Acknowledgements go to ehowdotcom. That's where I've found out how to properly mount a horse.

Chapter 9

Lucy found Tawny sleeping in the library. She gently shook her awake.

"I did not eat your honey-glazed monkey cookies!" said Tawny as she jerked awake with a start.

"What are you talking about?" asked Lucy, who was laughing uncontrollably.

"I…had a dream," she replied as she wiped the dribble out of her cheek. "Nothing, it was nothing."

"Ha ha, you really are the strangest person I know,"

"Yes, the strangest."

"Do you want to come out?" asked Lucy. "Have you finished reading?"

"Oh, yes. I would certainly do want to join you outside." Tawny was just about to close the book but noticed that there was some wet thing on a page. "Sweet mother of all things wonderful! I drooled on this book! Edmund would slit my throat," -- she turned to face Lucy – "or worse, banish me from the library!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Edmund said that if he ever sees a book misplaced, a page torn or one of its corners dog-eared, then he'll banish me from the library!"

"And since when did Edmund care for this room?" said Lucy. "He probably said that to scare you. Come on, let's go outside."

Tawny placed the book at the breakfront, after making sure that she wiped the drool dry. She then went outside the castle with Lucy, telling her all about her dream.

"So," Lucy said. "The witch thought you ate her monkey cookies?"

"Yes,"

Lucy laughed. They reached the Training Field were Edmund was riding a horse.

"Have you ever ridden a horse before?" Lucy asked Tawny.

"Never," she answered.

"Well, do you want me to teach you?"

"If you're not busy with anything, sure."

Lucy left Tawny standing there, and after minutes, she came back with two horses, one was deep brown in color, the other black. Tawny chose the black one. Its name was Gregory. Lucy and her brown horse galloped for a while, leaving Tawny with the horse.

"I'll be back after some trot, alright?"

Tawny turned to the horse.

"Hi," she said. "My name is Tawny. Lucy said that your name is Gregory. I like your name. It is –"

"The girl has finally cracked," said Edmund. He was on his horse Philip.

"Wha—"

"That's not a Talking Horse," he said. "It's just a plain old horse and you're talking to him."

"How am I supposed to know that he was a plain old horse?"

Lucy appeared beside Edmund. Her cheeks were flushed and there was some brilliance in her eyes.

"Come one Tawny," the Valiant Queen said. "I'll give you horse lessons."

"This girl," Edmund laughed. "Horse lessons?"

"What seems to be the problem?" Tawny said. "I can do it!"

Lucy clambered down from her horse.

"First lesson," she said. "Is to learn how to climb unto your horse."

"Easy enough," Tawny bragged.

"Yeah, I would love to get some comedy right now. Go on, climb on your horse." He said, as he went down from his.

"Edmund, your face is pure comedy, so don't go around telling people that they are comedy."

Tawny ignored the two's bickering and focused on mounting her horse. After several attempts, Gregory seemed to get a little irritated and galloped away, making Tawny fall down on the grass. Edmund laughed, but went to Tawny to help her up. Lucy dropped down beside Tawny to see if she was alright.

"Were you hurt?" asked Lucy, while Edmund continued laughing. "Edmund it's not funny."

"Good show," he said giving thumbs up, still guffawing. "Better than the gypsies'. I told you she was comedy!"

"Wow," Tawny said. "I never felt more alive in my life than now. Let's do it again!"

"What? The fall thing? No we shouldn't. You might end up getting broken bones…or…or crushed dignity and self-esteem." Lucy said as he took a dark glance at his brother, who was gradually regaining his self-control.

"But I really want to learn how to ride a horse."

"I'll help you." Edmund offered.

"No," said Lucy. "You'll just laugh at her. Plus, look at your dress, Tawny, it's soiled."

"Ugh, Lu, you sound like Susan. Go back inside and reflect if you ever want to grow up like Susan who likes dresses and parties or if you want to stay the same and play all day."

"Ha ha," Lucy said sarcastically. "I wouldn't leave her with you. You'll only squash her poor little heart with your insults," replied Lucy with a scowl. "Come on, Tawny."

Lucy gave Tawny the brown horse, and she tried once more to mount it. She failed.

"Look," said Edmund. "You should stand on the horse's left side. There."

Tawny stood where Edmund pointed. She saw how determined Edmund was.

"Now," he continued once Tawny was on the right place. "You pull yourself up on its back."

Tawny tried but, "I can't do it."

Lucy went closer to Tawny to help her, but Edmund was faster and held Tawny's waist. She felt her spine tingle at Edmund's touch.

"You pull yourself up while I push you, alright?" he suggested. "Take the reins; put your left foot on the stirrup then bounce up and down. When I say 'go', you swing your right leg over the saddle. Make sure you gently pull the reins for support. I'll push you up so you won't have a hard time swinging over because we don't presently have a mounting block with us."

Tawny glanced first at Lucy, who had this sweet innocent smile on her face. Too sweet, it was that she was becoming suspicious of her thoughts. Then she looked at Edmund, who had this serious visage that had not even the tiniest trace of his bothersome attitude. Tawny was thankful for this.

"Would you just keep staring?" the king said.

"Sorry," Tawny bounced up and down once, twice and thrice until Edmund said "Ready?"

"Wait," Tawny said while she continued springing up, down, up, down. "I'm preparing myself."

"Just get it over with," said Edmund. "Okay, go!"

Tawny was not ready, but still Edmund pushed her over. Tawny's leg went up in the air and over the saddle just in time. She was sitting on the horse's back rather awkwardly.

