Ok so this is a short story I thought of the other day, I'm sorry if you don't like it and find it perhaps a bit quick, but I wanted to show how intense love can be. Anyway, please review and everything… Enjoy!
"Fall back!" Edmund roared at his men as he slowed and the Narnians continued to run after the retreating Archenlanders.
"My Lord, we're winning?" A young Faun to his left said, his question mixed with confusion as to why they should stop now and put a dent in their victory.
"If we go any further we'll be within range of their archers." He explained quickly. He knew the Faun, Dextrous; he had spent months training him and his platoon and it was their first battle for Narnia, whereas Edmund had fought many times and always been on the victorious side, and he did not intend to change that tradition now.
Calormene ran past the halted Narnians, but Edmund did not call for any of them to stop as he turned and began the long walk back to the camp. Sometimes, you had to be ruthless. The Narnian and Calormene peace treaty was very unstable; they were only joined against Archenland now because of the numerous crimes King Lune had committed against them both. But Edmund was not the baby sitter of the Calormene army, and if Rabadash did not care enough about his men to watch over them, then he was not fit to lead the army and Calormen would lose because of his stupidity.
And besides, Narnia would benefit from Calormen being weakened.
He heard the twang of many arrows being released from their bows, followed by the cries of agony and many thumps as Calormene fell to the ground. He didn't even turn; he had already seen many men fall with arrows in their hearts.
The disappointment that had radiated throughout his remaining troops had turned to tired relief as they realised that they had been saved by Edmund's battle-focused mind.
Seeing two Calormene exiting his tent he drew his sword and ran up to them, backed by a handful of his troops. "Who are you and what is your business here?" He snarled. He didn't trust the Calormene's as far as he could throw the largest of them.
"Most gracious King and Majesty of Narnia, please do not fret, we were merely acting on the magnificent and most influential Prince Rabadash's commands…" The one with Edmund's sword pressed up against his neck answered with the usual greasy and lengthy reply that characterised Calormene speech.
"And what were his commands?" Edmund asked, not moving his sword.
"That we bring your most royal Highness some evening entertainment." There was a pause before Edmund lowered his sword and stalked stiffly inside his tent. He hoped his imagination was wrong, but he had seen how the Calormene's plundered and pillaged surrounding villages, stealing all that was valuable, mindlessly killing men and taking all those less than 30 years old for slaves.
Two lanterns lit the tent's interior and his heart sank as he noticed the girl sitting in the middle of the tent, her wrists tied behind her back and around the main pole. Her back was to him and all he could see was her chestnut hair, but he knew she'd be pretty. The Calormene's wouldn't have dared to bring him anything but a pretty girl.
He ignored her for a moment and took off his armour, washing the dirt, grime and splatters of blood from his face, torso and arms.
"What is your name?" He finally asked, pulling a fresh shirt over his head.
She didn't reply or move and he began to clean his tired legs. When he'd pulled fresh trousers on he walked around her till he could see her face.
She was exceedingly pretty, but not so much so that she would stand out in a crowd of pretty girls.
"Did you not hear me? I asked your name." She looked at him with big eyes and he was surprised that he did not see fear and hatred in them. But he could not name what he did see.
"I heard you and I chose not to reply." She answered in a strong voice.
Edmund gave a half smile; he admired her courage. He knew he was intimidating because of his physical size, his abilities with a sword and his status as King. Many girls in her situation would merely have cried and begged him not to harm them, but this girl had no tear tracks down her cheeks and her eyes were not rimmed with the tell-tale redness.
"You're royalty aren't you?" He paused, waiting for her to reply with something scathing, but once again she remained silent, unwilling to admit that though not royalty, she was nobility. "I can tell; you've spent all your life talking down to men." She still remained silent and he stroked back a strand of her long hair, making her turn her head to the side. He gently took a handful of her hair and smelt it, detecting a few whiffs of expensive oil that told him he was right. "You must be."
