All characters and character likenesses are copyright of C.S. Lewis and everyone affiliated with him and his estate. I only own parts of the plot and any miscellaneous characters I may introduce.
This is a heavily alternative universe based on the Chronicles of Narnia series, and I do not intend to offend any purists out there. Again, I own only parts of the plot.
'Return to Gold' – Chapter 8 – Old Enemies and Realization
The next morning, Lucy's head felt as if it were full of cotton, a sign that she had slept too hard during the night. She has the vaguest memory of seeing Caspian above her, smiling a wistful and indulgent smile. Her body felt electric as she thought of the thin image, wishing that he really would smile at her like that, his eyes bright and warm. Retreating to the very back of her alcove, she picked out the dress and shift that she would be wearing that day, idly wondering what Caspian's favorite color was.
"Sleep well Lu?" Peter asked her as she left her sleeping area and was on her way to a back section of the Table Room that her and her sister used as a changing area. As she looked up to reply, she noticed that there was something different about her oldest brother. He was looking at her in a way that made her feel sad, as if she had disappointed him in some way. At the same time though, there was a hint of pride in his stormy eyes, confusing Lucy all the more.
"Yes, except I slept too long and hard." She hugged him with one arm. "Now my head feels all stuffy." His arm came up and squeezed her shoulders.
"After you wash up and eat, you'll fell better."
Nodding she wove her way though her people, smiling good morning to them all. The Table Room was empty, no one really venturing into the room unless there was a battle to plan or a discussion to be had. Stripping down Lucy quickly washed up using a clean rag and bucket of water that Susan had left her, wincing at the cold temperature of the water, surprised that it hadn't warmed up in the stifling hot catacombs. That should have been her first warning.
Lucy had finished dressing and was lifting Aurora's scabbard to tuck the sword back into it's rightful place on her back, when a sudden, albeit slight chill, brushed past her. Normally that would not have bothered her, and yet every word that Nickabrick had uttered about the White Witch flitted through her mind. Praying she was wrong Lucy drew her sword and rushed into the main chamber. What she saw made her stomach roil.
"Just one drop of Adam's blood, and I am yours, My King." Cold, evil and as slick as silk, the White Witch's voice floated around Caspian. She was trapped in a thin sheet of arctic cold ice that had grown between the two pillars that bracketed one's view of Aslan. Caspian was encircled by a line of blue magic, his breath fogging the air.
"Caspian!" Lucy screeched, desperate to get his attention. "Don't listen to her."
The young prince gave no indication that he had heard her, but Jadis did. Her black eyes shifted down to the side and then in her direction, a scowl twisting her features. Lucy tensed.
Nickabrick, his true nature showing on his disfigured face, rounded the shattered Stone Table, short sword drawn. Lucy's own sword was much longer, but she did not know how well the black dwarf would fight. She was still taken aback at how powerful the small man was. Despite his sword length, he was able to get very close to severely wounding Lucy several times. He was reckless in his style, allowing him to strike several more minor blows.
Gritting her teeth and ignoring the pain from the fairly deep cuts on both of her legs and one at her side, Lucy fought on, arms burning, lungs aching.
"Why are you doing this?" She gasped out.
"Stupid bitch, you aren't my queen." The evil little man replied. "You came to our world, uninvited and changed everything. We dwarves had it all, we were no longer creatures that his in our mountains and toiled over our forges for those bigger than us. Now is time for us to take our land back and reinstate our true Queen."
Nickabrick clashed his sword against hers, making her hands and arms tingle. But she didn't let up. She let all of her anger at the Witch and at how the world had spiraled so far out of control bleed though. The dwarf became sloppy, confident that he would beat her. One quick blow and it was over. Pierced though the heart the fight was over. She slumped but was quickly caught.
"Are you okay Lu?" Edmund asked her, settling her back against one of the pillars. His deft hands slipped her flask out of it's holder and began treating her wounds.
"Yeah." She wasn't though. Her entire lower body was slicked with her own blood, most of it having come from the wound in her side. Her cottoned head was now a full fledged fire, eyes and ears pounding. "The witch?"
"I took care of it." Ed whispered just as softly, face troubled. "But Pete almost gave into her power after removing Caspian."
"No!" Lucy refused to believe it even though she knew Edmund was telling the truth.
"I saw it in his eyes Lucy." He ran a hand through his hair, streaking some of her blood into the dark locks. "Had I been a few seconds too late, he would have freed her. Caspian almost gave in as well before Peter got to him."
"How is it that things could have gotten out of control so fast?" Lucy asked sadly. "How could they forget, how could they all forget what she did, what Aslan did, what we did?"
"I don't know sis, I don't know."
Caspian's mind was spinning. He had almost released the White Witch, a crime that was beyond imagining. He came terrifyingly close to doing the one thing that would completely ruin his foundations and standing with not only the Narnians but Aslan as well. Even Peter, after saving him, seemed pulled into the thrall of the cold woman's power. Only Edmund, the one who had betrayed them the first time, destroyed the evil woman, vindicating his right to rule due to Aslan's pardon. Logically Caspian knew that Aslan could forgive him as well, but with his emotions running high, he wasn't so sure.
To top all that off, Cornelius had just left him, leaving Caspian to mull over his words as he sat on one of the upper ledges of the Howe under the shade of one of the trees that grew out of the rocks.
"I came so close to losing it all today." Caspian's voice was anguished. "How can you still be here, having faith in me?"
