In the following week, nothing happens; nothing out of the ordinary picture of a tame sea, the sky, and occasional clouds. At least, the blue of the sea and the sky vary from time to time. The crew goes about the daily work which is – plainly said – not much these days as the wind does most of it to keep the Dawn Treader moving. The kings and queen as well as their cousin and Luna who can't help much around the ship are doomed to boredom. The two young women don't have a problem with it. Lucy reads a lot, Luna and Eustace join her often, or she sews and is forced to participate in the occasional training lessons. The latter is mainly pursued by Luna who makes use of the spare time and the lack of other manual labour. Caspian and Edmund join in, and, after a few days of sulking over his sore muscles, Eustace is brought to come along as well. Reepicheep works with the boy a lot. Turns out, the blond is a quick learner. However, his body isn't as quick as his mind – strength needs time to develop.

Training, reading, playing chess, and helping out here and there isn't enough to keep the Just King busy for long. Out of the royals, he's the most restless – out of the six friends, Reep would surpass him. Having always been kind of mischievous, an idea strikes him. Edmund broods about it no full day until the first prank is devised. Wasting no time, he proceeds to execute his plan. Poor Anaru is the first victim. The young sailor is on deck-scrubbing-duty and finds that the soap is gone. Rynelf and the older jack-tars tease him about it while Edmund snickers to himself in a corner, knowing exactly where the soap has disappeared to. Around lunch, Rynelf complains that his soup tastes funny and asks Jaro, the chef, what on the seven seas he has put in there. The men laugh and tease both of them until Jaro takes Rynelf's bowl to taste it. He can't believe his own soup would taste 'funny'. It really does and Jaro leaves for the kitchen, grumbling to himself about an unthankful lot. So, he doesn't witness Rynelf's hiccup where bubbles pop out of his mouth – and his nose – twice. For once, it isn't the ship's first mate to joke around and 'play jester' as Drinian puts it. Rynelf is a good lad, a good sailor too, who likes to tease others but doesn't think himself too good to laugh about himself either. So, that meal contains a lot of laughter, and after overcoming his surprise, Rynelf laughs with everyone.

In the afternoon, Jaro gave up thinking about the soup incident. Maybe Anaru didn't wash up well and some soap was accidentally left in the bowl. Unfortunately, Edmund misses the look on the ship's cook's face as he finds the soap between his potatoes, missing a small part.

In the evening, Caspian grows suspicious of his friend's behaviour. Edmund kept to himself today, always on his feet around the ship. That isn't far from the usual if it weren't for the sneaking part. The King of Old seems focused on something, maybe deep in thought? No, then he wouldn't need to look over his shoulder like someone who is up to something. The current King of Narnia decides to lay low and wait, for now. He needs to tend to some papers anyway. With a shrug he pushes away from the railing and heads to his study. On the way over the main deck, his gaze travels up to the crow's nest. Two set of feet dangle over the edge. He cranes his neck to get a better look. There, Elrik and Luna sit, talking and laughing together. As the sailor says something, a grin spreads over her lips. Caspian feels something hot in his chest, averting his gaze for a moment to swallow. His brow is creased as he looks up again briefly. It's good to see her so carefree, no doubt, still Caspian wishes he could joke around with her like that – just like they used to before he became king. He values the friendship Luna and he share, but sometimes it seems like sand trickling through his fingers – lesser and lesser left of it. However, that's not entirely true; they share an indelible history, went through thick and thin together and will always share a strong bond. Over time, that seems to be not enough anymore. It isn't a reprehensible feeling at all, maybe it was to be expected as they fit together so well – completing each other here and softening edges there. Caspian realised that long ago, so did Luna. For a short time, that was alright and wonderful, and they slowly approached each other, just to be ripped apart by duty and decorum as he was crowned king, and she was given the responsibility to watch over his life. They adjusted to it, only for the feelings to resurface now. Caspian isn't sure if she feels the same way and he's afraid to ask. Since the unexpected ending of their fight a few days ago, he had to think about it all. Luna and he didn't talk much, both a little inhibited, that gave him the time he needed. The fight alone wasn't what made him question every interaction they shared lately, the harmless flirting – yes, admittedly – their gazes and gestures, every detail really. He had to listen into himself to realise it started much earlier; the feast on the Lone Islands played a role, but maybe it never wasn't there.

Caspian sighs and runs his hand through his hair, it's complicated and yet so simple. He has to find out if she feels the same, still, or again. And he must decide if he is ready and prepared to fight for them – not only to win her over but to defend her from her own doubts and those of the people around them. It certainly won't be an easy feat to tell court the king is going to marry a commoner. It's not for anyone but Caspian and Luna to decide, however. He shakes his head; his thoughts are galloping ahead and get tangled up in wishful thinking. Maybe he should focus on those papers for now.

