Chapter Fourteen
"We are here today for the trial of Eleniel, Princess of Narnia and daughter of the White Witch. Please bring her in," said Peter and everyone turned their heads to the back doors of the hall that opened. Two centaurs then brought in Eleniel who was chained and dispensed her in the middle of the room with everyone staring at her.
Lucy gasped at the sight of her. Her once white hair was now dirty and ratty, she was still wearing the white dress from the battle that was now ripped at the bottom and grey and the large spot of blood on her side still remained. Her bare feet were cut up a bit and she had patches of dirt smudged on her face. She kept her head down and waited for this trial to just be over with.
"The charges are treason, attempted assassination of King Edmund, and conspiracy against the crown," continued Peter, "what do you have to say for yourself?"
Eleniel remained silent. She knew if she said anything it would just make Peter angrier at her, he was a hot head and she knew nothing she could say would save her from his wrath.
"Very well then, at this time does anyone have anything to say?" He was met with silence. Lucy looked over at Edmund whose eyes were on Eleniel but they weren't focussed. He was deep in thought. "At this time I would like to discuss the punishment with my fellow kings and queens."
Murmuring broke out into the room as Peter turned towards his siblings and Caspian. Lucy nudged Edmund and he looked at her pleading face. He couldn't stand it anymore and he quickly stood up.
"Wait," he exclaimed facing Peter, "just wait."
"What is it Edmund?" asked Peter as the room fell silent and all eyes were on her. Edmund got out of his seat and made his way down to Eleniel who would not look at him. He was the last person she wanted to look at.
"This is Eleniel, Peter, the girl that taught us everything we know about Narnia and how to rule it. She didn't have to do that, she could have taught us wrong or made it last longer than a year so she could keep ruling, but she didn't, she handed it over as soon as possible. She use to be tormented every night by her mother telling her to do things to the crown but she never did, she even gave me her ring that held all her magic. Some one who wanted to take the throne from us would not do all of these things. You have to realize she was not herself that day in the battle. Yes, Aslan said she wasn't possessed, but she also wasn't herself. You know how powerful and frightening her mother can be and you should know that this isn't right," said Edmund who kneeled down and undid Eleniel's chains before standing in front of her as if to protect her from his brother. All that was swimming through Eleniel's head as Edmund protected her was what Aslan told her.
You may have hope yet. Don't give up on justice. In this case, she had to rely on King Edmund, The Just.
There was silence as Peter stared at his brother before sighing, "Edmund, we know that you have feelings for Eleniel, but you can't let them stand in the way of your duty as king. She betrayed us, imagine if you didn't stop her, what if she out powered you, where would we be then? Where would you be? And how are we to be sure that this won't happen again, your feelings can't stop this."
"The wand has been destroyed and the ring is in a safe place. It was the combination of these two things that made this happen, and now it can't happen again."
"You're letting your feeling cloud your judgment. There are other ways, traces of the White Witch are all over Narnia, she did rule for a hundred years," said Peter.
"Okay, yes Peter, I love her, but that doesn't affect the facts that this Eleniel right here would never do anything to hurt us," said Edmund. Eleniel looked up at Edmund at the first part of his statement and everything else was a blur.
He loved her? Was that what he was trying to tell her in the How? Is that really why he was standing up for her now and no one else?
"I believe Edmund," said Lucy standing up then making her way to stand next to Edmund.
"Lucy," said Peter shocked. There was a silence before Susan looked at Caspian then at Peter then standing up.
"I believe that we need to let Caspian decide. He is now the king of Narnia and it is his choice to trust Eleniel or not," she said and everyone's eyes fell on to Caspian. He thought about it for a while before standing up and looking out at everyone.
"Before any final decision is made I believe myself and the other kings and queens need to think about everything thoroughly and make sure the best decision is made regarding Eleniel's fate. As for now, she will be locked up in the tower room until we resume her trial," he stated officially. He nodded to the two centaurs and they helped Eleniel to her feet and headed off to the tower. Edmund glared at his brother as everyone began to file out and Lucy and Susan looked between them.
"Edmund!" shouted Lucy as he stormed out of the room.
Eleniel stepped into her new room as the door closed behind her and locked. There was a small window in the door but other then that she was closed off to the world.
It was a small square room with a bed to the side and desk. There was a smaller room in the corner that she noticed was a bathroom with hot water in the tub already. She was grateful for this and quickly shed her clothes and stepped into the hot water.
At least there were some kind people, she thought as she used some soap to rubbed the dirt from her body. Now if only she had a new dress, she thought right before she heard a demanding voice.
"Let me in," it said to the guards outside that stood outside her door in the hallway. The lock unlocked and the door opened before swinging shut and locking once more.
"Eleniel?" came the voice much closer before footsteps headed into the bathroom, "oh sorry," said Edmund as he turned around. Eleniel sunk further into the bath.
"It's okay," she said making sure the cloudy, soapy water covered her. The only thing that stuck out was her head and neck.
Edmund turned back around and walked over to the tub holding out a light blue dress.
"I brought this for you," he said glancing to her old discarded dress.
"Thank you," she said. He nodded and hung the dress up on a nearby hook next to a towel before kneeling down next to her. He stared her straight in the eye before she looked away, unable to bear his kind look. Edmund sighed and looked around, he noticed her hair was still dirty so he rolled his sleeves up and grabbed the shampoo bar and began to clean her hair.
