Ok, so not only am I updating really quickly, but this is a really long chapter! Please tell me you all love me! I have been absolutely overwhelmed at the amount of support for this story – 18 reviews after only 2 chapters! I'm so happy everyone else is happy! As always, please review, it makes me happy, and I think this could be my most successful story yet! Enjoy!
"No, I don't think it will work..." Esha mused as she peered at the mirror over Lucy's shoulder. "You just can't risk it slipping too much...ah well, some of the men's clothes I had made will at least be small enough for you if you wear a belt to hold up the trousers.." She said with a smile, crossing the room and searching through her clothes for a suitable pair of trousers and a shirt. "And of course you can have my spare boots..."
"Thanks Esha." Lucy said, shyly fingering the front of the loose dress and wishing she had Esha's fuller body instead of the child's one she inhabited.
Esha sensed her discomfort and threw the clothes over at Lucy. "I'll go get you some hot wine, just to make sure you don't catch a chill." She said kindly, inventing the excuse so that Lucy could dress in private. She'd only stripped off her other wet clothes because Esha herself had been too busy changing out of her own clothes that'd been made wet by Edmund and Lucy to stop and stare at Lucy's insecure body.
She'd put on a dress this time and had brushed her hair out, wanting to look pretty and feminine now that she was seeing Edmund for the first time in so long.
"Hello stranger." He called out, walking across the deck towards her in a spare set of Caspian's clothes and with damp hair as she emerged.
She smiled and he wrapped an arm securely around her shoulders whilst she placed hers around his waist, giving each other a small, comforting squeeze.
"Where's Lucy?" He asked as an afterthought.
"She's still changing; my dresses were too big for her so she's wearing my spare man clothes." Esha replied, leaning her head back to smile at him. "I'm going to fetch her some hot wine, I think you should have some too, just to make sure you don't catch a chill."
"Nonsense." Edmund replied, puffing his chest out slightly. "I'm fit as a fiddle and stronger than ever before, no cold can harm me..."
Esha laughed and poked his chest playfully. "You are indeed...why not take on Caspian? He's just as good a fighter as ever, he's even had Narnia's best training me!" She exclaimed; thinking back to the Old Narnian's who'd taught her how to fight to her advantage, using her speed and agility rather than brute strength (which was something she most certainly did not possess).
"But you were already so good!" Edmund replied, looking away so that Esha could not see the laughter in his eyes.
"Be quiet you! I beat you in our spar!" She replied, hitting him lightly in the chest as she heard the laughter in his voice.
"No you didn't! You cheated!" He protested, remembering their duel that had ended in him simply chasing her.
"You cheated!" She replied, forcing herself to sound indignant when all she wanted to do was laugh. "You were tickling me!"
"So despite only tickling you, I still won?" Edmund checked.
"No, you cheated!" She protested, running out of come-backs.
"No, you cheated! And then you surrendered!" He shot back, the satisfied note in his voice telling Esha he thought he had won this battle as well as the one they were talking about.
Esha simply laughed off his reply and dropped the subject, for in truth he had won the spar.
Caspian joined the two, smiling at Esha's happy face. "Much better." He said to Edmund, looking his new clothes up and down with an appraising eye.
"Ready, Lu?" Edmund asked, craning over Caspians shoulder as Lucy emerged through the double doors.
"Excuse me, lad, I don't suppose you've seen a young girl around here, have you?" Caspian asked with a straight face
"All right!" Lucy protested, smacking him on the arm indignantly. "You two..."
"Come on." Caspian said, urging them into his study, back the way Lucy had just come. "Aren't you coming, Esha?" He called out, noticing she was not part of the party.
"I'll be just a moment; I'm getting the new arrivals some hot wine." She replied, already planning how to coax Cook into doing it for her.
She walked out of the galley five minutes later, perfectly balanced on the ship and not spilling one drop of the hot wine. She thanked one of the Telmarines-turned-Narnian, Ocosto, who obligingly held open the doors of Caspians study for her.
Edmund and Lucy thanked Esha and blew on their beverages; Lucy absentmindedly watching the steam as it curled off the top of the wine whilst Esha took her place beside Caspian, facing Edmund.
"Anyway, since you left us, the giants of the North have surrendered unconditionally; then we defeated the Calormene armies of the Great Desert. There is peace across all of Narnia." Caspian pressed on, tracing the locations on his map.
"Peace?" Esha gave a half-smile at Edmunds confused response.
