Author's Note: Holy crap, it's a new chapter. And it only took me three years to get it written. That, and revisions to the other thirteen chapters. I uploaded the new chapters all at once (sorry if I spammed your inboxes with e-mail updates), and there's new content to practically every previous chapter. There are no major plot changes, so no worries there, but there are new scenes that expand on things I either ignored or only touched on the first time around. And I promise to have chapter fifteen up faster than three years.
Chapter Fourteen: Midnight Conversations
As the army rode back to the camp to bed down for the night, the mood was lighthearted and cheerful. Banter, laughter, and snatches of various conversations filled the air, and the young Monarchs found themselves looking around in amazement as their people rejoiced.
"Everyone's so happy," Lucy said, wonderingly.
"They've every right to be," Edmund told her. "The White Witch is dead, and they're finally free, after one hundred years. There's going to be a lot of celebrating, tonight."
"Oh, no doubt," Philip chimed in. "Now that the Eternal Winter has finally broken-"
"But, is it really over?" Peter broke in. "The Witch is bound to still have followers. What if one of them tries to pick up where she left off?"
"Whatever Fell Creatures are left, we will deal with them," Edmund said, firmly, as several of the troops glanced curiously in their direction.
In an undertone too low to be overheard by any but his siblings and their mounts, he added, "This is a day for joy. We don't need to ruin it with what-ifs and maybes. Just keep smiling."
"And when would be the proper time to worry about such matters?" Susan asked, thinking ahead in her ever-practical manner.
"After the coronation ceremony, tomorrow," Perrin answered. The Unicorn tossed his mane, imperiously, and added, "That's soon enough to borrow trouble, if you ask me."
"But, what if-" Peter started to protest, but he trailed off, weakly, when all three of his siblings glared fiercely at him.
"We're not yet at the camp," Perrin said, threateningly. "I could still make this a bumpy ride."
"I wish you wouldn't," Susan said, wistfully. "I am riding behind Peter, you know."
"You're light enough, Majesty, that I could carry three for a while," Philip spoke up, cheerfully.
"All right, all right, I get it," Peter acquiesced, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "I won't talk about it, anymore."
"Talk about what?" Bertran asked, trotting suddenly up beside Philip and startling the Horse, who shied away before giving the Wolf an angry look.
"Nothing that can't wait until later," Edmund said, firmly.
The Wolf nodded, easily accepting his liege's decision, and Edmund turned his attention to Susan as she spoke.
"So, why are we going back to the camp, tonight?" Susan asked. "Why not just ride straight on to Cair Paravel?"
"It's too far to make it, tonight," Edmund told her. "The journey to the Cair is a full day's ride away, and everyone is still too exhausted and injured from the battle with the Witch and her forces. Better to go tomorrow, when everyone has had the chance to rest."
"What's it like?" Lucy spoke up, eagerly. "Cair Paravel, I mean. Is it wonderful?"
"I don't know," Edmund told her, honestly. "I imagine it would be beautiful."
"You've never been?" Susan asked, curiously.
"The first time I was here, Cair Paravel was always heavily watched by the Witch's forces," Edmund admitted with a slight shrug. "It was too dangerous."
Peter looked like he was about to demand an explanation for that last statement, but they arrived back at camp, then, and everyone was too busy getting temporary tents set back up for the conversation to be resumed. After the siblings set up the pavilion that they were going to share for the night, Edmund, Peter, and Susan went over to the armory tent to leave their armor with Khyllian.
As they arrived, Orieus was just leaving, and he nodded to Peter and Susan as they went into the tent.
"King Edmund," he said, and Edmund paused in the entrance, turning to the General. "Your sword," Orieus continued, gesturing to the new blade Edmund wore on his waist, "that is the blade that shattered the Witch's wand?"
"It is," Edmund answered.
"Your blade is worthy of a name," Orieus told him, and then he cantered away without another word.
"Wow," Peter said, from where he'd been listening to the conversation while cleaning Rhindon to a gleaming shine. "What are you going to name your sword?"
Susan looked up, too, clearly interested in his answer. Edmund thought about it for a long moment, but only one thing seemed appropriate.
