For King and Country ⭒Caspian x Reader⭒

Chapter 25

    Caspian's POV -11 days since the her disappearance
Weary. We were weary. The schooner had tossed upon the waves for days; stretching what should have been our seven-day journey into ten. Storms churned the seas leaving us fighting the sails as rain poured down our faces obscuring our vision. 

There were moments I had wondered if we would even make it to Vidalia in the weariness of the aftermath. A silence always fell after the storm. The tempest would break. The sun would shine, and we'd all sit on the deck soaked to the bone without having rested the entire night.

Only on one night of our journey were we able to see the moon. The grey clouds parted and it shone down on me as I held watch that night. I gazed up at it; wondering if she was gazing upon it at that very moment—if this was something we could share even if miles apart. 

The nymphs carried messages to us throughout the journey. Edmund, Susan, and Lucy had stepped into their roles once more in my absence with Reepicheep guiding them through the new faces at Narnian court. 

Preparations for war carried on. They'd be leaving for Vidalian shores in four days now; giving us enough time to get the Princess out and set back out to sea till we could regroup with the Narnian armada. 

"The captain said we should be pulling up to the rendezvous point shortly," Titus said; easing himself down on a crate beside me. 

"I would say I'm ready to set my feet on dry land after how this journey has gone, but I'm afraid of what I'll find when we do," I said as I polished the steel of my sword. 

Fog choked the air around us. A massive lantern hung from the prow of the ship shedding some light into our path in the grey, evening light.  A sailor peered over the stern of the boat watching the long piece of rope that drifted behind us to measure our speed. 

"Have you never been into Vidalia?" Titus asked.

"No, even for treaties—attempted treaties rather, it's always been a neutral location and battlefields. I have been on a Vidalian battlefield though; just not in the country," I raised my sword to catch the dim light of the lantern next to me. 

"My father took me into Vidalia once when I was a teenager for a trade deal. Their wool industry is infamous," Titus turned and peered into the water, "It's not a good place."

"I think we knew that," I said with a tilt of my head.

"No," Titus' eyes locked with mine, "You know the surface. I don't even think the very woman we're coming to save even knows the full extent...body carts everywhere. Starvation kills more than war does."

My stomach curdled at the thought of such a wealthy nation watching their people starve, "When we win, that will change. No more suffering...No more."

The sailors began to haul the anchor over the side of the boat. The Vidalian flag waved solemnly in the chilly breeze. A plume of smoke rose from a hill; barely visible through the fog. The mission had begun.

The boat rocked when the anchor met the seafloor. Peter helped Morgan into the rowboat; grasping her forearms as he lowered her down.

"Are we ready?" Peter said his feet landing on the wood of the dinghy.

"As we'll ever be," I said grasping the weathered wood oars. 

With each pull of the oars, we came closer to the shore. Morgan had an arrow knocked on her bow as Peter searched the shore with his telescope for any threats. 

"Hoods up," Titus said pulling the hood of his cloak over his head.  We all followed suit; obscuring our faces.

The scrape of the boat against the pebble beach halted our movement. Our docking point was empty. Just a small expanse of frigid beachfront and the fir treeline.