Strange as it might sound, when Lucy first woke up she felt happy, absolutely, completely, and deliriously happy. The small trickles of sunlight that reached into the cell felt wonderfully warm on her closed eyelids and she could feel comforting arms wrapped around her-which she knew belonged to Edmund. She felt so comfortable and content that she didn't even want to open her eyes or move.
All of a sudden, as quickly as the rush of joy had come, it faded away leaving only a horrible feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach as the memories of what had happened to them yesterday flooded back into her mind like a raging wind storm. She remembered everything now. They weren't on the ship anymore; they'd landed on Falimath and had been kidnapped to be sold as slaves Yes, she was being held now but it might be the last time. She might get taken away to anywhere! With anyone! She didn't dare cry though because surely Pug would be nasty and cross if she was puffy and red-rimmed around the eyes while he was trying to make a profit off of her. She gulped and bit her lip so hard that she tasted a drop of blood. It was painful and she quickly loosened her teeth's grip on the skin.
"Slaves, wake up!" Pug called to them as he entered the room. "Market day today."
"I don't think this is legal." Eustace yawned, ill tempered from sneezing all night due to allergies from the piles of hay.
"You don't start any jaw now." Pug rolled his eyes. "I haven't the time to deal with all that."
Once more they were all tied and bound and led away given the strictest orders not to make any trouble or else.
Lucy couldn't help constantly looking over her shoulder at Edmund and Eustace who were being led behind her. She was pretty much desperate to do something-anything-that would keep her with them. What if they weren't all brought by the same person? If only Aslan were here! He could come roaring in and scare the pants off of Pug and save them all. No one would try to take them then. Perhaps somehow, where ever he was, he understood that they needed him and maybe just maybe he would come in time. This was her only hope and she clung to it as tightly as she possibly could.
The market was not at all nice. It smelled of B.O. and fish meat that had gone bad. It was sort of hot and Lucy could feel the beads of sweat rolling down her neck and into the collar of her dress. She wasn't sure if it was because of the heat or out of sheer terror and stopped trying to guess. It might have been both.
They were all yanked up onto a large stage set up so that people could see them and decide if biding was worth anything. Pug looked very excited; he must have expected them to sell well and fill his purse with money. He licked his lips probably thinking of the grand meal he would have at the end of the at once of the nicest inns in the area.
The first few people he sold, were not anyone that Edmund, Lucy, or Eustace knew personally but they felt very sorry for them all the same.
Even Eustace, spiteful nasty Eustace, thought it was jolly rotten the way the people where shoved about like cattle. It was the first time he had ever felt sorry for someone besides himself. Edmund noticed the look on Eustace's face and was surprised; fairly certain that he himself had worn a similar expression when the White Witch had turned a fox to stone right in front of him. He wondered if it was possible that Eustace was changing-or could change later on-for the better.
Reepicheep and Pattertwig were both brought up in their cages and shown to the crowd. Both were sold to a tall pouty man who said they were very amusing creatures and he could use a laugh now and again.
"I'd believe that." One of the slaves yet to be sold whispered casually to another.
Pug couldn't stop grinning as he counted up the money he'd just made. "Splendid! Splendid!" He kept saying to himself over and over again. He motioned for Edmund to be brought to the front. "Ah, now here we have a nice young boy. Clearly good for work or company. Decent looking fellow. Not a bad tooth in his head. Let's start the bidding at two hundred. Do I hear two hundred?"
"Two hundred." a man in the crowd called out.
"Do I hear two hundred and fifty?" Pug called out. "Two hundred going once, going twice-"
"Two hundred and fifty!" Someone else shouted.
"Do I hear three hundred?" Pug asked. "Going once, going twice, going three times, Sold!"
Lucy felt all the blood drain from her face. Every bone in her body seemed to be screaming, "No!" They couldn't just take him away. Not like this. She couldn't just loose him this way. Someone couldn't just buy the just king whom she cared so deeply for. The kind boy who'd done so much for her all her life. The one who'd believed her about Aslan. The one who'd stalled long enough for her to rescue Peter from the gallows. The one who'd built her a swing in Eustace's back yard. The one who'd kissed her back in Cair Paravel that last time. The one who'd loaned her his beloved electric torch and hadn't even been mad at her when she'd forgotten it. She couldn't stand seeing Pug untie him about to hand him over to a complete stranger.
Just as Pug was about to hand him over to his new owner, he noticed the gold ring on his finger. "What's this?"
"It's mine." Edmund said, yanking his hand away.
