Author's note: okay guys, probably the last one for tonight. But AHHH, here it is! I hope you guys like this one, it took me forever to get this down into words, and even now I'm not sure how I feel about it. But let me know what you think!

I still do not own The Chronicles of Narnia *sigh* Enjoy!

I didn't get a wink of sleep that night. Instead, I lay in Caspian's arms and cried, trying to get the tragic event out of my head. At some point in the night Caspian fell asleep, and I took refuge in watching him. He was so sweet and peaceful when he was asleep. So innocent.

It was like he was a child.

Eventually bright rays of sunshine washed the dark shadows of the night away.

I sighed and tried my hardest to move without disturbing Caspian, but it was such a task to even sit up, I was so sore and bruised still, that it took several attempts to actually get into a sitting position, but as soon as I did I looked over at Caspian to ensure I had not awoken him. He still seemed to be asleep, but my jostling around had disturbed his hair.

I slowly reached out and pushed his bangs off his forehead, out of his eyes.

I jumped as his hand shot out to grab mine and hold it against his face. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked at me, an apprehensive smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

"Good morning, sleepy head," I croaked.

"Morning," he answered, sitting up and holding my hand.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but closed his mouth and turned his eyes away from my own. He repeated this cycle several times, playing with my fingers instead of looking up at me. Looking down at his bruised and bloody knuckles I began to get curious about what had happened after I lost consciousness last night.

"How are you?"

"Under the circumstances, I'd say I'm fairly well," I responded.

He nodded and scooted closer, wrapping his arms around me in a very gentle hug. I hugged him back the best I could as more tears came to my eyes. This guy was just too perfect.

"I'm so sorry, Christina," he whispered into my ear.

"There's nothing you could have done to stop it. You didn't know…" I muttered.

"I never should have invited the Calormens. I knew they were horrid people! I knew they had no respect for women. But I let politics get in the way of those I care about. I'm so sorry that happened to you, Christina."

"Caspian, it's not your fault. It's ok, I'll be fine."

"It's not okay. You don't understand how…infuriated I was when I saw you. How angry I was when I saw his foot on your throat, like you were nothing. I was disgusted by what he had done," he shuddered violently at those words; I did too. "I wanted to kill him. Never have I ever wanted to hurt another human being as much as I wanted to hurt him. I hated him. I hated him more than I hated Miraz."

I put my hand on his arm and his eyes, glazed over with anger, zoned back in on me.

"Caspian," I breathed, moving closer to him.

He loved me. That much I could tell. No one has this much passion for someone that they simply liked. But I could not tell if he loved me as his friend or as something more. I was burning with curiosity to find out which.

My resistance was wearing and I could hardly stand it anymore.

Looking up at those big, beautiful brown eyes, I felt my control slip away.

With a slight grimace I pushed off the wall and into him, resting my hands on his chest as I closed the small gap between us and placed my lips against his as lightly as possible. The cut in my lip stung, and I was worried he could taste my blood and would be disgusted, but he gave no indication of wanting to move.

His hand rested softly on my cheek as he kissed me tantalizingly slow.

My heart was beating a million miles per second as he pulled away and looked at me. My spirits sank, though, when I saw the sadness in his eyes.

Oh god, this is the part where he says that he loves you as a friend.

"Christina," he murmured, running his hand through my hair softly, "I'm sorry."

"Oh god," I groaned.

I should not have done that, I should not have even thought of it. There were more important issues to deal with, like what happened to Fahd, and here I was trying to make out with my best friend.

Heat crept into my bruised cheeks and I flinched, more from the sheer weight of my embarrassment than from the ache in my bones, and turned away from him. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and sat on the edge, facing away from him.

"I'm sorry Caspian. I don't know what came over me. Please forgive me."

I looked down as tears came to my eyes. I tried desperately to stop them. Of course I was upset about him not reciprocating my feelings, but wow, how embarrassing! How could I have been so stupid to think now would be the right time to do this?!

"Oh, Christina, my dear, don't cry."

"I'm not crying," I sniffled pathetically, still not looking at him.

He got up and walked to my side of the bed and knelt down in front of me. He placed his finger under my chin and tipped my face upward to face him. His expression was pained as he looked at me and I couldn't help but cry harder. Now he would never talk to me again. Especially when I needed him so badly right now. What have I done?

