Hey guys! Edit of chapter 7 is now up!

Disclaimer: I don't own any but Beth's storyline.

Hope you enjoy and please review!

Chapter 7. "The Bonds Between Us."

Dear brother,

I don't even know where to begin.

Have you ever encountered a situation in which you made a risky move out of love for your friends or family?

On the same day I wrote you my last letter, I received word that Caspian fled his castle after his aunt gave birth to a boy and therefore, providing his uncle, Lord Protector Miraz, with an heir.

My adoptive father, King Ersan, refused the request Caspian's tutor made for troops and I understand his position, really, because as King you're supposed to have your country's safety as your main priority.

But I'm no queen yet. And, as princess, regardless of how irresponsible it may sound, I had to do something.

So now, I'm in Narnia. We set up base in the structure called the How, which the Old Narnians made as a shelter once the Kings and Queens of Old were gone and before the Telmarines invaded.

Also, the Narnian Kings and Queens of Old are here (I'm sure I told you about them in one of my first letters.)

I should really write a book once all this is over.

That being said, it's been two weeks since they have arrived and the monarchs, Caspian and I have become really close...with one obvious exception.

Lucy and Caspian are as close as siblings. I think Lucy sees in Caspian someone who never ignores her opinion or diminishes her for being a little girl and in turn, Lucy, to Caspian, is the little adorable sister he had always wanted to have. Really though, their bond is nothing compared to mine with Lucy, humility aside. I had a feeling about her when we first met and I was proven right, since we're now the best of friends.

I think Caspian had that same feeling about Edmund because they're both so similar, both with a quick mind and a love for strategy and books and sometimes it's actually quite scary how well they know one another. I think that Caspian found in Edmund someone who challenges his own skill of teasing others and coming up with sarcastic comments constantly, so it takes no genius to figure out how they bonded so tightly. I'm quite close to Edmund as well, but I'm trying not to distract myself too much and just focus on the war.

Okay, so I might have a little bit of a crush on him, and I'm almost sure the others are placing bets on who will declare their feelings first, but I try not to focus on that. I always felt identified to Edmund because of the hardships he endured and, in retrospective, I guess that's what made him so thoughtful and wise, so I really like talking to him. If I'm being honest, I don't want to risk telling him about my little (tiny, really) crush on him and lose my comfortable friendship with him.

Once Peter heard of my escape from Anvard, he suddenly respected me immensely. I can't say I have as much in common with him as I do with Ed or Lu but Peter is a great guy and it's so interesting to hear the stories he tells from the Golden Age, so we've become good friends during these past few days. Caspian and Peter...it really reminisces the typical fight between two alpha males who want to limit their territory, you know? To be fair, Caspian did try to gain Peter's approval but, whether it is because of how they met (story for another time), or due to the obvious crush Caspian has on Susan, he has failed so far.

I wish we had popcorn here, though. Their bickering is one of the most amusing things I've witnessed.

Susan...I don't think she's too fond of me. I'm not really sure what it is, but I kind of feel a cold vibe from her whenever she talks to me. I hope I can solve this soon because I actually quite admire the Gentle Queen.

Beth shook her head as she scribbled onto her sheet, focusing to make her handwriting as small as possible. She wanted to make every letter as detailed as she could in case her brother ever received this letters but with every second that she thought of the last couple of days, countless memories worth writing about popped in her mind.

Beth closed her eyes and swallowed the grief down her throat. She had to believe she would see him again or, at the very least, that he was okay.

The princess finally put the unfinished letter on her lap so it could dry and looked up at the sky in the attempt to relieve herself from the sadness that struck her all of a sudden. She was actually grateful that there was no one by the grounds right beside the How's entrance, as it gave her time to write freely.

Just then, the two queens exited the structure and walked directly towards her. Beth hastily raised, subtly putting her letter inside her dress' pocket.

"I was not staring at him," Susan was stating firmly as the two sisters reached the princess.

"Susan, you were about to drool. I had to pull you away before he took his shirt off or something," Lucy replied, her eyes glinting merrily as Susan flushed bright red.

