Disclaimer: Narnia and anything in it does not belong to me. Only the things I added there.
A/N: Apparently I forgot the disclaimer from the previous chapter, as it is, same goes for the first chapter and any that follow in case I fail to put it there again in the future (which is very much possible).
2.
Day was sunny and warm except for the biting wind who tried to freeze them every now and then with the exception of Therren and Shalang who were used to cold weather. Edmund glowered at the sky. Without that wind, their journey would be quite pleasant. They had travelled two days, first day being as nice as this one and second day it rained more than Edmund could believe possible. After today they still had another two days journey before they would reach the area, where the sightings had occurred. According to a Sparrow named Terence the unknown humans were still there.
What on earth were those people doing there? And the way they acted as if nobody could notice them. Surely they didn't think that Narnia was uninhabited? Or then they knew, but just didn't care. But that would be unwise too since most of the world was aware of Narnia's new rulers by know and of their objective of keeping their lands safe from all unfriendly intruders. The defeating of the Witches army's leftovers, the war with the Giants and the many skirmishes with pirates at sea should be quite convincing warning of their seriousness.
Edmund shook his head. He would find out eventually. No use worrying about it now when he couldn't do anything about it. Now he should worry about where to make camp. Sun would be starting to set soon.
They made the camp in a sheltered little forest. The dryads of the forest had decided to throw a party in honor to the King and after a decent amount of time, Edmund made his excuses and retreated to his tent to rest for the following day. Or to rest as well as he could at this time of the year.
As he had expected, his dreams were full of nightmares. The ones where The Witch tortured him, the one where She turned Mr. Tumnus to stone over and over again even though he hadn't been present when it had happened. That dream where he finally realized completely what he had actually done. And myriad of other dreams, some more like memories, some results of his own subconsciousness. And then there was the one he hated and feared the most. The one where he woke trembling and gasping for breath in a verge of tears.
It was strange really, the dream. There wasn't exactly anything terribly scary in it. In the dream he was always sitting in his sell, cold, hungry and anxious. He sat facing the wall so that the door of the sell was on his left side. His eyes were watching one particular spot in the wall, staring at it as if anything else didn't exist.
Except The Witch.
He could feel Her looking at him, standing outside the sell, watching, staring, never leaving him alone. She would do that for hours. Until She would finally move, taking the keys and opening the door. Then she would come inside to stand right next to him. And continue looking until putting Her hand at top of his head.
Then he would wake up. It never went past that point.
And a small part of him hoped it never would.
He saw that dream also while trying to sleep after the party. Thankfully though, he didn't see it again. Next morning a very irate King rose from his bed and stomped through the camp to get something, anything that would wake him up properly while Shalang followed him from a safe distance.
After three cup of tea he started to feel more composed and awake. He reached for a few toasts and managed to eat two of them. He had never been able to eat very much in the mornings. When he had finished, captain Calen approached him.
"We are ready to continue, Sire."
"Good. Let's get going then", Edmund answered and walked to Phillip with captain and the cats at his side. He hopped up to Phillips back and the scouting party continued its journey.
Nothing interesting happened during the day, except a few enlightening reports from North and Edmund found himself slipping into a state of dormancy, where he saw and heard everything around him but where nothing stayed in his mind. He sat on the back of Phillip, watched bypassing landscapes without seeing anything and let his mind wander. From important matters of state to equally important matters of family and from there into less important things of what would be for dinner at Cair or how much there would be water on his rain gauge until he wasn't exactly thinking anything anymore.
That night they made camp at the foot of a cliff, which stretched above the camp forming a kind of cave. They slept through the night peacefully, not counting Edmund of course, and woke up early next morning. After Edmund had been managed to get up, wake and eat a little, the party continued its way into another dull uneventful day. Although the day was a bit more pleasant today thanks to the biting wind, which had decided to keep a day off.
Edmund sighed. Tomorrow they would be at the Northern border where the sightings had all been. From the reports he had been given during the journey, he had decided to head a few miles east than the last sighting. Apparently these people were moving towards the coast of Narnia and were coming from West instead of where he had originally thought they were coming. If he had calculated correctly, they would reach their destination slightly earlier than these unknown people.
This thing was really starting to bug him. According to the information, these people weren't doing anything threatening but were armed to the teeth. They weren't making contact with anyone, they preferred open ground and stayed near the Ettin border, but never crossed over. They didn't seem interested in Narnia at all.
Yes, this was really starting to bug him.
……..
Edmund was sitting in a tent in front of a small table studying a map with the Sparrow Terence. Terence was at the moment showing Edmund where the intruders had made camp for the night. Therren and Shalang had stationed themselves outside the tent on guarding duty and captain Calen was standing next to him eyes on the map.
The scouting party had come to the area a few hours earlier and made their camp in a small clearing surrounded by large rocks and bushes in a plain with bright green hills. The place was quite sheltered and more importantly, hidden from the travelers they had been expecting.
