Edmund growled as the shackles bit into his wrists. He tried to ignore the gentle trickle of warmth that ran down his arm as blood escaped from the fresh wounds being created on top of his older, healed ones.

One of the elderly Minotaurs left to keep watch over him looked up with a soft, strangely compassionate expression. "Little Traitor?"

Edmund shuffled awkwardly, opening his mouth to speak. Instead of words, however, the only sound to escape was a low hiss as the boy's movements aggravated his already throbbing cuts. "I'm fine."

"You're bleeding," the beast leant his head to one side as if trying to judge if his temporary ward was mentally stable.

"You can't do anything to stop that. It's the shackles causing it."

"My queen told me..."

"Your queen told you not to interfere with my confinements in anyway," Edmund finished reluctantly. "I know."

"Sorry, little one."

Edmund rolled his eyes, turning his back on his two guards and pressing his side into the cold, hard stone of the prison walls.

He wondered for a moment if this was the way his 'mother' kept everyone she was using as part of a plan in this way, or if he was treated in such a dismal way simply because he could cause trouble. He laughed to himself; never before in Narnian history had a future king been kept in such a way. Not that he wanted to be 'King Edmund', his desire for the future was to see his brother take up his rightful position as King. Edmund had no desire to rule.

He didn't deserve that kind of authority anyway.

Although, that concept was neither here nor there. He had, after all, decided he was going to do everything in his power to avoid letting the witch take the throne. As long as there was a breath in his body he was going to fight.

The only time that he wanted, on some level, to allow the planned usurping was when he thought of Lucy. If he allowed himself to get hurt Lucy would suffer too. He couldn't do that to her knowingly, after everything she had done for him. Edmund suddenly found he was totally and completely trapped between a rock and a hard place. If he tried to prevent the plan, Lucy would be injured, she could even die. On the other hand, if he did nothing to try and stop his 'mother' he would loathe himself forever. And that was just how the witch had planned this, he thought forlornly. Of course she knew that Edmund wouldn't risk anything that might harm Lu. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

Lucy groaned softly, rubbing her wrist gently as she sat upright. She looked at the slowly dying fire and added a few sticks that would obviously do nothing to help the problem.

She shuffled, trying not to wake Susan, who had moved subconsciously closer to her sister in her sleep. The older girl had barely slept in days, too busy rocking herself back and forth, fiddling nervously with her engagement ring and jumping at every noise she heard. Susan was brave, there was no denying it. The fact she had chosen to come on this journey was proof enough of that.

"Lucy, are you awake?"

Lucy looked at the slowly brightening sky, wondering if any of the stars remaining were relatives of Lilli and Ramandu. "Hmm?"

"Why do you think you're so much braver than me?" She propped herself up on one elbow, meeting Lucy's bewildered eyes curiously.

The younger girl cleared her throat awkwardly. "I don't know. Maybe you don't really want to be."

Susan nodded dejectedly. "You always wanted and 'adventure', didn't you?"

Lucy giggled softly. "I hoped so." she admitted quietly.

"I always liked the idea of going off on adventures. The reality is something quite different."

Lucy nodded. "I suppose it is. But you're not unhappy here, are you?"

"Edmund needs us," Susan stated simply, effectively ending the conversation as swiftly as it had begun.

Lucy sighed, watching early morning mist begin to swirl around the rocks making it very difficult to see out to sea, allowing the young girl to let her imagination run wild.

"I know that look, what are you thinking?"

Lucy blushed delicately, eyeing her sister from under her dainty lashes. "I was wondering if the place our ancestors are from is anything like Narnia."

Susan broke eye contact, looking over Lucy's shoulder. "I suppose it must be, on some level."

Lucy nodded, for the moment satisfied, chewing at the dry skin on her bottom lip despite Susan's disapproving glare. "When did Mr Tumnus say the boat was going to arrive?"

Susan chuckled. "Lucy, it's a ship. And he said he wasn't sure, well before midday though to be be sure."

Susan ran a hand through her hair, trying to gently untangle some of the knots.

"Here," Lucy grinned, holding out a brush she had been stowing away for the past few minutes.

"Thank you, Lu."

"You need it more than I do," Lucy giggled, laughing as Susan looked at her long hair in utter despair. "I wish I looked more like you, Su."

"Oh, Lucy. You're lovely and you should not want to be anyone but you. You're the best of us all."

A few hours later, after a long discussion with Lucy about how beautiful she was, both on the outside and the inside, Susan had nestled herself against one of the more rounded boulders on the beach, trying to keep her eyes open as the heavy lids drooped against her will. From the position of the sun, directly above them, it was well past midday. The ship was late and she was feeling more and more irate as the minutes ticked by.

Just as she opened her mouth to complain Lucy squealed excitedly.

"Su, it's here! The ship has arrived."

Susan nodded, forcing herself upright. She looked out to sea and smiled, trying to recall the last time she had seen the Dawn Treader. The tiny ship had been permanently imbedded in her memory after Caspian had last brought it to the island as part of his accession tour having become King of Telmar.

"Ahoy there!"

Susan smiled, watching Lucy wave to their childhood friend. She absently fiddled with her ring, thinking of Merlin so deep in thought that she didn't notice someone was shouting her name.

"Susan! We have to get out there."

The young woman turned to look at Philip who whinnied before trotting off in the direction they had come from. "Thanks, Phil."

Caspian meanwhile, was helping Lucy into a small row boat. "Come on, Susan."

Susan looked in Philip's direction before looking at the boat, then the awaiting ship. She refused to meet neither Lucy nor Caspian's expectant stares. "I can't do it," she murmured, not quite loud enough to be heard by her companions.

"Su?"

"Susan?"

Susan brushed at her eyes with the cuff of her sleeve, taking a few deep breaths. "I'm so sorry, Lu. I just can't do it. I'm not made for this," she gestured to the boat, then out to sea. "Peter needs me. Merlin needs me." She took a few steps forward, taking her bow and quiver in one hand, and Lucy's warm hand in her other. "Take them... You need them more than I do."

Lucy let out a watery giggle.

"Bring him home, Luce."

The youngster nodded, before looking at Caspian who smiled sadly in Susan's direction before beginning to manoeuvre the rowboat out to sea, towards the awaiting Dawn Treader.