EPISODE THREE:
KINGS AND QUEENS
Putting GONE back on the shelf and completely unaware of what her latest snap had done, Vanessa decided to try a different book. Maybe GONE was faulty or something.
Her fingers trailed over the various books on her shelf as she wondered what to read next. The Alice in Wonderland series? No, she’d read those too recently. Thirteen Reasons Why? No, she wasn’t in the mood for that one. Sapphique? No. The Chronicles of Narnia?
“Hmm.” Vanessa paused and then snatched The Voyage of the Dawn Treader from the shelf and thumbed through it. She hadn’t read the Narnia books in ages. Vanessa actually liked the movies a lot better, but hey, you can’t read movies, and she didn’t really want to go out of her room just yet, so she settled on her bed with the book and made her wish.
Vanessa snapped again.
And…nothing happened. Again.
Groaning, Vanessa dropped her head down in defeat. What good was a teleporting power - even if it was the result of a brain injury - if one couldn’t teleport into to other worlds? “Really?” she demanded, looking at the cuts on her hands.
She was really beginning to despise that shiny purple rock.
Caspian the Tenth, twenty-one years old, king of Narnia, Archenland, and the Lone Islands, was having a rough day.
First, the general of the Narnian army and his soldiers had come back from a long campaign in Archenland and alerted Caspian to the fact that the Archenlanders were angry with the way he was handling things and had declared war on Narnia. Their armies were marching towards Cair Paravel at this very minute, and Caspian was very worried that they wouldn’t be ready when the Archenlanders got there.
Second, Peter kept giving him that smug ‘I told you so’ look every time he saw Caspian and it was driving Caspian insane. Peter already thought he was a better king than Caspian and this seemed to only confirm it, to Caspian’s dismay. So he had grudgingly offered Peter control of the army and full authority to try and fix this problem anyway we could - it wasn’t like Caspian had anything to lose, anyway - but Peter had declined, adding salt to the wound by telling Caspian - in an obviously sarcastic way - that he believed Caspian could handle this mess perfectly well without any help from him. Caspian had never felt so humiliated in his life.
And third - Susan. Caspian sighed heavily just thinking about her. Since the four Pevensies had come back, three years after their first encounter when they had helped rid Narnia of his uncle Miraz, Susan had acted like he didn’t exist, and if she did speak to him, she acted cool and indifferent, like she was speaking to her inferior and not her friend. Lucy had told him it’d only been one year back in their world since they had been in Narnia, which made it even more puzzling - had she really dismissed him and his affections for her that quickly? Or was there something else behind her strange actions? Caspian had asked Lucy about it once or twice, but she hadn’t any more idea about her sister’s indifference than he had - apparently Susan hadn’t told Lucy anything either.
“Caspian,” he heard Edmund say. He turned and saw Peter’s younger brother - and his good friend - standing at the door.
“Yes?”
“Drinian” - Caspian’s ship captain - “want to see you,” Edmund said. “About the Dawn Treader.”
Puzzled, Caspian asked, “What about it?” The Dawn Treader was Narnia’s finest and most beautiful ship, built by Drinian and his skilled crew only a year ago. It was in that ship that Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, and their cousin Eustace had sailed to the end of the world - Aslan’s country - and said farewell to Reepicheep, the talking mouse that had helped them fight against Miraz those three years ago. They had also had many other strange adventures along the way, and had grown closer as friends and as a family. Caspian only wished Susan and Peter could have been there as well.
Edmund shrugged, looking equally bemused. ‘He didn’t say anything other than ‘it’s urgent’. I don’t know. He looked pretty upset…”
Alarm raced through Caspian at that. What if something had happened to the Dawn Treader? He couldn’t bear the thought of something terrible befalling that beautiful ship that so many people had worked so hard to build. The Dawn Treader was the pride of Narnia; Caspian didn’t know what would happen if the great ship was damaged or ruined.
He stood quickly and followed Ed out of the room, anxious to hear what his captain had to say.
Lucy met them along the way and greeted the boys with a smile. Caspian smiled back, glad to see her. Behind Susan, Lucy was probably his favourite Pevensie - though Edmund came in a very close third - because she was always cheerful, kind, and willing to help no matter what. She was never short-tempered with him - like the other three were - and always encouraged Caspian to keep trying, no matter how badly he failed. Of course, she was like that around everyone, but it meant a lot of Caspian that ‘everyone’ always included him, too.
“Where are you two off to?” she asked cheerfully as she fell in step beside her brother.
“Drinian asked to see me; something about the Dawn Treader,” Caspian explained, his previous worries about the ship returning.
Lucy seemed to sense that there was something ominous about Drinian’s message, for a frown crossed her face and she asked, “Has something happened, Caspian? Is something wrong?”
“We don’t know,” Edmund replied. “Drinian didn’t say.” But he sounded worried as well, which was not very comforting to Caspian. Edmund was usually very nonchalant and not worried about anything, especially since he had been king of Narnia for nearly sixteen years and Caspian had only been king for three and Ed had had much more experience with the difficult things and situations that Caspian now faced. So to hear Edmund sounding worried now…it only made Caspian more anxious.
“Well,” Lucy said. “I bet it’s nothing that bad. Maybe he just wants to ask you if he can sail to the Lone Islands again.” Drinian was from the Lone Islands, which were several hundred miles away from Narnia, and his family still lived there. He had used the Dawn Treader once or twice before to sail there, but for some reason, Caspian didn’t think that was what this message was about.
Edmund echoed his thoughts by saying, “I don’t think so, Lu. I think he would have just told Caspian if that’s what he’d wanted. This sounded too…urgent to be something like that.”
Lucy still looked unsure.
Caspian forced a smile and said, “Maybe you’re right, Lucy. Maybe we are overreacting.”
It turns out they weren’t.
Drinian was waiting at the dock for them, looking grim. The Dawn Treader was nowhere to be seen, Caspian realised with a sick feeling. The waters where the grand ship usually sat were empty, though all of the other navy ships were still there. The Dawn Treader should have been there, where it always was when docked, but it wasn’t. It was just….gone.
“What…?” Edmund said beside Caspian. “Where is it? Where’d it go?”
“No explanation, no warning,” Drinian said gloomily. “It just….disappeared-”
“Disappeared?” Lucy asked in disbelief. “How could a ship like that disappear?”
