Caspian blinked hard, not wanting to wake from his dream. It was too beautiful to leave. A tickling sensation at his chin roused him slightly, and he sighed in resignation. It was over now.
Further movement answered his sigh, and his eyes popped open. Moving his head as little as possible, he glanced at the dark cloud of curls taking over his shoulder, and the pale, bare arm splayed across his equally bare chest.
An involuntary grin took over his face. Apparently it wasn't a dream after all. He pressed a kiss into Naomi's soft hair, and she mumbled sleepily.
It was a rare treat to watch her wake; she was nearly always up long before the dawn with all the chores done by the time he rose. She shifted in her sleep, and he could feel her slowly reaching consciousness.
She stiffened self-consciously, and moved her head as little as possible as she tried to check whether he was awake.
When her eyes met his amused stare, Her face turned as red as one of the garden tomatoes. She shook her head slightly to cause her hair to fall across her eyes, hiding them from his view.
He chuckled, and pushed her hair back and away from her face.
"You didn't braid it last night," He observed with amusement.
"I was... distracted." She managed to squeak out.
"Mmm," He agreed, his finger tracing down her neck and shoulder to take up her hand and kiss each of her fingers gently. "I remember."
Her blush deepened, and his smile widened.
"I should make breakfast," She mumbled.
"Of course," He replied, not moving.
"You're... in the way," Naomi hinted.
"Am I? How do you usually get out of bed in the mornings?" He realized he'd never thought to ask.
"I... scoot off the end of the bed." She replied, and he chuckled.
"I suppose we'll scandalize everyone if we stay abed much longer. I have to attend a meeting, you know," His face darkened as he thought about going to see his brother.
"Yes, I don't usually sleep nearly so long," She admitted, looking at the light of dawn filtering in.
"Then I'm glad I caught you," He kissed her gently on the lips, but the gesture quickly threatened to turn into something more. After several seconds, she pulled away gasping.
"We have so much to do!" She protested half-heartedly, clearly thinking of the chores that would remain undone. He sighed, and kissed her once more, briefly, before acquiescing to the demands of the day. He dressed quickly, while she remained, adorably, hidden under the blanket, blushing.
"I'll leave you now. I won't trouble you for breakfast, seeing as I'm a primary cause of you oversleeping, but I'll be back to help with chores after I go see Edmar with Father."
She nodded, her tangled curls still splayed on the pillow around her, and he couldn't resist leaning over for one final kiss.
"I'll see you later," He said, then paused. "I love you."
"I love you, too." She smiled, and his heart stuttered. If he hadn't told his father he'd go... but he had. And the man would likely come looking for him if he didn't go soon.
Reluctantly, he pulled away and left the alluringly disheveled woman to put herself together in his absence.
He felt lighter than he'd had in a long time as he stepped outside. The air was cool this morning, and he delighted in the breeze that ruffled his hair. He should have gotten a woolen cap, but he didn't want to keep his father waiting.
Caspian quickly made his way to his parents' hut, where he was able to poach some breakfast leftovers before his mother finished cleaning up. She shot him a curious look, but he shrugged and smiled.
Warmed by his good humor, she served him a little more and went about her cleaning and chores.
Haf gave a heavy sigh and looked a little sadly at his younger son when he finished shoveling a bit of food into his mouth.
"Well, we'd best be off." He said. "I hope this works, but I can't say I'm particularly convinced it will. Regardless, it wouldn't do to keep Edmar confined without any company."
Caspian nodded, and the two set off together.
"I've had a few thoughts on all this," He offered as they walked. In reality, the thoughts had just now occurred to him, as his mind had been more agreeably engaged the previous evening.
"Oh?" Haf asked curiously.
"Yes. I'm wondering whether distraction or focus is the better role to take. Do you have any thoughts?" Caspian asked.
"We've focused all we can on dissuading him from his affection, if that's what you mean," Haf shook his head.
"Not precisely that, but rather, trying to make him think critically, or at least, building some trust and conversation back up, I suppose. I admit I've been fairly distanced from him of late. If I start down a strange line of questioning or conversation of which you don't approve, just let me know and I'll stop."
"It's unlikely I will. We've tried so much that I don't see how your efforts could make things too much worse." Haf admitted. "Try whatever you feel is best in talking to him."
They came to the door, Haf knocked politely as if paying a normal visit to his adult son and not seeing a confined prisoner within his makeshift jail. Guards were stationed on all sides of the hut; a valuable lesson had been learned after Brenna's escape.
Caspian wondered if they would resort to a more secure prison if Edmar attempted to escape again. Brenna's hold on him must be strong indeed, or Edmar's pride was forcing him to resist his parents' commands.
Caspian could relate to the latter feeling more than he wanted to admit.
"Come in!" A gruff voice called from inside, followed by a grumbled, "as if I have any choice in whether you come or not."
The two visitors entered the home, which had the window shades drawn, and was not lit within. The darkness was a bit odd, but perhaps he'd only just awoken.
Haf took the liberty of opening the curtains to let some light in, and an unkempt-looking Edmar glared at him from the bed where he sat.
"What do you want?" He demanded.
"We wanted to see you, and talk with you," Haf tried to lift his older son's spirits, but the task was a difficult one.
"Unless you've come to discuss when I can marry Brenna, I'll have no part in it." Edmar lay down on the bed and rolled to face away from them, like a sullen child.
"Come now, Ed. I thought you'd want to talk about something else," Caspian tried a friendly tone. "I was thinking about fishing."
"What use is fishing at a time like this?" Edmar growled. "I'm separated from the woman I adore."
"Well, that will happen often in the future, won't it? We spend a lot of time at sea." Caspian reminded him.
"Perhaps I'll stop." His older brother mumbled.
"Would you, though? After you made such great discoveries recently?" He prodded. "And to think, seeing land in the world of the pink sky. I thought you would surely want to explore it."
"You brought YOUR wife there." The man on the bed flipped over to face his brother.
"And that almost ended in both our deaths," Caspian cringed. "You wouldn't want to put a woman you care about in that kind of danger."
"No..." Edmar narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"But surely you'll want to see what the land has to offer." Caspian continued. "So many years, and we've never seen anything like that. It's all thanks to you that we did."
Although he strongly regretted and disapproved of the methods and choices Edmar employed throughout that whole debacle, it still was a fact that the discovery was a great one.
"So you finally admit I did the right thing??" Edmar pushed skeptically.
Caspian paused. Edmar would see through him in an instant if he lied.
"I'm not entirely impartial on that point. Naomi nearly died, and so did I." And Haf for that matter, but Caspian didn't say so.
"I'm sorry about that, Cas. You know I didn't want that part to happen." Edmar's voice softened a little for the first time.
"I know, Ed." Caspian didn't exactly know that for certain, but his brother seemed sincere enough to accept the statement for now. "The question is, what are we going to do about it now?"
"You mean... you'd let me out of here to go sailing and try to explore the land there?" Edmar's eyebrows rose as his gaze turned to his father.
Caspian didn't know the answer, and also looked at Haf. He had successfully given his brother something other than Brenna to think about, at least.
"That's something we could discuss," Haf gave Caspian an uncertain look before turning to his older son. "I'd like to know more about all of it, since I was unconscious at the time. I never did get to hear everything from your point of view."