A/N: So it's all coming out in this chapter.I hope that you enjoy. I realise that I've neglected Eustace (Who I love) in favour of the other characters. I'll be including him more in later chapters - what role will he play in Caspian's redemption?

I hope you enjoy - thanks for reading - Please leave a review.

Caspian heard a smothered gasp from the back of the room. Craning his neck as he was marched out of the room he saw Susan, her hands on her mouth and her eyes full of shock and disappointment.

She had heard everything!

Susan stood, rooted to the spot at the back of the audience chamber where the guards had left her, no doubt instructed to do so by their master. Left there so that she could hear everything, the entire conversation.

Caspian was gone, gone and she could not call him back, could not demand an explanation for what she had just heard.

"Slaver king."

Caspian … her Caspian had been dealing in slavery."

"The countless lives you have sold into slavery."

Had actually sold people into slavery.

"But who had he sold? As far as she could tell Caspian had not left Narnian in the three years since she had been gone, so busy had he been making sure that the Telmarines and Narnians were at peace.

The Telmarines!
What had Caspian said?

'They would not dare to go against my express decrees now!'

Slaver King!

'They have learnt their lessons!'

Slaver King indeed!

Susan could not deny the cold certainty that came to her. Caspian, the saviour of Narnia had been selling his own people into slavery.

Susan pressed her fists once more to her lips, afraid that if she did not, her grief for the Narnians, the Telmarines, for Caspian and what he had become might escape her in a moan.

But some sort of noise must have escaped her because the two men at the front of the room looked her way.

One of the men was her new owner, the Calormene ambassador to the islands, Ashora Tarkaan. The other was a tall young man of about her own age, dressed in rich flowing robes, he was disturbingly familiar. Catching her eye, the young man motioned her forward.

As Susan approached the man, that sense of familiarity increased. Her eyes widened as she realised … this man was the image of her previous betrothed, Prince Rabadash! She was so startled that she stopped.

"Come here girl!" the young man commander her. Susan clamped down on her instincts to tell the man not to speak to her so. Now was not the time to rebel, she must lull them into a false sense of security before she made her move.

She started forward once more towards the man. To her confusion, as she reached the two men, the ambassador stood.

"I will leave you to your new slave Your Highness."

Your Highness? So this man … this man who looked so like Rabadash, was probably his direct descendent. Susan fought back the panic rising in her throat that threatened to overwhelm her. She had escaped from one spoiled Calormene Prince, she could certainly do it again!

"What is your name?" the Prince asked her, not bothering to introduce himself, and why should he, he was a Prince she a slave … No not a slave, she would not debase herself so, not even in thought. She was not a slave, she was a Queen, named so by Aslan himself. Susan straightened.

"My name is Susan." She said proudly.

The Prince looked at her expectantly a slight frown marring his handsome face.

"Your Highness." Susan added reluctantly. There was no point antagonising the man, not yet anyway.

The Prince nodded.

"Named so after the ancient Queen Susan of the golden age who you resemble, am I right?"

Susan pressed her lips together. She did not want to lie, but she could not tell him who she really was, not if she was to have any chance of escape.

"Answer me!" the Prince grated.

When Susan continued in her silence the Prince gestured one of the guards forward. The man was holding a tray with a carafe and wine glasses on it.

"Sit." The Prince instructed her gesturing at the cushions that lined the room. Susan obeyed and sat on one of the cushions nearest her. To her discomfort the Prince sat beside her, much nearer than she would have liked.

"Here, drink." He handed her one of the glasses of wine. For a Calormen he was remarkably economic in his speech. A fact for which Susan was grateful, remembering long flowery speeches, peppered with quotes from the poets which had bored her to tears on her visit to Calormen so many years ago. Perhaps the custom had fallen out of practice, or perhaps a slave was not thought worthy of flowery phrases. She sipped her wine.

"You know, I cannot believe that you are so similar in appearance to the Queen Susan in my painting, why you could have used each other for mirrors."
Susan nervously took a larger gulp of her wine.

