Once Upon Another Time

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Elednor changed into more comfortable attire while Edmund was summoned away to consult with Peter, his face ashen with what she had just told him.

The moment she had looked into that black sea, it had ensnared her, pulling her into its grip, trying to wrest control from her. In doing so, it had allowed her entrance to the consciousness behind the malice, behind the shadows and the green mist, a thinking, sentient thing which desired only one thing. To destroy and consume all worlds, to suck the light from them and fill them with fear. It had grown since their encounter in Calormen, and now it held the power to form in daylight, under the glare of the sun. She could feel its power even then, calling to her, seductive, insatiable.

Overhead the clouds massing in the sky blotted out the sun, and Elednor shivered. Despair filled her, and she did not need to hear the shouts of alarm to know that their camp had been surrounded, fenced in by the shadows. An island of light in a sea of black.

When night fell, so would they fall. The darkness was patient, and it always won, for it was everywhere. It was beneath her bed, and lurked in the deepest corners. It was attached to soles of her feet as she walked, it shrouded her at night. It was within her, breathing, living, a shadow self of her image.

The shadows would creep through the stretch of woodland, and it would overwhelm them, and then Narnia itself. Nothing would survive, just as her homeland had not survived. All was lost.

No matter how bright their swords shone, how keen their arrows, how strong their courage, the darkness would win. The darkness always wins, for the brightest light casts the darkest shadow.

She could feel it, only a mile distant, calling to her even then, crowding out her courage, sapping her strength. It would not strike until fear ruled and then….then it would be at its strongest, and nothing could stand against it.

Elednor…

Suddenly that voice, that warm, deep, calming voice sounded in her mind; driving out the whispers of the dark and she turned, and her eyes widened.

Instantly she knew him, as she dropped to her knees, head bowed. Not only because his image had been everywhere since she had met Edmund, but because she knew him. She had always known him.

Aslan.

She breathed his name, as he approached her, his great paws filling her vision, and she idly wondered how something as magnificent and large as he fit into her tent.

"Your thoughts have been dark, Daughter of Eve," the great Lion murmured, in a low growl.

"This is my fault. I drew the darkness to Narnia, and now we have no hope," she replied quietly, still unable to raise her head. Without warning, or sound, she felt him dip his great head and his tongue on her forehead in a Lion's kiss, and instantly warmth filled her where there had only been ice.

"There is always hope, my Daughter," he told her gravely. "Look at me, Elednor, Daughter of Eve."

Slowly, trembling but not with fear, Elednor did as she was bid, raising her gaze to the shining golden eyes, and the tawny mane like a great crown, and the wise but terrifying face of Aslan.

"Even now, there is always hope," he repeated. "The darkness can be destroyed if you have the will to fight it."

"I am not strong enough," Elednor shook her head. The great Lion shook his head, as a delightful smell filled the air.

"I can give you the strength to fight, Elednor, Daughter of Eve, but you must find the will to do so," Aslan told her seriously. "There is a power greater than swords and armies, a power that can ignite the stars themselves. The darkness has one weakness, and a lone candle may hold it back."

"But even a candle eventually stutters and fades, Aslan," she replied.

"Nay, there is one flame that will never burn out, my Daughter," Aslan rumbled. "It lives in you, as it lives in others. Love is the key to the darkness, my Daughter, and you are filled with it. For Narnia, for your people, for your new family and for Edmund."

Elednor began to shake her head, but the Lion's words refused to fade under the despair she had felt. Love…the darkness could destroy anything but it could not destroy her love for Edmund.

That was stronger than fear, than death, than time and space and everything in between. Love was unconquerable.

As she thought that, a new strength filled her and she raised her proud head to his, face streaked with tears but her silver eyes flashing with a new will. Aslan smiled a leonine grin, and extended his head, like a father opening his arms to a recalcitrant child. Elednor buried her head in his soft mane, inhaling its sweet fragrance, feeling it steal into her body, chasing away the black despair within her. She straightened, facing Aslan once more, eyes steady and strong on his.

"I know what I have to do," she breathed, in a quiet but strong voice. Aslan inclined his head to hers and breathed. The wind of his breath was like a fresh summer breeze, ruffling her hair, as she stood.

"You are ready," he murmured, as she bowed to him. "Queen of Narnia."

Elednor's head shot up in surprise at that, but the great Lion had disappeared, and she was alone once more.

Edmund walked along the edge of the woods grimly, depressed after the news had been brought that they were fenced in like badgers in a trap. He knew from their experience in the deserts of Calormen that the darkness would wait until nightfall, despite the dimming of the sun, when fear would be at its highest and its shadow creatures could take their forms.

All there was left to do was wait, wait for the fight to begin.