"In just three years." Caspian retorted proudly.
"And have you found yourself a Queen in those three years?" Lucy suddenly asked, looking up at Caspian with her big eyes and smoothing her hair back behind her ear.
"No. Not one to compare with your sister." Caspian replied a little bitterly.
Edmund and Caspian continued talking, but Esha was too busy staring at Lucy to notice; she recognised that look; she had seen her friends wear it many times when they talked about their newest suitor and the gifts he had bought them.
But at Caspians reply Lucy's face fell and she moved back the hair she had tucked behind her ear, clearly feeling foolish.
Esha turned to the board as Caspian did before Lucy could notice her stare. She was already thinking frantically – she personally had not thought Susan to be particularly beautiful, but both Caspian and Lucy clearly did.
A year before she'd been kidnapped by Miraz she'd been close to a woman a few years older than her; the daughter of a prospering merchant whom her father had become patron to. The girl had spoken to Esha about her misery of being the second - and less beautiful daughter - who would forever live in the shadow of her prettier sister.
Whilst Caspian talked of the seven lords Esha was thinking of methods to restore Lucy's confidence.
"That's enough of your tall tales!" Caspian exclaimed, taking a bite of an apple, the loud crunching bringing Esha back to reality.
"Erm, my King?" A faun asked, sticking his head around the door. He was Lausus, Nausus' twin. "I am afraid we do not have enough material left to make another three hammocks..."
"Don't worry, I can go without." Edmund immediately said, taking a sip of the wine and smiling as the familiar taste filled his mouth. He would gladly go without a bit of comfort for Lucy, and though he wasn't quite so keen on being kind to Eustace he was simply so glad to be in Narnia he'd do anything.
"I have another plan." Caspian said after a moment's consideration. "We have enough material left for at least one more hammock, I presume?" He asked a nodding Lausus. "With your permission, Esha, we will take the hammock from your room and set it up downstairs, to create the two for Edmund and Eustace."
Esha nodded immediately; she and Lucy had very little to do on board the ship, it was more important that the men received all the sleep they required in order to keep their journey running and quickly and smoothly as possible. "Of course! Lucy and I can put down cushions and blankets for ourselves." She said with a sporting smile, backed up by Lucy.
Caspian gave a small laugh at her words. "As if I'll let two Queens sleep on the floor on board my ship..." He joked, looking teasingly at Esha. "A few of Drinian's men are good carpenters; they can build you both a large bed in the cabin by this evening."
Both girls were overjoyed at the proposition and Caspian immediately left to search for the men.
"Oh wait, let me just get something from the cabin..." Esha said, jumping down from the barrels and skipping to the cabin before anyone could reply. Rifling through her drawers she pulled out a light blue dress and went into Caspian's study, taking out one of the numerous simple sewing kits of scissors, pins, needle and thread that Caspian had packed in case any of the sailor's clothes ripped.
She smiled at three crews members who walked past when she came out, heading for the girls' room with spare planks of wood thrown over their shoulders and tools in their hands.
Coming back up on deck she found Caspian had disappeared to the helm where Drinian was giving him directions and figures of roughly where they should be. She jumped up next to Lucy at the port side of the ship and draped the dress over both of their laps.
"This dress will compliment your skin tone the most and really bring out your beautiful eyes; I think we should tailor it to your size over the next few days, instead of wasting our time doing nothing." She said to the younger girl with a smile.
"Edmund!" Caspian called out from across the boat. Edmund turned quickly to face him, squinting in the light of the bright sun. "Come, let us find you armour and weapons..."
With a smile at the two girls Edmund walked off, leaving Esha and a stunned Lucy to their dress-filled conversation.
"I...I don't...are you sure, Esha?" Lucy asked incredulously, fingering the beautiful material wistfully.
"Of course! I have loads of other dresses. You look beautiful as you are, but there's nothing quite like wearing a Narnian dress, is there?" Esha asked, thinking back to the moment's she had seen Lucy's face full of disappointment at her own appearance.
Lucy shook her head gently, smiling in embarrassment and shook the skirt out, taking a good look at it.
Esha was about to suggest they go and make a start in Caspians study when they were both distracted by the crew running past and starting to cheer.
From their position they could see Edmund and Caspian circling each other, starting their spar cautiously. Esha smiled at Lucy and the two began to watch, seeing Edmund and Caspian testing each other's strength, smiling when they found the other to be stronger than before.