Drinian shrugged. “That’s what I’d like to know, too, Your Highness. One minute it was here and the next it wasn’t. I don’t see how it could’ve been stolen. Luckily, there was no one on board.”
Edmund, who had walked down the dock to the edge and now stood staring at the empty spot where the Dawn Treader ought to have been, turned and called back, “Could it have been magic?”
“It’d have to have been a very powerful magic to make a ship disappear,” Caspian said, doubts and speculations filling his mind. Drinian was right; it couldn’t have been stolen. And while Edmund’s theory went along with how the Pevensies usually got to Narnia, Caspian very much doubted that the Dawn Treader would have been transported elsewhere by magic or by any other means. To what point and purpose, too?
“It’s so strange,” Lucy said softly, gazing out at the gently lapping waves, her blue eyes searching for some sign of the majestic Narnian ship.
By now, a crowd of people and ship-hands had gathered at the dock, all murmuring amongst themselves and shouting questions out to Caspian, Lucy, and Drinian. Edmund stayed where he was at the edge of the dock.
“My King, what happened to the ship?” Caspian heard once voice call.
“Where’d it go?” another said.
“I saw what happened! It was there and then it wasn’t!” yet another cried. “It was like magic! If you blinked, you would’ve missed it.”
That only caused the volume of voices and questions to increase, to Caspian’s dismay. What was he to do now? How was he supposed to find a ship that had just disappeared with explanation? He glanced down at Lucy and saw that she was still looking out at the waves, a frown on her face. “What do you think, Lucy?” he asked her.
She didn’t reply for a moment, but when she did, she looked up at him and said helplessly, “I don’t know, Caspian. I’ve never seen anything like this before. If it was magic, I don’t know why….”
“What do you want to do, Your Majesty?” Drinian asked, still looking grim. Caspian could understand why - Drinian had had a large part in building the Dawn Treader, and it was his pride and joy. To know that it had vanished in such a strange and unexplainable way must be hard on him, as well as frustrating. Caspian put a reassuring hand on his captain’s shoulder. “I don’t know yet, Drinian, but we’ll find it. I promise. There must be some way to get it ba-”
Caspian never got to finish his sentence, for one moment he was on the Narnian dock with Drinian, Lucy, and Edmund, and the next, he was standing alone on the deck of a ship, looking out at the clear, blue ocean. Caspian staggered back a few steps, taken by surprise. The ship was identical in every way to the Dawn Treader, except that it was black instead of being so brightly coloured, full of greens, golds, and blues. The only thing that was the same was the bright purple, square sail.
But where was he?
Caspian wondered if he had somehow been transported into the world of the Pevensies, like they were transported into his. As magic was common in Narnia - at least, it was when one spent any amount of time around the Pevensies - Caspian was not completely shocked by this strange turn of events, like someone who had never been around magic would be.
But was there any way to get back to Narnia…? Caspian did not want to be away too long from his kingdom, especially if it would be turned over to Peter - as he knew it would be - in his absence. The very thought made Caspian shiver with frustration.
Then he heard a low gasp from behind him. Caspian turned quickly to see Lucy, her eyes wide, standing a few feet behind him. He was relieved that someone else was here in this strange place, but puzzled as well. Lucy obviously didn’t recognise this location…so were they in her world? Or were they in some other world? Caspian frowned. How many worlds are there? he wondered.
“Lucy, do you know where we are?” he asked, hoping she would. If not…that would be very bad indeed.
Lucy walked slowly to the railing of the ship. Caspian followed. She put her hands on the wood and gazed out at the wide open ocean before them, blue eyes narrowed in concentration, as if she were trying hard to remember if she had been here before. Then she happened to look down.
Lucy gasped, startling Caspian. “What?” he asked. “What is it?”
She pointed, finger trembling.
Caspian looked down and saw two boys in the water. Both looked unconscious and while one was face up, the other was face down, making Caspian doubt very much that he was still alive. Who knew how long they had been there?
Then he realised that Lucy had climbed over the railing and was now descending on the ladder, down towards the boys in the water. “Lucy!” he said. “What are you doing?” He began to follow her, alarmed and afraid she would fall.
“They might still be alive!” she explained.
“I don’t think-”
“They might be!” Lucy replied irritably. She reached the end of the ladder and lowered herself into the water, reaching out and pulling the closest boy, the one that was face up, to her. Caspian paused, waiting to hear her verdict. Lucy put her hand on his bare chest and waited for a moment, concentrating hard. Then she beamed up at Caspian, eyes sparkling. “He’s alive!” she exulted happily.
Surprised, Caspian was silent. He wondered how long the boys had been in the water, if they were still alive. Surely not very long. “Caspian! Can you lift him up on deck?” Lucy asked, looking like she was having a hard time holding the boy out of the water; he was muscular, and Lucy was very small - no doubt she was not strong enough to hold him up for much longer.
Caspian looked about for a rope he could lower down to her and, seeing one, he took it and used its pulley to let down the rough rope to her. “Lucy, tie the rope around him and I’ll pull him up,” Caspian instructed.
She reached out and caught the rope. Lucy struggled to tie the rope around the boy, as it required both hands and she therefore could not hold onto the ship, but she eventually got him secured and called, “All right!” up to Caspian.
He began pulling and Lucy guided the limp boy until he was out of her reach. When the boy came close enough, Caspian, one hand still on the rope, reached out and pulled him over the railing. He lowered him gently to the deck and untied the rope from his waist. The boy made no movement, making Caspian doubt again that he was alive, but when he put his hand to the boy’s heart as Lucy had, he did indeed feel a heartbeat. He wasn’t dead yet, at any rate.
Caspian left the boy and went back to the railing. Lucy was swimming strongly out to the other boy, who had begun to drift away from the ship. The first thing she did when she got to him was turn him over, as he had been floating face down in the blue waters. Caspian was dead certain he was no longer alive; how could he be? Lucy brushed the boy’s shaggy black hair away from his face and then she listened for a heartbeat. Caspian saw her frown. She listened again, but once more, he saw no hopeful spark in her eyes.
Lucy sighed heavily and then began hauling the boy back towards the ship anyway. Caspian wondered what she intended to do with him since he was dead, but he also did not want to leave the boy for the fish.
She grabbed the rope and tied it around the other boy’s waist, and Caspian dutifully him towed him up to the deck. He set the dead boy down beside the other, but just to make sure, he put his fingers to the dark-haired boy’s throat. Caspian thought he felt a flicker, but when he didn’t feel another, he confirmed mentally that the boy was dead. When he checked the other boy, he found that he was still alive.