"I'm sorry, you were drooling?" Beth asked with a laugh.

"Okay, so he might have looked slightly attractive but I was not drooling, is that clear? I am a queen and much too proper to behave so bluntly." Susan crossed her arms over her chest defensively as the other two acquired identical mischievous looks.

"Caspian was training," Lucy told Beth when the princess looked at her inquisitively.

"Ah," Beth nodded in response before smiling sympathetically at the embarrassed queen, "You know, I think it's not even worth it, Lu. Look at your sister, she's already embarrassed. We don't need to worsen her obvious pain."

"Well, you certainly can't. I've caught you looking at my brother with the same enamoured expression," Lucy replied, her eyebrows raised as Beth tried not to look too alarmed.

"Huh, nice, betrayed by my own friend." Beth rolled her eyes good-naturally before looking at the elder queen. "Susan, I was planning on attending your archery lesson to practice with my bow, if that's okay."

Susan, who was still slowly returning to her normal skin colour, smiled in relief at the change of subject. "Of course. The more, the merrier."

"Great," Beth smiled. Then, she turned towards her partner-in-crime. "Not a word about our girl' talk to the boys, is that clear?"

"Who do you take me for?" Lucy scoffed before lighting up as an idea came to her mind. "Do you want me to send Ed or Caspian to the fields so you girls don't get bored?"

"Goodbye, Lu!" Beth called as she walked away, an scandalised Marksman Queen besides her.

"I don't how you can take her teasing so lightly," Susan commented as they walked side by side, "I always get so ashamed even at the idea of talking about this things with my family."

Beth laughed noncommittally. The truth was that the place she came from was much different when it came to relationships than the 1940s England.

She wanted to tell them all about her past, her origins, but that was a story too dark. She's slowly processing everything she went through before appearing in Archenland and truthfully, she didn't want to scare them all off.

Fortunately, they had arrived to the archery fields, where half a hundred Narnians were waiting for them.

Beth looked at the crowd for a second before smiling nervously at Susan. "Good luck."

Susan smiled gently at the archers before her, refraining from doing anything improper like rolling her eyes at the Archenlandian. "I apologise for my delay. Please, begin. I shall be studying your abilities to see whether there's room for improvements."

Overall, they were great. Sure, some of them were rusty and needed assistance when adopting the shooting posture or aiming but with time, they could be an excellent archery squad.

"Lower your elbow a little bit," Susan instructed and smiled as Beth shoot perfectly, "Excellent, Beth."

"Thanks, Susan." Beth beamed at the Gentle Queen before taking another arrow out her quiver.

Susan walked away with a small smile. Admittedly, she had a hard time accepting Beth's presence, and especially her role in Edmund's life. Edmund had always asked for Susan's help whenever he needed her but ever since Beth came along, her brother had started running to the princess instead.

Now, though, seeing how nice the princess was, Susan knew she couldn't keep her grudge for much longer.

"Beth!"

Susan turned around alarmed to see how her brother sprinted down the fields and reached the princess just as she lowered her bow. "I need your help right now!"

"Ed, calm down. What happened?" Beth chuckled, trying to counteract the panic in the boy's voice by being as calm as possible.

"I was writing and well, I happened to drop my ink pot all over the table," Edmund managed to stammer nervously before being suddenly cut off but a furious scream that, obviously, came from the mighty High King. "Where a map of the Telmarine' castle happened to lay on."

Susan walked towards the couple, her hands on her hips as she looked reproachfully at her panic-striken brother. "Gods, Edmund, how are we supposed to get another one?"

Beth chuckled suddenly, raising her arms in defeat when Susan glared at her. "Relax Susan. Before I left Anvard, I grabbed a copy Caspian and I made of the Telmarine Castle map on a particularly boring afternoon. I figured something like this might happened."

Edmund was conflicted between looking at the princess as if she was her saviour or a complete freak. Finally, he frowned in confusion. "How was copying a map the most entertaining activity?"

"You've never spent time in a Telmarine court and it shows," Beth deadpanned before grabbing his hand and smirking. "Come, let's fix this mess."