Eleniel didn't protest, for it felt nice, and they both just remained silent.
"You can go ahead and rinse," he said placing the bar down. Eleniel closed her eyes and sunk under the water. She waited a bit before coming back up. She rubbed the water out of her eyes and when she opened them, Edmund was right next to her. He took her hand and stared at her, trying once more but she still tried to look away. She would have if it wasn't for Edmund grabbing her chin and keeping her facing him.
"Why do you turn away from me?" he whispered.
"Because I don't deserve your kindness nor your love. I betrayed you and your family and this country and there is nothing that can be done to change it. It was me that did it, not my mother or anyone else, me."
"How can you say that? You weren't yourself, it was your mother's magic mixing with yours."
"Then why do I feel so guilty?"
"Because that's human nature. Look Caspian is fair, and if I have anything to say about it, I will make sure you aren't locked up forever, and you most certainly won't die. Just trust me. Do you?" Eleniel couldn't help it, if there was anytime a time when she needed a hug, it was then. She reach out and wrapped her arms around Edmund's neck bringing him into a tight hug. Neither seemed to care that Edmund's tunic was now soaking wet or that Eleniel was lacking a tunic.
Edmund held onto her as well, but suddenly he pulled away as she gasped and sunk down in pain, grabbing her side.
"It's your side isn't it? Did I brush it?" he asked trying to see her injured side but she sunk back into the water. She merely nodded and he quickly got up and grabbed her towel.
"I want to take a look at it," he said. Eleniel hesitated before standing up. Edmund wrapped the towel around her and helped her step out of the tub.
"Dry off, I'll go get you some bandages and see if I can get you something warm to eat." He left, telling the guards he would be back, and Eleniel quickly dried off. She looked at her side and touched it gently before putting the clean dress on. She left the top undone and wrapped the towel around her upper body. She waited only a little bit before Edmund returned with a tray of steaming stew and some bandages.
"Here, lay down on the bed," he instructed as he placed the tray down. Eleniel did as she was told and waited. Edmund walked over and kneeled next to he bed. He lifted the towel to reveal her injury and he immediately grew angry.
"No one looked at this and now it is infected," he said as he saw the green and purple skin and the cut in the middle of it with infection along the cut. The bath had cleaned out the dirt so Edmund took the bandages and wrapped them around her injury. He tied it off before looking at her.
"Hopefully it heals well now," he said, "I'm just worried about that infection." She nodded and he stood and went to get the stew as she stood and did the rest of her dress. Once it was secure she tossed the towel to the side and sat back down on the bed. Edmund came and sat next to her and placing the tray of food in her lap.
She ate silently and Edmund noticed the cold fireplace in the room on the opposite wall. While she ate, he started the fire and made sure it was big enough warm the cold room before sitting back next to her. She finished the stew and placed the tray on the ground and they sat there in silence that was tense until Eleniel broke it.
"Edmund, is it true, what you said at the trial?" she asked.
"I said a lot of things at the trial," he said, knowing what she was talking about but wanting her to say it.
"The part about you loving me. Is that what you were trying to tell me back at the How?" she asked.
"Yes, but I kept getting rudely interrupted," he said with a laugh before his face fell serious and he turned to look at her. She looked up at him and sighed before turning to look at her hands that were folded in her lap.
"Right," she muttered. There was a silence and Edmund was waiting expectantly but when he realized she wasn't going to say anything he broke the silence.
"Well, isn't there anything you want to say?" he said trying to give her a hint.
"What is there to say? I can't very well say it back and get your hopes up when my fate lies in the hands of someone else. I couldn't say it and then have you crushed. Peter is right, your feeling might be clouding your judgment and what if this does happen again and because of your feelings I stayed; those feelings could put Narnia at risk and I can't let that happen."
"But you do love me, you just won't say it?" He said trying to figure out what she was saying and getting slightly agitated.
"No, Edmund you are a dear friend, but I do not," she paused, took a deep breath and said, "love you." Edmund let what she said sunk in before he stood up and furiously left the room. Eleniel felt tears fall down her face but just let them as she thought about what she had just done. She was still a princess of Narnia and had to do what was right by her country, so why did it feel so wrong?
"We are here today to continue the trial of Eleniel, Princess of Narnia. Please bring her in," said Peter. Two centaurs walked alongside Eleniel as she walked in and stood in the middle of the room. She was clean this time and there were no chains and she held her head up proudly as she waited for her sentence.
"King Caspian, if you would," said Peter. He took his seat as Caspian stood up and looked around the room before looking at Eleniel.
"The past week the kings and queens and I have discussed this matter thoroughly and have come to a decision of Eleniel's fate for her actions against Narnia. We have decided that her sentence shall be," he paused, "banishment."
A/n: So I worked diligently to finish this chapter all because for some reason this past week I got a lot of notifications saying a lot of people had added this story to their favourites. I don't know if it is Narnian appreciation week or something, but for it I decided to get a new chapter written. Thank you those that did favourite this story, in the past and during this week.
I am trying to get my stories out as soon as possible but I am working on three other stories and Susan Pevensie and Charlotte LaBouf costumes and my friend just asked me to make her a Mrs Lovette costume so posting might be delayed.
Thank you for reading and reviews are most welcomed.
-Charlotte