Lucy came climbing up the ladder and swung her legs over the side, looking grave. She came to stand beside Caspian and looked down at the two boys for a moment before saying softly, “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“Yes.”
Lucy knelt down by the dead boy and put her hand on his chest, to check one more time for a heartbeat. Caspian knew she wouldn’t find one. She drew her hand away a moment later, looking defeated.
“Lucy,” Caspian said softly. “Do you have your healing cordial? This other boy looks like he could use a dose of it.” He gestured to the blonde boy.
Lucy glanced at her waist, saw the diamond bottle strapped to her belt, and brightened. She took it out and unscrewed the cap, setting it down beside her. Then she reached out, lifted the blonde boy’s head, and let a drop of the cordial fall into his mouth. It was several breathless minutes before he reacted. At first, Caspian wasn’t sure he was going to, but finally, the boy began to cough weakly and then harder. They were deep, hacking, painful sounding coughs, and Caspian guessed he had some water still in his lungs.
The boy sat up slowly, looking like every movement pained him greatly and coughed hard for several minutes, his hand pressed to his mouth. Lucy watched anxiously, like a mother guarding her sick child.
Caspian stood and said to Lucy, “I’ll get him some water.”
“Thank you, Caspian,” she said, smiling at him, and then she focused on the boy again, worry crossing her face.
When the blonde boy finally stopped coughing, he slumped back against the sun-warmed deck, eyes closed and breathing shallow. Lucy pressed her lips together into a firm line, hoping he would be okay. At least he was alive, though, unlike the unfortunate other boy. Lucy felt like she had failed him, though she knew there was nothing else she could do. Except…She could give him a drop of the cordial, just in case, but since neither she nor Caspian had felt a pulse, it would just be wasting the precious fireflower juice. Still…
Not optimistic, Lucy put her hand on the back of the dead boy’s neck and lifted his head up gently, resting it on her lap. She carefully let a single, ruby-red drop of the fireflower juice fall into his mouth, but even after five minutes, nothing happened, as she had expected. Sighing, Lucy stroked his hair back from his face, wishing there was something more she could have done to save him. He looked young, perhaps her age or a little older. Either way, far too young to die. Lucy struggled not to cry; she had seen death so many times over her fifteen-year reign as queen and in all of the numerous battles she’d fought over the years, but it always broke her heart even more to see people her own age dying and dead. They still had so much life to live! It wasn’t fair, but Lucy knew it was the way life worked.
Caspian came back and knelt beside her. “You tried to cordial?” he asked, noting the bottle in her hand.
She nodded sadly.
“And…?”
“Nothing,” she confirmed. “He’s gone for sure.”
“I’m sorry, Lucy,” Caspian said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder as he saw how grieved she looked. She was such a gentle, caring soul; to have someone die so recently and so nearby…it had to be hard on her.
She smiled gratefully at him and then took the cup from his hand, glancing at the blonde boy a few feet away. “Well,” she said, “This one’s still alive, and no doubt thirsty.” She scooted over to the other boy, and, lifting him gently, put the cup to his lips and let a little of the liquid flow into his mouth. The boy jerked a little as if surprised and though he did not open his eyes, he weakly lifted his hand as if to take the cup himself, but Lucy took his hand, assuring him gently, “It’s all right, I’ve got it. You just rest now.”
And he relaxed, letting her continue to give him water. When the cup was empty, the boy’s head sagged against her shoulder and Caspian could tell his energy had been spent completely by the simple act of drinking. Lucy said something to him softly and reassuringly, but it was too low for Caspian to understand her words.
The boy moved his lips like he was trying to answer, but no sound came out, and after a moment, he stopped trying and just laid there, obviously still too exhausted to do anything else.
Lucy looked up at Caspian. “I wonder what his name is,” she mused aloud, her gaze flickering first over the blonde boy and then over the dead boy beside her. Caspian wasn’t sure what they were going to do with him; he really didn’t want to leave the poor boy for the fish, but he didn’t see what else they could do with him.
The boy started to speak again, but the words just wouldn’t come out. Lucy listened dutifully, however, encouraging him to keep trying. “What’s your name?” she asked gently. “Can you tell me?”
He tried once or twice more, and then finally, a hoarse, cracked whisper rasped from his lips, but it was so faint, Caspian couldn’t tell what he said. Lucy could, however, for she looked back and exulted, “Did you hear that?”
“No.”
“Sam,” Lucy told him. “His name’s Sam.” She grinned and then told Sam something softly.
Suddenly there was a violent fit of coughing from behind Caspian, and, stunned, he whirled around to see the dead boy - the boy they had thought was dead - coughing hard, some pale colour starting to come back into his cheeks. Caspian and Lucy stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, too shocked to do or say anything. The dark-haired boy had been dead - of that, Caspian was sure. Both he and Lucy had checked for a pulse numerous times! How could he be alive now? The cordial was a wondrous healer, but even it could not bring people back to life. Perhaps the boy had just been so close to death that his pulse had been unregisterable by external searchers, and the cordial had been administered just in time. That, or Aslan wasn’t ready for the boy to die just yet.
Sam stirred and shifted restlessly at the sound of the other boy’s frenzied coughing, but did nothing else; he was probably still too weak and exhausted. Lucy laid Sam’s head down gently on the deck and then she hurried over to the dark-haired boy, kneeling next to him with an expression of pure wonder. Caspian watched carefully, amazed himself.
Caine knew he should be dead. He felt dead. He had gotten enough water in his lungs to be dead. He knew he hadn’t reached the surface in time. Those last minutes were still a blur - he had seen lights flickering behind his eyes before they closed, and then darkness. He remembered nothing after that, but he fancied that he had heard Sam’s voice calling to him from somewhere deep and far away, but he knew that had just been his imagination. Sam was gone. Just like Caine, only in a different way. Sam was still alive. Caine…well, he wasn’t sure if he was or not. For the longest time, he had been lying on an invisible floor, wreathed by a thin layer of water, and everything had been numb, cold, and lifeless, including Caine. He had just laid there, not sure if his eyes were opened or closed, or if his heart was beating or not…
So why wasn’t he dead?
He had felt warmth after an eternity of lying on that invisible floor, warmth that had started out slow and then had spread like a wildfire, burning away the water that surrounded him and burning life into him like an eternal flame that could not be quenched.
