AN: That's right, ANOTHER CHAPTER. I'm on a roll!

Chapter 5.

"Mummy! Mummy!" Through the thick haze of sleep, I heard a little girl crying. I struggled to regain consciousness.

"Eustace," I muttered. "Shut up."

"That's not me!"

I opened my eyes and was greeted by harsh sunlight. My head was pounding like someone was repeatedly hitting it with a hammer. My legs were stiff and my back was sore. I looked around me. I was chained to a wall, in between Eustace and Lucy, among many others. Some weren't even full human, but half goat. Fauns I think they were called.

"Look," Lucy said softly, looking forward.

I moved my eyes and saw the most heart wrenching sight.

Women were being taking away in a carriage. A man was chasing after it, calling for who I assumed was his wife. A little girl was running after him.

The man had managed to grab the woman's hand before two men who had been following the carriage punched him, knocking him to the ground. The little girl was calling for her mom the whole time. I felt my eyes tear up.

"Stay with daddy!" I heard the woman yell to the child.

"Don't worry!" the man said from his position on the ground. "I'll find you!" the little girl ran and held onto her father.

I buried my head in Lucy's shoulder, trying my hardest not to start crying.

I needed to be strong for Lucy. And for Eustace . . . I guess. I lifted my head up.

"Lucy, Eustace, listen to me." They both looked at me. "We're going to be okay, okay?"

They didn't even have the chance to respond before we were taken to go get sold to strange men, making my attempt at a pep talk seem pointless.

We stood on a small platform, with men gathered around.

I went first. I stood up front, barely able to stand. I tried to ignore the pain in my head. I kept wanting to just close my eyes and sleep but I had to stay conscious.
"I know she's a mess now, but if you fix her up she could be absolutely beautiful! Do I hear sixty?"
"Fuck you, I'm priceless," I snapped.

There was laughter in the crowd.

"Sixty!" a man called.

"Seventy!" Another said.

The bidding went up until one hundred and sixty.

"Sold!" The auctioneer said as he put a sign around my neck that said "sold".

"I am not a piece of meat, you asshole!" I yelled as I was roughly shoved to the side of the stone platform. Of course, my response was more laughter.

I watched as Lucy went forth. They started on sixty with her too, and went up to one hundred and fifty. She shrieked when she was shoved next to me. We huddled together like scared kittens who had lost their mother, or in our case we lost her brother. Oh yeah, and Caspian. But Caspian didn't make my heart race like Edmund did.

I had to figure out a way to get us out of this, somehow.

Then there was Eustace . . .

"And now, for this fine specimen," the auctioneer said. I snickered. "Who'll kick off the bidding?"

Absolutely no one said anything. It would have been extremely funny if it weren't a life or death situation.

"Come on now, he may not look like much, but, uh, he's strong."

This guy can't be serious. I started giggling. I couldn't help it. Lucy looked at me like I was crazy for laughing in a situation like this. I blame it on the head injury.

"Smells like the rear end of a Minotaur." Someone commented.

"That is an outrageous lie!" Eustace said indignantly. Some "oohs" went throughout the crowd. "I won the school hygiene award two years running."

"Oh my God," I moaned. "He's an idiot!"

"Oh, I know," Lucy said, gritting her teeth.

"Come on, someone take a bid!"

"I'll take him off your hands!" a familiar voice in the crowd said. "I'll take them all off your hands!"

A man pulled his robe off to reveal himself to be Drinian with Reepicheep on his head.

"For Narnia!" men started shouting, pulling off their disguises and beginning to attack.

Reep began attacking the auctioneer. Lucy and I watched in amazement as all hell broke loose. When Reep was finished with the loser who said I was worth sixty, he came over and got the handcuffs off of us.

"Thanks, Reep," Lucy beamed. "I knew you'd come."

You saved us," I said gratefully.

He bowed. "Your Highness, Rose."

He stabbed the hand of a nearby person and we all began fighting, Lucy and I using the money bags as weapons. I loved the irony of it.

"Take that, you disgusting pig!" I screamed, knocking him out. Soon, villagers began pouring in to help fight as well. It was an incredible battle. The thrill of it made my heart soar.

When my money bag split open, I settled for punching a guy instead.

"That's a girl!" Reep called approvingly. "You're a natural warrior!"

I dropped to the ground and slid my leg against a guy's ankles, knocking him to the ground. Lucy stomped on his face.

"Good teamwork," I said to her grinning. She beamed back at me.

Everything was going great. That is, until a guy hit me in the head again. Right where I got hit yesterday. Reep jumped on the guy and attacked him quite viciously for a mouse.

Lucy put an arm around me. "Rose, are you all right?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," I said breathlessly, leaning on her for support. My head was throbbing so bad I felt like I was going to vomit. At least I hadn't passed out.

Yet.

"Rose! Lucy!" I looked to see Edmund running towards us.

He captured Lucy in a big hug before giving me one.

"You're all right!" I said in relief, hugging him tightly. My knees started to go wobbly, but not for the reason I wanted.

He pulled back to look at me, frowning. "Yes, but are you?"

"I'm fine," I protested weakly. Oh God I sounded drunk.

