WAR OF HEARTS ━ prince caspian x

twenty-three

˗ˏˋCHAPTER TWENTY-THREEˊˎ-

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DARK SMOKE CURLED at their feet, Wren watched as it continued to spread alongside her and the other crew members, who looked just as uneasy as she felt. Shock suddenly plunged in her chest when the fog took form of a man, who she recognized immediately from the pictures strung up on the walls at her previous home outside of Narnia. Before Narnia. Her throat felt clogged and she swallowed thickly, voice hoarse. "Dad?"

He outstretched his hand. "Come with me, Wren. This is not the life I dreamt of you having when I sacrificed myself for Narnia. You should be free."

"I... am free?" She stammered, confused.

"I have a lovely village house sat upon a mountain that overlooks the see. Come live with me. Be the daughter I've always wished to raise. And I can be the father whom was absent most of your life. We can both get what we've always wanted. We can be a family."

Wren nearly grasped his hand, but Caspian's words echoed in her brain. Don't fall to temptation. Be strong. And she would. For him. Her arm fell back to her side, and her eyes narrowed into a glare. "I already have a family. You'll have to try harder than that to corrupt me."

The smoke shrieked loudly, Wren had to cover her ears to block out the sound. Once it had shriveled away, she took a glance around. Voices bounced off the rocks Wren was convinced laid behind the thick fog, she was sure others were having similar hallucinations just like she had moments prior.

Wren sidled up to Caspian, but still kept her distance, and turned her head at the abrubt groaning that came from somewhere ahead of them. "Keep away!" It warned. Wren's fingers found the hilt of her sword anxiously. "Keep away!"

"That's reassuring," she muttered, shifting on her feet.

"Who's there?" Edmund demanded, peering over the side of the ship.

"We do not fear you!" Caspian shouted out from beside her. Wren clenched her jaw and nodded, silently agreeing. She would not be afraid.

"Nor I you!" The man yelled back. Wren blinked in surprise.

Edmund searched for his flashlight, and aimed it around until it landed on a man in ragged clothing, who was stood on a piece of land, looking as if he were guarding something. "We will not leave," Caspian said firmly.

"You will not defeat me!"

Wren cocked her head to the side when she noticed the weapon in his hands. "Hey, isn't that-"

"Lord Roop," Caspian realized, bounding down the steps to get a closer look.

"You do not own me!" Roop screamed.

"Stand down," Caspian commanded, but Wren grabbed her fiance's arm, pulling him to a stop. He glanced to her. "What are you doing?"

"You're handling this wrong," she told him, dropping her hold. "He's clearly scared, who knows how long he's been stuck here? We should try a different tactic."

Caspian scanned her momentarily, before nodding his head. "As you wish."

Wren turned to the Lord. "We have no intentions of owning you," she called out to him, stepping forward. "Nor do we wish to inflict any harm upon you. We're here to stop the darkness, but we need your sword to do it. Lord Roop," she added once Roop raised his weapon again. "We are not your enemies here. We want the same as you. Let us help."

"Spoken like a true queen," Lucy murmured proudly from behind her, though it was drowned out by the sound of Eustace's wings flapping as he gathered Roop in his claws, and plopped him right onto the deck. Many of the archers raised their aim at him, but Wren shot them each a withering glare, and they lowered their bows.