And then he had started to cough. Deep, hacking coughs. Clearing out the last pools of water that lay around him and letting the fire burn brighter. It felt so good, too, letting the flames grow bigger and bigger, filling him up and getting rid of the cold, numbing water. So good….
Exhausted, Caine fell back against the invisible floor, letting the fire do its work. It could work without his help; he needed to rest now. He was so tired…
So…tired…
“I don’t believe it,” Caspian said again, looking in wonder down at the dark-haired boy, who had coughed for several minutes before slumping back against the warm deck, his chest now visibly moving up and down as he breathed. Lucy looked as if she was so happy, she might cry. “I don’t either!” she laughed breathlessly. “I knew the cordial could heal grievous injuries, but I’ve never seen it do anything like this!”
“Lucy, when I went to get the water, I saw some hammocks down below deck,” he said then. “They’re going to need a lot of rest before they’re anywhere near ready to get up. Why don’t we take them down there?”
She nodded. “You’ll have to carry them, though; I’m not strong enough.”
Caspian leaned down and scooped up the dark-haired boy, carrying him easily across deck and down to the forecastle, where fourteen hammocks were strung and ready for use. Lucy accompanied him, bringing the empty cup with her to refill. While she was doing that, Caspian put the boy in a hammock and then went back to get Sam, who by now had opened his eyes once or twice, but was still too groggy and dizzy to keep them open for very long. Caspian laid him next to the other boy and waited for Lucy to get back.
Lucy came back presently and, lifting the dark-haired boy’s head, poured a few drops of water into his mouth. He gave a small, desperate gasp, it seemed, but did not respond otherwise. Lucy smiled tenderly down at him, once more reminding Caspian of a mother tending her sick children.
Sam stirred and murmured something in the hammock next to the dark-haired boy’s, and Lucy moved over to him, stroking his hair comfortingly and offering him a drink. Sam opened his eyes, but they were bleary and unfocused; Caspian could tell he wasn’t quite aware of anything around him yet. “Sam?” Lucy asked soothingly. “Do you want some water?” Sam closed his eyes and repeated vaguely, “Water…?” Lucy took that as a yes, and she gave him a small drink. At that, Sam’s eyes opened again and this time they were more focused. “Water,” he rasped again, and this time it wasn’t a question. Lucy smiled, encouraged.
After Sam had taken a few more sips, she gave some more to the other boy, and then sat down beside Caspian, a content expression on her face. That bothered Caspian, however, for there was still the fact that they didn’t know where they were, or even if they were in Narnia. “Where do you think we are, Lucy?” he asked softly, his worried returning.
Lucy looked thoughtful. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “Not in Narnia, I don’t suppose, and I don’t think we’re back in my world…I’m afraid I have no idea, Caspian.”
“I was afraid of that,” he said grimly. “How are we going to get back to Narnia when we don’t even know where we are? We could be in some entirely different world that neither of us have ever been to before, but right now, we have no way of knowing…Maybe Sam knows. You can ask him when he’s well, can’t you?”
She brightened. “You’re right! I bet he would know. They’re probably from this place, wherever it is, though I must say, their clothes are a little strange. The ship looks like the Dawn Treader, so I guess I expected them to be like us…I don’t know.” Lucy shrugged and then suddenly looked miserable. “Poor Drinian and Edmund!” she said sadly. “They’re probably worried sick, wondering what’s happened to us! And Peter and Susan too. Oh, dear…”
Caspian laughed bitterly. “Well, she may be worried about you, but I know Susan won’t be worried about me.”
Lucy looked up at him kindly. “Oh, Caspian. I’m sure she doesn’t hate you, like I know you think she does. How could she? You’re so kind and such a good king. Maybe she just gets nervous around you. It’s been a while since she’s seen you, after all, and your last time together was when she…” Lucy trailed off into embarrassed silence, obviously not sure whether or not to bring up the kiss. After the Pevensies had helped rid Narnia of Caspian’s usurping uncle Miraz, Aslan had sent them home via a large tree in the middle of the square near the castle. Before she left, however, Susan had kissed Caspian in front of the entire town and her siblings, causing quite a stir amongst the villagers. After all, he’d only been nineteen at the time. Now every time he saw her, Caspian remembered that too-short kiss and longed to kiss her again, but considering her current behaviour towards him, that would not be wise.
He sighed at the memory and Lucy apologised, “I’m sorry. I was just trying to be optimistic.”
“I know, Lucy. It’s all right,” Caspian said, but he could tell she knew he didn’t mean it. And he didn’t. He couldn’t be all right after being reminded of something like that, of Susan, beautiful, fearless, kind Susan…Would he ever find another like her? Was there anyone else like her? Not in Caspian’s experience. He had hoped, back before she kissed him, that she could somehow feel the same way about him that he did her, and the kiss had confirmed it. Or so he had thought. Now he was not sure. Perhaps it hadn’t really meant anything to her. He ached to know. But now, he was…wherever he was, and she was back in Narnia. They were worlds apart, literally.
Seeing his torment, Lucy put a reassuring hand on his arm, but Caspian was not reassured. The only one that could reassure him about this situation would be Susan herself, and he did not even know how to get back to her. Not that she would be missing him, but…he could hope, couldn’t he?
“I wonder,” Lucy said presently, “Why we’re here. It was all very sudden, like magic, but I didn’t feel any magic, like I usually do when we’re pulled somewhere. I don’t suppose that we’ve been called here; there’s no one here except Sam and the other boy so far, and no land, either, and even if there was, we don’t know where it is. Oh, I wish Peter, Susan, and Edmund were here! They’d know what to do.”
Peter would certainly act like he did, whether he really did or not, Caspian thought grimly, glad that the eldest Pevensie had not been transported to…here along with him and Lucy. He would have been greatly relieved if Edmund was with them, though, as well as Susan. But as far as Peter was concerned, Caspian was glad to be away from him.
“And how are we going to sail?” Lucy wondered aloud. “There’s only four of us, and until the boys get better, it’ll be just you and me trying to…Oh, goodness, what a mess this is!” she exclaimed sadly.
Caspian agreed silently, wishing they were back in Narnia. Things were always so much simpler there.
The dark-haired boy began coughing loudly again, sounding hoarse and weak but desperate. Lucy got up to give him and Sam some more water, and Caspian watched dully, wondering why they were here and how on earth they could get back.