Edmund stared at their hands for a second before snapping out of it and following her to the How.

Susan chuckled, shaking her head as she turned to continue instructing her squad. She had never seen Edmund that happy and, at the end of the day, that's all it mattered so if she forgot about her pride, maybe she could get to like the princess.

It turned out, the Narnians needed few instructions so Susan was able to go through each of them fairly quickly and, as she helped the dwarf at the end of the line, she noticed another person had joined them.

Caspian.

Susan faltered, her stomach feeling like it was home to a thousand butterflies as she studied the Telmarine prince. He was only wearing a white shirt, his brow furrowed in concentration as he aimed a crossbow at his target.

The queen walked towards him, trying to focus on his technique and not on anything else referring the prince.

"Do you need help?" Susan asked, smiling bemusedly when Caspian jumped in surprise.

"Oh, hello Susan," Caspian smiled warmly at the queen, whose cheeks were tinted pink against her will. "Actually, I think I'm improving."

Susan stepped closer, following his gaze towards his target. He had shoot two arrows into the second ring to the centre and one at the edge of the third.

Susan smirked and wordlessly aimed, making a perfect shot.

Caspian's eyes widened as he gazed from the target to the satisfied queen as she calmly lowered her bow.

She them looked at the prince with a smug smile. "Do you think you can do it better?"

Caspian snapped out of his daze, smirking back as his eyes brightened at the challenge. "Actually yes, I think I can do better than that."

Susan took a few steps back and motioned him to shoot. Caspian threw her a look before focusing on the target. He then raised his crossbow, taking his time, and shot, the arrow landing in the third ring to the center.

"No!" Caspian groaned in frustration and walked to retrieve the arrow.

Susan stared after him, captivated by how passionate the prince was. It was the first thing she had realized of him and what actually had made him stand up from every other men he had met during her reign.

All of the men who had tried to court her were beautiful and charming, but also fake and indifferent towards their people.

Caspian was so different from them that she was actually afraid of getting too close to him. She didn't want to fall for him just yet.

If they had to go back after all this was over, she didn't want to deal with any sort of feelings other than the grief of going back.

Susan shook her head as if to clear her thoughts before walking towards the prince.

"Here, let me help you," Susan offered as she walked to stand behind him. Noticing how tense he was, she placed her hands on either of his shoulders, and tried to ignore the warmth that burned under her fingers.

"First thing is to relax. Lower your elbow...now raise your other hand." Susan instructed him as she walked in a circle around him. She then stood behind the prince again, resting a hand on his lower back, her voice dropping to a whisper as she was welcomed by his intoxicating scent. "Take a deep breath. Now shoot."

His arrow landed right beside Susan's. They both smiled widely before gazing at each other.

"You are a much better archer than me, I have to admit," Caspian finally smirked hoarsely, making Susan laugh, "Thank you, Susan."

Caspian's gaze was intense, lighted by the fire he always seemed to have within. Susan's smile slowly melt off, completely bewitched by him.

They leaned forward slightly, completely ignoring anything but the other so, when they were interrupted, they both jumped.

"Queen Susan!" A faun called from his spot. The queen and the prince stared at each other for a long moment, deep down wishing to be left alone with the other.

"I will see you later, Caspian," Susan finally whispered, her voice slightly wavering as she felt herself blushing yet again.

"Of course," Caspian smiled before walking away from her.

Susan stood frozen for a second, haunted but those captivating dark eyes and beautiful' Hispanic accent before going back to work.


Peter paced around his chamber, his eyes wearing a crazy yet determined look.

His brother was dead, as simple as that.

"Pete, I heard your scream. What happened?" Lucy asked as she walked into the chamber calmly. She knew her oldest brother had a tendency to blow things out of proportion.

"Edmund, that's what happened. He destroyed the Telmarine' castle map and now I don't have any information to plan an attack!" Peter angrily exclaimed, turning once again to the destroyed map, as if hoping it would magically clean itself.

When he saw it was still dripping ink, Peter wanted to throw something.

