The Queen's Tales

Chapter 26: Scaly Situation

The morning sun rose over the horizon as the waves continued to crash roughly against the ship. The rain seemed to pass in the night as they approached the next island. Chloe was silent as Caspian ordered the longboats to be prepared, she was still thinking about the nightmare she'd had that night. She piled into her boat with Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace, slowly urging their boat forward, staying in line with Reepicheep and the others.

The others immediately took notice of their friend's change in behavior, Lucy had asked if she was alright, but Chloe insisted she was fine.

"I doubt the lords stopped here, my liege," Reep called from his own boat, "There's no sign of anything living."

Caspian shrugged, "Well, once we get ashore, take your men and search for food and water. The four of us will look for clues."

"Hang on, you mean the five of us?" Eustace asked from his spot by himself. At that, all four of them turned to look at him with a disbelieving eye. Eustace sighed, "Come on, please don't send me back to the rat."

"I heard that!"

Eustace lowered his head, muttering, "Big ears."

"I heard that too."

Chloe couldn't take it, "Do what you want Eustace, it doesn't matter," she snapped.

Edmund looked over at her worried, Chloe had sped up the boat, itching to get off. He knew he'd been distant with her, but something was bothering her and it was worrying him. That was when he noticed she was absentmindedly fiddling with her ring. He hadn't even noticed she was still wearing it.

When the longboats made it to shore, Chloe ordered the men to unload it while they went to explore, leaving Eustace with them. The land looked barren, there were large rocks and bits of steam coming from holes in the ground.

"Look, we're not the first ones on this island," Caspian discovered when something caught his eye.

That was when the others noticed a rope tied off on one of the large rocks and the rope leading down a hole to a cave, "The lords?" Edmund guessed.

"Could be," Caspian nodded as Chloe checked the stability of the rope with a tug, "What do you think could be down there?" He wondered tossing a pebble to see how deep the hole went.

"Let's find out," Edmund went to go down first when Chloe stopped him.

"I'll go," she spoke, "I'll check it out being as I can get back up easier without the rope," and without grabbing the rope she jumped down, purple haze clouding her body as she slowly dissented, landing softly on her feet. With her out of earshot the others whispered about her behavior.

"Do you think she's okay?" Edmund asked.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Clearly not. Whatever she saw last night spooked her."

"I'm worried about her. She looks....broken," Caspian whispered, "You should talk to her," he looked to Edmund.

Ed looked down the hole, still waiting to get an all clear from her, "I will. I've got some apologizing to do as well," he admitted.

"It's alright!" They heard, "You can come down now!" She told them.

Edmund went down first, grabbing hold of the rope and easing himself down into the cave. Chloe was helping him down, making his landing easier, "Thanks," she gave her an encouraging smile that she did not return. He saw something in her eye, she was upset, "Hey," he put his hands around her waist, urging her to look at him, "I want to talk to you when we get back on the ship, alright?"

She nodded, "Okay. Lu! You next!" She called.

💜

With all four down in the cave they started investigating. It didn't look man-made, although the pillar of rock would make you think otherwise. Along the middle was a mass of clear water. Edmund noticed something a little odd within.