Edmund jumped off the barrels, "I think we should build your endurance a little bit. You said your arms were sore, yeah?"
Kathleen took a step back, "Arms, back, shoulders. Whatever floats your Dawn Treader." She could hear Edmund's chuckle, which made her blush as she put down her books.
"Right. Well, maybe I could teach you an exercise so you won't be as sore for next time. Not saying there is going to be a next time, but just in case."
Kathleen nodded then repeated the last part of his sentence as she absently rubbed the area below her bandages, "Just in case."
"We can start with weight lifts." As he said this, Kathleen raised an eyebrow. "With the sword. I think that's why you got sore. You're probably aren't used to having the weight in your hand."
She took a breath and nodded again, slightly tilting her head back. "Oh! That's what I thought too! In ballet, I can hold my arms up for however long I need to, and not get tired. But having someone else put weight on me while having to push them back with a blade," she paused and chuckled at herself, "well that really different from any of the partner work we do."
Edmund shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Partner work? What kind of partner work do you usually do?"
Kathleen shrugged, "Just turns really. Though there are a few times where I did straight lift." When she didn't hear him say anything, she thought she had confused him. And she did, "A, um, a straight lift is where I would jump up while someone is holding my waist. It's just so I could get more height rather than if I jumped on my own."
Edmund felt himself relax, "Oh." Edmund followed the eye line to where Kathleen was looking at. It was the books and notebook that Caspian had let her borrow. Before that, she was looking at the floor. There were very few times that Edmund had met Kathleen's eyes. He noticed that she would be looking towards him, but never at looking at him. She would either be looking at something he had or was looking at something past him. He would try to get her eye, but that itself was an adventure. He was almost certain that her eyes were brown, like thick honey, but he had his doubts. Such as now, when she turned her head, it looked like her eyes were a deep green. Like the woods near Cair Raravel in the evening, with the stars, just beginning to shine through the sky.
"This could be a combination of the two, then. Of ballet and the stance." Edmund said looking back between the books and the girl in front of him.
Kathleen's head rose, eyes now look at the ocean, "I thought we already agreed it was a combination. That dance and fighting go hand in hand?"
The boy smirked at Kathleen, "You're right, of course."
She smiled at herself and crossed her arms, "Of course."
The two teenagers stayed right where they were as the Narnian of the two told the other how to get used to the weight of the sword while in a fight. He first asked her to raise the sword as she would when doing her ballet exercises, hoping that it would make her more comfortable when holding a blade.
And it did. She stood her feet in the fourth position and put her right arm in line with her hips. In her left hand holding the sword. Edmund had said that it was best to first train her least dominant hand because then it would become natural to the other.
Edmund had told her to move the arm that was holding the sword in a pattern of directions, which reminded her of a port de bras combination from her classes. She would move her hand in front of her, then above her head, then down to her side.
She was used to doing her positions with both arms, not just one, so It felt strange at first, but it could also be because she was doing it with her left hand. After a while, she was asked to switch. So she did. He would tell her comments now and then. It was mainly on her gripping of the hilt. The pinky and the middle finger had to be holding on to the tightness. He placed his hand on top of her's at one point, to show where to grip and how tight the grip should be. Kathleen ended up holding her breath as he spoke. She didn't retain a single piece of information in those twenty seconds. When he let go, she didn't know who to thank for her breath. Her lungs or Edmund walking back to the barrels.
After that, Edmund had multi-tasked as he continued to chip away to the outer shell of the sword on his own. It was quite relaxing to Kathleen. She was now completely focused and doing something she wanted to do while she was with someone she wanted to be around. Edmund didn't come off as annoyed or bored as he was helping her, and she took that happily. He piped in a tip or two every few minutes as she slowly moved the blade. This was the first time she was completely calm around Edmund Pevensie. Not worrying about embarrassment or fear of tripping over herself. It was the first time she didn't feel like she had to hide away from Edmund, and she liked it.
Unfortunately, it wasn't longed lived. Reepicheep had come by to see the progress on both Kathleen and Edmund's new swords. He even joked if the sword would come in a smaller size. The two teenagers smiled at the warrior mouse, but they dropped when he asked if they had seen Eustace about the ship. Kathleen stopped mid-exercise as Edmund stopped chipping.
"He's not in the port?" Kathleen asked the mouse.
"Or hiding in his hammock?" Edmund asked as he looked at the sword. Kathleen slumped at him slightly.
