It wasn't as if Caspian wasn't used to politicking, as prince he was practically trained for it since birth and as much as he disliked it he was rather good at it. Loathe he was to admit it, that was in no small part due to his uncle. Caspian had to admit that the man had practically a silver tongue when it came to political affairs, and back when he was a boy he sat in on many political meetings alongside his uncle. As a young man, he was forced to be more careful with his words so as not to trigger his uncle's temper. As that combined to make him good with words or so he was told.

However, in the past he never had someone like Alessandra to think about. He spent the majority of his time thinking about her regardless of the circumstances, but now with the slight freedom his uncle's absence offered he wondered why he was here conversing with stuffy board members when he could be with her.

Being in the laundry room at night had its perks and its drawbacks, most notably she was alone and free to take up as much time and space as she needed to ensure that her clothes (and Steph's for tonight) were thoroughly as clean as she is going to get them.

The drawback? Wet clothes needed a small army to move and she was all alone, so instead of taking them one by one to the drying station she thought it best to dump them all in one bag and haul them across the room.

In hindsight it was a bad idea, her back ached and her forearms were sore from dragging the bag but her pride wouldn't let her stop now.

A hand dragged along her back and she jumped before the load in her hands suddenly lessened, "I've been looking for you." Caspian said in a rush, lugging the bag up into his arms as if it weighed nothing.

"What are you doing here, I thought you had lessons?"

"I want to take you somewhere." he said instead of responding to her, jerking his arms silently asking where she wanted him to place the bag, she pointed to the other side of the room and he easily moved there as if the pile of weight clothes didn't weigh approximately that of a small horse.

"Cas, is that safe?" she asked in response to his earlier declaration and he nodded, taking her hand and kissing the back of it.

"Tonight may be the safest night in the castle for a while to come," he told her sincerely, his energy was palpable tonight, like his uncle's absence energized him in a way that he hadn't allowed himself to be in a long time, "Please," he added kissing her hand again, "It won't take long."

Good she had clothes to ring out, "Where are we going?"

He beamed leaning forward to steal a kiss, before beginning to drag her to one of the passages hidden in the walls, "To the stables."

Not that way they weren't, that passage would take them around the back of the castle and they'd have to go through a second hallway to get to the stables. That was the long way and she knew a shorter one.

Suddenly playful she took his arm and pulled him in the opposite direction, his brow furrowed as he went with her but before he could question she spoke, "This way's shorter." she dropped his arm and all but skipped to the far wall pushing on it to reveal another hidden pathway, different from the one he'd entered through. "Race you." she teased then she was off, and he was hot on her heels.

This passage wasn't familiar to him and he was weighed down by his armour slightly which was why he was steps behind her, either that or she was just faster than him.

"You know," Caspian huffed, bracing his hands on his hip as feigning being winded as he looked at her, "I've lived in this castle my entire life. Never would I have known about so many of these passages."

"That's the thing about us maids," Alessandra teased, an air of self-satisfaction from where she sat perched up on a bale of hay like she'd been there all evening waiting for him, "We know all the secrets."

He huffed moving to stand between her legs breathing her in as he caught his breath, "Is that right?"

"Yeah that's right." she teased, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of his head as it hung between them, the air between them shifting from playful.

"Are you okay?" she giggled as he lifted his head then the playful glint still shining in his dark eyes as his breath puffed across her lips, his heart beginning to pound for an entirely different reason.

"I'm fine," he moved his hands, resting them on the tops of her thighs before he leaned in, "I just need to catch," his mouth caught hers for a quick second, "Catch my breath," then he went and stole hers by pressing his mouth to hers. She sighed, returning his kiss with fervour, trying to move her body closer as she reached up to place her hands on his chest. His hands trailed backwards until he was gripping her behind and she released a low moan into his mouth.

He tightened his grip and used to pull her further to the edge of the bale, before they moved to the front of her dress to pull the layers of fabric up, she dropped to her feet and began helping him, gathering the fabric and holding it to her chest with one hand while the other returned to his neck. His hand went down tripping catching on the bunched up fabric until he met the wiry curls at her centre, she wasn't wearing an undershift or whatever it was that she called it.

