Edmund and I burst into the Kings' Chamber full of laughter.

'The look on Taran's face when he had to yield to you!' Edmund cried. 'I shall remember that for years.'

'And let us not forget Gormal's stunned expression. He didn't know what to do when he lost,' I said.

'That implies he knows what to do with himself at other times,' Edmund said, and I laughed.

Edmund turned to me and cupped my cheek. 'But most of all there was you. So fierce it gave me chills. You never fail to surprise me.'

I worked on the clasps of his armour, pulling away the epaulettes and the gauntlets. 'You keep saying that,' I observed.

'Because it's true,' he said. 'You've gone from shy—' he kissed me, 'to genteel—' another kiss, 'to brave—' he lingered over the next kiss, 'to passionate. You fascinate me.'

'I do know you enjoy being fascinated,' I murmured against his skin.

'Very much so.' He kicked the door shut and we threw ourselves at each other, kissing with such ferocity and passion that we almost repeated the battle. He bit down on my lip and I seethed and kissed him harder. I stripped his armour off, fumbling with buckles and throwing the pieces down even as we kissed. Soon he was naked, and I was panting with desire.

Footsteps clicked in the hallway, close to the door. Edmund and I froze. If that door opened, there would be no hiding what we were up to.

'Lord Peridan?' Said the page. 'Are you in need of any aid?'

'No,' I said at once. 'Leave me.'

The footsteps retreated. Edmund stepped away, sulking and sagging a bit with disappointment. But I snatched him round the waist and kissed him hard. He grinned against my mouth.

I made to peel off my breastplate, but he reached out, brushing his fingers against my wrist to stop me. 'No,' he said, his voice low and his eyes gleaming. 'Leave it on. I want Peridan the warrior.' And he dropped to his knees. I watched as he peeled away my undergarments with a satisfied smile playing on his lips, as though he was getting exactly what he wanted. When the cloth was stripped away I thought he would take me full in his mouth—I certainly wanted him to. But he teased me instead, nuzzling at me, fluttering kisses, just touching the tip of his tongue to me until I couldn't bear it anymore. I had to have him. I snatched him by the waist and pinned him to the wall and took him. He gasped and submitted to me.

Afterwards I poured the ewer of water over his body. I used the cloth to wipe away the grime of the arena, and pulled his desire from him. He arched under my ministrations and I watched his desire with wonder.

I wanted to lay with him there, but soon they would be coming to clean and seal off the chamber. The tournament was over. He helped me clean up, and the way he swiped the cloth over me almost renewed my desire straight away. I shrugged into my tunic, and Edmund sighed and smiled at the same time.

We left the stadium together. At first Edmund and I blended into the crowd because neither of us had any regalia, just the plain tunics we wore under our armour. Edmund's shoulder's relaxed, and he swung his arms.

'If you could remain incognito and do whatever you liked with an afternoon, what would you do?' He asked.

'Besides you?' I questioned in an undertone.

He laughed. 'Besides me.'

'You already know,' I said. 'I would go to the Lion's Chapel and finish working on that fresco. The puzzle of working with the light in there has played in the back of my mind for many days. Not that I have a lot of liberty to think about art these days.' I gave him a sidelong glance.

'Oh, I apologise for consuming all your liberty,' Edmund returned, nudging me with his shoulder. He paused at the end of the square and looked back. People were going about their business, talking about the tournament, wholly unaware that the king was in their midst. He smiled a bit. 'Let us keep up the pretence. We'll go to the Lion's Chapel.'

'What will you do with your clandestine liberty?' I queried.

'Watch you,' he said, and he glanced at me from under his lashes.

I pursed my lips. It was very hard not to kiss him right there.

We took a quieter way out of town, following the dirt track that led up to the Lion's Chapel. I could see that this would soon be one of the main thoroughfares of Narrowhaven. They would lay down mosaics to pave it and squares with tinkling fountains would bloom. New villas would line the squares and genteel people would glide by in their self important ways. At the moment, though, it was only a dirt path through the high yellow grass. I reached out and clasped Edmund's hand. I babbled a bit about what I saw for the architecture, circling back to the chapel. My cheeks grew hot when I realised how much I had been going on, but when I paused Edmund would nudge me on with a question or an observation. Almost as though he liked hearing me talk.

I turned to face him, taking both his hands as I examined his face. He was squinting in the bright sun and the breeze ruffled his hair. The tip of his nose was pink and more freckles had appeared since I first observed them on Felimath. He leaned in and kissed me.

We drifted off the path and lay back in the warm grass, hidden by the height of it. I watched the bees hover amongst the flowers and the bright sky while I traced patterns on Edmund's palm, and the underside of his forearm.

