꧁ The Dufflepuds & The Wizard ꧂
Lucy and Elizabeth spent the whole day with Gael, who told them everything about her childhood on the island. She had never had an easy life, but the love of her family was always enough for her to be happy. The woman would have really liked to be able to say the same for herself.
The sun had just begun to set when the child fell asleep, exhausted. The two women decided to let her rest and left their quarters, heading for the deck.
"She seems a really good girl," Elizabeth told her friend, as they walked along the edge of the ship.
Lucy nodded, "Yes, she really does," she replied, "she reminds me of me when I was her age," she added, sighing.
The note of sadness in her voice made Elizabeth understand that the girl was thinking about the possibility of not being able to save the child's mother. The tender heart and kindness of Lucy surprised her every moment more, the woman did not remember having ever met anyone so caring and willing to help others.
"Lucy, look at me," she said, stopping her and putting her hands on her shoulders as a sign of comfort. "We'll find them, Lu. We'll find the missing people and Gael's mother," she reassured her, smiling gently.
"Yes. Yes, you're right. We'll find them," she stated with more confidence.
"Oh, there you are," Edmund called them from behind their backs, "I was beginning to wonder where you were," he continued.
"You could have come looking for us," Lucy remarked sarcastically, referring to the fact that her brother had spent all day cleaning his new sword from the corals.
Edmund chuckled, shaking his head. "How is the child?" he asked, resting the blade on his legs.
"She's sleeping," replied Elizabeth, sitting beside him. "How are you with that sword?" she then asked him, with an accomplice smirk.
"Very well! It's almost done," he said proudly, showing it to her under Lucy's annoyed look.
"Where's Caspian?" the girl then asked him, to divert his attention from the weapon.
"In the captain's cabin with Drinian," he answered, "they are checking the route. Apparently we should see land by tomorrow night." he explained.
"And your cousin?" demanded Elizabeth, who had not heard from Eustace since the duel.
"Probably curled up somewhere whining," he joked.
The three laughed and said good night, as the sun disappeared among the waves of the ocean.
✵✵✵✵
The King and Captain's predictions were correct: at first light of dusk the following day the ship had reached another island. To see it from a distance it seemed to be an uninhabited land, but it could still be a source of water and supplies. Caspian ordered to lower the longboats: along with a handful of men, they would have spent the night on the beach and visited the island the next morning.
Elizabeth stared at the black night sky illuminated by thousands of stars. So many small bright dots shone brightly, as she had never seen before. In London it was certainly not possible to see anything like this, even in the cloudless nights: the numerous lights of the city obscured that of the stars.
Moving her gaze from the sky for a moment, Elizabeth noticed that she was not the only one awake. Caspian, in fact, was sitting not far from her, contemplating the sea. Being careful not to wake up Lucy, who was sleeping quietly by her side, the woman got up and walked towards him.
"Can't sleep?" he demanded her, watching her sit by his side.
"Looks like I'm not the only one." she answered, smiling at him. He smiled back, but it seemed to her that he was just trying to hide a concerned expression: something was bothering him. "What is it, Cas? What's wrong?" she softly said.
He chuckled, "How do you know that something is wrong?" he replied.
"It's painted all over your face." she told him quietly.
"Well, don't worry, I'm probably just overthinking," he claimed in a reassuring voice.
"Then stop, it's useless and you need to rest." she stated, placing a hand on his arm.
"It's not that easy, you know? I can't just switch my mind off," he said in a sarcastic tone.
"Maybe I can," she murmured, "come here, lay your head on my lap," she then told him, patting her belly. Once again, he stared at her as she had gone mad. "Don't give me that look, Cas, you can't be that heavy," she joked, seeing his expressions. "Just trust me," she eventually said, lying down on the sand.
Caspian did the same, then leaned awkwardly his head on her stomach. Even if he thought it was a rather crazy request at first, when the woman's fingers began to intertwine gently with his hair, he was grateful to her for having made it.
"How does it feel?" she asked him, caressing his head and joking with some of his brown locks.
"Amazing," he sincerely answered, relaxing under her touch.
To be more comfortable, Caspian let an arm circle her waist. He did it slowly, for fear of her rejection: it was unlikely, but the last thing he wanted was to impose himself. Elizabeth was an incredibly open-minded woman, and he loved that about her, she was frank and straightforward, but gentle and caring at the same time. She had adapted to a world completely different from her own, never complaining and welcoming the adventure with open arms, and without ever losing those aspects of her character that made her different from any Narnian. Caspian admired her, maybe even envied her a little, but, above all, he liked her crazy.
It was with this thought in mind that the King finally fell asleep, gently holding the woman close to him.
✵✵✵✵
Elizabeth opened her eyes at the first light of dawn, and smiled seeing that Caspian was resting peacefully with his head still on her lap. Her gaze, however, was soon caught by strange marks on the sand all around them. They were footprints, she noticed turning her face, huge footprints.
"Cas," she murmured, gently shaking one of his shoulder, "Cas, wake up," she called him again, raising her voice slightly.
He opened his eyes and raised his head slowly to look at her. His sleepy expression became confused at first, then worried, after having seeing her restless gaze.
"What's going on?" he asked her, getting up and allowing her to do the same.
