Chapter 36

The Tisroc was not at all pleased with the result of his son's recklessness. How dare those Barbarians put a curse on his son! But it was not his fault; it was the fault of Prince Rabadash. As long as those filthy Barbarians still think they could be on good terms with him, everything would be fine for the Tisroc. Someday…someday, he'll own the forsaken Northern lands.

The girl stood in front of him. She never even thought of bowing in respect. A vermin in the Tisroc's eyes. She does not know this girl properly, but Levina, the leader of the traveling gypsies, spoke poorly of her. Speaking of Levina, where is that woman? She was his favorite form of entertainment, but things went slightly off with her after the Barbarians have escaped. He was informed that Levina's niece, a gypsy named Hashreen, was sent aboard King Edmund's ship to spy. Obviously, her plan did not go well. Levina told him such fantasies that her niece can help, that the Barbarians would not accuse them of espionage. He ought to cut off her tongue for the lies. But no matter; the issue about her niece is not something big to deal with. The gypsy girl's death was nothing to him, but he allowed the Narnians to bring forth her corpse and the bodies of his son's soldiers to present to them that the war caused by Rabadash' silly infatuation was not the intention of the Tisroc.

"Here is the letter regarding Rabadash' condition," the girl called Tawny said. "Er…sir."

A slave got the scroll of parchment from the girl and gave it to the Tisroc. He read it silently. King Edmund expressed his views and concerns evidently with suppressed anger. The letter explained the condition Aslan granted for his son. The "Great Lion", as what the Barbarians called Aslan, was just a cruel dark demon to the Tisroc. Turning his heir into a donkey! Preposterous! A demon….

"You have to understand that Raba—Prince Rabadash…got what was coming for him," the girl spoke bravely. But sometimes, bravery can be mistaken with foolishness. And this girl, she was foolish.

"I understand," the Tisroc said bitterly. He could almost see the girl's smile. But his gaze turned to the man standing on the side. Ezron was looking at him, then to the girl.

Tawny noticed the Tisroc's eyes going to her friend. She knew he'd be in trouble when he gets back to Calormen , not only him but Dorelle, his wife, as well. Rabadash must think he's a traitor. So Tawny took care to tell Edmund to write something about Ezron. Edmund offered protection for Ezron, his wife, and their families under Aslan's name. Before leaving for Calormen, the Calormene soldier told the Edmund and Tawny that he'd be resigning his position in the Calormene army to work in his family's fields in a southern province in Calormen. Dorelle was to stay with him. Tawny made sure to tell him that they are welcome to visit Narnia anytime they want. The look on Ezron's delightful face made Tawny smile—

"And you are…resigning?" the Tisroc asked Ezron.

Ezron lowered his head, "My greatest apologies—"

"Why?"

"I believe that…I do not find happiness—"

"In defending your country anymore?" the Tisroc finished.

"It is not because of that—"

"Please," Tawny cut in. "He just wants to live a peaceful life…" the fat man sitting at the throne raised his eyebrows at her. "Free from wars and killings…"

The Tisroc remained unmoved with an unfathomable face. "How about the dead body of Hashreen? Do you wish to see her aunt?"

"No," she replied with a hard expression.

After all was settled, every question answered, and every bit of information delivered, Tawny told the Tisroc that they should leave now. The Tisroc only nodded his head and raised Edmund's letter to his face again. Tawny, Ezron and a handful of Narnian soldiers accompanied them out of the Tisroc's hall, where Malric and a few soldiers waited for them by the huge doors.

"How did it go?" Malric asked her as they walked across the Calormene courtyard.

Tawny smiled, "It went well, I think. But I have to tell you: seeing the head doctor of Susan's infirmary is scarier than talking to the Tisroc, that's for sure."

The coyote wrinkled his nose, "Vilvidorn is most brutally frightening with his medicine for a broken bone."

She laughed, but suddenly stopped. "Dorelle?" she ran to a woman with a beautiful but worried face, her hair was shiny and long but was a mess. Tawny can no longer see her bruises but there was a wound healing on her eyebrow. Ezron followed Tawny and hugged Dorelle after the girl did.

"How are you?" Ezron asked her softly. His joy can be seen all over his face. He kissed Dorelle, held her hand and saw a faint scar. He kissed it as well.

"I am fine," she replied. Dorelle turned to Tawny and her smile widened.

"She's a brave little girl," Ezron commented.

"But, oh, she is not little anymore!"