"Where is he now?" Lucy asked, joining her brother to gaze at the map as well. She grimaced at it's sorry state.

"He can leave to the moon, for all I care," Peter snapped, sitting on a chair and burying his head in his hands as stress tensed his every muscle.

Lucy's voice was hesitant. "Maybe he went to look for Beth in the hope of finding a solution?"

"If he went to Beth, it's not because of that." The High King rolled his eyes moodily as he recalled the numerous glances his brother and the princess had exchanged when they thought the other wasn't watching. The crush they had for each other was so obvious it was almost painful. "Besides, how would Beth be able to help?"

"Well, maybe that's because Beth has a copy of that map," a third voice said and both royals turned to smile at Beth as she entered the chamber with a rolled map in one hand, dragging an embarrassed Edmund behind her with the other, "During my last visit an year ago, Caspian and I made a copy of that very map to entertain ourselves and, as you will notice, we added a few details."

Peter rushed towards the princess, rage completely forgotten. He opened the map anxiously and gasped as he took notice of the details, which went from the number of guards at each wall, to the height of the walls and the fastest way to key places, like the armoury or Miraz's chamber.

Peter was struggling so much to believe his luck that he was actually speechless for a moment.

"You," Peter whispered as he hugged Beth tightly, "Are an angel!"

He then rushed to his now clean desk and quickly got to work.

"A map? Where you guys that bored?" Lucy asked.

Beth shrugged. "The Telmarine court is not fun for children so Caspian and I had to make do however we could. We were practising strategy that afternoon."

"Well, I'm glad because you totally saved my life," Edmund whispered in order not to attract any attention from his angry brother.

Beth just rolled her eyes and pushed Edmund forward, motioning him to say something.

"Is everything forgiven, brother?" Edmund asked weakly, gulping when Peter turned around. He would usually be amused by Peter's outrage but his brother had actually been quite scary this time.

Peter playfully frowned at him, "It is but I hope you realise Beth is a keeper. I would have had to kill you otherwise"

The Just King and the Archenlandian princess blushed deeply, looking at anywhere but each other. Peter went back to work with a satisfied smile.

And then, the princess recovered.

"Well, I worried when I heard the legendary High King screaming like a teenage twelve-year-old but if this is how I'm going to be repaid, next time I won't be as helpful," Beth quipped drily, the two youngest monarchs laughing while Peter blushed deeply. "Now, if you excuse me, I believe I have an army to train."

Lucy ran and hugged the princess while Peter smiled at her. Beth hesitated but then kissed Edmund softly on the cheek and left without looking back.

The three monarchs silently watched her walk away, Lucy and Peter in amusement, Edmund in utter infatuation.

"Brother, be cool," Peter warned jokingly. He smiled widely when Edmund turned to look at him, a dopey smile on his face. "You look about to declare your love for the girl."

"Oh, shut up," Edmund snapped, yet not as harshly as he normally would.

"You do realise she feels the same way about you, right?" Lucy intervened as she straightened her skirt in a nonchalant way, "If you are as smart as you say you are, I hope you act on your feelings already. And before tomorrow, because I would very much like to win the bet."

Peter, who had momentarily forgotten all about attack plans and Telmarine' castles, laughed when Edmund looked at him with a scandalised glance. "You can't blame her dry humour on anyone but yourself."

"I knew you guys had a bet going on!" Edmund finally exclaimed in mild outrage.

Besides him, Lucy scoffed. "Like you wouldn't have organised a bet if the situation's the other way around."

"Whatever." Edmund rolled his eyes before glancing sheepishly at his brother. "Do I have any choirs scheduled for this afternoon?"

Peter sighed at his brother's question but still searched his desk for the choir' list. As he found it, he looked up at his brother with a smirk. "You are scheduled to train the swordsmen with Beth."

Edmund paled and cursed before running out of the chamber, his curses becoming more distant as he made his way out of the How.

"Can we agree that he is cursing because he left Beth's side for five minutes?" Peter chuckled while the two siblings stared after their retreating brother.

"I'm sure we can agree on that," Lucy replied with a smirk.


