Author's note: I do not own Narnia, or any of the plot points that coincide with the story of Prince Caspian. I personally like this chapter, because you get a little bit of humor, maybe not as much as i could hope for, but there is some there! Let me know what you all think, I'm preparing and editing chapters now, so a pretty steady stream of updates should be coming for the next few days! Read/Enjoy/Review!
"Christina!"
I rolled over in my sleep, ignoring the young voice that had called my name. "Christina, get up." Groaning, I put both my arms over my head and blocked my ears, attempting to block out her voice. "Christina, Edmund's going to be very irritated with you. You're already late."
"What time is it?"
"It doesn't matter. Just get up."
With that said, she began to shake me. I whined like a two year old for a good five minutes before she pulled me to my feet and literally dragged me through the tunnels. When we got outside I groaned and shut my eyes tightly as a bright light momentarily blinded me.
"About time," Edmund's gruff voice huffed.
"I thought you were raiding the castle today," I muttered, slowly opening my eyes.
"Tonight. That still gives you two full hours of fun!"
He thrust the armor into my hands. Cursing to myself, I tightened the cuirass and put on the wrist protectors. "Not a morning person?" He teased, smiling happily at my angry expression. That was it.
I was going to kill him.
With my sword in one hand and my shield in the other I took a fighting stance glaring at Edmund. Today would be the day that I beat him. He didn't pick up his sword or shield. "Oh no, you're not fighting me today." His smirk grew bigger.
"Then who-"
"Me."
I whirled around and came face to face with Prince Caspian. As I looked up at his hulking frame I couldn't help but feel my thoughts of winning vanish. This man was huge. I had to look straight up to look in his eyes, and the amount of muscles he had could probably add up to my entire body weight.
He wore wrist guards and held a sword. He didn't even have a shield. A smug smirk appeared on his lips as he watched my eyes widen. "King Edmund had said that you were progressing in sword play, and I had to see it for myself." He explained, his smile growing bigger.
"Edmund?" I turned around to face him, wordlessly pleading him to tell Caspian no.
"It's good practice. And I made Caspian promise not to hurt you too badly."
His tone was light and joking. He thought this was funny. They both did.
Anger washed through my veins as I glared at both of them. I was so prepared to fight Edmund. To get revenge for waking me up so early for the past few days, but I had no reason to be angry with Caspian.
The image of him staring at Susan popped into my mind.
More anger ran through me as I channeled the wave of emotions that one look made me feel into pure anger. Then I added the anger of waking up early to the mix. Oh, I was ready to slaughter someone. Poor Caspian, he didn't know what was going to hit him.
Without another word, I got into a fighting stance and waited for Caspian to catch on.
"So serious," he chuckled.
"Stalling? Why? Scared?" I quirked an eyebrow, challenging him.
Unlike every other guy I knew, he didn't react to this. Most men would get angry and immediately protest to being scared. Then they would start fighting. But Caspian remained calm and collected. His smile faltered ever so slightly, but that was all.
He took a fighting stance as well, and I waited for his attack.
We stood there for a moment, analyzing one another, and wondering who would make the first move. Suddenly, Caspian lunged forward. I narrowly missed his sword as I stepped to the side. Turning, I caught sight of him coming back. This time I didn't have a chance to step out of the way.
Our swords clashed together.
Man, he was strong.
I almost dropped my sword and fell onto my knees from that hit. We stood there for only a second, our blades crossed, looking at one another. My strength was disintegrating, if I didn't break contact now, I would be forced onto my knees and I would lose.
Quickly, I brought my knee up and landed a blow directly to his stomach.
He staggered back, breaking our contact. I jumped back and used this moment to regain some strength and energy. Watching him, doubled over and coughing, I felt the tiniest bit of guilt. I definitely knocked the wind out of him.
But he should be happy. If I were in a real fight I would have hit him below the belt.
But that was unfair in just a simple sparring match.
After a minute he regained his breath and looked up at me, a smiling. I frowned. "It's going to take a lot more than that to win against me." he teased. "Careful Caspian. She can hold her own against me, and judging by the looks of it, she's angry. So I wouldn't taunt too much." Edmund warned, smiling nonetheless.
Good boy, Edmund.
Caspian just chuckled and got back into a fighting stance. He swung his sword out at me, and I ducked. I was about to stand up when I remembered yesterday's sparring match with Edmund. Copying my instructor's movements, I swung my leg out and knocked his feet out from under him.
Straightening out, I saw Caspian had dropped his sword.
I was about to kick it away when I felt my feet fly out from under me.
A sharp pain went through my back when I hit the ground, but I held onto my sword. Caspian had gotten to his feet. Shit. I climbed to my feet and scrambled to get my shield, but he had already kicked it away.
Double shit.
He looked slightly agitated now. He began to strike, quicker and faster. Random, blind stabs flew at me from every direction and I was having trouble dodging all of them. I felt a sting on the back of my hand as I realized that his blade had grazed me.