Tawny laughed. She stepped aside so that Dorelle can see Malric. "You remember my good friend don't you?"

"Are you addressing her or me?" Malric joked. He bowed to Dorelle. "You helped Tawny and I give you all my thanks, m'lady." He turned to Ezron. "And I believe I owe you one as well, noble knight."

"Ah, but I am a knight no longer," Ezron replied with a smile.

"But in Aslan's mighty eyes, you are a knight of justice," Malric bowed again.

They all continued to walk out from the Tisroc's palace and when they reached the gates, they heard a piercing cry from outside.

"No! You will not take me!" Levina's voice was shrill and hysterical. Two soldiers held her hands while children threw stones at her. "I have gold, you bastards! You cannot take me!"

"Cease flinging rocks, you children!" One of the soldiers said. "You might hit us! It will cost you your fingers if you hit and wound a soldier!"

The children ran away cackling in mischievous delight.

"What happened to her?" Tawny's voice was the voice of a stranger.

Dorelle looked uncomfortable. "She went mad. There was a rumor that after she discovered Hashreen's death, the evil spirits that she obeyed all her life finally took their toll and caused her insanity."

Tawny felt horrible for Hashreen….if only….

But it was too late. And Tawny prayed that Aslan would forgive her and that wherever Hashreen was, she would find love at last. "Because love always is the answer to all problems," Someone had told her that in a dream she had last night. She can't remember who it was, though.

. . .

They said their final goodbyes with Ezron and Dorelle on the Tashbaan port. The two Calormenes would be setting of southward where the fields of Ezron's parents are waiting. Tawny tried to hold back her tears but Malric nuzzled her knee and told her it was alright to cry. Her tears gave away because that was what Dorelle used to tell her. The girl and the coyote looked out to the sunset in silence.

"This is certainly not our last farewell," Dorelle had told her when they were still in the dock.

"Of course not," Tawny said with a shaky voice. "I'll write to you."

"And we'll send you some of our harvest," Ezron added.

Tawny laughed, "Alright, I'd be looking forward to that."

Dorelle and Tawny hugged one more time. Ezron and Malric exchanged glances, Ah, women!

The older of the two cupped the younger one's face and stared at her eyes, "You have really come so far." She smiled and kissed her forehead. "But I bet that there is still more adventure on your way."

"Maybe I'm too exhausted for new adventures," Tawny said. "I think I'll give myself a rest from it. For now anyway." They gave each other meaningful stares.

Malric cleared his throat, "I do not wish to ruin this beautiful tear-jerking moment," Ezron chuckled at this. "But, m'lady, I believe there is a dark-haired king waiting for you in Narnia—"

"Malric!"

"Well, there are also a few others but no one's more excited than he i—"

"Alright, alright!"

Tawny laughed when she remembered her last few moments in the Calormene soil. Malric turned his head towards her. "I knew you've been mad all along."

She elbowed Malric playfully.

. . .

High King Peter was home when Tawny, Malric and their company reached Narnia. He had his left wrist bandaged and a few cuts on his face, but he and his army have successfully driven out the giants that caused some problems. It appeared that Lucy has told him all about their own adventures.

"You missed a lot, Pete," she said.

"Well, obviously, he had his own," Edmund retorted.

Edmund has been anxious since Tawny left for Calormen, but today was the day she was coming back. When the herald blew his trumpet some time after lunch and announced their arrival, the young king was the first to come to Cair Paravel's port to welcome them. First thing he saw was Tawny's smile. It gave him such joy that he thought he couldn't contain it and his chest would burst. He walked towards the ramp where Tawny was slowly descending with Malric but Lucy was able to beat him to hug her first. Lucy spoils everything. Edmund grunted, stayed put and crossed his arms.

"How did it go?" Lucy asked.

"Alright," Tawny shrugged. "I guess so. We came back in one piece, did we?"

The young queen laughed then took notice of Malric. Tawny continued to go down the ramp and smiled brightly at Edmund. He couldn't help but smile back. She stopped in front of him.

"Erm…" she said. "Well—"

"Welcome home,"

"Nice to be home,"

Edmund took Tawny's hand, "Shall we go inside? Peter's already here. I think he'd love to hear how the Tisroc dealt with all that has happened."

"It's pretty boring…" she shrugged. "We just stepped in and went that's all."

But all the same, they joined the Peter in his sitting room and they shared each other's stories. The one Peter was most excited about was how much of a blow the Tisroc took it, of course.

