A Dark King...
The whole world watches him for what he was, for his betrayal. His siblings watch him because they secretly fear; he can feel it. Though they laugh, sing, dance and rule together, they worry for him. At times Peter tells him he does not even know him as he thought he did. If these words trouble him, he shows it not. He is far more somber than his outspoken, imperious brother– though he is imperious in his own solemn way.
His is a far darker world that borders on the edge of Shadow, and those that sense this come to serve him until their death. But it is a world altered by the light of redemption.
That is what holds the wolves of nightmare at bay: the sacrifice of Aslan the Great Lion. He is called Just, because he knows the darkness of evil and the corruption of chaos better than any of his siblings. He is Just because he knows what should be, but is not, because he was redeemed by a Love far deeper than he could understand in a thousand lifetimes. At times, he is gay and carefree, but when he plunges into despair and shadow, his friends and siblings become at a loss on how to help him, so they must let him slip away from them for a time.
His council is unparalleled; Peter could not do without it in times of campaign through the lands or in times of war. His wisdom invaluable; Susan sought it often in matters of the heart and matters of state. His manner in court was calm in the chaos but yet held a sharp dash of mystery; Lucy called him when Telmarines or Calormene visited and she did not know how to cheer or interest them. His judgment was swift but sure; Narnia loved him cautiously because of it, for it gave them prestige and majesty.
But no one truly understood him. No one wanted to risk getting close to such an enigmatic figure. His darkness was equal or perhaps more than his light, and it drove many to stand away from him, even his siblings. For, how could those that had not fallen – and never would – understand the one that had? He was not always this way, and he knows it. Having seen the devastation and desolation of war, a living hell that one cannot escape, he was changed.
He remembered the first few months and years of his rule, he remembered being inexperienced and childlike, but it feels to him now as if that carefree attitude and childish laughter was a thing that had never belonged to him. He is different, and can never go back; at times he wishes he might, to be a boy again and ease the fear he catches at times lighting deep within his siblings' – Peter's – eyes.
He cares for no one, and only those that he spared from a death that should have been, truly love and adore him. His Narnian subjects that he rules over with his siblings upon the Four Thrones honor him by word of mouth and are kind to him, but they are unsure of the boy that became king, that is now a man, who once betrayed his siblings to the Witch. Knowing this deepens his sorrow, realizing he could never be truly loved by these wonderful people because of the foolish actions of a naïve boy.
Many have said he is a difficult man to understand, and he leaves it at that. His demons cannot be soothed, and his nightmares plague him at odd hours of both night and day. When Aslan sees fit to visit the palace by the sea, then only does he truly feel unburdened. The life at court, though he is king and the Narnians are not gossiping nobles of his world, is still dangerous and biting. The ambassadors and nobles from other lands care nothing for feelings and emotions, and wait eagerly for some mistake that proves their point that four cannot rule a single country.
He has always disregarded this, dismissed it because it is nothing and he is higher than such talk. But when he sees her, he suddenly finds that he is vulnerable to these snarls and growls. Though he is the Black King, the Just King, The Traitor, he is vulnerable. Though it has been said of him that he is incapable of love and true feeling beyond the love of his country, he is not. But to want what you cannot have… that is dangerous.
To desire the daughter of a Telmarine knight, taken in and raised by the King out of pity and a friendship with the girl's dead father… that is foolishness at its highest zenith. To long for a woman far below him in the society of court, it is not possible of a Narnian king. It is not even thought of. But can he help who his heart loves? In this dangerous world of glittering crowns, nobles with quick tongues, and words that speak life or deliver death, can he keep this secret?
A/N:
I have run dry for now on my Cycle (Suspian is not really working for me at the moment), and I have writer's block on everything else. I'm writing Dark Edmund because I've been wanting to do this for a long time. The first chapters are rather slow, because I'm trying to build up this darker Edmund, but after those, things should get... interesting.
Bear with me, this is different from what I've published on FFN, but not some other things I've written. I hope this brings some life back into my other fanfics and re-inspires me to start writing them again. This has no relation to any of my AU Narnia or anything at all.
WH