He still hadn't been able to figure out the way around the How and, as he struggled to find the exit, he cursed on his poor sense of direction for the first time.

He also cursed his siblings for messing with his head. He really liked Beth but it so happened that, beauty aside, he really enjoyed her presence. They were very similar so the conversation between them was always interesting. Regardless of his feelings, they were really good friends, so he was terrified of messing that up.

When he finally made it to the training fields, the Narnians were already practising, Beth walking amongst them to analyse their techniques.

Edmund rushed to Beth, panting heavily. It's not that he was out of shape, it so happened that the anxiety and conflicted feelings were messing with him badly. "Hey, sorry I'm late."

"It's okay, I've just put them in pairs for practice." Beth smiled reassuringly. "I thought we should see the overall abilities of our army."

"Clever move," Edmund mused, "What have you seen so far?"

"Of course it was clever," Beth scoffed jokingly. She took a sip of her water' canteen before offering it to Edmund. "I like what I've seen. I wanted to discuss it with you guys later but I also want to teach some of them the Archenlandian' fighting style. The Telmarines will already be thrown off by the variety of Narnians but if we also mix up our styles of fighting, I think it could really improve our chances."

"If the others disagree, that's because they are idiots," Edmund exclaimed as he unsheathed both his swords. He looked at the princess with a smirk. "Let's give them a show, shall we?"

Before the surprised princess could answer, Edmund turned towards the fighting couples with an excited gleam in his eyes. "Everyone, gather around!"

Once all the Narnians were in a circle around them, swords, axes and knives unsheathed and eyes expectant, Edmund motioned Beth to speak.

Beth nodded at him before facing the crowd, the Just King behind her. "Something that I've noticed is that once we face the Telmarines, one of the things that will give us an advantage over them is the variety we have amongst our ranks. Centaurs, fauns, dwarves and wild animals, you've always fought as one regardless of how different you might be. Therefore, you've managed to conquer unity despite of your diversity. Telmarines do not understand diversity, so they've always fought the same way."

"The idea the princess here had is to combine the Narnian and Archenlandian fighting styles amongst the army." Edmund stood beside the princess, who tied her braided hair into a ponytail before unsheathing her sword. "Princess Elizabeth will show us their fighting style and those willing to learn it will be scheduled into practice with her. Are there any questions?"

A shy looking young faun took a few steps forward. "Will you be fighting her, Your Majesty?"

Edmund smirked. Beside him, Beth was retrieving a shield from one of the fauns. "Certainly. Why?"

"I feel sorry for you, Your Majesty. The princess is the best shield-maiden we've ever seen," the faun muttered shyly, flustering as everyone laughed at his comment.

"That's because you've never seen me fight, my friend." Edmund smirked good-naturally and raised an eyebrow at his opponent as they stood face to face. "Are you sure you want to fight with only one sword, Your Highness?"

"Of course I am, my king." Beth smirked back, as she made some movements with her sword, finding its balance. "This is the traditional Archenlandian dance. While your Narnian' style is all about attacking, ours is more graceful, since it's all about dodging and finding the perfect moment to strike. Yours perhaps is the fastest and most effective but ours is the best in some occasions, especially when your opponent is stronger than you. Besides, I thought I would actually give you a chance to win."

Both leaders encircled one another, focused only in the other. Edmund growled playfully as their audience laughed once again. He threw one of his swords aside before gesturing at Beth. "Bring it on, Princess."

Depending on the partners, a duel can be perfectly alike a dance. Edmund and Beth were cunning and analytical so, while Beth was more graceful in her movements and Edmund seemed more focused in disarming her using his strength, it was still a duel quite beautiful to witness.

They dodged, parried and blocked for a some minutes, both of them trying to disarm the other but taking their time. On the one hand, they were duelling to show the Narnians the Archenlandian' style in detail. On the other hand, they were having too much fun to end the fight so soon.

Finally, Edmund slashed his sword at Beth's side but she blocked just in time, reaching and pulling his sword forward by the hilt, in that way destabilising him so she could easily place her sword next to the king's neck.

