(2) TELL ME TO STAY // Edmund Pevensie

A BIT OF BROTHERLY ADVICE

CATHERINE DID NOT LIKE TO call herself 'High Maintenance', but sometimes she just wanted something to drink.

Chained to the wall, Eustace, Lucy and Catherine were shackled and bruised, their wrists raw and their mouths dry as they sat slumped in the basking heat. Catherine had tried to spend most of the night and the past few hours pulling at the chains, but as her effort ran cold and her wrists began to sting, cutting deep into the bone, she felt it was much better to accept defeat and be sold as a slave. At least she wanted to get a good deal; it was much better to be sold knowing you were sold for a good price. Catherine was sure she was expensive.

She turned around to Lucy, who hadn't said a word since they arrived and was instead staring blankly out onto the crowd of people who passed, mother's guiding their kids away and children staring down at them as if they were clowns.

'Do you think that they care?'

Catherine furrowed her eyebrows, confused. 'Who?'

'The people that walk by.' Lucy said, calmly with a cool interest. 'Do you think that they care if we live, or if we die? Or if we get sold at all?'

Catherine thought about this for a minute, her own mind ticking away as she pondered the question. She didn't know these people. She didn't know their morals.

'I think they've grown numb to it all.' She said, finally. 'They've grown to appreciate what they have and not care about other people's futures or their lives because if they do, it will just hurt them.'

It was Lucy's turn to furrow her eyebrows, curious. 'How do you know that?'

'Because that's what I would do.'

Catherine felt her ribs tighten and a shoot of pain ran through her back from the uncomfortable position. She growled, tired and clenched her teeth together.

'Can somebody get me a water?!' She yelled out, hoping that one of the guards was kind enough to spare her a drink. 'Anybody?'

A figure did arrive, but his hands were not filled with a small bucket but instead a large cluster of keys, clinking together with a metallic clang. For a minute, Lucy's eyes lit up in hope, wondering if they were being let free, if everything had been sorted out, but as they pushed her upwards, unshackling her and untying her chains, Lucy was pushed upright, hard, and Catherine growled once again, darkly.

'Hey!' She yelled. 'What are you-?'

Another man unhooked her, yanking her to her feet. At the sudden movement, Catherine's stiff body groaned in protest and she stumbled slightly. The man jolted her back upright one more and she ripped her arm from his grasp, only to have him tighten his hold and make her wince in pain.

They guided them through a crowd of people, all waiting and admiring them as they thought over their pricing. It made her sick.

Lucy was the first one brought onto the stage, feeling inferior and vulnerable as she stood next to the man on the podium, who shouted out numbers as if she were an item for sale, rather than girl. She shook and looked around, hoping to see Caspian or Edmund in the crowd, but was instead met with an anrgy array of faces. She shrunk into herself.

'I bid sixty!'

'I bid eighty!'

'One Hundred for the little lady!'

Catherine closed her eyes in disgust, not wanting to watch as a few tears trickled down Lucy's rosy cheeks.

'Any more bids? Sold!'

...

EDMUND AWOKE TO the sound of metal hitting against wood, and he instantly jolted, spinning around to see Caspian, awake and energetic, slamming his foot against the barricaded dungeon door. Sensing the attention, he turned around to Edmund, who was laying on the floor, and gave him an apologetic, sincere glance.

'You all right?'

Edmund stammered, his body groaning in protest as he pushed himself up. 'Y-Yeah.'

Satisfied, Caspian continued to grunt, and kicked the door once more, causing it to rackle and shake against it's restraints. His eyes narrowed into slits as he made contact with the small light, something in his head seeming to explode as it met his pupils and he felt the pain pound in his head like lightning. God, what the hell has happened?

As he thought back of the events beforehand, his mind crossing over his thoughts as he struggled to differentiate the events. Eustace. Slave Traders. Screaming. Lucy, Catherine. Screaming.

He instantly scrambled to his feet, shouting outwards as if he was risen from a nightmare.

'Catherine!'

Caspian stopped his attack on the door to turn around and shoot Edmund a look, a glare and scold upon his lips. Edmund suddenly felt his cheeks burn up, embarrassed. He turned away, mumbling an apology.

'Sorry.'

Caspian turned backwards with a sigh, scanning the door for any weak points.

'Listen, Ed.' He said, strictly. 'I know that you and my sister have this ...thing going on, but I'm not sure exactly what to think about it.'

Edmund felt his heart slam to the bottom of his chest and fall to his feet with a crack. His body felt frozen in place, as if he took a step closer, he feared he might step on it. He gulped, pale in the light of the dark dungeon.

'Caspian, I-'

'You don't live here. You have a family back home, a family you won't ever leave behind.' Caspian continued, keeping his focus on the iron gate. 'But Catherine has me. And I'm here. So what are you going to do?'

Edmund opened his mouth to respond before slamming it shut again. Caspian was right, what was he going to do? He couldn't pursue a relationship with her when he was always bound to leave. It couldn't work. His mind faded away and his heart began to pound. His heart.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but Caspian cut him off.

'You like her, and I'm not sure if she likes you, but say she does.' Caspian says, waving a hand and Edmund felt himself swallow once more. 'What are you going to do when you leave? Are you going to break her heart again? Not to be rude or anything, Ed, but I don't want to deal with that. It's a real pain and I'm quite busy at the moment. You know, ruling a country in your absence and all.'

Edmund didn't reply. He couldn't seem to find the words. His heart pounded faster and faster as Caspian turned away from the barricade and turned towards him with a soft grin.

'You know what I mean, right?'

Edmund did not.

With another strike, Caspian kicked again and again and again, each time sending a shiver down Edmund's spine, his heart beats matching the rhythm of each kick.

Again and again and again.

Boom, Boom, Boom.

AUTHORS NOTE:

This Chapter's pretty short, sorry! But I'll upload the next one reasonably quickly to make up for it. I love Caspian, but really man? Just leave my boy Edmund alone, you bitch.