꧁ Slave Traders ꧂

The sun had already started to set when the Dawn Trader arrived near the coast of the port of Narrowhaven. Caspian ordered the men to lower the longboats and to be ready to go ashore. There was no Narnian flag on the island, which immediately seemed suspicious to the King, who therefore decided not to linger further.

At the time, a handful of men led by Captain Drinian and Reepicheep, along with the royals, Eustace and Elizabeth, were docking on the shore.
The woman, along with the king, was the first to get off the boat and venture on the island.

"Couldn't this have waited till the morning?" she heard Eustace moaning behind her back. She smiled, incredulous at the boy's ability to complain under any circumstances.

"There is no honour in turning away from adventure, lad!" Reepicheep immediately scolded him.

Elizabeth reached the beginning of what appeared to be the main avenue of access to an ancient city, or at least what was left of it. In fact, all that remained of the place were the walls, with no one to inhabit them. You couldn't see or hear a living soul, it almost looked like a ghost town.

Caspian was soon at her side, leaving Edmund, Lucy and the crew a few feet further back, near the boats.

"I guess you don't know how to fight, do you?" he asked her, as he continued to observe the road with circumspection, both his hands tight around the crossbow.

"Don't worry, Cas," she reassured him, smiling, "I can handle myself."

And it was true, the woman had fun in boxing and personal defense classes when young and, in addition, had convinced Lucy to help her find a sword suitable for her in the armory. Although she had never handled one before, she was convinced that it would've been better not to be without it.

"I have no doubt about that, Liz," he replied, chuckling, "but I still don't want you to get hurt," he then told her, getting serious.

Elizabeth stopped to look into his eyes, "I appreciate that, really, but I am no child, Caspian, and you need to think about yourself." she said in an authoritative voice, "Don't do anything stupid to help me, is that clear?!" she added, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes but..." Caspian started to retort, but was soon silenced by her withering glare. "All right, all right. But still, stay close to me." he eventually told her, sighing.

Before she had a chance to replicate, their attention was caught by the sudden and disturbing sound of bells. Caspian immediately raised his crossbow, pointing it in the direction of the city's tower, while Edmund, Lucy, Eustace and Reepicheep hurried to join them.

"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." the King ordered the mouse before heading towards the city.

"Yes, your Majesty," it quickly answered.

The group adventured further into the town. Around them were old white stone houses, ruined by time and the sea salt, with windows and doors barred by wooden beams. A few carts with baskets lay abandoned on the side of the road, which was marked by rocks. The vegetation was scarce, almost non-existent, only a few vines dared to cover the walls of the buildings, along with some dry plants.

Eustace approached a building, trying to look inside through a crevice. Apparently he saw nothing, or what he saw he didn't like at all.

"Yeah, looks like nobody is in. Do you think we should head back?" he anxiously asked his cousins, rejoining the group that was now approaching what seemed to be the main building.

"Do you want to come here and guard...something?" Edmund proposed him, ignoring his question.

"Ah, yes. Good idea, cousin. Very, uh, logical," he immediately accepted, then started staring at them with a confused look, probably waiting for further directions.

Caspian sighed, pulling the dagger out of his belt and handing it to him, as a precaution.

"I've got it. I've got it. Don't worry." the boy stated, tying to to look confident but failing miserably.

Elizabeth pushed the massive iron doors of the building and the four entered with caution. They found themselves in a large dark room, with a high ruined ceiling, from which numerous bells descended. The narrow windows let in a thread of light to illuminate two rows of white marble statues not far from the walls. In the center of the hall was a stone lectern, a large book was opened on it, surrounded by other volumes sealed by chains. Several names were written on the yellowed pages, some of which were erased by red lines.

"Who are all these people?" Lucy asked, looking at the book.

"Why have they been crossed out?" Edmund demanded right after

"It looks like some kind of fee," the girl suggested.

"It's a ledger," Elizabeth stated, "a ledger of slave sale," she sighed.

"Slave traders." Caspian assumed in a serious tone.

As if called, a dozen men descended with ropes from the ceiling, surrounding the group.

"Look out!" shouted Caspian, drawing his sword and being immediately imitated by his companions, who prepared to defend themselves.

Elizabeth was tense as never before, holding a firm grip on the hilt. She had no idea what to do or how she was gonna get out of it alive, but she was surely gonna get out of it alive.
Once on the ground, one of the pirates immediately ran towards her armed to the teeth. Another followed him right after. The woman raised her sword and, with an agility that surprised even herself, she blocked the strikes of the first. However, she knew she couldn't beat him in physical strength, so she used her cunning: a kick on the shin to undermine his balance, a cut on the right forearm to disarm him, a swift movement to parry his left fist and a strong elbow in full face to stun him. Once the first man was out, her quick reflexes allowed her to feel the arrival of the second, but she was not quick enough to prepare to receive him. He hurled himself at her with all his might, disarming her in a few quick blows.

Caspian turned his head in the direction of the woman to make sure she was okay.

"Liz!" he shouted, seeing her opponent having the upper hand.