"Indeed," he continued his tone hardening. "I can only believe that such a resemblance is possible if you are related to the ancient Queen."
Susan scowled at the prince, less of the 'ancient' she thought to herself as she took another sip.

The Prince looked at her intently.

"Are you related to Queen Susan?" he asked.

Susan giggled.

"You could say that … Your Highness."

Wait … what had made her say that? She had meant to maintain a stony, stoic silence. Perhaps it was the wine.

"How are you related?" the prince snapped impatiently.

Susan reached out and put her finger on the astonished Prince's lips.

"Shhhh … it's a secret!"

The Prince smiled at her then, a smile that did not reach his lips, a smile reminiscent of Rabadash.

"You can tell me, he whispered back, I won't tell anyone."

Susan's head was spinning, she frowned at her half empty wine glass, wine didn't usually affect her so quickly. Wait … what was she doing … oh yes … the Prince … he had asked her something …

Oh yes … related to Queen Susan … ha!

She leaned forward to whisper in the Prince's ear.

"I'm not related to Queen Susan … I am Queen Susan."

The Prince started to his feet, obviously shocked by her revelation. The jolt as he bumped against her brought some clarity back to Susan's head.

The wine … she threw the glass away from herself, horrified.

"The wine!"

The Prince leered at her.

"Yes, you are right of course, we drugged the wine with truth serum … Queen Susan!"

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Caspian trudged back onto the Dawn Treader, over the gangplank which was stretched from the ship to the pier in the harbour.

He could not believe that he had failed, that he had returned without Queen Susan. That he had left her there in the clutches of a Calormen Prince. Something nagged at his mind. A storey that he had heard involving Queen Susan and another Calormene Prince.

Lord Bern, who was following close behind, laid a comforting hand on his King's shoulder.

"Do not worry My Liege, we will get her back," he reassured.

Caspian did not answer, could find nothing to say. He jumped down on the deck followed closely by Bern. Almost as soon as his feet hit the deck a man appeared. There was something disturbingly familiar about the dirty grey form in front of him. Caspian was still trying to figure it out when the man's gaze slid to Lord Bern, standing behind him.

"Hello cousin."

Bern started and like Capsian, looked closer at the seemingly aged man. He was not so aged as he appeared under the grey dishevelled hair and rags. Realisation dawned on both King and Lord at the same time.

"Glozelle!"

Before either of them could think what to do or say, the Pevensies appeared behind Glozelle.

Lucy looked around, her face distressed.

"Where is Susan."

"I'm sorry Lucy. They would not give her up. They threw us out of the house."

Lucy's face crumpled, looking as devastated as Caspian felt inside.

"We'll get her back Lu!" It was King Peter, his arms wrapped around his youngest sister as she sobbed quietly into his chest. Edmund's face was unreadable.

King Peter looked at Caspian over his sister's head, his face stern.

"I have the beginnings of a plan, but first, I think it is time we all had a long talk Caspian." He said gravely.

Caspian opened his mouth to protest, but then his shoulders slumped. What was the point? They knew, Susan knew, they all knew.

They went to the girls' cabin so that they could have some privacy. As soon as they entered Caspian turned to them, Bern stood behind him.

Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Glozelle and Eustace all stood together looking at him expectantly.

Trumpkin, Reepicheep and Drinian had been asked to join them and stood a little apart looking nervously between the two groups.

"Where do I start?" Caspian asked them.

"Where? Asked Lucy. "Why at the beginning."

Caspian took a deep breath. Now that he had to face telling the others, he was going to do it properly, he would hold nothing back.

"I suppose the beginning … the very beginning was when I killed my Uncle Miraz."

He sighed.

"I know I fought you and Aslan Peter, when you told me that killing my uncle in cold blood was not the action of a Narnian King. But deep down I knew that you were both right, I just didn't want to admit it to you … or myself!

Not only that but it made the Telmarines afraid of me, made them act nervously around me and that made me suspicious."

Caspian smiled ironically but it seemed more of a grimace.

"It was a never ending, increasing circle.