Tawny went to her room and rested after a while. She thought about everything that had happened until her mind took on a course of its own and she fell asleep.

.

Someone was knocking sharply on her door. Tawny groaned and placed her pillow on her head to drown out the noise. But the rapping was still heard.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" She sat up immediately and blinked thrice in confusion. Her heart raced and she looked around. The sharp knock on the door and her response, it was all familiar. She looked around her room once more then at herself. She gave a sigh of relief. She was wearing a dress, not a slave-boy's garments.

Tawny lied back on her bed again and stared at the ceiling. For one moment she thought that everything was just a dream, that she was back on her first night in Narnia…that she was still a slave and Levina was there right outside the door, waiting to talk to her about her behavior towards the young Narnian monarchs. But that was years ago.

The knocks grew louder and more impatient.

She ran to the door and opened it. Lucy beamed at her. "What took you so long?" she said.

"I…fell asleep,"

"I can see that…" Queen Lucy chuckled. "Ooh, no time for this, you have to go outside, now!"

"Why?" Tawny said as Lucy dragged her out of her room.

"Oh wait!" They stopped and Lucy fixed Tawny's hair using her hands. "You look beautiful, but your hair's a mess!" she commented. "There. Now come on!"

They ran through the corridors, shadowed because of the setting sun, and they arrived at the courtyard where they stopped again. Lucy gave her a bright smile.

"What's going on?"

The young queen took in a deep breath and held it, "This is verging on cheesiness if you'd judge my brother, but at least he's not hot-tempered anymore!"

Tawny cringed and Lucy pushed her out of the courtyard. "Just walk on straight ahead until you come out to the patio."

Tawny held a frown as she marched her way towards the patio. By the time she got there, the sun was half-hidden in the horizon and it gave wonderful streaks of gold everywhere. She turned her head and saw a little gazebo. Inside the gazebo was a table with elegant dinner thing-a-mobs which seemed like for two persons only. She stood on her tiptoes to see more, and there, sitting on the steps of the gazebo's opening, was Edmund, holding something in his hands and staring out to the ocean. His hair was on his eyes but Tawny could see that his eyebrows were knitted together in deep thought.

"What are you doing?" she mused.

Edmund jumped up, turned his head towards her then hid the thing he was holding behind him.

"Sitting." he said.

"Okay." She replied lightly, hiding her curiosity and suspicion.

Edmund, who was inside the gazebo, walked toward her, and as he did it, he bent quickly then stood up. He must've thought that Tawny didn't notice him placing the thing he was hiding on the floor and kicked it inside the long draping table cloth and under the table.

"Why're you here?" he asked.

"Lucy made me."

"Oh great," Edmund looked sideways and muttered. He cleared his throat and turned to Tawny once again. "Well, I was going to fetch you so, no matter."

"Fetch me for what?" she rested her hands on the wall panel of the gazebo and noticed that she was wearing no shoes. She looked down and dug her toes on the sand. "Fancy arrangement." She nodded towards the table.

"Yeah." Edmund peered down at her feet. "Oh, you can come in."

Tawny smiled and nodded. She walked around the gazebo, towards the opening and went inside. The young king gave her a barely-there smile that took her breath away.

"Are we going to eat?" she asked cheerfully.

"Yeah." He said. "Sit."

Tawny sat down. "There's no food…"

"Yeah, I figured that," he turned around and Tawny followed his gaze. She didn't notice that a faun was standing there. The faun nodded to his king and carried out a silent order.

"Food's coming." He said shortly.

Tawny slowly looked around. "So…what do we do now?"

Edmund suddenly groaned. "Sorry, I've never done this before."

"Done what before?"

He laughed. "This…well, intentionally."

"This?"

"This." Edmund sighed. "I've never done anything special for a girl."

"Thanks for noticing that I'm a girl."

"No problem. My pleasure."

Tawny smiled a little and glanced away. All you could hear was the crashing of the waves on the shore. She squeezed her eyes shut as her stomach somersaulted. Everything felt oddly familiar.

"You look constipated," Edmund said.

"I'm not," she opened her eyes. Edmund laughed.

The food arrived. The faun expertly placed the dishes on the table and poured wine in their glasses. When he left, Tawny picked up her glass and smelled it.

"Wine? Really?" she said with her forehead creased.

"Brings back memories?" he shrugged.

Tawny flushed and placed the wineglass back at the table. "I still remember how you compared yourself to wine."

"So do I. And I have to tell you, that was one of my best speeches ever."

