Galma.
2307.
Nine nights til the full moon.
4th Year of the Reign of King Caspian X.
Caspian.
Caspian sat hunched over a table in the dim light of his quarters, the edges of the maps curling slightly under the weight of his hand. His brow furrowed as his eyes traced the inked lines of the map of Terebinthia, the Seven Isles, and the surrounding seas. He had been looking at these same maps for hours, though nothing had changed – no new information had come through. He shifted uneasily in his seat, frustration growing with each passing moment.
Drinian should have returned by now.
Caspian's fingers drummed quietly against the wooden table. He knew his captain was capable – adept at navigating both the seas and the layers of intrigue in the world.
Yet, something felt off.
The absence of any word from him was unsettling. It felt like something important was slipping through his fingers, something he could not control, no matter how hard he tried.
He sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, staring out the small window at the darkening sky. Had Drinian found anything? Had Liliandil made it to safety? There were so many questions, and no answers in sight. The silence was like a heavy weight pressing down on his chest.
The low murmur of voices from the hall outside his door drew him from his thoughts. The moment of quiet was broken, but it did little to calm the storm of uncertainty inside him.
At first, he tried to ignore it, assuming it was some minor disturbance – a servant caught where they shouldn't be, or perhaps the guards dealing with a drunkard too bold for his own good. But the noise didn't ebb. Instead, it grew sharper, louder, like a storm breaking over the calm halls of the Duke's residence.
Caspian's frown deepened, his instincts alert as the voices grew louder, sharper. It wasn't just the usual murmuring of the palace – it was something different.
Something urgent.
He could sense it in the tension of the words, in the rapid exchanges that were too quick to be casual, too intense to be minor. He had learned long ago to trust that feeling in the pit of his stomach, the silent warning that gnawed at the edges of his thoughts.
His hand rested on the doorframe, his mind a whirl of possibilities. Could something have happened? Was it Drinian? Or worse – was it something else entirely? His gaze flicked toward the hallway, but before he could move, Lezlea's voice broke through the thoughts clouding his mind.
"Don't concern yourself with it, Caspian," she said, her tone warm but firm, an edge of authority in her voice that he rarely heard. "It's likely just a simple quarrel among the servants. We don't need to get involved."
But Caspian had already reached the door. He threw it open, his eyes immediately searching the scene unfolding before him.
At first, he thought he was imagining things. There, in the centre of the room, was a figure – a woman – struggling fiercely against the guards who were attempting to hold her down. Her hair, which had once meticulously styled, was wild, spilling around her like a silver-white halo. Her face was alight with defiance, her deep eyes burning with an intensity he had never seen before.
"Liliandil?" Caspian whispered, his heart skipping a beat.
The room stilled.
Even the guards, who had been in the thick of their struggle, paused at the sound of his voice. For a brief moment, time seemed to stretch, and everything – every sound, every movement – came to a halt.
Liliandil, her body tense and wild, turned to face him. Relief flashed in her eyes, followed by a flicker of surprise. It was hard to tell through the storm of emotions that ran through her.
"Release her," Caspian ordered, his voice firm. The room fell silent, the air thick with tension as Caspian's voice rang out, sharp and commanding. He stepped forward, his eyes locked on Liliandil's, willing the guards to comply.
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
The guards exchanged uncertain glances, their hands still gripping Liliandil's arms. With a reluctant and somewhat confused glance at each other, they released her.
Liliandil stood on her own, her breath ragged, her chest heaving with the remnants of her struggle. Her fair hair was loosened from its braids, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes – those eyes that had once been so serene – blazed with a fierce fire.
She looked at Caspian, her gaze a mixture of relief and something else he couldn't name. Then, without a word, she took a step closer to him.
"I thought I'd lost you," he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper as his feet moved towards her without conscious thought.
How was she there?
Liliandil's lips parted as though she were about to say something – perhaps an explanation, perhaps something deeper – but then she paused, her brow furrowing. "You almost did."
She looked at the guards, the tension still hanging in the air like a storm, but she didn't seem afraid. There was something about her that had changed.
Something hardened, something desperate.
He almost didn't recognise the woman before him.
In the stillness of the room, Caspian's breath caught as Liliandil, with an almost impulsive movement, ran into his arms. The shock of the moment was so overwhelming that he barely had time to react. But when she landed in his embrace, her body was strangely still – there were no sobs, no tremors of fear or desperation.
He held her tightly, feeling her warmth and strength, but there was an unexpected calmness to her that took him by surprise. She didn't break down, didn't collapse into him with the kind of relief he had anticipated.
When she finally pulled away slightly, her gaze met his – her eyes shimmering with an intensity that took his breath away. A soft smile tugged at her lips, and it was as if the very world around them softened, the noise of everything outside disappearing into the distance.
Without thinking, his hand cupped her cheek, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, the touch tender and careful, as though he were afraid she might slip away if he were too rough. And in that moment, all he wanted was for time to stand still, to hold her there, in his arms, forever.