˗ˏˋCHAPTER SIXˊˎ-

***

"IT'S ONLY A matter of time," Peter started the next morning, eyes glancing around the room where they were all gathered together. "Miraz's men and war machines are on their way. That means those same men aren't protecting his castle."

"What do you propose we do, Your Majesty?" Reep asked from the crowd.

"We need to get ready for—" Peter began, but at the same time, Caspian spoke up. "To start planning for—" The two boys immediately stopped to stare at each other in silence, and Wren shared a brief look with Susan, who looked as annoyed as she did. Finally, Caspian slowly nodded his head, gesturing for the other leader to go on.

"Our only hope is to strike them before they strike us."

"Well, that's a foul plan," Wren huffed to herself. "I mean, honestly does anyone around here actually plot things out?"

"That's crazy," Caspian accused, oblivious to her comment. "No one has ever taken that castle."

"There's always a first time," Peter retorted.

"We'll have the element of surprise," Trumpkin tried to reason.

"But we have the advantage here," Caspian argued.

Susan stood up, "if we dig in, we could probably hold them off indefinitely. Wren is right, we have to have some sort of solid plan. Marching in there isn't going to work out well for us. You remember what happened last time."

"I, for one, feel safer underground," the badger, who Wren learned his name to be Trufflehunter, admitted.

Peter sighed, looking to Caspian once more. "Look. I appreciate what you've done here, but this isn't a fortress. It's a tomb."

"Yes," Edmund cut in. "And if they're smart, the Telmarines will just wait and starve us out."

"Personally, I think it'd be wise to listen to the guy who's literally lived inside the castle his entire life," Wren piped up, and Peter scowled at her. Caspian offered her a grateful smile, but yet again, it appeared as if her opinion was going to be tossed away.

"We can collect nuts," one of the squirrels suggested.

"Yes," Reep nodded his head eagerly, but his tone was dipped in sarcasm. "And throw them at the Telmarines! Shut up. I think you know where I stand, Sire."

Peter glanced to the centaurs. "If I get your troops in, can you handle the guards?"

"Or die trying, my Liege." He bowed his head.

"That's what I'm worried about," Lucy's soft voice interrupted. "You're all acting like there's only two options. Dying here, or dying there."

"I'm not sure you've been listening-"

"No, you're not listening," she said sharply. "Or have you forgotten who really defeated the White Witch, Peter?"

Peter's jaw clenched as he turned away. "I think we've waited for Aslan long enough. It's time to get ready. We'll storm the castle tonight."

***

The plan was set in stone, and although it sounded pretty foolproof, Wren still had a clenching feeling in her gut. Maybe if was because everyone else surrounding her had experienced a war of some sort at least once in their life, and had a general idea of what was going to happen, or maybe it was because she was currently being held by the claws of a weird bird thing, soaring over the night sky. She decided she'd figure it out later.

Edmund had given the signal, and the castle got closer and closer, and Wren's legs were dangling so low she thought they were going to scrap against the concrete. A guard looked up as she approached, and with surprising strength, she kicked her foot into his chest, knocking him off the building as she continued to fly away. From the corner of her eye, she saw Caspian slash his own guard with his sword.

As they got lower to the bridge, one of the guards spotted Edmund, who was flickering his flashlight up in one of the towers. He went to aim his crossbow at him, before Susan shot the knight in the chest, and he fell to the ground. The rest of them landed on the ground as quietly as they could, while Wren, with her padded shoes, had no problem making her footsteps silent.

"Alright. Reep and the other mice should be opening the gates soon, let's get in position," Peter ordered, and they nodded. "Susan and Wren, you come with Caspian and I to the professor's room. The rest of you, find somewhere to jump out until the others join us."

Quickly, they made their way onto the roof Caspian pointed to, and Wren tightly griped the rope in her hands as Susan helped the boys climb down to the window. Her palms were sweating with nerves, and for a moment she thought the rope was going to slide out of her grasp. Luckily, it didn't, and when she peered over the ledge, the two of them were gone.

They hurriedly climbed the rope after them, and Wren looked around the messy room in concern. Books and papers were scattered along the floor, pages and pages of stories tossed carelessly across the bed and table. It looked like a tornado had gone through there.

Caspian tenderly picked up a pair of old glasses. "I have to find him."

"You don't have the time," Peter told him. "You need to open the gate. The mice are only the first part."

"You wouldn't even be here without him," Caspian said sharply. "And neither would I."

Peter glanced back to Susan, who met Wren's gaze. "You and I can deal with Miraz. But Caspian, take Wren with you. From what I can tell, this place is crawling with guards. You might need backup."

"But I don't-" Wren started to say, but Caspian spoke next, talking over her.

"I can still get to the gate in time. Especially with backup." He looked to her hopefully, and Wren was lost in his puppy-like expression for a moment before she sighed.

She honestly thought she'd be more useful with the Pevensie siblings, but they were the experts. They knew what they were doing, they'd done it before. And that's the only reason she said: "Okay. I'll go with you."

Caspian led her down a deserted hall, poking his head out from behind the wall as he checked for any guards. Wren continuously glanced behind them to make sure they weren't being followed. He darted across the walkway, and she copied him in suit. They were soon stood in a dark room with a bed that was completely torn to shreds. She softly shut the door behind them as Caspian rummaged through some things on a dresser.

Only from the moonlight could she make out the arrow shaped holes in the curtains that surrounded the bed, and she felt her lips part. "This was your room, wasn't it?"

"Yes," his answer was immediate as he kept sorting through a box. "If my professor hadn't came and found me that night...well, you're looking at my bed."

"Blimey," she muttered, just as he held up a chain in astonishment.

"It's still here. I thought they'd have gone through all of my things. But they hadn't. These are the keys to the cellars. Where he's locked up."