After a moment he leaned up on his elbow and looked down at me. 'Tell me,' he said, twirling a lock of my hair round his finger, 'What you would do if time was all ours, and we could go anywhere, do anything.'

I looked up into his bright eyes. I laughed softly at myself and turned away.

'What?' Edmund said, shaking my shoulder.

'I daren't say—you will think me terribly sentimental,' I said.

He stacked his fists on my chest and rested his chin on top of them. 'Too late. I already see you as a very sensitive and delicate artist.' I screwed up my face and pushed him off me. 'What?' He said, feigning innocence, 'It's very endearing.'

'Is this where I'm supposed to say that your constant teasing is endearing?' I said.

'Exactly.' He nudged me. 'Go on then. Give me all your sentimental poetry.'

I wrapped my arms around my knees and peered at the town, just visible between the trees. 'I wouldn't care what we did. I'd go anywhere to be by your side.'

He was silent. I glanced over at him, laying my cheek on my knees. His face was soft with tenderness, all the sharp lines gone. He looked almost amazed.

'You're right,' he said. 'That is terribly sentimental.' He scooted closer and wrapped his arms around me. 'Lucky we have you to say these things. I'm terrible at saying the things that really matter.'

I rubbed my hand over his forearm. 'You don't have to say anything,' I told him.

Edmund looked at me a moment, and then he burst out, 'What we need is to figure out how to get what we want. We ought to be able to do it. We are excellent strategists after all.' He stood up and extended a hand to help me up. We started back on our way.

He swung his arms. 'There is an obvious solution.'

I could see what he was warming up to. 'Not as much a solution as you might think,' I said. 'Good strategists plan out all ends.'

He frowned. 'You underestimate my power. You underestimate your own power. You won that tournament. You showed them they can't beat you. We don't have to hide.'

'You underestimate the anger and the hatred,' I said.

He lifted his chin, fixing me with a challenging look. 'We can debate this, but what we need is evidence. Something irrefutable to present to the other.'

'Then I propose we use tonight as a fact finding mission, if you will. We skirt close to the edge of revelation. Let us see what we can gauge of reactions: of the Islanders, your siblings.' I extended my hand, and we shook on it.

'You're going to see that you're wrong,' Edmund said.

'I very much hope that I am,' I said in an undertone.

We fell silent, and in the silence we crept toward each other, holding hands once more.

'Susan's going to have my head for skiving off royal duties,' Edmund said with a sigh.

'You can claim an afternoon of liberty as your victor's prize,' I said.

'Speaking of, what are you going to claim?' Edmund said.

'Ah, that's all part of my strategy,' I said, tapping the side of my nose with my forefinger. Edmund stared in curiosity, but I said no more.

Despite my ordinary clothes, they recognised me at once at the Lion's chapel. The foreman hurried up to us. 'Your Majesty,' he said with reverence as he bowed to Edmund. He turned to me. 'And Lord Peridan, our great patron. We are honoured to have you. Let me show you all our progress, and how close we are to finishing.'

'Gladly,' I said with a smile, 'And then I would like to help with the frescoes, if they still need touching up.'

His mouth fell open. 'My lord,' he said, 'We could not possibly ask you to do such menial labour.'

'Menial?' I repeated, looking around, 'This is the most beautiful work of art I have ever seen in my life. You shouldn't debase it—or yourselves—because I have a title. Rather, you would would honour me by allowing my poor contribution, such as it is.'

'But noblemen don't—'

I squinted at the whitewashed face of the chapel and the hammered gold of the doors shining in the sun. 'Too long have the titled men of these Islands defined what is worth and noble, and what is not. It is time we changed the definition. What say you?'

'I have no choice but to agree,' he said, his eyes merry. 'You've trapped me there.'

'He makes a good diplomat as well as an artist,' Edmund commented, grinning at the foreman. He winked at me as we continued inside.

We toured the marvels of the nearly finished chapel, and by the end my fingers were itching for a paintbrush. The frescoes did still need some touching up, and I set my fists on my hips and tilted my head to survey this while talking through the issues with the artist currently working on it. They found Edmund a chair and me a palette and some brushes. I mixed some colours with the artist and we tried them together. After finding the perfect combination, I set to work on touching up Edmund's likeness. I glanced over my shoulder to check the reference and found him watching me with his fingertips pressed together and his legs crossed, ankle resting on thigh.

'This is what you'd do, isn't it? If you didn't have to be a lord and a soldier and a diplomat,' he said.

I turned back to the painting. 'Oddly, I wouldn't say instead. I would say in addition to. After all,' I looked at him over my shoulder again, 'Being a lord and a soldier and a diplomat is what brought us together. I can't really begrudge those circumstances.'

He grinned. 'Flatterer. With the painting too.' He nodded to my work. 'If you're always going to depict me so well, you ought to be court artist.'

