A/N: Hi again. Trying to update this more regularly. The Pevensies had all the rescue plans in place and it was looking good, but then I though - were's the fun in that? Hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading, please leave a wee review.
"To Your Highness's good health, and to your father, the Tisroc, (may he live forever)" Lord Bern lifted his glass of wine to the Telmarine Prince.
Prince Rasheen raised an eyebrow.
"For Your Lordship's ears only, but it is my hope that my father does not live forever, for if he does so, I shall never rule." He said this with an ironic twist of his lips, but he drank his wine just the same.
Lord Bern, at a loss as to what to say, raised his drink to his lips also.
The Prince watched as his guest downed the contents of his glass.
"So, Lord Bern," he said. "You were going to tell me what you are really doing here."
Lord Bern looked at the Prince, the colour draining from his face as he realised that the Prince had not been fooled by their ruse.
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As she heard someone approach the door of her cabin, Susan started up from the floor where she had been conversing with Reepicheep. The mouse only just managed to hide himself from view in time, as the Calormene soldiers pushed someone roughly into the cabin.
"Lucy!" Susan exclaimed catching her sister before she stumbled. "I knew that you would come, even before Reepicheep told me the plan."
Lucy embraced her sister.
"Susan, it is so good to see you" she said. "I was so worried about you, we all were." She looked to Reepicheep who had reappeared from under the bed once the soldiers had closed the door behind them.
"You have been telling Susan how we are to accomplish her rescue?"
The mouse nodded with a bow.
"Yes My Queen, I had just finished outlining the plan."
"Yes … about the plan" Lucy said, "There have been some minor, well not so minor alterations. Well … two very large alterations in fact … Edmund and Peter!"
"Tell me" said Susan sitting and drawing her sister down with her, as Reepicheep came to join the Queens where they sat on the bed.
"Well" Lucy began. "From the start Peter was extremely reluctant to let me come. I think at times he forgets that once I was older than he is now."
Susan smiled at her little sister.
"I think, Lucy, that even if you live to be a hundred. Peter will still think of you as his baby sister."
"And that is an argument that we will continue having until the end of time." Lucy agreed. She frowned.
"I am not sure, in this case whether or not I won the argument."
Susan's brow creased.
"What do you mean" she asked. "You're here, aren't you."
Lucy nodded.
"But I'm not the only one" she admitted with a grin.
"We thought, Edmund and I, that we had talked Peter around and that he was content to let me come …" Lucy paused.
"Well, at the last minute Peter decided that he would come as well, disguised as one of the slaves."
"But" Susan objected. "He'll be locked in the hold with the other slaves. How does he expect to be of any help from there? We will end up having to rescue him!"
"Them!"
"Pardon Lucy?"
"Them … then Edmund decided to come too. You know what he is like Susan. He won't let the High King put himself into danger alone."
The Gentle Queen snorted indelicately, much to Reepicheep's surprise, who expected more, well, 'gentle' manners from the Gentle Queen.
"No, he prefers that they both be in danger together. How on earth do they think that they'll get out of the hold?"
"Well, they took a gamble. A gamble that Prince Rasheen would be so distracted by my being handed over that he wouldn't object to the slaves not being shackled and … that he wouldn't think to search the slaves for weapons!"
Susan started to smile.
"And he fell for it?" she asked.
"Hook, line and sinker!" Lucy grinned at her sister as she produced a long knife from each of her boots.
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Lord Bern was talking.
"… and the new slaves are all armed."
Prince Rasheen raised his eyebrows at this revealtion.
"Are there any other surprises waiting for me? What of the Queen Lucy, what of her brothers? What other plans have they made?"
"The Queen Lucy is also armed, she plans to help Queen Susan escape with the help of a talking mouse which is already on your ship …"
Prince Rasheen looked expectantly at the Lord, his face dangerous.
"And what else?"
"And … King Edmund and High King Peter are in the hold with the slaves, even now they and the new slaves are freeing them to come and fight against you and your soldiers."
"Is that all?"
Lord Bern hung his head.
"What else my Lord?" asked the Prince standing and bringing his face dangerously close to Lord Bern's
"The Dawn Treader … the Ship is hiding behind the reef, King Caspian is on board the slave ship and he plans , with the slave ship and the help of the Dawn Treader to over-come and to board your ship and join in the attack."
"Thank you for your honesty Lord Bern." Prince Rasheen purred. He turned to the doors.
"Captain!" he shouted.
The Captain appeared at the doorway flanked by two soldiers, they bowed to their Prince.
"Double the guard on the Queens, and have archers stand ready at the doors to the hold and the Queens' cabin. Give orders that anyone or anything that emerges from the cabin or the hold is to be shot on site … except for the Queens … the Queens we must take alive!"
Prince Rasheen paused to shoot a cruel look at Lord Bern.
"Oh, and captain, ready our catapults and have them fire on the slaver's ship, and if the Dawn Treader comes in sight, fire on it too. Let us see how long it takes to reduce the two Ships to firewood!"
