Chapter 14: The Lady of Cair Paravel
It was the blackest hour of a moonless night, and Caspian stood on the deck of the Dawn Treader staring up at the stars. He had left the Cordial and the Broken Wand burning in the east. Now he was looking up at the old Leopard and Hammer. When his eyes traced out the Ship, he smiled to himself, for he thought he could see the shape of the Dawn Treader in that constellation. Surely my finest hours are behind me. Now all I can do is maintain what I've begun.
These were the last nights sailing the uncharted waters of the east. Drinian expected to see the Lone Islands on the horizon any day now, so Caspian thought the time had come to say goodbye to adventure. He squared his shoulders and took in a deep breath. I've had my fun, more than a fair share. I've done things that Narnia will make Narnia remember me for generations. But now I need to make sure that this generation is well-protected and happy. My own adventures end here.
Still, he reflected, I don't think I will be without happiness. He smile turned tender as he thought of the words Sereni had whispered to him just a few hours earlier. She would be a good wife; he was sure that they would be happy together. She understood him, and that was good.
No, she wasn't Lucy, but no one could be. Caspian remembered what Coriakin had said when he returned to the land of the Monopods with Sereni on his arm: "I rather thought you would take the young lady who was here before as your queen. She was a bright and brave girl, and if I may be so bold I would call her your other half. But I suppose Aslan has called her home?"
Caspian had nodded without looking at Coriakin. "He has."
Coriakin had sighed. "It is hard to always do one's duty."
Caspian felt this very strongly now, and he started to get annoyed with himself. This was supposed to be the moment where he let go of his adventures and prepared to sit on his throne once more, and he was failing miserably. He was just getting nostalgic all over again. Disgusted with his own sentimentality, he clambered down the ladder to the place where he could find his best comfort.
She was lying asleep with her silver hair spread all over the pillow. Even though there was no moon that night, she looked like she was bathed in moonlight, and that faint shimmer made the bare skin of her arms, and her neck, and her shoulders look like alabaster.
The ship rocked a little on a wave and one of the locker doors, improperly shut, swung open. Caspian looked instinctively for the familiar folds of Lucy's bright things, and he did a double take when all he saw hanging there were his own tunics and Sereni's one clean dress. He crossed to the locker in two quick strides and stared inside. He couldn't even see her cordial or her dagger.
"I folded up her things and put them above," a voice explained. Caspian turned to look at Sereni sharply. "They might have gotten dirty or damaged stuffed into the locker like that. Do not worry; they are quite safe. Safer than they were before. Look in the cabinet up above."
He did so and saw all the things folded with great precision and care. He closed both locker doors with a sigh that was masked by the click of the catch and went to sit on the edge of the bed. She raised herself on her knees and put her arms around him from behind. "It's all right," she whispered in his ear. "I know it's hard."
"It shouldn't be," he said, leaning back into the comfort of her embrace. "If I have you, if you are to be my wife…"
She moved so she could look him in the face and cupped his cheek. "Marriage is not a miracle. It is only two people who agree to help each other through the griefs and trials of life, an alliance of strength and hope. I am here to help you now."
"Sereni," he murmured, and even as he talked his lips started to brush against hers. He kissed her. "I hope I can love you as much as you deserve."
"Hush," she whispered. Her fingers were threaded in his hair and her eyes were taking in each detail of his face. "Don't talk like that. None of us deserve love."
Now she kissed him in the way she had that could make him forget anything. He pulled her close, and in doing so he discovered that she wasn't wearing a nightgown. He let his hands wander over the bare expanse of her back, and he wondered at every contour while she kissed him. He realized that if he dared, he could reach up and pull the sheet away from her, and his whole body became alive with that possibility. He wondered dimly if he did dare.
