The next day passed all too quickly, or that's what Susan thought anyways. Here and there she rushed, her deep blue dress swishing from all the motion. "Clara?" she called. "Yes, my lady?" the maid popped out of a room. " Have you seen Elena?" The small woman stood there for a moment and thought. " Come to think of it..… No! I haven't." "Lovely, second day of work and she's already missing," the queen rested her hands on her hips. Just then, the missing maid herself ran around the corner and curtsied, "My lady." "Elena! Where have you been? The queen has been looking for you." " I'm sorry Clara, I just had to see the fields beyond the castle!" Susan smiled, " It's alright if you do so Elena, just tell us when you leave, would you?" The maid nodded quickly. Clara then spoke up, " Good! Because we have to help ready the king for his leave."
King Caspian was up in his room, packing the last few things he needed. He let out a heavy sigh. I'm not going to be here for another two weeks….. the thought seemed odd. I'm not going to see Susan for another two weeks…… that thought almost stopped his heart. Two weeks was nearly half a month! Could he be away from his beloved that long? A faint knock sounded on the door. "Come in," he said carelessly while looking over everything in his bag.
The young queen quietly crept into the room and looked over his shoulder. " Everything packed?" "Yes." She raised her eyebrow. " Even bandages?" He stood up straight. " Why would I need bandages?" " Caspian, you never know! It's better to be safe than sorry," she retrieved some and handed them to him. " Alright. I suppose I should take them….."
" What's the matter dear?" she detected a hint of sadness in his voice. He smiled, " I'm not going to see you for awhile..…" That suddenly made her remember. She wouldn't see him for half a month! "You're right…." she walked over to him. The young king slipped his hands into hers. " It'll be alright though. I'll be back soon," he said it reassuringly. She sighed. " I'm still going to miss you….. so very much." Susan couldn't help but to creep her hands around his neck.
Caspian gave a suspicious glare just before raising an eyebrow. " Darling, you're not trying to steal a kiss, are you?" he winked. She giggled, " Well maybe just one…." He laughed, " And you wanted to take it easy." " I-I do. But I need just one kiss before you go…. just one?" Caspian leaned a little closer before saying, " But we both know where just one leads to…." his lips were merely an inch away from hers. She smiled and whispered, " I'm willing to go there." Their lips met in very slow yet fiery kiss.
The young king wrapped his arms around her waist and very slowly tightened his grip. Susan tangled her fingers in his dark wavy locks, smiling through the kiss as she did so. Neither of them really wanted the kiss to end, but Caspian was so into the kiss, that he almost lost his balance. Susan giggled. Then he said, " Maybe I should go downstairs now." The beautiful queen gave a seductive glare before replying, " I don't think so," and grabbing him by the shirt.
A knock sounded on the king and queen's door, and Caspian stumbled over to it. " Barthemellow! Am I late for anything?" he said while in the process of fixing a button on his shirt. The advisor smirked as he saw the young king's clothes askew." What have you been doing, sire?" Caspian smirked as well, " You know wives when their husbands are going away for awhile…." Barthemellow nodded and pointed to his own attire, which was also a mess. Both of them laughed. " Your horse awaits, My king," and they both went downstairs.
Everyone, the king, his advisor, and the soldiers, were ready to go. The maids and cooks were saying their farewells, and Queen Susan came out to kiss her husband one last time. " Hurry up and leave already…. the sooner you leave, the sooner you'll be back," she whispered to him. He smiled, waved, and galloped off with his camp. Susan sighed, and Clara noticed. " It'll be alright," she hugged her, "They'll be back before you know it."
Dinner was so quiet, Susan thought. So was the next 4 days. The castle just seemed lifeless without her king. Even the maids and guards seemed to have nothing to do. There was no one coming to visit, there was no king to serve and carry out orders for, and nothing else to do. The young Queen went to her bedroom…. Well, Caspian's too…. She sadly remembered. Carelessly, she plopped down onto the bench in front of her vanity. She slipped off her pearl earrings and placed them into her jewelry box. For the first time in 4 days, she smiled.
She remembered it was the jewelry box Caspian had given her when they had come back from their honeymoon. Her pale fingers traced the golden designs that wrapped around the box. As she reached to retrieve a comb, she accidentally bumped the jewelry box. It fell over, sparkling jewels dispersing everywhere. " Oh, I'm so clumsy!" She cursed to herself. As she knelt down to pick up all the trinkets, her eyes caught on something that she hadn't spotted before.
