•CHAPTER THREE•
With Edmund in the lead, the group of four crept into the building, swords, crossbows, and daggers raised.
Large bells hung from the ceiling, all having ropes that could be used to ring them. Large stone statues of what appeared to be past kings and queens of Narnia, those before the Pevensies, lined the walls.
In the middle of the room was a small, round table that held multiple books, scrolls, and candles.
"Uh," Eustace said nervously from the doorway. "I'm ready to go when you are."
The four ignored him. Instead, Edmund pulled out his electric torch–which Caspian had given back to him when they first came onto the ship–and turned it on. There was an open book sitting on the table. Diana put a finger to the paper, and when she pulled away, the pad of her finger was covered in smudged, red ink.
"It's fresh." She warned, scanning their surroundings again. The room was dark, but a small amount of light filtered through cracks in the ceiling, creating large shadows. A threat could be hiding anywhere.
"Who are all these people?" Lucy asked, her eyes reading over the words on the page. They were names. Multiple of them were crossed out. Others had numbers written next to them.
"Why have they been crossed out?" Edmund wondered aloud, scanning over the lines, names and numbers.
"It looks like some kind of fee." His younger sister responded, running a finger down the leather edge of the book.
But Caspian and Diana knew better.
"Slave traders." They breathed out, shooting each other worried glances.
They didn't know about this.
They should have known about this.
A loud chime burst through the air and the group jumped away from the table as battle cries rang out from above them. Diana pulled her sword, jerking her head up to see men sliding down the ropes.
They were hiding in the bells.
All chaos broke out.
Shouts filled the air and the four were separated as men seemed to attack from all sides, raining down from the bells above.
"Look out!" Caspian cried, shooting a man in the back who was about to jump on Diana.
Edmund engaged in combat with three men, knocking one out with his torch before pulling his sword and kicking another in the stomach.
Lucy grunted, kicking one in the gut and launching him away from her. She slammed the pommel of her sword against his temple, knocking him out cold.
Caspian loaded another arrow into his crossbow but was forced to draw his sword when two men came at him, punches ready.
Diana took the brute force of it all and this time, she didn't lose herself in the battle like she normally would. Fear filled her stomach and she felt as if she might throw up.
This had never happened. She could always lose herself in the fight, counting on her instincts so that she would always come out the victor. She trusted her gut more than she trusted anything else. Everything felt like it was happening too fast. There were five coming at her at once and she only had so many arms to fight them with.
One jumped onto her back and she elbowed his nose harshly. He reeled back, clutching his broken nose while Diana went to go run another one through with her sword.
A blood curdling scream stopped her in her tracks, stopped everyone. Diana whipped her head towards Lucy but the girl was fine.
"Eustace." Edmund cursed from somewhere to Diana's left. Diana looked towards the doorway to see a tall man holding a knife to Eustace's throat. The blonde boy looked absolutely terrified.
"Unless you want to hear this one scream like a girl again, I suggest you should drop your weapons." The man holding Eustace said. Diana watched as Eustace's face went from terrified to angered disbelief.
"Like a girl?!" He cried out, spitting his words.
"Now!" The man bellowed, digging the knife deeper into Eustace's throat. The boy froze and Lucy dropped her sword. It clattered to the floor and Diana let hers follow. Edmund cursed under his breath but dropped his sword as Caspien gently set down his crossbow, dagger, and sword.
"Put 'em in irons!" The man holding Eustace called. Rough, meaty hands grabbed Diana's arms, forcing them behind her.
"Don't touch me." She warned. They didn't listen, instead pulling her hands to the opposite sides of her body, causing her to fall backwards.
"Don't touch her!" Edmund yelled, fighting in his restraints.
"Get your hands off me!" Lucy said angrily, fighting the two men who were trying to get her under control.
Good luck with that. Diana thought. She was proud of the youngest Pevensie, though it didn't last long when Lucy let out an aggravated cry as her wrists were bound with iron shackles.
"Let's take these two to market." The man said, pointing to Lucy and Eustace. Diana fought harder. She was not about to let those she was protecting to be sold.
Diana kicked her foot back, finding purchase with someone's gut. But someone else retaliated, grabbing her braid and pulling harshly.
"Send those two to the dungeons." He said, looking to Edmund and Caspian.
"Listen to me, you insolent fools!" Caspian demanded angrily. "I am your king!"
A man punched Edmund, causing his head to fly to the side and blood to fly from his mouth.
"You're going to pay for that!" Diana seethed, continuing to fight against the men holding her.
"Actually," Came another voice. Diana turned her head to see another man dressed in ceremonial robes come out from behind a statue, his hands clasped in front of him. "Someone else is going to pay. For all of you." Then he looked to Diana. "Except you." He tutted, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look up. She spit in his face. He only grinned in response, showing yellowed, rotten teeth.
"We'll have fun, won't we?" He asked her mockingly.
Her stomach dropped.
"No!" Edmund yelled out as Diana ripped her chin out of the man's hands. "Diana!" His voice was filled with fear. But not for himself, for her. He had always known she could handle anything thrown her way. She always did. The last time his voice had sounded like that, she was thirteen.
Your deal isn't fair!
He had screamed it that day.
They began to pull him away and Diana was forced to watch as her closest friends.
"No! Edmund!" Lucy cried out, struggling hard as she was pulled away from her older brother.
"Lucy!" He cried out. Diana forced her head back, head butting the person behind her, breaking another nose. Arms let her go and she ran for Lucy before being tackled from behind. "Get off of her!" Edmund demanded, watching Diana with wide, worried eyes.
"Edmund!" Lucy sobbed before she was ripped out the doors. Edmund was gone too. Caspian with him.
Diana was left behind, on the ground, covered in dirt as a man clambered off her, binding her wrists behind her back. Someone else had put his boot to her head, pushing it further against the concrete flooring.
"We'll sacrifice her." Said the man in the robes as she was hauled to her feet.
"But sir, you said-"
"Look at her hair," the man sneered, gripping a piece of her white locks in his hand. He tugged it closer to him, causing Diana to cry out in anger as it felt like he was ripping it from her skull. "She isn't natural."
A/N: hey there folks :) I had to ways I had wanted this chapter to go and I didn't decide which way right up until I wrote it. Haha lol. So I guess we'll see what happens in the next chapter. Don't hate me. I love you!