Pug grabbed his hand again. "I don't think so." He forced Edmund's hand open (It had been clenched like a fist before) and pulled the ring right off.
"Give it back." Edmund demanded.
"A very fine piece of gold." Pug whistled contently. "What's this writing on the side?"
"I said, give it back!" Edmund insisted, unable to re-claim it because he wasn't completely untied yet.
"It's mine now." Pug told him briskly.
"You've got it." Edmund shrugged his shoulders. "But it's not yours and it never will be."
"Is this your name on the side?" Pug wanted to know. "Or did you steal it off of someone else?"
"Hey, Pug, stop jawing at my boy, I didn't pay good money for you waste bidding time talking to him. Let's see the other lots!" The person who'd brought Edmund shouted up at him.
Lucy looked down into the crowd where Edmund was standing beside his owner. She finally tore her eyes away from him and looked at Pug who had slipped the gold ring into his pocket and was prepared to continue with the selling. You can show up at anytime now, Aslan.
Eustace was brought up and no one appeared very thrilled. They waited to see if Pug would change their minds by anything he could say. Pug looked hard at Eustace then cleared his throat a few dozen times before saying, "A young boy, good for um...some kind of work...probably...maybe? Um sort of sulky but er...um...useful for driving away annoying...uh...sales people from your...um...doorway?" He started to stammer. "I think he can clean outhouses alright, maybe."
No one seemed impressed.
"Shall we start the bidding at..." Pug looked down at the blank faces in the crowd. "Free?"
No one said a word. You could have heard a pin drop. They looked up at Pug and blinked as if to say, "Are you kidding us?"
"Well what if he pays you?" Pug tried.
"Hey!" Eustace looked very insulted.
No one wanted him.
"You win some you lose some." Pug laughed nervously before quickly adding, "I mean, I hope you enjoyed my little joke...har har...hee hee...Now for the real slave up for sale next.." He snapped his fingers signaling for Lucy to be brought up.
"She's pretty." Edmund heard one of the men in the crowd say. "I might actually like to bid on her."
I swear, if he comes within a foot of her, I'll beat the snot out of him, Edmund thought, his heart beating so fast he thought he might have a stroke if he was a very little bit older.
"A lovely young gel." (Gel was how Pug sometimes pronounced 'girl') Pug announced. "Pretty, sweet, delicate and lady-like. Let's start the bidding at four hundred."
"Four hundred!" A tall man wearing a sun-hat cried out.
"Five hundred!" A slightly shorter man with a walking stick shouted.
"Do I hear six hundred?" Pug asked.
Edmund thought he was going to be sick. He remembered his promise to Lucy from the night before. He had to do something, he just had to! But what? He wished that Peter was there to help him. Peter was like a mother bear when it came to Lucy; he would have known what to do. Edmund only hoped he could think of something before it was too late.
"Six hundred!" Someone shouted.
Edmund turned around to see who it was. A tall rich-looking man with a short beard well dressed for market day.
When no one offered a higher bid, Pug cried, "Sold!"
Lucy looked at Edmund and mouthed, "He didn't come." Aslan didn't come.
At that moment, looking up into her frightened face, Edmund felt the weight of the whole world crashing down on his shoulders. He couldn't stop thinking about how badly Lucy needed him right now.
As soon as she was brought down to her buyer, Edmund rushed away from his owner ignoring the cries of, "Stop him!" and "What is he doing?" and grabbed onto Lucy's wrist, fully prepared to run as fast as he could and take her as far away from this dreadful place as possible. He would have to come back for Eustace later but seeing as no one wanted to buy him, he should be just fine.
"Ed, what are you doing?" Lucy exclaimed. "They're not going to let you-"
"I promised you I wouldn't let anyone take you and I intend to keep that promise." Edmund said, pulling her through the crowd trying to get away from both Lucy's owner and his owner who were chasing them.
Lucy's owner managed to jump in front of them and tried to pull Edmund away from her. He wouldn't have succeeded if only Edmund's owner hadn't caught up and grabbed him by the waist. Lucy's owner then grabbed onto Lucy's waist and started to drag her away.
"Lucy!" Edmund screamed at the top of his lungs trying to get close enough to grab her again.
"Edmund!" Lucy started crying before her owner's sweaty hand was shoved over her mouth.
Edmund's owner stayed behind to bid on more lots but the man who'd brought Lucy was apparently not interested in staying on any longer and took her away from the market.
"No." Edmund whispered, tears starting to roll down his face as he caught one last glimpse of poor Lucy being dragged off in the distance. "No."
AN: Please review.
