His Majesty, Her Grace - Sequel to A Prince Caspian Love Story

Chapter 4 - The High King and Queen

Althea's POV

When I wake up, Caspian is gone but there is a neatly folded piles of clothes at the foot of the bed. It's pants gratefully, but I've never actually worn them before, it's not exactly a normal thing for women to wear. I take off my dress and pull on the white blouse. It smells like Caspian, making me smile to myself, figures he would make me wear something of his. It's far to big for me but it's not as noticeable after I tuck it into the dark purple trousers. I wrap the thick leather belt around my waist to keep them from falling down, then pull on a dark blue vest to complete my "man" outfit. It's actually quite comfy and much easier to move around in. I should've started wearing pants a long time ago. I slip on my boots and leave the room.

Once I'm on deck, I can feel the crew members staring at me. I'd give anything to have Lucy or Susan here with me, then it wouldn't even bother me. Thankfully, Caspian is already heading towards me from the otherside of the ship. His eyes travel from my face to my feet and the sly smirk that grows on his face makes my cheeks burn.

"Excuse me lad, I don't suppose you've seen a young woman around here anywhere?" He asks in a funny voice.

"Oh shut up." I say, punching his shoulder. "I'm already embarrassed enough from everyone staring at me."

"It's only because you look better than them in their own clothes." He laughs.

"Whatever." I scoff at him, leaning against the railing.

"Drinian wants your help after we reach the Lone Islands. I told him you know how to navigate and he fully plans on using it to our advantage."

"But I don't know how to navigate." I say and he raises his eyebrows at me. "Okay well I technically know but I've never actually done it before."

"Althea, you're a genuis. You probably read that book a dozen times by now." I just laugh because he's not wrong. He looks over at me, not surprised he was right. "See? I know a book can't teach you everything but you'll pick it up quickly."

"Do you know where Reep is?" I ask.

"I think he's towards the front of the ship. Why?"

"He said something earlier about pirates so I wanted to ask him about it."

"Ah I see. He seems like he'd be a great pirate." He chuckles lightly.

"Really? I can't picture it. He's too... Refined and honorable." I push off the side and start to leave to find him.

"I'll catch up. I need to check on something." Caspian shouts. I give him a short wave over my shoulder and continue to the front.

The shining water is very beautiful from up here and the sound of splashing waves against the ship is relaxing. My eyes catch on something far off in front of us. It almost looks like little people, and then I hear faint shouts. What is it that people say when someone's out flailing like that? Overboard something?

I cup my hands around my mouth and shout as loud as I can. "Man overboard!"

Men quickly rush to the front, some of them not believing me until they see the little people for themselves.

"You two, follow me." Caspian directs to his men before not even hesitating to dive over the side. I have no idea why three people would be out in the middle of the ocean but I imagine they'll want to be dried off when they get aboard. I fight my way through the crowd and go below deck to grab some blankets. When I return the crew is pulling them out of the sea two at a time with some lever contraption. Caspian is up first and Lucy is right beside him.

"Lucy!" I push forward and tackle her in a hug when she steps off onto the ship.

"Althea?" She happily returns the hug even though she's soaking wet. I give her the blanket and hand the others to Caspian.