The Queen of Narnia

Chapter Eight

~ Susan ~

  We took two longboats to shore, one full of Drinian's men and the other containing myself, Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, Eustace, and Reepicheep. I sat next to Lucy and Eustace at the front of the boat as two sailors in the middle rowed, and Caspian and Edmund sat at the back. Lucy held the smaller crossbow I'd given her tightly, her knuckles so white I was afraid they'd pop.

  "It's simple," I whispered so only she'd hear. Her eyes whipped up to meet mine as I traced a finger over her crossbow. "Line up the arrow with your target, and pull this trigger. So long as your aim is relatively accurate, you'll end up hitting something."

  "But what if I hit someone in the wrong place?" She frowned in concern.

  "This bow doesn't have the power to kill anyone," I assured her. "It will be able to take down an attacker, though. If that enemy is still after you, just keep shooting."

  She looked up at me. "Do you think you could teach me how to use other weapons? Like a bow or a sword?"

  "Of course," I smiled. "You'll need to know, if you're going to be a warrior on our daring adventure."

  A grin spread across her face just as our boat skimmed the shore. The sailors turned it sideways to we could all get off, and Lucy made a move to stand when I caught her shoulder.

  "If we all try to get up at the same time, we'll tip," I explained. "Always, the ones at the end get off first, and then hold the boat steady for the rest of us."

  She nodded in understanding, and not a moment later, Edmund offered her a hand to help her out. Caspian offered his own hand to me, and I clasped it gratefully, remembering the first few times I'd tried to disembark myself. He held me steady until I had my feet on solid ground, and then we both made our way up the stone steps of the port.

  "Onward!" Reepicheep announced as he scrambled after us. "The thrill of the unknown lies ahead."

  "Couldn't this have waited till the morning?" Eustace grumbled.

  "There's no honor in turning away from adventure, lad," Reep said.

  I tried to tune them out, feeling something very off about this island.

  "Listen," Lucy said, voicing my concerns. The crew fell silent for a moment. "Where is everyone?"

  Caspian glanced over at me, and I shook my head, silently telling him I had a bad feeling. He nodded in agreement.

  "Come on, jelly legs," Reep said, trying to encourage Eustace out of the boat on his own, as the rest of the crew turned away to tie up the boats.

  "I'm capable of doing it myself," My cousin grumbled before slamming into the stone port. "Oof!"

  My husband gave me a questioning look. "And you're certain he's related by blood?"

  Edmund huffed a laugh, and Lucy smiled at that. I elbowed Caspian lightly before turning to the others. "Reepicheep, 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."

  Reepicheep bowed. "Yes, your majesty."

  Caspian led me, Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace up to the port, which was completely silent. A lone bird flew overhead, otherwise the only noises being our own footsteps. It was... eerie. I didn't like it one bit, and it seemed like neither did the rest of the group.

  Clang!

  The sound of a massive bell startled all of us, causing me to notch an arrow to my bow and Caspian aim his crossbow at the tower that seemed to be the source of the noise. A group of bats emerged from the tower, making me even more uneasy. Our aim stayed true until the silence fell on us once more, and we exchanged another look before I moved toward the path that lead up to the town ahead. Caspian followed close behind, and Edmund was on my other side. We walked swiftly, making our way up the path and into the town, only to find it abandoned too.

  The silence prevailed as we continued deeper into the town. The buildings had boarded up windows, and goosebumps crawled across my arms. The sun had fully set at this point, casting shadows down across us. For some reason, it felt oddly like we were being watched, even though I couldn't see a single soul. We finally reached the tower where the ringing bell came from, but before Caspian could push open the door, someone called out.

  "Yeah, looks like nobody is in," Eustace's shaking voice cut across the area, making all of us turn to see him farther behind. "Do you think we should head back?" His words were cut close together, and he looked paler than normal. I lowered my bow for a moment, ready to reassure him that there'd be no danger, when Edmund beat me to it.

  "Do you want to come here and guard..." He started, looking to Lucy for help, but she only shrugged. "Something?"

  "Ah, yes," Eustace hurried over. "Good idea, cousin. Very, uh... logical." Once he reached us, all four of us took a step forward only to see him frozen in place. This time I moved towards him, unsheathing a dagger from my waist.

  "Here," I handed him the hilt, which he took in shaky hands. His eyes were wide, and I waited a moment, ready to take it back if he was going to drop it. He saw this and nodded in a rush.

  "I've got it, I've got it," His voice still shook, but he was at least holding the dagger. "Don't worry. Uh, I'm ready to go when you are."

  I gave him a half smile that I hoped encouraged him enough to keep him on guard out here before returning to the others. Caspian's gaze held a question and I nodded, bow and arrow ready. Edmund had his own sword out and Lucy held onto her crossbow, fierce looks on both of their faces. Caspian pushed the tower doors open, and the three of us followed close behind him into the dark tower.

  The space inside was empty, moonlight streaming in from small windows. My gaze quickly scanned the interior, landing on the hundreds of cages hanging from the ceiling, which made me suck in a breath. A light suddenly appeared form behind us, and I jumped slightly only to see Edmund had turned on his torch, using it to illuminate our path. The eerie silence and darkness wasn't helping my nerves, so I appreciated the small light the torch gave us.

  In the middle of the tower was a table covered in paper and quills. Lucy and I reached it first, but it was too dark for us to see what was on the pages. I waved Edmund over, and he shone his torch on the surface, revealing that names were scribbled in each line, along with numbers.

  "Who are all these people?" Lucy whispered. "Why have they been crossed out?"

  Edmund pointed at the numbers. "It looks like some kind of fee."

  I frowned, disgust filling me. "Slave traders." Caspian nodded next to me, but no one had a chance to say anything else because the bell rang above us again, causing us all to jump in alarm. This time the bell continued to ring, and battle cries soon joined the noise. I looked around wildly to spot figures falling from the ceiling towards us, hanging from ropes.

  "Look out!" I exclaimed, notching an arrow and letting it fly at the figure that was about to land right above us. The arrow flew perfectly through that figure's rope, sending them flying to the side. Unfortunately, I couldn't shoot them all down at once. Caspian set up guard in front of me, sword ready as I continued to cut through the ropes with my arrows, taking up the formation we always used in battle, but there were too many attackers. We were quickly surrounded and overwhelmed, but no one stopped. I spotted Lucy aiming her crossbow at the attackers on the ground, and Edmund's sword was flashing in the moonlight, fighting back the attackers closest to our sister.

  I threw my bow over my shoulder and unsheathed my sword as a man rushed up to me with a blade of his own. Our blades clashed and I doubted he expected to feel so much resistance from me, since I easily disarmed him and moved on to the next attacker. Still, at least five surrounded me, and judging by the battles around me, I could tell the others were having the same sort of luck. We held our ground, but I didn't know how long that'd last.

  That was when a scream cut through the air.