Thrust. Parry. Spin. Bring across and thrust.
It was here that Edmund was in his element. In the feeling of the sweat dripping down his face, the cries of the swords as they clashed, in this moment everyone could see the King, the Just. Edmund had made it his goal to know as many fighting styles as he could; the need to keep his nation and family safe was unending.
Peter had been the brunt force that had won the battles, but Edmund had been the one following behind his King, bearing down with stealth and cunning enough to take down anyone he so chose.
Pause. Breathe. Thrust. Swing.
But being back in Narnia lifted his spirits, and yet it offset him, turned him into that awkward boy again just trying to fit in. Caspian was well versed in fighting, but Caspian hadn't fought for over fifteen years as the Pevensie children had.
He couldn't talk badly of his friend; Caspian hadn't begun yet to understand that which was Narnia. Caspian hadn't discovered the Narnians living in the alleys and slums and befriended them. Caspian hadn't learned to fight like them. Hadn't lived like them. And because of that very fact, he had to hold back from lashing out against his friend with the style of one cornered.
Twist. Drive. Swing. Stop.
And standing in front of his men- correction Caspian's men- he saw in his friends' eyes the need to prove himself to these fickle beings just how strong he could be, just how worthy he was to be their king. And so he surrendered.
There was once a Mole who worked in the royal kitchen who had introduced Edmund to the phrase, "There is honor in a peaceful surrender." Edmund believed that no moment before could represent that so completely.
Step away. Grin. Pat shoulder.
He looked at Lucy who understood the understatements of the past few minutes, and she smiled back thanking him for his actions. Drinian walked down the stairs by the wheel and reprimanded the men for disregarding their posts. He nodded at Edmund as he returned to his own job.
Edmund, spinning to take in the hustle and bustle of the ship, spotted Reepicheep watching him.
He approached the Talking Mouse but before he could start, the Mouse began.
"Your majesty," He said, "Would you permit me to ask you a rather personal question?" His eyes stared up at Edmund from where he had paused in the midst of a bow.
"My Dear Mouse, how could I turn down such an eloquently worded question?"
Reepicheep stretched his back up taller and lowered his voice once he noticed Eustace trying to eavesdrop.
"As you know on my many adventures I have travelled to some of the farthest corners of the great and honorable land of Narnia. In the land named Lantern Waste, some of my then newfound acquaintances often told me of their king, the King Who Came. Upon further reflection I have realized that the description given to me by said persons quite adequately fits you. My Lord." He tacked onto the end, so caught up in his monologue.
Edmund smiled down at the brave Mouse and replied hoping it would be enough to satisfy the black hole that was his curiosity. "While I can neither deny nor confirm your theory, I am curious as of what this king has done to warrant such a reputation."
Reepicheep, taking it as the question it was, answered quickly, his voice changing into that a storyteller's. "They say that it was in the seventh year of his reign when the King came to the land of The Lantern Waste. The man was taller than average, though not by much, dark hair, and eyes as dark as the night halfway through."
By now sailors on break, Eustace, Lucy and stragglers aboard the ship had heard Reepicheep begin a tale and wished to hear the end. Lucy had an unnoticed small frown on her face, seeing as this hadn't been a good time for her small family. Edmund kept his face in a carefully controlled polite façade.
"They say that he came to them dressed in rags, claiming to be a man turned out from his home from Archenland by his father. At that time no knew him as a king, just as a man having been turned away from the place he loved. His rags had once been merchants' clothes keeping with his story of a merchant family with two sisters and an older brother called Felsen. The man soon grew to be and integral part of the regions culture and daily life. He fought like a trained warrior and it seemed as if there was no man able to defeat the merchant man."
The Talking Mouse realized he had an attentive audience and began to embellish his words with gestures and actions. Even Caspian and Drinian had ventured over to listen.
"It was one day, though, about two summers later when the man disappeared. Some said he had finished what was meant to be done, learned what he needed to know, for he had learned as much as anybody could in a cycle of two summers. Others said he was abducted and killed. The creatures descended from those present at the time said his brother had found the man. The man he had named Felsen."
Reep lowered his voice causing the men to lean closer. Lucy appeared to be studying her nails uninterested in the proceedings, but anyone who knew her well enough could see the tense lines of her body.
"The brother, for none of them were under the allusion that Felsen was his real name, looked as if the very sun had had a piece shaved off and placed inside his soul, body, and mind. He was the very opposite of the merchant man. His eyes the clearest of blues, and blond hair as if made if straw and sunlight. But the most striking thing about him they said, was his…"
A man named Trent was brave enough to ask what everyone wanted to know. "What? Was his what?"
Reepicheep looked up and seemed to just notice his listeners. "His brilliance." He whispered in reverence.
"As if he dazzled the room with his very presence." A soft voice drifted above the heads of the sailors from the back of the congregation. Heads turned to see Lucy watching Edmund intensely.
"His pompousness and arrogance that was both annoying and completely just." Edmund replied, just as quietly.
Reepicheep glanced at the men before looking at Edmund. "Yes exactly like that, My Liege."
Edmund snorted, "He always hated us calling him arrogant, didn't he Lu?" The question was so soft that most didn't even hear him.
"That he did, Edmund." Lucy replied.
Reepicheep looked up once more and the men, sensing more, quieted down. "If Your Majesty would so permit me, there is more."
"Of course you may continue, Reep."
