I'm in the middle of watching the movie Citizen Kane with my roomie so I figured I could do some writing while I'm at it. Sorry if the updates having been coming as fast, ya'll but college has become slightly more demanding! I actually have to study this year!

So…I'll do my best to keep he updates coming and don't get discouraged if I go a day or two without one because life is hectic! Here's another chapter =)

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One thing I hadn't counted on was provisions and shelter, all I had thought about was getting out without being seen. I mentally chided myself for being so ridiculously irresponsible.

It had been Edmund who had pointed it out…of course. He had halted our progress, insisting we wouldn't make it across the desert if we didn't get some things together. I was indignant that he seemed to be taking over this escape.

"Forgive me if I was too concern about getting us OUT to think about petty details!" I snapped at him angrily as he called us to a halt. "Or would you like to be back in that cell?"

Every eye in our party, even one of the horses, gazed back at me in shock.

"Najida!" Jinni squeaked, her eyes flicked over to where Edmund had turned his horse around to look at me. She looked a bit frightened and I knew she was thinking I had just earned a severe beating.

"I wasn't assuming anything against your intelligence," Edmund said, his voice low, "Nor was I lessening the gratefulness I feel toward you for your rescue."

I bit my tongue, realizing that he really wasn't criticizing me. But my eyes still burned with anger because, due to my lack of experience with men who actually spoke to me like I was human, I really didn't know what to do.

"I simply think that, before we go a step further, we need to think about how we will make it across the desert," Edmund continued speaking and he turned his horse around and pulled up beside me, our knees touched because his horse was so close to mine. "If that's alright with our valiant rescuer?"

I know that the tinge in his voice was teasing, but it made my blood boil and, without thinking, I pulled back my fist and drove it full force into his nose. I smiled in smug satisfaction as he slid from his saddle and fell to the ground with a thud. Lucy squealed and dismounted immediately and ran to her brother's side.

"Oh yeah," I muttered, "Pander to the male. Isn't that what women were made for?"

Lucy's wide eyes turned to look at me in disbelief, her mouth twisted in disgust.

"What is the matter with you!" she hissed, her eyes flashed with anger and I felt a twinge of regret for my words. "I don't "pander" to anyone, thank you very much! I choose to listen to him and follow his lead because he is my brother and has never let me down!"

"Let's not be TOO kind, Lu," Edmund's voice was low and pained as he gingerly held his nose. I saw blood seeping through his fingers. "You know that's not true."

Lucy looked at him thoughtfully for a moment and her face softened as she gently tugged his hands from his face. I winced slightly at the amount of blood that was dripping from his nose onto the sand and that already covered his palms.

"Oh, Edmund," Lucy said softly and sadly, "You know I've put those memories aside. Oh, by the Lion, this is awful! Let me get my cordial!"

"No!" Edmund went to grab Lucy's arm but thought better of it when he looked at his blood covered hand, "Don't waste it, Lu! It'll stop in a minute."

He ripped a bit of his tunic off and wiped the blood from himself and stuffed some of the material up each nostril, making me giggle. But I didn't giggle for long because Jinni brought her horse up beside me and gave me a look of such shame that I began to feel foolish.

"I apologize for my brash action, King Edmund," I mumbled, lowering my gaze to the sand by my horse's front right hoof.

"Just…rein it in a bit. Ok, Najida?" Edmund chuckled, swinging back up into his saddle. I got a good look at his back then in the moonlight and a shudder ran up my back at the sight of the torn flesh that showed through the shredded fabric of his tunic. Unfortunately, I was not the only one to see it.

"EDMUND!" Lucy's shriek made us all jump and I motioned for her to shut up before a tower guard heard. But Lucy just ran to Edmund's horse and pulled him down. He stood next to her and looked at her like she was crazy until her hand slid down his back and he yelped, biting his bottom lip to keep himself silent. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Lucy," Edmund sounded weary and he shook his head, his black hair flopped into his eyes. "We just now got out of the city. There was no time to waste."

Lucy reached into a pocket on her belt and pulled out a vile full of red liquid and shoved in into Edmund's hand.

"Don't argue with me, Edmund," she whispered dangerously.

"Lucy, I said no," Edmund shoved the bottle back into her hand and backed away from her. "You KNOW how priceless the cordial is to Narnians in battle. If I'm not dying, I won't take it."

I cleared my throat and the both looked at me.

"if it's all to the acceptance of your Highness," I addressed Lucy, "I happen to know some things about Calormen healing."

"If it has anything to do with calling for Tash's help…" Lucy looked absolutely livid.

