Midnight (DISCONTINUED, INCOMPLETE)

20 || Damsel

Shouts and sputtered curses pierced the previously joyous tone of the pub. Ash pushed back harder against the wall, though she wasn't sure if it was for balance or to get away from Caspian. He stepped closer to her, his hands tightening and his eyes drilling down into her.

"Caspian, we might need to get out of here." She glanced uncertainly at the ceiling. Would the shaking bring it down?

He laughed instead of answering. Ash flinched. The sound was shaky but bitter.

"This is impossible. Out of all the pirates." He laughed again. "But maybe perfect."

The shaking intensified. The inhabitants of the pub were trying to form words with their shouts now, trying to direct others into some quake procedures. Why wasn't Caspian expressing the same concern?

Ash's head bumped back against the wall and she winced. A combination of the need to leave and to get this scary Caspian away brought her hands up against his chest. She shoved against him, but he didn't budge. He didn't even seem to notice.

"Caspian!"

A million thoughts ran through his eyes. Ash couldn't read any of them, but it was clear none of them revolved on getting out of there. Not even as the quake went up another degree. If not for Caspian, the wall wouldn't have been enough to keep her up any longer.

"Now she'll focus on finding him, even if just for you."

Slapping him was becoming a more and more appealing option. Maybe it would snap him out of this daze. What was it even about? Who was she and he? That could wait until later, though, meaning slapping might really be her course of action.

Before she got the chance, though, a hand fell on his shoulder. "Stop this at once, Caspian."

Lorica.

All the mixing thoughts and emotions in Caspian's eyes froze at once and his expression went blank. He still didn't release Ash.

"Caspian, now."

It was slow, but bit by bit, everything drained from Caspian. His grip on her relaxed and his shoulders drooped. The most noticeable change, though, was his expression. Whereas before it had been hard and impassive, now it was a mask of dejected, forlorn emotions displayed from every twitch of his lips to narrowing of his brow.

Ash's chest clenched just by looking at him. She almost wished he would go back to looking intimidating.

Caspian finally released Ash, and nearly as soon as his arms fell to his sides, the building stopped shaking.

"It was him, Lorica," he murmured. Even as his face expressed his every feeling, his eyes were far away.

Lorica frowned. "Him?"

"A wolf skull." His entire body began to tremble. It was almost as if the quake had been trapped inside him. "It was Wolfbane, Lorica. Wolfbane took her prince."

The words chased away the color from Lorica's face. Her jaw worked as she glanced between Caspian and Ash. Before she could say anything, though, the pub came to life again with people speaking loudly about the quake. She sighed.

"Get back to the ship and cool your head before they start to realize what happened, Caspian."

He nodded. With the vulnerability still on full display, he trudged through the crowd and toward the door. Ash never thought that during this trip she would be worried about Caspian's safety rather than hers.

"He was causing the shaking, wasn't he?" It seemed impossible that any one person could cause that, but before she also would have thought turning into a mermaid at midnight was something from wild dreams.