The battle was won by the Archenland and Narnian forces, with the majority of the Calormene forces being wiped out. Kayla's physical strength was wearing down thin, so Ivar carried her to the healing tents.
"Ivar! What happened to her?!"
"This was not from the doing of the battle. She's fading, Lucy."
Lucy quickly unscrewed the cap of her cordial and poured a drop of it into Kayla's mouth, which was barely hanging open. Her bruises, cuts, and whip marks quickly disappeared. Her eyes fluttered open.
"Am I in the land of the living?"
"Yes, you are."
"Kayla, what did he do to you?"
"I'd rather not tell you right now, Lucy. Go give the cordial to those who need it."
Lucy headed to the other tents to heal the dying, leaving Kayla and Ivar to talk.
"What did he do to you, Kayla?"
"Torture. Just simple torture."
"Torture isn't simple, Kayla."
"I'm saying he did things to me that weren't that gruesome. I know gruesome torture. I'm the one tortures our enemies. All he did was keep me chained up, beat me to a pulp, whip me, and give me weak food. Speaking of food, could you get me something? The cordial didn't fill my stomach."
"Of course."
Ivar placed a kiss on her cheek before he left the tent.
"How is Kayla, Ivar?"
"Lucy gave her a drop of her cordial. The wounds have healed, but I don't know about her mind. She didn't go into detail about what happened to her, and I don't think she wants us to know. But we saw her. We saw Rabadash and his men beat her down. I saw the whip marks, I saw the bruises. But she won't tell us what happened. She only said she was tortured."
"At that rate, we can imagine what happened, but we shouldn't. We still need to remember that she let herself get captured so that we wouldn't."
"Can someone pinpoint me to the tent that has my little sister in it?"
"Who are you?"
"Ivar, that's Conláed."
When Edmund said those words, Ivar rushed at Conláed. Not even Aslan could hold back his rage.
"YOU HAVE GOT A LOT OF NERVE TO BE HERE! JUST BECAUSE SHE'S YOUR SISTER, IT DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO BE HERE! WE ALL KNOW YOU WANT HER DEAD!"
"Is that little Lunradmund? I haven't seen you since you were sent away to the world I can't go to."
"And my siblings, Íomhar, Caoilfhionn, and myself were all sent away for good reason."
"It is a wonder you all showed up in the other world at the same time, being there is an age gap between you all. Now where is my sister?"
"Why do you need to know? She is healing from her battle wounds, and she needs her res. No disturbance whatsoever. Then again, you are the kind of man to kill someone in their sleep. You conspired to have your own mother and sister killed. You stopped the Calormene navy, now leave."
Conláed actually listened to Edmund, and commanded his sailors to head for the ships.
After everything, the family was invited to stay at Anvard again by King Lune, and they got to met Cor properly this time, along with the tarkheena Aravis, and their horses Bree and Hwin. Lucy and Kayla got along with Aravis right away, despite the decent age gap.
"What's the matter, King Lune?"
"Rabadash. What are we going to do about Rabadash? That sorry creature of a prince."
"Your majesties would have a perfectly good reason to knock the head off of his neck, especially you, Lady Kayla. He is on the same level as an assassin. A low down criminal."
"Peridan, if I wanted Rabadash dead, then he would already be dead. But that boy needs to suffer, the way he made me suffer. He needs to be scared, the way he made Susan scared. But's not my place to do anything to him."
"This is all true about him, but even a traitor may mend. I know one that did."
Everyone looked at Edmund, with his family almost in tears at those words.
"If we kill Rabadash, we risk war with the tisroc."
"A fig for the tisroc. His strength is in his armies, and his armies can barely cross the desert."
"I'm not so sure about risking war with him, because he didn't exactly condone Rabadash's plans."
"Send for Rabadash."
Rabadash was brought to the group in chains, much to the amusement of Kayla.
"Now you know how it feels, Rabadash. Are they too tight? Cause if not, I'll make them tighter."
"You don't need to be told, your highness, we have every right to take your head from your body. But we are ready to let you go free, on the conditions that-."
"Curse you for a barbarian dog! Take off my chains and give me a sword, and you will know what happens if you debate with me!"
"Father, can I box him? Please?"
"Sit down, Corin, or you'll leave the table. I ask your highness again to please hear our conditions."
