy asked, biting her lip as Caspian was tacking up his horse.
"I'll be fine, Lu. Don't worry! Araminta is my friend, I am not attracted to her at all." He kissed the top of her head and mounted. "That place can only be taken by you." Lucy smiled and he let go of her hand. "You should go before she gets here, we don't want her figuring us out."
"What's going on in here?"
"Oh, hi Araminta," Caspian said. "I was just getting our horses tacked up."
"I meant what are you doing in here, Lucy? Caspian and I are spending the day together…alone."
"I know that, I was just uh…checking on Yuri. Have fun!" She headed for the door, and Caspian winked at her when Araminta wasn't looking. She grinned back and headed for the beach.
Lucy loved the beach at this time of year. Sure, she couldn't go in the water, but she loved the chilliness and the cool breeze. The sand wasn't too hot so she was free to squish her toes in the white sand without burning herself. The water wasn't too freezing yet so she could let the waves lap against her feet. But the sky was her favorite part. An October sky in Narnia was different every day at the least. The clouds could make the oddest formations, and the sky would change color frequently. Today the sky was a dark, stormy blue, though no storms were interrupting the peaceful atmosphere of Narnia, and the cumulus clouds were large and white, and littered the vast space where they belonged.
She looked behind her, and she could vaguely make out the images of two horses galloping into the woods. Sighing, Lucy lay down on the sand.
'Aslan, please don't let her get to him…' she thought. 'I know he says she won't, and though I trust him I don't trust her.'
"Lucy?"
"Hi Ed."
"I thought you might be out here." He lay down next to her. "What's up?"
"Nothing. Just thinking." She turned to face him. "You know, I use to lay out here with Susan all the time."
"I know."
"I miss her so much."
"She isn't the same, Lu, you know that."
"I know…but it doesn't feel right being here without her."
"She wasn't with us on the Dawntreader."
"But now, you, me and Pete are all here helping Caspian rule Narnia, and she isn't. It just is weird, you know?"
"I can see where you're coming from." Silence washed over them for a few minutes until Edmund spoke again. "Aren't you cold?"
"Not really. Why, are you?"
"No. But you're wearing short sleeves, so I figured you might be."
"Oh." She looked at him.
"So tell me…has he kissed you yet?"
"WHAT?" Lucy sat up abruptly, and stared at her brother. He just grinned and continued.
"Oh please, it's kind of obvious that you and Caspian are together."
"We are not."
"Lu, I know you too well."
"Fine…" she sighed. "Does anyone else know?"
"I think Pete might suspect something, but the rest of the castle is oblivious."
"Thank Aslan. Even Damien, and Shaina, and Trufflehunter?" Edmund nodded. "We're trying to keep it secret so that Araminta doesn't blow up and start any rows with Calormen."
"I figured that was it. She's been here a month and a half though, so by mid December she'll have stayed long enough to go home and keep things peaceful."
"That's two months away…"
"I wish we could send her home sooner, but that would be rude."
"I know; it's just so annoying watching her throw herself all over Caspian."
"It is to all of us. Even Glenstorm was complaining about it." Lucy laughed and Edmund got up. "Come on, let's find something to do and get your mind off this."
"Want to fight?" Edmund raised an eyebrow.
"You really want to lose?"
"No. That's why I asked you." He grinned, and unsheathed his sword. Lucy quickly followed suit. They circled around for a few moments, and Lucy finally lunged. Edmund had his blade up in a flash, and the clang of metal against metal rang out into the deserted beach.
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"Ha!" Edmund caught his sister's sword with his free hand and bowed. "As usual, I win." Lucy laughed and grabbed her sword back from his grasp.
"You might have won, but it isn't usual."
"It is too!"
"Okay fine, you're right." Lucy sighed and sheathed her sword. "We should probably head back to the castle. I imagine it's around lunch time now."
"Actually I think we missed it. I heard the bells ringing when you almost disarmed me." They began walking toward the castle, and Lucy grinned.
"Which time?" Edmund rolled his eyes.
"The second time."
"See? We are evenly matched."
"Not quite. I have more training so I know more tricks, and I last longer."
"That may be so, but I would kick your butt in archery."
"Yes, you would." Edmund laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. "You know it's nice to see you happy again. For a while there you weren't acting like Lucy at all."
"When was this?"
"When you thought Caspian had feelings for Araminta. I told you he didn't. When did you two get together anyway?"
"That day we all went for a ride, and you deserted me."
"I didn't desert you, I was doing you a favor!"
"Sure."
"Well I did, didn't I?"
"I suppose, now that I think about it."
"Where in Aslan's name have you been?"