"Great!" Edmund remarked still holding onto Tawny's waist. "You did it."

"Don't let go of me," Tawny said, panicking and gripping really hard on the reins. "I might fall!"

"Don't worry, I won't let go."

Tawny was trying to keep as still as a rock, for she was afraid to lose her balance. She felt like she was slipping, but she really wasn't.

"I'm going to let you go now," Edmund said.

"No! NO," Tawny's voice came automatically. "I'll fall! I will!!!"

"You won't! And I thought you liked falling. You said you never felt more alive than when you fell."

"Well, now I want to stay firmly on the ground please!"

"You're confusing."

"How are you supposed to learn how to ride a horse if you want someone to keep on holding and supporting you?" said Lucy. She had a point, but Tawny's fears of hurting herself didn't decrease. She regretted learning to ride.

"I'll hurt myself," Tawny said.

"Sometimes, you have to experience pain to learn. If you fall now, it will hurt, yes. But next time you fall, you know what to expect and, possibly, you could prevent it. You'll fall a lot of times, but eventually you'll be a good horse rider. Don't get scared of falling, it's natural for a beginner." Edmund said seriously.

"Thanks for the inspirational speech, Mr. Guidance Counselor," Lucy said.

"Just doing my job," Edmund said. "Now, Tawny, I'm letting go now."

"Okay," Tawny whispered. She gulped in a big breath and held it as Edmund took of his hands. She wobbled for a while (for the horse kept on moving his hooves), but she held tightly on the reins as if her life depended on it.

"Ed," whispered Lucy as Tawny tried a hard deal to resist the horse's motions. "Tawny looks like she's going to urinate."

"Just because you've been great on your first horse ride does not mean you can make fun of people." Edmund replied as he watched Tawny struggle with her balance.

Lucy laughed and said, "Oh really, look who's talking! I'm not making fun of her; I'm just stating a fact. Look at her, she' pale, she looks like she's not breathing and the horse seems to be suffocating from Tawny's clutch on the reins. See her knuckles? They're white! She must be terrifyingly scared!"

"Tawny," Edmund called her attention. "Are you alright?"

"No," was only Tawny's answer.

"Do you even want to continue?"

"Oh Tawny," said Lucy. "It's fun to ride a horse. You can do it, I know you can!"

"Quitter…" Edmund muttered.

"No, I'm not a quitter!" Tawny said indignantly. "I'll—whoa! --- I'll learn how to ride this horse and won't give up!"

"Okay, first lesson completed. Now, for our second lesson: ride in a slow pace." Edmund said triumphantly.

"Hey," Lucy butted in. "I thought I was supposed to teach her?"

"Who held her in place before the horse and gave her complete and effective instructions? Me."

"Fine then, I'll watch her fail her lessons because of your instructions and then she'll come forward to me to teach her how to ride a horse."

"Prepare to be blown away by my marvelous knowledge about horseback riding." Edmund said to Tawny.

Edmund spent the rest of the afternoon teaching her how to take control of the reins and all that horseback riding stuff. Tawny eagerly listened. Her fears seemed to go away. Edmund was nice to her during the whole lesson. Lucy was giving Tawny words of encouragement, which raised her spirits, and Edmund received torments, which annoyed him.

The day ended. Tawny was able to mount a horse without any help, but she still needed assistance on going on a slow pace. Edmund looked smug during dinner, while Lucy seemed to be irritated with Edmund's expression. Tawny didn't go to dinner that night and instead stayed at the library, reading books about the Pevensies. Edmund went to the library after supper.

"Oh," Edmund said. "You're here. I thought you were resting?"

"No, I'm fine."

"You have bruises…" Edmund noticed as he sat opposite Tawny.

"I'm a bit sore, but I'm quite comfortable here."

"Been reading about the cheese, huh?"

Tawny frowned. "What cheese?"

"The Pevensie Cheese." Edmund laughed at his own joke. Tawny didn't, something was bothering her, now that she remembered it.

"King Edmund," said Tawny.

"Just Edmund,"

"Just Edmund," Tawny repeated, thinking that Edmund told her to use his 'Just' title. "Was it true that…?"

"What?"

"Y – you…Well, I've read some chapter at the long-titled book I got earlier, and something made me wonder. I forgot to ask you about it when we were in the Training Fields and –"

"First-time rider's feeling, I know. You'll preoccupied too much with the horse and forget everything else. And?"

"And, well, I just can't seem to believe it."

Edmund leaned back in his chair and said, "Tell me."

"D – Did…you really join the White Witch at first, before coming to Aslan?"

"Yes." Edmund said casually. "If you think that I'm a traitor, well I'm not. I' was just a confused little boy who got enticed with sweet treats and who knew no better than being selfish. But I was a child then."

"Yes, and it said there in the book that you broke the Witch's wand?"

"You've been doing research on me, haven't you?" Edmund seemed to be amused.

"I was interested on you cheeses…I mean, Pevensies."

"Yes, well, you can take your books in your room and study us cheeses there so you can rest your body. I find these chairs uncomfortable." Edmund stood up, bid Tawny goodnight and went out of the library.

Tawny thought that the weird not-teasing attitude of Edmund today was unusual. But she liked it. Tawny brought two books about Edmund. The first one was entitled, Edmund Pevensie: The Just Counsel, the other one was Duke of Lantern Waste, Count of Western March and Knight of the Noble Order of the Table, The One Who Went Back to Aslan. Tawny thought that there was more to Edmund than some immature young king who finds tormenting people amusing.

Also thanks to wiki because that's where I got Edmund's other titles!

Apologies for wrong spellings and grammars...