Good news! I got it done! :) Aside from having to write a whole new chapter, this one was a hard one to write. I took me several months, but I think it's finally done. Even managed to convince my "editor" to take a break from her busy schedule to look at this chapter and make sure the ending was good. Even so, mistakes are still my own. Let me know if you what you think about the ending. Enjoy!
Chapter 7: Liberation and Confrontation
Ana and Lucy found Eustace trying to steal one of their boats. He was also mumbling something about 'the British Consul' but Ana was too distracted by her thoughts to work out what. He wasn't too happy to see them and it took a lot of persuasion on Lucy's part to convince him to return with them. After promising that the slave trade had been abolished, Eustace begrudgingly decided to rejoin the others.
When the three caught up to the two Kings, Ana and Lucy learned how the Lone Islands had become so corrupt. During Narnia's Dark Age, the Islands were ignoredβsomething Ana felt guilty about but the others assured her it wasn't her fault. As a result, they sought out relations with Calormen, which resulted in corruption and the start of the slave trade. And since the Telmarines paid little attention to Narnia's overseas territories, the governors of the Islands had gotten used to ruling without inference from Narnia. So they never expected the King of Narnia to show up and put an end to the slave trade. But now it was abolished and all the slavers were arrested, freeing the slaves.
These heinous actions caused Caspian to realize that the Governorship had failed. He immediately planned to establish a new form of government in its place. For this, he sought advice from both Edmund and Lucy before making a decision. It seemed to alleviate some of the tension that Ana was starting to notice between the two Kings. Though she wasn't sure if Caspian realized it or not. She had finally managed to place that strange tone in Edmund's voice. He was feeling overlooked and a little jealous. He was always the second King.
The former governor, Gumpas, had disappeared once the fighting broke out and no one knew where he was. But it didn't matter; he had lost his power and was to be arrested if he ever returned. Caspian ended up replacing the Governorship with a Dukedom instead. He made Lord Bern, one of the Seven Lost Lords, the first Duke. It was decided among the royals that the fates of the slave traders should be left up to the new Duke and the Islands' citizens.
Once that issue was resolved, Caspian quickly explained to Ana and Lucy about the mysterious Green Mist. Since the other Lords had left in search of the source, the Dawn Treader would have to head east to discover their fates. Ana was a bit apprehensive about it, but she wasn't sure if it was nerves or the events of the day. She was still on edge from being bombarded with painful memories.
By the time the royals had settled the issues on the Islands, the townspeople had retrieved their confiscated weapons. Arming themselves once more, the group left the former governor's house and rejoined Drinian and his men. They had been guarding the house while Ana, Eustace, and the royals were talking and making arrangements.
While they were inside, a crowd had begun to form. As they made their way back to the docks, citizens lined the streets and cheered. Many of them followed once they passed. After several decades of slavery, the people were finally free. Caspian and Edmund led the crowd, nodding their heads and smiling in acceptance of their praise. Everyone was happy.
Although Ana was pleased, she was also glad for the distraction. She knew the others were worried about her, but she still didn't know what was happening.
"Your Majesty!" a voice cried above the crowd, pulling Ana from her troubled thoughts. They all turned towards the source, hands reaching for their weapons.
"Your Majesty!" Ana recognized him as the man whose wife had been taken.
He tried to reach Caspian, but Drinian held him back. "Hold it!"
"My wife was taken just this morning!" he pleaded.
"It's alright, Drinian," Caspian told the Captain and the man was released.
"I beg you. Take me with you!" he pleaded.
The little girl from before caught up to her father as another woman chased after her. "Gael!"
"Daddy, I want to come," Gael begged.
"No, Gael," her father told her. "Stay with your aunt." He turned back to the King to argue his case. "I'm a fine sailor. Been on the seas my whole life."
"Of course, you must," Caspian grinned, patting him on the shoulder.
"Thank you," the sailor stated.
"But, Daddy!" Gael pleaded, holding onto her father.
"Have I ever not come back?" he asked. "Now be good."
The girl was sent to her aunt, who held her tightly as she watched her father leave. Ana and Lucy exchanged grim glances before stopping to watch Gael. Both were sympathetic and felt saddened by her situation. Her mother had been snatched from her and sent to who knew where. Now her father was leaving and she didn't know if he would return. Being out at sea was dangerous and there was a chance none of them would come back.
But the two couldn't linger long because they needed to stay with the others. Ana and Lucy caught up just as the rest of their party were about to reach the docks. Duke Bern had stopped them before they could go much further.
"My King! My King!" he shouted, catching up to them. Caspian and Edmund both turned at his call and he held out an old, mineral-covered sword. "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 observed.
"It's from your Golden Age," Bern answered, acknowledging Edmund. "There are seven such swords. Gifts from Aslan to protect Narnia."
Ana recalled hearing about such blades being forged but didn't know they actually existed. She had never seen them and thought they had never been completed. But evidently, the swords had been finished and somehow ended up in the hands of the Telmarines.