Caspian sighed once more. He really missed Susan.
Her fingers trailed over the various books on her shelf as she wondered what to read next. The Alice in Wonderland series? No, she’d read those too recently. Thirteen Reasons Why? No, she wasn’t in the mood for that one. Sapphique? No. The Chronicles of Narnia?
“Hmm.” Vanessa paused and then snatched The Voyage of the Dawn Treader from the shelf and thumbed through it. She hadn’t read the Narnia books in ages. Vanessa actually liked the movies a lot better, but hey, you can’t read movies, and she didn’t really want to go out of her room just yet, so she settled on her bed with the book and made her wish.
Vanessa snapped again.
And…nothing happened. Again.
Groaning, Vanessa dropped her head down in defeat. What good was a teleporting power - even if it was the result of a brain injury - if one couldn’t teleport into to other worlds? “Really?” she demanded, looking at the cuts on her hands.
She was really beginning to despise that shiny purple rock.
Caspian the Tenth, twenty-one years old, king of Narnia, Archenland, and the Lone Islands, was having a rough day.
First, the general of the Narnian army and his soldiers had come back from a long campaign in Archenland and alerted Caspian to the fact that the Archenlanders were angry with the way he was handling things and had declared war on Narnia. Their armies were marching towards Cair Paravel at this very minute, and Caspian was very worried that they wouldn’t be ready when the Archenlanders got there.
Second, Peter kept giving him that smug ‘I told you so’ look every time he saw Caspian and it was driving Caspian insane. Peter already thought he was a better king than Caspian and this seemed to only confirm it, to Caspian’s dismay. So he had grudgingly offered Peter control of the army and full authority to try and fix this problem anyway we could - it wasn’t like Caspian had anything to lose, anyway - but Peter had declined, adding salt to the wound by telling Caspian - in an obviously sarcastic way - that he believed Caspian could handle this mess perfectly well without any help from him. Caspian had never felt so humiliated in his life.
And third - Susan. Caspian sighed heavily just thinking about her. Since the four Pevensies had come back, three years after their first encounter when they had helped rid Narnia of his uncle Miraz, Susan had acted like he didn’t exist, and if she did speak to him, she acted cool and indifferent, like she was speaking to her inferior and not her friend. Lucy had told him it’d only been one year back in their world since they had been in Narnia, which made it even more puzzling - had she really dismissed him and his affections for her that quickly? Or was there something else behind her strange actions? Caspian had asked Lucy about it once or twice, but she hadn’t any more idea about her sister’s indifference than he had - apparently Susan hadn’t told Lucy anything either.
“Caspian,” he heard Edmund say. He turned and saw Peter’s younger brother - and his good friend - standing at the door.
“Yes?”
“Drinian” - Caspian’s ship captain - “want to see you,” Edmund said. “About the Dawn Treader.”
Puzzled, Caspian asked, “What about it?” The Dawn Treader was Narnia’s finest and most beautiful ship, built by Drinian and his skilled crew only a year ago. It was in that ship that Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, and their cousin Eustace had sailed to the end of the world - Aslan’s country - and said farewell to Reepicheep, the talking mouse that had helped them fight against Miraz those three years ago. They had also had many other strange adventures along the way, and had grown closer as friends and as a family. Caspian only wished Susan and Peter could have been there as well.
Edmund shrugged, looking equally bemused. ‘He didn’t say anything other than ‘it’s urgent’. I don’t know. He looked pretty upset…”
Alarm raced through Caspian at that. What if something had happened to the Dawn Treader? He couldn’t bear the thought of something terrible befalling that beautiful ship that so many people had worked so hard to build. The Dawn Treader was the pride of Narnia; Caspian didn’t know what would happen if the great ship was damaged or ruined.
He stood quickly and followed Ed out of the room, anxious to hear what his captain had to say.
Lucy met them along the way and greeted the boys with a smile. Caspian smiled back, glad to see her. Behind Susan, Lucy was probably his favourite Pevensie - though Edmund came in a very close third - because she was always cheerful, kind, and willing to help no matter what. She was never short-tempered with him - like the other three were - and always encouraged Caspian to keep trying, no matter how badly he failed. Of course, she was like that around everyone, but it meant a lot of Caspian that ‘everyone’ always included him, too.
“Where are you two off to?” she asked cheerfully as she fell in step beside her brother.
“Drinian asked to see me; something about the Dawn Treader,” Caspian explained, his previous worries about the ship returning.
Lucy seemed to sense that there was something ominous about Drinian’s message, for a frown crossed her face and she asked, “Has something happened, Caspian? Is something wrong?”
“We don’t know,” Edmund replied. “Drinian didn’t say.” But he sounded worried as well, which was not very comforting to Caspian. Edmund was usually very nonchalant and not worried about anything, especially since he had been king of Narnia for nearly sixteen years and Caspian had only been king for three and Ed had had much more experience with the difficult things and situations that Caspian now faced. So to hear Edmund sounding worried now…it only made Caspian more anxious.
“Well,” Lucy said. “I bet it’s nothing that bad. Maybe he just wants to ask you if he can sail to the Lone Islands again.” Drinian was from the Lone Islands, which were several hundred miles away from Narnia, and his family still lived there. He had used the Dawn Treader once or twice before to sail there, but for some reason, Caspian didn’t think that was what this message was about.
Edmund echoed his thoughts by saying, “I don’t think so, Lu. I think he would have just told Caspian if that’s what he’d wanted. This sounded too…urgent to be something like that.”
Lucy still looked unsure.
Caspian forced a smile and said, “Maybe you’re right, Lucy. Maybe we are overreacting.”
It turns out they weren’t.
Drinian was waiting at the dock for them, looking grim. The Dawn Treader was nowhere to be seen, Caspian realised with a sick feeling. The waters where the grand ship usually sat were empty, though all of the other navy ships were still there. The Dawn Treader should have been there, where it always was when docked, but it wasn’t. It was just….gone.
“What…?” Edmund said beside Caspian. “Where is it? Where’d it go?”
“No explanation, no warning,” Drinian said gloomily. “It just….disappeared-”
“Disappeared?” Lucy asked in disbelief. “How could a ship like that disappear?”
Drinian shrugged. “That’s what I’d like to know, too, Your Highness. One minute it was here and the next it wasn’t. I don’t see how it could’ve been stolen. Luckily, there was no one on board.”
