Caspian had had nightmares before, but this was different than what he’d experienced in the past. When he’d been young, he’d had some wild dreams influenced by movies he’d watched that he shouldn’t have at his age, but as he’d gotten older, his nightmares usually revolved around things that had caused him stress. Like other high borns, he’d lived a sheltered life, never facing worse than a broken bone and never finding himself in a dangerous position as long as the capital had been secured by the military. He dreamt of missing deadlines, failing at important tasks, and of course, the all-time classic: giving a public speech while naked. While such nightmares were disturbing in their own way, they couldn’t compare to the terror of seeing the faces of the dead over and over again.

Distantly, he heard Iris speak up beside him and felt her squeeze his hand reassuringly. Using her as an anchor to recover from his fright, he turned toward her and took a deep breath, reminding himself that he was far away from the plaza, taking cover in the woods with her. Repeating the truth to himself, his tense muscles began to unwind, and he took the water bottle from her to wet his throat. [color=#b97703]“Sorry if I startled you,”[/color] he sighed, a little embarrassed that she’d seen him freak out over a bad dream. He wished he hadn’t jolted awake so violently, but it wasn’t something he could have controlled, since he had been asleep a second before.

Setting the container back down, he glanced up at the sky. Between the tree branches and the haze in the air, he couldn’t see it clearly, but he could tell that it was still sometime in the late afternoon. [color=#b97703][i]Good,[/i][/color] he thought. That meant he still had some time to try to forget about his nightmare before he laid down to sleep when dusk fell. He had a feeling that if he tried now, he would just end up reimagining the same scenario in Bel Bicis that had woke him up the first time. He didn’t feel like going through that twice.

Turning back to Iris, a half smile pulled at his lip. He appreciated that she had helped him ground himself. The lingering fright was fading faster than it probably would have if he’d been alone. With a burst of affection, he leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, relishing their renewed closeness. He rested his hand on her leg and pulled back from the kiss to meet her gaze, [color=#b97703]“It was stupid of me to ever think I could go back to living without you. I hope you know that now that I’ve got you back, I’m never letting go again.”[/color]

Though he spoke partially in jest, he was earnest about how much he liked being with her. If she wanted to be with him for the long haul, he knew he wouldn’t be opposed. Far from it, in fact. Even though they hadn’t known each other for very long, going through multiple near-death experiences had a way of bringing two people together. He was prepared to fight his father tooth and nail if that’s what it took to keep her by his side for the rest of his life.