"Don't worry Shain, we were just on the beach," Edmund laughed as he and Lucy entered the castle.
"Well next time tell someone where you're going," Shaina grumbled.
"Why? It's not like there's any fear of being ambushed or something."
"Oh really?" Peter asked as he came toward them, and handed the two of them a letter. Edmund quickly scanned it, and when he looked up his eyes were wide.
"What the…why all of a sudden?"
"I don't think it was actually the Telmarines," Peter frowned. "We've met them all, they're very kind."
"What's happened?" Lucy asked.
"A family of fauns was attacked last night. We received the letter from Serkar, he had went to visit his family and well…found them severely wounded, if not dead," Peter explained, looking very tense indeed.
"And he thinks it was some rebelling Telmarines?"
"That's what he thinks, but Glenstorm and I think otherwise. Why now, all of a sudden, would they begin to revolt? Miraz was defeated seven years ago, atleast in Narnian time, and things have been better for everyone. There's more food, there's less work, and there's less fear from the rulers."
"Well we aren't very scary. But they did attack a family of fauns, which means they might still have a problem with the talking beasts of Narnia," Edmund said. "And yes I know they aren't technically talking beasts, but the Telmarines would consider them to be so. But Peter's right, we can't jump to conclusions."
"Who else would it be? There aren't any visitors in…" Lucy trailed off. There was a visitor in Narnia. "But it couldn't be Araminta! She'd rather die than use a sword."
"And there are no other Calormens in Narnia, so it's probably the Telmarines," said Shaina, but Edmund shook his head.
"We don't know that for sure. Didn't you remark how there seemed to be fewer people on the boat when Valdis left, Pete?"
"I remember that."
"You can't honestly think that the Calormens are responsible for this," Shaina said, folding her arms. "It isn't possible, not with Araminta here. They wouldn't want to spoil the possibility of her and Caspian entering a courtship."
"What?" Lucy said sharply.
"She doesn't mean they actually will, Lu. But the Calormens think it will happen," Peter said. "But I think it's very possible."
"Why would they do this though?" Lucy asked. "It makes just as much sense."
"Where did Serkar's family live?" Edmund asked.
"Near the Fords of Beruna, in the woods," Peter said. "I think you and I should go and check it out, and see if there were any more families attacked. If there was just one, it might have been a quarrel with another family. I doubt it, but that could be the case. We can also see if there were any witnesses."
"Good idea."
"I'll come too."
"No, Lucy. We need someone to talk to Serkar when he returns. And you can try talking to Araminta about the possibility of a few Calormens who came with her and Valdis staying in Narnia."
"Fine. But bring a few other people, you never know what you might find."
"We'll bring Damien, and Glenstorm, and his son Alande. We'll leave imminently so we can get this over and done with," Peter said, and he and Edmund sped off to find the three others mentioned.
"This is very odd," Shaina frowned.
"Hopefully we'll find out what's going on soon enough."
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"Hello darling."
"You're back!" Lucy said, grinning as Caspian walked into her room.
"Sorry I'm so late, we took longer than I expected."
"No worries."
"Blane told me what happened…have they left to go investigate?" Lucy nodded. "Damn. I was hoping to go with them."
"Well now you get to spend time with me."
"There's nothing I'd rather do."
"You're sweet. So tell me, how was your day?"
"Interesting, to say the least," he said vaguely. "What about yours?"
"Rather strange. I mostly talked to Shaina about what's happened, and we tried coming up with as many answers as possible."
"Did any seem plausible?"
"Not really, because the incident itself makes no sense. How cant the explanation of why it happened?"
"You have a point. But I really should go to bed, I just wanted to see you before I fell asleep."
"Alright. Goodnight Caspian." He bent down and kissed the top of Lucy's head.
"Night Lu." He left the room, and Lucy sighed.
"I cannot get enough of that man," she said to herself, and slowly fell asleep, completely unaware of what she'd have to face the next morning.
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"Good morning Lucy."
"Er-hello Araminta. Do you need something?"
"Just someone to talk to, and I thought you'd be the right person since you know him better than anyone here." Araminta slipped her arm through Lucy's and they continued to walk. "First of all, I'd like to apologize for being so rude to you earlier in my visit. Caspian could only say good things about you yesterday, and since he seems to like you so much, I should do the same."
"Er…okay. What's this about?"
"Well yesterday…Caspian kissed me!"
"He WHAT?" Lucy almost shouted, but then she collected herself. 'Don't believe it, don't believe it, don't believe it…' "Wait, why are you telling me?"
"Like I said, you know him better than anyone else in the castle. I thought maybe you could give me advice now that we're friends."