The sky began to darken, as Orieus relieved him of his watch, and he went back to his tent, a grey twilight falling upon their camp. He stripped off his armour, but left his sword within reach as he bathed his face in water, then laid back on the cot of furs and soft pillows that had been made for him. He laid back and stared at the nearly translucent ceiling of his tent, thinking on all that had occurred.

He should go to Elednor. He should, but some strange lethargy affected his limbs, making him slow to move.

It was all so hopeless.

There is always hope, Son of Adam…

"Aslan?" he frowned, knowing that voice as well as he knew his own sisters', and he sat up on the cot, turning to face the entrance of his tent. "Aslan?"

But instead of the golden Lion standing at the entrance to his tent, his eyes met the form of Elednor stepping through the gauzy drapes, her slender figure clothed in emerald green velvet, her long hair loose and wild around her shoulders, the gown's v-shaped neck exposing the glimmering alabaster of her skin.

But it was her eyes that made him gasp. They seemed to shine with heat, and need, and love as she slowly glided towards him, the train of the riding gown flowing behind her. His breath hitched, as he swung his legs over the edge of the cot. "Elednor?" he breathed questioningly. She made no sound as she walked towards him, a gentle smile on her lips. Fleetingly, he wondered if this was a hallucination of the mist's making, but no, it was his Elednor.

She reached him before he could stand, framing his face between her hands. No words were needed, as both recognised the same need in the other. Elednor bent her head to his as he pulled her forward onto his lap, her knees either side of his hips. Both hearts raced at the new position, their bodies pressed together intimately, but the kiss remained unbroken. Edmund's hands slid up into Elednor's hair, but her hands wandered down from his face to the ties of his shirt, pulling them apart. Edmund pulled back from her kiss, to stare at her heatedly, their shallow breathing puffing against their lips. Elednor never broke his stare, as she pulled at the shirt, and he gave in to the need he saw in her eyes, a need only building in his own body. He raised his arms, allowing her to awkwardly tug the linen shirt over his head.

Edmund pulled her lips back to his, pulling her closer into his body, needing to feel the softness of hers. Coherent thought fled, and he groaned as she shifted in his lap, pulling himself from the warm haven of her mouth, to lay a path of hungry kisses down her neck. Elednor cried out, holding him to her, her fingers curving over his skull, her pulse racing faster as his lips lingered over the spot where her heart beat. His hands left her waist to pull at the tiny line of buttons doing up her bodice, tugging them free so he could devour more of her skin. Elednor stopped him, urging his head back to hers, their lips meeting hungrily, as Elednor pulled her skirt up one of her legs, exposing the planes of her leg between her skirt and her boot. Edmund didn't stop in their kiss, but he still managed to marvel at the softness of her skin as he ran his hand up her leg, from mid-calf to thigh, his thumb running up the sensitive inner face. Elednor's suddenly stuttered breathing as Edmund's hand lingered close to where the flames under her skin burned hottest. She had never felt the like, and it was both intoxicating and addictive. She leant back slightly, to meet her love's eyes, as she stroked his face.

She would have no regrets tonight, just his love. She needed it like she needed to breathe.

Seeing the wildness in his Elednor's eyes, Edmund shivered, and turned, using his hold on Elednor to turn her under him and simultaneously moving them further up the cot. Feeling her soft body pinned beneath his, he shuddered, remembering all the times he had her this way before, and had had to fight away the desire rising at the feeling. Not this time.

Their lips met again, as Elednor's hands caressed the strong planes of Edmund's back, feeling each scar and patch of rough skin between the soft, old wounds that only made her love him more.

Passion waxed in that tent as the shadows only grew, but not there. In that haven of grey drapes and soft furs and gentle whispers of love and desire, as the two lovers came together for the first time, the flames of that love burned higher and hotter, ensnaring the two humans and fusing them as one, never to be free or apart.

Not long after Edmund had collapsed beside her, spent, their arms entwined; Elednor stirred. She had to go, it was time.

Carefully, ignoring the twinges of a warm ache in her thighs and back, she stood and retrieved her dress from where it had been thrown, sliding into her chemise and boots. At a gentle murmur from her lover and betrothed, she turned and sadly smiled down at the sight of Edmund sleeping the rest of the sated. She reached out with her hand and ghosted it over his hair, before leaning down to just brush his lips with hers.

"Forgive me," she whispered. "I love you."

And with that she turned and swept from the tent, and from the camp, moving quieter than a ghost, slipping into the shadows to meet her destiny.

The warmth of Edmund's love still burning strong with every step, every twinge of her muscles, every memory of hands and lips and soft hair and strong muscles flickering beneath her palms. The flames of his love protected her, as she entered the woods and began to walk towards the darkness waiting for her.