"Would you name my sword?" he asked Peter, hesitantly.
Peter looked surprised by his request, but after a moment he nodded.
"Can I have some time to think of a name?" he asked.
"Of course," Edmund told him. "Take all the time you need."
He stripped out of his chain mail shirt, sighing in relief as even that light weight was lifted from his shoulders.
"Are you still injured?" Susan asked in concern, and Edmund sighed as Peter's head whipped around at her words like a Bloodhound catching a scent.
"I'm perfectly fine," he reassured his older siblings. "Lucy's cordial healed my physical injuries; now I'm just tired and sore. That's all," he stressed, insistently, when neither of them looked like they believed him.
"You will rest tonight, won't you Edmund?" Susan asked, at last, looking as though she was going to sit on him if he didn't give her the answer he wanted.
"Yes," Edmund promised. Picking up a soft cloth, he started wiping down his new sword and added, "All I want to do tonight is rest."
"Good," Susan said, sounding satisfied. "Now, let's get back to Lucy and go eat."
A couple of Fauns had whipped up a quick stew for dinner, and Peter and Edmund gathered plates for themselves and their sisters before joining the girls at the small fire near their pavilion.
"What was it like?" Peter asked, once they'd settled themselves on the ground and started eating.
"What was what like?" Edmund asked, hastily swallowing his mouthful of food.
"You were in Narnia for five years before we came," Peter clarified. "What was that time like?"
At Peter's question, Susan and Lucy leaned forward, eagerly, not wanting to miss a single detail. For his part, Edmund put the remains of his dinner aside, anticipating a long tale.
"It was amazing," Edmund said, after thinking over the right words for several long moments. "But, at the same time, it was a little bit terrible,"
"How could Narnia ever be terrible?" Lucy asked, aghast.
"Well," Edmund said, "once I got over being a brat, I realized how much I missed my family, and how much I wanted you three here to share it with me."
Susan and Lucy both 'awwed' over this, but Peter, naturally, latched onto the more interesting part of his statement.
"So, you were still a bit of a brat, then," he remarked, and Edmund blushed, embarrassed.
"After the shock of being in Narnia had faded a bit," he responded, "I sort of went back to my old ways, for about a week."
"Why only a week?" Susan wanted to know.
"Because by the end of the first week, Orieus had knocked any bratty behavior straight out of me," Edmund answered, and Lucy giggled at the image that conjured up.
"Probably with both swords, right?" Peter asked, knowingly, and Edmund nodded.
"With great vigor," he said, smiling at the memory. "Luckily, I learned quickly, and well."
"What about you, Lucy?" Susan asked, and the younger girl looked at her in surprise.
"What do you mean?" she asked, in confusion.
"You came to Narnia twice before we came," Susan reminded her. "Did you meet anyone besides Mr. Tumnus?"
"I only met Mr. Tumnus," Lucy said. "But, he told me about some of his neighbors."
The siblings found themselves talking long into the night, as the sun sank slowly in the distance. Finally, the fires had died down, and Edmund carefully covered the still-glowing embers with dirt to extinguish them. Most of the camp had settled down for the night, with the first watch setting up at the perimeters to stand guard.
"I guess we should turn in?" Susan asked, looking around at the Creatures that were bedding down for the night.
"I'm not tired at all," Lucy protested, but her words were spoiled by the yawn that split her face.
"We do have a long ride ahead of us, tomorrow," Edmund said, helping his younger sister to her feet when she swayed against him, clearly tired. "And it's been a long day today."
"Longer for some of us than others," Peter commented, shooting him a pointed look.
Peter stood and offered a hand to Susan, who took it, rising gracefully. Then she let out a panicked shout when Peter collapsed on top of her, his face bone white and his shoulder soaked with blood. Edmund rolled Peter over onto his back, letting out a quiet oath when he took in the older boy's pain-filled grimace.
"He must have been injured in the battle with the Witch," Susan said, worry and anger coloring her tone. "Why didn't he tell any of us?"
