Voyage of the Dawn Treader 2/?
Title: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Summary: Lucy and Edmund are not the only Pevensie children to return to Narnia after all.
Characters/Pairings: Caspian/Susan, Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, etc.
Author’s Note: I still don't own most of the plot or dialogue. And did I mention that there's going to be some angst?
Chapter Two:
It took the Pevensie children a minute to come to their senses. Peter, Edmund, and Lucy rushed to Caspian and shook hands with him, breaking his eye contact with Susan. She was well aware of what happened the last time she saw the man. She was also suddenly aware of exactly how wet he was and how his tunic clung to his shoulders and chest.
And man he now was. He couldn’t be more than a year or two older than Peter, but he was a man. She dimly remembered that Peter had matured greatly in a few years as King. Caspian looked more like a man too. No longer was he an awkward teen, uncertain as to his place in the world. He had also apparently gained a fair bit of muscle in the interim since she had last seen him.
“Let me go. Let me go back. I don’t like it.”
Susan was distracted from her internal musings by Eustace’s shout. The poor boy was distraught, sobbing quite hard.
Eustace rushed to the side of the ship, his gaze darting across the ocean’s expanse. There was only water and sky, no traces of the bedroom they had come from. He promptly threw up over the side of the ship.
Susan hurried to his side and began to rub his back soothingly. He didn’t seem to notice.
“Rynelf!” Caspian called. “Bring spiced wine for their Majesties.” A sailor headed down into the ship. “You’ll need something to warm you after that dip.”
Eustace shoved off Susan’s hand and grumbled under his breath. Rynelf, or who Susan assumed was Rynelf, returned momentarily with two flagons of the steaming wine and cup. As Susan and the others sipped it and Eustace sputtered and said it tasted funny. He rushed to the side of the ship and heaved. Susan hastily drank the rest of the wine, feeling it spread warmth through her veins, and recalled that it did take some getting used to. And truly, Eustace had never had anything like spiced wine before.
Eustace was merely dry heaving and coughing, but he made quite a show of it. Susan wished to roll her eyes at his antics, and nearly did, but she knew all too well how disconcerting it could be to arrive in Narnia for the first time.
It was certainly disconcerting now, with Caspian’s eyes burning holes in her back.
“Isn’t there any Plumptree’s Vitamized Nerve Food?” Eustace asked piteously. “It can be made with distilled water. And I demand to be put ashore at the next station at once.”
Now Susan did roll her eyes.
“This is a merry shipmate that you’ve brought us,” Caspian whispered to Peter, Edmund, and Lucy.
“Oh! Ugh! What on Earth is that? Take it away, the horrid thing!” Eustace shouted.
Reepicheep was walking towards them. Lucy dropped to one knee and Reepicheep kissed her hand.
“My humble duty to your Majesty. And to Queen Susan and King Peter and King Edmund.” After each name he bowed, bringing a smile to Susan’s face.
What Eustace said next turned the smile into a scowl.
“Ugh, take it away,” wailed Eustace. “I hate mice. And I never could bear performing animals. They’re silly and vulgar and - and sentimental.”
Reepicheep stared at Eustace for a long moment. “Am I to understand that this singularly discourteous person is under your Majesties’ protection?” he finally asked. “Because, if not-,”
Susan said, “Eustace is new to Narnia and is unaware of the rules of conduct,” just as Lucy and Edmund sneezed.
“What a fool I am to keep you all standing here in your wet things,” Caspian said. Susan suddenly felt very self conscious of how her wet blouse was draped on her. “Come on below and get changed. Lucy, Susan,” only Susan seemed to notice the stumble in his voice when he said her name, “I’ll give you my cabin. It may be a little tight.”
“We’re used to it,” Lucy said with a wry smile.
“Well then, that solves one problem,” Caspian said. “But we don’t have any women’s clothes on board.” He seemed to be purposefully avoiding looking at Susan now - and it also seemed that Peter had finally noticed. “You’ll have to make do with some of mine I’m afraid. Lead the way, Reepicheep, like a good fellow.”
“To the convenience of a lady, even a question of honor much give way - at least for the moment,” Reepicheep said, looking very hard at Eustace. Caspian hustled them along and Susan and Lucy soon found themselves in the stern cabin.
Caspian pulled a side door open in the large room and began rooting through a locker at the bottom of the closet. “I’ll just get some dry things for myself and Peter - Edmund and Eustace can make do with a smaller size - and then we’ll leave you two to change.” Susan was certain that there was a trace of a blush on Caspian’s tan cheeks. “If you’ll fling your wet things outside the door I’ll get them taken to the galley to be dried.”
The boys then left, leaving Lucy and Susan in the room alone. Susan sat down on the bunk - which was honestly going to be a bit tight - and took in the room as everything crashed down on her.
She had been tossed into an ocean from a picture frame. She was in Narnia again. She and Peter had been allowed to return. It wasn’t thousands of years after they were there the last time. Caspian was here. He had spoken her name exactly once.
And Susan was still hopelessly infatuated with him. And she still vividly remembered the press of his lips to hers.
In a way it had been her first kiss. As a Queen of Narnia she had plenty of suitors, many that she flirted with. But in her life as Susan Pevensie, she had no real suitors.
Something dark blue obstructed her view, breaking her out of her thoughts. It was Lucy, holding one of Caspian’s spare tunics in her face.
“Are you all right? Being here with him, I mean?” Lucy asked once she had Susan’s attention.
“I don’t know,” Susan said, taking the garment from Lucy and beginning to peel her wet clothing off.
“I’m certain Aslan wouldn’t rub him in your face,” Lucy said after a moment.
“What?” Susan asked, her voice muffled by the fabric.
“You and Peter weren’t supposed to come back, I mean. Aslan said so. And you almost didn’t. Peter was to stay with the Professor and you were to go to America with mum and dad,” Lucy said. “But you both came with us, fought with them about it too. And now we’re here. You can’t possibly think that it’s not destiny.”
“I’m not sure about all that,” Susan said.
“You’re kidding,” Lucy said. “You two kissed when we left.”
“And he’s probably got a princess back home,” Susan said. “We can’t stay here. You know that. So anything … wouldn’t last.”
“You don’t know that,” Lucy said. “I know we’re here so you and Caspian can be happy. You were miserable for days after we got back last time. And I know for a fact that Phillip Rawling asked you out and you said no three weeks after we got back. Three weeks before we left you were mad about Phillip Rawling. And you didn’t see how Caspian was staring at you when you weren’t looking.”
Susan sighed, though a corner of her mouth lifted. “You have to be the most precocious younger sister that ever lived.”
And with that the sisters headed out of the cabin.
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