the strangest voyage; casmund

six.

No matter how moody or angry Edmund usually was with people, now all he wished was for someone to talk to -- someone to cling to so he didn't lose himself to his mind.

He missed being with Caspian. He would be able to make him feel something other than coldness -- in fact, he'd make him feel warm, like the sun.

Caspian would have a plan, and, somehow, he would get Edmund out of this filthy cell and help him save his relatives.

Edmund frowned. He couldn't just let himself rely on Caspian. He was the High King, he could do anything.

He stood up and walked to the door. He repeatedly kicked it, trying to get it to open -- that was until someone in the dark spoke to him:

"That's not going to work."

Edmund jumped. He had a theory he wasn't alone, but he didn't really believe it. At least now he knew he wasn't alone.

The raven-haired boy peered into the darkness, wondering who was there. He stepped closer to where the voice had come from.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I don't really know who I am, I only know that I've been here for a while." The person's voice was unmistakably male.

Edmund continued to walk closer, until he could see the man in front of him. His hair looked dark, but the light from a small ledge lightened it. His face looked dull and tired; his eyes seemed to look as if his soul had left them. Overall, he looked old and horrific.

"Why are you in here?" Edmund asked.

The man sighed. "I do not remember, all I know is that --"

"You've been here a while," Edmund said, irritated. "Yes, I know. You have already said that."

Suddenly, Edmund heard a noise come from the place outside the small window. "Did you hear that?" He asked the mysterious man.

"Ah," he said, sighing. "It's that time of day."

Edmund walked over to the small window, and saw people on a boat that was moving out into the sea.

Curious, he turned back to the man and asked, "What are they doing?"

"They're captured as slaves. Keep watching and you'll see what's going to become of you."

Edmund swallowed the lump in his throat, and turned back to what was happening outside.

Instantaneously, a green mist appeared around the boat. Edmund heard screams from the people that were on the boat, but he figured a few were from people's families on land. When the green mist disappeared, the boat was gone -- there was no trace of it either. It was as if it was never there, though the screaming families said otherwise.

Edmund's eyes widened and he gasped in shock. What had just happened?

"Sir," Edmund began to ask, "how come you haven't left the cell yet since you've been here so long?"

The man shrugged, not giving much of an answer.

When Edmund went to say something else, the door made a screeching sound and opened. Three guards came in and took Edmund, who had tried to protest but, eventually, gave in. They turned him around a corner, and Edmund felt a feeling of dread hit him.

He knew what fate awaited him, but he really wished that Caspian would free him before that happened.

•••

Caspian was ready to get Edmund back. He was full of adrenaline, and they were waiting for him to be put on the stage to be sold off. To the side of it, he saw Lucy and Eustace. The bargainer on the stage just got sold off a slave, and, suddenly, the man pulled Eustace onto the stage.