He straightened and turned from her, hearing her gently exhale in relief. He took out his dagger and felt rather than saw her stiffen, but all he did was cut through the rope binding her wrists.
"I ask you again, what is your name?"
She began to rub at her wrists which were chaffed slightly.
"Alyssa." She finally answered him quietly.
"Pretty." He said shortly, trying to think things through. The Narnians neither approved of nor allowed slavery, but if he returned Alyssa he would offend Rabadash and she would simply be given to another Lord or group of soldiers. "I don't doubt you already know who I am."
It would be best if he kept her with him.
She made a noise almost of disgust. "King Edmund the Just." She practically spat out, eyeing the tent opening.
"Yes I am, and may I ask why you say my name with such a tone of revulsion?" After a moment's though Edmund pulled his shirt back off, noticing how Alyssa stared at him outright rather than turning her head from embarrassment. Another oddity about her. He pulled on instead a light leather breastplate for extra protection that would hide underneath his shirt.
"You are hardly 'Just' if you order your army to steal and plunder and kill innocent civilians."
"I never ordered my army to do such a thing; you are mistaking me for a Calomene." He spoke quickly, putting his shirt back on. "And I would advise you not to go out there. You would be brought back in less than 10 seconds and probably injured on the way." He said as he noticed her once again looking towards the tent flaps that suddenly opened, a minotaur's head sticking through.
"My Lord, Rabadash requests your presence."
Edmund gave a sigh of annoyance. "Tell him I'm coming."
He ran a damp cloth over his face again before buckling on his sword and hiding a dagger up each sleeve. "You don't need to fear me, Alyssa, and you are the only Archenlandian who can say that."
He walked from the tent, sure that she would not leave; clearly an intelligent girl she would know that her fate outside the tent would be much worse than her fate inside it. He was oddly taken with her; he'd never met a girl who dared to stand up to him and he found the new experience rather fun.
If she had nothing to return to in Archenland, he had a good mind to take her back to Narnia; he could tell she'd always be a source of amusement.
Edmund bowed swiftly to Rabadash as he strode confidently into the large tent, but Rabadash did not return the gesture of respect.
"King Edmund, it seems the majority of your men are alive whilst many of mine are dead." Edmund regarded the smaller man through narrowed eyes; he was referring only to the earlier incident.
"You should watch the actions of your men more closely." He answered, surprised that Rabadash did not speak with his usual flowery language.
"As a joint army, we should be watching for each other."
"As a joint army, we should both be in control, not you ruling over me." Edmund replied, cagey and on edge, ready for Rabadash to do the unexpected.
"In that case, let us share the rewards of our participation." The prince said with a smile. Rabadash was 25, and Edmund was only 20 but he was still better than the prince in all types of fighting. He was in fact the best in all the land; he already had 17 trophies to prove it.
There was a slight commotion behind him and Edmund turned quickly to the tent flaps as two Calormene soldiers came in, each grasping an arm of the struggling Alyssa.
Edmund glanced briefly at Rabadash in alarm before focusing again on the desperate Alyssa. "I've no argument with you, soldiers," he said, his voice dangerously low as he realised how strong his feelings for the girl had grown in less than 10 minutes. "But if you don't release her at once you'll never see the light of day again." Silence followed his words, broken only by the small noises Alyssa's struggles made. "Decide." Edmund suddenly roared; his eyes flicking between Alyssa and the two guards.
"Guards!" Rabadash called out. Over 8 Guards suddenly emerged from all around the tent, their swords drawn and ready.
Edmund drew his own sword and stood in his best fighting stance, confident that he could beat them all and furious that he had played right into Rabadash's trap.
A soldier charged at him and then suddenly they all did, but Edmund fought them off easily, twisting and turning and using several of the objects around him. He slit the throats of three, stabbed another two in the stomach, set fire to several with a lantern he broke and ran the others through with their own comrade's swords as his quick dodging made them miss and hit those on the other side of him. Within a few seconds he had killed all 10 guards who had responded to Rabadash's call and the two holding Alyssa. Grasping her firmly to him he stopped short of the cowering Rabadash, holding his bloody sword to the prince's throat.
