El Tango de Lucian, Epilogue

Everything was quiet and still and light. She was floating in a soft void… There was a rich golden eye watching her, but when Lucy woke, she remembered nothing of it.

The first thing that returned was hearing. Birds, rustling leaves, and the quiet distant splash of waves. Then there was touch; cool cotton sheets, and a breeze that played around her face and hair.

Lucy slowly opened her eyes.

Given the circumstances of her last waking moment, she could be excused if for a moment she thought she was in heaven. Everything was white – the smooth walls, the clean linen over her body, the filmy muslin drapes at the window… but then other colours began to filter in, and she saw sunlight, and green trees through the window, and the corn-yellow hair of the person beside her. Caspian.

Her last glimpse of him – panting, ferocious, vengeful – seemed as far away as a dream as she watched him now. He was slumped on the floor next to the bed, his back against the wooden frame, knees up and head resting on his arms. His honey-coloured hair fell over his eyes, which were closed. He was asleep. She wondered how long he'd been there.

As she lay watching him, and as he slept, it was as if they were in a bubble set apart from time. She finally had the chance to study him, totally and unabashedly, as she hadn't been able to before – whether from politeness, or shyness, she wasn't sure. His face was youthful, but the jaw was defined and set, and there was a slight frown on his brow. He looked tired, worried, older. His hands, she noticed for the first time, had faint traces of scars on the knuckles; the product of sword and bow practice from his youth.

She didn't know how long she lay, drinking in his presence like wine, but eventually the spell broke and Caspian stirred.

He looked up, and their eyes met.

He didn't say a word; they just looked at each other, steadily and uncompromisingly. Then Caspian smiled, and she did too. His hand moved involuntarily towards hers, but at the last minute he checked it, and instead rested it on the bedspread with their little fingers just touching.

"Where are we?" She whispered. Her voice was broken and husky, yet to recover from the attack.

"You are safe. We are in the house of Lord Bern."

"Lord-?" she said, her eyes widening. "Then…"

"Yes," he smiled, "the first of seven is found. A happy coincidence!"

Lucy fell back on the pillows, closing her eyes for a brief moment. "The other slaves?" she said suddenly, remembering her vow in the trading hall.

Caspian made another involuntary move towards her hand. "Always thinking of others," he said softly. "The Governor's rule has been overturned. Every slave on the island has been freed. And their masters compensated," he added wryly, "although I admit I was less desirous of that detail."

Lucy felt a blush rising. She had to say it, although it felt strangely intimate. To speak now was to acknowledge the fact that she had been rescued, like some damsel in distress. But she couldn't let any more time pass without saying what needed to be said.

"You saved my life," she said, taking the plunge. "Thank you."

As he looked at her, she realised that perhaps sometimes, it was all right to be rescued.

But Caspian turned away quickly, his face darkening. "I shall never forgive myself for placing you in such danger. Never, never."

"What?" she tried to cry, although her voiced failed her. "Caspian, it was my idea to walk on Felimath in the first place!"

"But I allowed it, alone, and without protection. I was a fool. I paid dearly for it."

"I'm not having this," she said firmly, "not when the last thing you should be doing is blaming yourself. I'll no more of it; do you hear me?"

A glint of amusement flashed in his eyes at her tone. "Not injured enough to keep from scolding me, I see! Well, as you will; as always, I hear and obey, your majesty."

She settled back on the bolster imperiously. "Thank you, your majesty."

He laughed. So did she, but it turned into a cough as her wounded throat protested. Caspian sobered. "As soon as we return on board, you must take some of your cordial. Edmund too."

"How is Edmund?" Lucy asked anxiously, suddenly fearful as the images of Pug's blow flooded back. "Is he well?"

"He has a head-wound, but he's made of stern stuff; I daresay you know that better than I. Bern's physician says he is recovering perfectly satisfactorily."

"Oh, thank goodness," Lucy said, closing her eyes. Relief was making her drowsy; suddenly, it was hard to stay awake.

"Sleep," said Caspian softly. "You are not yet recovered."

She hesitated, knowing what she wanted to say, but feeling shy and awkward. She decided to throw caution to the wind. "Will you… stay a little while? Not long," she added hastily; "I'm sure you have a lot to talk about with Lord Bern."

He looked at her with something in his azure eyes that made her heart beat faster.

"I would not move from this place if all the hordes of Tash were at my door."

And he didn't.

FIN

A/N: There you go. Finis. Thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed this story - I know it's taken me about five years to write five chapters, and the fact that some of you (Thistly, I love you like an amazing pie) are still following it truly amazes me. I am so chuffed I could just put you all in a bag and eat you.

You may or may not remember that at the end of Sooner or Later, my second Lucian fluff-fest, I said one-day I might do a sequel, based in Aslan's country. Well, if it's of any interest to any of you, it's half-written. It's the last Lucian I have lined up for now, but I'd never rule another one out, particularly since I just saw the first official Prince Caspian poster and you know what? I could make lots of jokes about scandalously good-looking princes and their magic horns, but I'm not going to. Because let's face it, you've all thought of them already.

Edit 03/12/07: I just noticed this and I feel like I have to mention it - Andi Horton, I'm terrible with names and I didn't really take yours in when I read your review. You may have noticed that I mentioned you in the authors note for my other fic - I hadn't realised by then that you'd actually reviewed this, and I basically wanted to let you know that all of that was 100 heartfelt, not just a 'payback' or anything like that. I'm pretty floored that you liked this and I can't say how validating it is to have approval from an author like you.

Anyhow, thank you everyone for reading, whether you've been poking me for updates for ages or whether you just strolled in half an hour ago. I love you. Really really. I really don't know how to express my gratitude to you all individually, so hopefully many gathered exes will do the talking for me.

From Rumms xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx