Rising with the Dawn

Me First!

A/N: I"M BACK Y"ALL! 

The night was spent chained along a wall where no amount of weariness could make sleep possible. Having Lucy beside her did little to comfort Demetria. If Aslan did not cause something to happen by morning, they would be separated and sent tumbling into the unknown. Sunrise came, and so did a cart filled with panicking people. Where were they going if they weren't stopping where she was? They rolled and bumped out of sight and Demetria glanced at Lucy.

"Where are they being taken?" Demetria whispered, a crease forming between her brows in her confusion.

"Quiet!" One of the captors kicked her in the leg and she couldn't help but cry out in pain and surprise, trying to pull her leg closer to her body. It only increased the pain. The man walked away, and the girls fell silent, watching as more men arrived, looking at them in ways that made Demetria's skin crawl. Where was Aslan's help? He could have stopped all this with a single word, could have stopped captives from being dragged up onto an auction platform and being sold like cattle. Would he really let this happen? Then a man passed by her, and suddenly, Demetria was grateful she was seated on the ground. It gave her a perfect view of the man's face beneath the cloak. Drinian, it was Drinian who wore the cloak. Had he come alone?

"Thank Aslan." She breathed, exhaling her fear and breathing in relief a half second before a slave trader approached and yanked her to her feet. She squirmed in his grip, struggling to get her feet beneath her as he placed her on the platform. More eyes rested on her than she would ever want to, taking in everything about her. Shame flooded over her at the disapproval that clouded some of the gazes. If she wasn't good enough for a slave trader, then how could she ever be good enough for Edmund or Caspian, let alone Aslan? Especially after what she had done.

A voice called out from the crowd. "What's the matter with her leg?" Demetria flinched at the question, casting her gaze to her feet. Of any question they could have asked it had to be that one.

"Keeps her from running away!" The slaver called back with a laugh in his voice. Why did her disability have to be such an attention magnet? Why did the crimes of her father and of her have to be marked upon her body?

"I'd want to run away from all of you," Reepicheep's voice called out and hoods were thrown back. Drinian hadn't come alone, thank Aslan. Demetria backed away from the edge of the platform as swords were drawn and used. In the chaos, she knew she could not cower. The shackles on her wrists had to be good for something. They were certainly heavy. Heavy enough to knock a man out perhaps? She swung at the slaver's torso, watching as he doubled over.

"Demi!" Edmund's voice called out, swinging her around to spot him on a stairway. "Catch!" A ring of keys flew through the air and just out of her reach. She spun around just in time to see Eustace of all people, snatch them up off the ground.

"Me first!" He exclaimed and bolted.

"Eustace!" Demetria chased after him, barely sidestepping a man who lunged for her. "I need those keys!" It didn't take long to lose sight of him in the chaos, not when a slavery caught hold of her wrist.

"Yer coming with me!" He snarled, a look in his eyes that made her skin crawl.

"No I'm not!" She shouted, slamming her good foot into his knee. There was no way she would let him take her anywhere. Caspian seemed to agree when he dropped the hilt of his sword onto the man's head.

"Are you alright?" He wrapped her up in a hug, concern tightening his embrace.

"I'm fine, but Eustace ran off with the keys." She looked up at him as she said it, checking him over.

"We saw, Ed went to get him." He nodded to the young king as he approached, a grip on his cousin's neck. When was the last time she had seen him look so frustrated? She had certainly seen Eustace squirm and shout like this before, but she hadn't seen Edmund so irritated since before Miraz's defeat.

"Eustace, apologize to Demetria." Edmund said the words with the same irritation that flamed in his eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Eustace whined and now Demetria understood the frustration. However, he had been frightened, he was in a strange land surrounded by strange people. Why wouldn't he have run? Why would he have stayed for somebody like her?

"Eustace, apologize for taking the keys and leaving her shackled in the middle of a fight." Edmund's grip must have tightened because the younger boy yelped.

"I'm sorry! Here's your blasted keys!" He pulled them from a pocket, handing them over with a level of spite that could almost be tasted.

"Thank you Eustace." Demetria took the keys with a slight smile. Edmund released him and the boy scurried off in a way that could have put Reepicheep to shame.

"Was that really needed?" She asked, unlocking the shackles and letting them fall away.

"Yes." Caspian nodded. "He needs to be more respectful."

"And more considerate." Edmund took her hands, studying the sores on her wrists before looking up at her with a level of worry that softened her resolve. "You could have been hurt Demi." That was why he was so upset with Eustace wasn't it? He was worried that she could have gotten hurt. It was sweet but...

"He was afraid," She tilted her head. "That was why he ran, I don't believe he meant any ill will."

"He still shouldn't have put you in danger like that." Edmund declared and Caspian nodded in agreement and that was that.