"Because he's an idiot," Edmund growled. "Lucy, where's your cordial?"
The younger girl uncapped the crystal vial and, as Edmund ripped open the sleeve to Peter's shirt to reveal the nasty stab wound beneath, she dropped a single drop onto his skin. The wound puckered and closed in only a few seconds, and Peter's eyes fluttered open a moment later. He smiled weakly when he found himself under the intense scrutiny of his siblings, but Edmund pressed his lips together in a tight line.
"You should have told us you were hurt," he said, accusingly.
"I didn't think it was that serious," Peter protested.
"Well, clearly, you were wrong." This, from Susan, who was also still angry with her brother.
"I'm sorry," Peter apologized, but neither Edmund or Susan was budging.
"You're going straight to bed," Susan said, firmly, taking Peter's good arm and pulling him to his feet.
She marched her older brother to their tent, ignoring the feeble protests he made as they left. Lucy and Edmund watched them go, hiding their smiles behind their hands.
"Poor Peter," Lucy said, not bothering to hide her amusement.
"Susan can be as stubborn as a mule when she wants to be," Edmund agreed, and Lucy gave him an incredulous look.
"Don't let Susan hear you call her that," was all his little sister said.
"You need to get some sleep, too," Edmund reminded her, when Lucy yawned again.
"I'm just waiting for Susan to get Peter settled," Lucy told him.
She was silent, then, for several long minutes as she looked out at the quiet camp, listening to the songs of the night-birds in the trees.
"You said you'd always be there for me," she said, softly, after a moment.
Edmund felt his insides twist violently with guilt at her words, but then she continued.
"But, you were there for all of us," she went on, and Edmund looked at her in surprise.
Lucy looked back at him, the expression on her face far more mature than her eight years.
"You must have been very scared," Lucy said, when Edmund couldn't find any words to say. "I think I would have been."
"I was," Edmund admitted. "But I couldn't let her hurt anyone."
"You saved us," Lucy told him. "And then you came back to us."
"Lucy," Edmund began, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Lucy, I survived by Aslan's grace. I won't always be able to-"
"I know you won't always," Lucy said, solemnly, looking at him. "I know that, someday, you, Peter, or Susan might not come home. But, you came back this time."
Edmund nodded, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he mulled over her words.
"I came back this time," he agreed, quietly.
They sat together for a while longer before Susan came looking for both of them.
"You both should be in bed," she admonished, gently.
"I was just coming," Lucy protested, as Susan pulled her to her feet.
"I'll come to bed in a little bit," Edmund promised, when Susan gave him an expectant look.
"Don't wander off," Susan implored him, before leading Lucy back to the tent.
Edmund sat by the banked fire for a while longer, making quiet conversation with the guards when they changed the watch. Finally, he stood up, intending to go to the tent and go to sleep, but instead, he started walking.
Restless, Edmund prowled around the edges of the camp. He couldn't go back to the tent when he was this wound up; he'd wake everyone else up and then no one would get any sleep. He was on his third circuit when he noticed Aslan sitting on the rocks overlooking the ocean, completely motionless.
He turned to Edmund as though sensing his presence, and Edmund was reminded of his first morning back in the camp and the conversation they'd had. Squaring his shoulders, he walked up the incline to join the Lion in his vigil.
"You took a grave chance, Edmund," Aslan said, quietly, turning to look at him.
"There was no chance," Edmund replied, unable to meet the Lion's eyes. "I knew the Witch would kill me. I did not expect to survive."
"Why did you go to her?" Aslan asked.
"You told me once that a king must do everything in his power to protect his people," Edmund said, a hint of stubbornness in his voice. "This was the only way for me to protect my people from the Witch invoking the Deep Magic."
"There was another way," Aslan reminded him, gently.
"Too many people have sacrificed themselves for me," Edmund argued, thinking about Auric's attempt to defend him from the Witch. "I won't let anyone else die for my mistakes."
"Sometimes," Aslan told him, his voice heavy, "there is no other choice."
Edmund looked out at the moonlight shining over the ocean, casting a silvery glow on Cair Paravel.
"There should be," he said, softly.