Narnia 2307
The trio soon realised they were no longer in the house in Cambridge, but in a completely foreign land that even Edmund and Lucy hadn't seen before.
Lucy looked up to see the same ship from the painting heading directly towards them. "Eustace swim" she yelled as she swam away to avoid the ship that was seconds away from pushing her under. They splashed around in attempt of getting noticed by someone on the ship and their actions proved successful when three men jumped overboard.
Lucy was dragged to the surface by one of them. "It's alright, I've got you." Lucy stared the man before realising who he was.
"Caspian," she said joyfully. "Edmund, its Caspian" she yelled at her brother.
Edmund looked towards them. "Are we in Narnia?"
"Yes, you're in Narnia." Caspian laughed.
Eustace, who wasn't far from them, began fighting the man who was saving him. "I don't want to go. I want to go back to England. I'm going back to England."
They soon got pulled up onto deck, Lucy being supported by Caspian.
"That was thrilling." Lucy beamed as she got wrapped in a warm towel.
"How in the world did you end up here?" Caspian questioned her, rubbing the towel against her in attempt to dry her.
She laughed as he ruffled her hair. "I have no idea."
"Caspian," Edmund yelled from behind them causing them to turn.
A smiled broke out on Caspian's face as he walked towards his friend. "Edmund," he greeted with a hug. "Great to see you."
Lucy tilted her head in confusion at his words. "Didn't you call for us?" Edmund turned towards the man he was in an embrace with, silently questioning the same.
Caspian shook his head, "no, not this time."
"Well, whatever the case, I'm just glad to be here –" A high pitched scream interrupted Edmund as a mouse was thrown towards the group.
"Repicheep," Lucy greeted happily.
The mouse straightened himself out and bowed graciously. "Your majesties."
Edmund smiled at the mouse before him. "Hello Reep, what a pleasure."
"Pleasure is all mine Sir," he said, adjusting the feather on his head. "But first what to do about this - this hysterical interlope." He gestured towards the boy behind him who was on his hands and knees, violently coughing.
"That giant rat thing just tried to claw my face off" cried Eustace, causing a scene.
"I was merely trying to expel the water from your lungs sir." Repicheep explained causing Eustace to stand and back away in shock.
"It talked" Eustace spoke pointing an accusing finger at the mouse. "Did you see – Did anyone just see that? It talked." He began gabbing his finger at the mouse as his voice broke further with every syllable.
The crew stood watching him in amusement. "He always talks," one of the men spoke up.
"Actually, it's getting him to shut up that's the tricky bit." Caspian added wittily causing the crew to burst into laughter.
"The moment there is nothing to be said, your highness, I promise you I will not say it." Repicheep defended.
"I don't know what kind of prank this is, but I want to wake up right now." Eustace exclaimed, stopping his foot like a toddler.
Repicheep looked towards the two young royals as Eustace continued throwing a fit. "Perhaps we could throw him back." Edmund said nothing but tilted his head as if he was considering it, which Lucy scolded him for.
Eustace began pacing the deck, crying hysterically, which made the other men laugh. "I demand to know where in the blazes am I."
"You're on the Dawn Treader." Travos, a minotaur, explained. "The finest ship in Narnia's navy."
Eustace took one look at the minotaur and fell to the ground, stiff as a board. Tavros looked around perplexed as the men around him laughed at the sight. Caspian walked up to them, stealing amused glances at the boy on the ground.
"Was it something I said?" Tavros asked, still looking confused.
Caspian merely shook his head and chuckled. "See to him will you." He ordered, giving the boy a final look before walking off.
The minotaur nodded, "your majesty." He looked down at the boy and sighed before hauling him up.
"Men," Caspian called out as he stood on the stairs. "Behold our castaways: Edmund the Just and Lucy the Valiant." Lucy did a mock bow and smiled. "King and Queen of Narnia."
The men before them got down on one knee in respect, silence overtaking the ship.
* * *
"Since you left us, the giants of the north have surrendered unconditionally. Then we defeated the Caliman armies in the Great Dessert. There's peace across all of Narnia." Caspian explained to the two siblings an hour later after having given them their old weapons and, in Edmund's case, flashlight.
"Peace?" Edmund questioned in disbelief.
Caspian nodded. "In just three years."
Lucy looked towards him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear like she had seen so many girls do before. "And have you found yourself a queen in those three years?"
Edmund sent her a weird look but faced Caspian awaiting his answer.
Caspian smiled at the younger girl. "No. Not one to compare to your sister."
Lucy's smile widened as she looked at Edmund, who was also trying to hide his smile by looking at the map. Caspian looked between the two suspiciously. "What?"
"Nothing." Both Edmund and Lucy said at the same time.
"Hang on. So, if there's no wars to fight and no one's in trouble, then why are we here?" Edmund questioned, half in attempt to change the subject and half due to his curiosity.
"That's a good question. I've been asking myself the same thing." Caspian replied, looking bothered by something.
Edmund was clearly oblivious to the distracted look on Caspian's face as he continued asking questions. "So where are we sailing to?"
"Before I took back the throne from my uncle, he tried to kill my father's closest friends and most loyal supporters." As he spoke, he turned towards a board with seven drawings of men pinned on it.
"The seven lords of Telmar. They fled to The Lone Islands" he pointed at a cluster of islands on the map. "No one's heard from them since."
"So, you think somethings happened to them?" Edmund questioned, his eyes flitting between the drawings, trying to memorise the men.
Caspian nodded solemnly. "Well, if it has, it's my duty to find out."
"Well, what's east of The Lone Islands?" Lucy asked, her fingers skimming over the map.
"Uncharted waters," the captain, Lord Drinian, answered. "Things you can barely imagine. Tales of sea serpents."
Lucy and Edmund exchanged incredulous looks and shared a laugh. "Sea serpents?" Edmund repeated. The captain stared back at him challengingly.
"Alright Captain," Caspian interrupted. "That's enough of your tall tales." The captain shrugged and walked out, not seeming to mind that they didn't believe him.
Lucy began bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Oh," she began drawing the attention of Caspian and Edmund. "I wonder if Susan and Peter will join us."
Caspian paused from biting the apple he had picked up and looked between the two siblings.
"They might. We'll just have to wait and see if Aslan brings them back." He, of course, hoped Aslan would hurry up and do so.
* * *
Later that night, Caspian stared unblinkingly at the roof of the cabin; his thoughts refused to let him sleep. Sighing, he pulled himself up and walked out of the sleeping quarters, hoping not to wake the rest of the crew. He pulled an extra layer of clothing on to shield him from the cold of the night.
Resting his forearms on the side of the ship, Caspian expelled a deep sigh as he looked towards the horizon. Even in this state, his thoughts refused to rest.
What if Susan was right all those years ago? What if she didn't come back? He'd be lying if he said these thoughts hadn't crossed his mind before today. But they were in full swing since Lucy and Edmund came back to Narnia without their siblings.
He shook his head in attempt to expel the thoughts from his mind.
"I'll wait for you," he whispered, hoping that even though they were worlds apart, the wind would carry his words to her.