"Now that we're-since when are we friends?"
"Well when I apologized I figured we were." Araminta smiled at her sweetly, and Lucy could tell it was fake. But since she knew Araminta wasn't telling the truth, she let her talk. "Anyway, we were riding and we stopped in this clearing with all these flowers everywhere. We sat down on the grass and he took my hand and told me that he hadn't been able to stop thinking about me for the past month. Then I asked about you, because lets face it, I figured he liked you, but then he said that he only thought of you as a sister and then he kissed me."
"I see…"
"You aren't upset by this are you?"
"No, I only think of Caspian as a brother," Lucy said, trying to act as if she believed this story.
'How can someone lie in such detail?' she thought to herself. 'Unless…no, Lucy, you know Caspian, he wouldn't do something like this…' Araminta seemed to read her mind and said,
"I know it seems out of the blue; he even told me what he did isn't something he'd normally do." Lucy's eyes widened a bit, and Araminta continued. "Then he told me he was secretly courting you to try and get over me. Afterall, he still considers you to be a little girl and very immature, I don't think he'd actually court you." Lucy's mouth dropped open, but she quickly closed it. "He didn't want to tell anyone because he didn't want anyone to get angry with him. So tell me, if you don't like him, why did you allow him to court you?"
"Because…" she searched for something to say, and said the most ridiculous thing she had ever said in her life. "Because I have feelings for uh, Damien, and I was trying to get over them."
"I see. Anyway, I'm glad you aren't mad because I expect we'll be courting rather soon. Do you have any advice for me?"
"About what? You seem to be perfectly fine on your own," Lucy said tersely. 'This isn't possible…I can't believe he'd actually do this…'
"Well, how should I act around him?"
"Just act yourself," Lucy said tersely. "If you'll excuse me, I need to find Shaina." She quickly walked away, and Araminta looked after her.
"One down, one to go," she said aloud to herself. "Now if I was Caspian, where would I be…"
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"It's not true, it isn't true-it can't be true!" Lucy repeated over to herself as she paced the room. "But then how did she know we were courting? There hasn't been a single moment where she could have known…even if she was listening at a door or something, we'd just be talking…we never said anything about it unless it was night time in which case she'd be in bed. Oh Aslan, he actually did…I can't believe this…"
"Lucy, what's the matter? You're as white as a ghost!" Caspian said as he walked into her room.
"You even have the guts to come back in here?" she cried.
"What in Aslan's name are you talking about?" he asked, clearly confused. "What's wrong?"
"Just get out."
"But Lu-"
"Fine, I'll get out," she snapped, and sprinted down the hall before Caspian could catch her.
"What the hell?"
"Caspian, what's wrong?" Araminta asked sweetly, coming up behind him.
"I don't know-Lucy just went into hysterics and I have no idea why…" he started to go after her, but Araminta stopped him.
"I think I know what it's about."
"You do? How? You barely even talk."
"Well I apologized to her this morning, and-"
"You apologized? Good for you."
"Yes well, I had to, she's such a sweet girl," Araminta lied. "Anyway, we got to talking and she told me she's in love with Damien." Caspian froze.
"That's not possible."
"It is, I'm afraid. She told me about your secret courtship, and that she was only doing it to try and get over Damien."
"Lucy wouldn't do something like that though."
"She has. I'm so sorry Caspian; I can tell how you feel about her. If there is anything I can do, I'm here for you."
"You're very kind Araminta, but I still don't believe Lucy would do this."
"I know it's hard to believe. I could barely believe it myself at first, but when she told me about your secret courtship…" That's when it 'sunk in.'
"Wait…if she didn't tell you, then you wouldn't know about it, would you?"
"How could I?"
"Oh Aslan…I can't believe this. How could she do this? It's so unlike her."
"I'm so sorry…do you need anything?"
"I just want to be alone right now."
"Actually, I don't think that's the best thing. I'll stay with you until I'm sure you're alright. Now lets go down to the sitting room and I'll call for some tea." Caspian nodded, and followed her down the hall.
'I can't believe this is happening,' he thought to himself.
An hour later, Caspian had told Araminta everything, and Lucy had done the same with Shaina. It was then they crossed paths for the first time since Araminta had lied to them both.
"Hello Shaina," Caspian said tersely.
"Hello Araminta," Lucy said in the same cold manner.
"Er, Lucy, I think we should go before you do anything rash."
"Oh no, Shain. That would be the mature thing to do. But you know, since I'm so immature, I should really stay and make sure I act ten years younger."
"Lucy…" Shaina warned.