The princess and the king panted slightly as they gazed deeply into each other's eyes for a long moment. For the first time, they were feeling more than a deep crush for each other. It was an intense attraction and it threw them off place, never having felt that way for anyone before.

Finally, Beth chuckled slightly, slowly withdrawing her sword and gazing at the amazed crowd with a humble smile. "So, who's interested?"

The Narnians snapped out of it and clapped loudly at the victorious princess before those who wanted to learn the style stepped forward so Edmund could write them down for training.

"That was interesting," Edmund finally commented when they were left alone. Dinner time had come so the two leaders had volunteered to take the spare swords and shields back to the How. The attraction they had felt while fighting had returned in full strength, so both teenagers were slightly stunned. "I feel humbled."

"Glad I could shrink that enormous ego of yours back into a normal size," Beth teased as she piled up the shields.

"Speaking seriously, though," Edmund sobered as he reached out and grabbed her hand in his. They stood closely face to face, Beth's smile gone too. "I don't think I've ever met anyone like you, Beth. You are amazing."

Beth gulped, her eyes never leaving his. She desperately wanted to sink into the moment but she was painfully remembering she hadn't told him about how she also lived in England. Not that she was ashamed of it but it was difficult to talk about her past.

She took a deep breath, strength filling her heart. Her life was a mess, that much she knew, and she was terrified of driving people away once they heard how broken she was but if there's anyone who could be understanding, that was Edmund Pevensie. And she didn't want to start anything with him without being completely honest.

"You can't say that when you don't really know me," Beth muttered, slowly stepping away from him, heart breaking at his painful' expression.

"Why do you say that?" Edmund asked carefully, his voice pained yet loving.

Beth looked at him for a long moment, her eyes full of grief. She had never told anyone except Caspian about her brother. And she had never told anyone about the way she made it to that world.

"I was born in England in 1994. On November, 18th in 2012, my Mum had given birth to a baby boy so I was on my way to meet him," Beth said as she resumed picking up the shields, obviously not wanting to meet Edmund's eyes as she told her story. "My father...well, he was an evil man. That day he was angry, I don't really remember why anymore, but he let go of the steering wheel to hit me and our car veered to the snow. I woke up in Archenland."

Edmund didn't know what to say. He never imagined she would tell him something like this. However, if she thought this was going to be too scary for him, then he needed to know he wasn't going anywhere.

"Beth, I'm so sorry," Edmund finally whispered, walking forward and resting his hand on her shoulder. He tried to show no compassion or mercy since he knew that would be no useful.

Beth looked at him with a sad smile, keeping any tears at bay. "I don't care what happens with me, this two years here have been the best of my life. What I worry about is my brother. I'm terrified of having left him alone with that monster."

Edmund wordlessly hugged her. Feelings aside, she was one his greatest friends and it hurt him to see her so sad. He couldn't change his past but he could show her he would be there for her no matter what so he poured all his support on that hug, smiling as she sighed and buried her face in his chest.

"Thanks, Ed," Beth breathed as they pulled away. She then looked up to smile sadly at the boy. "Have I spooked you away yet?"

"I think you are underestimating me," Edmund smirked as he pulled away. He lifted a spare sword and handed it to the girl. "Let's try this again. Two swords this time."

Beth's eyes gleamed at the challenge. She took the sword and swirled it around as she tested the balance before circling the king with a teasing smile. "I don't know, Ed, I don't want you to start doubting your skills as a swordsman. Too many defeats might do that for you."

Edmund rolled his eyes, but sill grinned as Beth regained her cheerful' demeanour. "Just attack, Princess."

This time, they both fought in the Narnian style. It still strongly resembled of a dance, but a much more aggressive this time. It was much faster this time, for they were both rushing to disarm the other and steadily, the attraction between them grew once again.

They were equals in every way and as Edmund disarmed Beth, he could think of nothing else.

They stood in complete silence for a few seconds, staring deep into each other's eyes as they regained their breath. For the first time, their feelings were obvious to the other and while it terrified them completely, they also were quite exciting.

