Narnian Princess - Caspian

Chapter 7

That night Diana found herself up on the deck again. What a crazy last couple of days she had had. It was calming to look out over the water and let the wind caress her skin. The fresh air, the spray of salt water, and the beautiful sky, she loved it all. And right then, she was by herself. Most men had either turned in for the night or were up and about doing something else. Diana turned her head up to look at the stars and she smiled. They were so pretty here in Narnia. She looked for the brightest one she could see, that one. That one is him, looking over me.

"I am beginning to get the feeling, you really enjoy the sky." She jumped a little. Once again, Caspian had sneaked up on her.

"I adore it. It reminds me of my brother."

Caspian nodded, "Don't worry. I am certain you will be back home soon enough and then you can tell him all about your adventures."

"As much as I miss my brother, I hope I won't be seeing him too soon." Caspian gave her a questioning look. With a melancholy smile, "My brother he's- He's not-"

Diana choked on her words, she couldn't get them out, but Caspian understood. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, hugging her close to his chest. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

"Don't be, you didn't know." And for a while longer Diana leaned into him and let him comfort her. A tear slipped from her eye but it wasn't even halfway down her face before Caspian gently wiped it with his thumb. After a few moments she pulled away and turned back to the sky, "The sky here is even better than back home. It is so much clearer."

"It is very beautiful," but Caspian was not looking at the sky, his gaze was still on Diana.

Remembering suddenly, she pulled the dagger from her boot. "Oh, I almost forgot! Thank you for lending it to me back on the island."

"Keep it. Let it be a 'welcome to Narnia' gift from me." Caspian gave her a wink and a cheeky smile.

"Thank you," she gave him a soft smile.

"Besides, your adventure here is just beginning."

At that Diana let out a long sigh, "Is it always like this? Full of dangers at every turn?"

"Not always. For the most part we've been able to bring peace to the land." Looking over at her, "How are you holding up? I am sure what you have gone through since you came here can't have been easy."

"After getting over the initial shock of ending up here, it has not been too bad," Diana replied, playing with a long strand of brown hair. "I've got to admit, though. When I was standing there about to be sold, I was terrified. The way one man kept looking at me, made me want to punch him and run away at the same time."

Hearing how soft her voice sounded, Caspian placed an arm around the girl. "Hey," he began softly. "I promise to do everything in my power for you to never be in a situation like that again."

Although Caspian wasn't sure why, seeing Diana upset broke his heart. He would do anything to see her smiling again.

"Of course, I am sure you won't be needing me. I know from first hand experience how well you can knock a man's feet out from under him."

Diana couldn't help but laugh and soon Caspian was laughing as well. It was such a pretty sound, his laugh. And at that moment Diana looked at him, really looked at him for the first time. She saw how beautiful his hair was and how it fell so perfectly to his shoulders. She saw the way his eyes shined with laughter and how the corners of them crinkled when he smiled. And his mouth. His perfect teeth and soft lips. And all the time she was looking at him, seeing him, Diana completely missed the way he was looking at her.

xxxxx

The next day Diana sat next to Edmund as he scraped the barnacles from the sword they'd gotten from Lord Bern. It was an impressive weapon and every minute more so as it was returned to its former glory. Diana couldn't help but laugh a little.

"What's so funny?" Questioned the boy next to her.

Diana shook her head before responding. "Nothing. And everything." Edmund raised one eyebrow, prompting her to continue. "Edmund, you are sitting on a barrel using a knife to clean a sword. And me? My hands are starting to get callused from playing around with ropes all day."

"I'm still not certain how any of that is funny."

Diana laughed again. "Well, because usually around this time of day we are both in school learning about some historically important figure who sailed the ocean blue, and whose name we would probably forget by the time lunch came around, but instead, we are the ones sailing the ocean blue."

Edmund shook his head but laughed as well. Before he could respond however, another sailor walked up to Diana and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well you better not forget how to man these ropes by the time lunch comes around or I might just have to throw you over board."

She turned around to find Walter next to her. Walter was an experienced sailor who had been at sea for many years. If she had to guess, Diana would say he was a few years older than her father. But despite his graying hair and wrinkled skin, his spirit was still young. The first time he had met Diana she had been wandering aimlessly through the ship, looking lost and scared. From that moment, he had taken her under his wing, teaching her about sailing and keeping her occupied. Diana was more than grateful, without him her mind would have probably wandered to dangerous places. And even though she'd only known him for a short time, Diana cared for him immensely, as Walter did for her. He was everything she wished her father was. Diana gave him a crooked grin.

"Why? Have I finally become more trouble than I'm worth?"

"You will have if you do not come help me."

Diana stood immediately and and gave him and exaggerated salute. "Yes, sir!" Then she turned back to Edmund. "Well, duty calls. And I must answer if I don't want to sleep with the fishes tonight."

With one last wink, Diana followed after Walt. As they walked below deck, Eustace rushed past them, a Reepicheep with a sword drawn in his wake. But before she could even think about asking what was happening they were gone. "Look at those two going to cause some trouble. I bet it will become quite the spectacle soon."

"If you are trying to get out of work, it won't work, young lady."

"I know, Walt. Just teasing." The older man frowned a little at the nickname, he still wasn't used to it. But Diana insisted he must have one. "So what exciting task is waiting for us today?"

Walter handed her a bucket of water and a rag before grabbing one of each for himself. "Looks like we've found ourselves on cleaning duty."

"Oh, yippee!" Diana replied with mock enthusiasm. But they both knew she wasn't actually bothered by it. In fact, she enjoyed it. Whatever it was that Walter had put her to work on, Diana enjoyed being useful. She enjoyed the older man's company as well. So she marched after him and spent the rest of her afternoon scrubbing wooden surfaces.