༄ 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒙 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓 (𝑽𝑫𝑻) ༄

Chapter 8: Spying and a Duel

After they realized that Edmund, Lucy, and their dreary cousin would be aboard for several more days, new sleeping arrangements were made. Ana offered her cabin to Edmund and Caspian happily gave up his for Lucy and herself. Given that they were the only ladies on board it made sense to put them together. The two girls didn't mind sharing a cabin as Caspian's were plenty big and gave them privacy from the men. But Ana didn't know where Caspian planned to sleep and felt a little guilty for taking his rooms. However, she also knew it would be a futile effort to convince him otherwise.

Their cousin was stuck sharing quarters with the one crew member who was currently alone: Reepicheep. None of the other crew members cared to share with a mouse, even if it was a talking one. Unfortunately, this did nothing to brighten the boy's mood and seemed to make it worse. If anything, he was even more irritable than before. He was rarely seen on deck, only coming out to get away from Reepicheep. And when he was present, he was always complaining about something or demanding things from the crew.

Ana often spotted him hiding in various locations, scribbling something into a journal. She made the mistake one day of trying to make conversation by asking him about it. But Eustace had only glared in response before tucking it away and finding a different hiding spot. Obviously, he didn't want anyone to know what he was writing about.

For days, they sailed on the open water with no signs of land. Ana hadn't spoken to Caspian much since they departed from the Lone Islands. He seemed content to leave things as they were. She figured as long as she didn't have any more episodes, they could pretend they never happened. During the day, she was fine. The fresh air seemed to help a bit. At night, it was a different story.

She wasn't sleeping well and she was sure Lucy had noticed. She hadn't said anything to Ana as of yet but knew she would eventually. The others were likely to notice too if she didn't get some proper sleep soon. She hoped she could explain that she just had a hard time sleeping at sea. At least that was a believable excuse. She didn't need them worrying about her all the time.

As the days stretched, Ana observed that any chance Edmund had was spent cleaning his sword. After years in a cave, the blade was completely covered and unusable. Reepicheep was very interested in it though, often stopping by to check on his progress.
"It's going to be magnificent," she heard him say. "Does it come in a smaller size?" the Mouse laughed.
"Peeving marmot!" Ana overheard and immediately began looking for Eustace.

She found him hiding behind some barrels, journal in hand. He was glaring at his cousin and Reepicheep, but she couldn't say specifically which one. Eustace wasn't too pleased with either of them.

"He's even more deluded than my cousin!" he huffed.
Reepicheep, then, she thought. But who's he—oh. Ana noticed a seagull had landed nearby and the boy had struck up a conversation with it. But the bird wasn't a Talking Beast so all it could do was chirp in response.
"In England, we have mouse traps for that sort of thing. Speaking of food... you don't know where I can get any, do you?" Eustace was apparently unsatisfied with his ration and wanted more. Ana shook her head and was about to approach when Tavros spoke up, drawing their attention.
"Uh..." he said. "Why are you talking to that bird?"
Eustace glared at him. "I just naturally assumed he can—"
Tavros cut him off with a laugh and turned to the sailor next to him. "He's talking to birds!"
"He's mad as a loon, that one!" the sailor teased, lightly hitting Tavros in the chest.
"Yeah!" Tavros agreed, slapping Leif much harder on the back.

Eustace was seemingly embarrassed and offended about being teased. "Shoo!" he told the bird, using his hands to shoo it away. "Go on, get off!"
"Hey!" Ana shouted, referring to Tavros and Leif, but drawing the attention of all three and others on the deck. She then stepped closer to chide them more privately. "You shouldn't make fun of him for not knowing the difference. It's easy for us to tell when we've been around Talking Animals all our lives."