Without thinking twice, the King quickly repelled his opponent and used his crossbow to shoot an arrow that pierced the man before he could strike the final blow. To save the woman, however, Caspian had lowered his guard, thus he was too late to to block a blow to his shoulder.

Before the situation could worsen, however, a sharp scream, followed by the loud noise of the metal door closing, stopped the fight. Standing before them was now a man richly dressed in clothes that Elizabeth would have called oriental, who held a dagger pointed at Eustace's throat.

"Unless you want to hear this one squeal like a girl again," he started,"I'd say you should drop your weapons." he ordered them.

"Like a girl?" Eustace complained, outraged.

"Now!" the men yelled.

"Eustace." Edmund angrily sighed.

"Put them in irons!" the newcomer commanded his man, who obeyed immediately.

One of them roughly took Elizabeth by her hips, "Come on. Come here, sweetie." he told her, smirking, while his partner approached her with a pair of handcuffs.

"Get your bloody hands off me!" she growled, struggling in his grip.

"Leave her alone!" Caspian threatened him, noting the scene and not liking the position of his hands on her.

"Let's take these three to market. Send those two to the dungeons." declared the man who held Eustace hostage.

"Listen to me, you insolent fool! I am your king!" Caspian roared against him, as he struggled between the iron grip of two of the pirates.

"You better let us go!" Edmund intimated soon after, receiving a punch on his cheek in response.

"Ed!" Elizabeth screamed, watching the scene with eyes full of anger and resentment.

"You're gonna pay for that." the boy said just after, glancing furiously at his opponent.

"Actually, someone else is going to pay for all of you." a voice behind them informed them. Another well-dressed man came out of the shadows and, with a nod from his head, made his men understand that it was time to take the prisoners away.

With Lucy's desperate screams for her brother in the background, the group was split up, and the girl, together with her cousin and Elizabeth, were dragged out the front door. The three were then chained along a wall not far from the main square of the city, where they would probably have been sold as slaves in the morning. Next to them there was a long line of people who would meet their same fate.

✵✵✵✵

After an endless night the sun rose, but along with the wonderful colors of dawn, a scene hard to forget appeared before their eyes. A cart was moving fast on the asphalt, carrying a load of people. Immediately behind it ran a man, screaming in despair the name of his wife, who looked at him from the wagon with a broken expression. Along with him, a crying child called the same woman, her mother. A few pirates blocked their way, so that the cart could continue undisturbed. Elizabeth did not know where those people would have been taken, but she feared for them.

Not long after that, some men came to take them and drove them to the market place, where a crowd of buyers had already gathered and was waiting for them. They would have been sold as commodities, not differently from sacks of wheat, cloth and jewelry, vases and precious stones that were now displayed on long tables.

"Com'on, M'Lady, move! Move!" said the man who was carrying her.

"You deserve to be sold to the highest bidder, you bastard!" she hissed in response, giving him a fiery look.

"Hear, hear. Come on little spitfire, let's see who's the rascal who brings you home." he joked, putting her next to Eustace, while Lucy was dragged away from them, on a high stand, in order to be better observed.

The sale began. The price rose quickly for the girl, which was given in the hands of the fifth bidder. After her was the turn of her cousin.

"And now, for this fine specimen," the trader started, "who'll kick off the bidding?" he asked, although he didn't get any offers. "Come on now, he may not look like much but he's strong." he tried again.

"Yeah, he's strong, all right, but smells like the rear end of a Minotaur!" one of the bidder yelled, causing a general laugh.

"That is an outrageous lie! I won the school hygiene award two years running." Eustace complained, offended by those words.

"Come on, someone make a bid!" the trader yelled, starting to get annoyed.

"I'll take him off your hands. I'll take them all off your hands!" the familiar voice of a certain mouse spoke in the crowd, just a moment before Drinian took off his cloak, revealing his identity, as did the other crew members who had come to their aid.

The fight began. Reepicheep jumped off the captain's shoulder and ran to free Lucy, who, after thanking him, used a sack of flour to stun two pirates. The second to be stripped of the handcuffs was Elizabeth, who, after escaping the grip of her slaver, ran to meet the rodent to get help, which it was happy to give. Eustace was the third, but once freed, he disappeared from view.

Meanwhile, Caspian and Edmund had been taken out of the cell where they had spent the night and, for who knows what twist of fate, met one of the seven Lords missing, trapped there for years. The two Kings, hearing Reepicheep's voice, rebelled against the guards, retrieving the keys and freeing themselves from the chains. They then joined the fight, which had become a real rebellion. Next to the crew of the ship, in fact, now fought also the slaves and the inhabitants of the city, who, tired of being kept in check, had seen for the first time a concrete possibility of being free.

Amidst the confusion, Caspian immediately looked for the face of a familiar person. He found her dealing with two pirates. She was doing well: she had just took one out by breaking a vase on his head, and now she was quickly dodging the blows of the other. The King ran to her to help her, but before he could do anything, Elizabeth pick up a stick and with two decisive strikes, one to the abdomen and one to the head, she had the upper hand.

"How foolish of me to think you needed help," Caspian chuckled behind her.

Elizabeth turned around and, for the first time since they had been separated, smiled.