Here We Are
Susan woke up after a rather rough sleep. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was, but seeing Caspian and the Doctor sleeping next to her jogged her memory. She blushed when she caught herself staring at Caspian, noticing all of the things about him that she hadn't noticed the day before. Like how long his eyelashes were, or how the skin on his face was slightly tanner than the skin on his hands. She stood up, and tried in vain to flatten the wrinkles out her shirt and skirt. She realized she was still wearing the tie her school forced her to wear and she untied it, leaving it draped over her shoulders, having no where else to put it. She sat down beside the horse she had ridden the day before and thought about what Caspian had told her the previous night. The Telmarines had invaded Narnia. Cair Paravel had fallen. The Narnians that had survived had been forced into hiding, the Telmarines now unaware that there were still Narnians out there. She couldn't believe how much had changed since her and her siblings left. And Aslan… She had been told that Aslan hadn't made an appearance since he had left after they had been crowned. She wondered where he had ended up, but that thought was overridden by her wondering where Peter, Edmund and Lucy had ended up. She was now certain that they must be in Narnia as well, but she was confused as to why they had not all appeared in the same place. She wished she could stop thinking about her brothers and sister but she was honestly worried, especially about Lucy. If all four of them had appeared in different places, what would Lucy do all alone if she had appeared in the middle of the forest, or in a Telmarine village? She started to grab tufts of grass and throw them behind her, a habit she had when she was worried and outside.
"Something on your mind?" she heard Caspian as he sat down beside her. She hadn't even noticed him getting up. She blushed when he sat down closer than she thought he would, and was a bit annoyed when she noticed that his clothes were completely wrinkle free. Narnian clothing must have some kind of anti-wrinkle magic in them. She sighed loudly.
"I was just hoping that I was the only one of my siblings that appeared alone or at least that somebody is with Lucy. She would be so lost alone"
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't she known as Queen Lucy the Brave?" he asked and she pulled her knees close to her chest.
"Yes, that was what she was known as, but I am still worried"
"Do not worry, she will be okay. Was she with one of your brothers when I blew the horn?"
"Yes, Edmund and her were playing outside together"
"Then I believe she will not be alone, for Edmund must have appeared with her" he said, putting an arm around her shoulder reassuringly.
"Caspian" she said, shivers running down her spine after using his name for the first time, "What is the real reason that you blew the horn?"
He chuckled.
"You saw through my lie then?" he asked, and she nodded.
"The truth is that I do not seek refuge" he said, looking off into the distance, "Cornelius is half dwarf, something I did not know until several days ago. I have always been fascinated by the stories of old Narnia, but was not aware that there were still Narnians out there," he paused for a second and then took a deep breath, "I am getting quite tired of Miraz's way of running the kingdom, and I know that as soon as his wife gives him a son that he will become the next in line for the throne, for I will be eliminated from the picture; I am sure of this. So I plan to claim my kingdom the only way possible, by declaring war on them. I am aware that no Telmarine would dare show their disloyalty to Miraz, but I know that the Narnians will have no problem fighting for their land, for as soon as I win my kingdom back I plan on giving the Narnians back their land"
"You are very brave" said Susan, understanding his need for calling them now, "I am sorry that I am not much help, the only useful talent I has is shooting arrows, and I left my bow and arrow on my horse before I went back"
"You are just the amount of help that I need. And I promise that I will find your bow and arrows for you" he said, squeezing her shoulder. It was then that Susan realized that he hadn't removed his arm from her shoulder, and she felt her heart beat faster.
"Do not worry about that. I'm sure that they are long gone anyway" she said, blushing, her hair falling in front of her face. He tucked the hair behind her ear.
"How old are you Susan?" he asked, and Susan felt the same shivers she had felt when she had said his name.
"Where did that come from?" she asked, blushing.
"I just want to know" he said, shrugging. She laughed.
"I will tell you if you promise to tell me your age after"
"Deal"
"Alright, well do you want to know my Narnian age or my actual age?"
"Both" he said, smiling.
"Well, in England I am fifteen, but in Narnia I am over thirteen hundred years old"
"You've aged very well" he said and she laughed.
"Prince, Queen" said the Doctor, standing in front of them, "Are you ready to leave?"
"Please Doctor, call me Susan. When you call me Queen I feel like I am Caspian's mother"
"How is that possible, you are younger than me!" he said, and she raised an eyebrow.
"Are you fourteen hundred years old young man?" she asked.
"No, but I am eighteen, meaning that technically I am older than you" he grinned at her. She rolled her eyes.
"Fine, but I'm not happy about it"
"Well, now that that is cleared up, yes Cornelius, we are ready to leave" and then he whispered something in his tutor's ear, and he nodded.
