•King Caspian: A New Dawn•

Chapter Eleven

The sun had yet to breach the horizon as Aloysius trotted up to the homestead on his stallion, Brew. It had been a long two weeks of training followed by a long night of travel and he was beyond thankful to be home.

Approaching the cottage, his brows knit together in confusion. No light came from the windows, no smoke rose from the chimney. Cold ashes from the fire pit floated away as the early morning breeze swept through the yard.

"Melioralee?" he called, dismounting rather quickly.

With no sound or movement in response, he bounded up the porch steps and threw the door open.

His panic melted into a soft smile at the scene before him. At the table, head resting on her folded arms, Melioralee slept soundly.

Aloysius chuckled. There were papers scattered across the table around her and it was clear she had been writing for by her side sat her special little book, open to whatever composition had kept her awake into the late hours of the night.

"Melioralee?" he whispered, rubbing her back.

She took a deep breath and stirred beneath his touch, barely opening one eye to see who would interrupt her slumber.

"Aloysius?"

"Yeah, it's me. Hey, what are you doing out here?"

In her half-conscious state, Melioralee mumbled something he couldn't understand, eliciting another soft chuckle.

"Lee...c'mon its morning."

Aloysius waited a moment but the only sound in the room was her restful breaths.

Sighing, Aloysius scooped Melioralee up in his arms and strode across the room, kicking open the bedroom door with his foot.

"Must've been a special poem to keep you up like this." he whispered, lying her down on the bed.

Aloysius draped a blanket over her small frame, closed the curtains and as quietly as possible, exited the room to let her sleep.

"Huh." he said to himself as he stared at the closed door in front of him, both amused and perplexed.

Returning to the table, Aloysius started cleaning up the mess of papers that encircled Melioralee's vacant seat.

As he picked up one particular pile of papers, several of its contents seemed to jump off the page at him, immediately capturing his attention.

...think of you often...our time together...distance between us...bring you to Narnia...official courtship...see you soon, Caspian X.

Aloysius snapped his head up, looking to his sister's closed door then back at the letter in his hands.

"That happened faster than I anticipated..." Aloysius muttered to himself, folding the papers and deciding not to pry further.

Once the table was tidied up, Aloysius began heating up a kettle of water for tea. He rummaged through the shelves and found enough veggies to make a simple soup. Before too long, the cottage became filled with an inviting, savory aroma.

"Something smells good out here."

Aloysius turned from his stance over the cook-fire and greeted Melioralee with a smile.

"Look who finally joined the living. Get enough rest there, sleepy face?"

Melioralee yawned, covering her mouth with her hand and letting out a dismissive hum.

"How look the new recruits?"

"Good. Promising as usual. How were things here?"

"Also good as usual. Esta and the children were asking about you yesterday. I think Alliard, Gavril and Cadmus miss seeing you."