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Disclaimer: Some lines and descriptions are borrowed from the book and or the movie, and thus belong to the respective parties.

One Fine Day

Chapter 3

The Dragon Ship of Cambridge

My Darling Edmund,

My husband. It's been a long while since I have written with that title, and now I know it may be a while more before I can do so again. The war with the Telmarines is over; I have already begun to hear the Narnians call it the War for Deliverance. Caspian has been made King, and he now bears the weight of the crown alone. Only, it is Aslan's wish that he not bear it alone just yet. Aslan revealed to me this morning that you and your siblings must leave Narnia once more, but that I must stay.

I am greatly grieved by His words, and yet, I think somehow I knew what He was going to say before He said it. Fear not my love, for I know we shall meet again. Aslan has given me no such promise, but my heart tells me it is so. If only I had listened to my heart from the beginning, then I never would have doubted your love for me. And what a love it is. It cannot be broken, neither by time nor by worlds.

I love you Edmund, and I will always love you with everything I have to love. I will hold your ring and the promises you made close to my heart always. I ask that you do the same. I will treasure the time we had together, however short it may be. I know not when you will return. It may only be months, or it may be years. It matters not though, for I know you will return and we will be together again. And I will long for the day when it will be so.

Until that one fine day….

Your ever-loving wife,

Aaralynn

I read her words again, for the umpteenth time. They were words I could recite in my sleep, which I often did, but they were words best felt when read. They were words I treasured. They were words I now had to read in secret. Anytime Peter or Lucy caught me reading Aaralynn's letter again they would give me those remorseful eyes full of pity. When Susan caught me reading Aaralynn's letter she'd say, "Look I'm sorry, but isn't it time you accept it. You know, there's this lovely girl a few years younger than me; her name is…" I never stayed around long enough to discover what her name was. But all that paled in comparison to the annoyance I would face if Eustace found me reading the letter again.

Eustace Clarence Scrubb, if ever anyone so deserved a name it would be my cousin. The brat. I was no more fond of him than he was of me, and yet we were stuck with each other, until school started back at least. Susan was in America with our parents, and Peter was staying with Professor Kirke for a bit of extra studying before his university term resumed in September. Meanwhile I was sent to bunk with Eustace in Cambridge. Lucy was stuck in Cambridge as well, but at least she had a room to herself.

It was a small, often neglected room with nothing more than a bed, a writing desk, and a single piece of artwork adorning the wall. But at least she could seek a reprieve from Eustace there for a few hours while she slept at night. I had no such luck; I often hid there during the day though.

I heard footsteps approaching from down the hall, so I quickly, but carefully, folded Aaralynn's letter back up and placed it in the breast pocket of my shirt where it went every morning. Then I kicked my legs up on the bed and leaned back against the wall with my hands behind my head.

"There you are," Lucy said as she came in and closed the door behind her. "You know, it wasn't very noble of you to abandon me to Eustace like that."

"I'm sorry, Lu." And truly I was. "But I'd had all I could handle of Eustace at the moment. I had to get away."

"I see," Lucy replied.

I could feel her eyes searching me while simultaneously roving around the room. She was looking for any sign that I had been reading the letter again. I remained unflinching on the bed, eyes glued to the painting as though I were analyzing it carefully.

It was a rather interesting painting. It was simple, like the room, and yet if one studied it carefully it gave the impression of being alive. It was of an old sailing vessel, with one large purple sail and a dragon head at its prow. It reminded me a bit of the Splendor Hyaline, with her swan neck. Thinking of the Splendor, though, brought back many memories:

-The first time I heard Aaralynn sing and how her voice floated across the deck,

-Sailing to the Lone Islands with Aaralynn after we were married and seeing the house she still called home,

-Dancing on deck under the moonlight with Aaralynn wrapped in my arms…

The memories went on, each one more precious than the last and each one sending a jolt of pain through me. I had to tear my eyes away. Unfortunately they found Lucy's eyes full of pity.

"Not today, Lucy," I said with a heavy sigh.

"I'm doing it again, aren't I?" she asked and I nodded. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to, you know that right?"

"Yeah, I know." I moved my legs over to the side so Lucy could sit next to me.

"Do you still believe you and I will go back one day?"

"I have to, don't I?" I replied as my head dropped. "I just don't know what we'll go back to."

Lucy reached over to grab my hand. "One day, Edmund. One day you'll be with her again."

"Still dreaming of that imaginary girlfriend of yours?" Eustace taunted in that whining, nasally voice of his as he pushed the door open.

I clenched my jaw and made fists with my hands until my knuckles turned white. "You're not wanted here," I said lowly.

"Really, Eustace, now is not the time," Lucy added. "Please just leave us alone."

"It's my house; I'll go where I please. You're just guests."

Guests? More like captives being held against our will, I thought but I didn't say out loud. Lucy too chose not to speak out loud what she was surely thinking. Instead, she simply gave my wrist a gentle squeeze and left the bed. She moved to stand before the painting and admire it. I knew she too thought what I thought; it was a very Narnian ship, or Narnian-like at least.

"Do you like that painting?" Eustace asked.

"Don't say anything and maybe he'll go away," I said quickly. It hadn't worked yet, but maybe it would one day. Lucy, however, had already begun to answer.

"Yes I do. I like it very much."

"Well I think it's a rotten painting," Eustace replied bitterly.

"You won't see it from the other side of the door," I said.

Eustace went on. "Alberta thinks it's rotten too. That's why it's in here. A rotten painting for a rotten room

"Well I think it's lovely. The water looks as though it's actually wet and the waves look as though they're really moving," Lucy said.