At the bottom of the jewelry box, there were fancy letters engraved. Gingerly, she picked up the box, and rested on the bench. To Susan, My love, so that she may always know that I am there for her. Even when we are in separate worlds, may she use this to remember that I'm with her. -Caspian. A tear drop fell onto the letters. Susan wiped another from her eyes. Caspian had the jewelry box made especially for her. Those sweet words would always comfort her whenever he was away.
After changing into her night gown, which was a light, violet, flowing material, Susan slipped under the covers of her bed. She felt awkward, for not only was she alone in the enormous bed, but she was wearing a night gown with sleeves. Now, that may seem normal to any other woman, but Susan was so used to wearing sleeveless night gowns, that it felt odd to her. She couldn't stand it any longer, so she changed into a dress with straps. This was much more to her liking, but it still felt awkward without Caspian there to be caressing the soft white skin of her neck. The young queen sighed and rolled over. Maybe tomorrow would be better.
It wasn't. Ironically, it was raining, which expressed Susan's mood perfectly. She usually loved the rain, but that was only when Caspian was there to dance in the rain with her. Lightly, she pressed her nose against the ice-cold glass door in her parlor. Suddenly, Elena rushed in, and awkwardly curtsied (which she was famous for.) " Your Majesty," she voiced. The brunette girl then turned and replied half-heartedly, " Yes, Elena?" She didn't know why, but the girl looked rather excited.
"There is a letter for you!" Susan hurried over and retrieved the letter from Elena. "Who's it from?" The maid glanced over her shoulder. Susan smiled brightly," It's from Caspian!" "How wonderful!" Elena smiled too, then hurried off to finish her chores. The love-sick queen sat and read the letter with joy. Oh, the letter was so romantic! The king had spoken about how much he missed every feature of her. He had said that he was tempted strongly to gallop away on a horse by himself, just to get back to her. Susan especially loved how he ended the letter:
With more love than a thousand letters could ever express,
Caspian
She knew that was a lot of love. While he was gone, Susan started thinking of things she had never really cared to think about before. Some things she wouldn't dare to think around Caspian, while others were fresh to her mind. Then there were obvious questions that she never got around to answering, like, Why do I love Caspian? She decided that she should sit down and write all the answers to her questions. For that particular one, however, she nearly sat in her bedroom for an hour, thinking of the answer. Then she realized it wasn't a very complex question. It was just the simple things that made him Caspian that she loved. His smile, his laugh, his unconditional love for her..… the list was endless. Susan laughed. She could write a whole book of answers for that one question.
Then she started questioning even deeper. What is love? That was a real thinker. What was love?The young queen pulled out several romantic books and breezed through the pages. Then she pulled out a dictionary. She scanned through the pages until she found "love." It read: An intense feeling of affection. Susan blinked. That was it? Then she stopped. What IS love? she wondered. Not what was, but what is. Thinking from her own experience of the stuff, Susan knew that love was so much more than just a feeling. Love was…..
Clara came in the room without knocking. " Is everything alright? You've been up here for hours. I wanted to make sure you weren't crying." The queen faintly smiled and looked at the mountain of books piled on top of her. "Heavens!" Clara pointed, " Doing homework?" she teased. Susan sighed, " Oh no Clara. I'm doing something much more than that." The maid glanced back and forth. " Care to elaborate?" The brunette nodded. " I'm answering a question. What is love?" The pretty maid then nodded as well, shaking her head directly after it. "How about studying a terrible disease for me. It's called 'Love-sickness.' " Susan laughed, " Oh Clara..… I'm not…. love-sick…"
Clara walked over to Susan and put a hand on her forehead. " You're freezing!" Susan brushed the hand off while replying, " I don't notice." " I'm not letting you near Caspian when he gets back, because you'll spike a fever of 200 degrees when you touch each other!" The queen gazed through the window while mumbling, " And won't it be incredible…." and she sighed. "Susan! You're starting to sound like your husband…. when he wants to kiss you." The queen laughed. " Unfortunately, I think he's starting to have that effect on me." The black haired woman shook her head, " It's late Susan, you should be getting to bed." Susan, while staring into the stars, nodded. After Clara left, the queen read a whole romance novel, and fell asleep in the place she was. A thousand visions whirled through her mind as she slept…. more than half of them involving Caspian.