He suddenly lowered his sword tip. "It's too late in the day for killing princes." He said before turning and walking from the tent with Alyssa. "You alright?" He asked her, his arm around her shoulders as he guided her back to the Narnian side of the camp.
She nodded and struggled to keep up with his long strides.
"Narnians!" He roared before he realised that practically every Narnian was being held at sword point by the Calormene.
Rabadash appeared behind him with a few guard around him.
"Turned traitor have we?" Edmund asked.
"You started it." The prince replied childishly.
"Then I will end it too. My soldiers and I will continue to fight under your command, but that is as far as our relationship goes." Edmund said loudly for all his Narnians to hear.
Rabadash made a sign with his hand and the Narnians were all released by the Calormene.
"We attack Anvard and its castle tomorrow night." Prince Rabadash said, motioning for all his soldiers to follow him.
Edmund watched them go for a moment before turning and nodding to a few of the closest Narnians. "Everyone get some food and then rest." He led Alyssa through the camp until they reached the edge where he then ordered a soldier off his horse and gave it to Alyssa.
"Here. Gather your family and ride to a safe place." He told her, giving her a leg-up onto the horse. He had realised that she was not safe in the camp and he had no right to keep her imprisoned when she had a worried family to return to. "You are free." She looked at him with a questioning face but was sensible enough not to ask the many things she wanted to know. "If I hurt you, I am sorry." Edmund said to her sincerely, pausing in his faffing of the reigns to look deep into her eyes. "It was not what I wanted. Now go, no-one will stop you, you have my word." He stepped back and slapped the horse's rear, sending it off with Alyssa on its back, her beautiful white dress the last thing Edmund saw of her.
Alyssa ran through the burning streets of Anvard; she had nothing left. She had warned the soldiers that there would be an attack that night, but they had not listened to a woman and now they were all paying for the ignorance of a few men.
Civilians around her were running the opposite way, trying desperately to flee the screaming capital and she had to dodge hundreds of terrified men and women, clutching their children and best possessions to them.
A light sheen of sweat coated her hot body and mingled with the dirt and ashes from the flames. She wanted desperately to find a corner and cry; her whole family was gone, half killed in a fire at their mansion, some in the battles and others had disappeared, invisible in the streams of panicking people. But she was a practical girl and knew that she had to do something or she'd end up either dead or begging on the streets.
And so she did the only thing she could think of; King Edmund was prominent in her mind and she had seen something in his eyes at their goodbye. Though she didn't know what to expect or even what she was going to do she knew she had to at least try. Narnia was like a fairy-tale; a land where men and women were equal and anything was possible.
Edmund certainly looked the part of fearsome warrior as he slashed left and right; he was looking for Alyssa, irrational concern and fear for her dominating his feelings. He'd sent the Narnians back to the camp; their fight was over; it wasn't Lune who'd sinned against Narnia but his chief advisor who now lay dead, and Lune and his family were nowhere to be found.
He grabbed hold of a girl with long hair like Alyssa's, but her terrified face was very different. He released her again and screamed Alyssa's name as he ducked a swinging sword and slashed through its owner's throat.
He heard her cry his name and turned, his eyes searching frantically through the yellow gloom.
She cried it again; much closer this time and he finally saw her in a blue dress instead of the distinct white one she'd been wearing earlier. He ran to her he grabbed her, pulling her into an alcove as two horses galloped past with riders on their backs, uncaring of the people they crushed underneath the horses hooves.
"Are you alright?" He asked, urgently searching her face. She nodded and they suddenly kissed. It was quick and fumbled, but it made him realise that he wanted more than anything to get home, back to Cair Paravel and let Peter deal with the remaining politics. He'd take Alyssa, have her settle into Cair Paravel and then he'd marry her. As simple as that.
But they had to find Lune first.