"Is this alright?" he asked carefully into her mouth, he felt her nod rather than respond verbally, then he slipped his fingers lower. Finding the wet heat between her thighs. She moaned again at his touch and he longed to hear more of it, releasing her mouth so he could press kisses to her neck. In perfect position for her sounds to flow into his ear. He slipped his fingers down and inside of her before retreating, sliding back up to her bundle of nerves, that caused her to jerk which he took as a good sign.

"Does that feel good?" he asked as he did it again, she nodded shakily and he felt the movement against the top of his head. So he did it again, and again aided by her slickness. He quickly figured out how to angle his hand so that he could pump his fingers in and out and use the heel of his hand to rub her nerve, that got her loudest moan yet, so he crashed his lips to hers again to muffle it.

He did it again and she went rigid against him, shuddering hard as she moaned into his mouth and he felt her contract on his fingers, a rush of new wetness coated his fingers and as much as he wanted to play with it a little more Alessandra's comfort came first. He pulled his hand free of her resisting the urge to taste what remained on his fingers, using his clean hand to turn her to look him in the eye. As best she could since they were a bit unfocused, a slight tremble to her knees.

"Are you well, my darling?"

"Absolutely," she sighed, now it was her being out of breath.

"Was that okay?"

"Absolutely." she grinned before kissing him again, she felt him smile into the kiss as his hands helped settle her dress back down. Her hands strayed to his side, fisting his shirt pulling him even closer, when a loud clearing of a throat startled them and they jumped apart, Caspian placing himself slightly in front of her. She peeked around his shoulder to see Bruno standing there with an exasperated look with his hands on his belt. Alessandra heaved a sigh of relief.

"You are like a disobedient child." He sighed and it sounded like he put his entire being into it, "I ask you to do one thing."

"What are you doing here?" Alessandra asked carefully, ensuring that her skirts were properly fixed. "You're supposed to be with Steph."

"Patrol," he answered simply, "And you're lucky I took this round and not one of the others, none of them really fancy the smell of animal dung. Which, by the way, not the most romantic of places for a dalliance."

"It wasn't meant to be," Caspian said, finding his voice at last, surmising that this must be Bruno. "It was the heat of the moment."

Bruno nodded as if he understood, "See that it doesn't happen again, if someone else happens upon you they won't be as understanding as me," he lowered his voice as much as he could in sympathy, "Particularly to you Lessy."

"It's not her fault," Caspian told the other man defensively, "I wanted to indulge in the slightest bit of freedom my uncle's absence granted."

The guard, Bruno, looked him up and down in a scrutinizing manner he wasn't entirely used to, "Prince Caspian." He finally said with a slight incline of his head that wasn't even close to a bow.

"You must be Bruno." Caspian said instead of commenting on the impropriety. This man was Alessandra's friend, he was also privy to their secret.

"Indeed I am."

"Pleasure." Caspian said politely and Bruno didn't respond, he just stood there staring back at him and he wasn't sure how to feel about the older man's calculating gaze, resisting the urge to squirm he met the gaze head on not giving him the satisfaction of backing down.

After a moment of the two of them staring at each other Bruno nodded as if he was impressed, "Next shift won't be around for about another hour or so," he said beginning to turn back the the stables entrance, "But I wouldn't hang around for that long either way."

"Thank you." Alessandra said sincerely and he got the feeling that she meant more than just the tip he'd given them.

Bruno didn't respond, only inclined his head in her direction before sparring one more look at Capsian before taking his leave, "Was that good?" he asked her in the silence that followed.

She giggled ducking into his shoulder, "Yes, pay him no mind, his bark is worse than his bite."

He nodded, deciding to trust her on this, he turned and pressed a kiss to the side of her head, "Come on." He took her hand and led her further into the stables and to the far side where his beloved horse rested, she stood upon his approach and hung her head over the stall doors, Caspian couldn't help the smile that spread across his face at the sight.

