They brought Trumpkin down to the treasure house, inviting him to go and gear himself up. As soon as the dwarf saw the immense wealth in each of the chests, Gimli saw the flash of dragon-sickness in his eyes-which quickly dissipated. Peter suited him up with a bow and a quiverful of arrows, along with mail shirts and a helmet.

"It would never do to let Nikabrik see this, never," Trumpkin muttered. "Never!"

Edmund and Lucy, on the other hand, was spending the time looking over their other stuff.

"What is that?"

Legolas peered above Lucy's shoulder to the vial in her hand, filled with a translucent red liquid.

"It's a potion given to me the last time we were here," she said. "Years and years ago."

"The last time...? Then you are not of this world as well?"

"Just as much as you are," Susan said, bitterness in her voice.

For a moment Legolas wanted to apologize again for upsetting her, but Gimli shook his head.

"I find that she is that sort of person," Gimli said. "Best not say anything anymore."

Lucy led the way out, followed by Susan and Legolas, Gimli hanging back a little and listening to the two Pevensies who were talking to each other in hushed voices. A smile settled on Peter's lips.

"No, let me," Edmund was saying. "If I win, it'll be more of a sucks for him, and if he wins, it won't be too much of a let down for us."

"All right, Ed," Peter said. "Go ahead."

When they reached the courtyard ruins of Paravel, Edmund faced Trumpkin and Gimli snapped to rapt attention. He nudged Legolas. "You won't want to miss this."

"I've got something to ask you," Edmund said, a smirk on his face. "We kids don't usually have the privilege of meeting a warrior such as you, and it would be frightfully decent to hold a fencing match."

The dwarf seemed to realize that they were at a perfect place to do so, but he eyed Edmund up and down in uncertainty. "You, laddie?" he said. "These swords are sharp."

"I know, I know. But I'll never get anywhere near you and I'm sure you're clever enough to disarm me without injuring me or otherwise."

"It's a dangerous game you're playing at," Trumpkin said. "But I'll give you a pass or two, if that's what you'd like."

In a moment both swords flashed in the sunlight, Peter urging the rest to give Edmund and Trumpkin enough space to move around. The smile never left his face, even as Edmund took a few good knocks. Swords clashing and feet shifting, the two were at it in amazing speed, rounding each other and leaping off the ground as the blade passed under them.

"It is similar to our form of fighting," Legolas said. "Your brother is good with the sword."

"Twenty years of being a king trains you well," Peter said.

"Oh, do be careful!" Lucy called out.

Left, right, up, down their strokes went until Edmund lunged forward and twisted his wrist in a peculiar way. Next thing they knew, Trumpkin's sword flew into the air and clattered to the ground, Edmund towering over Trumpkin, sword firmly in hand. Trumpkin himself fell, surprised and rubbing his wrist.

"Not hurt, I hope?" Edmund asked, reaching out a hand to help Trumpkin up.

"I see. You know a move I never learned."

"Even the best swordsman can be disarmed by a trick that he has never seen before," Legolas said.

Peter stepped up. "I think we should let Trumpkin have a chance at something else, right? It's only fair. Would an archery match suit you?"

"Ah, I see what you're trying to do. As if I didn't know just how able your sister is with the bow. If you still insist on a match though, I prefer having it with your friend over there." He nodded towards Legolas.

At this Peter turned a few shades paler, but he nodded. "With Legolas, then."

They stood side by side and turned their faces over to the direction of the orchard. "What shall we shoot?" Legolas asked.

"What do you think, Su?" Peter asked. "You're the archer here."

"That apple hanging over the wall would do."

"Nice pick, lassie," Trumpkin said. "The yellow one near the arch?"

Legolas saw her shake her head and point to an apple even farther, hanging over the battlement. He heard Trumpkin mumble something about how it was more of a cherry than an apple, but the dwarf said nothing out loud.

Edmund tossed a coin to see who would go first (much to both Legolas' and Trumpkin's interest, having never seen a coin tossed before), Legolas losing. They stood at the stairs leading to the hall to the courtyard, Trumpkin notching an arrow to his bow and aiming it at the apple. Looking at how he handled his bow, Legolas and the others saw that Trumpkin certainly knew what he was doing.

twang

The apple shook as the arrow flew past it, merely inches from being hit. A leaf came fluttering down.

"Excellent shot," Peter said. "Now, Legolas."

The elf took his position and strung an arrow to his bow. Gimli was quietly laughing in the corner as Legolas aimed, Trumpkin keenly watching him. A moment later, everyone could hear the thump from the apple hitting the ground, Legolas' arrow in it.

"Well done, Legolas," Peter said as Legolas nodded.

"WeLl doNe, LegOLas," Edmund and Gimli repeated in unison.

"You're not too bad with the bow either."

It was Susan, a slight smile on her face, the first Legolas had seen ever since they'd met. In response, the elf returned the smile, soon distracted as Trumpkin took his hand to shake.