Meanwhile, Eustace took a nap in his new hammock. He moved out of the sick bay and downstairs into Caspian, Edmund and Reep's cabin. He has to admit hammocks are quite comfortable, his cousin was right – not that he would tell him. Something creaks quietly but Eustace pays no attention to it, he got used to the ship's constant noises. He has his nose buried in his book. It's about Narnia, quite factual, just how he prefers it. The blond still has troubles to wrap his head around the fact that there are more worlds than the one he was living in until recently. Narnia being one of them, in which he fell through a painting. His parents would deem him out of his mind if he told them. Alberta Scrubb may even scold him for spending so much time with Edmund and Lucy. In her opinion, the Pevensie children think too much about fantasy stories than practical things, the real life and so on and so forth. Eustace chuckles, skidding from left to right in his hammock to get comfortable. Snap. Eustace jumps and before he can make out the origin of the sound, he finds himself on the floor with a slightly hurting behind.

Lucy, Edmund and Drinian are having tea in the salon as Eustace trudges in with a face a yard long. Ed snorts into his cup at the sight while Lucy asks what happened. Their cousin explains his hammock wasn't securely moored and fell – with him in it. Drinian raises an eyebrow but doesn't comment on the scene the boy is making.

» That's unfortunate, « Lucy says,

» I'm sure, Ed and Cas will help you hang it up securely again. «

» That's not the point, « Eustace waves his hands around and dives into an explanation how he hanged it up with Halion who showed him a sailor's knot. So, it was tight and couldn't just open itself. He concludes someone must have loosened it. Lucy shakes her head; sure no one would do something like that on purpose as Eustace could have gotten hurt. Edmund just shrugs and Drinian finishes his tea in silence. Eustace pouts and marches out on deck to continue his reading in his favourite spot between some barrels. On his way he meets Luna on her way to her cabin to freshen up. The two warm up to each other. He learns women can be fierce and brave warriors and defending is a greater strength than attacking. She witnesses first-hand that people can change if they let Aslan work on them and are willing to work with Him. So, she asks him, why the long face. He tells her someone loosened his hammock and is off again, mumbling to himself. Luna raises an eyebrow and continues her way.

In the hallway she finds the usually very calm Jonathan, shouting at Anaru that the floor is slippery like a fish, and he should kindly pay attention when he swabs away the soap – to avoid injuries the doc has to tend to with limited resources. To not get in the middle of that conversation, Luna escapes into Caspian's study from where a door leads into Lucy and her cabin as well. She quietly closes the door behind her, turning around with a relieved sigh to find Caspian seated at his desk and looking at her. They stare at each other for a moment until Luna breaks the silence,

» I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. « He smiles slightly and puts down his pen.

» You didn't, « he assures her, his gaze wanders to the door. The doctor's one-sided argument with the scallion is still going on.

» What's happened? « Caspian asks, trying to bridge the slightly uncomfortable atmosphere.

» Something about a slipp'ry floor, « Luna runs a hand over her dishevelled braid. She doesn't like the tension between them – be it ever so slight. As she walks over to his desk, he notices her flushed cheeks, probably from the exercise.

» What are you working on? « She asks softly, hesitating by his desk. She doesn't look at the papers before him, she never does, she always asks him directly. At court, it's not her place to know everything and being nosy is not one of her traits. He values this, she lets him decide. In the end, they talk about most of the important matters as he trusts her opinion. Some people in court don't approve of it, but he couldn't care less. He trusts her with his life, so he can trust her with everything else – and she makes a good advisor. Caspian shifts his gaze from her rosy face to his papers,

» Ah, it's a draft for the treaty with the Lone Islands. Lord Bern will contact Trumpkin, but I just have some matters I want included. « Luna nods, settling down at the edge of the windowsill. She would like to know more but she won't press on, maybe it's time to discuss something else. However, she has no idea how to address it – she isn't even fully sure what it is yet. She takes a breath to just say something doesn't seem quite right, then she stops. Her gaze finds his before dropping to the floor while she hopes her cheeks don't flush visibly more.

» Well then, « she says quietly,

» I'll leave you to it. « She sends a timid smile his way before hurrying out of the room. Caspian has no choice but to let her leave as the door opens and Drinian and Edmund appear. While Ed slips in, Drinian remains in the hallway, barking an order to Jonathan and Anaru before entering. Edmund caught a glimpse at Luna's disappearing form. One look at Caspian tells him something unsettles him; he can only guess that it's the same for her. He has had his suspicions about it for a while now; observing and guessing brought him to the conclusion that something remains unsaid between those two. Caspian only catches a twinkle in Edmund's eyes what lets him think about the incidents today – those he knows about at least.

The Character overview has been updated!