Chapter Eight

Adele awoke to the feeling of something crushing her chest, and was almost instantly scared out of her wits. She frantically tried to sit up, but was unable to move her arms. Was she still underwater? Could she still be drowning? Or had she died and gone to hell? Though as Adele recalled, hell was supposed to be a fiery pit of eternal damnation, not a place where giant maroon and gold colored rocks crushed you.

Gold and maroon colored rocks? The girl did a double take as her mind began to register the oddness of the situation. Adele forced herself to focus and recognized that the object that she had mistaken for a bolder was a heavy down comforter. The reason she had thought she was being crushed was because of the blanket's weight.

Adele quickly pulled her arms out from underneath the comforter and was about to completely push it off, when something moved in her peripheral vision, causing her to freeze. The girl slowly turned her head and silently gasped as she noticed that she wasn't alone.

On the other end of the room, a young man with dark shoulder length hair stood with his back to her. He appeared to be deep in thought and hadn't noticed that his guest was awake.

Adele watched him silently, a blush creeping to her pale cheeks, when she noticed that he was shirtless. She had never seen a half-dressed man before, and despite being embarrassed, the girl found she couldn't look away. His skin was nicely tanned and very smooth, with the exception of a handful of scars that crisscrossed the better part of his back. From what Adele could tell, the scars seemed to be healed, but the marks were angry. Whoever had given him these scars had been out to inflict pain.

A sick feeling welled up in Adele's stomach as she thought of her own father and his hobby of inflicting unnecessary pain upon her when he came home from the pub with too much liquor in his system.

Do I have scars like that? She wondered. The girl had never owned a mirror, so she had never been able to check. Now the thought bothered her. It was very possible that she had horrendous markings on her back and was merely unaware of their existence. Adele pushed back the disturbing thoughts and continued to watch.

After another minute, the man turned to his right and grabbed a white cloth off the top of a large oak desk. With further observation, Adele identified the cloth as a shirt of sorts, though it wasn't like any shirt she had ever seen. It was simple and yet incredibly regal, and furthermore looked comfortable. It made the shirts from England look like cheap gunnysack rags in comparison.

As Adele thought of England, she began to wonder where she was. She looked around, for the first time taking in her surroundings. She was in a cabin of sorts, though the designs and colors were far too vibrant for a normal ship's lodgings.

"Enjoying the view?"

Adele visibly jumped and blushed madly as the man looked directly at her with a large grin. How long had he known she was watching him? I'm such a fool! He probably thinks I'm nothing but a worthless floozy now!

When the man continued to stare at her, Adele did the only thing that seemed proper. She would have to play dumb.

"Hmm?"

The man continued to smile at her as he adjusted his tunic. "The view," he gestured to the closest window to her with his hand. "Is it to your liking?"

Adele glanced out of the window and saw the sun setting over blue-green waves.

"Yes, it's beautiful." She answered quietly.

The man nodded to her, but stayed where he was, his attention completely on Adele. "How are you feeling?"

Adele blushed again, at the clear concern that lined his face.

"I'm fine." She said. Then plucking up her courage she asked. "Who are you? And what am I doing here?"

The man crossed the distance between them and took a seat on the edge of the bed. Adele watched him warily but didn't move.

"My name is Caspian and I am High King of Narnia." He said looking at the girl before him with curious eyes. "I don't know why you are here, but I suppose, Aslan wouldn't have dropped you near the Dawn Treader without a reason."

Adele's mind buzzed with the new information.

"You know Aslan?"

Caspian nodded.

Adele was slightly comforted by this and then she registered the rest of what he had said. With as much speed as she could muster, the girl jumped out of the bed and knelt down on the floor, her hair making a curtain around her head. Caspian watched in complete shock, wondering if he had scared her somehow, but frowned slightly at what she said a moment later.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me," she said in little more than a whisper. "I didn't know that you were a King- . . ."

Caspian knelt down beside the girl, his hand coming to gently rest on her back.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Adele. And my name is Caspian. Not, Your Majesty."

"How do you know my name," the girl asked.

"Aslan told me," the King admitted, gently squeezing her shoulder in an act to trying to calm her. "Adele, you have my word, that you have nothing to fear from me or my crew. You are my guest, and I would have you at ease while you are sailing upon my vessel."

Adele looked up at the King in astonishment, "Thank you . . . Caspian."

As she tried out the name, the young man looked pleased. And as Caspian smiled down at her, Adele felt her heart skip a beat.

Author's Note:

I haven't touched this story in a long time, because of writer's block, but a good friend helped me break through it! ^^ Thank you so much tuttycute, for your support and encouragement! I couldn't have written this chapter without you! 3

I hope you all like the chapter! Please drop me a comment with feedback and suggestions! I need your guy's opinions!

~Lyn Harkeran