"No, I'm afraid not on either account." Reepicheep sighed as he climbed the rope on the side of the ship. "I haven't seen him for a few hours, and if you forgive me, Your Majesty, I sense that he'll get himself into mischief."
"There's nothing to be forgiven about, Reep. You're right. Knowing him, he has to be either hiding or causing trouble."
"Well, I rather it is the latter of the two." The small knight bowed, "Your Majesty," he turned to Kathleen and did the same, leaving the two teenagers alone once again.
Kathleen sighed and resumed her exercise. She felt that familiar bubble growing in her stomach.
"Why are you so hard on Eustace?" She asked Edmund as she faced the ocean.
"W-what?" This took Edmund by surprise.
"You to your cousin. He's not all bad." She wasn't looking at him again.
This time was different. While the other times felt like she was trying not to, this time felt like she couldn't. As if meeting his gaze would trigger something she didn't want to do. She was afraid that she would feel negative about him. He acts as he was back in their world. Smart, witty, caring, and an overall loving big brother, but something seemed to crack when he was talking about Eustace.
Edmund looked at Kathleen for a few moments. From what he was able to see on her face, it hurt him more than he realized. "I know that Eustace isn't always terrible."
"Then why act as if he is?"
Edmund smiled, not because of the question, but because only one other person would have asked him that. "Because I know that he isn't always terrible."
Kathleen stopped her exercise, "You know, that's not really an answer."
He shook his head, "I know, sorry. It's because-" Edmund was cut off clattering and a low yelp was heard from the other end of the ship. Edmund quickly sat up and came to Kathleen's side as she turned around to see what the commotion was.
It was Eustace, no doubt, but it seemed that he was running away from something, or more likely someone.
Kathleen caught a glint from something Eustace was holding in his hand. Her eyes widen when she saw what it was. "Is that Eustace holding a kitchen knife?"
Edmund tilted his head, "Well he's actually running with it, but yes."
Kathleen's mouth dropped and stayed where she was as the scene unfolded in front of them and the rest of the crew.
Reepicheep was in front of Eustace, who was trying to talk his way out of the situation "That was for stealing," Reepicheep said as he sliced a line with his sword through Eustace's shirt. The mouse then poked in between the line of fabric, pulling out an orange. "that was for lying," Then he did something to Eustace that Kathleen would have never thought would have happened. He slapped the orange across Eustace's face. "and that was for good measure."
Kathleen looked back and forth between the two, mouth opened, wondering what in the world would Eustace do next. He surprised her by swing the knife at the mouse, who laughed in reply. "That's the spirit! We have ourselves a duel. Catch!" Reepicheep swung to the rails of the boat and swung his sword with the orange to the side, causing the orange to fly out of the sword and into Drinian's hand. It would have been Kathleen's chest if Edmund hadn't pulled her to the side.
"Should we help him?" She asked Edmund, who realized he was still holding onto her shoulder.
He pulled his arm back, "This is his fight. Besides, Reepicheep won't hurt him. I think." He mumbled the last part to himself, but being right next to Kathleen meant that she heard it.
With Eustace, he jabbed and swung again at the mouse, over and over again. Reepicheep dodged everyone, even making comments in between. One of them comparing Eustace to a "drunken pelican," which Kathleen was too polite to agree out loud. Eustace jabbed again, but this time pulling his whole body into it, making him fall forward in the process. Reepicheep was leading Eustace to the two teenagers. Edmund placed his hand on Kathleen's forearm, guiding both of them out of the way of the entertaining fight.
Reepicheep led Eustace to where the two teenagers once were and jumped onto Eustace's back as the younger boy's knife got stuck on the ship's rafters. As Eustace tugged the knife off the wood, he looked frustrated, but he had a good handle on it as he pulled the blade out. Instead of swinging the knife like a maniac, he was orderly. He leaned in lunged again, not falling this time. Though the mouse wasn't done with his lesson. He jumped out of the way corrected the boys' stance, then jumped on the railing once again.
"Be nimble. Be nimble." Eustace stood right next to him, looking down, fixing his stance as Reepicheep had told him. "It's a dance, boy, a dance. Come on."
In rhythm, Eustace jabs his sword from one side to another, getting closer and closer until he takes a swing that narrowly misses Reep. The mouse, who had jumped on the side of the ship, lost his balance and fell over the railing. Eustace ran over, and Kathleen was going to join him, but Edmund held the back of her tunic.
It was a gentle touch. It was as if her tunic got caught on something rather than a hand holding her back. Same with Edmund guiding her away from the fight. It was a feather-like touch as he placed his hand on her back. She looked at where his hand was then to Edmund. They were shoulder to shoulder now.