"Your father entrusted them to us," the new Duke explained. "Here, take it. And may it protect you." He offered it to Caspian, who took it and admired the blade. The people cheered when their King accepted the gift.
"Thank you, my lord," Caspian told him, clasping his shoulder. "And we shall find your lost citizens." He started to walk away but turned to the Just King. "Edmund."
Then without another word and a simple pat, Caspian handed him the sword. Edmund looked both surprised and grateful before holding the sword up to examine it. He seemed pleased with it, even if he would have to do a lot of cleaning before it could be of any use. Ana and Lucy smiled as he marveled at it. Now Edmund had a blade of his own and wouldn't have to borrow from Caspianβnot that he minded.
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They replenished their supplies and loaded up the longboats. Within hours of liberating the Lone Islands, they were aboard the Dawn Treader and sailing east. Ana was glad that everything had ended well and almost forgot about everything that had happened. Almost. Some things still lingered in the back of her mind.
Once they were safely on board, Ana was dragged off to her cabin so Lucy could inspect her head injury. She was quiet in her ministrations, but not in an awkward kind of way. Ana knew the young Queen was focused on her work. She wasn't worried about getting answers if they did not help. Aside from that, both knew it was not the time to ask questions and Ana was unlikely to answer them.
"It looks like it'll heal just fine on its own," Lucy eventually announced. "Nothing too serious."
"It hasn't bothered me since I woke up," Ana told her and she gave a small smile in response.
"Head wounds can be tricky. I just wanted to make sure you were alright."
"I'm fine... I forgot I had a head wound."
Lucy hummed and nodded in response. "Could you ask Edmund to come in?" she asked. "I would like to inspect his injuries as well."
"I'll let him know," she agreed, standing up.
Smiling at each other, Ana left in search of Edmund. He was on the poop deck, near the ship's wheel, talking with both Caspian and the Captain. She noted that Eustace was nowhere to be seen and briefly wondered where he had gotten off to. But as she was on a mission for a certain Queen, Ana didn't think much of it at the moment.
Steeling herself, she climbed the stairs to interrupt.
"Your Majesty..." she said and both Kings turned. Ana didn't miss the slight frowns that crossed their faces, likely due to her use of a title. "Your sister wishes to see you at your earliest convenience."
"Ah..." Edmund answered, seeming to realize what his sister wanted. "I suppose she wants to make sure I'm alright as well."
Ana smiled lightly and shrugged. "You know how she is..."
"Indeed I do," he agreed. "Caspian. Drinian." He nodded his head in their direction before heading inside the stern to find Lucy.
Ana was left alone with Caspian and Drinian and an awkward silence descended upon them. She was about to leave, hoping to alleviate it when Caspian spoke up instead.
"If you would excuse us, Captain," he ordered.
Drinian nodded his head. "Of course, Your Majesty."
Then Caspian left as well, gesturing for Ana to follow him. Knowing she didn't have a choice, she reluctantly followed. She knew what he wished to discuss and knew she didn't have any answers for him. She didn't understand things herself, so how could explain it to him?
As he stepped into the Stateroom and shut the door, Ana grew very anxious. At first, neither of them spoke and she kept gazing around the room so she wouldn't have to look at him. Then the King cleared his throat and she was forced to.
"So..." he began, unsure of what to say. "...You're alright, then?"
"Lucy says I am," she answered simply.
He nodded. "When they... hit you, you collapsed and didn't move. Iβwe didn't know if you were alive."
"I'm fine," she assured him. "We're all fine."
Caspian was silent for a moment. Then: "Do you want to talk about what happened?"
"I don't remember most of it," Ana admitted.
He frowned. "What do you remember?"
"We were investigating the Bell Tower and then I woke up chained to a wall."
"What about..." he seemed to be searching for the right words. "You've been spacing out."
"Oh..." she said, unable to say anything else.
"Oh?" he repeated. "You've spaced out twice within the span of a day and all you can say is 'oh?'" He seemed angry but Ana didn't know why. As far as she knew, she hadn't done anything to warrant his wrath.
"Well, what do you want me to say?" she asked, crossing her arms at his ill-tempered voice.
"An explanation would be nice. I want to know what happened! What's going on with you?"
"Nothing... I'm fine."
This time, she knew he was angry. "You keep saying that!" he shouted. "Ever since they showed up you started staring off into space, looking lost. I thought you had gotten past it, but you've started doing it again. I just want to help you but you keep saying you're fine. But whatever is wrong, keeps happening and you won't tell me anything!"
"I don't know what's happening!" she blurted before lowering her voice. Ana knew the others would pick up on the shouting and she really didn't want anyone else involved. "One moment I'm fine and the next I'm not. I want to be alright though, and up until recently, I have been. But they've come back and I don't know how to stop them."
Caspian crossed his arms, and his voice grew soft. The tone in his voice wasn't concern, but Ana couldn't place exactly what it was. "Them?"
