Caspian woke slowly to some light coming from a small gap in the boards directly above his head. Why wasn't he in the hammock he usually occupied at sea? It would be far more comfortable than the wooden floor he was laying on right now.
He took a deep breath, but felt a weight on his chest. What was going on?
Shifting slightly, he heard a small sigh. His eyes snapped fully open.
He was laying in one of the ship's holds, full of supplies. Flat on the floor with a bag of grain for a pillow. But, using him for a pillow, lay his wife. Naomi was wrapped in his left arm with her head tucked at the nook of his neck and chest.
Facing him, she'd obviously gotten cold in the night, from the way she was intimately pressed against him. His coat was still around her shoulders, with her left arm delicately resting across his chest.
She shivered slightly in her sleep, and he reflexively tightened his arm around her. She inhaled more deeply, indicating that she was close to waking up, and he felt a moment of panic.
Would she get the wrong idea? He barely remembered being tired enough to lay them both down after she'd fallen asleep on his shoulder as they sat against the wall. He swallowed, and she stiffened against him.
"What's wrong?" She whispered.
"What?" He asked softly. Had she had a bad dream?
"Your heart is beating so fast, has something gone wrong?" She continued.
"No, everything's fine," He assured her. Well, as fine as it could be, under the circumstances.
He absorbed her sentiment slowly, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself. It must have worked, because she relaxed again for a moment before suddenly bolting upright and scrambling away from him.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I fell asleep on you, and you were too nice to push me away. You must think me shameless, but I was so tired, and I'm–" Her voice cut off in a squeal of humiliation. "I'm sorry!" She said again.
He stared at her in the semi-darkness, assessing her. This was the first time he'd woken up before her since their marriage. He wondered if she always woke up feeling this skittish.
"Why should you be sorry?" He shrugged, "You're my wife."
"But I– I mean, we—" She paused, and he smiled ruefully at her.
"Don't worry about it. I'll go check on the situation on deck." He stood and stretched his sore muscles. Sleeping on the hard floor wasn't his ideal.
Naomi's face burned in the darkness, and she backed deeper into a shadow. Caspian sighed.
"Come here." He commanded. She flinched slightly, but did so. "Closer," He coaxed more softly. She was more timid than a beaten puppy.
He closed the distance between them and pulled her into a hug.
"See? I'm not mad. We're fine. Everything is fine." He said gently, and she almost melted against him in her relief.
"Thank you," she whispered, making him smile a little. He pulled away and looked into her face. His cap had come off at some point in the night, and her braid fell in disarray across one shoulder.
He tucked a wayward curl behind one ear, but his fingers lingered there against her cheek for a moment. She shivered again, and he pulled away.
"I'll be back." He said, suddenly needing to get away from the magnetic pull she had on him.
What was going on? He should be able to easily resist the charms of a woman he'd known only a few days.
Leaving the hold with a last look back at Naomi, Caspian took a deep cleansing breath of fresh air.
He noted with dismay, but without surprise, that the sea was still green and the sky was still pink. He didn't expect that Edmar had gotten them back to their world in the night, but part of him had hoped it might be so.
At least there were no looming clouds. That was a blessing.
He made his way through the bustling crew, and noticed that the cook had roasted up some of yesterday's catch for breakfast. His stomach grumbled.
"Ed!" He called, spotting his brother at the stern of the ship.
"Good Morning, Cas! Haven't seen you in a while. Getting some, er, time in with the little woman, just in case?" He wiggled his eyebrows.
Caspian balked at the vile joke, but shrugged it off.
"How is Father? Have there been any signs of Leviathan?" He asked.
"Father's still unconscious, but alive, last I checked. Feel free to do so yourself. No Leviathan yet. I'll whip the barrowman soundly if he doesn't find one today," Edmar winked.
Caspian closed his eyes and took a deep breath rather than let himself be aggravated by his brother's antics. How could he be so carefree with their father hurt so badly?
He went back to the hold for Naomi, who was sitting anxiously on a crate.
"Come with me," He held out his hand. Without hesitation, she came to him and took it. The absolute trust on her face chipped further at the wall he had around his heart, but for the moment, he didn't care.
She'd located and replaced his cap on her head, and he tucked a few strands into it before leading her outside.
Naomi breathed the air with relief; it had to have become stuffy in the hold. Following Caspian out onto the deck, she cringed behind him as she endured the stares of the crew.
His glares fended most of them off. She clearly felt completely underdressed in the short pants and billowing shirt.
The change of clothes was obviously fooling none of the crew. Caspian doubted it would fool the creatures she was meant to be hiding from.
He took her toward the stern, and past a man who seemed to be guarding a door, but did not stop them at all. Caspian continued inside, and Naomi saw a bedroom with windows and a bed across the wall.
On it lay Haf, who was unconscious but seemed to be breathing. Ismael, his father's trusted assistant and aide, watched over the Commodore with worry, but spared a glance for the two entering.
"There," Caspian let go of Naomi's hand and pointed to a door in the corner. "The Captain's washroom is unused right now and has what privacy you will need."
Naomi did not need to be told twice, and hurried into the small room to freshen up. While she was gone, he sent the aide for some food for the pair of them. It was likely the man hadn't left his father's side, and needed to stretch his legs anyway.
Caspian was sitting on the edge of the bed trying to gently wake his father when Naomi emerged looking much refreshed.
"I've sent the guard for some food. I hope perhaps the smell might rouse Father, but I also want to take you outside as little as possible." He explained.
Naomi nodded, and then her eyes shifted to Haf.
"Will he be all right?" She asked hesitantly.
"I don't know," Caspian admitted. "I hope so." For more than one reason.
Haf would never have ordered the crew to come here, and he would have done everything possible to get them back quickly. Caspian strongly suspected that Edmar's orders to the barrowman were not as strong as he would have Caspian believe.
He also needed the strong presence of his father. They had butted heads repeatedly over the years, but the man's strength and calm through even the hardest times were a bedrock of Ceto. To have him die would be a great loss to the people, and to Caspian personally.
He would chafe at his brother's leadership. Even though they should be equals on the ship, Edmar was officially the heir back on land. It's likely that he would be provisionally in charge of the people until Haf's recovery or demise.
A knock sounded at the door, and Ishmael returned with some food and water for Caspian and Naomi.
"Here you are, Sir." He set the tray down, looking nervous. Very nervous.
"Is there anything you want to tell me, Ishmael?" Caspian asked. The man was fidgeting and clearly had something on his mind.
"Well, it's not my place, but I've been serving next to your father on board since afore you were born," The older man said.
"I trust that you wouldn't want to tell me something that wasn't important. Please go ahead." Caspian sighed.
Ishmael hesitated. "No one had a more solid footing than Haf. I've never seen him waver even a mite."
"I agree," Caspian said, looking down at his father's unconscious form. "So what happened this time?"
"Well, when the Commodore was brought in here, and I helped get him into bed, I couldn't help but notice some oil on the bottom of one of his feet. After that, Sir, I went up on deck, and found some smeared right near where he always stands."