Secretly Wanted: A Narnian Chronicle

Hello everyone and thanks for reading:) yes I understand that this chapter is a tad late. Sorry, every time I sit down to write I always seem to get distracted;) Anyway, thanks for waiting and I'm sorry if this chapter is too violent for anyone. I don't own anything Narnian except for my characters .Enjoy and please REVIEW:P

Chapter Nine: Obedience

"Or else you'll have me to worry about as well." The door clinked shut and she heard the scrape of wood over wood. She was bolted inside. Cari placed a slightly shaking hand on the thick wooden door and began to breath deep. What exactly did Rillian mean by his parting words? Would he put himself in danger to save her? She shook her head. Of course he would, he's done it before.

Cari glanced down in her hands and noticed the weight she held for the first time. The dagger was beautiful. It was the length of almost two of her hands and the hilt fit nicely in her palm. She didn't lie when she said she could fight. She had watched Edmund and Peter fence back in England and asked Edmund to teach her. He told her they had learned in Narnia and she managed to pick up few fighting techniques. She wasn't scared.

Mind made up, Cari turned around and headed down the hall, deeper into the ship. Rillian had bared an exit, but that didn't mean it was the only one.

~*~

"Port Cannons...fire!" The captain yelled when the ship was finally prepared to return fire. The enemy ship was almost within boarding distance. Captain Artemis was ordered not to sink the ship, what with explanations still needed. Instead, he ordered the cannons to aim high and the crew attempted to damage the masts and sails. The objective was to hinder any escape. The Narnians who weren't manning the cannons were busy preparing. There was no doubt in Artemis' mind that the enemy ship would try to board, and he was again ordered to let them. A naval battle was eminent.

Rillian was next to the captain, a fastening the bands to his mail and attaching his sword to his hip. A smaller, thinner sword hung from his other side and a dagger almost identical to the one he had given Cari was slipped into his boot. Lord Camion was dressed in similar but more elaborate armour. He carried a shield with him as well. Below men also fitted themselves with armour, dwarves with their axes, the talking animals flexed their claws and the fawns and satyrs tested their bows and short swords. The atmosphere was one of excitement and anticipation. Not one of the Narnian's held a thought of failure, yet Rillian was far from ease.

There was something about the enemy ship that he didn't like. It was definitely a Northern ship, pirates most likely, but he held a nagging suspicion that there were secrets aboard that ship. He intended to find out what.

The cannons exploded in life and launched their ammo towards the ship. Artemis' aim was legendary. Almost all the cannon balls hit their targets. With a loud crack and groan, two of the three masts splintered and fell with a crash. Rillian heard the yelling, the screams of fear and anger from his enemy. He felt very little sympathy. A wounded dog will bite those who corner him. The battle following will not be as easy as the mutilation of the enemy ship.

"Ready men?" the Captain's voice boomed over the collection of excited Narnians. A loud cheer answered him. Rillian looked at Lord Camion who had stayed silent since their meeting earlier in the day. He would not contradict him for a while. Artemis looked at Rillian, and the prince nodded. "For Aslan!"

A rival roar was heard from the ship. The time had come and the sides of both ships faced one another. As the pirates swung nimbly from ropes, trying to clear the churning water below, Rillian drew his sword and stepped forward.

~*~

"Are you mad?" the sound was like a knife trying to penetrate her resolve. But it couldn't, Cari had made up her mind and she approached the older woman with a small hint of a glare.

"I'll ask you again. Is there another way to the deck." The ship lurched and Cari grabbed the woman's arm to steady herself. The voices, shouts and screams had no subsided. The cannon blasts had however. Cari suspected it would be kind of stupid to sink either ship. There could be only one winner; and the winner needed a ship.

Cari had found her way to the kitchen. It was in here where she had found the ship's population of woman. The woman she had spoken to appeared to be the most capable one in the room. Out of the small group of ten, she was the only one not cowering in fear. In fact, she clutched a sobbing girl of perhaps thirteen to her chest. The woman began to laugh.

"Honey, believe me, you don't want to go out there." Cari crossed her arms. She narrowed her eyes. She didn't really like this woman. The head cook was the essence of confidence and authority but she had no power over Cari. Then she softened. Something told her that trying to intimidate this woman would never work.

"Listen, you don't understand. I need to be there...i can help." Cari hung her head and wrung her hands. She needed to repay Rillian for his kindness, but that was not her only reason. When she had caught sight of the ship, she felt something strange. The wind had cradled her after her injuries, comforting her. As she let herself be comforted, she received that strange feeling again. There was something in that ship that screamed obscurity.

"Honey, i know you feel helpless right now, believe me we all do." She gestured to the women around her. Many now raised their heads and followed the conversation with interest. "I know who you are."

"You...you do?" Cari stammered. She felt the skin on the back of her neck prickle in anxiety. Had word about the centaur's prediction already spread so quickly?

