Chapter Seven: Familiar Islands

Disclaimer: I am not wealthy enough to own an island, and not rich enough to have invented these ones.

(1) "Land in sight," shouted the man in the bows. Lucy had been standing on the deck above her cabin talking to Rhince, the first mate; at these words she raced down the ladder and joined her brother, heading together to the forecastle where the captain, king, and valiant mouse were already looking towards the islands in the distance.

There, nearer, was Felimath, (2) like a low green hill in the sea, and behind it, further off, the grey slopes of its sister Doorn. Lucy drew in a breath; the shape, the green color, the gentle rise above the waves, were exactly like she remembered them; voyage upon voyage rushed through her mind, Narnia's elegant ships cutting the waves, creaking above and around her, to visit a place that became a home away from their beloved Cair Paravel, full of a different type of Narnians. Oh, she remembered this!

(3) "Same old Felimath! Same old Doorn!" she said, clapping her hands. "Oh — Edmund, how long it is since you and I saw them last!" They hadn't come to sea during their first visit to Caspian's Narnia, and she had not been here since the Golden Age. That was two years her time, and she missed it like a schoolchild misses summer vacation. The islands looked just the same, so familiar and so very dear, and the Lone Islanders had loved the four as much as any other Narnians. The siblings had tried while reigning to make sure at least one of them could visit once a year.

Caspian, however, was asking why they belonged to Narnia; Edmund told him they had belonged to Narnia since before the Long Winter. Lucy, too, wondered what the story was behind their being a part of her kingdom. It had been some correspondence in the library at Cair Paravel that first taught her and her siblings they had obligations beyond their borders; and there had been a mad scramble to discover where these islands were and what the four were supposed to do about them. It had been an old, old sea turtle Lucy had found and started conversing with who had been the most helpful (4). And then there had been the first visit. How welcomed they had been! The celebration had started the day after they landed, one the questions and crowds the Narnian banner had attracted had ceased, and had not stopped till the afternoon they left.

(5) "Are we to put in here, Sire?" asked Drinian. Lucy hoped so; she loved Felimath, with its quiet, with an ache in its air that was like the ache for Aslan's country. But Edmund answered before either she or Caspian could; and, being the practical person he was, explained Felimath was mainly for sheep; Doorn had the most people, though some lived on Avra. Drinian scowled and predicted rowing ahead, turning the helm to double the cape. Lucy sent a longing look at Felimath.

(6) "I'm sorry we're not landing on Felimath. I'd like to walk there again. It was so lonely - a nice kind of loneliness, and all grass and clover and soft sea air."

"I'd love to stretch my legs now too," said Casapian. "I tell you what. Why shouldn't we go ashore in the boat and send it back, and then we could walk across Felimath and let the Dawn Treader pick us up on the other side?" And Lucy's heart leaped; it would be the best of both worlds, the friends she had now, and a place unchanged by time; all she wanted in a home, just for a while.

"Oh do let's," she said.

Even Eustace joining them couldn't dampen her joy, not even when he told them a ship as small as their current home was uncivilized in its tinyness. Caspian gave him a sarcastic response that she thought was well deserved, but held her tongue with a bit of relief since nothing came of it. They lowered the boat, and she, Edmund, Eustace, Caspian, and Reepicheep (who never turned down a chance for adventure) made their way to shore. They bid the boat farewell, and saw with surprise how small their floating home seemed from shore.

Lucy took her first step, and laughed. Laughed at the land's pitching and moving, after being at sea. Laughed at the feeling under her feet. She hadn't often been allowed to go barefoot by the sensible Susan over an entire unknown island; but she didn't have a choice now, having no shoes that would fit since she kicked hers off during their arrival in the ocean. The sand was warm and pleasant under her feet, the grass soft when they reached it, and (7) there was a lark singing. Together they climbed up a steep, low hill, stopping part of the way up as Reepicheep consented to ride on Lucy's shoulder, so his short legs didn't slow their pace. He felt so light Lucy didn't notice, too laughing and eager at being in Felimath, familiar Felimath, climbing its hill once again. They reached the crest, Edmund smiling as much as she, and saw Doorn below them, (8) divided from Felimath by a channel about a while wide; behind it and to the left lay Avra. She could see Narrowhaven, the little white town where the governor lived, and where she had so often stayed. She reached for Edmund's hand; this was like coming back to a familiar grandparents' or uncle's house; like coming back to the mansion where they'd first discovered Narnia. She almost felt like running forward on her own, to reach those streets once again.

But Edmund's sharp (9) "Hullo! What's this?" brought her attention back to Felimath quite quickly. In front of the group were six or seven rough-looking men, armed, the type that would have made her grip her dagger hilt when she was queen.

(10) "Don't tell them who we are," said Caspian.

Reepicheep stiffened on her shoulder. "And pray, your Majesty, why not?" he asked. Lucy too looked at him curiously. Caspian was battle-tense.

"It just occurred to me that no one here can have heard from Narnia for a long time." Nine Caspian's reigns or more, Lucy thought. "It's just possible they may not still acknowledge our over-lordship. In which case it might not be quite safe to be known as the King." Lucy looked towards Edmund; by the grim set of his face, he agreed.

Reepicheep was not as satisfied with something that could reflect on their courage."We have our swords, Sire."

"Yes, Reep, I know we have." Caspian's hand was already at his waist. "But if it is a question of re-conquering the three islands, I'd prefer to come back with a rather large army." They'd continued walking while Caspian spoke in a lower and lower tone; they were within speaking distance of the group of men. One of them shouted a good morning.