Edmund, who had walked down the dock to the edge and now stood staring at the empty spot where the Dawn Treader ought to have been, turned and called back, “Could it have been magic?”
“It’d have to have been a very powerful magic to make a ship disappear,” Caspian said, doubts and speculations filling his mind. Drinian was right; it couldn’t have been stolen. And while Edmund’s theory went along with how the Pevensies usually got to Narnia, Caspian very much doubted that the Dawn Treader would have been transported elsewhere by magic or by any other means. To what point and purpose, too?
“It’s so strange,” Lucy said softly, gazing out at the gently lapping waves, her blue eyes searching for some sign of the majestic Narnian ship.
By now, a crowd of people and ship-hands had gathered at the dock, all murmuring amongst themselves and shouting questions out to Caspian, Lucy, and Drinian. Edmund stayed where he was at the edge of the dock.
“My King, what happened to the ship?” Caspian heard once voice call.
“Where’d it go?” another said.
“I saw what happened! It was there and then it wasn’t!” yet another cried. “It was like magic! If you blinked, you would’ve missed it.”
That only caused the volume of voices and questions to increase, to Caspian’s dismay. What was he to do now? How was he supposed to find a ship that had just disappeared with explanation? He glanced down at Lucy and saw that she was still looking out at the waves, a frown on her face. “What do you think, Lucy?” he asked her.
She didn’t reply for a moment, but when she did, she looked up at him and said helplessly, “I don’t know, Caspian. I’ve never seen anything like this before. If it was magic, I don’t know why….”
“What do you want to do, Your Majesty?” Drinian asked, still looking grim. Caspian could understand why - Drinian had had a large part in building the Dawn Treader, and it was his pride and joy. To know that it had vanished in such a strange and unexplainable way must be hard on him, as well as frustrating. Caspian put a reassuring hand on his captain’s shoulder. “I don’t know yet, Drinian, but we’ll find it. I promise. There must be some way to get it ba-”
Caspian never got to finish his sentence, for one moment he was on the Narnian dock with Drinian, Lucy, and Edmund, and the next, he was standing alone on the deck of a ship, looking out at the clear, blue ocean. Caspian staggered back a few steps, taken by surprise. The ship was identical in every way to the Dawn Treader, except that it was black instead of being so brightly coloured, full of greens, golds, and blues. The only thing that was the same was the bright purple, square sail.
But where was he?
Caspian wondered if he had somehow been transported into the world of the Pevensies, like they were transported into his. As magic was common in Narnia - at least, it was when one spent any amount of time around the Pevensies - Caspian was not completely shocked by this strange turn of events, like someone who had never been around magic would be.
But was there any way to get back to Narnia…? Caspian did not want to be away too long from his kingdom, especially if it would be turned over to Peter - as he knew it would be - in his absence. The very thought made Caspian shiver with frustration.
Then he heard a low gasp from behind him. Caspian turned quickly to see Lucy, her eyes wide, standing a few feet behind him. He was relieved that someone else was here in this strange place, but puzzled as well. Lucy obviously didn’t recognise this location…so were they in her world? Or were they in some other world? Caspian frowned. How many worlds are there? he wondered.
“Lucy, do you know where we are?” he asked, hoping she would. If not…that would be very bad indeed.
Lucy walked slowly to the railing of the ship. Caspian followed. She put her hands on the wood and gazed out at the wide open ocean before them, blue eyes narrowed in concentration, as if she were trying hard to remember if she had been here before. Then she happened to look down.
Lucy gasped, startling Caspian. “What?” he asked. “What is it?”
She pointed, finger trembling.
Caspian looked down and saw two boys in the water. Both looked unconscious and while one was face up, the other was face down, making Caspian doubt very much that he was still alive. Who knew how long they had been there?
Then he realised that Lucy had climbed over the railing and was now descending on the ladder, down towards the boys in the water. “Lucy!” he said. “What are you doing?” He began to follow her, alarmed and afraid she would fall.
“They might still be alive!” she explained.
“I don’t think-”
“They might be!” Lucy replied irritably. She reached the end of the ladder and lowered herself into the water, reaching out and pulling the closest boy, the one that was face up, to her. Caspian paused, waiting to hear her verdict. Lucy put her hand on his bare chest and waited for a moment, concentrating hard. Then she beamed up at Caspian, eyes sparkling. “He’s alive!” she exulted happily.
Surprised, Caspian was silent. He wondered how long the boys had been in the water, if they were still alive. Surely not very long. “Caspian! Can you lift him up on deck?” Lucy asked, looking like she was having a hard time holding the boy out of the water; he was muscular, and Lucy was very small - no doubt she was not strong enough to hold him up for much longer.
Caspian looked about for a rope he could lower down to her and, seeing one, he took it and used its pulley to let down the rough rope to her. “Lucy, tie the rope around him and I’ll pull him up,” Caspian instructed.
She reached out and caught the rope. Lucy struggled to tie the rope around the boy, as it required both hands and she therefore could not hold onto the ship, but she eventually got him secured and called, “All right!” up to Caspian.
He began pulling and Lucy guided the limp boy until he was out of her reach. When the boy came close enough, Caspian, one hand still on the rope, reached out and pulled him over the railing. He lowered him gently to the deck and untied the rope from his waist. The boy made no movement, making Caspian doubt again that he was alive, but when he put his hand to the boy’s heart as Lucy had, he did indeed feel a heartbeat. He wasn’t dead yet, at any rate.
Caspian left the boy and went back to the railing. Lucy was swimming strongly out to the other boy, who had begun to drift away from the ship. The first thing she did when she got to him was turn him over, as he had been floating face down in the blue waters. Caspian was dead certain he was no longer alive; how could he be? Lucy brushed the boy’s shaggy black hair away from his face and then she listened for a heartbeat. Caspian saw her frown. She listened again, but once more, he saw no hopeful spark in her eyes.
Lucy sighed heavily and then began hauling the boy back towards the ship anyway. Caspian wondered what she intended to do with him since he was dead, but he also did not want to leave the boy for the fish.
She grabbed the rope and tied it around the other boy’s waist, and Caspian dutifully him towed him up to the deck. He set the dead boy down beside the other, but just to make sure, he put his fingers to the dark-haired boy’s throat. Caspian thought he felt a flicker, but when he didn’t feel another, he confirmed mentally that the boy was dead. When he checked the other boy, he found that he was still alive.