The travelers were settling in place similar to their with the exception of rocks. Their camp was only surrounded by low hills and thick bushes. The animals who had followed their journey hadn't dared to go too close, so they knew only now that the group consisted of about thirty people, all male. And while all of them were heavily armed, not all of them seemed to be warriors. They seemed more like settlers. But where were they headed?
"Perhaps we should send our people down there to make contact with them. Just in case they aren't hostile", Edmund said. He didn't want to fight for nothing.
"I think it would be a good idea too, Sire. From what Terence has told us I'm inclined to believe that also", the captain answered.
Edmund nodded. Now who should they send? Perhaps the two centaurs in their group, they would suitably impressive. And someone else still. Edmunds eyes shifted towards the captain.
"Captain, would you like to go and talk to them? I believe you would be suitably high in rank so that they will believe in our seriousness."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I would be delighted", the captain answered. He, too was bothered by these travelers.
"Excellent. Take Fior and Glenned with you", Edmund ordered referring to the two centaurs he had thought about just minutes ago. Captain Calen nodded.
"And I would also like to situate our troops hidden around you in case something goes wrong", Edmung continued. "Few hours should be enough, don't you think? We get our people in place and our quests have time to settle in properly before we go to disturb them."
"Yes, Your Majesty. This will work nicely", the faun said smiling. "If you will, Sire, I shall go and make the arrangements."
Edmund nodded his consent and the faun left swiftly to execute their plans. Edmund sat more comfortably in his chair and started nibbling his already cold dinner while discussing with Terence about the travelers.
After a couple of hours Edmund was dressed in his lighter armor, which he used in a trips like this, had managed to take a short nap and studied the map so thoroughly he felt like he knew the environment almost as well as his own woods.
The fabric of the tent rustled as Shalang entered.
"They are ready to proceed, Sire", he said in a low soft voice.
Edmund nodded and rose from his chair to follow the Snow Leopard outside. He stopped in front of the tent for a moment.
"Let's hope everything goes alright", he said and headed towards the edge of their camp where Phillip was waiting for him. The Leopards followed him silently as shadows.
"We are sure…"Therren said.
"…it will, Sire", Shalang finished. Edmund chuckled silently. Ever since he had stumbled on to them in trouble, eight years ago in the Shuddering Woods and helped their family to survive through the winter, the twin brothers had not been willing to part his side. He had found out quickly that the Cats had a habit of ending each other's sentences.
At first it had been unbelievably infuriating, but in time he had gotten used to it and he had found it quite amusing eventually. Not including those who worked closely with Edmud, everyone else found the Cats habit still infuriating even though they had lived eight years in the castle.
They had just reached Phillip, when Terence flew past them and landed on the back of Phillip.
"Your Highness, Your Highness!" the Sparrow chirped quickly. "Cone and Lichen found someone wandering at the perimeter of our camp."
"Someone?" Edmund asked. That usually meant humans. If it had been someone of the Talking Animals or other Creature Terence would have said so.
"Yes, a human man. Seems a bit strange one if you ask me", Terence told them.
Edmund cursed silently in his mind. What a perfect timing. He knew he should just tell them to put the man in safe keeping until their task at the travelers camp was over, but something nagged in the back of his mind that this was somehow important. He had no idea why it would be important, it just wouldn't stop nagging.
Edmund sighed and looked Phillip. "You think they can manage without me?"
"They are doing their job, Sire. They know what to do", Phillip assured him.
Edmund nodded. "Alright. Tell the guards to bring him into my tent", he said to Terence who nodded and flew in a flash to the guards.
"I suppose we are not going anywhere. Phillip, would be kind enough to tell captain Calen that I'm unable to participate this time", Edmund asked from his friend who nodded his large head.
"Of course."
The Horse turned and trotted to find the faun captain while Edmund and the Cats returned to his tent. Edmund sat back to his chair and Therren lay comfortably before the table, where he could see the entrance clearly, while his brother situated himself in front of the tent outside.
After a while Edmund heard the muffled footsteps of the Bear Linchen and the Fox Cone. He didn't hear any other steps, he noticed. Rustling of the fabric followed the Bear as he stepped inside and the tent seemed suddenly much smaller than it had few moments ago. Behind him came inside the stranger and last the Fox.
Edmund stared at the strange man. He also looked a bit strange. For a human anyway. He was about the same height as Edmund but seemed a bit leaner than he. He had short light grey hair that reached his shoulders.
He was dressed in a dark green coat made of leather that reached his thighs, a grey woolen shirt, in a green shoes of which another covered his leg below the knee and the other above the knee. Trousers were dark purple and on top of it all was a green cloak with a rucksack and quiver and bow.
Strangest thing about him though, were his eyes. They were silver, and he meant like liquid silver. He didn't think that any normal human would ever be born with eyes like that.
The man smiled kindly and stepped forward reaching out with his hand.
"Hello, I'm Winter."