"I figured as much," she replied with a knowing smile. He looked embarrassed for only a second, as if he couldn't believe he doubted her, but then the two of them darted out the door again. She kept close to him as they began descending down a dark set of stairs. So close, in fact, that if she reached her hand out, she'd end up touching his back. He breathed out a breath of relief as he rushed over to the first cell, jiggling the keys in the lock. "I'll keep watch," Wren told him, and he nodded. She quickly climbed back up the stairs, only keeping the door open an inch so she could see out it.

Caspian and the professor's voice could be heard from the basement, but she wasn't able to figure out what they were saying as a guard suddenly stepped into view.

Almost instantly, as if her fighting skills had been buried deep beyond the surface, Wren stuck her leg out, somehow managing to knock the guard off his feet. He collapsed onto the ground with a grunt, and she sunk her knee into his chest, flipping out one of her daggers. It only took her a moment's hesitation of killing him before she was flipped onto her back. His sword swung way too closely to her face before she rolled out of the way. As fast as she could, she got back up, and narrowly dodged more jabs her way. She bought herself some time as the guard allowed her to get closer and closer without realizing it, and this time, she didn't wait.

Wren pulled out the bloody dagger from his side, wiping it off onto her sleeve, just as Caspian appeared at the doorway, his face flushed in anger. He barely acknowledged her as he ran in the complete opposite direction of the gate. "Caspian?!" She shouted as low as she could so she wouldn't draw too much attention, but he ignored her. "You idiot! Where are you going?"

With one last glance to the bleeding-out guard, Wren found herself chasing after him. She watched him disappear behind a wooden door just in time before it closed all the way, and she caught it with the edge of her shoe. She slowly snuck into the room, but Caspian didn't even notice she was there as he held his blade to a sleeping man—who Wren assumed was Miraz. She hid behind the curtains, having a feeling this wasn't going to end well.

"Get up," Caspian demanded, only pulling away his sword to allow the man to climb out of bed. Wren readied a dagger in her palm just in case.

"Caspian?" The woman asked, blinking sleepily.

"Stay where you are."

"What are you doing?"

"I should think it's obvious, dear," Miraz replied, not taking his eyes off the prince. "Some families might consider this inappropriate behavior." Rich coming from the man who hired a hit on his on nephew, Wren thought bitterly.

It seemed that Caspian was thinking along the same lines. "That doesn't seem to have stopped you."

"But you are not like me, are you? It's sad. The first time you've shown any backbone...And it's such a waste."

"Put the sword down, Caspian," the woman ordered, holding out a crossbow. Wren stepped out from behind the curtain, aiming her weapon at her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she said in a low voice. Everyone looked over to her in surprise, and she noticed how Caspian's shoulders somewhat relaxed once he realized he had backup. "Drop your weapon, now, and I'll consider letting you live." The person talking sounded nothing like Wren—but it had been her own lips that moved to make thay threat. She hardly recognized herself for a second.

"I don't want to do this."

"We don't want you to, either," Susan kicked the door open with her bow raised, Peter closely behind.

Miraz put his hands on his hips. "This used to be a private room."

"What are you doing?!" Peter asked. "Youre both supposed to be in the gatehouse!"

"Great question," Wren responded, looking to the long-haired boy quizzically. "Caspian, what are we doing here?"

"Because tonight for once, I want the truth," he glared at Miraz. Wren had never seen so much hatred in his eyes. "Did you kill my father?"

Caspian backed him up against the wall, and Miraz face paled. "Now we get to it."

"You said your brother died in his sleep," the woman muttered.

"That was more or less true."

"Caspian, this won't make things any better," Susan told him.

"We Telmarines would have nothing had we not taken it," Miraz sneered, glancing over to Wren. "Your own father would know that all too well. I suppose in the end he tried to redeem himself by defending those disgusting Narnians. Too bad it seems like young death runs in your family."

Wren bit the inside of her cheek to stop her lip from quivering. "What are you going on about, you sadistic prick?"

"How could you?" The woman on the bed sounded betrayed. "You killed Dorian as well as my brother? How could you?"

"For the same reason you will pull that trigger," he said roughly. "For our son! You need to make a choice, dear. Do you want our child to be king? Or do you want him to be like Caspian here? Fatherless!"

"No!" She protested with a shout, and an arrow was shot out of her boy into Caspian's arm. He grunted in pain as Susan shot her own arrow. The woman cried out in pain as Wren rushed over along with the other girl to help pull Caspian upwards. Using this as a distraction, Miraz slipped out the back door as Wren crouched down before the prince, who grimaced at the stick piercing his skin.

"Susan, rip me off a piece of your sleeve. Hurry." Though still looking confused, Susan obliged. Her fabric was more rough than Caspian's, which was exactly what Wren needed. She quickly pulled apart the area of shirt that was surrounding the arrow in his arm, and his skin was so red it looked like it was about to burst. She gripped the edge of it. "Okay, this is gonna hurt."

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Peter asked, warily watching her.

"I used to patch up my mum all the time when she came home drunk after a long night," she replied, ignoring the looks of pity she received in response. "I know what I'm doing. Are you ready?"

Caspian nodded, and she went to pull it out of his arm, but at the last minute he lightly shook her off. "Wait."

"We can either do this now, or wait until your arm is infected with no chance of saving it, and we're being chased by a bunch of angry Trelmarines through these castle's halls. Your choice." Hesitantly, he nodded, and Wren tightly wrapped the small piece of cloth around the tip of the arrow. And as swiftly as she could, she yanked the head out of his arm. He cried out in pain, but his face eased as she hardly put pressure along his shoulder. "Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

He winced. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one who had an arrow lodged in his arm."

"Watch the tone, Prince Attitude."

authors note

the tea is hot

i'm in love with wren goodbye