Lucy came climbing up the ladder and swung her legs over the side, looking grave. She came to stand beside Caspian and looked down at the two boys for a moment before saying softly, “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“Yes.”
Lucy knelt down by the dead boy and put her hand on his chest, to check one more time for a heartbeat. Caspian knew she wouldn’t find one. She drew her hand away a moment later, looking defeated.
“Lucy,” Caspian said softly. “Do you have your healing cordial? This other boy looks like he could use a dose of it.” He gestured to the blonde boy.
Lucy glanced at her waist, saw the diamond bottle strapped to her belt, and brightened. She took it out and unscrewed the cap, setting it down beside her. Then she reached out, lifted the blonde boy’s head, and let a drop of the cordial fall into his mouth. It was several breathless minutes before he reacted. At first, Caspian wasn’t sure he was going to, but finally, the boy began to cough weakly and then harder. They were deep, hacking, painful sounding coughs, and Caspian guessed he had some water still in his lungs.
The boy sat up slowly, looking like every movement pained him greatly and coughed hard for several minutes, his hand pressed to his mouth. Lucy watched anxiously, like a mother guarding her sick child.
Caspian stood and said to Lucy, “I’ll get him some water.”
“Thank you, Caspian,” she said, smiling at him, and then she focused on the boy again, worry crossing her face.
When the blonde boy finally stopped coughing, he slumped back against the sun-warmed deck, eyes closed and breathing shallow. Lucy pressed her lips together into a firm line, hoping he would be okay. At least he was alive, though, unlike the unfortunate other boy. Lucy felt like she had failed him, though she knew there was nothing else she could do. Except…She could give him a drop of the cordial, just in case, but since neither she nor Caspian had felt a pulse, it would just be wasting the precious fireflower juice. Still…
Not optimistic, Lucy put her hand on the back of the dead boy’s neck and lifted his head up gently, resting it on her lap. She carefully let a single, ruby-red drop of the fireflower juice fall into his mouth, but even after five minutes, nothing happened, as she had expected. Sighing, Lucy stroked his hair back from his face, wishing there was something more she could have done to save him. He looked young, perhaps her age or a little older. Either way, far too young to die. Lucy struggled not to cry; she had seen death so many times over her fifteen-year reign as queen and in all of the numerous battles she’d fought over the years, but it always broke her heart even more to see people her own age dying and dead. They still had so much life to live! It wasn’t fair, but Lucy knew it was the way life worked.
Caspian came back and knelt beside her. “You tried to cordial?” he asked, noting the bottle in her hand.
She nodded sadly.
“And…?”
“Nothing,” she confirmed. “He’s gone for sure.”
“I’m sorry, Lucy,” Caspian said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder as he saw how grieved she looked. She was such a gentle, caring soul; to have someone die so recently and so nearby…it had to be hard on her.
She smiled gratefully at him and then took the cup from his hand, glancing at the blonde boy a few feet away. “Well,” she said, “This one’s still alive, and no doubt thirsty.” She scooted over to the other boy, and, lifting him gently, put the cup to his lips and let a little of the liquid flow into his mouth. The boy jerked a little as if surprised and though he did not open his eyes, he weakly lifted his hand as if to take the cup himself, but Lucy took his hand, assuring him gently, “It’s all right, I’ve got it. You just rest now.”
And he relaxed, letting her continue to give him water. When the cup was empty, the boy’s head sagged against her shoulder and Caspian could tell his energy had been spent completely by the simple act of drinking. Lucy said something to him softly and reassuringly, but it was too low for Caspian to understand her words.
The boy moved his lips like he was trying to answer, but no sound came out, and after a moment, he stopped trying and just laid there, obviously still too exhausted to do anything else.
Lucy looked up at Caspian. “I wonder what his name is,” she mused aloud, her gaze flickering first over the blonde boy and then over the dead boy beside her. Caspian wasn’t sure what they were going to do with him; he really didn’t want to leave the poor boy for the fish, but he didn’t see what else they could do with him.
The boy started to speak again, but the words just wouldn’t come out. Lucy listened dutifully, however, encouraging him to keep trying. “What’s your name?” she asked gently. “Can you tell me?”
He tried once or twice more, and then finally, a hoarse, cracked whisper rasped from his lips, but it was so faint, Caspian couldn’t tell what he said. Lucy could, however, for she looked back and exulted, “Did you hear that?”
“No.”
“Sam,” Lucy told him. “His name’s Sam.” She grinned and then told Sam something softly.
Suddenly there was a violent fit of coughing from behind Caspian, and, stunned, he whirled around to see the dead boy - the boy they had thought was dead - coughing hard, some pale colour starting to come back into his cheeks. Caspian and Lucy stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, too shocked to do or say anything. The dark-haired boy had been dead - of that, Caspian was sure. Both he and Lucy had checked for a pulse numerous times! How could he be alive now? The cordial was a wondrous healer, but even it could not bring people back to life. Perhaps the boy had just been so close to death that his pulse had been unregisterable by external searchers, and the cordial had been administered just in time. That, or Aslan wasn’t ready for the boy to die just yet.
Sam stirred and shifted restlessly at the sound of the other boy’s frenzied coughing, but did nothing else; he was probably still too weak and exhausted. Lucy laid Sam’s head down gently on the deck and then she hurried over to the dark-haired boy, kneeling next to him with an expression of pure wonder. Caspian watched carefully, amazed himself.
Caine knew he should be dead. He felt dead. He had gotten enough water in his lungs to be dead. He knew he hadn’t reached the surface in time. Those last minutes were still a blur - he had seen lights flickering behind his eyes before they closed, and then darkness. He remembered nothing after that, but he fancied that he had heard Sam’s voice calling to him from somewhere deep and far away, but he knew that had just been his imagination. Sam was gone. Just like Caine, only in a different way. Sam was still alive. Caine…well, he wasn’t sure if he was or not. For the longest time, he had been lying on an invisible floor, wreathed by a thin layer of water, and everything had been numb, cold, and lifeless, including Caine. He had just laid there, not sure if his eyes were opened or closed, or if his heart was beating or not…
So why wasn’t he dead?
He had felt warmth after an eternity of lying on that invisible floor, warmth that had started out slow and then had spread like a wildfire, burning away the water that surrounded him and burning life into him like an eternal flame that could not be quenched.