"Go, Edmund!" Lucy shouted suddenly, making Esha call out too, despite having difficulty deciding who she wanted to win. In the end she cheered them both on, though she was sure neither of them could hear her and Lucy over the crew.
The fight was over as quickly as it had started with Edmund and Caspian finishing with their swords pressed to each other's necks in a stalemate. The two girls clapped and laughed a little and Lucy's attention quickly returned to the dress. Whilst Esha was watching Caspian congratulating Edmund, Lucy was holding the dress against the back of her left hand and remarking on how the colour was flattering to her.
"All right, back to work." Drinian yelled his usual command; on the Dawntreader there were a few bouts of excitement each day, causing all the sailors to stop their work temporarily to watch.
Edmund walked over to the two girls with a smile on his face, thanking a sailor who handed him a goblet of cool wine mixed with honey to sweeten it.
Esha was distracted momentarily as Caspian caught her eye across the ship and began mouthing something to her, and so missed Lucy and Edmund's conversation that they carried out across her. Esha simply shook her head when Caspian repeated himself for the third time as she failed to understand him yet again.
"I see you're still talking nonsense, the two of you." Esha jumped slightly at Eustace's voice and began to watch him closely, expecting him to do something unexpectedly amusing.
"Are you feeling better?" Lucy asked, trying her hardest to sound caring.
"Yes, no thanks to you, it's not like I have an iron constitution..."
Esha frowned as she tried to understand what he was talking about, thinking she had misheard his words. Edmund looked at her and simply shook his head gently, telling her not to bother.
"As effervescent as ever, I see!" Reepicheep declared cheerfully, suddenly appearing to Lucy's left. "Find your sea legs?"
"Never lost them." Eustace snapped back immediately. "I was simply dealing with the shock of things. Mother says I have an acute disposition...due to my intelligence."
Edmund spat out his wine at Eustace's words, prompting laughter from both Lucy and Esha – even Reepicheep had a little chuckle.
"I don't think he has acute anything..." The mouse said quietly, speaking to Lucy whilst Esha patted Edmund gently on the back as he tried not to choke.
"I'll have you know, as soon as we reach civilisation I'm contacting the British Consul! Have you all arrested for kidnapping!" Eustace shot back angrily, his gaze flicking from Esha's amused face to Edmund and Lucy's fed-up ones.
He immediately walked straight into Caspian's hard chest much to Edmund's amusement. "Kidnapping is it? That's funny; I thought we saved your life..." The King said; his face steely but his eyes full of laughter.
"You held me against my will!"
Reepicheep let out a bark of laughter, leaning against the ships side restfully next to Lucy.
"Did I?" Caspian asked, outright smiling now.
"In what I must say has to be one of the most unhygienic quarters. It's like a – It's like a zoo down there..." Eustace insisted, intent on complaining as much as possible now that he had everyone's attention.
"He's quite the complainer, isn't he?" Reepicheep asked Lucy.
"He's just warming up." Edmund said tiredly.
Their conversation was broken up by the cry of – "Land-Ho!" - from the crow's nest above them all. Caspian immediately charged up to the helm where Drinian stood to get a better view whilst the rest of them simply craned their necks from where they stood.
"Ah, the British Consul..." Eustace trailed off quietly; looking hopefully at the tiny outline of land they could see.
"Come on, let's get ready!" Esha said to Lucy, jumping down. Lucy carefully gathered the dress up in her arms and they both set off, telling the men working in their cabin not to mind them. Standing in front of the mirror they both brushed their hair, Esha pulling half of hers up and Lucy putting hers into a side ponytail. Then they cleaned their faces with damp clothes; Esha dusted off her dress whilst Lucy tried to make the men's clothes look as feminine as possible on her; the dress would not be ready for another few days yet.
Seeing what she was vainly trying to attempt Esha picked up the hairbrush once again and re-did Lucy's hair, tying it in the same practical side ponytail with a short length of white ribbon, styling it into a feminine bow.
"There..." Esha said with a smile, turning her to look in the mirror. Lucy smiled at her reflection and brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.
"Thanks, I wish I had your hair..." She said wistfully, catching sight of it cascading down Esha's back when the older girl turned to put the brush down.
"No you don't." Esha said with a smile, leading Lucy back out of the cabin and suddenly realising she'd smiled more in half a day than she had in a month. "You wish you had your hair; otherwise you'd be someone else!"