Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia

Character(s): Edmund Pevensie | Peter Pevensie | Mr. Beaver

Pairing(s): none

Warning(s): spoilers through Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardobe

King Edmund the Just - it is almost a farce for the Lion to name him as such. He who was the traitor. He whose blood, by rights, should be spilled on the Stone Table.

Who is he to mete out justice? How can he ever profess to know what is fair and right?

He.

Edmund Pevensie.

The would-be king.

The Witch's puppet.

Susan and Peter try to tell him that it wasn't his fault. They repeat over and over that he was just a child (as if he is so much older now) and that he was manipulated into doing what he did. (Edmund knows that Peter personally blames himself, as if his few moments of being too hard on his little brother are enough to offset a deliberate betrayal.) They say that if he hadn't been bullied so much at school, if he hadn't been missing Father, if he hadn't felt like nobody listened to him, maybe things would have been different.

And Edmund knows that there is truth in what they say.

The White Witch was a mistress of evil, skilled in twisting the hearts of those around her, playing on their fears, playing with their desires, winning them to her side with promises of all she would never give.

But that doesn't change the fact that Edmund willingly went over to her side. It doesn't erase his memories of wanting to see Peter pay; of envisioning Susan and Lucy kneeling at his feet. It doesn't take away the feelings of horror that gripped his heart when he heard the name Aslan (feelings that, if nothing else, prove just who his heart belonged to at that moment).

He is guilty.

However you slice it, whatever excuses might be made, it was still his choice.

One made deliberately.

One made willingly.

The Just King is a traitor. That is the ugly truth.

So so what if he always feels tired?

So what if he misses a few meals?

He owes it to the Narnians to be better, to push harder, to try with everything he has. He's not the boy he used to be. He'll make it up to them.

It's the least he can do, considering all.

Aslan gave him a second chance. He knows better than to waste it.

Four months into their new reign, Edmund is kidnapped. Not by marauders or Calormens or Fell Beasts; by his own siblings. They hustle him out of Cair and sail up Glasswater to the Beavers' home where he is informed they will be staying for two weeks.

And that's fine.

Really, it's fine.

He just wishes they had warned him so he could bring some of his books with him. There's a meeting with the Galmian ambassador next month that he is nowhere near prepared for.

He doesn't understand why Peter's jaw tightens when he mentions it. That meeting is very important. It could make or break the re-establishment of a functioning trade route with Terebinthia.

When they arrive, Mrs. Beaver takes one look at Edmund and makes a tsk-ing sound in her throat, practically dragging him into the lodge and forcing him down at her table. She starts with a cup of tea and biscuits. Then sandwiches. Then a bowl of soup and a tumbler of cold milk. And each time she glares at him over her whiskers until he's eaten every scrap.

Peter is no help whatsoever, and Edmund begins to suspect that the two of them are in cahoots when the High King sternly spreads a thicker layer of butter onto the toast and practically shoves it down Edmund's throat.

(Susan and Lucy are outside chatting with Mr. Beaver and therefore unavailable to see Edmund's silent pleas for assistance.)

But he finds that he can't complain too much about Mrs. Beaver's fussing. It is kindly meant, he knows - as is the show of mother-henning courtesy of Peter. And, for the first time in Lion only knows how long, Edmund feels pleasantly warm inside. Warm and at ease and a little bit sleepy.

Suddenly he is curled up in one of the bunks beneath a mound of rather rough but very cozy blankets, struggling to keep his eyes open. Soft lips press a kiss on his forehead, and a hand tangles its fingers gently in his hair. "He's completely exhausted." A familiar voice whispers - Susan.

"He's been working too hard." That's Peter.

Edmund is so tired...

"I should have noticed sooner."

"We all should've."

"...will he be...alright?"

"...let him sleep..."

TBC...