"It's just that when Felsen, for I know not what else to call him, was very concerned for the man's safety and his clothing was obviously worth very much. From the experience of being a lowly servant around Your Majesties so admittedly much I can guess, most humbly, of course, that the merchant man who learned the ways of the paupers…was you my King."
There was silence aboard the ship, which made the slapping of the waves even more pronounced.
Edmund looked up at the clouds that were starting to turn pink and orange as the day wound down.
"That point in our lives was a hard time for my family, my kingdom. Even though I found what I had not been searching for, I felt as if I had betrayed my kingdom by leaving so suddenly. So when Pete brought me back, it was a while before I was ready to reveal what I had done on my time away. Additionally there were those who felt they could not trust me as a king afterwards."
Looking around at those surrounding him, he could see that they were starting to feel the same. Edmund turned his head upwards again and closed his eyes, his expression full of regret and longing, not willing to continue.
But Lucy picked up where he left off. "You have to understand, Edmund is a very independent person, and the only one he leans on completely is our brother, Peter. Peter had been away in Calormene working on a treaty. So no matter what Susan or I tried, he wouldn't open up. He left a letter for each of us one morning, telling us all what he needed to do. I suppose each letter varied somehow for I never saw the words he penned to Susan and Peter. My letter went into, among other things, that Edmund had been feeling lost and incomplete even in the core of the love and splendor of Narnia itself."
She stopped, apparently realizing she was talking too quickly to understand. Lucy could see the looks of disgust and repulsion towards her brother on the faces around her, and it made her heart ache. She continued.
"Our fellow Narnians, upon further investigation years later, did not, in fact, hate my brother for what he did, they were simply upset he hadn't trusted them with his problems and actions on this subject. Once they comprehended his reasons, however harebrained they might have been," Here Lucy looked fondly and her sibling, "the wounds healed and bridges were rebuilt."
She steeled herself for the difficult words soon to come. Here was the Valiant Queen, the queen who weaved her very being into Narnia so irrevocably she was never forgotten. Here was the queen who could dance as merrily as sprites and tree nymphs, but would cut a man willing to harm her country down in one fell swoop.
The girl in front of the sailors changed into a brave and loving woman who stared them down into listening to her words.
"The simple fact is this. You were not there. That's all." She spread her hands in front of her body, "And because you weren't there, you didn't have the chance to have lived under our rule. You know Edmund and I, and even our cousin, as a mere image or dream. We are the types of fairy tales known as truth only to children. We didn't exist to you before we had come here to help Caspian the first time. If the Narnians who we ruled and loved, loved us in return despite our mistakes and failures, you have no right to do anything different."
There was silence aboard the galleon, the only thing heard was the breathing of men and waves bellow.
Many jumped as Drinian stood and clapped his hands, yelling for the men to return to their positions. It was brilliantly obvious that no one's mind was really on what they were doing. Even Eustace seemed a little far away.
Edmund hauled himself up to stand and drew Lucy into a hug that made the joints in her back crack. She giggled, the woman in her having retreated for the moment, pulling away to kiss his forehead and smile at him. He leaned down to whisper in her ear a quiet and heartfelt thank you before he stepped away, giving a quick bow to Reepicheep who bowed in return.
Edmund spun once more, breathing in the crisp air and soaking in the feeling of Narnia, before striding away to talk to the captain, looking more and more like the storybooks described him to be.
Unnoticed, Caspian watched the King jog up the steps. He could have honestly said, over three years ago, that Edmund and his siblings had been nothing more than a bedtime story. A myth. And even today, Caspian barely felt as if he was touching the surface of the four Pevensies of the Golden Age. And yet part of him was reluctant to dig further. His heroes would be distorted if and when he discovered anything unsavory. For the moment he was content to be the brother that both children-yet-not needed. Perhaps as the years went on and he became considerably more secure in his place on the world, he would crack open a book or two.
What Caspian hadn't understood was that even years later, Edmund was feeling the affect of his choices. From both ends of the spectrum. Many were now comfortable enough to come to him with their problems, where some just weren't.
His siblings had all had their moment to learn, each more different than the last. And those trials and tribulations had made them stronger. More able to be the best they could for their realm.
While Caspian was a great king, he couldn't fathom the simple pleasures of his people who were in the darkest of places. He wouldn't see the truth unless he lived for those he had not met, learned what he had not been taught, and found what he was not searching for. Then would he deserve the nobility and love that was Narnia.
Edmund could say he didn't regret a thing. He was the King Who Came, he was the man who had done what they had believed no one would, and with that he was content.
Edmund knew the deepest and darkest pits of his kingdom. Edmund knew the brightest moments and places where he felt the safest and longed for them both. He longed for the truth each held. He had walked the path of the betrayer and learned.
He needed to step back seeing that, in this day and age; it was Caspian's turn.
Okay A/N time! :) So I'm such a geek about Narnia that I abducted my best friend and her little sister to go see the new movie on Friday. It was pretty fun. ;) But the thing that bothered me the most was the way they made the characters. For example you'd think that if they were ruling well into their twenties, Edmund would be able to win against Caspian in a sword fight. So that annoyed me A LOT. Also seeing as Edmund was forgiven by Aslan and everyone else and he's different now, the way they portrayed him was still like a spoiled brat. Anyway remember reviews are love.
P.S.- This is not one of the series that I'm working on- it just helped me get over writers block (and having my notebook at my aunts house in Pennsylvania :( )