"Where are we headed?" asked Susan, mounting her horse.
"It's a surprise" he said, giving her his crooked smile. She sighed and followed them through the forest till they emerged on the other side, where they rode by a beach for several hours.
"Cornelius" called Caspian suddenly, "We are making excellent time, don't you think?"
"Yes your majesty"
"So do you think we could risk giving our horses a bit of a rest and walking a bit of the length of this marvellous beach?" he asked, and the Doctor shrugged.
"I suppose so" he said, and the three of them dismounted their horses. Susan took her shoes off and held them in one hand and her horses' reigns in the other.
"What do you think of the beaches of Narnia?" asked Caspian.
"You keep forgetting that I have lived here longer than you have, and obviously have seen many Narnian beaches. But to answer your question, they are beautiful, much better than the beaches in England" she scanned the beach they were on currently, "Although this one does look vaguely familiar. Where are we?"
"You will find out soon enough" he said, and Susan sighed.
"Alright, but so many surprises in one day might just end up killing me" she said.
"There is only one surprise today" he said, and she smiled.
"Well that is better then"
"Tell me something about yourself Susan"
Susan felt the same shiver up her spine, and she wondered if she was doomed to feel that every time he called her by her name.
"What do you want to know?" she asked, closing her eyes, feeling the ocean breeze going through her hair.
"Anything"
"Well, my favourite colour is green" she said.
"Then why are you dressed in blue?"
"This is my school uniform" she said, pointing to her clothes. He looked confused, "Oh yes, I forgot that there are no school's in Narnia. Well, you know the things that your tutor teaches you?" she asked, and he nodded, "Well, in England and basically everywhere else in the world, they teach those things too, except that there are twenty to thirty people learning it at the same time. This is called a class. A school is many classes put together"
"And one tutor teaches twenty to thirty people?"
"Yes"
"How odd" he commented, and she giggled.
"Alright, now you need to tell me something about yourself"
"Like what?"
"Anything"
"Well, my favourite colour is red"
"Then why are you wearing brown?"
"I see what you are doing" he said, and she smirked, "Alright, your turn"
"I spend a lot of my time alone"
"So do I" he said, "Which is why I am enjoying spending time with you. I have never really met anybody my age before. I spend all my time in the castle see, and there are really no men my age"
"I am not a man your age" said Susan.
"But I still enjoy being with you" he replied, and she smiled.
"Thank you, I enjoy being with you too"
"Prince!" called the Doctor who had been walking ahead of them, "They are visible"
"What are visible?" she asked.
"The ruins" said Caspian, and Susan looked ahead and saw the castle, or what was left of what she suspected must have been a magnificent castle.
"We're going there?"
"Of course" he said, as if it should be obvious.
"Why?"
"Because I believe there is something buried within the Ruins that I want to show you"
"But you don't know for sure?"
"No"
"Brilliant"
They walked in silence for a while, but it wasn't awkward. Susan felt completely comfortable walking beside Caspian without saying a word, as though they had been doing it forever when in fact she had only met him the day before.
"What's at the Ruins?" she asked, breaking the silence. Caspian chuckled.
"Why do you insist on ruining your surprise?"
"I'm a curious person" she said, shrugging.
"I can tell" he said, laughing. She smiled.
"You have a beautiful laugh" she said, and then she felt the heat creep up to her face. She couldn't believe she had just said that. She glanced at him, and he was smiling crookedly at her, and observing her. She looked away, feeling her blush spreading through her whole face, her heart beating faster. Why did he have this effect on her? She glanced at him again. He was still observing her. She wondered if he had been observing her the entire time. She didn't know, she hadn't been watching him.
"What?" she asked. He looked into her eyes.
"Thank you" he said. She raised an eyebrow, confused.
"For what?"
"For telling me I have a beautiful laugh. It means a lot coming from someone who has so many beautiful features as you do"
She looked away, not wanting him to see her smile at his compliments.
"I was just telling you the truth" she said, tucking some hair behind her ear, although the breeze pulled it back out almost as soon as she put her hand down to the level of her hips.
"Well then I thank you for your honesty" he said, and she looked into his eyes. They were a beautiful shade of brown.
"Your majesty, we should ride the rest of the way" called the Doctor, and Caspian looked up as if he had just been in a trance.
"Yes, you are right" he said, mounting his horse. Susan followed suit and they picked up the pace, once again riding in silence. She glanced at the scenery around her as the horses climbed a rather steep hill, and found it all very familiar.
"Caspian, where are we?" she called.
"You don't know yet? I thought by now you would have figured it out" he said, chuckling.