The cut wasn't that big. It wasn't a paper cut, but it wasn't a giant gash either.
I tore my eyes away from it as he stabbed at me again. His sword passed my left cheek by an inch. "Whoa, dude, watch it. This is not to the death," I snapped, getting more angry as the sting in my hand intensified.
As he continued lashing out with lighting fast speed, I tried to watch his sword and block his attacks, instead of just stepping away from it. Metallic crashes filled the air as our swords connected, but he didn't try to force me to the ground again, he only pulled away and went at me from another angle.
This sporadic fighting went on for a good five minutes before I got tired.
My hand was really beginning to hurt and I knew that I was bleeding. I could feel the blood dripping off my hand and onto the ground. Shaking that dizzying thought away, I clenched my teeth and stabbed at him.
He swung his sword at me again and I ducked.
As I was straightening up I saw him swing his leg out. I jumped over it and swung at him when he stood. Our swords connected and once more we stood, staring at one another, blades crossed in front of our faces.
Breathing heavily, I rotated my arm, just like Edmund taught me, and I threw his blade off of mine. Then, before he knew what hit him, I swung my sword at his sword with all of my might. A loud metallic crash filled the air, followed by a dull thump.
His sword was ten feet away, on the ground.
My mind raced as I stared at it. I won! I had beat Caspian. A smile lit up my face as my arm fell limp against my side, still holding my sword. I looked over at Edmund to see what he would say. His eyes widened for a moment, from the sheer shock, and then he smiled widely at me.
I opened my mouth to say something, but I felt a tremendous force hit my already aching back.
Hitting the ground, I looked over my shoulder to see Caspian, holding, my shield. He grinned smugly at me and kicked away the sword that had fallen out of my hand when I fell. Then, he tossed the shield away and stood above me, smiling triumphantly.
"Draw!" Edmund shouted.
Draw? Why would we want to draw right now?
It means a tie, you moron.
Oh.
Caspian, who still stood above me, held out his hand. I glared at it, getting to my feet without touching him. "No, that's not fair! I won," I shouted. Caspian stood there, grinning at my childish behavior as Edmund shook his head.
"What was the first rule I told you about sword fighting?"
Damnit.
"You guys suck."
I crossed my arms and went to stomp off dramatically when Edmund lazily draped an arm over my shoulders and lead me the opposite way. "You forgot. You have archery with Lucy." He guided me through the woods, Caspian trailing behind us.
I kept my arms crossed and pouted.
I won. Not Caspian, me.
When we arrived in the small clearing, Lucy already had everything set up. The said girl was sitting in the knee high grass, examining her small dagger. Hearing us approach, she stood up and put her dagger back in her belt, walking towards us.
"What happened?"
"Caspian and Edmund cheated. I won the sparring match." I grumbled.
"Who cares about the sparring match, what happened to your hand?"
I glanced down and winced at the sight of blood. It was still dripping off of my hand, and had stained my dress. Mel was going to be so angry. Lucy hurried to the tree with the first aid kit, and came back with a wet cloth that had been soaked with antiseptic.
She flashed me a warning glance, telling me to keep my mouth shut and not fire off curses around the two men.
She then proceeded to press the cloth onto my stinging cut. Fire shot through my veins and I clapped my hand to my mouth to prevent the long string of profanities I wanted to scream out loud. After the cut was successfully cleaned, the blood gone, and my hand bandaged, she took the things back to the first aid kit and left me standing with Caspian and Edmund.
"Christina, I am so sorry. I had no idea that I had tagged you. If I did-"
"It's fine. I barely noticed it throughout the whole thing." I interrupted.
"Are you sure you're alright?"
I faked a smile, since I was still in such a bad mood, and looked up at the tall man. "I'm fine." He looked very unconvinced, but didn't get the chance to press the issue because Lucy had came back.
"I think it's fair to say that you'll want the arm guards today, yes?"
I nodded, untying the cuirass and handing it to Edmund before Lucy handed me the bow and a quiver of arrows. Sighing, I trudged to my mark in the clearing, knocked an arrow back, and tried to take aim.
"Come on, Caspian, you don't want to see this one with an arrow." I heard Edmund whisper.
There was no movement though, so I assumed they were all watching me. Nerves tingled through my body and a light blush painted my cheeks as I tried to focus on the target. But the feeling of their eyes on my back was distracting me.
I inhaled deeply, and let go, exhaling as the arrow flew through the air.
It landed about fifty feet away from the target. Growling, I grabbed another arrow and took aim again. This time, I pulled the string back further than I normally did. When I let go I felt the string slap against my thumb, but I thought nothing of it.
The arrow soared through the air and flew to the right of the target, getting lost in the woods somewhere.
"Lucy! Did you see that, it went farther than the target!" I cheered, grinning.
I turned around to see Lucy and Edmund smiling, but Caspian just looked confused. "Why is she happy that it didn't hit the target?" he wondered quietly, but I still heard him. "You should have seen her the other day! It barely made it ten feet in the air, this is progress for her." Edmund chuckled.