"I'm so sorry, Caspian. You must be so uncomfortable now."

"Don't apologize; do not say sorry. It's not fair to you. If you have to apologize then so do I."

"But this is my fault-"

"Christina, I wanted that just as much, if not more, than you did."

My heart stopped. Was I imagining things now? Did he really just say that or, due to recent events, was I completely losing my mind? Sadly, I shook my head and tried to look away.

"Cas, you don't need to say that," I rasped out, "I know that I shouldn't have done that, I'm-"

He leaned forward now, cutting me off in the middle of my rambling, and kissed me again.

This one wasn't as sweet as the first, but it was just as enjoyable, and made my heart grow weak at the mere tickle of his breath on my lips. I never wanted it to end, but he pulled away, gently bringing his hands to cup my cheeks, much too soon for my liking.

"Christina, now is not the time to confess my love to you. You've been through a traumatic experience and I am not going to exploit your vulnerability. But know, I have loved you since the first day I met you, can you remember it?"

"Course," I choked out.

"Are you alright?"

I jumped, looking for the source of the somewhat familiar voice. When I saw him, standing in the entrance to the Howe, I put my heart to my chest, as if to stop it from beating right out of my skin.

He chuckled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."

"I-it's ok." I stammered.

"Would you mind if I joined you?"

"Are you alright?" he repeated.

"Um, y-yeah, I'm fine."

"I'm not sure we've been properly introduced, have we?"

"Not really," I whispered, looking straight ahead.

"I am Prince Caspian."

"It's nice to meet you, your majesty-"

"Please, just Caspian."

"Nice to meet you, Caspian. I'm Christina" I whispered.

"Pleasure to meet you." He still held his hand out, so I nervously reached out and took it.

Instead of shaking it, like I expected, he carefully brought my hand up and pressed a soft kiss to the skin on the back of it.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?"

"Mhm," I hummed.

"Before I …left, my professor would wake me up at night, and we would go star gazing. He would point out the different constellations and tell me each of their stories. Even after he went back to sleep, I stayed out and just…watched."

"What?"

I looked away quickly.

"Nothing." I mumbled.

"Have you ever star gazed before?"

"I've tried. But no matter where I go, you can never see them as clearly as you can here." I replied.

"Why'd you leave?"

"My uncle. He has been after the throne ever since my father died. The only reason he kept me around is because he didn't have an heir. When my aunt gave birth to a son he tried to kill me, so he could take the throne for himself and his son." He breathed.

"Christina!"

"Christina?" Lucy called again.

"I have to go," I whispered, standing up.

He remained seated.

"Goodnight, your majesty."

"You looked so beautiful that night."

"So did you," I whispered.

My heart was pounding a million mile a minute, and it was beginning to make my aching body hurt even more. I grabbed both of his hands and pulled them off of my cheeks, squeezing them as hard as I could while I groaned and got to my feet.

Standing didn't hurt as much as sitting did, not as much pressure on my aching lungs and ribs.

"Christina, we can talk more about this when you have recovered, but please, don't feel like you need to reciprocate just because I have chosen to confess my feelings toward you. Especially now, in such a delicate time," he said, gripping my hands tightly despite the fact that some of the scabs on his knuckles reopened and started to bleed again.

I opened my mouth to tell him that I loved him too when I was interrupted.

"Milady?"

Both our heads turned towards the door as a short knock sounded, followed immediately by the wood being pushed open and Arianna running into the room. She stopped short, though, once she saw Caspian there.

A blush crept across my cheeks.

He was wearing a sleeping shirt and his boots were on the floor by my bed, I couldn't imagine what she was thinking, but whatever it was, it probably was not very appropriate.

"Oh, Lady Christina, you're alright! When Nevin told me what happened last night I wanted to come here immediately. But I was told that King Caspian was looking after you. It appears that I had heard correctly. Thank you, your majesty," she swept into a low bow.

"Please, there is no need for thanks."

He squeezed her shoulder in a friendly manner and then turned back to me.

"I must go and prepare for the day. There will be, no doubt, many conflicts to settle. I shall come and visit you in a little while to see how you are getting along."

With a small kiss to the hand he departed.