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.

"Well I'm talking to you aren't I?" He said with a grin, happy to be jesting with the only person who could keep up with him.

"Well who else did you think you were talking to? A bird perhaps?" She replied looking concerned.

"Well your hair does look as if it has seen better days." He laughed as he gestured to her hair, that looked very similar to a birds nest.

"Your poor face has seen better days." She threw back with a hint of a smile as she gestured to his beard he had subconsciously grown.

He threw his head back and laughed deep in his gut. "Alright you win." He surrendered.

She simply shrugged her shoulders and took another bite of the still warm savory bread. After she ate three more slices, she pushed the tray aside, feeling much more strengthened.

"Now, I'm sure you have a lot of questions." She stated grimly, already knowing the answer.

"Yes I do. But I want answers to the things I don't understand first." He stated.

"Very well." She nodded for him to continue.

"Why did Eustace and Susan not come with the three of you?" He asked finally.

"Well, Eustace doesn't live with me and Ed, and Peter came for a visit." She informed without hesitation. "It was my birthday. And Susan..." She trailed off. "Well she isn't the same as she once was." She answered sadly as she looked down at the grass.

She sighed. "When Aslan told her she had to grow up, she was hurt, and now she's convinced herself that Narnia doesn't exist." She tried to swallow the burning lump in her throat, but it didn't help anything, so she continued.

"She's pushed herself so far away, and I've tried talking to her, but she won't listen. I don't know what to do, I just wish she would talk to me again, like she used to." She sniffed, and quickly wiped her eyes.

"Sorry." She said with a forced laugh. "I'm sorry the two of you couldn't be together." She blurted without thinking and quickly looked down at the ground in shamed embarrassment.

"Surely you don't believe I still have feelings for your sister." Caspian said with a low chuckle. "That was nearly six years ago, I can assure you I have moved on." He said deeply.

"But you told me yourself you never loved Liliandil." She looked up at him in confusion.

"Yes you are right, I neither loved Susan nor Liliandil. But I'm still waiting for the right one to come along." He whispered as he looked deeply into her eyes.

She cleared her throat uncomfortably and tried desperately to change the conversation, anything to distract her from his deep dark gaze.

"My question is why were there no giants in the castle Harfang? I mean that's where the Gentle Giants thrived during the Golden Age. And you said so yourself on the Dawn Treader you were allies with them."

"Yes, you are correct. Vartan must have pushed them out, since he needed a place to hide and grow and he knew Ettinsmoor and Narnia are close allies." Caspian replied.

"But why would Vartan betray his own country? If he was raised in Ettinsmoor, how could he just simply betray his very home?" She asked desperately.

"It never was his country Lucy, and he was raised in a home spilling with thirst for revenge on my family." Caspian explained. "And I truly believe he would do anything to any country or anyone if it means it would kill me for what I did to his son."

"What did you do to Vellum." Lucy stated, fearing she knew the answer.

"He perished. As well as at least fifty other men, but I would do it again if it meant it would once more get you to safety." He replied seriously.

Lucy slowly lifted her palm to her forehead and let out a moan. "Caspian, that was not wise." She said as she gradually shook her head.

"Lucy, you were dying. I wasn't taking any chances." He replied with an icy tone.

"Then how did you get me out?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

Caspian shook his head and took a deep breath and finally exhaled heavily.

"We sent a band of five centaurs and two minotaurs decreeing that this was Vartan's last chance for surrender, which was meant as a diversion while Peter and I disguised ourselves as servants." Caspian quickly described every detail, from beheading Vellum, to meeting Elwyn and eventually the ride back to camp. He knew she could handle it, for Lucy had been in a great many battles throughout her life.

"You had a severe wound to your abdomen. And your body was almost completely shut down by the time I made it to camp. But," Caspian said with a small smile, and gently placed his large hand on her fragile cheek.

"Never has anything made me happier than to see all of the purple and green bruises, and the unfavorable swelling be replaced with tan sun spotted skin, and beautifully flushed cheeks." He smiled brilliantly, which could make any girls heart melt, including Lucy's, and her heart sped up.

Um heart, I'm in charge here and don't even start thinking you are in love with him.

She thought stubbornly, but it was too late. Her mind told her she was in control, but her heart inwardly knew she had loved him ever since the first day she had befriended him.

It had grown from a sibling love when she had met him during the time when they were called to fight Miraz, to a deep friendship when they adventured on the Dawn Treader. And as they grew older and had matured as individuals, they unknowingly had grown to love each other as more than just friends. A love so much deeper and more intricate than a simple friendship and yet was a friendship just the same. There's no point in trying to explain a love like this, simply because it cannot be described to you, but the only way you can know, is if you experience it for yourself.

