AN: Thanks for the feedback! I'm loving it! I hope you enjoy this chapter my lovelies.
Chapter 6
After being chained up, repeatedly hit on the head, and humiliated, it was a relief to lay in a soft, comfortable bed.
Edmund and Caspian had worked together to get me on the ship, without injuring me further I might add. Once on it, Lucy took me to our cabin room. With her help, I got into a white nightgown. It was pretty comfortable, not gonna lie.
"I haven't been this helpless since I was a baby," I complained as she helped me sit in the bed. "Why am I in a nightgown? It's still daytime."
She smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry. But we all agreed that you need to rest so you don't risk hurting yourself more." She leaned forward and hugged me. "You'll be back on your feet in no time."
I hugged her back. "Thanks, Lu," I said.
We were interrupted by three knocks on the door.
"Are you decent?" I heard Edmund call.
"Partially!" I called, just kidding.
"Good enough!"
Edmund came in with a small tray of bread, cheese, and apples. There was enough for the three of us to have a little bit each. I suppose it was the whole ship rations thing.
Feeling famished, the three of us dug in, both Lucy and Edmund sitting on the bed with me.
"Are you feeling any better?" Edmund asked me.
"A little," I said. "My head still hurts but I don't feel like I'm going to die anymore."
They both stared at me, slightly wide eyed.
"Well . . . that's positive," Edmund said before taking a large bite of his apple.
I nodded solemnly. "So what's the plan?"
Lucy looked to Edmund. "Yeah, what are we doing now, Edmund?"
"We have to find what the green mist is and destroy it."
I gave him a weird look as I spread cheese over my bread slice. "The what?"
"It's what they did to the people they took that didn't get sold," he explained. "They sent them on boats to sacrifice them to this green mist."
"Oh how awful," Lucy gasped.
"So those people are all dead?" I asked, my heart clenching at the thought of the little girl and her father.
Edmund shrugged. "We don't know. They just vanished into thin air."
I bit my lip. "We have to stop this."
"We will," Edmund said, his face deadly serious. "We have a plan."
"Good," I said, feeling slightly better.
Lucy stood up, taking the tray. "I'm going to go see how Eustace is doing."
"Why?" Edmund and I asked in unison, making us laugh.
"Because," Lucy said, trying to hide a smile. "Like it or not he's our cousin."
I smirked. "He's not my cousin. I can give him all the hell I want."
Lucy sighed before walking out.
"You should get some sleep," Edmund said to me, getting to his feet.
"Wait," I said, a question burning in my mind. "What did Eustace mean in the rowboat? About the cuddling thing?"
Edmund shrugged as he began walking backwards towards the door. "Who knows? It's Eustace. Stupid, stupid Eustace—" he cut himself off abruptly as he slammed into the door. I giggled.
"Oops," he said. "Watch it, there's a door here." I giggled more as he opened it and quickly left.
I had to admit, I was feeling tired and my head hurt like a bitch. I snuggled into the bed and shut my eyes. I fell asleep and didn't wake up until I felt myself being shaken.
"Rose, wake up."
I groaned. "No, go away."
"Rose, It's morning."
My eyes flew opened. "What?!"
Lucy was lying in bed next to me, her eyes heavy from sleep. I had slept so deeply I hadn't even stirred when she came to bed last night.
"Did I missed anything?" I asked, yawning.
She shook her head. "Not a thing, really. Everyone's been asking about you. How are you feeling?"
I put a hand to my head. "Great, actually."
Lucy beamed. "I know."
I stared at her in confusion as she got out of the bed and went over to a desk that was in the room. She picked up a small bottle shaped object and came over to me.
"This is a medicine that has magic healing powers. I gave it to you when you were asleep." She smiled mischievously. "Your mouth was hanging wide open."
I made a face, self-consciously rubbing my jaw.
"I got it from Santa Clause when I first came to Narnia."
I stared at her. "Santa?"
She nodded eagerly. "He is real!"
In that moment, my childhood was made.
I got out of bed and went to the mirror to examine my head. "Wow! There's not even a scratch left! That's awesome stuff."
Lucy nodded as we began rummaging for clothes to wear.
"It saved Edmund's life once. The White Witch stabbed him."