Beth finally smiled breathlessly. "Do you wish the army had been here to witness your victory?"

Edmund shook his head, all amusement gone as he slowly placed his hands on her waist. "I couldn't be happier of them being gone."

Beth chuckled slightly before the both of them leaned forward towards the other, closing their eyes in the process.

Just as their lips brushed against one another, Beth gasped painfully.

They both snapped their eyes open to stare at her side, where an arrow was now lodged just below her ribs.

Edmund looked around frantically, finding the responsible hidden at the edge of the forest. As he realised he had been caught, the soldier immediately retreated on his horse.

Edmund growled angrily, feeling despair as not only had they been discovered but also, the girl in his arms had been shot cowardly.

His mind sped as he tried to find a way to follow the coward Telmarine but then, a quiet gasp made him forget anything but the girl trying to stay awake as she held both hands on her injury to stop the blood from flowing freely.

Edmund glanced at the faun acting as guard on a balcony at the How. He nodded at the Narnian before scooping Beth into his arms.

"Stay with me, okay Beth? I'll take you to Lucy and you'll be just fine," Edmund said hurriedly as he run as fast as he could towards the How and into the nursery.

"Okay. I trust you," the princess whispered, losing colour by the second. She tiredly rested her head against his chest.

Edmund shook his head and used his concern as fuel to run faster. He couldn't let that beautiful girl die.

When they entered the nursery, Lucy was already there looking anxious but with her cordial ready. She motioned her brother to lay the girl on a cot as she rushed towards them with rags and water mixed with her healing potion.

"Edmund, what happened?" Lucy was all business as she carefully inspected Beth's injury. The princess gasped painfully and gripped Edmund's hand.

"I will tell you about it later. Just heal her, please." Edmund tried to be as calm as he could for Beth's benefit but it was hard when considered how concerned he felt.

The youngest queen nodded before glancing apologetically at the pained teenage girl. "Beth, I have to extract the arrow before I can clean and wrap your wound, okay? It's going to hurt but both the water and the bandages have drops of my cordial so you're going to feel better instantly."

Beth nodded before glancing sideways at Edmund. He smiled as reassuringly as he could and gripped her hand even tighter, his other hand running through her hair. "I'm not leaving. I promise."

When Lucy took the arrow out, Beth's eyes were filled with tears but she controlled herself for screaming as she wanted. She didn't want to scare any of the siblings even further.

Lucy quickly cleaned and wrapped the wound. She then smiled at her brother. "It wasn't too deep a wound and you brought her quickly. That was essential."

"So, I'm going to be fine," Beth whispered as the pain left her completely, though she felt strangely tired. When Lucy nodded brightly, Beth sighed in relief. "You both are life savers."

Edmund smiled in relief at her words and only then did he notice he was still brushing his fingers through her hair in a soothing way. He hesitated but, since he didn't really want to stop, he continued the motion. Beth snuggled into her cot and smiled contentedly at him.

Suddenly, the nursery's doors were thrown open, and a deeply concerned Caspian entered, followed by Peter and Susan.

"Beth!" Caspian exclaimed as he stood beside Edmund. The two eldest monarchs stood beside their younger sister. The Telmarine' prince gazed between Edmund and Beth. "What happened!?"

Edmund shifted uncomfortably, not really knowing how to begin. Beth gazed knowingly at him before slowly sitting up, wincing as she did so but shaking her head at the five pair of arms that reached forward to help her. "Why don't we go to the Stone Table' room? It contains the largest amount of deep magic in the entire How so I will heal faster. Beside, we can talk there without being heard."

The five of them agreed and Edmund reached to help the injured girl out of the cot. He slid an arm around her waist so she could lean against him but still, he couldn't help but revel in the welcoming warmth.

"We have to finish what we started back at the fields," Beth mumbled as they walked slightly apart from the other four.

Edmund had to chuckle at that. "We will. I promise."

As Beth regained colour while she laughed, Edmund sighed, truthfully believing for the first time that she would be fine.