Then her hand was on his thigh, moving aside the hem of his tunic, and he knew that in this moment they could do what he had been longing to do since they were on his father's island together. His heart stopped for a second, and when it started again it was hammering in his chest. He leaned forward and now she was underneath him, her arms twined around his neck, pulling him close. His eyes had been closed, now as he pulled away from her lips to kiss her neck, her bare shoulders, he opened his eyes and looked into hers. And he saw that she wanted him too, but he also saw that she was scared.
His conscience smote him, and he sat up. "We can't do this. Not now."
She was trying to catch her breath. He could see the covers rise and fall above her chest. "You don't want to?"
He shook his head vehemently. "I do. But…"
"But?"
"You are still a maid. I couldn't." He looked down at her, stroked her cheek, and her arm. "The time will come soon enough."
He left the cabin then, fearing that he would not be able to hold out against temptation if she kept looking at him like that. It was better if they waited, if they had Aslan's blessing. It was better to not make their marriage bed with the same pillows and sheets Lucy had slept on. That was better. For that reason also he had refused when Drinian offered to marry them on board. Sereni would be his wife, but Lucy was his companion, his fellow wayfairer. However far away she was, he always felt the Dawn Treader would be haunted by her.
Two days later they landed in the Lone Islands, and the streets of Narrowhaven were crowded with people cheering for the King and his ship triumphant. Caspian led the parade with Sereni and Drinian at his side, and he smiled at Drinian as the people called "Long live the King!"
"Some of the ladies look quite heartbroken now that they see the lady on your arm," Drinian teased with a sly grin.
"Well maybe you can cheer them up," Caspian returned with a merry glint in his eye.
Both of them laughed loudly, but on Caspian's other side, Sereni shrank close to him. "They're so loud," she whispered. "All these people…"
Even though most of the town had come out to celebrate the king, the Lone Islands were sparsely populated and compared to the throngs Caspian had seen at Beruna and Beaversdam, there were not a lot of people. He wondered at Sereni. Probably the largest crowd she had ever seen in her life before that was the assembled crew of the Dawn Treader, a scant thirty swords. He put his arm around her waist and drew her close to him. Secretly he was proud there was some way he could protect her.
In the palace, Caspian brought forth Bern's old shipmates, and there was a happy reunion with much embracing. Strangely, Caspian found this difficult to watch too, and he turned his face away.
They all sat down to dinner, and he watched the reunited friends closely. They were five in number now, and they pledged his father and himself warmly, Bern with his noble bearing and Mavramorn in his deep voice. Argoz's kind eyes sparkled and there was something restful at last in Rhoop's face, while Revilian watched everything and said little. Clearly though, Bern was the happiest of the lot. His wife sat at the other end of the table talking kindly with Sereni, and Caspian noticed that during the lulls in conversation Bern's eyes would rest on his wife and a look of contentment and peace would creep into his face. The others who had gone on seeking the unknown had no such expression in their faces, and this gave Caspian pause.
He looked at Sereni carefully as she talked with the Duchess. She was so free with him, she never hesitated to speak her mind. Here, though, she was more subdued. Probably she didn't like being indoors so much, and Caspian resolved to eat more on the balcony and open all the windows in the Great Hall so that she might preside over the table at Cair Paravel with smiles.
He was drawn back to the conversation by Mavramorn's deep and booming voice. "Bern, don't tell me you believe in this Aslan nonsense too."
"Can you think of another force that would call children from another world? A force that would give us such a good and wise king despite his tender years?" Here Bern gave Caspian a conspiratorial smile. "And what of Miraz? It seemed no one in Narnia could defeat him and certain death for ourselves if we stayed, and for Caspian. Now Caspian is king and Miraz defeated. For me, the Lion is the only explanation for these miracles."
"Bah," Mavramorn said, looking very put out. "You talk the same nonsense as Argoz and Rhoop."
"I lived on the Dark Island for years," said Rhoop, "and I saw the albatross do what no other living creature could. It led us to light and safety. Queen Lucy said it was Aslan, and I cannot doubt her."