"Sure, you're that young slave the prince risked his life to save. I don't understand why though." The woman added under her breath. She looked at the young woman in front of her with interest wondering her spoken question. She had served the royal household for a while. She thought she had known the prince and knew how he had changed after his return and father's death. She wondered what it was about this young woman that so interested the prince. "I understand you feel you have a debt towards the prince, but believe me when I saw that you cannot repay it by going above deck." Cari's expression dropped.

"You don't know anything about me. How can you say that?" She shook in frustration, eyes downcast. Then she stomped her foot and glared at the older woman. "You know what? Whatever! I don't care whether or not you help me because I will find a way up to that deck! There is nothing you can say to stop me!" and with that she spun on her heel and prepared to walk out of the hide-away. A hand stopped her and turned her around.

"Hmm, you have spunk girly...I like that." The older woman smiled, her face crinkled with lines of happiness and age. She placed a key in her hand and nodded behind her. "Around the corner, second door leads to another stairway." Cari just stared. The woman laughed and gave her a push towards the door.

"Honey you remind me too much of myself, if you don't die up there come find me again." With a grateful nod and a last glance at the cowering woman, Cari departed, her skirts rustling behind her. The little girl still clutching the cook whimpered and her protector tsked. "Darling you could really learn a lesson from that crazy girl."

~*~

With a grunt, Rillian pulled his sword from the man he had just finished duelling and looked around him. The pirates had managed to lower large planks to connect the ships and more had spilt onto the Narnian's decks. Rillian would have never have assumed that there could have been so many. The Narnian's were close to being outnumbered yet this didn't seem to deter their spirits.

Rillian spun around to clash swords with another pirate. He could feel the slight strain of muscle in his arms as he worked to meet the strength of the other man. Their swords locked and he brought his arm up to punch the man in the face. As he stumbled back, Rillian had his chance and finished him quickly. To his left he could see Ovarius with his broadsword, easily overcoming his opponents with his strength of arm and hoof. Chime and the talking animals weaved through the crowds, attacking with stealth from underneath. They would win this, and then he would discover the ship's secret.

Lord Camion was suddenly beside him, having just fought a large and burly pirate. He was panting and clutched his side. Rillian could see the blood trickling from underneath his hands.

"Camion, retreat inside!" he shouted to his temporary guardian. The pale man merely grunted and lifted his shield to bloke another blow. He had lost his sword some time ago.

"I cannot!" he gasped. Rillian pulled him back and finished the pirate with a few agile moves.

"You can't fight! Fall back before your injury becomes worse!"

"This is nothing," he scoffed and tried to push Rillian aside. The young prince stood his guard, all the while mindful to the action around him. Chime bounded to his side to protect the duo, noticing the injured Lord.

"Just go in and bind your 'scratch' or whatever." He argued impatiently, he was anxious to return to the battle. "I don't want to lose such an able bodied man." He figured that by appealing to Camion's pride he would obey him; and he was right. The lord appeared to be struck by Rillians compliment and he nodded his head.

"Very well." He coughed out, clutching his wound tighter. "I will join you as soon as I am…able." Rillian hid a smirk and turned his back to him, rushing to join the fox. The talking animal jumped up from the body of a deceased pirate, fangs and snout covered with blood.

"You alright?" he asked after using the hilt of his swords to crack a man's head. He dropped to the floor, and fox came in full view.

"Rillian!" The fox cried in relief, "We managed to overcome close to half but the remaining are tougher than we thought…it may take more time than we expected to win." The fox snapped angrily at an approaching man, he backed off immediately. The red tail was larger than a regular fox, and with wide eyes, sharp snarling fangs and bristling fur, he was quite intimidating. Rillian bit his lip as he surveyed the situation.

Losses were imminent and he recognized with a heavy heart, the lifeless bodies of a few of his crew men. However he noted a greater loss was experienced by the enemy's side. The Narnian's fought with great skill and energy, Rillian felt a surge of pride.

Than his mouth dropped in horror.

~*~

Cari swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as she stared at the approaching pirate. He smiled leeringly at her as he brandished his blade. Cari moved cautiously backward, ever aware of the overturned supplies and bodies that littered the ship's deck. When she had first stepped into the sunlight she had gagged. Cari had never seen anything so violent before. At first, no one seemed to notice the young woman enter the battlefield, it was only when a body fell in front of that she shrieked, finally drawing attention to herself.

The first pirate that had approached her quickly fell forward, an axe lodged in his back. She hurriedly thanked the puzzled dwarf before leaping over the body. She needed to reach the planks that connected the two ships.

Despite the noises of the battle, she still felt the ever present humming of the sea wind. The soothing sounds that both kept her sane, and reminded her of what she wanted to do in the first place. She noticed Rillian from the corner of her eye, half yelling at one of the men she had seen in the meeting earlier. Chime swiftly evaded and jumped the approaching villains in front of them. Satisfied that he was well protected, she turned her attention back to her path.

Cari screamed a mind piercing shriek before her airway was cut.

I apologize if my action scenes aren't too great, but hey it's my first time writing one. Let me know what you think and anyway I could improve. Thanks for reading and staytuned:)