A/N: What can I say? There's not much else to do in a blizzard. Oh, and the little parenthetical notes (1) and (end 1) show where I took dialogue directly from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, specifically the chapters "The Adventures of Eustace" and "How the Adventure Ended."
Chapter 4: The Queen Adventurous
It took them the better part of two days to reach the bay of the island, but on the first day there were gulls and on the second they caught fish, and though everyone had to wait for the extra water ration until they dropped anchor, the mood of the whole ship changed. The sailors started to whistle again. Edmund leaned over the sides of the ship and speculated on the terrain and what they could expect to find on the island. Lucy started smiling, and Eustace started his complaining all over again. Even so, this couldn't bother Caspian. He felt almost weak-kneed with relief.
The next morning the whole company of the ship loaded into two boats and made for the island. As Caspian looked back at the ship, his heart sank. The Dawn Treader was no longer the gallant little ship that had been cheered in the ports of the known world. Now, after the toil of the storm, she was a discolored hulk that looked likely to sink at any moment.
Drinian laid a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, your Majesty," he said. "We'll fix her right up to be the ship you know."
Caspian smiled thinly. "Of course."
Things started looking up when they came ashore. The country was desolate and forbidding, but it was hard to think about that when the water was so cold and so fresh. For a few minutes everyone took long drinks and bathed the grime and salt off them. Caspian made the rounds of the seamen, who were looking happier than they had for days, weeks even, and it did him good to hear them laughing and talking at their ease. He wandered a little ways from them, following the stream through the woods.
The air in that place was cool, and Caspian breathed it in deeply. The solitude of the woods was starting to gnaw at him, though, until he heard splashing and laughter. He stepped into a clearing and saw Edmund and Lucy in the middle of an epic water fight. Both of them were shouting and laughing at the top of their lungs. Caspian's first impulse was to join them, but something held him back. Lucy hit Edmund with a great wave of water which caught him off balance. He wound up sitting in water up to his chest, and was laughing so hard he could barely breathe. Lucy was looking down at him, her dress splattered from shoulder to toe with water, her hair dripping, her mouth laughing. Then she looked Caspian's way and smiled at him and that made his heart skip a beat, though he didn't know why.
She beckoned him forward and he came to the water's edge. Edmund stood up and waded over to Caspian, pushing his dripping hair out of his eyes. "In these forests," he said, gesturing to the trees growing on the far bank behind him "We are likely to find a new mast for the ship. The trouble is finding a path to drag it through."
Caspian followed the movement of his arm and was considering this possibility when all of a sudden he was assailed with a huge splash of water. He blinked and saw that Edmund was laughing. He returned the attack and they all splashed in the water for a minute, until he heard Drinian's voice calling through the trees. He got out of the water before Drinian and Rhince arrived, but he was so soaking wet that Drinian had to raise an eyebrow.
Caspian cleared his throat. "Yes, Drinian?"
"We…need to get to work, your Highness. There's much to be done for the ship."
"Of course, of course. Lead the way," Caspian said, trying to be as businesslike and kingly as he could in his sodden state. He knew it was ridiculous, and when Lucy stifled a giggle he half turned to raise his eyebrows at her, but a suppressed smile was on his lips.
They had a busy afternoon, and it was only the beginning of the work that had to be done. Still, Reepicheep wandered among them men giving words of good cheer, and Lucy, among the piles of sewing, started humming an old Narnian song which she patiently taught to Caspian, who in turn taught it to everyone else. Soon the woods were ringing with song, and Lucy worked patiently and steadily on every task she was given. Though she gave a longing glance at the bows of the hunting party, she sewed with good will.
Then as they settled down to dinner and a break at last, Edmund wondered "Where's that blighter Eustace?"
He hadn't shown up for the meal, which was odd, but everyone supposed he was off sulking somewhere and figured he'd return by nightfall. But then the rain came and Eustace didn't return, nor did he answer any of their calls, or the call of Caspian's horn when he blew it.
Lucy was very white when he didn't return at the call of the horn, and Edmund was irritated, but the kind of irritated that conceals worry underneath. "Confound the fellow," he said. "What on earth did he want to slink away like this for?" (1)
Caspian wanted to say that Eustace merely wanted to be a nuisance, but Lucy's stricken face kept him silent.
"But we must do something," Lucy said, "He may have got lost, or fallen into a hole, or been captured by savages."
The others had a good many things to say about this until Reepicheep silenced Rhince with admonishments of courtesy toward the Queen's blood. Then Caspian said in a weary voice (for he was not feeling particularly charitable just then) "Of course we've got to find him (if we can). That's the nuisance of it. It means a search party and endless trouble. Bother Eustace." (end 1)
But he began to select men for a search party and had Rynelf ensure that they were properly equipped with bows and arrows in case they had to fight for Eustace. He left Edmund and Drinian in charge with the rest and set off to search for him. Lucy stood at the edge of the camp, watching them go.
He didn't have much time to think of what an annoyance Eustace was because the terrain was so challenging. They forced their way through thickets of brambles, scaled hillsides. The country was all dark greens and browns, and the only sound around them was the trees dripping in the rain. In that silence, Caspian began to grow seriously alarmed for Eustace.
And then they came to the crest of a valley and saw the dead dragon. Caspian felt sick at the very sight of it, but Rynelf said wisely "If the dragon is dead now, it doesn't seem likely that it was killing people a few hours before."
"Still," said another, "It's not comforting to know that we're on an island with dragons."
"Let's find lower ground," Caspian said shortly. "It seems unlikely that Eustace could even climb this far. We shall have to think more logically if we're going to have any hope of finding him."