"Look," she told him, pointing to the prints.
"Someone has been here," he murmured with a serious voice, and then hurried to awake Edmund and the others.
"Guys, Lucy's not here," Elizabeth remarked, staring at her empty cover.
Hearing those words the two Kings rushed to her side, their eyes pointed in the same direction of hers. The realization hit them like a bucket of cold water: the girl was gone. They quickly picked up their swords and went looking for her, along with the other men of the crew landed with them.
The group left the beach behind, entering the heart of the island. Soon they found themselves surrounded by greenery, plants with the most curious shapes were everywhere around them. They continued to slalom, between spherical bushes, spiral, intertwined, and a thousand other strange geometric templates that Elizabeth wouldn't know what to call. It was like being in the middle of a topiary art garden.
"Caspian look," Edmund called their attention, kneeling down to take something, "Lucy's dagger," he murmured.
The older King approached to look better, the woman immediately behind him. However, before either of them had the opportunity to say or do anything, spears were implanted in the ground a few steps away from them. The three jumped to attention and drew their swords, but they immediately flew away from their hands, as if snatched from them by an invisible force.
"Stop right there or perish!" ordered a voice, one that didn't seem to have a source.
Now their own weapons were levitating in mid-air, pointed at them, while some of their men had been thrown on the ground.
"What sort of creatures are you?" asked Caspian to the void, as he held his arm protectively in front of Elizabeth.
"Big ones," one of them quickly responded, "with the head of a tiger and the body of a..." it started, trying to sound intimidating.
"Different tiger!" another voice finished.
"You don't want to mess with us," the first one spoke again.
"Or what?" Edmund asked, not liking to be threatened.
"Or I'll claw you to death!" it yelled.
"And I'll ram my tusk right through you," another claimed.
"And I'll gnash you with my teeth," added a third one.
However those threats no longer sounded so menacing, not when their opponents finally began to become visible, proving to be very different from what they claimed to be. They were small men, whose stature could recall that of a Hobbit, thought Elizabeth, with only one great foot instead of the canonical two. They stood in pairs, one above the other, to look taller, while pointing swords and spears at them.
"And I'll bite you with my fangs. Grrr!" one of them spoke again.
"You mean squash us with your fat bellies?" Edmund asked him, smirking.
"Yes!" the creature immediately exclaimed, appearing confused a moment after, "Fat bellies?" he then murmured.
"Tickle us with your toes?" Caspian joked, as everyone started to laugh.
That reaction destabilised their opponents, who lost their balance and began to fall on the ground, letting go of the weapons.
"What have you done with my sister, you little pip-squeak?" Edmund roared out, picking up his sword and pointing it at the one who appeared to be the chief.
Elizabeth moved away from Caspian's side and hurried towards them. She immediately laid her hand on the boy's arm, to prevent him from doing something stupid: they were certainly mischievous beings and had made a mistake, but the woman was certain that they wouldn't have been able to do serious harm.
"Easy, Ed," the woman told him quietly, as he lowered his blade, sighing. "Where is she?" she then asked in a resolute tone, addressing their small adversary.
"You better tell him, Chief," suggested to him one of his own, with a worried voice.
"In the mansion," he meekly answered.
"What mansion?" Edmund inquired, seeing nothing but plants around them.
A moment after having asked that question, a wonderful palace began to take shape behind them. Made by refined grey stone and covered in part by ivy, Elizabeth thought it resembled an English royal residence.
"Oh, that mansion," the boy murmured, astonished.
"I'm really getting tired of you all leaving me behind, I was jus..." a very well known voice started to complain behind them.
The two Kings and the woman turned around, all the three of them both surprised and annoyed to see Eustace there: they had completely forgotten about him.
"It's the pig!" one of the creatures said.
"The pig has come back!" added another.
"The pig? What a nice nickname," Elizabeth joked shifting her gaze between Caspian and Edmund.
"Yeah, why didn't I think that?" the boy replied, chuckling.
"This place just gets weirder and weirder," Eustace claimed, looking around bewildered.
"Weird? Him calling us weird?" the little men muttered. "Look! The Oppressor! The Oppressor!" they then started to whisper, pointing at the house.
The group turned again to see Lucy walking towards them alongside an old man.
"Lucy!" Edmund exclaimed, relieved.
"Your Majesties," the newcomer courteously greeted them.
"Caspian, Edmund, Liz, this is Coriakin," the girl introduced him, "it's his island," she explained.
"That's what he thinks!" the chief cried out, hiding behind Caspian, "You have wronged us, magician." he stated.
"I have not wronged you," the man replied, walking past the Kings and the woman, "I made you invisible for your own protection," he told him.
"Protection? That's oppressive! Oppressor!" The creatures kept yelling as they started to move backwards.
"I have not oppressed you." he retorted, continuing forward.
"But you could've, if you'd wanted to," the chief argued.
"Be gone," he said, throwing something at them, which made them jump away.
"What was that?" asked Lucy out of curiosity, as they came back.
"Lint. But don't tell them," he told her with a smile.
"What were those things?" Eustace demanded right after.
"Dufflepuds." Coriakin answered glibly.
"Right, of course. Silly me." he murmured.
The royals and Elizabeth let out a slight laugh, before following the wizard inside the palace.