𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐀𝐍 || 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚 [ I ]

Chapter 32

The healer of Anvard was a man with many years of experience. He'd seen many illnesses come and go, symptoms some had never seen before he'd come to recognize. Healing had been his calling, that much was clear. And even though he too had not recognised the symptoms of Favian's sickness being Blue Blood, Muriel trusted that with him her father was in safe hands.

They'd gotten him the book and the flower. At first it had been a struggle to find the right recipe amongst the many others in the huge red book, which Caspian had been the first to open once Muriel confirmed he'd collected the correct one. Fortunately, after some time of comparing each blue flower in the book to the one she'd been holding, they'd found it. The cure for Blue Blood.

It was rare one, the healer had said, but he'd gotten to work straight away. It would take time though, time they weren't certain the king still had, time in which Killian, Caspian and Muriel were needed elsewhere.

They were very aware of that, but this time Muriel had trouble leaving her father's bedside. He still didn't look any better and Muriel feared that the medicine would come too late.

Clutching his hand she turned around to look at Caspian and Killian, both standing near the door, their faces filled with concern and pity. It was clear that they wanted to give her some time, but they didn't have any. They had to stop Efrain.

That thought gave Muriel more strength to detach herself. She trusted their healer and knew her father would fight for his life.

She just really wanted things to go back to normal again. A wish so unlikely for her, but Muriel was fed up with everything that had happened. First she'd been 'stuck' in Narnia for two years, then Miraz had been an incompetent fool and after everyone thought things were finally right again, Efrain was being too stubborn to give up.

She was ready to end this.

She stood up and, after one last glance at her father, walked over to the two men. "Let's go."

With a nod Killian was the first to move out the door, but before Muriel could follow she felt a warm hand slip into hers.

She immediately recognised it as Caspian's. They had held hands before, a comforting gesture when they didn't exactly know what to say but wanted to let the other know they understood, but no matter how many times, Muriel was sure she was never going to get used to the tingling of her skin every time they touched.

There was a calmness in his eyes when she looked at him, it made her feel more at ease. The words that followed did too. She had tried to convince herself of them, but hearing it from Caspian filled her heart with hope again.

"He's going to be alright."

A sad smile settled on her lips and without thinking she stepped forward, circled her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest. There was no hesitation from Caspian when he returned her hug, softly squeezing her body against his.

They had held hands before, comforted each other, but never properly embraced for that long. Still, it felt natural, their arms around each other, the steady rhythm of Caspian's beating heart and the loose grip Muriel had on the back of his shirt. It was enough to make the princess want to sigh and stay like this forever.

"I know," smiled Muriel softly, slowly pulling away from their embrace to be able to look up at him, "thank you."

With their bodies still touching Muriel could almost feel his breath on her face. He didn't reply, but now she was too busy observing his eyes to notice. They were a darker brown than hers, but the light that fell onto his face through the small opening between the heavy curtains in the room made her think that maybe there were some little specks of gold in there.