"Look," he said quietly as he pointed up. Kathleen followed his finger as she saw Reepicheep peeking from behind the ropes ever so quietly. He tapped his tail on Eustace's shoulder, making him turn the other way. Kathleen let a small and quiet chuckle. Right as he turned, Reepicheep took his advantage and pushed off of Eustace's back once again, making him fall forward and tumble onto the woven basket.
The mouse laughed out with the rest of the crew, "And that... is that."
But there was another sound that Kathleen could have sworn she heard. It sounded like a scream, but not like what she heard from Eustace from the other day. This scream was younger. And most definitely a girl.
She walked to Eustace's side to help him get up, while Edmund stayed where he was. Kathleen reached for the boy's hand and took it reluctantly as he dusted himself off.
"Look," Lucy said and the clapping died down. She was looking towards the basket. Everyone watched the woven material as a small pink body carefully crawled out.
"Gael?" called out the sailor from the Lone Island, Rhince. "What are you doing here?" The eyes of the crew were either on Rhince, or Gael, whom Kathleen remembered seeing earlier on the Lone Island. She was his daughter.
The little girl didn't seem to know what to do. She didn't look scared, not completely. She seemed as if she knew that she was somewhere she shouldn't be. Her shoulders were slightly hunched and she clenched and unclenched her fists repeatedly. Maybe she had a plan to help without getting noticed. It was only a day, and now she was somewhere she didn't know what would happen next. Her father must have seen this. He walked up to her and engulfed her in a hug. "Here," was all he said.
Kathleen gave a small smile at the sight. She moved away as Drinian walked up to the two. The look on the crew seemed looked like they didn't know what was going to happen either. The captain thought very carefully. In those moments, Kathleen looked to Lucy then to Edmund to see if their looks could give her a guess on what he would do. Though their faces were just as unknowing as the crew.
Kathleen looked at Edmund a few moments longer. He was looking back at her, and she didn't look away. Not right away a least, but she could tell that they were thinking the same thing. The small frown on his mouth was telling her so. This little girl had been in the basket for over a day. Had she slept in the basket? And what did she eat if she had eaten at all? She could sense the tiniest of guilt inside her for not knowing, and she knew that Edmund the same.
Drinian looked to Rhince then to Gael. He paused and bent down to her level. "Looks like we have an extra crew member." He gestured the orange in his hand and leaned to give it to the little one, who took it shyly.
As he walked away, the rest of the crew smiled. It was infectious. Lucy took a few steps in front of Gael with her hands on her hips. She smiled her friendly smile and said a welcome to the ship's newest addition.
The little girl curtsied and said "Your Majesty." in awe.
The queen kept her warm smile, "Call me Lucy." She held out her hand for the younger girl to take, "Come on."
Gael took her hand as they walked into the cabin where Kathleen and Lucy had walked out of an hour or two before.
Kathleen smiled at Eustace, who picked up the knife he dropped in the fight. She put her arm on his shoulder as he was walking back to the port, making him slightly startled. "You did well."
"What do you mean?" he glared, "I lost."
"This time." Edmund's voice appeared behind Kathleen, startling her slightly.
"He's right," Reepicheep said from rafters. The mouse showed a respective smile, "I'll make a swordsman of you yet."
For the first time since Kathleen had entered Narina, she could have sworn she saw Eustace smile. He dropped it as soon as he realized it was on his face.
"Yes, well," Eustace straightened his back, "if the playing field were a little more even, would have been an entirely different result." He walked away with his head down.
Reepicheep laughed lightly at the boys' pride, "Indeed."
Kathleen was smiling at the floor as Eustace walked away. The boy was softening up. That smile may be a tiny step to a long process, but it was a step. And that was good for Eustace.
"I know he can be better than how he is," Edmund said from behind her. Kathleen looked at his side and could see his arm holding the sword. "I'm hard on him because I know that. I know he can be better. Because I was like that, too."
"Really?" She could see him nodding from the corner of her eye. There was a wonderful feeling around, growing inside her. "What changed?"
He didn't say anything. Kathleen feared that maybe she crossed from a sort of invisible line with her question. The feeling was shrinking rapidly as prickles in her neck start to form.
"Sorry if I brought something up," she apologized. She took two steps back, getting ready to return to her books and forgetting about the lesson.
