A/N: This is set in the VDT Movieverse/Bookverse: meaning that while I used the movie as the setting, I used the book characters and inserted some of the book's charging events. (I did use perhaps two important lines from both the movie and the book verbatim, but the rest is mine!)

That said, the scene I chose for this is the kidnapping on Narrowhaven (Doorn in the book). I love the fight scene against the slave traders, especially with how desperate Lucy and Edmund were to stay together and protect one another! However, I preferred the way Caspian settles things in the book, so I decided to add my own spin to this scene! Hopefully I did it justice!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Chronicles of Narnia. The amazing C.S. Lewis does (book-wise), and 20th Century Fox and Walden Media do as well (movie-wise). Both merely inspired this.

Ties That Bind

"Slave traders."

This realization alone seems to seal their fate, for in one swift movement these same men are upon them, and the fight has truly begun.

Back to back and heart to heart, Lucy and Edmund fight as one. Silver crowns united work against these men who think they can be taken so easily; and while looking like little besides children yet, the Valiant and Just are far more than they appear.

Swords plunge, arrows fly, rapiers slash, daggers meet their marks. Much blood is shed and bruises had before this fight is done.

And truly, it might well have ended in a Narnian victory…had that piercing scream not filled what once had been a holy place.

It is not Lucy who's been assailed—Edmund, Caspian, and Reepicheep know this at once, for between guarding their own lives they have been keeping the ever-capable warrior queen under protective watch.

No, instead it is the one who has caused nothing but trouble since the moment they arrived in Narnia, and even back in Cambridge there had been nothing good to say of the rotten blighter.

"Eustace…" Edmund half-growls in murderous fury.

The apparent chief of these horrid pig-men, appropriately known as Pug, has the dagger with which Caspian equipped the boy pressed against Eustace's throat.

The four are forced to drop their weapons and consent to being restrained (Reepicheep is thrown inside a small cage) for fear of the nine-year-old's throat being slit, and though none perhaps Reep can say they like the boy beyond the barest acknowledgement (and often even that is pushing it), there is no honor in ignoring the fear in his eyes.

Pug gives the defiantly glaring Narnians (had Caspian not silenced Reep with a warning hiss, the Mouse surely would have done more) a sneering once-over before roughly throwing Eustace into the iron grip of another large, well-muscled fellow and locking eyes with the men holding Lucy and the tiny knight.

"Take the maiden, the rat, and the girl," Eustace and Reepicheep protest loudly at this point (had their situation not been what it was, the others would have snickered at the last), "to market to be sold with the rest of the catch at tomorrow's auction." He turns cruel, greedy eyes toward the two blond Kings. "These two will be looked after in a different manner."

Screams fill the air as the five are separated, Lucy, Eustace, and the man rudely holding Reepicheep by the tail being dragged toward the doors of the church as Edmund and Caspian are taken in the opposite direction.

"Edmund!" Lucy cries, struggling desperately to get back to her brother, though it is only when she smashes her head back against her holder's that she gains any ground. A sickening crack resounds, and the mushroom of pain and warm trickle of blood catch her captor momentarily off guard.

But while the desired effect occurs, an opposite reaction comes as well.

The man recovers much quicker than Lucy anticipates, and before she can even hope to make any attempt to escape, he lands a harsh fist-blow to her cheek with enough force to daze her. His jagged fingernails scrape her skin, twice in succession, and a thin stream of lifeblood flows from the gashes left behind.

"Lucy!" Edmund roars, Caspian and Reepicheep not far behind, and she can hear them fighting all over for her sake alone.

With newfound strength her resolve amplifies (she'd had wounds far, far worse in the wars of the Golden Age, after all), and she brawls harder than ever against the man's now-unyielding hold, but it seems all hope is lost when she can find no way to free herself.

Knowing he's won the goon smirks down at her, and in all honesty his putrid breath, wild eyes, and bloody nose do nothing to calm Lucy's raging fear. She yelps as he puts an arm around her waist and roughly hoists her over his shoulder to prevent her from trying anything further before wordlessly continuing the walk toward the church's double doors.