"I think you should follow Shaina's advice, you might be able to find Damien," Caspian sneered.
"Damien's with Peter and Edmund, why would I be trying to find him?" Lucy asked, confused and angry at the same time.
"Well why do you want to act all immature?" Caspian asked, feeling the same way as Lucy.
"Er-let's go," Araminta said quickly, and dragged Caspian down the hall.
"That was odd," Shaina frowned. "What does Damien have to do with anything? And why is he mad at you?"
"I have no idea…he was the one that used me."
"Come on, let's go down to the beach. We won't run into them there." The two friends walked in silence, but when they reached the beach they were surprised to see a ship approaching.
"Who is that?" Lucy asked. "Your elf eyes can see better than my own human ones."
"Why, I believe it's the Dawntreader!"
"Really? Oh how wonderful! They're finally home!" Lucy smiled, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"They've taken much too long…wait, who is that?"
"Who is who?"
"There's some brunette standing next to Drinian."
"What does she look like?"
"She's very pretty, she has light brown hair and brown eyes…she's wearing a yellow dress."
"Can you tell who she is?"
"I don't think we've ever met her before."
"I see them now! Oh, they're waving!" Before Shaina could stop her Lucy was jumping up and down, waving her arms back and forth. "Oh come on Shain, you know you want to join in."
"I do n…oh why not." Lucy grinned as Shaina joined her, and they continued to look like maniacs until the ship was docked, and everyone was rowing to shore.
"Drinian!" Lucy beamed, and the thirty-five year old man picked her up and swung her around.
"How's my precious Lucy?" he asked, and set her down.
"I'm ok. How is Galma?"
"Everything is under control. And…" Drinian ushered the brunette forward. "I'm engaged."
"Engaged? Drinian, that's great!" Shaina said, smiling.
"I think so too. This is Carina, she's actually a cousin to the duke's daughter…you know, the one we tried to get Caspian to marry?" Drinian noticed Lucy's face when he mentioned Caspian, and as Lucy and Carina began to talk he leaned over to Shaina.
"What's the matter with her and Caspian?"
"It's a very, very long story…but to put it simply, basically they can't be in the same room together." He frowned. "I'll explain later."
"Rhince! Trumpkin!"
"It's good to see you again, my lady," Rhince said, bowing. Lucy just smacked him upside the head.
"None of that, you know better."
"You'd think he would seeing as you do that everytime he says something like that," Trumpkin said, shaking his head. Lucy laughed and hugged the dwarf.
"I've missed you all so much! I'll run and tell Casp…" she trailed off and stopped. Shaina put her arm around her, and looked at Carina.
"So Carina, tell us…how did you and Drinian meet?"
"Well, it was the first night they were at Galma, and my uncle had set out a great feast for them. I was seated next to Drinian here, and though we didn't talk much at first, he ended up spilling wine all over my dress."
"Drinian!"
"What? She was just so gorgeous I couldn't keep my eyes on where my drink was going." Trumpkin rolled his eyes, and Carina laughed.
"Aren't you sweet. Anyway, we began to talk, and after that night we were always together."
"When did you get engaged?" Lucy asked.
"About two weeks ago. We're planning the wedding for early December, so don't go anywhere," Drinian told the two girls.
"We won't. Speaking of going anywhere, Peter, Edmund, Damien, Glenstorm and Alande should be back soon, shouldn't they?" Shaina asked, and Lucy nodded. "Good, I'm sure they'll be thrilled to see all of you."
"Where did they go?" Rhince asked, and Shaina took the liberty of explaining the situation. At the end of her story, no one was smiling.
"Something fishy is going on," Trumpkin frowned. "I don't like that."
"I'm sure when they come back they'll have some answers," Lucy assured him. They entered the castle, and found Araminta and Caspian walking by.
"Come on Lucy, we'll leave them to their own," Shaina said quickly, tugging on Lucy's arm. "We'll see everyone at dinner." Lucy finally allowed herself to be dragged up the stairs to her room, and Shaina shut the door.
"I hate this," Lucy moaned.
"I'm sure it won't go on forever."
"Shain, I lost my best friend and the only person I've ever loved all in the same day, and now he hates me. And I don't even know why!"
"I have no doubt we'll find out in time, but as for now, you should really get some rest. You look terrible."
"Gee thanks." Shaina left her room, and Lucy flopped down on her bed. She contented herself with reading for atleast six hours, and she ended up skipping dinner so she wouldn't make things awkward.
It was around eleven when Lucy heard the door across the hall open and slam, then open again. She peeked through the peephole in her door to see Caspian standing in his doorway, just staring at her room, a look of pure sorrow on his face.
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