Narnia's Lover

Chapter 11: Nightmares

Chapter Eleven: Nightmares

Elizabeth's POV

(Two days after the celebration)

I shot straight up in bed gasping for air while tears ran down my cheeks. I had had another nightmare about the night of the celebration, when the Telmarine man tried to rape me. For the past two nights I had had the same nightmare. Each one was a little different, but I was still being raped in them. I had slept in Peter's room ever since it happened. I was afraid that if I left his side for too long then it would happen again.

I must have woken Peter up because he sat up and cradled me in his arms as I cried. I felt so bad because every night I was waking him up with these nightmares, and he wasn't getting enough sleep. I didn't get enough sleep either but, I wasn't as worried about myself as I was him.

"Shhh, shhh. It's okay. Nobody can hurt you like that again, ever." He whispered into my ear. My crying slowly stopped and soon I was just trying to calm myself down by taking slow breaths, in and out. He layed us back down and held onto me tightly. I snuggled my head into his chest and placed my arm around his stomach. I soon heard his heavy breathing, indicating he had fallen back asleep. I laid there for a couple hours, but did not succeed in falling asleep again. I decided to walk around the castle since it was too early for anyone to be up. I carefully got out of bed, making sure I didn't wake Peter up again. When I got out, I put on a silk robe over my nightgown. I then walked out of the room and into the halls. I didn't put on any shoes or slippers because I honestly prefer walking around barefoot.

I passed some of the guards and as I did they would bow their heads in respect. I didn't pay attention to where I was going, I just let my feet take me wherever. I ended up walking up the stairs of the tallest tower. It had a wonderful view of Narnia and not many went up there. When I reached the top I saw someone looking over the Shuttering Woods.

"Forgive me, I did not mean to bother you." I apologized to the person. They turned around and I saw that it was Susan.

"It's fine. I suppose your dreams awoke you again?" She asked. I walked up and stood beside her looking over the magnificent land.

"More like nightmares. Yes, they did. Peter was able to fall asleep again but I was not. Why are you up here? I would've thought that you'd be asleep as well." I told her. She sighed and looked back over Narnia.

"There's a full moon tonight. I always have trouble sleeping when there is one." She explained. I nodded, but didn't say anything. "Lucy has been worried about you... we all have. You've just been so different lately. You're not happy like you were before, and you seem so distant... and you always look so scared, so fragile. It's as if someone will touch you and you'll just break." She admitted. I sighed and hung my head, ashamed of myself for being so weak.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry everyone. I'm just scared that it will happen again. Never before has anyone tried to do that to me, but when I come to the place I've dreamt about..." I trailed off as tears came to my eyes and a lump rose in my throat.

"I'm so sorry! I never thought of it that way. I understand, now, why you've been so distant and fragile. But, I think you should know that none of us will ever let something like that even come close to happening again." She said encouragingly.

She's right. I thought. I have the Pevensies, Caspian, and all of the Narnians ready to help me and protect me in the blink of an eye. I have been selfish the last few days. I have kept Peter from his duties because he was too worried about me to focus on them. I will not let what happened haunt me anymore. I decided. I felt a new strength rising in me again.

"Thank you, Susan. I needed to hear that." I said. She looked at me and smiled softly. I smiled brightly feeling safe and secure. We then gave each other a hug before she left to go back to bed, now that she was tired again. After about half an hour I heard the door open and close. I felt two strong arms wrap around my waist and a head placed on me shoulder. I didn't freak out because I knew it was Peter.

"What are you doing out here? I thought you had gone back to sleep, but when I woke up you weren't there. I was worried until one of the guards told me he thought he saw you coming up here." He told me. I turned around in his arms so I was facing him. I set my hands on his chest and looked into his beautiful eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I just wasn't able to fall back asleep earlier and felt bad for already waking you up, so I decided to go on a walk. I forgot that when you wake up you'd probably be worried about me." I told him. He chuckled and smiled that gorgeous smile. I couldn't help but to smile back at him. It wasn't a fake smile, like the one's I've been using lately, it was a true smile.

"I can't help but to notice you seem more confident and happier." He said to me. I smiled again and kissed his nose.

"I am. I think we better go back to bed and try to get the last few hours of sleep that are left in the night." I told him. He nodded his head and turned around. I walked next to him until we reached the stairs. Once we reached the stairs I had to walk behind him as we made our way down. When at the bottom, he waited for me to step up beside him. He slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer into his side. I let my head rest against his shoulder as we walked back to his room. Once we made it to his room, we both got under the blankets of his bed and cuddled up together. We soon fell asleep, once again in each other's arms. I slept a nightmare free sleep for the first time in three nights.