"Edmund!" she screams, struggling still while tears well in her eyes and she is carried farther and farther away from her brother.

"Lucy!"

They have reached the doors by this time, and the girl-Queen panics at the coming thought: if nothing is done by the time the slave auction occurs tomorrow, the reality that she may never again see her beloved Kings of Narnia hits home.

Lucy's attention is back on the boys, however, when her sibling is struck. A strangled cry escapes her.

"Edmund!" she shrieks, voice breaking and cracking all over the place as the tears cascade down her cheeks. He looks up and catches her eyes, his fiercely burning brown orbs boring into her teary blue ones and pleading with her not to give up, swearing he'll come for her.

She nods, though neither heart is allowed to rest as his captor and those who have jumped in to corral the young men surround the feisty twelve-year-old and land him several blows. She, Reepicheep, and Caspian wrestle with their aggressors the entire time and beg them to stop as Edmund's grunts and cries of pain reverberate throughout the room. The last thing Lucy sees before she and Eustace are pulled through the doors is the boy-King being permanently silenced by a particularly malicious cuff to the head.

In being hauled across the square, the young girl notices her kidnapper sending her smug, sidelong glances and a smirk. She finds it curious until, suddenly, she realizes she cannot be all too sure that he hadn't paused in the doorway on purpose, hadn't wanted to see her suffer as her brother was beaten to the point of unconsciousness. She sends him icy glares for good measure.

She and Eustace are let down at last, but as they join other unfortunate victims of Pug and his troupe in being chained to a wall, Lucy begins to realize how much bigger their situation truly is. Reepicheep, still fighting with his amused captor as 'the trained rat' fruitlessly demands to know what has been done with their companions.

In the array of human and fantastical prisoners, nearly all of them are crying and the men look to have been recently beaten, as though they, too, tried in vain to fight off the brutish men. Then there are those whose wrists and ankles have long bled and gone raw from fighting their restraints too much, and Lucy dearly wishes she could reach her cordial so she might be able to heal them.

Her heart goes out to these creatures all, and she finds herself yearning for the days when she and her siblings were in power. They could have done something about this…

"This is entirely that rotten Caspian's fault, you know," Eustace starts up, glaring at the trader Pug ordered to keep watch, at Lucy, at Reepicheep, at the other helpless beings in their same predicament. "If he'd just listened to me and gone to a place with a decent British Consul—"

But considering all that's happened today, Lucy is simply not in the mood.

"Eustace!" she barks dangerously, snapping to face him with narrowed eyes as she seems to tower over her cousin. Pinching the bridge of her nose to keep herself at least remotely calm, she fixes him with blazing blue eyes; the tear tracks only serve to fuel the fire she exudes.

Eustace gulps as his face pales and eyes widen, and he scrambles to get as far away from his furious relative as he can. Once he's a safe distance away, he grumbles, "Rotten cousins and their loony friends… Always getting into trouble and bringing me down along with them…"

She gawks at him, and her hand is stilled from reaching for her dagger only by the restraints on her wrists.

"No, no, your Majesty," Reep pacifies slowly, slit-like eyes zeroing in on Eustace as his voice freezes over, "allow me." Eustace stiffens. "Young man, your abhorrent behavior befits a barbarian, not the relative of Narnia's ancient Kings and Queens! Have you no sense of honor, sir? Do you feel no remorse for the unclear fate of our companions? Why, King Edmund was maimed by those savages in our name just moments ago, right as he and his Majesty Caspian were taken Aslan knows where!"

"'Course I do!" Eustace retorts snottily, wrinkling his nose in disgust as he observes the rest of their prison kin. "While we're here being kept in these unsanitary conditions with even more clearly unhygienic people, they're probably wearing clothes of the finest silk, being served marvelous feasts on silver platters, while they forget all about us!"

"They just fought for our lives!" Lucy roars, frightening as the lioness Aslan named her. The tears in her eyes glint; her voice shakes. "For all we know, they could be locked away somewhere…" cracks invade and quiet digs in, "…or worse…!"

Eustace shrugs his shoulders and looks away, clearly uncomfortable with her show of emotion as he huddles into himself.