"What a load of rubbish! That's the problem with children these days. They're all reading books of fairytales and fancy imaginings." Eustace was younger than both of us, and yet he was calling us children?

"Meanwhile, I read books of fact with real information," he carried one.

"There once was a boy called Eustace, who read books full of facts that were useless," I said, unable to resist the urge.

The cheeks of Eustace's face turned red as he retorted, "Some kids who played games about Narnia, got gradually balmier and balmier."

"Narnia and balmier don't even rhyme," Lucy pointed out as she turned away from the painting.

"It's an assonance."

"What's an…"

"Ow!" We suddenly all cried out at once. We had been hit by a cold splash of water. Lucy and I at once turned to look at the painting to find that the waves really were moving now. The prow of the dragon ship must have just gone down into a wave which sent up the spray of water because now the stern of the ship was visible and lifted high. As we watched, the wave continued to roll on and the prow lifted back up. A gush of wind flew out of the painting and smacked us with the salty smell of the sea.

"Lucy!" I said with excitement, for I knew this could only mean one thing.

"Oh Edmund!" Lucy threw her arms around my neck. "I'm so happy for you! For us both!"

I tried to remind myself to be careful. It had been three years since Lucy and I last went to Narnia, but I had no idea how much time had passed in Narnian time. Aaralynn might not even be around anymore. A voice in the back of my head, which sounded an awful lot like Aaralynn, was telling me to stop being so negative. And I listened.

"Stop it!" Eustace yelled. In my joy I'd forgotten about him. "This is some kind of nasty trick you're playing. Stop it at once or I'll tell Alberta and Harold!"

We of course had no control over the magic and couldn't stop it even if we wanted to, which we didn't. Lucy and I just stood there, ready with excitement, as water began to poor out of the painting. When Eustace realized we weren't going to do anything to stop it, he rushed forward to do it himself.

"I'll just smash the rotten thing," he said as he grabbed it off the wall.

"Eustace, no!" Lucy said as we jumped forward to try and stop him.

The three of us wrestled with the painting for a while. Soon the weight of the water gushing out became too much for us and we dropped the painting. In seemingly no time at all, the room was filling with sea water. With the force in which it was spilling, there was a strong, swirling current and we were all swept off our feet. From beneath the water I could see the dull white ceiling give way to the dark blue of a deep ocean. I began to swim towards the surface with steady, even strokes, kicking off my shoes along the way. I broke the water to find an endless blue sky spotted with white clouds and the dragon ship before me.

"Hey! Down here!" I called out and waved my hands over my head as I tried to catch the attention of a crewman on deck. I saw a small round head poke over the side before I heard Lucy call me name.

"Edmund!" She sounded a bit frightened so I quickly turned in her direction. I turned in time to see Eustace grab hold of her and push her down as he tried to stay afloat. Of course he wouldn't know how to swim.

I began to make my way over to them just as I heard a splash behind me. I reached Eustace and Lucy just as Lucy managed to resurface. Before Eustace could force her back under, I was able to pull him off and restrain him a little. It wasn't easy keeping both our heads above water as he was squirming around.

"Eustace! Stop flailing and kicking like that. You're not helping," I said, before looking for Lucy. "Lu?"

"I'm alright, Ed. Thanks," she replied. Then she too tried to help me hold Eustace, until one of his hands broke free and he smacked her in the chin. Fortunately at that time help from the ship arrived.

"It's alright; I've got you," said a very familiar voice as it reached Lucy.

"Caspian? Edmund, it's Caspian!" Lucy shouted for joy, for that was indeed who it was. I too would have shouted if it weren't for Eustace sending a great splash of water into my mouth.

Caspian helped Lucy back towards the ship while another sailor assisted me with Eustace. It seemed a long and agonizing wait before the board could be lowered again to lift me to the deck. Once I was brought up though, I was promptly handed a large drying towel. I looked around the deck, but I did not see the face I most wanted to see.

"Edmund!"

That would not stop me from greeting other missed faces though.

"Caspian!" I called back. We greeted each other with a hug and a pat on the back.

"Rynelf, bring their Majesties and I some spiced rum to chase away the chill of the water," Caspian kindly ordered one of the crewmen.

I looked around the deck again. There were men and Fauns. There was a pair of Satyrs, and even a Minotaur and a Dwarf, but there was no sign of Aaralynn still.

"Ugh! Get that thing off of me!" Eustace shouted. I turned around in time to see him push Reepicheep off his chest.

"I was merely trying to expel the water from your lungs!" Reepicheep claimed.

So even Reep was here, but where was Aaralynn?

"Reepicheep!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Your Majesties." The Narnian Mouse removed his golden circlet and bowed low. "Nothing but Your Majesties' presence was lacking form this grand adventure!"

"Drinian! Let me introduce you," Caspian said as he waved over a bald headed man. "This, my friends, is our Captain, Lord Drinian. And these, Drinian, our royal guests, are Queen Lucy the Valiant and her brother King Edmund the Just."

I did not fail to notice that the joyful lilt in Caspian's voice seemed to disappear as he said my name. Neither did I miss the look he and Drinian shared.

"It is an honor, Your Majesties," Drinian said as he too bowed low. "And who, might I inquire, is your friend?"

"That's our cousin, Eustace," Lucy answered.

"And am I to understand then, that he is under Her Majesty's protection?" Reepicheep asked.

"He is, Reep. I'm sorry."

I'd had enough of the small talk and I was eager to have my answer to a burning question.

"Now that the introductions have been made," I said turning to Caspian. "Tell me, friend, where is Aaralynn? Where is my wife?"