"I will hear no conditions from barbarians and sorcerers! No one will touch a hair on my head! Every insult you give me will be repaid with oceans of Narnian, Archenlandish, and Terebinthian blood!"
"AND WHAT EXACTLY MAKES US BARBARIANS, RABADASH?!"
Kayla's yell frightened Rabadash enough to make him defecate in his pants.
"It was certainly a barbarian that beat me like I was a punching bag! It was certainly a barbarian that basically threatened to rape both my dear sister in bond Susan and myself! Why is it throughout history, the most cruel and truly barbaric nations were also the ones that were the most advanced and civilized?! Vikings did their own thing!"
"Beware! Beware! The bolt of Tash will fall from above!"
"Does it ever get caught halfway?"
"You are a fool, Rabadash."
All of a sudden, everyone was standing perfectly still, and Prince Cor at first did not know the reason, until he saw Aslan. Rabadash stared at the lion between him and his accusers.
"Rabdash, take heed. Your doom is near, but you still have a chance to avoid it. Forget your pride, for what have you to be proud of, and forget your anger, for who has made you angry, and accept the mercy of these good rulers."
Rabadash rolled his eyes and his mouth turned into a long grin like a shark, and he wagged his ears up and down. This look always seemed to scare people in Calormen, but it did not scare anyone in front of him at all. Lucy even thought he was going to be sick.
"Demon! You are a demon! I know who you are! You are the foul fiend of Narnia! The enemy of the gods! Learn who I am! I am descended from the god Tash, and his curse is upon you! Lightning bolts in the form of scorpions will rain down upon you! The mountains of Narnia will be turned into dust! The-."
"Take care, Rabdash. Your doom is even closer now. It's at the door, it has even lifted the latch."
"Let the skies fall! Let the earth open wide! Let blood and fire obliterate the world! I will never desist until I have dragged to my palace by her hair the barbarian queen, the daughter of dogs, the."
At least six men had to hold Kayla back from snapping Rabadash's neck at those words. Women are not objects.
"The hour has struck."
To Rabadash's horror, everyone had begun to laugh, but Kayla had already unsheathed her sword, should the need arise to use it. Rabadash had been wagging his ears the entire time Aslan was speaking, and as soon as he said "the hour has struck", his ears began to change. They grew longer and pointed and became covered with hair. His face changed as well. It grew longer and his eyes became larger, and there was hair all over it. His arms grew longer till they were resting on the ground in front of him. His hands were not hands anymore, they were hooves. He was standing on all fours and his clothes disappeared. He had turned into a donkey.
"Oh no, not a donkey! If it were even a horse-."
His human speech was going away and was replaced with the braying of a donkey.
"Now hear me, Rabadash. Justice will be mixed with mercy. You will not always be an ass."
Having grown up in America, Kayla burst out laughing at Aslan's words, knowing what else ass means. In physical shape he may not always be an ass, but his heart will always be.
"You have appealed to Tash. And in the temple of Tash you will be healed. You will stand before the altar of Tash in Tashbaan at the great Autumn Feast this year, and in the sight of of all Tashbaan, your ass' shape will fall from you and all will know you for Prince Rabadash. But for as long as you live, if you ever go ten miles away from the temple in Tashbaan, you will instantly become as you are now. And from that second change, there is no turning back."
"Your royal highness, I am truly sorry things have ended this way. None of it was our doing. We shall be delighted to provide shipping you back to Tashbaan for the treatment which Aslan has prescribed. You will have every comfort which your situation allows. The best cattle boats, the freshest carrots and thisteles."
King Lune's offer to Rabadash ended with a deafening bray and a well-aimed kick at a guard. After everything, the family headed back to Cair Paravel, where Kayla was greeted by Susan with tears and a good strong hug.
"I should have listened to you, Kayla! I should have listened! I let you get captured! I let them torture you!"
"Listen to me, Susan. You didn't do a damn thing wrong. I let myself get captured for your safety. I let them beat me down like a criminal. I let them whip me like a circus animal. And here I am, alive and well. Nothing was your fault. Although, I couldn't turn Rabadash's forces to ashes because some of his people were too close to the Terebinthian ships. I couldn't destroy the enemy without putting everyone else at risk."
Kayla still did not tell them what happened. She did not want them know what she turned into in the dungeons of Tashbaan.