kitchen_maid | (no subject)

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In the two weeks since the Ordinary Princess was last here, autumn has arrived in the Forest of Faraway. But this is that perfect moment in autumn, the one you remember. The leaves have turned, but few have fallen. The weather has turned cooler, but it's still warm in the sun. It's a beautiful day for a picnic.

The Ordinary Princess stands very still in the clearing, head tilted back to look at the trees and the sky, the squirrels chasing each other around her feet. "This is the Forest of Faraway," she says, eyes still on the trees. And then she turns to look at Caspian. "This is home."

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Caspian takes the bread, and holds it out to the deer, patiently waiting as the creature takes first one shy step, and then another, large liquid brown eyes on the bread.

Another step. Another.

It stretches out its neck gracefully, and takes the breads gently from Caspian's hand, before bounding away at some rustle in the bushes.

Caspian laughs.

The Ordinary Princess laughs, too. "She always comes to say hello," she says, "or at least to beg food." She looks thoughtfully at the woods, branches still moving slightly from the deer's having passed them. "Though she usually stays longer."

"She may have had other business," Caspian suggests. "Or something caught her attention. She may well come back later, for food."

"Or she may have just wanted the bread today," says the Ordinary Princess, with a laugh. "And is therefore done with us."

"Or that," he says, grinning back. "I feel terribly used. Then again, I used to hunt deer, so I suppose it all evens out in the end."

She laughs. "Yes, I can see where that might make her uncomfortable," she says.

She looks at him, curious and teasing just a bit. "Were you any good at it? Hunting deer?"

"Quite good," he says, laughing. "Although, like Peter and the others, I never did manage to catch the white stag, which in the end is rather more desirable than having caught him, I think."

As they start back along the path, the Ordinary Princess says, "What white stag? And why is it better not to have caught him?"

"The White Stag," Caspian tells her, "was a creature that only appeared every now and again, and he would give you wishes if you caught him. I think it better to have let such a noble beast go free than to hunt him to exhasution."

"Yes, I think you're right."

She looks at him, very curious. "What would you have wished for?"

He thinks for a moment.

"I don't rightly know," he says, after a while. "Different things at different points of my life, I suppose."

[ooc: oops! sorry about that.]

[ooc: No worries. I do it all the time. And since we're both currently switching back and forth . . . I think we're doing VERY well.]

"What would you wish for now, then?" she asks. She's not teasing, she's genuinely curious.

He quirks a smile at her.

"Let me think on it, and I will tell you when I have arrived at a conclusion," he promises.

"What would you wish for, Amy?"

The Ordinary Princess looks up at the trees. She is not, really, given to wishing for things, and she's never thought about it before.

"A week ago, I'd have said a brother," she says after a long moment, "or at least some member of my family who wasn't just a little bit disappointed in me, but that's taken care of. I don't there's really anything I'd wish for right now. Except, maybe, to stay this happy. That's a silly wish, isn't it?"

"There are no silly wishes," he says, seriously.

"Aslan told me, when he'd woken me up, that I could not want wrong things anymore, now that I am dead. But I think that has only made me more cautious in wishing for things. Does that make sense?"

"Yes," she says. "Because if anything you want is all right, that's . . . a little frightening. It's too much permission, maybe. And you don't want to become the sort of person who doesn't stop to think about those sorts of things."

At least, that's the sense it makes to her.

"Yes," he says, relieved. "That's it, exactly. And really, most of my wishes have come true--I'm with my friends again, and I have a family of my own again, or a sister, at least," he smiles at her, "and I think I have managed to put some old troubles to rest. Really, I am quite content these days."

"It's very good to have family," she says, with a smile.

"I wonder if anyone has ever caught your stag and then wished that he hadn't."

"Do you know, I'm not sure," he says, thoughtfully, "although anything that can give you wishes is to be treated very carefully, indeed. Creatures or objects that magical sometimes have intentions of their own, whether they are for good or ill."

She looks at him for a long moment, and then begins to laugh. She tries to say something, but can't stop laughing.

It's probably not a polite response to what he just said, but she can't help it.

He rolls his eyes.

"Alright, never mind," he says, laughing back at her. "I give up. Where are those blackberries?"

"I'm sorry, Caspian," she says, as the laughter subsides. "It's just . . . you can't possibly think I didn't know that, can you? After the 'incident' at my christening?"

"The blackberries are just around that turn," she says, pointing.

He makes a face at her, and heads off in that direction.

"At least your family didn't try to kill you," he calls over his shoulder, grinning. "and I think it's rather for the best your godmothers sadi what they did. Ah, here they are!"

She rushes a bit to catch up to him. "Oh, it's definitely for the best."

She frowns. "Why did your family try to kill you, Caspian? That doesn't make any sense at all."

There's really an awful lot she doesn't know about him. And she's a little surprised that he can refer to it that casually.

He looks a little surprised.

"Didn't I tell you about that?"

Her expression tells him otherwise, so he waits for her to catch up and heads to the blackberries, plucking a few and handing them to her with a smile.

"They wanted to kill me because I was the son of the true king, and while my Uncle Miraz was childless, he didn't whether I inherited the throne when he died or not, but eventually he and his wife had a son, so they decided to get rid of me."

His attention diverted to the berries, he tells the story fairly causually. It's been a long time for him, now.