Living Through You || Caspian X

Chapter 8- Overwhelmed

I'll show you mine if you show me yours first
Let's compare scars, I'll tell you whose is worse
Let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words
We live on front porches and swing life away
We get by just fine here on minimum wage
If love is a labor I'll slave till the end
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand
- Swing Life Away • Rise Against

As a boy who was different in 1940's England, James Pevensie had felt shame many times in his life. It didn't matter the cause, there were an incredible amount of memories infiltrated by the familiar feeling of flushing heat to the front layer of his skin. It was the sort of feeling that made him dizzy, and sick.

     There were times that James was willing to sell his soul to rid himself of the characteristics that caused him shame. There were times when he was willing to rid himself of everything special, everything brilliant. And in those times, he wouldn't have regretted it.

    James would have done anything to get rid of that feeling.

     When morning struck, and the sun had barely began to rise, James was dragged from the dungeons to the market. Alongside Lucy and Eustace, a group of slave traders made sure they couldn't escape. Even if there was a way, James didn't think he had the energy. Healing always took the most out of him, and now, he was shattered; he'd very little sleep in the stone cell.

    A large shackle had been tightened around his neck. It was to the point of faintness. The point of no escape.

    Being pulled into the beige town centre was humiliating. Not to sound like Peter, but James was a King, a King who'd been captured and was to be sold off like a vegetable. There had never been two things so starkly different, yet there they were side by side.

    James Thomas Pevensie, High King of Narnia, had been reduced to the status of a vegetable.

    The three were made to stand in a row, alongside some more people who were given the same fate as them. James could do nothing. He wished he could do anything; anything at all.

    A few native children were forced to the from first. Men of all ages bargained their way to the top. They cheered when they won, not truly realising the consequence.

     What would Caspian have to say? Where was Caspian? Where was he?

    James didn't want the King to see him this way. Not ever. He looked feeble, and unnatural. He wasn't himself. He couldn't be himself- not like this.

    Then, with a firm grip, a man grasped James's shoulders, and stood him on a small platform so everyone could see him better. Tears brimmed the blonde's eyes, hating the gazes focused upon him. He hated the attention. He wanted to be anywhere else; even England.

     "Now, we have a handsome boy, here!" Exclaimed the slave trader. "He's scarred, but can turn into a beast with anger!"

     There was a general oohing noise, the men seemingly confused but intrigued by the idea. Revealing a blade, the man dragged it through James' skin, and he howled in pain. Instantly, blood the colour of sapphires trickled from his arm, and his entire face morphed without will. For a few moments, he was a panther, with blue eyes, and slick black fur. His teeth bared like a ferocious lion, an a roar escaped.