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Caspian was watching the Calormene ship intently for the signal, his heart was in his mouth with fear for the four Monarchs on board. Queen Lucy was to give the signal when everyone was in place.
"There, Your Majesty!" Captain Drinian, who was standing beside Caspian was pointing excitedly at a cabin towards the stern of the ship. A small white handkerchief could be seen waving furiously from the porthole there.
Caspian adjusted his telescope.
"Lucy!" he grinned. "They're ready!"
"Drinian give the orders for the slaves … I mean the men, to start rowing and signal to the Dawn Treader to move into position."
Drinian dispensed a few quick orders which resulted of most of the crew dashing down the steps to the oars and a small group of sailors launching a ball of lighted pitch into the air, the signal to Trumpkin aboard The Dawn Treader to join them.
Drinian glanced back to his King to let him know that all was in order, the Captain's eyes widened at what he saw.
"My King!" he gasped. "Caspian … look out!"
Following Drinian's panicked gaze back to the Calormene ship, Caspian saw several large balls of blazing pitch heading in a direct arch towards them. He hardly had time to even start to panic, before the projectiles, fired with deadly accuracy, hit the ship square on.
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"There, I think that is the last one!" Peter said.
Edmund turned to his brother as he freed the last of the slaves who had been in the hold of the Prince's ships, when they and the other new 'slaves' had been led into the hold. After a quick explanation by the two Kings, all of the slaves had agreed to join with their comrades and fight … fight for their freedom alongside the Narnian Kings.
"Ready?" Peter asked the slaves.
For answer all of the men and women in the hold, nodded and tightened their grips on their weapons; mostly small knifes and daggers of the type which could be hidden in boots and sheathed under tunics or hidden in the small of the back. Perhaps not the best weapons against the Calormene whips and swords, but it was the best that they could do under the circumstances. Edmund and Peter hoped that they could quickly disarm some of the Calormene soldiers and then … then they too would have swords.
Peter nodded at the men who stood ready at the doors. The plan was for a few of them to sneak out first and disarm some of the guards and then lead the others to take over the ship. One of the men opened the door cautiously.
Peter heard a sharp twang before he saw the arrow.
"Everybody down" he shouted urgently, even as he saw the first row of men at the door falling with Calormene arrows in their chests. He looked desperately at his brother. The success of their plan had depended on surprise and stealth and now they were robbed of both. Somehow, something had gone terribly wrong.
Edmund read all this in his brother's eyes, they had lost their advantage, but nothing could be gained by continuing to cower in the hold. They must go on. Peter's face hardened with resolution as he came to the same conclusion. The Calormenes would not be able to shoot them all, they were too many.
"Charge!" he roared.
And with that the Kings led the charge out of the hold, out into the open air, led the slaves out to freedom.
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At the sound of swords clashing Susan and Lucy looked towards the door of the cabin – it was time. Reepicheep was quivering with barely supressed excitement. He had been charged to stay with the Queens until they were ready to escape, but he was eager to join in the battle.
Susan nodded to Lucy, they were ready. She opened the door, expecting to see the soldiers guarding it standing at their ease, their weapons sheathed. Instead what they saw were three soldiers standing facing the door with drawn bows, their weapons pointed at the door and the Queens who had just emerged from the cabin.
"Go Back into the cabin Your Majesties" one of the soldiers ordered in a heavily accented voice. "We have orders not to shoot you but it will go ill with you if you do not obey at once."
Susan raised her eyebrow.
"Oh really?" she asked and without further warning, with a movement so quick that the soldiers did not see it coming, kicked the bow out of one of their hands.
"I never was one for doing as I was told" she said and with that, she quickly lifted the bow and fired an arrow directly at the soldier.
The second soldier looked on stunned, he was about to go to his comrade's aid, when looking down, he saw the hilt of a knife protruding from his chest. He looked up to see the youngest Queen staring at him triumphantly.
The third raised his bow to shoot, despite orders but fell to the ground before he could lose an arrow, with a stinging pain in his lower legs. As he reached the deck, now flat on his back he looked up to see a mouse on his chest a small but wicked looking sword pointed directly at his throat.
"You … you're a … mouse" he stammered.
"Really?" Reepicheep answered incredulously. "That is what you wish your last words to be?" and with that the soldier was no more.
Looking up Reepicheep saw that the Valiant Queen had taken up a fallen soldier's bow and that she and her sister were both firing on some soldiers who were shooting at the men who were emerging from the hold led by the two Kings.
Turning to look for more enemies to fight, Reepicheep let out a shout of horror.
"My Queens" he called aghast at the sight before him.
The Dawn Treader was under fire from the Calormene Ship, it appeared to have taken several hits, but was rallying well and was firing arrows back at the soldiers manning the Calormeme catapults and appeared to have taken down most of them. However the Slaver's ship on the other hand, was hardly more than driftwood, any remnants of the ship that floated were ablaze.
Susan's face paled as she looked at the wreckage, desperate tears springing to her eyes.
"Caspian!" she screamed.