"Whatever you say," he quips mockingly, an evil smirk coming through, "your Majesty…"

The Mouse Knight of Narnia snarls.

"I understand you have been traumatized by your journey into Narnia, young one, and especially now that you've just had a knife at your throat, but this self-pity nonsense must stop at once! Our King Caspian is not to blame here, and we all," it is as if he is peering straight into the boy's heart, "know it. And what's more," his voice drops to a very scary hiss, indeed, "if you dare take this good Lady's name in vain once more, I swear on my honor as a Knight you will be made to duel me under the Narnian bi-laws that state as much, kin to royal blood or no!"

Taking a deep breath, Lucy finishes on a softer, more emotionally exhausted note as she leans her head back against the wall.

"We've merely run aground with a bit of bad luck, is all." She tries to reach for his hand, but he pulls away and she shrinks back. "I promise, if we trust in Aslan, we'll be fine."

The nine-year-old snorts. "Yes, of course. Your performing lion will come and scare the slave traders away with its terrifying, just-as-imaginary army."

Lucy clenches her fists, but just as she is about to respond, her native Narnian friend reaches a paw through the bars of his cage and tenderly touches her hand.

"Not to worry, Queen Lucy," he says sweetly, with more confidence than she expects as he glances at the boy out of the corner of his eye. "There is hope for him yet."

She smiles.

"Thank you, dear Mouse. Your vote is well-received."

Sighing heavily, she closes her eyes and tries to get some sleep.

They have a long day ahead of them…

When Edmund finally wakes at dawn the following morning to find himself in a musky jail cell, a sharp pang to his heart tells him there is something very wrong.

His head hurts and he has multiple bruises and cuts, but he remembers that—his sister, cousin, and Reepicheep were taken to be auctioned off in the slave market.

But Caspian…he had still been with Edmund when they'd been separated! So…why isn't he here now?

Rushing to the bars of his cell, he rattles them as much as he can and insists someone tell him where his companion's gone. If they've hurt him…—!

"Don't fret about your friend, squirt," one of the slavers answers, grinning as if he's just told some kind of secret joke. "While you was off in dreamland, that regal blond of yours was bought up by some bloke of the name of Lord Bern." He laughs uproariously, shaking his head as he finds some mysterious thing incomparably hilarious. "He's in good hands now, my boy!"

But Edmund has long stopped listening. Lord Bern! Was that not the name of one of the Seven Lost Lords for whom the Dawn Treader had been searching? What luck! With just a little more, then, perhaps finding Lucy (he continues to find himself rightfully riled at the memory of that brute punching his sister), Eustace, and Reepicheep unharmed won't be so difficult after all!

Suddenly coming back to reality, Edmund finds he has been removed from his prison cell, wears chains on his wrists and Pug's apparent right-hand man is striving to level him with a glare. (He should know the Kings and Queens of Old do not bend to unworthy men.)

"Come on, you!" the man charges, tugging at the cord connected to Edmund's restraints as he leads the boy out into the open. "We don't want to be late for market, now, do we?" And the savage look he gives Edmund answers the inquiry for him: No, no, we don't.

Edmund, however, is paying little attention. Instead, he's focusing on finding Lucy, Reep, or even Eustace, either on the crowded auction platform or in the crowd. Any sign of them he can find, he'll take. He just wants to know his sister and Mouse friend (and fine, his cousin, too) are all right.

And should the answer ring unfavorably on the slave traders' behalf…

Aslan have mercy on their souls.

A horn trumpets, clear and familiar in its tune and timbre, and Edmund's heart fills with joy. There is Caspian at last, come in golden armor and with Lord (now Duke) Bern at his side.

All words are lost on Edmund except: "I declare all slaves in this market free!"

This is all he needs to hear. Helping himself to the keys on the stunned slaver's belt, he picks his own shackles-lock and zips through the crowd to Caspian, who smiles in glee and hugs him tightly.

"It warms my heart to see you safe, dear friend," the Seafarer heartens before straightening and turning an inquisitive eye to the rest of the crowd. "And now, let us find our companions!" The Just King nods, nearly bursting with his eagerness to find his sister. "Reepicheep!"

