One Fine Day

Chapter 15

Dragon Island

Edmund ran through the forest as fast as he could with me on his back. And though he warned me, I still felt the slap of many branches or heard the tear of my dress as it caught. It was nearing nightfall before we came in hearing distance of the camp, and when we did we heard Lucy's voice above everyone else.

"You don't suppose something's happened to them, do you Caspian? Oh! What if…"

"Here we are!" I called moments before we broke through the brush.

"Thank… What happened?" Lucy rushed over to us as Edmund set me down by a rock so I could sit.

"No time," he said, hardly sounding out of breath at all. "There's a Dragon."

"Yes, we know," Caspian said. "It just landed on the beach."

"Any chance of making it to the Dawn Treader?"

"It's landed between us and the long boat, I fear."

"Sire, if I may…"

"No, Reep, you may not challenge the Dragon to single combat," Caspian said wearily. "We shall battle it together."

Edmund looked at me and I knew what he was thinking. "Don't you dare, Edmund."

"Queen Aaralynn will not be joining us; someone must stay with her. "

"Edmund!" I protested.

"I will stay Sire," Rhince said stepping forward.

Edmund continued to ignore my protests. "She will be your top priority. Should we not return, you are to get her to safety as far from this island as possible, or give your own life in defense of hers. Do you understand?"

"Edmund!"

"I do, Sire. I will gladly give my life over for hers."

"Rhince! Edmund stop this, I can…" I tried to stand but the moment I did, I cried out in pain.

"Aaralynn you can't stand, how do you expect to battle a Dragon?" Edmund asked.

"Edmund, please…"

"I won't make you promise to do anything, but please, Aaralynn, don't be rash."

"Those are words I'd wish you abide by."

"Aaralynn," he pleaded. He sounded so desperate I couldn't refuse.

"Fine, but give me a bow at least."

"You know an arrow will be no good against its hide.''

"No, but I'm sure it wouldn't appreciate an arrow to the eye either. What's more, I'd rather die with a weapon in my hand than without."

Edmund smirked. "Do any have a spare bow Queen Aaralynn might use?" One of the sailors who had both a bow and sword handed over his. Then Edmund placed a hand behind my head and placed our foreheads together in our signature farewell.

"Aslan be with you," he said.

"As he is with you."

We prayed silently together before Edmund stepped back. Before joining Caspian, he said, "And, Rhince, no matter what she says, she is to stay off her foot."

Rhince nodded. Edmund took his place on Caspian's right, and the party moved out solemnly, with scarce a sound between them, leaving me and Rhince to our own silence.

Unbelievable. Absurd. It was unbelievably absurd. Only he could manage such a thing. The Dragon was no ordinary dragon. It was Eustace! Only my cousin could find a way to become a Dragon. Aunt Alberta will not be pleased.

I was on my way back to camp, and back to Aaralynn, with a few of the crewman. Caspian and Reepicheep stayed behind with Eustace. Since Eustace the Dragon couldn't easily make his way through the trees to where we had set the camp earlier, we were moving the camp to the beach. We'd be out in the open, yes, but we'd have a Dragon…

No one was speaking as we returned to camp; they were all too stunned to say anything. So I called out a warning as we neared the clearing.

"Don't shoot!"

Sure enough, as we came into the camp Aaralynn stood poised with an arrow knocked and ready to let loose. Beside her Rhince was ready with his crossbow.

"Edmund!"

"You were supposed to stay off your foot."

"Well you can't fire properly if sitting down," she retorted. Then the pain of her efforts flashed across her face and she sat once more.

"Where are the others?" Rhince asked, sounding more confused than alarmed.

"They're fine. Everyone is fine, except perhaps Eustace. He's… well, he's the Dragon."

"Eustace is a Dragon?" Aaralynn asked.

"It sounds absurd even when you say it."

"How did that happen?"

"We don't really know. He can understand speech well enough, but he has no means of using it himself."

"What are we to do?"

"For now… we are moving the camp to the beach. Well, they're moving camp. I'm here to move you."

The men made quick work of the pack up so there wasn't much for me to do. Aaralynn handed her bow over to Rhince, and I easily picked her up. (It still unsettled me how small she was now.) I carried her cradle style as we carefully picked our way through the trees to the beach. We arrived to see that a fire had been started—had Eustace helped with that? Reepicheep was regaling Eustace and Caspian with a tale. My sister and the captain, however, were nowhere in sight.

"Where's Lucy?" Aaralynn asked.

"She went back to the ship with Drinian for her cordial." Caspian said as he stood to help me set Aaralynn down. "She thought you might want it."

"For a twisted ankle? Caspian, you should have stopped her. It will be better in a day or two."

"And I suppose we are to dote on you hand and foot until it does?" I asked.

She smiled. "I am a Queen. It ought to have some perks."

"You're married to me, that's perk enough."

"You'd be surprised at how often that is the greatest challenge."

Caspian and every crewman in hearing distance laughed. Beneath the buzz of their laughter there was a strange wheezing sound. Little puffs of smoke floated on the air. Everyone turned their attention to Eustace. His wing blades were moving up and down, his chest in and out. And the curve of his great big mouth turned upward as though grinning. The closest likeness I had to his mannerisms was laughter.

Eustace the Dragon was laughing… at my expense. When everyone realized this of course, they laughed harder.

