The King and the Girl

Chapter 11

You smiled as Arthur carried you through the town and into the castle grounds. You got down with Caspian's help, and Arthur nudged his nose into your hand as you passed. You smiled and gave him a few pets before he leaned his head against yours. You smiled as you took in a deep breath with him and softly thanked him for carrying you safely on the 4-day journey. The horse nudged you slightly and then leaned back, appearing to bow before you in his own way before turning and trotting in the direction of the stables.

You heard Caspian mumble something. You turned to him, still smiling as Reep appeared on your shoulder. You looked at Reep giggling and moved to walk past Caspian as you sarcastically spoke to Reep. "Uh oh, Reep, it seems that his royal highness, King Caspian, has lost his words." You heard Reep chuckle as he shouted behind you at Caspian. 

"Queen ____, he has been simply in awe at how marvelous you have truly become since the day you arrived!" He did a little dance and whispered an idea into your ear. You nodded, giggling and made a small bridge made of branches from near you to the kitchen and Reep excitedly made his way across. You continued walking to the steps of the castle before Caspian spoke again.

"____," he called from a few steps behind you.

"Yes?" You asked, stopping to turn and face him.

He smiled and held his hand out, you gave him yours and he kissed your knuckles lightly. "Reep is not wrong. I am simply in awe of you, and I was wondering if you would allow me to throw you a ball, to honor you for your return home."

You smiled as he spoke, and you gently squeezed his hand before you heard a familiar giggle behind you. Amy ran up behind you and placed a hand on each of your shoulders, smiling at Caspian. 

"She would be delighted! And so would I." She smiled at you, winking before taking your hand away from Caspian's and pulling you through the castle, leaving him chuckling and staring after you.

When you reached your room, Amy slammed the door behind you and admired your crown for a moment before squealing like a teenager and pulling you toward the bed.

"____, where did you get that?" she asked excitedly, "it's so beautiful!" You giggled at her and felt a blush return to your cheeks. She slapped your hand away as you reached for your hair, and smiled, waiting for your answer.

"Well," you took her hand and led her to the balcony, handing her a goblet filled with water that she had waiting in the room for you. "Watch this." You centered yourself with a deep breath, unsure if this would work, but you somehow knew that you could. You raised one green hand and waved it over your balcony, covering it in flowers, you then took your other hand, which was glowing blue and the water followed your movement, making a perfect heart-shape. You smiled as she watched with her mouth hanging open as you made the heart burst and droplets rained over your newly-grown flowers.

You laughed at Amy's excitable reactions as you explained the journey to her. What you had seen and what you had learned. You skipped over the parts when you and Caspian were alone because even though you weren't sure exactly how Caspian felt, you knew that you wanted to keep those special few moments to yourself.

Amy then explained that she would be busy over the next day to plan the ball for you tomorrow night, you thanked her as she hastily made her way home for the evening, the group had gotten back early and apparently Todd had finally asked her for that sunset date.

A while after Amy left, you found yourself exploring the castle for the first time on your own. You found a quiet garden area in the middle of it and sat down enjoying the water flowing smoothly through the fountain. You sat on a nearby bench and took in a breath of fresh air before settling in with your new book that Caspian had left for you outside your door with a note saying that he thought you might enjoy it.

You sat reading for a while, until you began to feel as though you were being watched. You flipped your hand and imagined a small stream of water rushing over and smacking whoever was watching you where they stood without looking up from your book.

You pretended to keep reading until you saw a set of boots stop in front of you with water dripping along. You slowly looked up to find a very annoyed Caspian. You burst into laughter and quickly covered your face with the book and bit your lip when he looked down at you.

"You're getting good at that." He almost growled down at you. You looked up at him, feeling yourself start to hug the book tighter to your chest, embarrassed.

"Oops..." you looked away, still unable to hide your smile.

"You don't even look sorry..." He asked, faking disappointment as he gently took the book from your hands and placed it on the bench next to you. You looked up at him curiously as he helped you stand. "You know I came here to ask if you would be so kind as to save me a dance tomorrow night, but since you don't seem sorry..."

You looked at him shocked and immediately began to apologize to him. He just shook his head and grabbed you by the waist, throwing you over his shoulder. "Oh you will be!" he shouted as he ran over and threw you into the fountain. The water caught you gently and lowered you to the bottom, you stood, completely dry, with an area around you that did not have water. Caspian let out a little whimper. "No fair." He stated as he took your hand to help you step over the side of the fountain.

You giggled, shoving him playfully in the arm after you got out of the fountain. "Well, what did you expect? I'm the Queen of Nature who can control water. I won't get wet unless I allow it." You blushed and turned away from him completely embarrassed at how the sentence sounded. You 'thunked' yourself in the head and muttered to yourself. "Real classy, Stupid."

Caspian laughed and touched your arm softly so that you would turn to him again. His laughter became infectious and you began to giggle too. You waved your hand in front of you and Caspian watched as the water began to float of him into a small bubble above his head, you then motioned to the fountain and the water went back. You smiled at how easy this was getting for you and Caspian looked back at you.

"So, ____, about that dance?" He chuckled.