"Tash is no god of mine!" I snapped before she could finish her sentence, she relaxed a bit, "I know the herbs of the wilderness. I have had to treat many of the girls in my slave troupe after their whippings."

Edmund turned around then, his dark eyes glittered in the moonlight and I saw that he was looking at me with pity. He looked genuinely sorry for me.

"Alright," Lucy still sounded a little hesitant, "Do what you can. Jinni and I will sneak into the outer sections of the town and get water skins, food, and clothes."

Jinni readily agreed and dismounted to follow Lucy into the darkness as they crept back to the city.

Edmund sighed as he watched his sister's silhouette disappear over a dune and then he turned to me with a look of slight distrust.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" he questioned. I clenched my jaw to keep from snapping at him that I should know better than anyone, especially a spoiled king!

"I'm positive," I mumbled. I made my way to a little vegetation spot by the river and searched around in the growth for something that might be helpful. I spotted the closed bud of a small purple flower and grinned. Perfect! I plucked a few of the little flowers and laid them on a piece of palm bark I tore from the tree. I smashed the flowers onto the bark and then took a little water from the river to rub in with it, making a violet colored paste.

When I came back, I found Edmund holding his horse's face in his hands, stroking the mare's nose gently as he whispered softly to it. The mare nickered and shoved his shoulder with her nose and he laughed. I decided, as I watched him caress the animal again, that I quite liked the sound of his laugh. But I shook my head and walked up to him.

"This mare is quite valued," I said, off-handedly.

"What makes you say that?" Edmund asked, looking genuinely curious.

"She has a gold cuff on her leg," I pointed with my chin toward the mare's front left ankle. A thin circlet of gold was resting around the top of her hoof. "It's how a certain Tarkaan marks a horse as his property. They all have a different way of doing it, like painting a marking on the fur, tying a ribbon in its mane or tail, or, in this case, a gold circlet."

Edmund smiled at me after he had examined the gold ring on the horse.

"I always did want to know more about the Calormen culture," he said cheerfully, "But, for apparently good reasons, we Narnians hesitate to come here very often. It seems we constantly find ourselves at odds with your people."

"I don't claim to be a Calormen," I said quietly, setting my bark on the sand and sitting down with my legs crossed, "Not after what they have done to me."

"Kind of like how you hate men?" Edmund chuckled as he sat next to me.

"Yes."

We both fell into total silence for a few minutes; the sounds of the desert night filled our ears. The frogs on the riverbanks croaked, some bugs whizzed about our heads, crickets in the riverside growth chirruped, owls hooted and jackals howled in the distance.

"I have something here that will help you to heal quicker and with less scarring," I finally found my voice to say.

"Alright then," Edmund replied, he wasn't looking at me and I assumed the desert had charmed him. His eyes were closed as he took in the sounds around him. "Do what you have to. I won't resist."

I took my piece of bark and moved to kneel behind him.

"Do you mind if I rip a bit of material off of your shirt?" I asked awkwardly.

"Psh, take it all!" Edmund laughed and proceeded to pull the entire thing over his head. I took a good chunk of it and went to soak it in the river. I came back and began rubbing his back clean of the dried blood that covered his back. He stiffened and hissed sharply at my less than gentle treatment of his very tender back. I rubbed until my cloth was dry and then went to soak and wring it in the river again. I came back and pressed it back onto him and he made a sad little noise in his throat and I felt a little guilty for acting how I was. This man had been nothing but kind to me and I was still treating him like an animal, or worse than an animal because I never harmed an animal if I had a choice!

So I tried to be careful as I washed the blood away. Finally, I had cleaned him well and dipped my fingers into the purple paste on my bark and raised my fingers to place it on one particularly long and jagged cut.

"This will sting a bit," I warned before I ran my finger from his shoulder to his hip, covering the red line in the flower paste. I felt him stiffen under my finger but he didn't make a sound. After covering all the injuries I could with the stuff, I sat back and claimed to be done.

Edmund did and experimental roll of his shoulders and then turned to look at me. His dark eyes were twinkling merrily and he gave me a wide smile.

"Thank you, Najida," he said softly, never breaking eye contact with me, "Thanks for everything you've done for my sister and I. We won't forget it."

I shook my head savagely, trying to ignore his words. But, deep down inside me in a place I swore I had lost forever, something felt warm and happy. But I refused to believe it was more than a mere bit of indigestion.

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So there's a chapter for ya'll! =) I hope Najida's character is unique and I hope I do ALL the character justice. Let me know what you think so far!