The Call (Lucy/Caspian)

Chapter 13

(Aren't they just adorable? And I hope you guys are excited, because there will be lots of playful banter in this chap!)

Caspian knew he was grinning like a fool when Lucy opened her eyes. And he somehow managed to brighten his smile when she smiled at him, but his face quickly changed when her eyes slowly rolled back and shut tightly.
"What's wrong?" He asked in horror to his General.
"She's only fatigued, let her rest." Thatch replied. "The cordial can't cure everything I'm afraid."
Caspian sat frozen in the saddle frozen when two fauns came and gently lifted Lucy from his arms, and then proceeded to lean her against a shade tree nearby so she could rest.

It was torture.

Caspian tried to keep himself busy, but every few minutes he couldn't help but hopelessly glance back at the oak tree where she slept peacefully.

Eventually night fell, and still she slept.
Finally he gave up and decided that looking at her in the moonlight was better than staying away.

He came up and sat next to her, hip to hip, and leaned his back against the tree. He put his arm around her and gently pulled her close to him, not for her sake, but for his.
She stirred slightly, but quickly fell back into a deep sleep against his chest.

"I thought I had lost you Lu." He whispered hoarsely and gently kissed the too of her head.
She slept on, but Caspian couldn't help but to twirl her thick tangled hair in his fingers and studied her in the moonlight.

Her face was at complete peace as she slept, and Caspian realized that he envied it. He hadn't slept peacefully since before her capture, and since then, sleep held nothing but horrid nightmares.
But now that she was in his arms he felt at peace for the first time in months, and he too dozed off and fell into a deep sleep.

The first thing Lucy felt when she woke up was weakness.
It took all of her strength to prop open her eyes, but when she did, she was surprised to see greenery. Everywhere.

This is a dream

Her conscience told her, but she didn't want to believe it.
She looked ahead and saw a faun happily stoking a campfire fifty yards away.
After studying him for a moment, she began to look away but her eyes quickly slid back as she saw Caspian come up and patted the faun on the shoulder with a smile.
As she saw them converse, she let out a small moan of nothing but pure relief as she realized she indeed had been rescued.
No more torture, no more pain. She wasn't a prisoner anymore, but how had they gotten her out? Where was Peter and Edmu-

"How do you feel?" A deep voice interrupted suddenly, making her jolt.
She looked up quickly and found the familiar dark brown eyes and studied him.
Caspian's jaw was clenched and he looked much older since he had grown a small beard. His face was hardened with concern as he looked at her and as she looked into his dark eyes, she saw a shadow of sadness and guilt.
Overall, she was saddened to see that he looked as if he had aged years in just the few months she hadn't seen him.

She let out a sigh before answering.
"Hungry, I'm afraid." She said with an experimenting smile, and it made her happy as she saw his face relax.
"Wait here." He answered suddenly and strode off towards the tents, his eyes twinkling and returned fifteen minutes later with a tray of day old toast and warm tea, as well as a soft towel with a bar of lilac soap and a clean red garment.

"I'm sure your ready for a bath, but I would like you too eat something first. It's not much but I remember you liking toast." He said smiling as he knelt down in front of her and gently placed the tray on her lap.

"Oh yes." She said happily. "Me and Edmund always competed to see who could eat the most. I remember him winning quite a bit, but in this case, I think I could beat him." She said with a laugh and proceeded to take her first bite.
"Oh but I remember seeing you practically inhale it on the Dawn Treader." He teased, making Lucy laugh.
"I can see you don't know how to talk to girls." Lucy teased.