The more they feared me, the more nervous they were.

The more nervous they were, the more suspicious I was.

The more suspicious I was, the angrier I acted

The angrier I was, the more they feared me.

And so it went on.

I became convinced that the Telmarine Lords and some of the people were plotting against me, that they were planning to put a new King on the throne."

Caspian looked around the room, at all the eyes watching him. He gulped nervously and then continued.

"Perhaps if I had taken the time to talk to them, to bring them aside individually and reason with them … but I didn't and they were so afraid. They reckoned that if I had killed my uncle then I would have no mercy for them … and I didn't."

Caspian paused again, wondering if he could really tell them the worst of it. But then, they probably already knew all or most. And he needed this, needed to cleanse this from his soul. Telling them would be that start of that cleansing.

"I had my soldiers gather every last one of them up, them, their wives, their children, and had them brought to the castle. I told them that I knew they were planning treason, and that they knew the penalty."
Caspian looked towards the Pevensies and their cousin.

"The penalty for treason under Telmarine law is death."

Lucy's shocked gasp was echoed in the faces of everyone in the room.

"That is not the worst of it." Caspian continued. "Under Telmarine law, the whole family is deemed culpable and are all subject to the same punishment."
"Caspian you didn't!" Lucy's face, if possible looked even more shocked than it had before.

Caspian looked at the valiant Queen his face haunted.

"I was tempted … Alsan help me but I was seriously considering it. But then, while I had them in the dungeons awaiting their sentence, while I was building up the courage to do it … or not to do it … I can no longer tell for certain which it was … Lord Bern arrived."
Caspian looked to the Lord.

"The news had reached Narrowhaven that Lord Miraz was dead and that Caspian was now King." Said Lord Bern taking up the storey.

"I had reached these islands, met a girl and settled down, while the rest of the Lords had continued on their journey. When I heard that King Caspian ruled, I resolved to journey to Narnia and offer my King my services and my allegiance."

"Lord Bern, was one of my father's closest friends and most trusted advisors." Caspian continued.

"I told him of my fears of treason and off the captured Telmarines and he offered a solution, one which would not leave the blood of my people on my hands."
"Slavery?" Edmund interjected incredulously. "You may not have their blood on your hands, but you took away their freedom, their very lives. Every pain, every fear, every misery, every degredation that those people … those children suffered is on your hands!"

Edmund paused, his voice had been getting angrier and louder as he spoke, he took a breath in an effort to calm himself.

"You have not been to Calormen, but I have. I have witnessed first – hand the conditions that their slaves work under, what they are forced to do! Some might have found death an easier, more dignified ending! The way they are treated … The way they treat the women slaves … The way they are probably treating Susan right now!"

The calming breath had not worked Edmund was shouting his fists clenched in an effort not to hit the King in front of him. He felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. It was Peter.

"Let him finish" he told his brother, pulling Edmund back from the King who was looking extremely intimidated by the younger man.

"Because you're not finished, are you Caspian?" Peter continued, looking sternly at the King.

"You did not earn the name of Slaver King from just one transaction … one sale, did you?"

Caspian buried his face in his hands.

"How many?" Asked Peter his face unforgiving.

A muffled sob came from Caspian.

"Once I had begun, it was easier to continue, easier to become the man I had started to be when I killed Miraz. Easier to keep doing as the slavers told me … Then at one point, it became me telling them what to do, rather than the other way around."

"How many?" Peter asked again, his voice softer now.

Caspain looked up despairingly from his hands.

"I do not know … I lost count … hundreds!"

Peter nodded. He was a whirlwind of conflicting emotions inside, he was glad that Caspian had confessed. That he had taken that first step to finding his way back. Peter and Susan had been sent back to save Caspian, but how would they save him from himself? And then the answer came to Peter in a sudden flash that he could only attribute to Aslan.

Caspian must save himself.

Peter and Susan and their family could be there for him, support him, guide him, but it was Caspian who must do this.

"So Caspian" he said to the young man.

"What do you intend to do?"