"How could you not see him?" Peter asked, disbelief in his voice. He turned towards his brother. "I know for sure you were trained to keep an eye on your surroundings, especially in times of war!"

Edmund shrugged from his place besides Beth. The both of them sat on the steps leading to the Stone Table, their family surrounding them. "I'm human, Pete. I wasn't paying attention."

As annoyed as he constantly felt by the High King, Caspian had to admit Peter had a point. They both had been trained to be permanently alert so, what distracted them so utterly that they could not see that coward approaching them?

Caspian frowned at them, deep in focus. They were hiding something, of that much he was sure, but he couldn't figure out what exactly.

"There's something you're not telling us," Susan finally quipped, looking sternly at both Beth and Edmund. Caspian forced himself to keep his eyes on his friends. That was not the time to be distracted.

"What would we not tell you?" Beth asked as innocently as she could despite her blush, "We were training and when I stopped for a second to rest, I was shot. End of the story."

"We really need to focus on the big picture here. The telmarines have spotted us, we need to come up with a plan of attack," Edmund added.

Lucy shook her head, her lips pulling up into an amused smile. "No, I'm not buying it. Do any of you believe them?"

Susan, Peter and Caspian all shook their heads in unison, entertained by the frustrated groanes coming from the exasperated couple. The latter then noticed how close they were sitting and how they were holding hands. Until now, he had assumed it was because Beth was still weak but only then was he noticing how comfortable they seemed with eachother, as if some of the tension was gone.

"You kissed," Caspian stated bluntly, his smile the brightest yet as he took Edmund's and Beth's wide eyes as a confirmation.

"We did, okay?" Edmund snapped, finally running out of patience. Beth closed her eyes in trepidation as the other four laughed. "Can we discuss our plan first, please? I'm sure you will have plenty of time to make our lives miserable after we figure that out."

"Does this mean I win the bet?" Lucy squealed excitedly.

"It sounds like a plan," Peter spoke teasingly before growing serious, "But you are right, we do need to focus."

Caspian nodded and stood up. "I will gather the leaders of each group."

He glanced amusedly at the two blushing teenagers before walking away but, before he could take five steps, her voice spoke.

"I will go with you."

Susan approached him with a smile. Caspian tried not to make eye contact with Peter, knowing that as unsatisfied as he was with the prince, he was even more crossed by the fact that Caspian was infatuated by his sister.

Caspian didn't bother questioning it. He was sure Peter knew of his feelings for the Gentle Queen.

"Are you okay?" Susan asked suddenly as the walked down the tunnel towards the entrance, where the narnians waited for news.

Caspian glanced at her with a surprised, yet grateful smile. "Yes, why do you ask?"

"When Beth was shot...you looked frightened," Susan replied softly and Caspian did his best to shrug nonchalantly as he gazed forward.

"Beth has always been there for me. When Miraz began to actively seek for more power, Beth and her oldest brother Tor were the ones who kept me sane," Caspian began nervously, painfully aware that he had never been this open with anyone other than his best friend, "She is the closest thing I have to a sister so at the thought of losing her, I really didn't know how would I cope."

Susan rested her hand against his arm, her piercing blue eyes shining gently as she smiled reassuringly. "She has you, so I'm sure she will be just fine."

"Thank you, Susan." Caspian smiled gratefully. She returned the smile before withdrawing her hand from his arm, Caspian almost whimpering at the loss of contact.

"Though my brother could be taking a more active role in that deparment, considering the recent developments," Susan added, both of them chuckling quietly as they arrived to the entrance.

"What happened your Majesties?"

"What is the plan?"

"Is Princess Elizabeth okay?"

Caspian held up a hand, requesting their silence. Slowly, the crowd gathered in front of him quietened and stared expectantly at him.

"My friends, Princess Elizabeth is alright thanks to Queen Lucy's cordial. However, this new development means our location's been discovered by the telmarines."

The Queen of Old stood beside him, her gaze calm in spite of the concern shown in her people's faces.

"They will be here soon enough," Susan stated, "So we ask the leaders of each company to join us in a war council' meeting. We need to decide our next move."

Hope you guys liked it!

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