The Quest of Edmund; or;

The Gest of Edmund and Ranon,

also called the Eldest Narnian.

Edmund discovers a secret;

The Coronation had been only a few days prior, but it all seemed old hat for the Pevensies. Susan took to her archery and excelled at it. Lucy was always the one to go to for support and Peter.. the High King was off already on a mission to the North to settle some dispute with some Giants. Edmund was left in charge of Cair Paravel while his brother was gone and to be honest, it felt good. He still sat in his own throne and though Peter's throne went empty night after night, Edmund went on as if he were, in fact, the only king. Neither Susan or Lucy seemed to notice. Orieus, however did and called his highness out one afternoon while the two were sparring.

"You act as though your brother is no longer High King." the Centaur said in his usual gruffness.

"I do not." Edmund retorted. "I only do as Peter would do were he here."

The beast nodded though the doubt was visible in his eyes. It didn't sit too well with Ed.

The rest of the afternoon was dull by comparison, so Edmund, having nothing to do, went off in the direction of the library of all places. Somewhere he was sure no one would look for him. A smile appeared on his freckled face as he seated himself on a pile of pillows and peeled open a book about the Making of Narnia and how the White Witch had brought about her terrible Fell Winter. The book drew him in, even though he flinched every time he read the words "White Witch" or "Jadis". He was in the third or fourth chapter when he came across a myth... "A myth of Narnia, interesting." he murmured and he flipped the vellum pages to read of the Princess Ranon, daughter to King Frank and Queen Helen, the first King and Queen of Narnia. The tale read as thus::

~And the girl was a lovely girl, with hair like the chestnut and eyes that shone with the light of Narnia. The Princess was gifted with eyes that saw the future and she made the prediction of the four children of Adam and Eve who will bring us out of the eternal Winter that plagues us this day.

The Princess was adept at certain aspects of the Deep Magic, which it was said, were bestowed upon her by the great Lion Aslan. The Lion was said to have breathed upon her as a babe in the cradle and her gifts bestowed at that time.

Now the day came that Jadis heard of the Princess and feared her gifts as much as her beauty and stole her away to where none in these days know.

A Giant of the North made mention of a room the castle of Jadis where a small hairless beast lays sleeping as if enchanted. Could this be our long lost Princess? None who have ever gone into the castle to search for the Princess have ever returned. ~~

Edmund's jaw dropped. He remembered a room off the throne chamber in the castle that had a lock bolting the doors closed. He never saw what was in there and had never thought any more about it until now. A smile crept across his cheeks. This was his chance wasn't it? A chance to show Peter that he was more than simple King Edmund the Just, he could be a warrior and a hero as well.. He decided then and there to pursue everything he could about this myth and perhaps be the one to rescue a Princess.

He asked around to all those animals that were old enough to remember the days before the winter what they knew of this Princess of the myth.

"Tis no myth, Sire." said an aged Centaur. "She was and is real. I beheld her once with my own eyes as a colt. A lovely thing with long hair and shining eyes. Princess Ranon is a true Narnian beauty."

Another beast, a Satyr, added to this by saying "I heard tale tell that she cast the sleeping spell upon herself rather than let the Witch kill her or else use her as bait for another realm like Archenland or Calormen. She is said to posses a magic just as powerful as the Witch's but more splendid and good. She makes flowers bloom and the trees sing in her presence."

Edmund highly doubted that last bit about the flowers and the singning trees but then again, nothing seemed impossible in Narnia.

Three days later, and after a long and heated debate with Susan, Edmund made preparations to leave to head to Jadis' desolate castle. He brought with him the proper things to make a boat or raft with. He'd need it since the frozen moat around the castle was no longer frozen but a sparkling silver pool with a stone center. He left Tumnus the Faun in charge.. aside form his sisters of course, and set out on Philip for the castle.