Star Crossed Lovers

Chapter 6 - Second Thoughts...

It's not every day that you get sucked into a surreal world like this Narnia. It was like an alternative universe where animals talk and where magic is the source of all life. Technically this was all that was latched onto Gani's thoughts when she arrived at the camp just a day ago. Even so, Gani felt uneasy on the night of their first stay in Narnia. No one even thought that travelling into another world would get them caught up in all the drama.

"Are you sure we should follow the boys to find this Aslan?" Gani suddenly asked Claire as they were getting comfortable on the mattress inside of the tent that had been set up for the two of them.

"Of course I am!" Claire responded immediately without hesitation, excitement beaming in her dark orbs. "Why? Are you suddenly having second thoughts about it?" Claire asked, cocking her head to the side.

Gani scratched the back of her head and stared down while picking on the stitches of the Narnian designs of the quilt they were sitting on. "I don't know. I was so sure about going on this new adventure, but I dunno. It just seems that my brain is hesitant about going. It keeps telling me that something bad could happen if we don't mind our business. I mean, we were not supposed to get sucked into this new world, right? We're not even the what did they call it－Kings and Queens of old?"

"Well, look at it your way, but I think the adventure's worth a shot. It's not every day you get to go find a mysterious big cat that's thought to be either dead or zombified," Claire raised one of her eyebrows in interest. "You know what, Gan. Sleep on it. Like if you really don't like it, you can just stay here with King Caspian."

Claire started tucking herself into her blanket and shifting herself to a more comfortable position to sleep in. "But if you do go..." she continued, emphasizing on the word 'do' with a smirk on her face, "it'll probably be a nice chance to catch-up with Peter. I mean that's what you wanted when you came to the amusement park, isn't it?"

Just one cheeky remark from her friend, Gani's face flushed in a bright shade of red. Her cheeks tinted with more pink than you would find on a baboon's buttcheeks.

"Oh shut up!" she held back a giggle by throwing a hard pillow at her friend, who was now laughing and throwing her head back enjoying the poor girl's embarrassment. And the night ended with tons of giggling emerging from two girls' tent before they turned off the lights to get a good night's sleep.

An ear-piercing sound of a horn blowing awoke the girls from their slumber. Stumbling from their positions, they panicked and got up from their spots, opened the tent's door flap to be greeted by the bright and burning sunlight. A groan escaped from both of their lips, as their eyes adjusted due to the brightness of the rays.

"I swear, I have never gotten up this early," Claire mumbled out of the blue, without context whatsoever, which only earned eye roll and small smile from Gani. Their awful wake-up call, however, was cut short by the sounds of hooves galloping their direction. Soon enough the figure riding the stallion came into view.

"Morning, girls," Edmund greeted as he halted his steed right in front of the two girls. The horse trotted slowly back and forth as Edmund pulled on his reins. "Easy, buddy." Edmund calmed the horse, caressing its mane before he leaped down from the majestic creature. The sounds of his boots slightly bashed her ground beneath him as he landed in front of the still groggy dames.

"You girls sleep alright? You two look like you spent the night beating a hefty bull," his British accent slurred in between his sarcastic remarks. He wasn't wrong though. The two girls looked as what the young King said. Their hair sticking out like a balloon had been rubbed against it. Their under eyes tinted with light purple and blue, showing their lack of sleep. Claire's nose flushed bright red, due to sensitivity in her nasal area. The shocking wake up call had made the blood rush to her nose, making her look like a major she-clown without all the white pale makeup. Gani, however, had no such condition, instead, her lips were chapped and dry, because they hadn't drunk anything after their slumber, which was a must for Gani.

"Well, thank you for your concern, Your Majesty," Claire bowed mockingly at Edmund before rolling her eyes at her charming significant other.

Edmund only chuckled before replying, "But seriously, you two look a mess. Pete and I got fresh new clothes from Caspian's help nearby. I'll get them to bring you two a pair of them."

The sarcasm and satire had made both Gani and Claire to not realize that Edmund had changed his modern clothes into a beautiful dark green Narnian tunic that fell to his upper thighs. Its sleeves were quite full and gathered into a long cuff that starts from the mid-forearm. Beneath it was dark brown－almost black long-sleeved undershirt and grayish-tan trousers. At the side of his waist area, was a sheath and inside it, a silver Narnian sword, beautiful to the last detail. The observation was cut by Edmund's voice talking again.

"So, I'll ask some dresses for you two and you can join us for morning tea in Caspian's tent," the British boy informed, as he pointed to the massive tent few steps on our right. The flags of Narnia flapped on top of the tent's pointy tops despite them saying "Narnia is no more".

Both the girls thanked Edmund and got themselves properly presentable before entering the King's tent. As they entered, they saw Peter, Edmund, Caspian, and his son sitting together on the floor around a rectangular royal-looking table. Two empty spots were saved. One between the Prince and Edmund, and the other between Peter and Caspian.

"Good morning, girls! You both are looking quite lovely!" Caspian smiled, still being quite charming despite his old age.

"You should've seen them this morning, Caspian! They were a mess!" Edmund rang in, laughing lightly before sipping on his tea.

"Remind me again why I love you, Ed..." Claire sighed as she sat down next to the cheeky rascal, leaving Gani to deal with her nervousness on her own. Edmund only linked their arms together while still teasing the young girl.

"Shouldn't you be doing this with Gani too, Pete?" Edmund teased as he raised their linked arms to Peter.

"I don't believe we were talking about this, Ed," Peter avoided the question, smiling lightly to himself while shaking his head.

"What were you all talking about before?" Gani smiled at each and every person in the room, before smiling back at Peter, hoping he would answer the question.

"About our plan to look for Aslan of course! What routes we should take or where he would have gone. He wouldn't have disappeared into nothing just like that. He always had a reason," Peter patiently explained to Gani since she was new to all this.

"Er... Um... About that..."