186 Camping
“Anna, we are resting here for the night,” Caspian said to his sleeping wife after the carriage came to a halt.
Anastasia was lying down on the seat of the carriage while using Caspian’s lap as a pillow.
Caspian gently tapped on his wife’s cheek as she didn’t get up the first time he called her, “Anna, it’s time to wake up.”
“Hmmm...” Anastasia pouted her lips and covered her eyes with her wrist.
Caspian gazed at her with a soft smile on his lips. ‘Should I just carry her? She is still sleepy,’ he thought to himself and slowly put his hand below her nape and her knees.
However, before he could carry her in his arms, Anastasia sat up and said with haste, “I am awake. I am awake.”
Caspian sighed and gave a nod. “You could have still pretended to sleep so that I could have carried you,” he said in a little disheartened voice. He looked into her eyes and asked, “Can I carry you inside the tent?”
Anastasia, however, wasn’t a fan of that idea. “I think I will walk. Everyone will be watching us.”
“So?” he asked and gave a shrug.
.....
Anastasia wrinkled her nose a little and shook her head. “So... I don’t want them to stare at us or feel uncomfortable because of us.”
“Sure, but...” Caspian took Anastasia’s hand in his and entangled his fingers with hers. Then he asked her in with anticipation, “Do you feel uncomfortable when I carry you?”
Anastasia replied without missing a beat, “You are my husband. Why would I feel uncomfortable?”
Caspian grinned whimsically and knocked on the carriage door. “So, it’s settled then,” he mumbled.
Anastasia widened her eyes after realizing why he had asked if she would feel uncomfortable. And before she could resist or say anything, Caspian swiftly picked her up in his arms. Anastasia instantly wrapped her arms around his neck out of instinct.
Caspian climbed out of the carriage; and as expected, the two of them grabbed the attention of everyone who was traveling with them.
Most of them bowed their heads in an attempt to offer privacy to the King and the Queen.
Vincent and Hamilton were, however, looking at Caspian and Anastasia with wide grins on their faces as if they were ready to do something mischievous.
Caspian glared at them and warningly shook his head.
Thankfully, Anastasia didn’t see them grinning because she was pressing her forehead on Caspian’s chest. She was too shy to make eye contact with the others while her husband was carrying her.
Hamilton pretended to tie his mouth with lace and watched Caspian head towards a huge tent while giggling to himself.
“So, this will be our chamber for the night.” Caspian stood in front of the tent that Jasper and his men had put up. Since they were around the border, they had taken care of everything that the traveling team needed for the night, including food for the Queen and her handmaid. “How does it look?” he asked his wife.
Anastasia finally lifted her head and turned to look around her.
She saw a gigantic tent right behind her. And it looked so sturdy that it almost made her question if someone had uprooted a castle and brought it there for them.
There were also several smaller tents that were set up around that huge one in the middle.
“Do you like it?” Caspian asked, worried if his wife would like to spend the night in such a place. The tents were set up in a small clearing that was surrounded by the forest. So, he was afraid that his wife would get scared or uncomfortable with the surrounding.
However, Anastasia was too occupied admiring the tents that she had no time to look around at the surrounding.
“Yes, I like it,” she whispered. She could see a few pairs of eyes peeking at them, so she urged him, “Let’s go inside then.”
Caspian didn’t do any delay. The guards pulled the curtain-like doors for them, and Caspian walked inside their temporary castle with his wife.
Anastasia was even more surprised when she saw the tent from inside. It wasn’t just a single huge ‘room’ as she had thought; there were several compartments inside that tent.
Caspian gave a tour of the tent to his wife. He walked inside one of the compartments that were right by the side of the main entrance. “So, this is the meeting room,” he said while showing the place where several chairs and tables were already arranged.
He then showed her the bathroom space. Just like the meeting room, the bathroom also had all the necessary things, even a bathtub that was already filled with warm water.
Likewise, he showed a dining room. And then finally, he led his wife inside their bedroom. The bedroom had a huge bed and even a dressing table. The floor was also covered with a thick rug. If she had been brought there blindfolded, then she would have believed that this was a castle and not a tent.
Anastasia was having a hard time comprehending how the soldiers brought all those things, that also for a single night. “Was this all necessary? Do you always travel like this?” she asked after her husband put her down on her feet.
Caspian put his arms around his wife’s waist. He lightly pinched her chin and gently lifted her face. He looked at her lips and whispered, “If I have to travel long distances, I normally run or fly until I reach the destination. This is the first time I am camping like this.”
He leaned down and gave a soft kiss to Anastasia on her lips. And he whispered in her ear, “Since I am traveling with my wife, and since this is the first time camping, I wanted to make it a memorable one.”
He gently nibbled her ear lobe and then whispered again, “And obviously, I wanted to make the stay as comfortable as I could. Just for you.”
Anastasia was really touched by that gesture of her husband. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug.
“How can you be so sweet?” she asked while burying her face in his neck. And almost instantly, she felt her heart pounding with excitement when her husband’s enchanting petrichor smell entered her nose.
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