I chuckled as I added some paint.

'You know, you could. In all seriousness,' Edmund said. 'Susan is after someone to do royal portraits. And you could show everyone how noble a pursuit art is.'

'You make too much of me,' I protested, but inside I felt the glow of an ambition realised. I thought of the scared, lonely boy drawing pictures of Peridan and King Gale while holed up in a retiring house. Even if I could go back to comfort him, I didn't know if he would believe the victories his future held.

The final event of the royal visit was the Champions' Ball. Edmund and I would both be honoured, but he had said to me before we parted ways to get ready 'Tonight is your hour.' As I dressed in my father's costume, I felt a flutter of nerves. I was not fool enough to think I had won even half of the nobles over. But, as Orran said, they could not erase me, no matter how much they wanted to. I touched the letter in the pocket and made a silent promise to Orran and to my father.

I went down to the hall where the dancers would assemble. Edmund was already there when I arrived. He looked rather bored, leaning on the wall and examining his nails. When he looked up and saw me though, a smile bloomed over his face. I walked over to him and leaned a shoulder against the wall as I faced him.

'I see you didn't forget to oil your chest,' he said, wrinkling his nose as he reached out and touched my skin with his fingertips.

I bit my lip. 'It is part of the traditional outfit after all.' He let his hand drop and I struggled not to show my disappointment. 'You didn't forget either.'

'Yes, well, when in Rome and all that.'

I tilted my head, wondering what he meant for a moment. I fingered the hem of his waistcoat. 'The last time you wore this, I was hopelessly in love with you,' I whispered.

His brows shot up. 'You mean to say you're not anymore?'

'Well—not hopelessly.' I flashed him a smile.

'Oh, Peridan,' he said, his voice merry and rich. He leaned close and murmured. 'You must stop. I won't be able to show any restraint.'

I longed to say to him 'Don't then' and invite him to do whatever he was imagining that made his eyes burn like that. I closed my eyes and swallowed, trying to master myself. I managed it enough to say 'Tonight. You won't need any restraint later.'

He sucked in a sharp breath. His lips curled into a slow smile. 'Perhaps later will be sooner than you think, once I am proved right in our little wager.'

I bit my lip as the other competitors filed in. A little bubble of hope started to inflate.

Other dancers were arriving and they came to greet him. Simar and Rehan and Taran and Gormal all trickled in as well. They did not look at me as they bowed to Edmund. I didn't look at them either.

We paraded out to cheers and applause and performed the warrior's dance once more only this time with Edmund and I in the centre. The faces of the other competitors and the crowd behind them was a blur. For the space of a song we were together before everyone, free and happy as the music pulsed and we moved in perfect time.

As the most noble lady, Susan laid a laurel crown on my head while Lucy adorned her brother. I had to smile at the sight of Edmund all decked out, and Lucy stifled a giggle. 'You are all hopeless,' Susan declared, but she too was smiling.

Peter looked out over the crowd and a hush fell over them. 'Tonight we honour the champions of the tournament—Peridan, Lord of Lionshaim and Edmund, King of Narnia.' He paused, and there was a moment of silence before somewhat confused applause. But Lucy cheered, and Peter clapped heartily. Then he turned to me. 'Peridan, as the victor, you may claim your prize of us.'

I glanced at Edmund. He raised his brows, unsure what I was going to do. I drew in a breath and stepped forward, dropping to one knee. 'Your Majesties, I desire nothing for myself, for you have already honoured me so greatly in naming me your Champion. But I beg of you to help one who has been wronged. I treat for clemency for Orran, Lord of Beruna, who has been unjustly imprisoned.'

A ripple of shock went through the crowd. Peter drew his brows together. 'You say there has been a miscarriage of justice. Have you spoken to our brother of this?'

'He has,' said Edmund, coming forward to stand beside me.

'And has Lord Orran harmed anyone or posed any danger to the safety and wellbeing to the people of these Islands?' Peter asked.

'He has not,' said Edmund in a clear voice. 'My investigation of the situation shows that Lord Peridan is right in saying his imprisonment is unjust.'

Peter frowned further still. Susan and Lucy both turned to watch him. 'Then in the name of Aslan the Great Lion, Son of Emperor-Over-Sea, let this be so.'

Shocked and angry murmurs stole over the crowd. Barran stepped forward. 'Your Majesty, if you knew the whole story…'

Lucy's eyes flashed. Peter cut across him. 'Have we not said this will be so?' And Barran had to bow and slink away.

'I'd better go and explain,' Edmund murmured to me in an undertone, touching the back of my hand.

'Will there be trouble?' I asked.

