AN. Thanks to Queen Su for her kind review! You're the only one sticking with me! Thank you! I don't like this chapter so much though. I couldnt get the Hattie and Edmund first interaction at right. It was really annoying. I dont think its right still. Sorry if you dont like it.
The girl looked pretty average. There was nothing extraordinary about her. Her hair was blonde and tangled from days of being unwashed and not brushed. Her skin was grubby and still retained a bluish tinge which left her looking tired out and pale. Dark purple shadows underlined her eyes, just accentuating her exhaustion. At this moment in time, Edmund was sure he had seen much more beautiful girls than her back at home. Still, that wasn't the point, he wasn't supposed to be judging the girl on her looks; he was supposed to be helping her.
He glanced across at Peter who had just galloped into the clearing and raised an eyebrow as he spoke to the girl. The young king was about to protest against his brother's teasing words when he noticed that the girl was staring at him with puzzled brown eyes. Feeling slightly uneasy, he offered her a cautious smile. Seeing his expression she blinked suddenly and looked away, embarrassedly.
In an attempt to break the tension, he said, "Yes, thanks for that, Pete. My name is Edmund Pevensie. And yours is?"
The fox and the winged-horse had refused to give either him or his brother any information – names or otherwise – before they saw the girl was alive and well. Obviously they still didn't trust him, despite all he'd done in his power to help the girl pull through her illness.
When he'd returned to camp with her in his arms, Peter and the rest of their companions had been suitably surprised but they had quickly meshed together to aid Edmund in warming her up and making her healthy again. Unfortunately, their measly fire and few supplies didn't seem to have been enough to rouse her from unconsciousness and Peter was worried she could get even worse so they had elected to head back to Cair Paravel and the physicians there or Lucy and her cordial. Their mission would have to wait for a time.
Of course they had consulted the fox and the horse about the plan and they, although at first being reluctant, had agreed seeing it was best for their sick companion to head to the palace. So the group had set out as soon as the snow had petered off, the girl placed carefully over the front of Edmund's horse so he could keep her steady, balanced and warm. What they hadn't banked on was her waking up and being absolutely terrified.
"Hattie, well Harriet, but Hattie for short." Her expression was still perplexed and her eyes kept travelling over the contours of the young king's face again and again. Edmund wondered what on earth could interest her so much about him.
"Well, its nice to meet you awake, at least," Edmund joked, before holding out his hand for her to shake. For what must be one of the first times in Narnia, the gesture was reciprocated as a small, cold hand slipped into his own and closed momentarily before pulling back.
"And you too, even if it was in this." Hattie gestured down at her flimsy dress, feeling her cheeks colour slightly as she saw how scruffy and disgusting she must look. "Thank you, by the way, for saving me I mean. My companions….are nice, but they aren't that adept at neither first aid nor caring for humans."
"You're welcome."
It was at that moment that Barney came bounding into their midst, his rough, pink tongue lolling from his mouth and dripping with saliva. When he spotted that his mistress was awake, he barked jovially. Quick as a flash, he barrelled over to her and knocked into her knees, almost toppling her with his weight. Fortunately, Edmund was there to lend a supportive hand, as he grabbed her and set her upright.
"Thanks…again," she said, softly. The young coal-haired man shot her charming grin and then turned to Barney who was looking considerably guilty on the floor. He whined, unsure.
"You need to watch it, dog; you almost had her over then. She's a bit weak at the moment." Hattie had to suppress a smile when she realised that, yet again, her ordinary mutt was being addressed as if he was human. She felt sorry for the young man as he failed to receive a coherent answer. Barney just offered him a sharp bark and a friendly lick on the face.
"Yeah, he's not one of your lot. He doesn't talk. Don't get me wrong, he might understand some of what your saying, but you'd be lucky to get him to reply."
Edmund looked mortified.
"Its okay, really, you weren't to know."
