Hello Lovely Readers! We have reached the second-last chapter of the story. I hope that you like it!

I own Rebecca, Loony Lareleen, Edmund's Matchmaking Corporation, Lillina, and this story! I do not own any of the other characters or The Chronicles of Narnia.

Enjoy!

King Edmund the Matchmaker?

Chapter 10

Peter sat at his desk. Several files and different papers sat atop of it, waiting to be looked at. He had been ignoring them for the past several hours. Shoving his chair back, he got up and walked over to the window. He did not want to do it. There was no way he wanted to do it. But it was the right and honorable thing to do.

He looked over at his desk. No sense in ignoring those files any longer.

Lucy walked into her brother's study. She gasped as she looked around the room. "What happened in here?"

Edmund's head emerged from behind a pile of papers. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that it looks like a tornado ran through here!" Lucy explained, stepping over a mountain of file folders.

"I'm looking for the business card prototype that I made for the matchmaking corporation!"

"So you pulled out every file you own?"

"I don't remember where I put it! I hid it so that Loony Lareleen wouldn't find it and ask me to help her get a man."

Lucy laughed, "And that man would have been you."

"You could help, you know!"

"What does it look like?"

"Like a business card."

Lucy sighed, and started going through a few papers. As she stood to place them on Edmund's desk, she knocked over a vase.

Edmund bolted up. "What was that?"

Leaning down to gather up the broken shards of porcelain amidst dirt and a few limp flowers, Lucy asked, "Why did you have a vase with flowers in here?"

Edmund began to help his sister clean up the mess. "Susan said I needed something to brighten up my study. I told her that I could just knock out that wall and have a huge window, but she said that it would cost too much."

"Aha!" Lucy held up a small slip of paper. "I found it, Ed!"

Edmund grabbed the paper. "Thanks, Lu."

"Why was it buried in a flower pot?"

"I didn't know where Loony Lareleen would look!"

Lucy sighed, as she started to make her way out through the piles. "I'll go find someone to help us clean all of this up."

Rebecca knocked on the door to Peter's study.

"Come in," he called from inside.

Rebecca pulled on the handle and let herself in. "Your majesty."

"Please sit," instructed Peter. After Rebecca did so, he began, "I want you to know how much my family has appreciated everything that you did for us during Lareleen's visit."

Rebecca answered, "The honor was mine, your majesty."

"I am very grateful that you agreed to Edmund's charade. And, I know that you agreed to be involved in it for two years, but that is not fair to you."

Rebecca began to interrupt, "But, your majesty, I do not mind-"

"No, it is not right. You shouldn't have to do this for me. You are released from your promise."

Rebecca's jaw dropped. "I beg your pardon?"

"You don't need to pretend to be my fiancée from this day onward. Thank you for everything that you have done."

"You are most welcome, your majesty," she responded, before curtseying and leaving the study.

Peter watched her go and slumped back into his chair.

Mere seconds later, Edmund entered with Lucy. "Pete, you old softy, you Casanova!"

Peter sighed, "What are you going on about?"

"I just saw Rebecca leaving here! So, did you tell her? Dare I start painting a 'Just Married' sign?"

"I told her that she is no longer to pretend to be my fiancée."

"Great! So, she agreed to be your real fiancée! Peter, this is like something you'd read in a book! Can I use you as a reference for my matchmaking corporation? Boy! One successful match and I've only been open-"

"Edmund!" Peter exclaimed. "You don't understand! I told Rebecca that she didn't have to do it anymore! She's gone back to her job."

Lucy gasped. "What?"

Edmund's jaw dropped. "You...you let her go? But you told me you loved her!"

"That's why I had to let her go. It wasn't fair to her, Ed. She didn't love me."

"You're a king! You're a great warrior. You live in a palace. Sure, you can be a bit obnoxious, but nobody's perfect! She easily could have fallen for you!"

"Edmund," exclaimed Lucy. She then turned to Peter. "You did the right thing, Pete."

"WHAT?" Edmund yelped. "Whose side are you on?"

"C'mon," sighed Lucy, as she dragged her brother out of the room.

