A/N: Me back. Thanks for all the reviews! It's the first time I've gone into double digits on a chapter! And to Khalil: AHHHH! I can't believe I made such a stupid mistake! Thanx for pointing that out! drops head in shame. Oh, and thanks for all the suggestions! I'm at least using one!

Chapter 10

After the archery contest (won by our elvin friend Legolas), the Narnians and the Middle Earthers broke for lunch. Or most of them broke for lunch. King Edmund the Just apologized to all present, stabbed a hunk of meat, grabbed a goblet of wine, and left the assembly. General Orieus followed close behind his king.

"What's the lad up to?" Gimli questioned through a lump of bread.

"I expect he's going to ready himself for the coming bout." King Peter replied.

"For all the good it'll do." The middle earth dwarf muttered. He didn't seem to notice that the other dwarfs, Gandalf and the hobbits were glaring at him.

"Ah, Gimli…don't you think you should be getting ready yourself?" Merry asked. Gimli just shrugged and reached for some ale.

Gimli stood on a green circle in the courtyard, one of the training grounds used by the kings. He felt confidant. Hadn't he slain over 120 orks? Beating a stripling boy who claimed to be king would be easy, especially with an axe. He hefted it high above as he waited for the darker son of Adam to emerge.

On the sidelines, Lucy was fussing over her older sister, who had apparently developed a bad case of archer's elbow.

"Susan! Put your elbow in this bucket!"

"It's cold!"

"It'll help with aches!"

"Su, just do it!"

"But Peter, it smells funny!"

"This from a queen of Narnia?" Legolas interrupted. "Please, my lady, put your elbow in the water. I would feel terrible it I were the cause of your injury." Surprisingly (and quite interestingly), Susan smiled and lowered her elbow into the bucked with no further argument. This fact was not lost on Peter, who narrowed his eyes in the general direction of the elf. Perhaps, an interrogation may have ensued, but the pair of archers were saved by the gleam on silver armor is the sun.

Gimli straightened as the boy walked resolutely to about 10 feet away, his rather large sword lowered, and a silver shield with a red lion slack against one arm. He had apparently chosen to go bareheaded for this bout.

"Ye sure ya dunnot wanna surrender lad? There's no shame in surrenderin' to a much older, better opponent." Gimli called to his opponent. Edmund just smiled and nodded his head to his brother, who, after glancing back at the eldest female Pevensie, stood.

"Narnians and our honored guests." All quieted at the High King's voice. "The fight between our royal brother and the dwarf Gimli will last until one has unweaponed the other, or stepped out of the designated playing field." Gimli glanced around, the 'playing field' was the green circle. "Begin!" The final pronouncement snapped the dwarf out of his thoughts, he realized he'd been lost in the fog of his musings. Fortunately for him, though, the lad hadn't taken advantage of that.

"The first strike is yours, master dwarf." The young king said courteously, his sword still lax. Somehow, this just made our arrogant dwarf angry. How dare this young pup give him the advantage! (and the fact that the audience was screaming Edmund's name probably didn't help matters much either). So, like the clear thinking, level headed dwarf he is, he raised his axe high and charged. Much to his chagrin, the boy didn't even fear him enough to move, he just raised his shield. The ensuing 'clang' not only reverberated down the dwarf's arm, but through the training grounds. But it was when the boy poked his head from around the side of the shield and grinned at him, that Gimli thought, he might just be in more trouble than he thought. He barely had time to jump away from the boy's blade. Once he had corrected his balance, the whole place was filled with Edmund's name. This, naturally, made Gimli angry. So, he lifted his axe with a cry, and sprinted towards the young king. His plan was to hit him with such force that he would be knocked out of the circle. All went splendidly, the king ducked under his shield, as expected, as Gimli ran hard and hit the shield with all his might. Then, he was soaring high above the ground.

With a thump, he landed, most of his air escaped on impact. The whole courtyard was filled with roaring applause, but Gimli wasn't really paying attention to that. How had the young pup done it? A shape appeared above him, outlined against the sun.

"Gimli! Are you alright?" Frodo asked, concern etched across is face. Gimli just grunted in return, rising to his feet and rubbing his backside. Everyone else was clustered around the boy.

"He thinks on his feet." The dwarf grudgingly admitted.

"You should go congratulate him." Gimli shook his head. If he were just a little younger, he might have been on the ground with his legs and arms crossed and his arm sticking out. Frodo ceased his compassionate concern and shoved the dwarf, then went to congratulate the king.

Perhaps Gimli would have stayed sulking, but a cry that sounded like it came from the young queen Lucy issued from the clustered admirers.

"His arm is broken!"

A/N: Ok…not that funny, but Eddy won! Yeah!