Edmund:
To say Edmund was frustrated would be an understatement of epic proportions.
He felt as if he couldn't count all the things that were going wrong – there were just so many. The love of his life was captured by slave traders, his family all but abandoned him and Lucy to go to America, his sword handle was rusted along with his fighting skills, and, despite his kingly status, the sailors hardly heard his words.
He was infuriated.
He could still recall the sound of Captain Drinian's voice, "I'm sorry your majesty, but the chain of command starts with King Caspian on this ship."
He felt as though he could hear her voice inside his head. Stay calm, Ed. You've almost found me. Hang on just a little bit longer.
Hang on for just a little bit longer.
The 2 longboats docked in the nearby port, and Edmund, Caspian, Lucy, and Eustace clambered onto the stone walkway. Reepicheep was excited beyond compare, the adventure fuelling him.
"Onward!" He called, "The thrill of the unknown lies ahead!"
Eustace, ever the complainer, "Couldn't this have waited 'til the morning?"
Edmund could almost feel Reepicheep roll his eyes as he stood beside Lucy, scanning the area, "There is no honor in turning away from adventure, lad." The rat chastised him.
"Listen!" Interrupted Lucy, "Where is everyone?"
Edmund paused. That's when he heard it – silence. Silence so loud it could only be described as unnatural. His ears twitched in waiting for something to tickle his ear drums, but alas... the sound of silence.
Edmund hardly paid attention to Eustace falling over his own feet, and Caspian questioning their relation to their cousin. He scanned the area, watching for movement. A glimpse of pale pink flesh, the wink of a human eye, a flash of brightly colored robes. Anything.
Edmund and Lucy walked ahead, up the stone stairs and into the quaint little town. It didn't make sense. Towns like these were meant to be rowdy places. A place filled to the brim with lonely alcoholics, rum, tavern wenches and unfair trade. But now, only silence. It irked him. Even his thoughts were quiet. Edmund hadn't heard silence since the day he left Narnia months ago.
GONG.
His ears, although eager to hear, did not expect the onslaught of sound waves to penetrate the air. The ringing of the nearby clock tower gave him a heart attack. In his panic, he drew his sword, and Caspian aimed his crossbow towards the sound. Only one ring. Unusual for the late afternoon. The silence, disturbed so abruptly, quickly mended itself. The ghost town returned to its ghostly attitude.
"Reepicheep," called Caspian, "stay here with Drinian's men and secure the place. We'll head on. If we don't come back by dawn, send a party."
The rat agreed and quickly scurried off. Edmund stalked up the stone incline leading to an entry arch and entered the grey town. The dust paths were the color of ash, the walls stained with black coal marks as dark as the night. There was stone lying everywhere as if the place had experienced battle, but no bodies or weapons marked the ground they walked upon. Only silence. A never ending silence.
Eustace hurried to catch up to the group, "Yeah, looks like nobody's in, so do you think we should head back?"
Edmund rolled his eyes, It's bloody well like I'm his mother. He stopped examining the large town hall and faced the young blond boy, "Ummm, do you want to come over here and... guard something?"
Yes, keep him busy so he doesn't stuff up.
Eustace actually seemed up to the task, "Ah... yes!" he said and scurried over in his yellow sweater. Perhaps, Edmund thought, he wanted to prove himself as tough in the situation, "Good idea cousin! Very...uhhh... logical." He was out of breath.
Edmund and Lucy approached the entrance to the Town Hall whilst Caspian handed the blond boy a dagger from his belt.
"I've got it, I've got it," Eustace said hurriedly, gripping onto the handle as if it was the only thing to drag him out of this place, "Don't worry!"
Edmund opened the door and was greeted by the sight of a what seemed like a million overly large church bells hanging from the ceiling.
"I'm ready to go when you are!" The faded voice of Eustace shouted behind him, but he ignored it and made straight for the lone desk sitting right in the middle of the room. Upon the desk sat a large, leather bound book. The book was open, it's papers exposed to the nearby dusty air. The pages were fully inked in black and red.
"Who are all these people?" Lucy asked, tracing her finger along the list of names.
Edmund shuddered, "Why have they been crossed out?"
"It looks like some kind of... fee."
Myrcella Longhorn |15 |Female |Lord of Edgecomb |200
Luke Pretorius |29 |Male |Mark Saleburg |150
Jaime Jules |45 |Female| Mark Saleburg |50
"Slave Traders," Caspian muttered before all hell broke loose.
However, just before the bells above them starting ringing. Just before the soundtrack to the unavoidable violence started playing, he saw something. He saw her.
Amelia Cromwell |16 |Female |3000
She wasn't crossed out.
Men dropped from the ceiling, their swords drawn as they descended from the ropes attached to the many bells. The bells rang into the fading light of the day, and Edmund was quick to draw his sword. A flick of his wrist, a leap of his feet, a cry from his lips, and the en around him were falling.
Block. Parry. Blow.Slice. WATCH OUT. Block. Block. Slice. Block.
He kicked one man in the chest before stabbing another in the shoulder. His sword made a squelching sound as he withdrew it, only to embed it in the next man's thigh. He didn't want to kill them. He didn't even understand why they were attacking.
Then he heard a scream. A scream so loud it burst his ear drums and sliced through what was left over from the silence of before. The first thing he did was look for Lucy, for only her scream could have such an effect, right?
Wrong.
Lucy stood still, her smaller sword pointed at the throat of her enemy. She was poised to kill, she couldn't have screamed. So who did?
There he stood, a knife to his throat, tears running down his cheeks, a small wet spot on his trousers.
Eustace.
The man who held the knife, dressed in yellow robes and an evil smile, addressed the remaining three, "Unless you want to hear this one squeal like a girl again, I'd say you should drop your weapons."
"Like a girl!?" Eustace screamed, but the man tugged his head back and dug the knife deeper.
"NOW!" he demanded.
Lucy and Caspian dropped their swords, but Edmund gave the blond boy a long, cold glare before dropping his as well, "Eustace." He seethed.
"Put 'em in irons!"
Lucy shouted as they grabbed her hands to place them in cuffs "Get your hands off me!"
Edmund rushed to get to her, but to no avail, the men grabbed him and locked his wrists behind his back. He was useless now. His energy was spent, his patience depleted, his hope vanished.
"Let's take these two to the market," the man gestured to Lucy and Eustace, "Send those two to the dungeons. They deserve to rot like that witch!"
Caspian's anger had reached its peak, "Listen to me you insolent fool! I am your King!"
Edmund shoved one of the men away with his shoulder, only to be slapped in the face. He seethed, blood dripping into his eye, "You're going to pay for that!"
"Actually," this was a new voice. A deeper, older one. Another man, clad in dark orange robes, entered from behind the shadows. His hair showed signs of age, and his face was wrinkled in some places while still youthful in others, "Someone else is going to pay. For all of you."
"No!" Now it was Lucy's screams. Her voice pierced the air, "Edmund! Edmund!"
"Lucy!" He called out to her. Not another one. Please don't let me lose someone else to this goddamn trade.
He thought of his little sister, a woman alone, being sold to an old man with deep pockets.
Don't worry Lu. I'm coming. For you and for her.