Author's Note: This chapter is a bit shorter than normal, but that's because I just felt it needed to end there... Anyways, I hope you guys like it. :) And I was a little disappointed. I only got THREE reviews after my last chapter being up for almost a week. NOT happy about that. Please review this time!
Song for this chapter: Crawling by Linkin Park
Two Telmarine soldiers rowed in a boat down the river. One looked at Trumpkin, who was bound and gagged in the bottom of the boat.
"He won't stop staring..." One of the soldiers said, his voice quaking with fear.
"So don't look at him." The other soldier bit back. The first soldier took no notice of his comrade's words and continued to stare at the dwarf. He finally just stopped rowing. He had a very anxious look on his face.
"Here's fine." He said, pushing the oars to the side. The two soldiers picked up Trumpkin and prepared to throw him in the water. Then, an arrow hit the side of the boat. The two soldiers looked up to see five children running up with weapons drawn.
Susan quickly notched another arrow in her bow. Ari stood beside her ready to fire her own weapon.
"Drop him!" Susan called in a loud, commanding voice. The dwarf's eyes widened and he repeated her words, though they were muffled by the gag in his mouth. The soldiers shrugged and tossed Trumpkin into the clear blue water.
One of the soldiers picked up a crossbow, immediately afterwards he found and arrow sticking from his chest. The other soldier jumped overboard, barely missed by another arrow. It flew right over his head and he could practically feel it singe his hairline. He quickly swam away.
Peter handed his sword and shield to Susan and dove into the water after Trumpkin, who was quickly sinking to the bottom. It was only moments later that the two surfaced, both gasping for air. Edmund towed the boat in and pushed the dead soldier into the water. Lucy unsheathed her dagger and cut the dwarf's bonds.
"'Drop him'?" Trumpkin said angrily as he pulled the gag out of his mouth. "That's the best you can come up with?" He snapped.
"A simple 'thank you' would suffice." Susan snapped back.
"They were doing just find drowning me without your help!" The red haired dwarf yelled as he stood to his feet.
"Maybe we should have just left you in the water then." Peter said. Lucy rolled her eyes and whacked him over the back of the head. She then looked at the dwarf.
"You'll have to excuse my brother. He seems to be having a very bad problem with his manners lately." She said, rolling her eyes once again. "Why were those soldiers trying to drown you anyways?"
"They're Telmarines." The dwarf said, sneering the word as if it left a foul taste in his mouth. "It's what they do for fun."
"Fun?" Lucy said, outrage clear on her face.
"Telmarines?" Ari asked in confusion.
"In Narnia?" Edmund continued for Ari.
"Where have you lot been for the last few hundred years?" Trumpkin snorted, not believing that they didn't know.
"Well..." Lucy said, grinning sheepishly. "It's a bit of a long story..."
Susan handed Peter back his sword and shield. The dwarf noticed the hilt of the sword and his eyes widened. He looked up at Peter, then surveyed them all.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me... You're it?" He said in a disbelieving tone. "You're the kings and queens of old?"
Peter stepped forward and held out his hand. "High King Peter...The Magnificent."
"You probably should have left off the last bit there, Pete." Ari said, rolling her eyes.
"Probably." Trumpkin said, chuckling.
"You might be surprised." Peter said as he drew his sword.
"Oh, you don't want to do that, boy." Trumpkin said, eying the sword with contempt.
"Not me." Peter said, shaking his head. "Him." He said, gesturing to Edmund who grinned brightly. "He is, after all, one of the best swordsmen in all of Narnia."
"One of the best?" Edmund snorted. "I am the best, and I've proven it time and time again to you, Peter."
"Don't get a big head, Edmund. It doesn't suit you." Ariana chided.
"Fine. Fine." Edmund said, putting his hands up in defeat, chuckling a little bit.
"Are we going to spar or not?" Trumpkin asked impatiently.
"Sure." Edmund said.
Peter looked at his brother as he handed Trumpkin his own sword. The dwarf took the sword, and then it dropped into the sand. Edmund drew his sword and grinned cheekily at Peter. Suddenly, Trumpkin knocked Edmund's sword away and swung. Edmund ducked, and Trumpkin hit him in the face with the pommel of Peter's sword. Ari winced from the sidelines. She hated seeing Edmund get hurt, even something as minor as this. She had a feeling he would bruise some because of his fair skin.
"Edmund!" Lucy screeched.
"Awe, you alright?" Trumpkin mocked.
They circled around in the sand. Edmund sank back into his element, getting used to having a sword in his hands once again. Trumpkin slashed at Edmund's feet, and he jumped with both feet off the ground so that the blow went underneath them. Edmund took his chance and began swinging savagely. He alternated between high and low blows until Peter's sword flew into the air and landed in the sand a few feet away. He stood with his sword pointed down at the dwarf. Trumpkin fell to his knees in the sand.
"Beards and bedsteads!" He exclaimed, looking at each of them in turn. "Maybe that horn worked after all."
"What horn?" Susan asked immediately.
"The one that Prince Caspian blew. It was your own, if I'm not mistaken Your Majesty."
"Now none of that 'Your Majesty' stuff." Susan said before anyone could say anything else. "It's too formal. This is not a formal situation, so it's only right that we call each other by our given names."
"That all sounds fine and dandy to me, but if it's all the same, I'd like you call you Your Majesty anyways. It's about time we had someone to look up to instead of those filthy men who call themselves kings." Trumpkin said.
"Alright then. I guess that's fine with everyone." Susan said. "Now, about that horn..."
Author's Note: There's the end of chapter five... Don't hate me for it being shorter! D: Leave a smiley face if you liked it! :D (Please? I'll update faster!)