The next few days leading up to the ceremony went by very quickly. I hardly had time to make my usual rounds to the village, a ritual that would become less frequent as time passed, Lord Soryn explained. On the day before, I had made plans to go and check on one of my usual patients. I told my father where I was going and that I would be back before dinner. Caspian was busy with council meetings, so I didn't want to disturb him. I took two guards with me as precaution. These were strange times, and one never knew what might happen.

I asked the guards to wait for me outside while I was attending to my duties. The elderly man that lived there had a daughter that looked after him with the help of her husband. As I stepped inside of the house, I immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"Mr. Tumgin?" I called out. Nothing looked amiss, but I couldn't shake the warning I felt in my heart.

"My Lady…I'm so glad you could make it," I turned to look at the shadowy figure behind me that had spoken.

"Araden?" I called out, thinking it was 's son-in-law. But the man that stepped in front of me was not Araden. This man looked as though he belonged to the Calormen army. As soon as I realized what was about to happen to me I tried to run towards the door, but the solider was too fast. He grabbed me by the waist and covered my mouth. Outside of the house, my guards lay dead on the ground, and two more Calormen soldiers stood beside their bodies. The next thing I felt was a sharp blow to the head. I felt my body hit the ground as my vision blurred and everything turned dark…

When I awoke my head was throbbing terribly. I opened my eyes a little and tried to see where I had been taken to. I was lying on the ground inside of a small tent. There were voices coming from behind me.

"Is this the right one?"

"I'm sure of it. The old man was very specific on what she looked liked." I recognized the second voice. It belonged to the man that brought me here.

"Did they give her name?" Said the first man.

"No…but information can easily be extracted from her." My heart raced at these words.

"See if she's awake. Cazriel needs a healer's attention as soon as possible." I quickly closed my eyes again as I heard their footsteps come towards me. As they got closer, the smell of sweat and blood filled my nose. It was the smell of war.

"Is she still alive?" One of them bent down towards me, pressing a dirty finger into my neck.

"She's alive," He shook my shoulder harshly. "Get up girl. We'll not harm you."

My eyes fluttered open. The man kneeling in front of me looked tall and very strong. He had dark, grey eyes and golden hair that was damp with sweat. He bore three large marks across the right side of his chest that looked like it had come from an animal. I'd heard my father and Caspian speak of Trinian, the great Calormen warrior. This man fit their description exactly. I tried to mask my fear as I slowly sat up.

"Leave us."He said to the man who had brought me here. Trinian reached out to touch the wound on the side of my head that had been bleeding. I flinched and moved away from him. He smirked and stood up, walked over to a small bowl filled with water, and calmly began washing himself.

"What's your name?" I didn't answer him.

"Did the blow to your head destroy your sense of hearing?"

Still I said nothing. If he found out who I was my situation would become a lot worse. He took a rag, soaked it in the water, and came back over to me. Looking me directly in the eyes he asked me again,

"What's your name?" He sighed, frustrated that I still didn't answer.

He took a lock of my hair in his hand and sniffed.

"You're no ordinary servant girl, I know that much." He tried to put the wet cloth on my wound and I swatted his hand away from me. After the third attempt he threw it at me, and I picked it up to clean my own injury.

"One of my men has been hurt. He'll not live through the week if he doesn't get help. Word reached my ear of a healer with seemingly miraculous powers. Your job here is to see that he doesn't die. He's one of my strongest men."

Trinian got up and started to take off his armor.

"Why should I-"My voice caught in my throat as he stood naked and unashamed in front of me. I looked away, feeling the blush rise in my face.

"Why should I help you? You're Calormen warriors. You've killed hundreds of my people." He covered himself, and stared at me.

"Your people have killed hundreds of mine as well."

"It's your King that's trying to invade Archenland! The Tisroc of Calormen started this war!" I said with anger. He was quiet for a moment.

"And to which King does your allegiance lie, hmm? To Narnia, or to Archenland?" I thought for a moment, then answered.

"My allegiance…lies with the sick, and the injured, and those in need of healing." He took two long strides back over to me, snatching the cloth from my hand, and grabbing my face. I could feel the bruises forming.

"I'll ask you once more…what is your name, woman?"