Cornelius sighed before replying.
"My mother was a Black Dwarf from the Northern Mountains." Caspian looked at his teacher in shock, suddenly seeing the truth after all these years.
"Everything I have done, everything that I have taught you, was because I know you have the chance to become the greatest contradiction in history; the Telmarine who saved Narnia."
Moments of silence passed before Caspian asked the question that had weighed on his mind for years, knowing that they were now safe to speak of it.
"There were rumors among the servants, but I need to know if it is true. Did Miraz murder my father?"
"Yes, just as he planned to murder you."
Miraz was responsible to all the despair and pain in his young life. All his childhood longings for a father to teach him, lead him, and love him. Cornelius had partially filled that role, but still Caspian longed for someone to love him. Now he feared that he had jeopardized any chance he had of earning that type of love with one mistake.
"Caspian?" Lucy's soft voice pulled him out of his mind, making him turn to look over his shoulder. She had changed into a clean light blue shift and darker blue dress, sword strapped to her back and cordial at her side. She looked clean and healthy, not like the wounded and battle bruised woman he had seen earlier.
"Yes?" He wanted her to go, to leave him to his thoughts. He didn't deserve her friendship, or that of her family. He wasn't worthy to be king. He wasn't worth much at all.
"You need to stop beating yourself up." Lucy settled down close to him, laying a hand on his arm. Caspian flinched away, and she felt it.
"Let me guess," Her voice took a firmer, more stern tone. "You think you have committed a grave sin and feel that there is no hope for you now. You feel you should give up your claim and run away into the forests to hide as a recluse."
He stared at her, unable to believe how well she was able to read him. She still had faith in him, and he was unsure of how to handle it. Her hand was still on his arm, and he covered it with his hand.
"You're right." He dropped his hand, scalded by the feel of her skin. "I don't know where to go from here."
"Caspian, you are only human." She leaned into his side, trying to get him to pay attention to her. "You are bound to be tempted and make mistakes. You are not perfect, none of us are. Only Aslan is perfect, and he does not expect us to be perfect. Don't loose your faith in Him, and ask for His forgiveness."
He looked down at her and saw the truth in her eyes, in the faith shining out of them. Faith in Aslan and him, knowledge that everything will be all right in the end. His heart warmed and he felt himself relaxing.
"Nickabrick tricked me." He confessed, "He told me that there was another way to stop Miraz, one that we hadn't thought of yet. Never did it occur to me that he was talking about the witch. When I did, it was too late."
"It was a mistake." Lucy stroked his arm, and something stirred in Caspian. It wasn't quite desire, but a tender emotion, filling him with a gentle warmth. It felt secure and new and he wanted it to last forever.
"You're different than I thought you would be." Caspian spoke softly, catching Lucy's gaze with his own.
"What?" She sounded dazed, blinking slowly.
"In the stories you seek adventure and speak your mind, and your faith in Aslan is unshakeable. But meeting you, being with you, I feel the historians got quite a bit of it wrong." Lucy just tilted her head curiously, a small smile on her face, eyes warm.
"You're gentler than Susan, who is supposedly 'The Gentle', easy to love and quick to forgive. I see wisdom in you that the others lean on, even if they sometimes so against your warnings. But the thing that they really got wrong was how well you can handle a sword." He chuckled at that last part, seeing her smile turn into a grin.
Lucy was blown away by Caspian's words. He was the first person outside of her family to really see her; even Tumnus hadn't been able to see into her that deeply. There was a deep, dark, tender look in his eyes that made her insides flutter. (AN: see the 'Gotta Find You' scene in Camp Rock where Shane looks at Mitchie after singing; you'll get fluttery too!) She was captivated by the expression on his eyes and face, the words easy to love floating through her head. Could he really have feelings for her like that?
"Wow." Was her first reaction. "No one has ever bothered to look that deep."
"Maybe the right person hasn't come along yet." Was it her imagination or was his face edging closer to hers? His voice was deeper than she had ever heard it, so soft that it was like a spring breeze brushing past her. "Anyone looking can see what I see, you're open like a flower to the sun."
"Caspian?" She whispered, heart pounding and blood roaring in her ears. This can't be happening she thought. Susan was the beautiful one, the one that all the men wanted to know, not her. His hand reached out, cupping her chin, tilting her face up to his.
"I want to be the right man Lucy, the one to know you inside and out." He whispered just as softly, thumb stroking her chin. "I want to know all your hopes and dreams and for you to know that you've inspired me to poetry. I'm normally not like this."
Lucy couldn't help it, she laughed, making his face break out into a smile, eyebrow quirked in question.
"That is a first." Caspian tilted his head like she had done earlier. "I've never inspired poetry before, nor have I made someone not act like themselves."
"You've done it to me since we met." His other hand cupped the other side of her face, bracketing her with his warmth. "Just like I've wanted to do this."
Before Lucy could relax, Caspian acted, pressing his plump lips to hers in a chaste kiss. Heat arced into her, drawing her hands up to clamp on his broad shoulders. A shudder started in him and traveled over to her, shaking her to the core. Suddenly she was craving more, but Caspian pulled away.
"Why did you stop?" Her voice was hoarse, mind fuzzy.
"We should take this slow." He ran his hands through her hair, soothing her briefly bruised nerves. "We are in the middle of a war, and now's not the time to indulge ourselves.
"But there will be time to explore this, and we will."