They trudged on wearily, searching all the lowlands until the light gave out. Then they found the beach and made their way back to camp. As they walked back without Eustace, Caspian pondered what on earth he was going to say to Lucy. She had looked so pale and worried when they left, even in that moment he admired her tender heart which had so much charity even for Eustace.
As they neared the camp Lucy came running out to greet him. As it happened, he didn't have to say anything. She saw the news in his face even before he had spoken. Then Rynelf told of the dragon, and even though he made sure to mention that it didn't seem much of a killer, but Lucy's face sank so much Caspian put his hands on her shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Lucy. Don't give up hope. We'll go out again tomorrow as soon as it's light and search. We won't leave the island till we find him."
She looked up at him and her eyes were bright with tears. She nodded.
"Come," he said. "Let us all get some rest. We have a long day of searching tomorrow."
As it turned out he didn't get much sleep at all. A scarce couple of hours later Drinian was shaking him, saying "Your Majesty, wake up. It's urgent."
Caspian sat up at once, and his sudden movement caused Edmund to awaken too. "What happened?" Caspian asked "Is Eustace back?"
"No," Drinian whispered urgently. "You'd better come and see for yourself. You too, King Edmund."
Both of them rose and buckled their swords around their hips. They followed Drinian towards the ship, stumbling slightly from exhaustion. All of Caspian's drowsiness left him as he saw what was on the beach. A dragon, a young, fierce looking dragon lay on the beach between them and the ship.
"The man on watch saw it fly over the trees and land," Drinian explained quietly. Caspian saw at once what Edmund put into words.
"There's no way we could get everyone on the ship. We're cut off."
"We must go back and tell everyone. The only thing to do is fight it," Caspian said. He looked at Edmund, who nodded, and he noticed that the way the king set his jaw was exactly like his sister had when it was time to work against the storm. Drinian was standing straight and tall, and he felt better knowing these two were beside him.
Together they went back to the others and roused everyone. He hadn't the heart to wake Lucy, sleeping so peacefully at last, to danger, so he left her to her brother.
It was a weary business telling all the storm tossed crew that a dragon was between them and the beach. Then of course Reepicheep wanted to challenge it to single combat, and he was so vociferous on this point that Caspian had to threaten to have him tied up. He prepared the men for battle and laid out a formation for meeting the dragon at daybreak. He commanded that a meal be served and the last of the wine drunk to give everyone courage, but still, the intervening hours till the dawn were awful. Finally it was light enough to move forward. Caspian exchanged grim glances with Edmund and Drinian, and they all marched down to the beach.
Yet as they approached the dragon it did not attack, but retreat. Odder still, it seemed to shake its head.
"What's it wagging its head like that for?" said Edmund. (1)
"And now it's nodding," said Caspian.
"And there's something coming from its eyes," said Drinian.
"Oh can't you see," said Lucy, "It's crying. Those are tears."
Drinian warned her not to trust it, but Edmund realized the dragon was responding to their conversation and Reepicheep stepped forward to demand "Dragon, can you understand speech?"
When he ascertained that it could, though it could not speak itself, he asked the dragon to raise its paw in friendship. It did, and that's when they all saw, and Lucy exclaimed "Oh look, there's something wrong with its leg. The poor thing—that's probably what it was crying about. Perhaps it came to us to be cured like Androcles and the lion." She started towards it at once, feeling at her side for the catch on her pouch that held the diamond vial.
"Be careful, Lucy," Caspian called, his heart in his throat. "It's a very clever dragon but it may be a liar."
Lucy paid this no heed; she was already hurrying toward the dragon with Reepicheep. Caspian, Edmund, and Drinian followed at their heels. Without hesitating or shrinking away, she administered her medicine to the dragon. Caspian watched closely to see if the cure worked, but he was surprised with a jolt of recognition. "Look!" he cried.
"Look at what?" Edmund asked.
"Look at the device on the gold," said Caspian.
"A little hammer with a diamond above it like a star," said Drinian. "Why, I've seen that before."
Caspian's heart was beating in his throat. "Seen it!" said Caspian. "Why, of course you have. It is the sign of a great Narnian house. This is the Lord Octesian's arm-ring."
And then everyone thought that the dragon ate Lord Octesian, but it denied this. Lucy suggested the dragon might be the Lord Octesian, but this was not the case either. Then Edmund dared to say "You're not—not Eustace by any chance?" (end 1)
From the dragon's reaction of tail thumping and head nodding and the copious amount of boiling tears, it became apparent that this was Eustace indeed. Everyone was sympathetic, but none so much so as Lucy. She gathered the courage to do what he had never seen anyone do: she kissed a dragon.
Eustace became such a changed character that as Caspian stirred the fire one night, Rhince said it was a pity he had to become a dragon to be nice.
"He might be disenchanted yet," Lucy said hopefully.
"Perhaps," Caspian agreed with a smile.
She got up. "Come, Edmund, he looks lonely. Let's see if there's anything you and I can do for him."
Together they went off to where Eustace was lying some distance away. Caspian turned to watch them go.
"Drinian," he said softly, "You have known more ladies than I."
Drinian laughed heartily. "That may well be true, my King."
"Then tell me," he continued, "Have you known a lady to work like a man aboard ship? To kiss a dragon?"
"In truth, no. What are you thinking of, King?" he asked with a knowing smile. "Did I speak too soon in saying that the women of Terebinthia are so beautiful? It seems to me you are an admirer of the Narnians."
"For more than mere beauty," Caspian answered.
