˗ˏˋCHAPTER TENˊˎ-

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"DID I PASS out?" Wren asked when she finally felt conscious enough again, though her voice was raspy. She cleared her throat. "How embarrassing." Somebody chuckled and she cracked her eyes open to see Caspian peering down at her, so close that she thought he was about to press his lips against hers. And suddenly in that moment, she wasn't opposed to the idea. "And now you're staring at me as if I just died, and it's only adding to it. Look away," she ordered, gently placing her hand into his jaw and turning his face the opposite direction.

"You almost did," he mumbled. "We had a hard time finding you under all those rocks. You'd almost been crushed to death."

"What happened?" She asked, glancing around to see many other wounded being tended to.

"We won," he replied shortly.

She frowned. "Damn. I missed the battle? I was hoping to use this." Wren pulled out the sword he'd given to her hours before. He shook his head in amusement.

"Aslan came back," he told her, gently pulling her up. His hands were surprisingly soft, and she felt the urge to run her fingertips over his palms before she mentally slapped herself. "Woke up the trees and everything. That's the only reason we weren't defeated. Nature really is amazing."

"You're awake!" Lucy rushed to her side with Susan following behind. They both gently wrapped her in a hug. "We thought we'd lost you."

"I'm glad we didn't," Susan added softly, before shoving her shoulder. "You're insane. I can't believe I actually encouraged you to go over there!"

"It was so much fun," she grinned. "I kicked a guy in the balls."

Lucy looked confused while Susan laughed, shaking her head in amusement. "Of course you'd be happy about that."

"Come on," Lucy pulled her up by the hands. "Someone's been wanting to talk to you." Curiously, Wren trailed after her, and soon, she was standing in front of a large lion, who blinked, and it almost seemed that he smiled at her approach. "Wren, this is Aslan."

She immediately widened her eyes. "Crap. Am I supposed to like come bearing gifts or something?"

Aslan let out a chuckle. "No need to worry about that. I sense you have some questions for me, yes?"

"I guess so," she shrugged, and Lucy turned on her heel to give them privacy. "It's just, this whole timeline doesn't really make sense to me."

He made a noise of understanding. "After your father changed his ways and stood up for the Narnians, he fled Narnia in fear of getting tortured by the previous king, who he had served a great amount of time for. He lived in your world for years, and eventually fell in love with your mother, and they had you. But, the king never gave up on his search for Dorian. He wanted your father dead for trechery. He went lengths to even your world to find him. This led to him fleeing when you were only a baby. He was terrified to stay in range for your safety. He left for your protection, giving your mother specific instructions to never try to contact him again. And that it was all for you."

"Suppose that's why she's always been so cruel to me," Wren mused.

"He knew you'd always be back here," Aslan went on. "He knew it was only a matter of time. Whether you'd come back to carry on the legacy he left behind or not. You belong here—you always have."

Wren swallowed. "So where is he now? My father?"

He lowered his head sadly. "I'm afraid I do not know. Whether he's returned to Narnia or stayed in your world, his location has yet to be tracked. I'm sorry."

She frowned, but nodded. "It's alright. Thank you. For telling me. For everything, Aslan."

His eyes crinkled as if he were smiling again, and Wren found herself returning it, before she headed back down to where the others were crowded. They were back in the city, she realized, the the townspeople had grouped together and were all cheering loudly.

"Wren!" A voice shouted, and she looked over to see Edmund holding the reins of an extra horse. "Hurry! You surely don't want to miss out on being in the new King's entourage, do you?"

King.

Caspian was king?

Of course he's king, you moron, she scolded herself in annoyance.

Very quickly, Wren hopped on the back of the horse, and rode next to Edmund the whole time. She could barely see Caspian's head, the only thing that told her it was him was the large golden crown atop his black hair. The crowd continued to cheer as they made their way into the castle, and Wren grinned at them all.

The festivities continued all night, dancing and singing, and even fireworks that lit up the sky. She smiled to herself, recalling when she twirled Lucy before handing her off to Peter. Endless laughter and jokes that made her chuckle to herself when she thought about them again. It had been a long party that made Wren's feet hurt, but at least the food was good. Eventually, Wren found herself searching for a familiar face she hadn't seen in hours. It didn't take her long, because where he was stood was one of the least crowded parts of the castle. He was standing alone on one of the balconies.

"Hey," she greeted, and he looked over in response with a smile on his lips. "So I don't have to go around and like, curtesy every time I see you, right? Because that would be weird."

Caspian chuckled. "Technically, you were always supposed to bow. You just chose not to."

She laughed, stepping next to him, her hands wrapping around the railing as they both watched the fireworks explode in the dark night. "Right."

"Tomorrow...when the time comes...You're going back to your world, aren't you?"

Wren paused, before shrugging. "I haven't decided yet. I mean, I love it there. I have to steal to pay the rent for my apartment. I'm hardly passing in school, and it's super boring, not to mention." She rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm staying. I've never belonged anywhere like I've belonged here."

"Well, that's a relief," he admitted, almost shyly. "Because I was going to ask you to stay here. With me. One day...I'll need a queen to help rule beside me."

She looked at him in shock, before smirking smugly. "Are you proposing?"

"No, I just-I would never on such short notice-not here of all places, I have more gentlemen in me than that. I've planned it out for a much better reserved spot than-"

"Oh, so you've been planning on this?"

"I mean I-"

"Relax," she interrupted. "I'm just teasing. I didn't mean to give you a heart attack. We haven't even kissed yet."

A handsome smile was now etched upon his face. "Are you saying you want to kiss me?"

Wren's cheeks flushed. "No-Well yeah but—wait I'm not going to be a stuttering idiot like you."

"So I'm an idiot?" His voice was light and taunting, but the look in his eyes nearly made her knees go weak and she had to hold onto the railing.

She swallowed, hoping her voice wouldn't betray her, praying it would stay even and not waver as she continued to stare at him. "You've always been an idiot."

"That's no way to talk to your king."

"We've already discussed this, I'm not treating you any differently-"

"Your eyes look really blue when you're blushing."

She felt her face warm even more, and her voice was barely above a whisper. "Shut up."

"Hey," Peter's voice called out from behind them, and the pair sprang apart, and Wren nearly crashed to the ground out of fright. She clutched her racing heart as Caspian stared at the blonde, almost looking murderous for the interruption. Luckily, Peter didn't seem to notice how close they had been seconds before. "Your people have requested your presence."

He glanced to Wren guiltily, but she just smiled, and it was enough to reassure him that they were okay. Caspian clenched his jaw, and nodded. "Then let's not keep them waiting."

authors note

you didn't think it would be that easy did you PSSSHHH also this is like the most...detailed romance scene i've ever written ??? i kinda avoid stuff like that cause i'm bad at writing it but i don't think this was toooooo bad

one more chapter until part two !