Edmund stopped her though. He placed his hand on hers once again, tenderly holding it. The touch stopped her immediately. "It's not that. I promise. I, um," He released his touch as he stepped to the side to let a crew member walked by.
She could see Edmund clench his fist as if he was holding something back. It wasn't from anger, that much Kathleen could tell, but that doesn't mean she was happy about the revelation. Maybe it was sadness. She wanted to know what memory made him feel like this, but she was sure that if she asked, that would be crossing a line that was clear as day. So she looked at him and stood quiet. As fate would have it, he wasn't looking at her. Now he was looking at the ocean, in the thought of his next words. Kathleen gazed at him as he closed his eyes.
"Caspian had lent you the books about Narnia, right?" He asked gently.
"Yes," Kathleen replied just as soft.
"And I'm guessing he lent you the one having to do with my siblings and myself?" He closed his eyes tighter as he asked.
"Yes, he did." She matched his tone. His shoulders slumped as he tilted his head down. His demeanor changed completely. Kathleen felt guilty about it. His body language looked at most, tired, and maybe even stressed. A few moments ago, he sounded like a king, even with only two words. His aura and sound were high and noble, but now they were low and maybe a little scared. He looked like Edmund, a boy from Finchley who was staying with his cousin. A boy who wanted to do more than just run errands and help with groceries. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, Edmund. I won't force you."
He looked up at her. The first thing he realized was that Kathleen's eyes weren't just one color. They were mainly brown but the outer ring of her iris was green. Hazel eyes. He could have stared at them for a while if he didn't feel so rotten. "I want to tell you. I do, just not now. I don't think I'm ready to tell you yet. Not even Eustace knows."
Kathleen nodded at him, not knowing what to say. Edmund turned his head back to the books. "Which one are you reading now?" He walked towards them, trying to figure out the contents from the covers.
"It's actually one of the books on your ruling days," She said from a few steps behind him. "I think it was what Lord Bern called the 'Golden Age'?"
Edmund smiled at the spot on guess. "You're right. What other books did he let you borrow?" He asked.
Kathleen stared at the books. She couldn't remember the titles of the books, but she could remember what they were about. "One is on the beginning of Narnia and the other is about," she paused, "the, um, the prophecy. About your siblings and yourself."
He nodded and turned to look at her, but her face was now looking at the books on the floor. Back where she started. "I'll tell you what," he pondered, "In the last book, I did something I'm not proud of. When you get to it, I think I'll want to talk about it then. Maybe you won't see me the same, but I'll want you to know either way."
Kathleen hugged herself, not understanding what Edmund was trying to say. "Wha-? How? Are you sure? If you don't want to talk about it, you really don't have to."
Edmund convinced himself to shrug, "I'm positive. I want you to know. I'm just not ready to talk about it yet. Not now."
Kathleen nodded, still at a loss for words. She didn't know what he was upset about, but she knew with her whole being that she didn't like seeing him like this. Vulnerable to self-hatred. She wants to see him be witty again. To have him be strong with snarky remarks about his cousin and caring to his sister. To have him be quiet in front of herself and yet have it mean everything because that is who he was. From what Kathleen could see, Edmund Pevensie was all these and now she could see that there was more. Maybe some broken pieces needed to be seen, but only if he wanted them to.
The two teenagers stood quiet by each other. Both thinking about the other. The girl on how she could help the other and the boy wondering how the other would see him. Both knew that they had to let time pass before they could answer some questions in their heads.
Kathleen stole a glance at Edmund, "You know," she began, "we never officially finished our lesson. Well, my lesson really."
She could see Edmund's small smile. And Edmund could see hers too. They were looking at each other without blushing or fidgeting. Anything is possible in Narnia.
They resumed the lesson as if it was never stopped in the first place. Kathleen stood in the same spot as before and did different combinations as she lifted her sword while Edmund finished chipping the coating of the sword. They took breaks in between and sat by each other in calm silence. Kathleen read during those breaks and took notes in the journal as Edmund helped the other crew members aboard the ship. While the other wasn't looking, they would glance at the other, seeing if maybe they were watching what they were doing. One time, Kathleen caught Edmund's eye, making her duck her head down, but not before she gave him a smile and nod. It felt like he would know what she was trying to say with such a simple gesture.
"Whatever it is, you are still you."
Edmund received it clearly, but it didn't mean he was ready for it just yet.
Kathleen sighed as she returned to her reading. She began to think of Eustace. She had seen a soft emotion in him that she'd never seen before. Narnia will change him for the better, she could tell for certain. And maybe, so will she.