'No,' he replied with such certainty that he almost sounded short with me. 'Peter would never go back on his word, and I've sounded Lucy out on the matter anyway. I believe, my lord, that this is a point for me.' With that he sailed away to his siblings.

I watched him go, chewing on my lip. They drifted off for a conference on the matter, leaving Barran standing in their wake. The nobles were whispering furiously to each other, eyes wide as they chewed on this gossip—this scandal. I had no desire to be part of the game, so I started to make my way towards the gardens and our bench. Edmund would know where to find me.

I almost walked straight into someone who blocked my path. After checking myself, I found myself face to face with Taran and Simar. I closed my eyes, willing patience. 'If you will excuse me,' I said through clenched teeth.

'I must speak with you,' Taran said. That righteous flash was in his eyes again.

'Oh, must you really?' I said. 'Haven't you said it all, Taran? You've played every card, and at every turn I have come out on top. At what point do you accept that you're wrong?'

'My faith is unmovable as mountains and as boundless as the sky,' Taran quoted the catechism's Profession of Faith.

I rolled my eyes and made to push past them, but Taran caught my arm. Simar remained by his side, silent and wide eyed.

'I have been hearing Simar's confession, and he has raised some serious concerns for all of Narnia,' Taran said.

I turned to Simar. 'You're confessing to him now? That's not going to do anything! He is not the priest he imagines himself to be, Simar.'

'I can't live like this anymore,' Simar said. 'I'm so tired of the fight and the hatred.'

'So you think you can just pray it all away.' I stepped closer to him. 'You know that's ridiculous. This is who we are. And we are not wrong.'

Simar averted his eyes. I started to leave, but Taran still held my arm fast. 'You will stay and hear this,' he said.

'Out with it then,' I said. 'I have no patience for your righteous posturing.'

Taran shook his head slowly. 'I used to think there was some hope for you. You were so consumed with guilt and fear—you had only to turn your face the right way and you would have found mercy at your shoulder. But you have turned to the other side and strayed even further into temptation and evil.'

'Ah, yes, the temptation to free an innocent man. I'm positively evil,' I said.

'I am talking about the evil of seducing the King. Our King. One of the holy four of ancient prophecy,' Taran bit back every syllable.

I glared at Simar, who was staring at the ground looking thoroughly miserable. 'I see.'

'Have you, or have you not tried to seduce King Edmund?' Taran challenged.

'I am not making any sort of confession to you,' I said.

'Have a care, Peridan. This is not just your soul now, but bigger than you. And I cannot let this rest.'

'You will find you have to. I return to Narnia in three days. With the King. Meanwhile, you remain here, having earned nothing but the censure of the Four.'

'You say that. Think about what would happen here if I said you and the king were lovers. And if you think you can escape in Narnia, remember that Islanders populate your town of Narrowhaven and I still know many people in Archenland. Think of the hue and cry. Think of the disappointment that there will not be an heir to each of the four thrones because a pervert has bewitched the King.'

I threw him off my arm, and with the end of the movement I smacked his face with the back of my hand. It was accidental, but satisfying nonetheless. I turned on my heel and left them behind.

I stalked to the bench and paced round it. I looked out over the sea rippling with pearlescent moonlight and I picked up the nearest rock and threw it over the edge of the hill with all my strength. I saw the tree leaves ripple where it landed quite a distance away. I searched for every rock I could find and threw them, one after the other, until my arm was sore and there was nothing left to throw. My cheeks stung with dried tears.

And so I sat on the bench and waited for Edmund, because there was nothing else to do. He came after awhile, sauntering in with the air of being very pleased with himself.

'All managed,' he announced, dusting his hands. 'Not that Peter needed much convincing, but Lucy was quite clear about where she stood on the matter. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Susan did not give me grief for skiving off, which means our relationship will not damage my noble kingship. So that it at least two points to me, but really I think it should be more.'

I took a breath and rose, hitching up a smile before I turned to face him. 'You seem very confident.'

'And well I should be,' he replied, slipping his arms around my waist. 'For we have every right to stand together before everyone. I'm rather proud to be in love with you, you know.'

I kissed him. Then we went back to his room and made love again. I couldn't tell him what Taran had said.

But when he was asleep, snoring luxuriously with his arm flung over his head, I sat slumped against the headboard with the sheets pulled up round my waist, staring out the window. I didn't know how to resolve Edmund's confidence with Taran's threat. One of them was wrong. From a moral point of view, Taran was wrong. So much I was coming to understand. But the thought of Taran dogging every step filled me with a bitter exhaustion. I looked over my shoulder at Edmund. He seemed to be very in for a big public show, but I didn't much care. I just wanted the freedom to stay by his side and love him. And be happy.

A/N: The penultimate chapter! It probably could have used some editing, but I couldn't resist all the little moments between Peridan and Edmund.