Sorry for the delay; I wanted to leave you in suspense for awhile longer. Haha. No, really, I've been delayed by that little thing called "life." It gets to all of us sometimes. That, and I want to make sure these next few chapters are absolutely perfect for you all. You'll see why.

One Fine Day

Chapter 7

The Keepers

Edmund's words rung in the silent air. He sounded confused at first, but then I saw the hurt and the anger come crashing down on him. Before he could say any more though, the air rang with a true crash. I turned quickly over my shoulder to see that Eustace had somehow managed to knock over a pillar sending it crashing and tumbling into the fallen stones around it.

"Lion's Mane boy! Could you have been any louder?" Drinian whispered harshly.

"I'll have you know…"

"ATTACK!"

Suddenly men with weapons were coming at us from every angle. Fortunately we all had weapons of our own and we were all skilled fighters. I ducked under the swing of the first man that came at me while simultaneously pulling out my sword. I used the hilt to knock him on the back of his neck, and he fell. Then I turned quickly to engage my next opponent. I was aware of Edmund and Caspian fighting close beside me. We seemed to be fending off our attackers well, but my cousin always has a way of ruining things.

"Ahhh!" His scream was so frightful and piercing, I thought surely he had been severely injured. As it was though, he was merely being held by one man with a small knife to his throat. His capture, though, had the intended effect on us and we stopped fighting.

"Now," began the man holding Eustace, "unless you want to hear this one scream like a girl again…"

"Like a girl?" Eustace scoffed.

"I suggest you put down your weapons."

We all did what he said with reluctance, some of us with more reluctance than others.

"Clap 'em in irons."

As someone began to put chains on me, very roughly too I might add, I caught Edmund's eye. They seemed to say, "You just had to bring Eustace along." I returned a look of my own that said, "Well, how was I to know we'd be attacked and that he would be caught by a vagabond and scream like a girl?" His eyes replied with, "Really, Lu? It's Eustace were talking about." Then they added, "Vagabond?"

"Ow!" I said aloud as one of the cuffs pinched my wrist.

"Who are you? And where are you taking us?" Caspian commanded in a very authoritative voice. I shared a wary look with Edmund; before departing the Dawn Treader, we'd all agreed that none of us would reveal that we were Kings and Queen.

The Vagabond who appeared to be in charge, the one who caught Eustace, replied with a toothy smirk. "We're The Keepers, and you're going to the jail house. Then to'morrow you'll be judged by 'is Sufficiency, an' from there…Market."

"And what is our crime?" Edmund asked.

"Trespassin'…fer now."

"'Ey Pug, look wha' we caught." One of the Vagabonds came around carrying Reepicheep. He was bound by both his hands and his feet.

"Unhand me!" Reepicheep cried. "Put me down and duel me like a man you Poltroon!"

"Mercy! It talks!" Pug replied. "Nice find. 'E'll fetch a pretty price at Market to be sure. Now tell me, was it one o' you which trained 'em?"

"Trained me! Wha…Wh…Humph!" And for the first time since I recall meeting him, Reepicheep was speechless.

Pug and the Vagabonds, I would not call them Keepers, led us back down the hill, but not through the town. Instead we were led to a couple of small boats, where we were rowed across the bay to Narrowhaven. They led us through dark and empty streets. As we were marched I noticed that the once bustling port city seemed no better off than the small village on Avra. In fact, it almost seemed worse. Many of the homes and business were boarded up. There were street carts barren and over turned as though there had been a struggle. And it appeared that the street vendor had lost because no vendor would leave his cart unattended. I shared a glance with Edmund and knew that he noticed the wreckage too.

At last we were led to one of the best well-kept buildings. It was a maze of passageways and cells with thick iron bared doors. The jail house, I presumed. Suddenly the Vagabonds began to pull us apart, some heading down one passageway while the others went down another. I realized they were separating us. One Vagabond pulled Edmund away from me.

"No! Edmund!"

"Lucy! Let me go!" Edmund struggled against his Vagabond. "Lucy!" Suddenly the Vagabond slapped Edmund hard across the face.

"No! Edmund! No!" I fought against my Vagabond too, but without my sword or dagger I was no match for him.

"It's alright, Lu!" Edmund called with a bloody lip. "It's alright. I'll find you!"