Alessandra paused but he continued on, smiling as Destier tossed her mane and pushed her head into his outstretched hand. He ran a hand over head and around to the side of her neck.

"What's wrong?" He asked upon seeing that Alessandra hadn't come any closer.

"I've never been this close to a horse before."

"It's alright," he said, extending his other hand to her, "Destrier is my oldest friend, she won't hurt you." After another moment she took his hand and let him tug her closer. He pulled her to stand in front of him and rubbed his hand along her hip to comfort her when Destrier turned her head to sniff her curiously. "It's alright," he chuckled when she jumped. "I've had her since she was a foal," he told her, covering her other hand with his and bringing them up to stroke along the horse's neck, "She's been loyal to me ever since I was a boy."

"She's beautiful," Alessandra smiled, her other hand coming up under Destrier's nudges so the horse could nibble at her palm, the ticklish sensation making her giggle.

Caspian smiled, kissing her shoulder, "Yes she is."

She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled seeing the softness in his eyes. At that moment Destrier whined since they'd stopped petting her and gently nudged Alessandra's stomach pushing her further into Caspian, they laughed before returning their attention to the mare.

"It must be so freeing." Alessandra said sometime later, as they were still in the stables and she'd asked him about riding.

"It is." He agreed, running a brush along Destrier's side, taking this time to groom her, "I haven't had the time recently, but it used to be one of my favourite past times." She smiled at the glee in his eyes, "I'd love to take you out one day."

She pushed off of the wall she was leaning against and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, "I'd like that too." She told him kissing his shoulder. "We should head out, the next patrol will be around soon." He nodded agreeing with her, placing Destrier's brush back and petting the horse's neck gently urging her to sit before taking Alessandra's hand and letting her lead them out of the stables.

Alessandra and him had spent the majority of their time together in what constituted as his element, being that of his study and before that it was the kitchens, moreso her element but there they spent most of their time in companionable silence, in his study too now that he thought about it. But actually seeing her work was different and he liked it, she still had to set the clothes out the dry before they could retire to his rooms for the night.

He liked watching her, he realized, he just enjoyed being with her whatever that took. He offered his assistance but she politely told him that it wasn't needed, he only smiled and took a seat on a bench.

It didn't take her long to hang her dresses out to dry and soon enough they were off again this time to his chambers. He still had his late night lessons with the professor so he was just walking her back to his room before he'd be off again on his own. Again he watched her, she wasn't quite ready to sleep yet so she chose a book from his shelf and settled herself down in his seat rather than hers.

'Since you won't be needing it tonight,' She told him with a wink, he couldn't help but kiss her again before bidding her a temporary goodnight. It felt almost domestic and he liked it.

He wondered if he was developing an obsession with her or perhaps she was some sort of addiction. He was watching her sleep for Lion's sake. He could tell himself that he was taking in how comfortable she was in his bed, but he really was just watching her sleep. The rise and fall of her chest, the gentle flutter of her lashes when her eyes twitched in her sleep, her hand outstretched towards where he normally slept as if reaching for him in her sleep.

He loved her hands; they were small and strong and always cold if all the times he held them was any indication, her hands were soft despite her occupation having fewer calluses than his but not completely blemish free, the scar across her palm that he himself cleaned and dressed was an example of that. He crawled into bed beside her and took that hand that was reaching for him and kissed her fingertips before resting the hand on his chest and following her to sleep.

"Were you attacked by leeches last night?" Alessandra joked when she and Steph met up the next morning back in their shared room.

Stephanie's cheeks reddened and she brought her hands up to cup them, then lowered them down to her neck which was dotted with darkening love marks trailing down to the neck of her dress, probably further too if she had to guess.

"We got a bit carried away last night I suppose," she said not looking the least bit perturbed, "I'm surprised I don't see any marks on you." She shot back and Alessandra gasped, though she expected Bruno to tell her now that the secret was out.

"He told you?"