"Flashbacks... Visions... Memories," she answered. "I'm not really sure what they are. I don't even know if half the things I'm remembering are real."
"What kinds of things?"
"Things from when I... From when..." Ana struggled to speak.
Some of them he didn't know about; he only knew of the ones from just a few years ago. He didn't know of the years she spent locked up, suffering in darkness. She didn't know how to tell him or if it even mattered at this point. All she knew was talking about it brought up painful memories she wished to forget.
"Please... I just want to forget. Why can't I forget?" Her breath hitched and she willed herself not to cry in his presence. She was stronger than this.
"I just want to help," Caspian said softly. Was that guilt she detected? Why would he feel guilty?
"This isn't something you can help me with. I've tried talking and it just seems to make it worse. These things are in my head and they're beyond your power to fix. Or mine."
"Talk to me," he answered. "And maybe you'll find it can be fixed."
There was something in his eyes and it caused something in her to break. Ana almost opened up to him right then. But she caught herself. She couldn't tell him. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but that she couldn't. Her current memories weren't from the incident three years ago. They were from much further back and she didn't want him to know what his people had done. What Telmarines had been capable of. She didn't want him to hate where he came from and she feared that's what would happen. Ana didn't want him to hate himself.
"Ana?" His voice was full of concern and he had moved closer when she didn't speak. "Please?"
"IβI..." she began, wanting to say something and explain. But the words wouldn't come. When Ana opened her mouth to speak, she found herself incapable of saying anything. The words got stuck in her throat, cutting her off and rendering her powerless to tell him anything. "I can't..."
"Can't?" he questioned, brows furrowing. He was starting to get angry again. "Or won't?"
"I want to... But I can't," Ana told him. "I've tried and the words just won't come. I'm stuck and no matter how much I want to say something, I can't. I'm unable to talk about what happened. Trying to force it out just makes everything worse."
She had looked away in shame, but slowly her eyes met his. Silence fell and Ana watched as Caspian's tough facade began to slip. He was vulnerable and she could see so many emotions across his face, most of which he usually kept hidden. He cared for her and it hurt him to see her this wayβthat much Ana could tell. She hated that she caused him pain and desperately wanted to fix it.
"Caspian..." she said voice barely above a whisper. As he watched her, Ana saw that same emotion she thought she imagined on the Islands flicker in his eyes. "...I'm sorry." She didn't quite know why she was apologizing but felt she had to.
"Ana," Caspian whispered as he closed the distance between them. "Why are you apologizing?"
"I-I don't know," she admitted, casting her eyes away once again. "I've made you angry and I don't mean to...
He placed both hands on her shoulders. "Look at me," he commanded softly. She didn't and Caspian was forced to ask her again. "Ana... please."
It took a moment but slowly pain-filled blue eyes met brown. He could see the beginnings of unshed tears in her eyes and the pain she was feeling. Ana could never really hide how she felt from her eyes. This whole conversation had brought up painful memories. Though it was obvious she was trying to conceal it, her eyes often gave it away. As they were now. And he knew directing his anger at her had only made the situation worse.
"I'm not upset with you," he said slowly to reassure her. "I'm frustrated with this whole situation. And the fact that I know you're hurting and there's nothing I can do to help. I'm not angry with you. I couldn't be." Her brows furrowed a little in confusion at that. "None of this is your fault. Neither are any of the things that lead to this. How could I be angry with you?"
"With yourself then?" Ana surmised and he looked surprised. "I've told you before that it wasn't your fault yet you still blame yourself. If you can't be angry towards me then it's yourself you're furious with."
Caspian sighed, arms falling to his sides. He knew she was right. No matter what Ana said, he still felt like he should've done more to protect her. Then these things wouldn't have happened and she wouldn't be forced to relive painful memories. But deep down, he knew that Ana had made her own choices and there was nothing he could've done. She knew the risks but had put the lives of others above her own. He just wished she would be selfish for once.
"If it makes you feel any better," she began, almost shy and very unlike Ana. "These memories are from before your time. There's nothing you could've done and you have no reason to feel guilty. Or angry."
His expression went blank for a moment before settling on realization. "Oh, Ana... You've suffered more than anyone could ever know, haven't you?"
She bit her lip and looked away. "I've lived longer than most. We've all got secrets. Mine just has the misfortune of lasting for centuries." Ana looked back at him and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. "But I didn't suffer alone. I never have and I won't start now. Aslan has always been there as have other friends along the way. You, Edmund, and Lucy are just some of them. I trusted Him to help me through it when others couldn't and I trust He will now."
Caspian nodded, a little relieved but still upset. "Promise me you'll tell me if you have more. I need to know that you're...you're not..." He stopped and regained some of his composure. "I need to know that you're alright."
She sent him a small smile in response. "One day... One day I'll be able to tell you. And I promise I will. I'm just sorry I'm unable to now."
"Someday. When you're ready and not before. I won't pressure you."
"I know."