And then he was pulled out of sight. I continued to struggle, but I felt the prick of tears begin. I refused to cry in front of the Vagabonds so I stopped fighting and focused my energy on keeping the tears back.

I was led to the last cell in the passage with a few other crew members and Eustace. Our chains were removed and the iron door was locked behind the last Vagabond to leave.

I don't know how long we were left in the cell alone, but the moment the Vagabonds had left the vicinity Rynelf and I tried our best to force the door open. Some of the others tried too, but it wouldn't budge. Eustace, of course, did nothing but sit in the corner and grumble.

Eventually I flopped in a corner to stew over our predicament. I was fine. The crew was fine. Reepicheep was…insulted, but fine. I was worried about Edmund though. I knew that under normal circumstances and when he was in his right mind, Edmund would have no problems handling himself and he'd be fine. But these circumstances were far from normal and Edmund was even further from his right mind.

I really don't know how much time passed while I stewed. Occasionally an idea would come to mind in which I thought we might be able to escape. I'd get up and rouse the crew members with me. We'd try my idea and fail. Then someone would try to tweak it, but that wouldn't work either and we'd all sit back down again. I was never fully discouraged though, because I knew that somewhere in this maze of cells Edmund, Caspian, and Drinian were doing the same thing.

XXX

I must have dozed off because the bit of night sky that I could see through the solitary window was darker than before. As I looked into the dark sky and felt the slightest chill of the air through the window, an old Narnian proverb came to mind: the coldest winter falls before warmest spring. I could only hope that was the case for the Islands now. I looked around our cell to see that everyone else had dozed off as well. I wondered what had woken me then. A moment later I knew what it must have been. There was a commotion in the hallway, and it seemed to be coming closer.

"Ow! Le' go of me! Don't you know who I am!"

I looked around the cell and saw that I wasn't the only one being aroused by the shouting.

"I sa' let! Me! Go!"

"Oh, we go' ourselves a kicker 'ere. Where should we put 'im?"

"Last cell oughta do."

Suddenly a face appeared outside our door. Another Vagabond by the looks of it.

"There's already someone 'ere," the Vagbond called to someone out of sight.

"Well that can be said about all 'em, can't it." The first Vagabond laughed. "Open it."

While the Vagabond at the door was distracted with trying to find the right key, I contemplated making a run for it. Perhaps I could make it to the ships and we could devise a plan to rescue the others. I looked to Rynelf and he glanced in Eustace's direction. My dope of a cousin was still fast asleep, so much for running. At last the door opened and the other Vagabond deposited a strange young boy into our cell. The boy at once turned around and held out his hands. The Vagabonds laughed.

"What 'chu want me to do with those?"

"Well, aren't you gonna take them off?" the boy asked.

The Vagabonds simply laughed again before locking the door and heading off.

"You wait 'til my Pa hears about this! You'll be sorry you ever touched me! You'll be sorry!"

When he was done yelling, the boy turned around to inspect the cell. My first description of "strange" didn't seem to quite cover it. His hat was askew and covering most of his eyes. His clothes were dirty and his face was dirtier. And there was a strange patch of hair above his lip. His eyes passed me over before quickly jumping back.

"Lucy!" he shouted as he started coming towards me. I stepped back and held up a hand for him to stop, and Rynelf jumped in front of me.

"Hold it there, lad," Rynelf said.

"Lucy, it's me," the boy said.

"Do I know you?" I asked shaking my head. I quickly did a mental recap of the Dawn Treader crew, and it wasn't any of them.

"It's me, it's…Oh wait…this might help." The boy took of his hat then and shook out his hair. It was shaggy and stopped just above his shoulders. "Still nothing?"

He did look a little familiar now, but I still couldn't place his face with a name.

"You're going to make me do this, really? Ok, but please forgive the foulness you are about to hear."

He took hold of the patch of hair above his lip. I watched, mortified, as he ripped the hair from his skin and let out a string of expletives fit for a seaman. He was doubled over in pain for a bit, but when he straightened up, still holding his mouth, I was able to get a good look at his eyes. His eyes, now moist, I knew better than anything else.

"Oh that never hurts any less," he said.

Suddenly it hit me. How had I not seen it before? I did know him, and it wasn't a "him."