"Of course he did, we share everything, miss stable dalliance."

Alessandra gasped and smacked her arm, "It wasn't like that!" She whisper-shouted to her in alarm.

"I know," Steph said smugly even as she rubbed her arm, "I just wanted to see what you'd do. And you didn't disappoint." She came to Alessandra's side dodging another half-hearted attempt at swinging at her, taking Alessandra's hand and beginning to lead them from the room, "Isn't it amazing how much a simple hand can do." Alessandra gaped at her and tried to pinch her friend but she wriggled away. "I'm getting you back for all those times you teased Bruno and I."

"Fine." She grumbled, "But you never just took the jabs either."

Glee grew in Stephanie's eyes and Alessandra immediately recognized the opening she'd given her, "I did last night." Steph told her before immediately rushing off.

Steph took lunch with Bruno today, so Alessandra decided to skip lunch for the day and took tea to Professor Cornelieus' study instead. She wasn't sure why she was always surprised to see the man in his own study, but she was. She also wasn't sure how her relationship with the man would be affected now that he knew about her and Caspian.

But things didn't seem all that much different, he looked up at her from over the top of his glasses but went back to his studies. So she took her tea over to her bench. As she'd come to expect with the much older man they remained in companionable silence.

It wasn't until about halfway through the hour did Professor Cornelieus join her in the bench, he was silent for a moment allowing her to finish reading through the chapter she was on. When she finished she set the book aside and gave him her full attention.

"How much do you know about what they call the 'Golden Age' of Narnia?" He asked, handing her a cup of tea.

"Only what I've been told," she told him while accepting the cup, "So very little, it's something of a taboo around here as you could imagine."

"Indulge me."

She sighed thinking back on the stories she'd heard growing up,"Supposedly it was one of the most peaceful reigns in Narnia's history, and marked the end of the Long Winter, brought on by the White Witch."

"And the rulers?"

"They discovered Narnia through a door?" The details of the story were a bit fuzzy.

"A wardrobe, you see," the older man had slipped into teaching mode, "It was prophesied that the greatest rulers Narnia would ever see would be sons of Adam and a daughters of Eve,"

"Adam and Eve?"

"Humans." The professor said with a twinkle in his eye she didn't recognize, "Best get back to your reading dear, there's still much for you to learn."

She wondered what the point of that conversation was before deciding that it was one of the man's strange quirks and continuing to read her book.

She'd come to understand why Steph spent so much time quite literally sleeping with Bruno, she asked her once why she chose sleeping in those awful guardhouses, dozens of men crammed into one building a piece made her eyes sting just watching past the buildings. Her response was that despite the less than ideal situation when she slept with Bruno by her side she was able to block it all out and have some of the best sleep of her life.

She understood now, there was no comparing comfortability, Caspian was a prince therefore he slept on only the finest linens and she was almost certain that his mattress was made of unicorn hair. But sleeping next to him was just so easy, she fell asleep faster and slept through the entire night. She didn't have to worry about getting cold because he was there to keep her warm, that and he had dozens of furs waiting at the foot of his bed to be used. She never got too hot either since the curtains that he always pulled shut around the bed left in the perfect amount of air to keep them both cool as they slept wrapped around each other. The rest she got was more than worth sneaking out before the sun rose and back to the maids quarters, in that she did resent Steph, she could stay with Bruno well until her shift started and fear no repercussions beyond the disapproving or jealous side eye.

She liked to think that Caspian slept better with her there too, those tired bags around his eyes had started to dissipate, she didn't think that they'd ever fully be gone since he was determined to carry the weight of the entire world on his shoulders, but she could confidently say that she witnessed him getting more sleep than he probably had in years.

Which was why when she woke to him trembling beside her it came as a great shock. They'd separated at some point during the night, she was on her side facing him and Caspian was flat on his back, arms ridged by his side and his chest falling and rising quickly like he couldn't get enough air in. The sheets rest on her waist but the ones on his side are tangled around his legs and they twitch slightly like he's trying to kick them off. For a moment she isn't sure what to do, Caspian had never had a nightmare in her presence although he mentioned them before, it's the mumbling that decides for her though.

