•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚constellations˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙

old lords and swords

"Caspian?" A familiar voice called.
He turned and faced the girl that he was frantic for, she stood tall and unharmed.
"Stella?"
She'd narrowly managed to escape her buyer when he'd become distracted by untying his boat, in the second of no supervision, she fumbled with the blade in her sleeve and spun herself around to drive it into his back. Her hands remained locked in place and were starting to rub against the metal. The king sprinted towards her and quickly pulled the restraints from where they sat on her wrists, revealing the deep red friction burn.

"Thanks." she said softly with a shy smile. She wasn't one to be nervous around boys, so why did Caspian make her feel like a school child?
"Estelle!" Edmund dove at the girl and pulled her frame close to his own, grateful to see his best friend safe despite the tense air between them.
"I'm glad you're okay."
"You too." She spoke into his chest.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Caspian hurried, not wanting to see the two interact longer than he had to.

They all agreed that this island was not at the top of their hospitality list, and rushed to be as far away from it as possible. A man had practically begged Caspian to join the crew to save his wife, denying his daughter access to the journey and reassuring her that he would always come back. The sight made Estelle's heart tug. She'd never get to see her father again.

Although he had died during a selfless act, she selfishly wondered what her life would've been like if he left with them, or not left at all. Yes, maybe Miraz would've killed them all but at least they would be together during their final moments, her mother was going to die either way. Why should she be the one to survive? Her parents were repeatedly described as loyal, fierce souls with hearts of pure gold, and she couldn't even rescue her friends during a time of crisis, surely their lives would be more preferable over her own.

An old man had interrupted her train of thought, probably for the best. He handed a sword caked in grime and limescale to his King.
"That's an old Narnian sword." Edmund spoke with a hint of excitement bubbling over into his words. Estelle however, shrinking away slightly, embarrassed by her lack of knowledge on Narnian history.
"It's from your golden age. There are seven such swords, gifts from Aslan to protect Narnia-"
"-Your father entrusted them to us. Here, take it, and may it protect you."
"Thank you, my lord. And we shall find your lost citizens."

'My lord'. This was one of the lords of Telmar? The poor soul seemed almost lost, likely from the confinement in a literal cell for years. His face looked aged and tired, like he'd given in to the passage of time and allowed it to consume him.
"Edmund."
Caspian gifted the blade to his younger friend. Estelle shot him a grateful look after noticing the evident uplift in Ed's demeanour, he'd appreciated being treated like an actual king rather than a child for once and would care for the sword until his last breath.

Estelle found that her and Edmund were still enveloped by awkward air, despite their affection earlier that day. She missed him. They hadn't seen each other in years, and yet now that they had, they weren't speaking. She watched from the opposite end of the ship, admiring his new toy as he worked for hours to descale the weapon. It was nice to see him passionate about something rather than the pessimistic persona he wore frequently. It took everything in her not to run over and laugh with him, after all, he still refused to admit that he dropped her, and that annoyed her more than the absence itself.

Eustace could be seen sprinting across the deck, sabre in hand, in fear, from what? Who knows. Yet it all became clear when a well-acquainted mouse followed not far behind.
"Trying to run away? We're on a boat, you know."
Aslan knows what the child did this time, but his nuisancery alone seemed like a perfectly valid excuse to the girl.
"Look, can't we just discuss this?"

Reep's small blade effortlessly sliced through the tunic that the boy was clad in.
"That was for stealing."
He then drew the blade into his side, an orange protecting his thin skin from being torn apart.
"That was for lying."
The fruit made contact with Eustace's right cheek as it was forcefully slapped across his face.
"And that... was for good measure."
The humiliation seemed to have triggered something in the annoying boy as he flung his sabre around, apparently aiming for Reepicheep however it wasn't very clear to the bystanders. Reep tossed the fruit to the captain.

"That's the spirit! We have ourselves a duel!"
Oh no. This couldn't possibly end well. Caspian found immense humour in the battle and let his feet guide him towards the girl that watched from afar. He chuckled at her concentrated expression, one that looked like she was manifesting Eustace's survival. Caspian knew better than most, of the mouse's skills. Many would often doubt his ability because of his small size yet that was undoubtedly the worst mistake one could make when crossing blades with the soldier.

Although, Reep seemed to be treating the duel as more of a lesson to Eustace rather than real competition. He shouted a variety of orders to the boy in an attempt to sharpen his fighting strategies. Including, but not limited to, 'keep your blade up!' 'it's a dance, boy' 'be nimble' 'lunge with your foot' 'not your left, your right!'. Even Estelle couldn't deny that it was an amusing sight.

As expected, the experienced rodent had disarmed the child, causing him to crash to the deck, knocking over a small basket in the process. Did that basket just scream? Weirder things have happened in Narnia, regardless, it was likely that sentient baskets were not a thing.
"Cas, look." She muttered into his ear, goosebumps immediately making themselves at home up his arms and flutters in his stomach. They grew so intense that he would be surprised if the girl next to him couldn't feel the energy coursing throughout his body.

"Gael? What are you doing here?"
The small girl felt her cheeks warm at the numerous eyes that now fell on her and hid from their glances under the arm of her father. Drinian steadily approached her, Estelle knew that he held no ill intent but he could at least try to appear less menacing. Everyone tensely watched, on the edge of their metaphorical seats, awaiting his next action. Would he yell at her or would he welcome her?

The silence was so loud that one could hear even the faintest of creaking from the wood that they stood on. He, painfully slowly, handed her the very same orange that had caused the duel, it was a kind gesture and many felt their shoulders relax however he prolonged the process so much that nobody knew what to expect.
"Looks like we have an extra crew member." He finally let out.

The quiet was cut by the knife of conversation and cheers, some crew becoming bored with the interaction. Lucy, being the loveable soul that she is, welcomed Gael with open arms and led her to the quarters that she shared with Estelle. The latter couldn't help but lazily grin at the two girls, she knew that they'd soon become inseparable, much like her and the Pevensie boy.

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word count: 2068
A/N
lucy is so sweet i love her. i wanted to write more scenes in which lucy and estelle get to bond but it's hard to fit it into the plot.