𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐍 || 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑎𝑛

CHAPTER 8

꧁ Love and fear ꧂

It had been two weeks since the Dawn Trader had departed from the rocky shores of the island of crystals, but the darkness they had encountered there had not left them.
For fourteen days the crew had known nothing but a tremendous and incessant storm. The sea was black as pitch, the sky was covered by heavy and menacing dark clouds, which did not stop even for a moment to throw down thick and sharp rain. Winds and waves repeatedly hit the ship from both sides, as the two elements were challenging each other for who overthrew the ship first.
The hope of seeing the light of the sun again began to abandon the hearts of men, who yearned to remain lucid and not to be sunk.

Elizabeth was in the King's quarters with Lucy and Gael. The woman watched the flames as they danced in the fireplace, keeping herself at a distance, while dark memories invaded her mind.

When her young friends called her back from her thoughts, she noticed that they were already both dressed for the night. It was probably late enough, but there was no way she could sleep at all in that state. She decided to go out and let them rest in peace, then she headed to the only place where she knew she would have found someone still awake: the Captain's cabin.

She was right, Edmund and Drinian had just closed the doors behind them when she arrived.

"It's good that you're here, it's a rough night," murmured the boy, going towards her.

"Bad news?" she asked in return. He sighed and nodded, and then wished her good night and headed for the hold.

After having lingered for a moment, Elizabeth eventually decided to knock. "May I come in?" she demanded, partly opening the door.

Caspian was sitting on the little sofa in front of the window, with his elbows bent down resting on his knees, and his head abandoned in his hands.
He was surprised to hear her voice at that hour, but he was grateful for it, immediately jumping up and finding the smile again.

"Of course," he replied, "I thought you were sleeping already, it's quite late." he told her, letting her in.

"I'm not tired," she simply said, "I saw Edmund and Drinian leaving," she then added.

"Yes, the Captain was briefing us on the situation," he sighed. "Two weeks of storm, how long can it go on for? We'll run out of supplies in a few weeks, if we don't sink sooner." he explained in a grave voice.

"Cas..." Elizabeth tried to stop that crisis at the beginning, approaching him, but without success.

"Liz, what am I doing? What if I'm completely wrong? Maybe I am the one who's leading us all to our deaths! We're following a trail of men who probably met a horrible end, all because of my desire to prove something. My uncle was right, I'm a terrible King, a man who can't even..." he started raving, becoming delirious.

"Shut up, will you?" she sharply cut him off, "I'm not gonna stand here and listen to your nonsense. You are a good man, Caspian, and that's exactly what makes you a great King. We need you to get us through this, we need your leadership. Your men need you. I need you." she continued in one breath. "Only you can get us out of this hell." she concluded, pointing to his chest and meaning each and every word.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." he replied in a sight, lowering his gaze.

She smiled to see that she had managed to make him come back to his senses, "Just...stop underestimating yourself, that's the job of your enemies not yours. You're stronger than you think, Caspian, and it's time for you to realise it." she softly told him, putting an hand on his heart.

"What would I do without you, Liz?" he chuckled, now looking right into her eyes.

"You don't have to worry about that, I can't go anywhere now, can I?" she joked.