Caspian smiled gravely. "The foolishness, my Lord Mavramorn, lies not in believing, but in forming your belief on testimonials you don't rely on. You can only believe, or not. Look to yourself, and mock not our faith."
Mavramorn bowed his head. "My lord," he said respectfully, but he glowered. Revilian, on the other hand, stayed silent as usual but smiled very faintly.
Neither Mavramorn nor the sailor Pittencream returned to Narnia with them. There was a Calormene merchant ship at port in Narrowhaven, and the last anyone heard of either they were climbing on board in the dead of night right before the ship put out at dawn.
The day after their departure, Caspian and Sereni were married by Bern on the soft hills of Felimath. He imagined she wouldn't want a huge state wedding at Cair Paravel, so he had the ceremony on the slopes that she said reminded her of home. While she said her vows, she gave him a look so full of love and confidence that he felt like he could retake the Lone Islands singlehandedly. And so Sereni, the daughter of a star, became Caspian's queen.
The morning after their landing in Narnia Caspian awoke suddenly in his chamber. He had slept poorly all the night before, and he knew why. He was too comfortable. He had spent too many months swinging in the hammock of a ship; the stillness of the room and the luxurious softness of the sheets was too novel a sensation to let him rest.
Still, that was not exactly what had awoken him. It was the sound of singing, high and cold and so beautiful it made him shiver. At first he couldn't think of what it might be, though he knew the sound from somewhere.
He stretched and rubbed his eyes. He saw that his chamber was filled with the deep gray of the morning just before dawn, and when his eyes adjusted to that light he saw her standing on the eastern balcony. She was singing her sunrise song, but there were tears streaming down her cheeks. He made a soft noise of sympathy and slid out of bed. He went to her silently because he dared not disturb her song.
She hit the full rich note which brought the sun up above the horizon, and it came in a breathtaking display of liquid gold that shot through the room and shone in her hair. But she was still crying.
Finally her tears overcame her and she lost the song in a sob. It was then that Caspian put his arms around her. He held her for a long while as she cried into his shoulder. She was so full of grief he wondered how he ever had the heart to tear her away from everything she had ever known and loved.
"Why did you come? Why did you leave your home and your father behind?" Caspian asked her when she had quieted a little.
She looked up at him and stroked his arms. The tears were still bright in her eyes. "I had to come. The stars tell the stories of the world below, but they tell their own stories too. As I grew up my father told me that I would leave him to sail west to the peopled countries, offering what love and comfort I could to a grieving king. And so when you came, the first king I had ever met, I knew the rest of my life lay with you, for better or for worse. You are my destiny."
"Are you happy with your lot, then?" he asked. He was scared to know the answer.
She nodded. "I love you." She kissed him as proof of this, but when she pulled away her eyes rested on the now shining water of the sea. "I miss my father, though. I do not think I am ever meant to see him again."
He turned her face to him. "We both left much behind in the East. But now we are here, and we must go on together. I have leaned on you for so long, but do not think you cannot rely on me. I would do everything in my power to give you comfort. An alliance of hope and strength—that's what you said this is."
Somewhere in the east Ramandu was standing under the new sun eating the fire berry that would renew him while birds which sang in human voices fluttered in a cacophony around him. Somewhere in another world, a round world, Lucy and Edmund and Eustace were dreaming of Narnia. And somewhere in Aslan's country Reepicheep the Mouse was basking in his heart's desire.
Back in Narnia, Ramandu's daughter looked at him and smiled.
A/N: Big breath So that's it! I might have dragged this story on a little longer than necessary (the dwindling reviews are starting to give me that feeling), but I had this ending pictured in my head for such a long time I had to write it all out. I'd be curious to know what you all think. Your reviews have been awesome, and let me thank everyone again.
Now rubs hands it's on to the alternate universe. Caspian and Lucy get to stay together, hurrah! Of course, it's not all primroses, but...well, you'll see.