WAR OF HEARTS ━ prince caspian x

twenty

˗ˏˋCHAPTER TWENTYˊˎ-

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WREN WAS LYING on her back, head propped against one of the spare blankets they'd brought, bunched up so she could rest on it like a pillow. Lucy was sound asleep a few feet away, turned on her side so that she wasn't facing them. Edmund and Caspian were still awake, sitting upright and staring up at the dark sky.

The King had yet to break his cold shoulder, though now Wren suspected it had more to do with the fact that she was annoyed with him rather than he was. She'd been told she was scary when she was mad, and she had no plans on letting up yet. He'd been ignoring her for weeks, and a few apologetic glances in her direction weren't going to change her mind. He could deal with a taste of his own medicine.

"I've never seen these constellations before," Edmund mused, breaking the silence, Wren turned her head slightly to look at him, her gaze drifting to Caspian who immediately broke their eye contact to look back up. Moments before the only sound that could be heard was the crackling fire.

"Me neither," came Caspian's reply, and he shifted under her hard stare, refusing to meet it. "We're a long way from home. When I was a boy, I used to imagine sailing to the end of the world...finding my father there."

There was a brief pause, before Edmund said, "maybe you will."

Sleep didn't come as easily as she thought it would, espescially considering how exhausted she was from the day's travels and events, not to mention that sand wasn't exactly comfortable to lay on. Despite all of these things, she managed to finally slip into oblivion, but it seemed like only ten seconds passed before Lucy's voice shouted and she jerked awake.

"Everybody, wake up!"

"What?" Reep questioned, grabbing ahold of his sword as Wren searched for her daggers.

"Calm down," Lucy said to both of them, and Wren quirked a brow before the younger girl nodded her head in the direction of something. Wren followed it and was surprised to see a rather large star still shining brightly above them. "It's the Blue Star!"

They were back on the Dawn Treader in no time, sailing after the star just as the man from days prior had instructed them to do. The crew had seemed to gain their hope back, the useless arguing and riots had dialed down, but it was still mostly quiet. Wren sat on a barrel, yawning lazily and watching as Gael and Lucy climbed up the stairs with an apple in their hands, the two of them chatting, before they disappeared from sight.

It was nice not being the only girl on the ship, though a thirteen and nine year old were hardly good company. It was times like these when she really missed Susan. She really had been Wren's only friend. One of the first people who actually treated her like a person—who seemed to understand her when nobody else could because she was the same way. Wren didn't think she'd ever have a friend like Susan again, she wasn't sure if anyone else would be able to compare.

When noon hit, Wren had no time alone with her thoughts, because they had run into another problem. "The wind has left us," Drinian announced, glancing between the three of them as she continued to chew on a piece of stale bread.

"So how do we get to Ramandu's Island now, then?" Edmund asked, brows furrowed. Caspian looked to Wren as if silently asking if she had any ideas, but she stared back blankly and he took the hint, glancing away.

"My guess is something doesn't want us to get there," the captain went on, walking back up the stairs, just as something hard hit the boat and Wren nearly tumbled over the edge, the only thing stopping her from falling off the ship completely was an arm that had secured itself around her waist. She hadn't even realized she'd been clutching Caspian's shirt until she straightened against him, heart racing in her chest. Falling overboard had not been on her to-do list that day, and neither was dropping her attiduide towards her fiance.

"You can let me go now," she told him dryly, and his face fell before it hardened and he nodded curtly, letting his hands slip from around her back to his sides. Wren turned to a crew member. "What did we hit?"

"Eustace, that's brilliant!" Edmund said suddenly, cutting off the boy's reply, and Wren followed his gaze to see the dragon pulling them ahead. She refrained from smiling when she felt Caspian looking at her, and sent him a sharp look as she turned on her heel to go under the deck.

She made her way towards the back in attempt to find food that didn't taste like she was eating a rock, but paused upon someone clearing their throat. She glanced over her shoulder to see Jace standing there, his hair falling into his face. The placement of it casted a weird shadow above his eyes, and he looked awfully old in the lightning. Almost as if he'd aged very quickly. "Wrennlyn," he greeted.

"That is not my name," she responded, spinning to face him fully. "But yes?"

"I've saved you this," he said, holding out an apple and offering it to her. "Figured the rest of the crew would've inhaled everything and left you nothing. Decided to help you out."

She took the apple from his grasp. "I am perfectly capable of fending for myself, but I appreciate the thought." Wren assumed he'd leave after that, but he continued to stand there and she heard the cellar door open and shut a few feet away. "Are you waiting for me to dismiss you...?"

Jace smiled charmingly at her, lifting her hand to brush his lips against her knuckles, and her face scrunched in disgust just as he went to leave, bumping into Caspian along the way. Wren tensed instantly as the blonde boy seemed to bow almost mockingly. "Your Majesty."

Caspian did not look away from him until he was out of the room, and then he faced her again with a hard glare. Wren returned it, walking up to brush past him. "For God's sake, stop being so dramatic," she shouted back to him, but didn't get to hear his response as the door shut loudly behind her.

authors note

hey..... two months late i know