Marina

Part Two

Of all the things Caspian expected to find on the shore, it wasn't a naked woman with a heart-shaped face and long, beautiful brown hair.

He'd almost run away screaming at first, thinking that he'd found a dead body. Thankfully, he'd noticed her steady breathing as soon as he came closer to look her over. As much as he could without disgracing either himself or the woman, of course.

In that short amount of time, he'd glimpsed just how pearly her skin was. How gently her figure curved and dipped in all the right places. He'd noticed her shapely legs and small feet.

Although he would have liked to see more, Caspian was too much of a gentleman to take advantage of things. His mother and sister would have given him a beating, and his father would have thrown him into the sea. Luckily, the coat that he'd decided to wear against the morning chill had been long enough to cover her.

Now, the woman was dressed in his late mother's old clothes—and going through her breakfast more enthusiastically than he had expected. Her wide blue eyes and the happy little chirrups coming from her bow lips were close to driving him insane.

"Good, yeah?" he asked, hoping that some small-talk would distract him from his startling fascination with the woman.

Said woman swallowed the food left in her mouth before smiling at him. "It tastes heavenly!"

If there was anything he could boast about, it was the artisan techniques that his late parents had handed down to him. His father had been a master at reading the sea, and his mother had had a knack for preparing and preserving fish of all kinds. They'd been good at what they did despite their identities as 'humble fisherfolk.'

"I caught it fresh from the water over there, then cured it with enough salt to last a year," he explained.

The woman nodded before picking up her fork and resuming her feast. "I didn't know it would taste this delicious."

"You look like you've never had fish before." Caspian ran through the landlocked villages that he knew of. If the woman wasn't used to eating fish, then she might have come from the forested regions like Regalia Ridge or Viridian Vale.

However, the woman shook her head.

"It's the only thing I've had since I was a child," she said, "but I've never had it cooked. Like this, I mean."

Ever since regaining consciousness, the woman had given nothing but confusing answers. There was no question that she was hiding something from him. She didn't want him to know where she'd come from or what had happened to her, and this was reason enough to let her be on her way.

However, Caspian didn't have it in his heart to leave her to her own devices. A young woman like her, seemingly unaware of the dangers of the world, would have no chance against the swindlers and ruffians that passed through Cerulean Cove. Not to mention the fairies and other beings that occasionally visit human territories.

"I see," he said, dismissing her secretive behavior for now. He didn't want to upset her if it meant making her recall any horrible things she'd had to go through to get here.

The woman finished her food just as Caspian pulled a chair out from the other side of the table and sat down. "Thank you for serving me breakfast."

"About what you said earlier." Caspian laced his fingers together and set them on the table. He didn't want to talk about this in his little kitchen, with its modestly stocked cupboards and dull wood floors, but no other place in the four-room cottage seemed any better.

The parlor's furniture was still covered in sheets because he hadn't entertained anybody there in a long time. The bath and bedroom were out of the question. And it wasn't like he could drag her out of the house after the hearth had just warmed her up.