Caspian

The warm twilight of the garden spread across the marble paths, and heavy, swollen clouds were reflected in the basin of the sacred lake. You stood waist-deep in the water—naked, defenseless, and only this special water even slightly mitigated the curse that had ingrained your skin. Black stains spread across your right arm, as if someone had poured tar on it, and a few jagged blotches darkened your cheek—like traces of ash. With each passing day, they grew more stubborn, and the pain became more intense.

The water in the lake wasn't ordinary: ancient priests said it absorbed some of the pain, dissolving the infection in its cool depths. And now you felt it—a chill that didn't just chill your skin, but seemed to lift the weight of the illness from you, if only for a brief moment. You closed your eyes, inhaling the moist air, saturated with the scent of wet leaves and bitter herbs, and allowed yourself to forget, if only for a moment, who you were and what awaited you beyond this quiet corner.
Suddenly, footsteps broke the silence—clear, confident, not the scurrying of servants, but the tread of a warrior accustomed to formation and discipline. Your eyes snapped open and you instinctively retreated, sinking a little deeper to hide what no one should see. General Caspian stopped before you, and behind him, two or three guardsmen stood frozen.
Their gazes slid over your bare chest, your shoulders, your arm, disfigured by illness, and in those glances there was curiosity mixed with awkwardness. But Caspian didn't look at the blemishes, didn't let his eyes slide over the scars and deformities. His gaze was direct, almost bold, but without mockery—he looked into your eyes, as if there, in the depths of your gaze, he was searching for something more important than title, more important than illness, more important than all this palace glitter and lies.

"Your Highness," Caspian's voice was even, without servility, but with the respectful firmness of those who know the value of their word and duty. "You were reported here. I wanted to personally make sure you were alright."