"Perhaps if you tell me yours, I should be more generous with mine." I said boldly. He smirked at me.

"I thought you would have figured that out by now…you already know who I am, don't you?"

"I believe so…You're Trinian, the greatest fighter in the Calormen army."

His silence confirmed my suspicion. His hand moved from my face down to my neck, still keeping his firm grip.

"My name is Elaine." I said. He stared at me with a questioning look on his face.

"I think you're lying, but I'll accept it…for now. Get up; there are more important things to attend to." I slowly rose to my feet, and followed him out of the tent. He led me to a hidden part of the forest, and I could hear moaning as we got nearer. There was a man lying on the ground. They'd covered him and done the best that they knew to do for him. Blood was everywhere. The source of his agony was coming from his arm. It looked as if something had tried to bite it off but didn't succeed. The other men cleared the way for me so that I could see him better.

"What's his name?" I asked.

"Cazriel. He has a wife and young son back home." One of them said.

"So do many others that go into Aslan's country." I said quietly. As I examined him, I had to hold my breath to keep the foul stench out of my nostrils.

"This arm needs to come off. It's too badly infected."

"Come off? He's a warrior, how can he defend himself with one arm?" Trinian asked.

"He doesn't have to. You can send him home to his family. I'm sure he would be glad of it…if he makes it through."

"Will he survive the operation? Or will it cause him more suffering?"

"There is a chance he might-"

"Will he, or will he not survive this?" Trinian became angry. Cazriel's head rolled back and forth, as he went in and out of consciousness.

"If he can make through an entire night afterwards…then perhaps he will have a chance." Trinian kept quiet.

"If this is going to work I'll need supplies, and your strongest men. Have you seen any Loriel plants here?" The flower of the Loriel plant was normally used as a sleeping draft, but it was very powerful. Used in the wrong way the patient might not wake.

"I think I saw some a few feet from 'ere my lady." One of the soldiers said.

"Gather as much as you can. There are a few other things I need also. It's going to be dark soon, you'll need to hurry."

The men did as much as they could to accommodate my needs for the surgery. I talked to Cazriel during the times he was conscious to try and explain to him what was happening. He communicated to me that he understood what must done to try and save his life. I administered a small dosage of the sleeping draft to him, and waited for it to take effect. The procedure was made clear to all the men involved and as soon as Cazriel was asleep we got to work.

I was barely able to stomach the sound and sight of flesh and bone being cut through. My clothes were stained red with his blood. It took longer than expected to get the arm completely off, and he was beginning to wake up. I instructed Trinian on how to seal the wound with the hot iron. The smell of burning flesh was nauseating. Cazriel groaned.

"Hurry, before he's fully awake." It was almost completely dark in the part of forest we were in, save for the small fire we had burning to heat the iron. Finally, the procedure was completed. Cazriel's moans were louder now, his breathing labored.

"Can you do nothing for the pain?" Trinian asked.

"The Orona plant I asked for can be made into a tea that will help some. But I can only give it three times a day. Anymore than that might do more harm than good."

After I had given the tea to Cazriel, and he had calmed down a bit, I sat in front of the fire and rested. Trinian brought me some water and sat next to me.

"A-Are the stories about you true?" He looked at me. "That you killed a giant with one strike of your sword?" He smirked, and looked up at the sky.

"Yes…but you've no need to fear me, Elaine. I've never raised a hand to a woman. Adrian is the one you should be watching out for."

"Which one is he?" Trinian pointed to the man with curly, raven colored hair and an unkempt beard that was tending to the mess left from the operation. The same man who had kidnapped me.

"He can get very hostile at times. Good man, bad temper. If he harms you in anyway, he'll have to answer to me." He said, looking straight at me with fire in his eyes.

"You're exhausted…I'll give you something clean to put on."

"Thank you." I said, barely above a whisper. As I washed the blood from my hands, I cried silently. What if Caspian and my father didn't make it to me before something happened? They wouldn't even know where to start looking. I called on Aslan that night to guide them safely to me, and nearly passed out from weariness.


*The Tisroc is the ruler of Calormen just in case you didn't know. Now it's starting to get good! Chapter four will be from Caspian's POV.