For King and Country ⭒Caspian x Reader⭒

Chapter 24

"You know I'm really not surprised assassins came for you on your way here," Morgan said, leaning across Peter too. Peter pressed his back into his seat, trying to inch away from the impending brawl.

"They wanted to kill me so that they could be me," Titus gestured with his butter knife, giving a punctuated wink as he slathered the jam onto his biscuit.

"I'm desperately outnumbered," Morgan sighed eyeing the three of us.

Tea leaves settled in the bottom of the porcelain cup in front of me. Some used them to divine their futures, but sitting there with those I considered my closest friends while I waited for my betrothed to glide into the room—I had no need for divination or fortune-tellers for I knew what the future held.

"I spoke with a dryad yesterday. She told me she'd find Aslan and ask him to meet me outside of town today," Peter said, switching the subject.

"What for?" I asked; taking a sip of the bitter, herbal tea.

"Well...I'm going to ask that Aslan allow my brother and sisters through," Peter threw his napkin onto his plate, "It's been long enough. They deserve to be here to fight alongside us."

"And I can't keep dealing with all of you without Ed," Morgan snorted.

"I think that's a wonderful idea," I said; elated at the thought of seeing my old friends, "Besides, I want them to meet-"

"Your lady friend?" Titus interrupted.

"That's a light way to put it," I laughed.

Morgan's eyebrows shot up as her eyes darted to me, "I'd certainly say so."

"What do you know?" I said, tossing a crumb of bread at her.

She swept the morsel out of her hair with a look of disgust, "Please share with me what you think I know."

"She'd kill me if told you before she got the chance to," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"You're getting married," Titus said, slamming his hand down the table as he laughed.

"Don't tell me she told you," I sighed. I couldn't blame her though. Even I was close to calling a formal gathering in the dead of night to proclaim the good news.

"She didn't actually," Titus swept crumbs off the table, "It was either you're getting married or you're finally cutting your hair."

"Well...I'm not cutting my hair," I raised my eyebrows as I swallowed the last dregs of my tea.

Questions flew as I rose from the table, but I let them stay unanswered, knowing that she would delight in answering every single one of them. So much had been robbed from her, but I could give her this—the delight in being a bride.

Despite the joy that seemed to vibrate off of the walls of Cair Paravel, there was still a rigid schedule that came with the crown—assessments of trade, parliamentary meetings, and that day in particular there was a dam dispute between two colonies of beavers.

The docks were bustling with life in the morning. Crates were being hoisted onto wagons and sailors greased the decks of their ships while blending their voices into hearty shanties that had every passerby grinning.

"They started fighting again after you left," Peter said, tying his horse off; striding over to me as I flipped through the record of transport.

"The beavers?" I sighed as I scratched out an erroneous statistic on the parchment, "Why? I thought we settled it."