"You could just tell me… it would save me a lot of trouble"
"No, I think I will let you find out on your own" he said as their horses jumped over the edge of the hill, landing a few feet away from the Ruins. Susan dismounted her horse and stared at the Ruins.
"Someone truly powerful must have lived here" she said.
"Someone beautiful lived here" said Caspian. Susan turned to him, confused.
"You know who lived here?"
"Of course" he said. Susan turned back to the Ruins, taking them in.
"There must have been a terrible battle here" she said, noticing how more than half the castle was missing. Caspian sighed.
"There was. This was one of the Telmarines main targets" he said, sounding disgusted in his own people.
"Then it must have been important" said Susan.
"It was"
"Can we get closer?" she asked. Caspian nodded.
"I actually have to look for that thing… why don't you look around. I'm sure that you will recognize it eventually" he said.
"I've been here before?" she asked, trying to remember castles she had visited while she lived in Narnia.
"Why do you think the whole scenery is so familiar to you?" asked Caspian, walking away from her, towards a large part of the castle that was still standing. She walked through the ruins of what she knew must have been a truly beautiful castle. The more she thought about it the more she realized that as a queen of Narnia she hadn't really visited any castles. In fact, the only castle she remembered was…
"Caspian!" she called. He appeared, looking at her with a concerned look on his face. She could the tears starting to well up in her eyes. One slipped down her cheek.
"You have recognized the castle?" he asked, and she nodded, sniffing.
"Cair Paravel" she mumbled, "Oh, it can't believe they did this to my home!" she said, and Caspian pulled her into a hug, stroking her hair.
"Here, I think I've found something that will make you feel better" he said and he took her hand, guiding her towards the large wall. She noticed a small door in the wall and she looked at him, and he nodded. They walked towards it and he pushed the door open and it fell of its hinges. He gave her a worried look and she just laughed. They were met with a winding staircase.
"Here we are" he said.
She let go of his hand and ran down the stairs, recognizing the room they had just stepped into. This was where they kept their most valuable possessions, like her horn and bow and arrows, or Peter's sword. She quickly made her way to her chest and opened it, expecting to find it empty, but all of her possessions were still in there, some in a better state then others. And there, on top of everything, was her bow and arrows. She slung them behind her back, feeling much less useless. She turned to look at Caspian. He was leaned against a pillar in the middle of the room, his arms crossed over his chest, a smug grin on his face.
"What?" she asked, trying but failing to stop herself from smiling.
"Do you like your surprise?" he asked. She sighed.
"It is the most wonderful, horrible surprise ever" she said, completely honestly.
"I knew it would be hard for you to see Cair Paravel" he admitted, and she shrugged.
"I think I needed to see it. I didn't truly believe that it was gone until now" she said, looking around the room. Something caught her eye. Lucy's chest was open. So was Edmunds. She gasped running towards them. The only thing left in Lucy's was a bunch of dresses and in Edmunds were some of his best clothes that he wore only on special occasions.
"My brother and sister… they've been here!" she exclaimed. Caspian chuckled.
"That explains the door" he said, and Susan laughed. She felt a surge of relief run through her. Lucy wasn't alone, Edmund was with her, and they were armed. And they must be close. The question was in which direction had they gone.
"We should continue" said Caspian and Susan nodded.
"Where exactly are we going?" she asked. Caspian shrugged.
"Well, I wanted to come here because I suspected that some Narnians might be hiding out in the woods around the castle of their Kings and Queens of Old"
"Or it's ruins" sighed Susan.
"Anyway, we will search the forest for a day or two, and then we will move on to the next forest"
"You suppose that the Narnians are hidden in a forest?" she asked.
"Either that or underground" he said, walking towards the exit of the room. Susan glanced at Peter's closed chest and ran over to it, opening it. All of his things were still there, including his sword. She glanced at Caspian's sword, swinging on his hip, and she wondered if Peter would be angry at her if she took his sword.
"Caspian" she called. He turned around almost instantly.
"Yes?"
"Do we have room for one more sword?" she asked, "It's just… if we find Peter I would love to have this returned to him"
"I'm sure we'll manage with one more weapon" he replied, and she grinned, picking up her brothers sword and running towards the exit of the room, ready to leave her old home. They both grimaced when they walked back into the sunlight.
"Cornelius!" called Caspian. The Doctor appeared by them in an instant.
"Yes prince?"
"We are ready to leave" he said, and the Doctor nodded. They followed him to the horses. Susan attached Peter's sword to the side of her horse, and mounted it, following Caspian and the Doctor towards the forest, giving the Ruins of Cair Paravel one last glance before leaving them behind her for good
A/N yes, I am aware that Cair Paravel is located on an island, but that simply didn't fit with the story… sorry for changing the scenery a bit