They're low at first, and she can't make anything out, but slowly they rise, he calls for his father, begs for his mother and constant 'no's' slip through his lips. Then to her surprise he calls her name.

"Caspian?" she whispers while sitting up, her heart hurts for him. "Cas wake up," she places a hand on his bare shoulder and realizes how clammy his skin is, "Wake up, it's just a dream." She firmly shakes him and his eyes jolt open so quickly that it frightens her and she jumps.

He shoots up and she's quick to grab his arm, whispering hurriedly to him, "It's alright Cas, you're alright, it's just a dream." he doesn't move but she can tell he's still caught in that fitful place between asleep and awake, his chest rising and falling quickly in time with his rapid heartbeats. "It's just a dream Cas, look at me," she takes her hand in his, placing his palm over her chest, over her heart so he can feel the beats, each one calm despite everything that is happening.

"It's alright, we're alright, Cas," his fingers flex as both her hands cover the back of his holding tight as if he was going to pull away, "I'm here." she tells him and finally his frantic eyes meet her calm ones and the recognition begins to creep in, "It's alright," One of her hands releases his and settles on his chest over his own rapidly beating heart, "Come back to me."

His breath begins to slow and his free hand, previously clenched into a fist, raises to mirror her and cup the back of her hand over his chest, "My," he paused, licking his dry lips, "Alessandra."

"I'm here." she repeats and he crumbles closing the distance between them in a blink and falling into her chest hugging her tight to him as they fall back to the bed. She continues to repeat that they're safe, and she's here and that he's alright as he laid his head on top of her chest over her heart so he can feel and hear each beat while her fingers rake through his hair.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asks into the night sometime later once his trembling subsided, he hadn't retreated from her chest and she wasn't going to force him to.

Did he want to talk about it? Up until now no one but Professor Corneilous knew of his nightmares and even still he never talked to the older man about them and he surely wasn't there to wake him from one. Those nights he was forced to let the dream run its course before waking and curling up over a pillow letting the tears soak it as if he were a boy again. But now he had someone here, someone to wake him and willing to listen if he wanted to talk.

"It's always the same," he says after a moment so long she thought he'd fallen back asleep, "It's my father asleep in his bed," he takes a deep breath and though her hand never stops its journey through his hair, she leans down to kiss the top of his head, "Then the shadows move, sometime they're poisoning his water so that when he wakes he'll choke, sometime its an arrow from the darkness, sometimes a dagger. But I never see who's hiding in the shadows, I know that there's someone there but, I never see a face." he sighs and she could tell that there's more.

"What is it?"

"I-" he pauses, "They never found the killer, but I feel like, something tells me it could be my uncle." It was a heavy confession and she knew that he didn't expect a response.

"Do you think he's capable?" she gave one anyway.

"I don't know." Truly Caspian knows firsthand what his uncle is capable of, the absence of his first nurse was proof enough of that, still he couldn't fully willingly accuse his uncle for murdering his father, it would lead to a cascade of consequences he wasn't sure he was ready to face. "That isn't what frightened me tonight," he tells her, sitting up slightly and onto his elbow so that he hovered over her, "I have that dream constantly, the difference tonight was that you were in my father's place."

"Me?" she asked in shock, he dreamed about her?

"What scared me was the possibility of losing you, and being powerless to do anything to stop it."

"Cas," her hand came up, and tugged him down slightly so that his forehead touched hers, "I'm not going anywhere."

"You can't promi-"

"Yes I can," she sat up, switching their positions so that he was on his back and she was hovering over him, "I've spent most of my life alone, not knowing who I was or where I belonged. But now I know where I'm going and that's with you. I'm not going anywhere Cas, I'm not going back to being alone."

"You won't," he sat up again cupping her cheek in his palm and resting his forehead on hers once more, "I'll never leave you alone in this world."

"Neither will I."