The Mouse Knight raises his rapier, having stolen it back from his slaver, and exalts, "I am here, sire!" before scurrying to his King's side.

"Lucy!" both boys call, scanning the crowd for her unmistakable blond head.

"I'm here, Caspian!" she cries, jumping up and down and waving her arms. "Edmund, I'm here!" She calls their names through tears of joy, and Edmund can be humbled no further.

Running to her, he kisses her forehead, nose, and cheeks in succession before embracing her with all the strength of his rightful twenty-seven-year-old body.

"I'm so glad you're all right!" he breathes into her ear, and the laughter through her tears and the way she holds him tighter well express her like sentiments. Pulling back, Edmund scrutinizes the large purple bruise and massive gash on her cheek from the scuffle the night before. Feather-lightly brushing both with tender fingers, he whispers almost sacredly, "Do they hurt?"

Shaking her head, she in turn intensely inspects his bruised and would-be bloody face (the slaver that had told him about Caspian'd had the decency to clean his wounds while he'd been out cold), giving each wound a butterfly kiss. "Let me look you over when we get back to the ship," she commands gently, staring into his eyes for a long moment before she rests her head on his chest. "Thank you, Brother. Your sacrifice means the world."

Stroking her hair, he replies just as softly, "You are worth every last breath, every last drop of lifeblood, which flows through this body, Sister. Never forget that."

Nodding slowly, reverently, she lifts her head and takes his hand in hers. They have begun their walk back to Caspian when he asks, "Reep mentioned you were sold just before either Caspian or I arrived. You're all right?"

Bobbing her head, she replies, "Lucky for me the pig who bought me wanted to stay and see what other slaves he might purchase." She shudders. "This trade is a hideous sort, Ed. I'm glad we and our elder siblings had enough sense to abolish it in our time."

Edmund hums solemnly. "I know it, Sister." He squeezes her hand strongly. "It nearly took you away from me."

She smiles lovingly.

And it is in this moment they meet up with Caspian and the newly-acquired, disgruntled-as-usual Eustace.

"I beseech your Majesties," Reepicheep begins almost immediately, sweeping a bow even as he sneers at the huddle of displaced human traffickers farther off, "these men have injured you in the name of a trade to be suffered by neither an Intelligent nor Dumb being. Should they not be tried for treason—or be made to duel, at the very least? It is only right that a lady's honor and that of her King be defended, and as I see it both have been doubly smudged!" He unsheathes his rapier and projects an almost-growl at the perpetrators. "I entreat you, my Kings and Queen, allow me to duel them and I swear to the Great Aslan Himself I will come out victorious!"

Lucy, Edmund, and Caspian trade amused looks. The Mouse is at it again.

"Nay, dear Knight," Caspian soothes, smiling gently. "Most Noble Mouse, you have done wonders for myself, my fellow Majesties, and all of Narnia just by joining this historical voyage to find these seven lost friends of my Father's." He turns a stern eye to the assembled slavers. "Though you are correct in saying these men should be dealt with swiftly and harshly," he flashes his bravest subject a smirk, "even your punishment is too good for them." He places a confident hand on Lord Bern's shoulder, the bearded man sharing his impish expression. "I believe the new Duke of the Lone Islands will find the perfect penalty for treason-count-four."

Bern nods, eyes alight with charging energy. "Indeed, I will. I am honored to have your Majesties' support," he tips his head to each of them and then to Reepicheep, "and yours as well, brave Knight of Narnia."

Those addressed and the others hold themselves straighter, feeling calmer and more alive than ever suddenly. They do not know the reason at first, but then they see a golden light fade from around the Duke.

They smile.

Aslan's been watching over them, after all.

A/N: I finished this very late in the night/early morning after a tiring day, so if you see any glaring mistakes, please tell me! Plus, I'm staying at my aunt's place down in Mexico right now with bothe her family and mine, and the internet connection is literally so bad I only have a connection for two seconds before it goes off again, so I'll look this over once I get home. XD

Thanks so much for reading, as always!

Happy holidays!