She quickly shook her head breaking her deep thoughts.

"Do you know what would make me happy?" Lucy said grinning.

"Oh do tell." Caspian replied looking amused.

"A bath." She said softly, thinking about how lovely it would feel to be clean.

He pointed to a path that lead east.

"There's a stream quarter of a mile from here. You look like you are in need of one." He said with a toothy grin and helped her up. "I will lead you to it." He said as he held out his arm.

She picked up the towel and the simple red dress off the ground and looked up at him with a simply elegant smile as she gently grabbed onto Caspian's strong arm.

After a fifteen minute walk through the woods, they broke through a tree line and when Lucy saw the completely secluded clear fresh water stream surrounded by bushes and hedges, she almost jumped with delight.

"Oh how I've dreamed of this moment." She stated as she gazed happily at the clear water dancing happily down it's path making the most beautiful gushing sound.

"I will be within hearing range. Yell when you are finished, I would like to get a fresh drink before we walk back to camp, but I know you have been dreaming of this moment, so I wont keep you waiting." Caspian teased as he backed away and walked in the opposite direction of the stream, leaving Lucy alone.

She walked up to the bank and as soon as she no longer could see Caspian's retreating back, she ripped off the bloody shredded rags she had been wearing for over two months with no hesitance, for she knew Caspian was a noble man.

"And to think this was once an elegant riding dress. Unbelievable." She mused aloud and practically ran into the stream with the lilac soap ready to be cleansed.

Once the deep cool water wrapped around her body, she let out a contented sigh and slowly began to weave her soapy fingers through her wet hair. As she scrubbed her arms and face with the beautifully scented soap and looked and listened to the slow wind blow through the trees, she cried tears of pure happiness.

Now you can't blame her for crying. I'm sure you would do the same if you saw the same beauty that surrounded her after you had been tortured, starved and imprisoned for more than sixty days all alone in a dark dungeon. No in fact I'm sure you would have been much worse, if you had been through what she had gone through. But Queen Lucy wasn't given a title for naught, for she was the bravest and valorous lady you would ever meet (if you got the chance).

She soon lost track of time, which I'm sure you can believe, as you and I know Lucy was always an imaginative one. But as soon as she remembered poor Caspian sitting all alone, she forced herself out of the stream and quickly put on the fresh red dress and tied the white sash around her small waist.

She whistled loudly signifying she was finished, and soon after she heard the crunch of footsteps coming closer.

"I wasn't sure if you were ever going to come out." Caspian chuckled as he broke through the thick tree line and walked towards her on the bank.

"See how you like not bathing as long as I've gone without one." Lucy quickly threw back jokingly, making Caspian chuckle as he brushed past her and leaned down against the edge to get a cool drink.

Just as he was about to take his first sip, he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. But it was too late.

He felt Lucy's hands on his back and before he could get up, she gave a powerful push and she laughed with delight as she saw Caspian plunge into the cold water with a powerful splash.

Caspian couldn't believe it. He quickly assessed what had just happened as he lay underwater for a few moments. He hadn't even thought that she was going to do something like that until he saw her move quickly towards him out of the corner of his eye as his face was close to the surface of the water. He couldn't say that he was actually surprised that she would do something so absurd, and in that slit second before the push, he tried to get up and turn around but she was already way ahead of him and gave him a powerful shove against his back. Well he knew how to get her back.

With a thunderous roar Caspian leaped out of the water and ran up to the bank where Lucy's face went from a brilliant glow, to a sudden horror as she knew what was coming.

She tried to run towards the woods but Caspian's legs quickly caught up with her and he wrapped his soaking arm around her dry petite waist, and she squealed as he snatched her up in his strong arms and turned back towards the creek.

"No no no no!" She screeched as he plunged back into the water and brought her down with him.

They both quickly broke the surface of the waist deep water, and Lucy and Caspian broke into bursts of laughter.

"Well I'm afraid I've learned a lesson." She said with twinkling eyes as she looked up at Caspian who was towering over her and came to stand uncomfortably close to her.

"Oh but so have I." He said gruffly as he gazed at her deeply and ever so gently inclined his head towards hers. He studied her green eyes up close that were shining as beautifully as emeralds, and when he saw that she didn't move away, he did what she was hoping he would do.

He slowly leant down and put his lips to hers.

It was gentle, and yet had an intensity that left Lucy breathless.

Her lips were as sweet as honey, making Caspian yearn for more.

He put his hands in her hair and deepened the kiss, while Lucy subconsciously reacted by putting her arms around his neck.

He finally pulled back and leant his forehead against hers gently, and let out a soft barely audible moan.

"Oh Lucy," He whispered gently. "How could I have once cared for your sister when you were there all along?"