"Aaralynn!" I ran forward and threw my arms around her; she laughed.

"Well it took you long enough, Lucy. I was beginning to wonder what else I'd have to do."

"I…I'm sorry." I pulled back to get a better look at her. Her face was still very dirty, but at such a close proximity I was now able to see how shrunken and hallow her cheeks looked. Her arms, too, were rather boney.

"Your Majesty, please forgive us," Rynelf said with a bow.

"Of course," Aaralynn said. "You're hardly to blame. I've been wearing a disguise for so long now I forgot I had one on. So of course you wouldn't have recognized me at first. That was the intent after all. It works wonders on the fools here."

"Ughmm….What's all this ruckus?" a groggy Eustace asked as he stood up. Aaralynn quickly turned in his direction.

"Ed…You're not Edmund," she said sounding a bit disappointed.

"I should think not. What a beast and a bore that would be," Eustace claimed.

"Although…you…you have his nose." Aaralynn pointed out, as she raised her still chained hands to her own nose. She looked to me then for clarification.

"He's our cousin, Eustace."

"Family then! Oh it is great to meet you." Aaralynn rushed over towards Eustace and held out her hands. Eustace merely stared at them. Aaralynn looked back at me. "You do still shake hands in England when meeting someone new, yes?"

"I'm not shaking hands with the likes of you. You're a criminal," Eustace said.

"Never mind him, Aaralynn. My Cousin doesn't know proper manners when he sees them."

"Oh, it's no bother then. And I'm hardly a proper criminal; most of the things they say about me are not true," Aaralynn said.

"You're in jail," Eustace pointed out.

"And so are you," Aaralynn shot back.

"You're handcuffed."

"Oh! So I am still. Silly me," she said with a laugh. "Lucy, will you give me a hand." Aaralynn held out her hands to me next and opened her left hand which had been in fist this entire time. Lying in her palm was a small key.

"Where did you get this?" I asked as I took the key from her.

"I picked it off the guards before they dumped me in here," she replied.

"A pick-pocket. So you are a criminal," Eustace declared.

"Well I couldn't rely on them to take them off now could I? Ah, much better, thanks Lu." Aaralynn rubbed her now free wrists appreciatively. "Now tell me, your brother…"

"He's here," I said quickly.

Aaralynn smiled and her eyes sparkled with a new moistness. "Oh how I've longed for this day."

"You've longed for the day to be in jail?" Eustace asked.

Aaralynn laughed. "No, silly boy. I've longed for Edmund. Where is he?"

"I don't know," I replied. "The Vagabonds captured him too. They separated us."

"Well The Keepers are vagabonds, I'll give you that; though I've always preferred the term Vermin," she said offhandedly.

"Your Majesties," Rynelf said, stepping forward. "Wherever the Keepers took King Edmund, they took King Caspian and the Captain with him."

"Thank you, Rynelf; that is helpful. It will save us some time if they only split you into two groups. Except for Reep, I saw him on the way, he seemed to be alone; I do pity the poor fool who tied him up like that. Now come on, we haven't much time left. We have to find the others and put a stop to this once and for all."

Aaralynn made for the door.

"It's no use," I said. "We've already tried to get out. The door won't budge."

"Yes, well, when trying to get though a locked door it always helps to have one of these." Aaralynn turned around to show me another key, much larger than the first one. I'm not sure where she was keeping it. "I've been in and out of a cell like this one so many times before it's no longer funny. But what is funny, is that those foolish vermin have never once stopped to consider that my escapes are simply due to the fact that I have my own key."

I was amazed, and stunned speechless. I didn't know what to say in response to this Aaralynn; she seemed so…blasé in regards to our current situation. Fortunately, it was not so for Rynelf; he seemed unfazed by her attitude.

"We must find weapons, Your Majesty, if we are to fight. They took all of ours when they captured us.

"Oh, thanks for the reminder," Aaralynn said as she kicked off her boots. She pulled out the soles, and pulled forth a small ragged dagger from inside each shoe. "I know it's not much, Lucy, but do you think you can manage with this until we get yours back?"

"I…I'm sure I can make do," I said as I took one of the daggers.

"Good. Now it's time for a massive prison break," Aaralynn said with a smile.