Caspian closed the door behind him and calmed his heartbeat. That woman affected him much more than he would prefer. He hardened himself against the feelings he was sorely tempted to have. He was forced into marrying her, and he refused to legitimize his parents' plan for his life.
He knew best, not them.
Shaking that aside, he stormed off to find his father or brother. He decided to start with Haf, since he was also concerned to see that the man was all right.
Heading towards the captain's quarters, he found a man there at the door keeping watch.
"How is my father?" Caspian asked, emphasizing his right to know what was going on.
The sailor touched his chin in deference, and then shook his head. "I do not know. He is being looked after inside, and I'm to stand by in case something needs to be fetched."
Caspian walked past the man, and opened the door. No effort was made to stop him, which was a relief. After Edmar's men had held him back earlier, he began to question how much respect and authority he held here.
With their father in charge, the brothers were more or less equals. Apparently that did not hold once Haf was indisposed.
His father lay on the bed in the captain's cabin. One of the crew was beside him, applying a rag with cold water to the man's head.
"How is he?" Caspian had only fleetingly seen what happened; he was occupied with the chaos of freeing the ship from the whales' attack and had had no real time to react to his father's injury.
"He lost his footing when the whales rammed the ship, and hit his head," The man explained. "He has not woken up. There is a large lump, and some bleeding. He is still alive, for now."
Caspian gulped, looking at his unconscious father. Although the attack was unexpected and turbulent, if he hadn't seen his father fall, he wouldn't have believed it. He was the steadiest man of the Cetoans, strong and stable.
Now that he was unconscious, it seemed his brother was in charge. That would prove an obstacle. Edmar was stubborn and could be irresponsible.
But, there was nothing for it. He had to work to get them back to their own world as quickly as he could.
"Take good care of him. Let me know immediately when he wakes up." Caspian refused to give up on his father.
"Yes, sir." The man continued to press cool clothes against the raised bump on the Commodore's head.
Walking out into the open air, Caspian marveled, not for the first time, about the strangeness of traveling here. The air tasted different: sweet rather than salty. The sky, a pale pink color, was as if an eternal sunset hung in the heavens, despite the orangish orb that made its rounds.
Even at night here, the sky was purplish instead of the dark blue-black of home. Walking to the bulwark, he looked out over the sparkling green water. It was calm, for now.
The creatures he'd spoken of to Naomi tended to appear with storms more often than clear skies. He shifted his view to the horizon, where distant clouds squatted, as if lying in wait.
"Where is Edmar?" He muttered to himself, walking to the bow where he had last seen his brother.
He didn't have to look long. The man was standing proud and tall, giving orders to those around him. Caspian's eyebrows rose. He was a little surprised that his brother hadn't already taken up the traditional place at the stern to take over completely.
"Cas! There you are! I'd wondered where you'd gotten to," Edmar called.
"Ed, Can we talk?" Caspian knew his brother's pride was less likely to get in the way without the men watching.
"What is it, brother?" Edmar raised his chin and tilted his head, daring Caspian to challenge him.
"I would like to discuss strategy with you," Caspian clenched his teeth together, hoping that his lack of open defiance would earn him some measure of goodwill.
"Of course, Cas. I'll be right with you," Edmar continued giving orders for the spare nets to be lowered. The rare fish and creatures to be found in these waters were valuable, and he wouldn't waste a moment.
Caspian weighed his options. Patience was more likely to earn him a private word with his brother. Openly challenging him or demanding his attention would make his brother dig in to his position.
He closed his eyes and breathed deeply until at last, he had Edmar's attention.
"What is it, little brother?" The elder asked finally.
"We need to get back as soon as possible." Caspian spoke in low tones.
"But why? This is a rare opportunity! We must make the most of it!" Edmar looked at him in confusion.
"Father is badly hurt. We need to get him back to Mother." He decided to go with this tactic first, rather than pointing out the foolishness of Edmar's decision to lead them here at all.
"What could Mother do for him?" Edmar challenged. "Does she have healing skills?"
"He might not make it," Caspian stayed calm, despite the intense anxiety boiling under the surface. His brother was in charge of them in a world not their own, and not listening to reason while their father was in mortal danger.
"He either will or he won't. He would expect me to take charge and do what is best for our people," Edmar said.
"And what about what he just accomplished for the good of our people? An alliance to secure brides for our men. The potential for lucrative trade with Klain. The longer we stay here, the more you put those goals in peril." Caspian was struggling not to throttle his older brother.
Now that they were both grown, they were more evenly matched than they had been as children. Edmar had easily bullied him when they were young, but he wasn't entirely sure who would win now.
This wasn't the best time to find out for sure.
"You mean because your wife is here? I thought you wanted to be rid of her. I'm doing you a favor, Cas!" Edmar slapped him good-naturedly on the shoulder.
"If the Rhone find out the first bride they sent was endangered this way," Recklessly, he wanted to add, "they will not send any more. We need them for our people."
"You're overreacting. It will be fine. I'm sure you've already done something to protect her. You've always been the dutiful one, haven't you?" The smile given was a strained one, and Caspian frowned.
"I am bound to her now, and must protect her, as you well know," The younger brother began to lose his temper with the elder. "We must get back to our world."
"You're the one that brought her on board, not me. I think you were hoping for this to happen, and now you're putting on a show for yourself so you don't feel guilty about it later. Don't worry, no one will blame you. You couldn't have predicted the whale attack, or that we would need to make use of the Leviathan to escape it… Why, you even struggled against two men to try and stop it! You'll get off without punishment, I'll make sure of it." Edmar smiled broadly.
"That's not what this is about. Why can't you see this is dangerous, for everyone? If those things come and try to take her, they could tear apart the ship in the process. We could all die, not just her. Father could die while we're having this discussion! See reason, Edmar!"
"Fine, fine," Edmar waved him off. "At the first opportunity, I'll take us home. Stop your nagging, Cas."
The younger brother glared, but maintained his composure.
"Please give the order to the barrowman." He asked.
"Fine, I'll have him be on the lookout for a way back." Edmar dismissed his brother more firmly. "Now either help us with fishing, look out for a leviathan yourself, or go take care of your woman, wherever you've stashed her. I don't care which."
Caspian debated internally while mentally railing against his brother's foolishness.
Though leviathan rarely visited their world, the creatures were relatively common in this one. It should take less than a day to locate one and use it to get back home.
It had taken many years of trial and error to use the creatures to navigate effectively. Essentially, a leviathan they encountered in their own world might take them anywhere, but if they roped one elsewhere and cut the rope just as it began to pull them through a portal, they would default to their home world.
They speculated that things always desired to return where they came from, unless magic interfered.
With a heavy sigh, Caspian went to the prow and looked outward for any sign of the creatures, but was met with calm, endless green ocean on all sides. He swallowed, wondering how long it would take.