"That night was the first time I admitted that I actually like you," Tawny said, out of the blue.

Edmund smiled as he stared at her, "That night was the first time I've wanted to kiss you."

Tawny snapped her head up and laughed. Edmund felt hot in the face. "That wasn't meant to be said out loud."

"Let's pretend you didn't say that."

"I don't even know what we're talking about," he joked. "Erm, I'd like you to see something. Thought it might look pretty." He then bent and got something out beneath the table, though Tawny still couldn't see it. Edmund opened it and shook out something.

Tawny's lips crept into a wide grin as fireflies hovered in the breezy star-powdered night. Edmund put the jar on the table and stood up.

"Would you want to dance?" he offered her his hand.

Tawny stood up and took his hands without breaking their eye-to-eye contact. She was smiling all over, and so was Edmund. There was no music, only the waves of the ocean, the rustling of the leaves of the trees and their breaths.

"Just like how we first danced," Edmund said quietly.

"Actually, that wasn't our first dance, remember?" Tawny recollected when she was hissing insults at Edmund inside Prince Corin's ballroom a few lifetimes ago.

"Well, it was the first dance we were on good terms with each other."

"Only better," Tawny was glowing. Her eyes were wide and twinkling.

Edmund kissed her forehead and rested his chin on her head as she placed her face against his chest. Then he neared his mouth to her ear and said, "No matter what happens, I will never forget this. I'll never forget you."

They danced quietly and happily for some minutes while the fireflies flew around them.

.

For once, everything felt perfectly fine. It was as if nothing could go wrong. Everyone was safe and comfortable. There was nothing to worry about. And that peaceful night, there was only Tawny and Edmund in the world. Well, at least to them.

A light rain fell from the sky. Just like when they shared their first kiss. The two held each other's hands and went back to the palace, stifling their fits of laughter, in case they wake up anyone. They arrived at the courtyard and Edmund caught her in his arms to kiss her. Both of them smiled and continued running. They arrived in front of Tawny's bedroom.

"You're wet," Edmund remarked.

"Just a little,"

"Well, be sure to change in your warm clothes." He smiled. "Goodnight, Tawny." He leaned to kiss her lightly.

"Goodnight," Tawny replied. She wrapped her arms around his neck and embraced him as tight as she can, as if she won't let him go.

Edmund wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face on her neck. He whispered, "I'll see you in the morning." Tawny turned her head. She meant to kiss his cheek but Edmund immediately caught it with his mouth. They smiled in unison and they let go of each other.

The young king made his way o his bedroom after Tawny mouthed "Goodnight" one last time through the crack of the door as she closed it. He walked through the corridors and all he could hear was the squeaking of his wet boots.

"Ed," Peter called.

Edmund turned around. His older brother couldn't help but notice the biggest beam he ever saw on Edmund's face.

"I see you had a good time," Peter commented.

Edmund dashed to the High King's side and punched him on the arm as he laughed.

"You're overzealous, mate," the older of the two said while rubbing his arm. Edmund's punch was a little too hard.

Edmund sighed happily as both of them started to walk together. "I don't know…I'm just happy."

"Well, I'm happy that you're happy."

"I've never felt this way before—" he stopped himself. "I sound like a girl; you know….talking about my feelings and such."

"You sexist pig," Peter chortled. "But really, I'm glad that you're being open about this. I just hope you don't mess it up."

"What?"

"Well, you always mess up things, so….thought I might just warn you."

Edmund playfully kicked his brother's shin. "I'm serious!" Peter said, although there was a smile on his face.

.

Later that night, when every singles person and creature inside the castle was sound asleep, Edmund kept smiling in the dark of his own bedroom. What was established between Tawny and him was never planned. Expected by his sisters, yes, but planned? No. Susan and Lucy might've tried bringing them closer with each other when they were still in the era of scowling and firing insults, but he was sure that what was happening between the two of them was both of their choices.

The young king also thought about the conflicts that passed through. It was another victory. Another experience.

Once again, things fell into their right places. He said a short but sincere prayer to Aslan and mulled over other things until he fell asleep.

He dreamed of Tawny that night.

That peaceful and secured night.

Flames are welcome 'cause I know this chapter sucked. I got nothing to write except girly-ness and all that icky sweet stuff. I'm sorry I've updated after MONTHS. It's just I've been busy with school work. Really busy.

Apologies for the wrong grammars and spellings.

LAST CHAPTER TO GO.