The Lost Legacy

Chapter 11: A Hand of Friendship

The night that came around after the sun set over the mountains brought an atmosphere of uneasiness in the land of Telmar. Sophie lay awake in bed for a really long time that night. She didn't have the energy to go down to the kitchen and make herself a glass of milk like Nina had once suggested for helping with insomnia. 

So, she did the only thing she could. 

The wardrobe in her room called to her, the cloak giving her dreams of the warmth she needed. The tower that had always given her a sense of safety was where she went but she didn't open it. Instead, her legs took her towards the chambers of the person she shared it with. 

After reaching the door, a sense of doubt washed over her as she brought her fist up to knock. Should she knock or not? They had decided not to meet each other at the tower, having to travel quite early in the morning, and she shouldn't have been the one to disturb his sleep if he was going to be the captain of the ship. She didn't think that she should accompany him on the journey but he thought otherwise. "I cannot leave you here alone once again, not with the White Witch back", he had told her.

Sophie was supposed to be sleeping and knew that he would be too, but while she was thinking of what to do, the door in front of her opened, startling her in the dead of the night. "I'm so sorry," said Caspian as she placed a hand over her heart in the shock. "I had a feeling you were outside."

"I....I apologise for waking you up."

"I wasn't sleeping." It felt like they were back in time to when Sophie first realised that the tower was his spot. Both of them were still unsure of how to stop hiding their feelings for each other even though it was out. "Would you like to come in?"

"Thank you. I was hoping that we could talk." Sophie walked in as he opened the door wide, not knowing how the night was going to go forward. They should have just met up at the tower. "Why weren't you able to sleep?"

The bird in his room fluttered his wings as he saw her enter, excited that Sophie was back. "I was worried," answered Caspian, making her turn around.

"What were you worried about?" She asked, pulling a chair to sit on, the same one from his study.

"I am not sure whether Galma can afford to give us more men to fight. I am worried whether a war will happen. I'm worried of how I'm going to protect our people. I'm worried whether you-"

He stopped in the middle of the sentence, his eyes reading her once again. Even in the subtle darkness, she could feel his expectant gaze on her. 

"Go on," she insisted, but he looked at the floor and smiled. 

"I don't think I should. Not yet, anyway." When were they going to tell each other what they wanted to hear? "It's too soon."

"The timing's not right," she said, completing his sentence for him.

Caspian wanted to tell her the truth. He really did. He wanted to tell her that he would go the ends of the earth if that's what it took to be with her, that he was ready to defy the different worlds so that they could spend time together. 

But both of them knew that the timing wasn't right. Even it was, they weren't sure how to put it into words.

"I'm scared," she confessed. "I really am."

"Oh, Sophie." Caspian sat down in front of her. "As long as I am here, you don't have to be scared of anything."

Sophie brushed the back of her hand on his cheek and kissed him once. "Thank you." 

"Will it be okay to talk about other matters? Just to have a change of mood."

The two of them sat down on his bed and started talking about their favourite things. They knew almost everything about each other but you can never really get to know about someone completely, right? "Between ice-cream and you, I think you might be my favourite."