Aslan's Whisper

Chapter 3~ Flashbacks In The Dark

The blood-curdling scream sent a chill through Jessie, freezing him in place for a split second. He looked over at Lucy, who was sitting up, clearly terrified. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but an eerie inkling of fear crept into him. He knew he had to be strong for her. He stood up, inched his way to the cell door, and gingerly looked out. He turned away almost immediately, his stomach churning at the sight of blood forming rivulets down the passage from a mutilated body.

"What is it?" Lucy asked.

"You don't want to know," Jessie replied, making his way over to her. He motioned for Ginny to come over.

Ginny groaned as she stood up. She stood still momentarily as the blood rushed to her head, making her dizzy. She put her hand out to steady herself, leaning against the wall as her head pounded mercilessly.

"I think it will be best if I stay here for a moment."

Lucy stood up and made her way over to Ginny.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I've been better. They didn't go easy on me this time," Ginny replied with a slight smile, "if you two hadn't been captured, I probably would have died already. I don't know if my remaining family is still alive. All I know is that my father is likely serving the Narnian royals at court, and my older brother was murdered before me."

Lucy felt uncomfortable as Ginny spilled her story. She knew Ginny was likely out of her headspace.

"Okay, I need you to stop talking and come with me. You need rest. I know it's not easy to rest here in a dungeon cell, but you must at least try."

Ginny studied Lucy's face and knew she wasn't joking. She grabbed onto her arm and stumbled forward. Jessie was already at her side and caught her arm to keep her from falling.Ginny caught sight of what Jessie had seen and gagged silently. It was common to see dead bodies left where they had been slain until they were taken to be buried or left for the dogs. She felt a rushing sensation in her head, and everything went black.

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Ginny stared out the carriage window as she and her family traveled to their new home. She smoothed the skirt of her dress and glanced at her brother, who was busy writing something.

"Father, how much longer until we reach Cair Paravel?" she asked.

"About another two hours, darling. We're trying to be as quiet as possible because there have been rumors about people invading the Narnian border," her father replied.

"Men?" Ginny asked, her voice tinged with worry.

"Yes, and quite nasty ones at that."

Ginny turned back to the window, silently praying to Aslan that nothing terrible would happen.

Suddenly, commotion erupted behind them, and the sound of swords clashing drew their attention. Several armored men were attacking the caravan.

"Driver, move this carriage!" Ginny's father shouted.

The carriage quickened its pace as the horses charged forward. Ginny grabbed onto her brother to steady herself as the carriage hit bumps, throwing the occupants around like rag dolls.

A horse's scream, splintering wood, a scream of pain, then darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ginny woke up in complete agony. Her head throbbed, and her body ached. She looked around and found herself chained to a wall across from her brother.

"Paul?" she called out weakly.

A groan answered her.

"Paul, are you alright?"

"No, I'm not alright," he replied, his voice strained.

Just then, guards burst into the cell and roughly gathered them. They were shoved along until they arrived in a throne room. The guards pressed them to the floor.

"So this is what you bring me?" a cold voice demanded.

"The others escaped, Lord Miraz," one of the guards replied.

"Put them on their feet!" Miraz ordered.

"Yes, my lord."

Ginny winced as a guard pulled her up by her hair. Paul favored his right leg and tried to stand as straight as possible.

"And who said I needed two captives?" Miraz sneered.

"My lord?" the guard asked, confused.

In a flash, Miraz pulled his sword and thrust it through Paul's abdomen. A pained gasp escaped Paul's lips as blood poured onto the ground.

"You monster!" Ginny screamed as she was pulled away from her dying brother.

"Take her and do what you want with her. I have no use for either of them," Miraz said coolly.

Tears flowed from Ginny's eyes as her brother's lifeless form receded into the distance. She was dragged from the throne room back to her pit of despair.

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Ginny's eyes snapped open. Her mouth felt dry, her head pounded, and her back ached.

She saw two concerned faces looking at her from the end of the straw cot she found herself on.

"Are you alright, Ginny?" Jessie asked.

Tears streamed from her eyes as she shook her head. She didn't know if she would ever be alright .