And then he had started to cough. Deep, hacking coughs. Clearing out the last pools of water that lay around him and letting the fire burn brighter. It felt so good, too, letting the flames grow bigger and bigger, filling him up and getting rid of the cold, numbing water. So good….
Exhausted, Caine fell back against the invisible floor, letting the fire do its work. It could work without his help; he needed to rest now. He was so tired…
So…tired…
“I don’t believe it,” Caspian said again, looking in wonder down at the dark-haired boy, who had coughed for several minutes before slumping back against the warm deck, his chest now visibly moving up and down as he breathed. Lucy looked as if she was so happy, she might cry. “I don’t either!” she laughed breathlessly. “I knew the cordial could heal grievous injuries, but I’ve never seen it do anything like this!”
“Lucy, when I went to get the water, I saw some hammocks down below deck,” he said then. “They’re going to need a lot of rest before they’re anywhere near ready to get up. Why don’t we take them down there?”
She nodded. “You’ll have to carry them, though; I’m not strong enough.”
Caspian leaned down and scooped up the dark-haired boy, carrying him easily across deck and down to the forecastle, where fourteen hammocks were strung and ready for use. Lucy accompanied him, bringing the empty cup with her to refill. While she was doing that, Caspian put the boy in a hammock and then went back to get Sam, who by now had opened his eyes once or twice, but was still too groggy and dizzy to keep them open for very long. Caspian laid him next to the other boy and waited for Lucy to get back.
Lucy came back presently and, lifting the dark-haired boy’s head, poured a few drops of water into his mouth. He gave a small, desperate gasp, it seemed, but did not respond otherwise. Lucy smiled tenderly down at him, once more reminding Caspian of a mother tending her sick children.
Sam stirred and murmured something in the hammock next to the dark-haired boy’s, and Lucy moved over to him, stroking his hair comfortingly and offering him a drink. Sam opened his eyes, but they were bleary and unfocused; Caspian could tell he wasn’t quite aware of anything around him yet. “Sam?” Lucy asked soothingly. “Do you want some water?” Sam closed his eyes and repeated vaguely, “Water…?” Lucy took that as a yes, and she gave him a small drink. At that, Sam’s eyes opened again and this time they were more focused. “Water,” he rasped again, and this time it wasn’t a question. Lucy smiled, encouraged.
After Sam had taken a few more sips, she gave some more to the other boy, and then sat down beside Caspian, a content expression on her face. That bothered Caspian, however, for there was still the fact that they didn’t know where they were, or even if they were in Narnia. “Where do you think we are, Lucy?” he asked softly, his worried returning.
Lucy looked thoughtful. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “Not in Narnia, I don’t suppose, and I don’t think we’re back in my world…I’m afraid I have no idea, Caspian.”
“I was afraid of that,” he said grimly. “How are we going to get back to Narnia when we don’t even know where we are? We could be in some entirely different world that neither of us have ever been to before, but right now, we have no way of knowing…Maybe Sam knows. You can ask him when he’s well, can’t you?”
She brightened. “You’re right! I bet he would know. They’re probably from this place, wherever it is, though I must say, their clothes are a little strange. The ship looks like the Dawn Treader, so I guess I expected them to be like us…I don’t know.” Lucy shrugged and then suddenly looked miserable. “Poor Drinian and Edmund!” she said sadly. “They’re probably worried sick, wondering what’s happened to us! And Peter and Susan too. Oh, dear…”
Caspian laughed bitterly. “Well, she may be worried about you, but I know Susan won’t be worried about me.”
Lucy looked up at him kindly. “Oh, Caspian. I’m sure she doesn’t hate you, like I know you think she does. How could she? You’re so kind and such a good king. Maybe she just gets nervous around you. It’s been a while since she’s seen you, after all, and your last time together was when she…” Lucy trailed off into embarrassed silence, obviously not sure whether or not to bring up the kiss. After the Pevensies had helped rid Narnia of Caspian’s usurping uncle Miraz, Aslan had sent them home via a large tree in the middle of the square near the castle. Before she left, however, Susan had kissed Caspian in front of the entire town and her siblings, causing quite a stir amongst the villagers. After all, he’d only been nineteen at the time. Now every time he saw her, Caspian remembered that too-short kiss and longed to kiss her again, but considering her current behaviour towards him, that would not be wise.
He sighed at the memory and Lucy apologised, “I’m sorry. I was just trying to be optimistic.”
“I know, Lucy. It’s all right,” Caspian said, but he could tell she knew he didn’t mean it. And he didn’t. He couldn’t be all right after being reminded of something like that, of Susan, beautiful, fearless, kind Susan…Would he ever find another like her? Was there anyone else like her? Not in Caspian’s experience. He had hoped, back before she kissed him, that she could somehow feel the same way about him that he did her, and the kiss had confirmed it. Or so he had thought. Now he was not sure. Perhaps it hadn’t really meant anything to her. He ached to know. But now, he was…wherever he was, and she was back in Narnia. They were worlds apart, literally.
Seeing his torment, Lucy put a reassuring hand on his arm, but Caspian was not reassured. The only one that could reassure him about this situation would be Susan herself, and he did not even know how to get back to her. Not that she would be missing him, but…he could hope, couldn’t he?
“I wonder,” Lucy said presently, “Why we’re here. It was all very sudden, like magic, but I didn’t feel any magic, like I usually do when we’re pulled somewhere. I don’t suppose that we’ve been called here; there’s no one here except Sam and the other boy so far, and no land, either, and even if there was, we don’t know where it is. Oh, I wish Peter, Susan, and Edmund were here! They’d know what to do.”
Peter would certainly act like he did, whether he really did or not, Caspian thought grimly, glad that the eldest Pevensie had not been transported to…here along with him and Lucy. He would have been greatly relieved if Edmund was with them, though, as well as Susan. But as far as Peter was concerned, Caspian was glad to be away from him.
“And how are we going to sail?” Lucy wondered aloud. “There’s only four of us, and until the boys get better, it’ll be just you and me trying to…Oh, goodness, what a mess this is!” she exclaimed sadly.
Caspian agreed silently, wishing they were back in Narnia. Things were always so much simpler there.
The dark-haired boy began coughing loudly again, sounding hoarse and weak but desperate. Lucy got up to give him and Sam some more water, and Caspian watched dully, wondering why they were here and how on earth they could get back.
Caspian sighed once more. He really missed Susan.
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