"I can't believe that he did that," sighed Edmund. "It was all going so well!"

"Well, there's always another alternative," suggested Lucy.

"What's that?"

"You own a matchmaking corporation, don't you?"

"Oh. Oh yeah! Lucy, c'mon, let's start brainstorming!"

Rebecca scrubbed the dish with a fervor that was unable to be matched by any of the other maids.

"How could I have been so unbelievably foolish?" she thought to herself. "How could I have let myself fall for him so quickly and so completely?"

"Rebecca," began one of the other maids. "I think that the plate is clean enough now."

"Oh, right, sorry," Rebecca muttered, placing the dish on the countertop.

As soon as she was finished with the dishes, Rebecca left the kitchen. She was halfway to her quarters when she heard the voice of her best friend calling after her.

"Rebecca! Rebecca, wait!"

"Is something wrong, Lillina?" asked Rebecca, turning around.

"I was about to ask you that. Look, we both know that you are a horrid actress, so don't try to deny anything. What has happened?"

Rebecca sighed. "You know that I was pretending to be engaged to the High King until Lady Lareleen had a husband."

"Of course; everyone knows that. Why?"

"Well, today the High King released me from my promise to help them. I am no longer helping their majesties."

"So, you're not pretending to be engaged to him anymore?"

"No."

"Is that so bad, Rebecca?"

Rebecca's eyes filled with tears as she began to quietly state, "Lillina, I..."

"Come in," called Peter, as someone knocked on his door.

Susan entered. "Hello, Peter. Edmund told me what you did."

"And are you here to tell me that Lareleen has found out and is on her way back?"

Susan laughed. "No. No, I don't think that we'll have to worry about that for a little while yet. Anyway, Ed wants you to come and see him before you turn in for the night. Something to do with the council."

Peter groaned. "I knew that I shouldn't have let him go to that meeting alone. What did he say?"

"I don't know. I heard Mr. Beaver mention something about Edmund calling someone a pint-sized moronic twerp."

Peter shook his head. "I'll go and see him as soon as I've sorted through these papers."

"I'll sort through them, if you want."

Peter nodded and then left his study. His thoughts, however, were not on how to rescue Edmund from, as his brother put it, "the wrath of the council". His thoughts were on Rebecca. Knowing that he had done the right thing did nothing to ease his pain.

He was so lost in thought that he hadn't even realized that he had passed his brother's study and was just walking aimlessly around the palace. He finally realized this when he heard voices and the sound of someone crying softly. He quickly walked in the direction of the voices.

As he got closer, he heard a female voice saying, "Rebecca! Please, please tell me what is troubling you so! If you cannot confide in me then who can you confide in? Why are you so upset that the High King let you out of it?"

"I just...I didn't expect to fall in love with him."

Peter's eyes widened. She loved him. She loved him! Peter quietly turned and started back to Edmund's study with a huge smile on his face.

Peter paced the floor of his study as he waited. Finally, he heard a knock on the door. He ran over and pulled it open. However, it was not who he was expecting to see.

"Hey Pete," smiled Edmund. "Say, you look spiffy! What's the occasion? National Bath Week?"

"What do you want, Ed?"

"Gee, aren't we happy! I just came to thank you for fixing everything with the council."

"It's fine, Ed."

Edmund then plopped into a chair. "So, listen, how do you feel about matching the creepy lord from the Seven Isles with Loony Lareleen?"

"Ed, I'm a little busy now. Can we talk about this later?"

Edmund stood. "Sure. I know when I'm not wanted. See you later, Pete. Happy National Bath Week!"

A few minutes later there was another knock at Peter's door - this time it was Rebecca.

"I understand that there was an urgent matter you needed to see me about, your majesty," Rebecca asked as she entered.

"Yes. Thank you for coming so quickly."

"Is Lady Lareleen returning?"

Peter chuckled. "Not for a while now, at least. That's not why I needed to see you. Rebecca, there's something I have to tell you."

Only one chapter left now! I hope that you enjoyed it! Please review.

Thanks for reading,

R12Fizzy