"And a good morning to you," said Caspian. "Is there still a Governor of the Lone Islands?" Of course, thought Lucy, that would be the best place to begin. There was still a governor, the black-haired man responded - that was unchanged - and he was still at Narrowhaven. But the black-haired man invited them to sit and drink with the group first.

Lucy sat close to Reepicheep, the comfort of one warrior sitting by another. She still didn't like these men. Her fingers closed around the offered cup and she did her best to smile at the man giving it to her - a smile could make even the most reluctant curmudgeon a friend, she'd found - but it felt forced on her lips. She raised the cup, but before she tasted it arms were grabbing hers, pulling them behind her back as the cup fell on her lap and splashed her, cold on her lap and tight on her wrists. She fought, twisting, but already a rope was pulled tight. Reepicheep was gone from her side, though she could hear a cry of pain beside her in a man's voice. She fought as well as she could, and tried not to cry as she discovered she was ten again, and her strength was nothing compared to the man who held her. Panting, she gave up, looking around. All of them were tied. Suddenly Reepicheep's words were clear again, "Coward! Paltroon! Give me my sword and free my paws if you dare." The black-haired man whistled in surprise then mocked him, and Lucy felt her heart sink further. These were no true Narnians.

They were slavers, kidnappers, and Caspian berated them for it.

"Now, now, now, now, don't you start any jaw. The easier you take it, the pleasanter all round, see?" Lucy listened to him blame them for their behavior and tried not to cry. She was a queen, a queen, not a little girl, and she would not cry. "I don't do this for fun. I've got my living to make same as anyone else."

"Where will you take us?" Lucy asked, trying so hard not to let the words tremble. Please not Calormen, where slaves had no rights, at least not in their time; and please, Aslan, please, don't let them separate us. But her heart trembled; she knew slaves were seldom sold together. What would happen if they separated her from Edmund, from the others? Deep breath. She would not cry.

"Over to Narrowhaven, for market day tomorrow." Close by. They'd stay together. With the Dawn Treader still on the seas. But would the crew find out in time? They had to. Or there had to be a way to escape and get them.

There wasn't a chance at the moment. She, her relatives, and Caspian were roped together and marched down the hill she'd been so eager to climb. Reepicheep was carried, scolding his captor with every breath till he became so furious he nearly suffocated and fell silent. Lucy drew a breath, praying again that Aslan would keep them together, keep them safe, and somehow make this a good thing.

At the bottom was a little village right beside the channel, and small, dirty boat the slaver ordered them into. Just then a (11) fine looking bearded man came out of one of the houses. Pug the slaver, named by the man, turned around at the sound of the man's voice and took a greasy, flattering air. The man had been looking at their group, and asked the price for Caspian, cutting Pug off when he started peddling as if Caspian was an object.

Pug named a price. The man cut it in half. Lucy, listening with growing horror, could stand it no longer. (12) "Oh please, please, don't separate us, whatever you do. You don't know—" But then she stopped for she saw that Caspian didn't even now want to be known.

And she knew him to be right. If these was the Lone Islands - slavers, kidnappers, and the buying and selling of men as the norm - then it would not be safe to be a king with a claim. So she stopped speaking, and looked pleadingly at the man buying Caspian. There was kindness in his face and kindness in his tone as he told her he was sorry he could not buy them all, and then had Caspian untied, and led him away. (13) Lucy burst into tears, and even Edmund looked very blank. Caspian, who had learned much about being a king, called cheer and faith in the future over his shoulder, bidding them also "So long." Then he was gone, and Lucy cried harder.

Pug scolded her, telling her not to spoil her looks or he'd give her something to cry about, and she swallowed her sorrow (it left a lump sitting in her throat) and once again reminded herself she was a queen. They were pushed into the boat, Edmund sitting as close to her as he could, letting her lean against him and feel he was still there. She hid her face in his shoulder, drying it and breathing in his scent, remembering it, and praying. She felt a light press on her other side and lifted her face to see Reepicheep, slipped from his captor's grasp and sitting beside her, silently offering her support, while he faced the worst fate. Better a slave than a pet. She took a deep breath - the air was still of Narnia, and sat up straight. She prayed to Aslan to keep her once more a queen, even when she lost her freedom, her authority, and her family. And all the dreams she'd had of home.

OOOOO

(1) VOTD p. 32
(2) VOTD p. 32
(3) The dialogue Lucy says and her clapping is from VOTD p. 32
(4) This is a short story I'm hoping to write some time; it will be a series of one-shots.
(5) VOTD p. 32
(6) The following dialogue is from VOTD p. 34
(7) VOTD p. 35
(8) VOTD p. 35
(9) VOTD p. 35
(10) The dialogue for this entire scene is taken from VOTD p. 35
(11) VOTD p. 38
(12) VOTD p. 39
(13) VOTD p. 39

Response to Guest on chapter 2: Thank you so much for that information. And I think you captured Harold Scrubb very well...I kind of want to write a story now where he gets some black-market petrol or bargains ruthlessly from a grieving family. It's so very him. And accurate information actually makes writing much, much easier, so thank you, again, for giving me so much of it. If I continued writing in England I would definitely be asking questions; but Narnia unfortunately doesn't have many visitors who can help me with research about such questions. And thank you, for enjoying the story and taking so much time to tell me this! I do like the research to be right, so again, thank you!

Response to Anonymousme on chapter 6: My first phone was a flip phone, and I'll admit it left me with a lifelong dislike of texting, unless it's dictated. Thanks for reviewing!