"Oh, shut up! I can hear you, you know!"
"Come on now, Christina, keep going." Lucy instructed, a bright and optimistic smile on her face. At least I was improving. Heaving a deep sigh, I turned back around and was about to knock an arrow back when my eyes landed on my thumb.
There was a large red mark on the knuckle.
But there was no blood, which was definitely a plus. I set down my bow and arrow, and turned around to face the group of observers behind me. "Luce, string snapped my thumb." I called to her, looking at my hand.
A round of laughing filled the clearing.
Douches.
Muttering angrily to myself, I stomped over to the tree that had the first aid kit and knelt down next to it. There lay a pair of leather gloves. I pulled them on and tucked them beneath the arm guards.
"I've been telling you to wear those since day one."
I jumped. This girl seriously had a knack for sneaking up behind a person, whether she knew it or not. With my hand on my heart, I turned to look at her, slightly irritated.
"Well, my arms have been taking most of the beating. This is a first for my hand."
Rolling her eyes, she smiled anyways and took my other hand, leading me back to my mark. "You're not focusing hard enough," she whispered to me. "I can't focus with Caspian and Edmund here," I replied quietly.
"I sent them away."
She leaned down and picked up my bow and handed me another arrow. I knocked it back and lifted the bow, taking aim. "Straighten this elbow more. Now, when you release, exhale at the same time you let go. It helps, I promise."
I did as she said.
Exhaling, I allowed my fingers to slip from the string. The arrow flew through the air, and I watched it. My breath hitched in anticipation as it got closer and closer to the target. My hope was immediately shot down when it flew about three feet over the top of the target.
It was still an improvement.
"I give up." I huffed, flopping down onto the ground.
Lucy tapped her foot and crossed her arms, staring at me like a parent would a child who was in the middle of throwing a temper tantrum. "Don't say that. You're doing really well. Improving, actually." I glared up at her.
"Lucy, I think we should accept the fact that I suck at archery."
"No, you shouldn't." I looked up to see Caspian walking towards Lucy and I. Edmund hovered at the edge of the clearing, leaning against a tree and smirking, obviously amused. I frowned, glancing at Lucy.
"I thought you said you sent them away."
"I had to say something to get you to focus."
"And we didn't want to miss the show!"
I glared at Edmund. His smile was very apparent, even from fifty feet away. Trying my best to ignore his taunting, I looked up as Caspian once again held out a hand to help me up. Defeated, I grabbed his hand and was hauled to my feet.
"Queen Lucy, would you, perhaps, give us a moment? I want to try something."
Lucy smiled sadly and shot a glance at me before skipping over to her brother. They immediately began to mutter quietly amongst themselves, giggling every so often. I knew, for a fact, that they were talking about me.
My attention was drawn back to where I stood when Caspian poked an arrow in my face.
I took it, eyeing him warily. He nodded his head, urging me to knock it back, which I did. "Take aim," he commanded in a soft but harsh voice. Apprehensively, I pulled the string back further and lifted the bow next to my eye.
"Relax," he whispered.
Easy for him to say. He wasn't being circled by a prince who also happened to be the most perfect person he had ever seen in his entire life. I tried to watch him in my peripheral vision, since I was supposed to be taking aim, but I lost sight of him as he walked behind my back.
I flinched at the feel of his hand, touching my elbow. My cheeks warmed at the same moment.
"This elbow needs to be stiff, but relaxed."
I did as he said, straightening my elbow and tensing my muscles so it was locked in place. My breathing increased rapidly as he placed his hand on top of my left, which was holding the bow. "Move these fingers down just a little…perfect."
He didn't move his hand. He kept it on top of mine.
He ran his other hand, his fingers ghosting on top of my sleeve, up my stretched up, to my shoulder. "This arm needs to be perfectly straight," he instructed. I instantly straightened my bent elbow.
I felt his fingers leave my shoulder and gasped when he touched my forehead.
"Relax," he breathed, whispering in my ear.
I felt his hot breath on my neck and tingles shot through my body, leaving goosebumps in their wake. It wasn't until now that I realized that my eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. When Caspian's warm, calloused fingers traced the lines on my forehead they instantly smoothed out.
Once more removing his fingers from my body, he stepped right behind me.
The arm that was connected to the hand that was laid over mine at the front of the bow was perfectly in line with mine. His other hand had settled itself on my right shoulder. Both of our sides faced the target and our feet were lined up, only a foot apart.
"Let go," he commanded almost silently.
I immediately released the string and arrow, but I didn't watch it soar through the air with hope like last time. I could only pay attention to the goosebumps and the tingles that were running through my body.
Caspian still hadn't removed his hands from my body yet.
Gulping, I forced myself to focus on where the arrow had landed. It only took me a second of looking before I saw the end of the arrow, my arrow, protruding from the outer rim of the target. A jolt of electricity shot through me as I smiled.
I did it.