Helena Pevensie (Caspian Love Story)

9. Uneasy Sleep

Helena was flung into the cell first before the boys were thrown in too. She collapsed, sobs shaking her body as she covered her mouth with her hands. They were silent at first until she leaned forward, pressing her head against the ground. The first audible sob left her lips. She leaned back up, trying to get control of herself but every attempt to breathe left her close to hyperventilating. Edmund angrily kicked at the door, too angry to be any kind of comfort. Caspian crouched down beside her, wrapping his arms around her. She turned in towards him, crying into his shoulder.

She stomach aches from the forced of her tears but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop. Caspian ran a comforting hand up and down her back gently and slowly she began to calm. Finally, she was breathing normally and it took Caspian a moment to notice that she had fallen asleep. Edmund sat down next to them, seething. "What are we going to do?"

"Shh," Caspian warned. "She's asleep."

"Seriously?" Edmund scoffed, running a hand anxiously through his hair. "We don't have time for sleep. We need to get to Lucy."

"She won't be any help to us if she's distressed. Let her sleep," Caspian replied.

"I don't think that gate will give way," Edmund admitted with a sigh.

"No, probably not," the king admitted. "I'd say we can pick the lock, but I don't see anything we could use."

"Even if there is something in here we won't be able to see until morning," Edmund muttered irritably.

"Edmund, I doubt there's anything we can do for now," he said. "We should try at least to get some rest and wake the moment it gets light. They won't try to sell Lucy and Eustace until noon at least." Begrudgingly, Edmund agreed and lay down on his back. Being careful of Helena, Caspian lay down as well. She was now sleeping quite peacefully on his chest. And while she slept, she dreamed.

Helena let out a giddy laugh as she ran through the hall with Camille, one of her fellow dancers. In French, Camille whispered, "Come, we must get Marie." They rushed to her room and soon came upon it.

"Marie!" Helena cried as the girls burst in. Her cheery smile fell faster than an anvil.

Helena's eyes snapped open. She let out a calming breath, seeing that she was not in her room in Paris. She felt so groggy that she didn't question the stone walls surrounding her. All she knew was that she was very warm and comfortable. When she was about to fall asleep again, she felt an arm wrap around her and she froze. Not again. Not him. She opened her eyes cautiously. At the sight of the deep purple shirt and long hair, she release the breath caught in her lungs. It wasn't him. Carefully, she sat up, untangling herself from him and standing. Edmund was fast asleep next to him.

Looking up, she saw a small grate through which light proclaiming the beginning of the day streamed. Then she remembered. Lucy. After a pause, she also remembered and Eustace. Crouching by Edmund, she shook him gently. "What is it?" he grumbled.

"Ed, we need to find Lucy," she whispered harshly.

"Whadoyoumean?" he mumbled.

"She's about to be sold, you idiot!" she snapped, hitting him in the head. Instantly his eyes were open.

"Ouch," he muttered, rubbing his head where she had hit him. Caspian was woken up too by the noise.

"It's dawn," Helena said, her eyes wide. "Now what are we going to do to save Lucy and Eustace?" The three shared worried looks, hundreds of ideas that probably wouldn't work running through their heads.

Lucy and Eustace themselves had spent a night somehow even more uncomfortably than the older three. They had been led from the cathedral-esk building and to the market which was a large square by the docks. They were taken along the wall were their wrists and throats were chained. Eustace had begun to cry and it was all Lucy could do to try and keep him quiet. Guards patrolled along the wall and made a fuss for every sound. She at last got him quiet and asleep around two in the morning.

Her own eyelids were quite droopy and she was almost asleep when the fawn next to her said in a whisper, "That was a stroke of luck."

"Pardon?" she replied quietly.

Lowering his voice even more, he explained, "The second watch comes in just a few minutes. If you hadn't shushed the little beast, they would have put us all at the mercy of the mist."

"What mist?" Lucy asked. The fawned shushed her, spotting a guard coming within range of hearing.

Once he had moved on, he explained, "There were stories of sailors and seafarers disappearing along with their boats. One day, someone actually saw the mist. The Lone Islands have been sending out sacrifices ever sense." After a pause, he remarked, "Haven't you ever heard of it before?"

"No," Lucy admitted. "I'm not from here. We just arrived yesterday afternoon. We didn't know about the slavers."

The fawn let out a low whistle. "Them Narnians think we're still just a pleasant little trading and fishing port. How the king would rage if he knew what we've come to."

"King Caspian, you mean?" Lucy said cautiously, unsure of what to reveal.

The fawn shrugged. "Couldn't tell you who's king to be honest. Heard something about an invasion hundreds of years ago. Haven't had much contact since. Sailors and merchants fill us in, of course. But all we know is there was a civil war a few years ago. Never heard who won." Lucy wasn't enjoying the conversation much anymore. She had sailed to the Lone Islands herself back in the day. She remembered how to people greeted her and the others warmly. Had that been true or did the slaving start even then? She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.