"Go on and laugh," I said. "I can best you all in a duel. Now, can I look at that ankle of yours?" I asked Aaralynn before dropping to my knees in the sand. Aaralynn nodded but didn't stop laughing. I gently lifted her leg and propped it on my bent knee as I untied her laces. I tried to remove her shoe as carefully as possible, but her shoulders still tensed as she held back her pain. As I slid the leather boot off, I revealed the ugliest bruise I'd seen in many years. The ankle itself was the size of a cricket ball and it was the darkest purple, bordering on black. Around the outer rim of the cricket ball was that appalling orange-brown color.

"Alright, I'm going to feel around a bit; let me know when the pain is greatest," I said.

Aaralynn nodded in understanding. I started with a tap to the middle of her calf. I tapped her leg at various spots around her calf. I could see her flinch at the touch, but she didn't speak up. I moved lower and repeated the tapping. Her visible response was stronger, but she still didn't say anything. I moved lower. The closer to her ankle I got, the more she responded, as suspected. But when I ever so lightly touched the top of her foot where it met her leg, she couldn't keep from crying out. The pain was so intense, her eyes swelled with tears she fought to keep back.

"Well, I don't think it's twisted, Aaralynn, but I do think it's broken." She nodded, still fighting her tears. "It may not have happened in the fall, but I'm sure all the extra exertion exacerbated it."

"I guess it's good I went for this," Lucy said as she joined us. "Oh, Aaralynn, how did this happen?"

"We… took a tumble down a steep ledge," she replied with a pause for her lingering pain.

"That's where we saw the Dragon," I added as I let Lucy take over Aaralynn's care. At the mention of a Dragon, Eustace lifted his head. "Not Eustace, another Dragon."

"There's another Dragon?" Drinian asked.

"No, I believe the other one is dead." I looked to Eustace who nodded his head and then looked away, almost shamefully.

"Wall, that's something at least." Drinian moved in closer to Caspian and turned his back to Eustace so that he could neither see nor hear. "All the same, Your Majesties, but what are we to do with him? We can't bring him on board."

"I think there are still a lot of repairs that need to be made before she's ready to sail again, yes?" I asked.

"Aye," he replied.

"Well then, Drinian," Caspian began, "tonight we rest and tomorrow we work. We'll sort out what to do with him later."

Over the next several days, repairs were made, clothes mended, casks refilled, and stores replenished, but Eustace remained a Dragon. As a Dragon, though, he proved to be very useful. With the aid of Drinian and a few crewmen, he found the ideal pine for a new mast and carried it back to the beach. He flew our hunters to locations previously unreachable where they caught wild boar, goats, and a flock of chickens for the continuing voyage. And in the evening, while the boar was roasting, he would give rides to anyone who was willing. It took a little extra convincing before Aaralynn braved a ride.

"Come on, Aaralynn," I said. "It's just like riding bare back."

"Except you're in the air and you're on a Dragon, not Philip," Lucy said.

"Not helping, Lu."

"I was never very good at riding bare back," Aaralynn said.

"You were never very good at fighting either," Lucy said.

"Whose side are you on, Lu?"

"Unbelievable," I said. "You can run on a broken foot, topple a corrupt government, and battle an island full of slave traders, but you won't ride on a Dragon?"

"Are you questioning my honor?" she asked.

"Your honor? Never. You're one of the most honorable women I know. Your bravery, however…" I grinned. I could see the fury in her eyes. She truly was a pupil of Reep. I held my grin until at last she reached for my outstretched arm and allowed me to pull her up.

Each day went on, each much the same as the day before. But every day the Dawn Treader was a little closer to being ready to sail, and the men grew a little more anxious to leave.

I tossed and turned at night, unable to sleep soundly, until I'd had enough. If I couldn't sleep, then I would walk and seek Aslan. I rose carefully so as not to disturb anyone. A quick glance at Aaralynn showed me she was still sleeping soundly an arm's length away. I silently made my way to the edge of camp and nodded at the sentry as I continued down the beach. We'd seen no evidence of inhabitants on this island, likely due to the Dragon, but one could never be too sure.

My siblings liked to tease me about it, but I always did my best thinking in the early morning. It was early morning when I first spoke with Aslan, and I'll never forget that day. It wasn't so much that He walked in the sunlight more like the sun followed the path of His steps. I'll never forget His words either, words I'd only shared with Aaralynn. Perhaps if my siblings knew why I preferred the early mornings to think they wouldn't tease me, but why take away their harmless fun?

I wasn't alone in my solitude for long before I knew what I must do. It was a decision I'd been struggling with since first posed with the problem.

"Give me courage," I prayed.

"Courage for what?" Her voice was near a whisper as she came around the tree I was leaning against.

"I thought you were asleep."

"I've always been restless when you couldn't sleep."

It was true. Without words to coordinate our movements, Aaralynn and I both instinctively maneuvered ourselves so that her head tucked into my neck and her arms encircled my waist.

"So what is it this time?" she asked.

I sighed. "It's Eustace," I replied. "The Dawn Treader is ready to sail again. The repairs have been made and the men are eager to return to sea. But the Captain is right. We can't take a Dragon on board. Never mind the question of food; the ship won't hold him."

"So you've decided to stay behind."

"I…" I was speechless; though, perhaps I shouldn't have been.

"How long have we been married, Edmund?"

"Depends on what math you use."

"The point is, I know you, Edmund, and Eustace is your family. There's nothing you wouldn't do for family."

I squeezed her shoulder and kissed her forehead. I knew she'd understand "I won't ask you to stay."

"That's because you know there's no need to; you know I will. This could be fun: you, me, our own private island, and a pet Dragon. There's nothing to worry about."

"Well there is one thing to worry about… How do we tell Lucy?"