king's temptation | narnia

chapter 21: the ivy

TW: Talk of rape

The days on the ship came and went, much like the rough waves of the Bight of Calormen. Katelyn's routine hadn't changed since the first night, except she now dined in the Captain's quarters with Rabadash, the Captain, and the few lords that accompanied them. 

The group was seated at a beautiful wood table, absolutely full of food and drinks. There were Narnian apples, Calormen grapes and dates, buttery rolls, seafood, and a multitude of other dishes for them to try. 

Katelyn picked at the platter of food that was set in front of her, just as she had the night before. Her current plan was to gain Rabadash's trust, but it was hard when he was the vilest man she had ever met. 

"Pass me the bottle of wine," he had demanded. Katelyn, of course, obliged him and passed the bottle to him with a small smile. 

He spared her no second glance, then continued with his conversation. It turns out that the company he keeps is just as disgusting as himself. The entirety of the meal so far has been full of talk about the brothels of Tashbaan and all of their sexual endeavors. Of course, it was led by Rabadash, but Lord Asif laughed heartily at everything, adding on his own stories to the mix. 

He told a story of how he had forced himself on a woman, hearing her scream as he took her. Katelyn kept rolling her fork in her hand as she looked down at her lap. This was obviously to Rabadash's liking and it piqued the interest of the table. 

"Now, I didn't think you were a prude, Miss," said Asif, licking his lips and laughing. 

Katelyn looked up defiantly, tears pooling in her eyes. 

"I may not be a prude, but I will never stand for such violence. How could-" she had started. 

Her efforts were met with a hard, world-spinning slap from Rabadash. The table laughed and the Captain slammed down his goblet hard.

Her hand cupped her cheek as she tried to focus on her plate again. 

Remember Katelyn, be submissive. Don't speak out of turn and don't agitate them.

Rabadash added a small chuckle.

"And I would've thought that Edmund would've taught you a lesson. Seems you still have a lot to learn," said Rabadash.

I turned my head slightly to him. Why was he speaking about Edmund now? We were two days travel from Narnia and I would never see him again. Not that I would really want to. 

"Oh, right, that's why you needed to see that hag!" remembered a lord. 

"Hag? I thought that King Peter and King Edmund had chased away all of the hags and werewolves," I said, trying to remember the early events of our reign. 

Rabadash chuckled again. 

"There were a lot of things your Kings thought they did, but really didn't do. And things that they did that they thought they hadn't."

Confusion washed over my face once again as I considered his words. Why must he always speak in riddles?

"Why did you go to see the hag?" I asked hesitantly. 

"I wanted to make sure you stopped thinking of Edmund. That meant there was one less man in the picture for me to worry about," said Rabadash with a smirk. 

"You had me raped," I said, realizing that he had made the night before the ball happen. 

It had always been him. It had never been Ed. Those same tears from before threatened to spill over as I grew with rage.