"I believe there is a slight breath of wind as you shot, master dwarf," Legolas said. "My shot was no better than yours."

"No, no, there wasn't," Trumpkin said. "I know when I've been fairly beaten. I won't even count the fact that the scar of my wound catches when I pull my arm well back-"

"Oh, are you wounded?" Lucy asked, leaping to her feet, vial already in hand. "Let me see."

Trumpkin turned to her, shaking his head. "None of that," he said. "It's not a sight for young girls-oh, there I go again. If your brother and this lad's as good as gold in their own art, why should I think differently for you?"

At this Trumpkin sat down on the steps and pulled off his hauberk and shirt, revealing a bandaged arm. Coming over Lucy peeled off the bandage, the cut underneath swollen and looked as if it was infected.

"Oh, poor Trumpkin," Lucy said, and dripped a drop of the potion from the vial.

"Eh? What did you do?"

Getting up and running his hand up his arm, Trumpkin tried to reach his wound to see what Lucy had done, but it was at a spot you couldn't quite reach (unless you're a cat). It was amusing, watching him. Eventually he swung his arm to see if it was well and Trumpkin leaped back in surprise. "Giants and junipers! It's cured, it's as good as new!" Then he burst into laughter and gave a slight bow. "Well, for a dwarf, I've made a total fool of myself. I grant Your Majesties will pardon me for my ignorance? Thank you for my life, my breakfast-and my lesson."

The Pevensies told Trumpkin not to worry about it and that they'd quite forgiven him for that.

"What we should worry about," Peter said. "is how we are to get to Caspian."

"The sooner, the better," Trumpkin said. "My being a fool has wasted about an hour already."

Gimli and Legolas hung back for a while, listening closely to Peter and the others plotting out their route.

"It's about two days for us humans, since we can't walk all day and night like you Dwarfs. Where was this Prince Caspian again?"

"At Aslan's How."

"You mean the Stone Table? It's half a day from where we are now, from there to the Fords of Beruna-"

"Beruna's Bridge, we call it," Trumpkin said.

"There was no bridge in our time," Peter said. "We used to get home at teatime on the second day, going easily. Going hard, we could do the thing in about a day and a half, perhaps."

"But remember, it's all woods now, and there's enemies to dodge."

Edmund, sitting, plucked at the grass in front of him, then got up. "Look, do we really need to go the same way that Our Dear Little Friend came?"

"Our Dear Little Friend?" Gimli said with an undisguised burst of laughter.

Trumpkin turned a shade of crimson. "No more of that, Your Majesty, if you love me..."

Unfortunately for the Dwarf, Edmund didn't seem keen on giving the matter up. "May I say our D.L.F, then?

"Ed," Susan said. "Stop it."

"That's all right," Trumpkin said. "A jibe won't harm anyone."

"As I was saying, we needn't go that way. Why shouldn't we row south until we reach Glasswater Creek and row up that? That'll bring us behind the Stone Table, and we'll be safe out at sea. If we start at once, we can be at the head of Glasswater before dark, get a few hours sleep, and be with Caspian pretty early tomorrow."

"What a thing to know the coast," Trumpkin said. "I've never heard of a Glasswater route before."

"And what about our food?" Gimli asked.

"Oh, we'll have to do with apples," Lucy said, hastily getting up from her seat. "Do let's go on. It's nearly two days and we haven't done anything yet."

"And no one is going to have my hat as a fishing basket again," Edmund said.

They packed up a raincoat filled with apples, using the coat as a makeshift bag and went down to the boat.

"That won't fit all of us."

Edmund was right as they took another look at the boat. At most, even though it was notably spacious, it would fit about 5 persons, and they were 7 all in all. Sure, they might fit both dwarves, but someone would have to travel an alternate route. They discussed for a while about who would be privileged enough to ride.

"Lucy and Susan must ride," Peter said. "I won't let them tell me otherwise, and it would be safer for them," he quickly added, seeing Susan about to protest. She glared at Peter for a while, but sat back down and set Lucy beside her.

"Legolas has good stamina," Gimli pointed out. "And he can walk the whole distance pretty quickly."

"I'll take that other path, then," Legolas said, and went to leave.

"Are you seriously going on your own?"

Turning, Legolas saw Edmund laughing and shaking his head. "Do you even have any idea how large Narnia is? You'll get lost, and don't even get me started on how you're an 'Elf' and all that. Even centaurs get lost." Wiping his hands onto his clothes, he stepped out of the boat and went over to Legolas with a smirk on his face. "Looks like I'll have to be your chaperone."

"Chaperone?"

"Babysitter."

"Ed," Peter said, elbowing Edmund with a sigh. "Sorry that you have to be stuck with him. We'll meet back at Glasswater, then? We'll wait for you two before we all leave together."

"Very well," Legolas said.

"And Ed?"

"Yeah?"

"Behave."

"Yes, Dad."

Whirling around to face Legolas, Edmund grinned.

"Well, come on," he said, and plowed his way through the trees, Legolas close behind.

TBC...