"The guy hit her head pretty hard before," I heard Lucy say from behind me. "She just got hit again too. I think she's got a concussion."
"Guys," I insisted, unable to stand without swaying. "I'm fine."

"Edmund, I don't think she can walk."
I attempted to, but I nearly fell.

"Here, get on my back," Edmund said.

"No!" I said, the world spinning. I couldn't see straight.

"As your king that's an order!

I glared at him furiously, but gave in. With Lucy's help, I managed to climb on his back. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. Feeling tired, I laid my head down on his shoulder. He began walking. I closed my eyes.

"Stay awake, Rose."

"Fuck you," I said, slurring a little.

He chuckled. "Come on, just listen to the sound of my voice."

"I thought you were trying to keep me awake, not bore me to sleep."
I heard Lucy laugh. "I think she's going to be okay."

"I think so too," Edmund agreed.

After walking for a short amount of time, I heard Caspian's voice. "Oh God is she okay?"
"She's fine," Lucy said. "But she needs medical treatment for her head."

"Alright, let's get going." I felt Edmund start walking again, as well as heard people cheering.

"Your majesty!" I heard someone yell.

Edmund whipped around to look at something, causing a sharp wave of pain to go through my head.

"Oww!" I groaned.

"Sorry," he apologized. I opened my eyes to see Drinian holding a man back. I instantly recognized him as the one who had chased after his wife, with his daughter behind him.

"My wife was taken this morning!" he tried explaining.

"Daddy!" the little girl said, trying to hold onto his arm.

"It's all right Drinian," Caspian assured the protective captain, who stepped back to allow the man through.

"I beg you to take me with you," he pleaded before addressing his child. "Gael!"

"I want to come," she begged.

"No, Gael, stay with your aunt," he instructed her. Edmund had moved up right next to Caspian at this point. It was like having a front row seat.

"I'm a fine sailor," he said to Caspian. "Been on the seas my whole life."

"Of course," Caspian said, clapping him on the shoulder. "You must."

"Thank you," the man said gratefully as we walked away.

I could hear the little girl pleading with her father from behind. I swallowed thickly, fighting the urge to cry before burying my face in Edmund's shoulder.

The next time I looked up was because I heard someone call out, "My king! My king!" I saw that we were nearly at the row boats to take us back to the Dawn Treader.

An old man, holding a long, ancient sword spoke to Caspian. "This was given to me by your father. I hid it safely in a cave all these years."

"That's an old Narnian sword," Edmund said.

"It was from your Golden Age," the old man explained. "There are seven such swords, gifts from Aslan to protect Narnia. Your father entrusted them to us."
"Who is "us"?" I whispered in Edmund's ear.

"That's Lord Bern. I'll explain everything later," he murmured, watching the exchange between the two intently.

"Here," Lord Bern said. "Take it. And may it protect you."

Caspian hesitated before taking it. More cheers from the watching crowd.

"Thank you my lord. And we shall find your lost citizens"

At that, we began walking again.

"Edmund," Caspian said, stopping, again. He held the sword out to Edmund, who took it automatically, before walking again.

"Here," Lucy said as he struggled to hold the sword in one hand, and me. She put it in his sheath for him

"Thanks," he said gratefully.

We went down to the row boat. It took a minute or two to get me in the boat comfortably but we managed. I laid down on the bench with my head in Edmund's lap as he, Lucy, and Reep examined it.

"I see the gash," Reep said. "She'll need comfortable sleeping arrangements."
"She can share the bed with me," Lucy assured him.

"How come they both get the bed?" I heard Eustace protest from somewhere. "I woke up in a filthy, dingy hammock!"

"I'm not sharing a bed with you, Eustace," I warned.

"Wasn't asking you to," he shot back.

"Eustace is right," Edmund said, sarcastically. "He's a girl too. Let him have a bed."
Everyone laughed, except Eustace who was silent for a few moments before saying, "I'd prefer the hammock."

"Good," I said. "I cuddle things when I'm asleep and I don't want to accidentally wake up holding you or something. I have enough nightmares already."

"The thought makes me vomit," Eustace snapped. "I'm sure my dear cousin would prefer to cuddle you anyway."

"That's an odd thing to say, Eustace," Lucy said, confused.

"I didn't mean you, Lucy," Eustace said spitefully.

Everyone went silent. Looking up at Edmund, I saw him glaring threateningly at his little cousin.

The major rocking of the rowboat hurt my head more than Eustace did.

"Are we almost there?" I asked, closing my eyes. If it weren't for the cramped space, my head hurting with every rock, and the group of people staring, I'd really enjoy the position I was in with Edmund.

"Almost there," Reep assured me. "You put up an amazing fight, little one! Just hang in there."

"Can do," I assured him, ignoring the irony in how he called me "little one". "It takes more than a few knocks on the head to keep me down."

"That's the spirit!" he said, patting my cheek with his little paw. It tickled, making me smile.

By the time we reached the boat, I was nearly asleep.

"Here, Edmund," I heard Caspian say. "I'll carry her onboard."
"I've got her," Edmund said, helping me sit up slowly. I grimaced from the pain

Caspian looked doubtful. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Edmund, I really think—"

I cut him off. "Someone get me on the damn boat before I try and do it myself."

They exchanged looks of horror before both rushing to help me.

Men were so easily trained, even royalty.