"I think I'll try and save my poor, verbally incompetent brother from more humiliation and step in here. Good day to you, Hattie, my name is High King Peter the Magnificent." Edmund groaned audibly, there he went again, shoving the title down their throats.
"Ah!" Another voice joined the conversation as Sharp stepped through the trees followed by the towering black form of Kolfinna. "I see you've met the Kings of Narnia, Hattie; I told you I'd get you to them. Though perhaps I had not foreseen it to be so soon."
Hattie's eyes widened enormously and her jaw dropped open in shock. She glanced first at Edmund, then at Peter and back.
"I knew it. I knew I recognised the name. You're King Edmund from the story Sharp told me."
"Well, I don't know who Sharp is or what the story is but I think I'll hedge my bets and say yes."
"That's Sharp," Hattie gestured to the russet fox, "How come he hasn't told you? I assumed you'd met."
"We have…" Edmund paused, glancing over to the creature who stared at him blankly. "He was….reluctant to give names or details."
"Oh, right, that's Kolfinna and that's Barney." The girl seemed to have no qualms about divulging information. She seemed less experienced somehow, in concealing identities and surviving.
"Quite an unusual group you make," Peter commented plainly as he climbed from his horse and strode purposefully over to them. Hattie glanced over his shoulder and spotted several more strange and magical beings emerging from the forest. From the story books, she had read she deciphered some were fauns and some were centaurs. Beautiful black, brown and chestnut flanks glistened in the morning sunshine – stark against the pure white snow.
"Um…yes." What could she say to that? Should she tell them that their little band had only formed yesterday, literally, and that she barely knew the history or characters of either fox or horse? No, Edmund had probably already figured that out from her suggestion that she had only recently arrived in her nightdress. But wait, how did he know about the world she came from – had hadn't even looked confused when she described her predicament – unless he was from their too? Maybe that wasn't so unlikely. She remembered in Sharp's tale, it seemed as if the Pevensies had come from nowhere. Perhaps they had been of her world and then ended up here.
She recalled another, less savoury part of her companion's story, the fact that Edmund was a traitor. He had simply betrayed his brother and sisters to an evil, white witch because he was selfish and all he cared about was sweets. Of course, he had returned, with Aslan's help, but could a leopard ever really change its spots? Hattie was suddenly struck with a cold, uneasy feeling and she drew unconsciously away from the young, dark-haired man, standing a couple of feet from her. He didn't notice.
"Well, my lady, my men and I were taking you back to our castle, Cair Paravel, have you heard of it?"
"Yes." Hattie now realised that Peter himself had no idea she wasn't from this land. Though she was surprised he wasn't more suspicious of her for, from what she'd heard, humans other than the sovereigns were very rare in Narnia. Obviously he was too polite and well mannered to mention anything.
"Is it alright if we continue to take you there? I would feel rude to leave you out here on your own dressed in so little. At Cair Paravel we have food, shelter, clothing…"
"I was coming there anyway."
"You were?" Peter looked suitably surprised, his eyebrows shooting into his hair line.
"Yes, I need your help."
"Oh?"
"Sire, my brother is missing. He was abducted by these men. They took him from our house and I followed but now…now I've lost him. I was wondering if you could tell me anything about it or help get him back." The girl's expression was so sad and desperate Peter would never have even considered saying no.
"Of course. Therefore we have even more the reason to return to the castle. Then we can make some enquiries. I promise we will help you in any way we can. Right, Ed?"
"Hmm…." Edmund looked blank for a moment, his mind elsewhere, before regaining his head and nodding vigorously. "Oh, yes, certainly. I would be glad to help."
"Good, then its settled. Let's keep moving."
Sharp had been watching the exchange between all the humans very carefully. He may be no expert on their behaviour but he wasn't unobservant either. It had not escaped his notice, the subtle shift in Hattie's demeanour. He was not sure what had caused it, he hadn't been that attentive, but he could detect it. She was uncomfortable around Edmund suddenly. And the fox really wanted to know why.
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