My eyes widened. I couldn't even begin to imagine how terrifying that must have been; so close to losing your brother.
"Well . . ." I said. "Thank the Lord for Santa."
We washed up and dressed in clothes that looked the same as yesterday, only this time I did something a little different to the white blouse. Using Lucy's dagger, I cut across the white blouse so that it was an off-the-shoulder top. It wasn't done neatly, but with the vest it looked fine.
"Wow," Lucy said. "You look beautiful."
"Not half as pretty as you do," I told her, tugging her ponytail playfully.
She smiled shyly. "Come on. Edmund was asking about you last night. I'm sure he's worried."
"All right," I agreed, a smile creeping up on my face.
We left the cabin and we were welcomed by a brilliant, sunny morning.
"Rose, Lucy, good morning!" Caspian came over to us, smiling. "How's your head doing?"
"I've recovered," I announced. "With minimal brain damage."
He laughed awkwardly and patted me on the shoulder. "Good to hear. Now if you'll excuse me."
Caspian walked away quickly.
"I think I scare him," I told Lucy.
"Nah," she assured me unconvincingly.
I grinned slyly and we walked towards the front of the boat, where Reep skittered over to us.
"Good morning, ladies," he greeted us. "I'd stay away from the front. The boy is in one of his moods."
"Thanks for the heads up," Lucy said gratefully. "I'm really not in the mood to deal with Eustace."
"Yeah . . ." I said, my eyes shifting. "Thanks."
With that, I took off running to the front."
"Oh, dear," I heard Lucy sigh.
I found him hiding behind some barrels, writing in a small black book. I circled around so that I could sneak up on him from the side. He was so absorbed in it, he didn't even see me coming.
Then, before he could even so much as blink, I snatched the book out of his hands.
"Hey!" he said furiously, jumping to his feet. "Give that back right now or I'll—"
"You'll what?" I teased him, jumping up onto a crate and tangling it.
"Give it back right NOW!"
I dropped it and he caught it.
"Chill out, man," I told him, leaping off the crate. "I'm just messing around with you."
He glared furiously at me. "I'm cool enough, thank you!" he whirled around and stomped off, shoving Edmund out of his way as he did so.
Edmund's face twisted angrily and he made a fist, as if he was about to go after Eustace, but thought better of it. With an exasperated sigh and a shake of his head, he came up to me.
"Barely awake and already putting Eustace in an even worse mood, eh?"
"It helps me get my day started right," I told him seriously.
"Most people eat breakfast for that," he said grinning.
My stomach growled in response to that. I pursed my lips in annoyance. "Okay fine, that's the other thing the starts my day."
Edmund took me to the ships food stock and got me some food, which I devoured.
When I was finished, we found a place to sit and I watched him as he tried to fix his sword by chipping off the stone like coating on it.
"That was nice of Caspian to give it to you," I commented.
He shrugged, but gave no further response.
I pursed my lips. Obviously he wasn't into talking about his feelings. I tucked my legs underneath me and leaned in closer to him.
"So . . . correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sensing some hostility."
He looked up from the sword at me with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
I lowered my voice slightly, not wanting any of the sailors to hear and accuse me of treason or something equally stupid. "To put it bluntly; do you not like Caspian?"
"Of course I do!" he sounded genuinely shocked. "It's just—I don't know."
"What?" I pressed gently, though inside I was burning for some answers on what was going through his head.
He sat in silence for a moment, just concentrating on his sword. "I don't like being overpowered," he said finally.
I frowned. "What do you mean? You're a king, aren't you?"
"Yes," he said. "But all my life I had to deal with my brother Peter being in control, and now Caspian. He's in command on this ship."
I didn't say anything for a while. I just watched him thoughtfully.
When he realized this, he ceased what he was doing and looked back at me, finally meeting my eyes. "What?"
"I think you're a great king," I told him honestly. "But there's always going to be someone more powerful than you. Besides you're only seventeen. You can be king and you'll still have no power until you're at least twenty-one."
Edmund smiled and glanced downward. "I suppose you're right."
I nudged him with my elbow. "Of course I am. Now get back to work. I want to see my reflection in that sword."
He chuckled. "Yes, your Highness."
I chewed over that for a moment. "Hm . . . I could get used to that . . ."
