Eustace

As we arrived on the island, I started to get a bad feeling. The air was too dry, it was too hot already, and there were no plants in sight!

"I want to go back to England!" I yelled. "I want to go back to-". The rest of my sentence was muffled by Caspian, who had put his hand over my mouth to shush me. I detest that stuck-up king. He thinks he rules everything! They should try for a more diplomatic method here, royalty is corrupt and old-fashioned. At that time, we heard a bell from a tower far away. Susan and Caspian raised their weapons. I thought that was absurdly pointless because even their long-distance weapons couldn't reach the tower.

"We should explore the city." Peter said.

"But, what if it's dangerous?" I asked. It felt like this a good question, but everybody looks at me strangely, so I added:

"I mean, for Lucy, what if it's too dangerous for her?" at this, she shot me a glare. I truly didn't mind, I enjoyed annoying my cousins.

"It's Queen Lucy the Valiant, remember?"

"Oh, right." I said, trying to appear confused.

"Will you guys just be quiet so we can search the city?!" Caspian said. Great, he's annoyed! That was the only thing I liked better than annoying my cousins. They deserve it; they have been annoying me since they were born.

We spent hours walking through the city, sometimes checking houses for people. All I really wanted was to go back to the ship! I was terribly scared, but I wouldn't admit it in front of Caspian and the rest. They seem to be completely unbothered by this whole thing. I didn't understand how my cousins could remain calm even though we were on a completely irrational magical kingdom! It was just like the ones in fairy tales: the handsome princes, the beautiful princesses, the talking animals… all I wanted was to go back home! At least there I had more ability to annoy my cousins, here, they are happy! And they don't even care that I'm not! I wish we could at least go back to that cursed ship of theirs, it's better than being hot and starving here! Even though Drinian is always shouting commands, his wife Alberta is always cleaning up my room and misplacing my items, Ariane is too cheery, and Brian keeps reciting math facts and studying and acting smart, it's still better than this. And the worst part was: my cousins didn't seem at least one bit bothered by this! Peter was leading the group and bossing us around like he owns the place, Susan was holding hands with Caspian and looking at him like he's a treasure, which made me sick, Edmund was looking around homes and talking to Peter like nothing is happening, and Lucy was practically skipping around the place. But the worst of them all was the rat: he walked around proudly, swishing his sword, yelling at the air to come out and attack him. I'd actually found a couple of people cowered in their houses, but I thought if I don't say anything, Peter will let us go back to the ship. We had been walking for hours and my feet hurt, but he was determined to go to the tower where we heard the bells to ask why there are no Narnian flags. He also wanted to know where we are. He said that since we heard the bells, there must be people around. I must agree, but I still don't like it. When we finally got to the tower, I started getting chills, I was actually glad when Edmund said:

"Why don't you stay here and, guard something?"

"That's a great idea, cousin!" I responded as I stumbled over to where they were. I felt so relieved that I didn't have to go in there with them: something about that place threw me off. Caspian handed me a knife that looked very much like the ones pirates would use in those horrid fairy tales. I didn't know how to use one anyway, but I gave them a look to try to convince them that I was brave. I think they bought it because they went in. The knife was already starting to feel heavy in my hand as I waited outside. I don't know how Peter, Caspian, and Edmund manage a sword, which is twice this knife's size. It was really hot out there; I was getting sweaty, which I absolutely despised: It's disgusting. I was also quite hungry, since we had been walking around for hours. I was starting to wish I was in there with them. The stones of the tower, which we now found out, was actually a church, looked like they would keep the Sun out. I was also a bit scared of being alone out here, I mean, would they hear me if I screamed? Would they care? Surely sweet little Lucy would. It's terrible out here. I started to panic; maybe they left me out here to die! I didn't have much time to hold on to that thought because, soon enough, I felt a pair of hands on me. I screamed, trying to get the rest to hear me, but then, my aggressor pressed my knife against my throat. He must have taken it out of my hand as I was screaming! The bells started ringing again and it is all so confusing, the bells and my screams and the door opening and everybody's startled faces as they saw me. It looked like they had been fighting other people and still were, as soon as they got over the shock of me being captured. I felt so angry, because they left me outside, surely knowing I would get attacked.

"Drop you weapons!" The man that had me yelled. Susan immediately dropped hers and started smoothing out her dress. Finally, something that makes sense! If I was about to be captured, I would give up and try to look nice too. Lucy and Edmund threw their weapons to the ground indignantly and glared at me as if it was my fault. Peter and Caspian set theirs down carefully, as if they were afraid they would break, which is silly. Then the men they were fighting started taking hold of them and pulling them apart. "Take these three to the dungeons! We'll put these ladies in the market!" Of course, I was one of the "ladies" that would be put in the market. I guess that is because I was handsome and smart and they could make a lot of money selling me. The chief took me and the girls outside. I could see where he was taking us. It was sort of a plaza, like a town square. On one side, there was a big platform, a stage. On one side of it there were a few people waiting to get on. A few of them caught my eye: there was a little boy with a bad leg that looked like he had trouble walking, a pair of strong-looking young men, three ladies talking amongst themselves, and a young girl that looked around my age. The little boy was then pushed on the stage. He looked very frightened, but, what did I care? The chief started yelling numbers. The boy was soon sold for 50 pounds, or whatever currency they have in this wretched place. The men were sold one by one for extremely high prices, the ladies for medium prices, and the young girl was sold for a high price because of her cooking abilities. Then, it was young Lucy's turn. She was sold for a fair price, I don't know why exactly because she was completely useless. Then Susan was sold. She got sold for the highest price I had seen. Something seemed a bit fishy about that, too because Susan is useless also, must be her beauty. But I was too horrified to pay attention to her because they were about to sell me! I was getting myself ready to hear the screams of the crowd trying to buy me, but nothing happened. Everybody was quiet and snickering. I guess they were trying to figure out how to buy me without becoming poor when a guy pulled off his hood and yelled:

"For Narnia!"