Welcome back!
I hope you enjoyed the previous chapter. I'll try to publish smaller chapters as from now, tell me if you prefer it this way.
The journey back was awful for so many reasons. First, it was raining like hell. Big summer storms were breaking out all over Narnia. Two, their mission had been a terrible failure. They had no clue, not much to share. Of course, now they knew how the plague was spreading, but did it matter when they could not cure it? And they had no idea why the creatures have attacked twice the same village for the first time since the beginning of the attacks.
More questions were raised than answers provided. And it was frustrating for everyone. Edmund had no desire to face Peter, nor the court. No one was really talking during the long way back to Cair Paravel.
When they arrived at the castle, it was still raining. It was under the pouring water that the members of the expedition arrived at the stables. And after a meeting with the two other king and queen in the Council Chamber that ended again in a quarrel, they all retired to their rooms.
Peter and Susan seemed desperate by the lack of progress they made. The atmosphere between the siblings was heavily tense. Just as they arrived at the castle, a griffon just brought the news of a new attack in the southern border to Peter. It did not help to ease everyone's feelings.
Later that day, Peter was still brooding and pacing in the great court at the centre of the castle. He was not over the fact that another attack happened. He was trying to calm himself before going back to the Council Chamber. Edmund, who oversaw the court organization on that day, went toward him to announced that the ceremonial dinner was officially called off out of respect for the new victims. As soon as he delivered his news to his brother, Edmund turned back. He did not want to have a fight – again – with Peter. He just wanted to train to empty his head. He had almost left when he heard Peter talking behind him.
"I knew I should I've gone there myself," heavily sighed the High King.
Edmund stopped and turned slowly to face his brother.
"It wouldn't have change much what happened," said Edmund.
"I'm sure things could have been done differently. I am the one that should have gone there."
"What are you insinuating here, Peter?" said Edmund, losing his calm. "You think I can't do my duty? That I can't protect Narnia as much as you?"
Peter shook his head.
"Apparently, no, you can't. This mission was a complete failure."
Edmund stared stunned at his brother.
"And you believe it is my fault? You were not there, you never fought these creatures even once! How can you dare accusing me of incompetence?" He barked.
Edmund was angry. He was feeling the rage filling his lungs, and he had to clench his jaws to avoid saying something he will regret. How could Peter dare to blame him?
"It's not the first time you messed up, Edmund, don't play innocent with me!" attacked Peter dryly.
"I don't 'mess up', sometimes I make mistakes, or I can be imprudent, but I never mess up!" yelled Edmund with rage. "So that's how you see me? Great. No wonder why you were side-lining me."
"I am a king, Edmund, I have to think of my people first, and you put them in danger. You left for two bloody months!"
"And what I am then? A goat? A Clown? Why do you think there are four thrones in this castle, surprise, it's not for your big arrogant ass!" barked Edmund. "And you know very well that travelling between dimensions takes time, I was not on some holidays, my crew fucking died there! I almost died too if it was not for Harry."
"Risking your life is not an excuse to pretend you didn't fail!" snorted Peter.
A weigh crushed Edmund's heart. He jumped toward his brother to hold him by the collar.
"You little bitch," growled Edmund. "Who do you think you are? How can you think you're better than me?"
Peter's eyes narrowed, and he tried to push Edmund away from him with a head kick on his nose. Edmund did not move, accusing the shock and he quickly punched Peter on the nose in response, throwing him to the ground. Peter stood up almost immediately, ready to kick Edmund back.
Harry and Lucy had been waiting for Edmund to come back to start some sword training in the gardens. He had left a while ago and as he did not seem to be coming back anytime soon, they came to check on him. They went to the central court and there they found him, fighting on the ground with Peter. After a common irritated sigh, they rushed to separate them.
Harry held Edmund by the shoulder to stop him from kicking his brother in the butt as Lucy was forcing Peter to stay still and not rush back at breaking Edmund's ribs.
"Stop it! Both of you!" ordered Lucy. "What the hell were you thinking?!"
Edmund was wiping his bloody noise with a snort.
"He hit me first," he just said.
"That's not a bloody reason to hit back!" said Lucy.
"It's what I said, you behave like a child," muttered Peter with a snort.
Edmund seemed ready to punch him again if Harry were not holding him by the shoulders.
"You too, shut up!" intimated Lucy. "You hit him first, you should have known better, Peter. You never stop from taunting him and putting him down! You both are two gigantic fools. We shouldn't fight against each other's right now!"
After her reprimand, Lucy made sure Peter went back to his apartments, and Harry stayed with Edmund to take care of his wounds, in his rooms.
"I'm not the worst, you should have seen him," snorted Edmund as Harry was fixing his nose.
"I don't really care about your brother's injury, you know. But I'd prefer if you don't hurt yourself more than necessary," answered Harry.
Edmund grinned slightly and ran a hand through his hair.
"He doesn't trust me," he explained. "He thinks I'm the reason this mission failed."
Harry sighed.
"Your brother is a fool and an ass for not trusting you. But keep in mind that he's angry and afraid for Narnia, and none of you seems to react very well in tense situations."
He smirked after continuing, "If I had such a bad reaction to pressure, I wouldn't have survived very long in the war."
"Well, we don't get war that often in Narnia," sulked Edmund.
"Show me your ribs, I'm pretty sure they're broken," asked Harry.
"Because you can fix them too?"
"No, I can't grow back bones. There's a potion for this, and you should be glad there's not any in Narnia, this stuff is horrible. But I can check if it's serious, and I can reduce the bruising. Now take you shirt off," ordered Harry.
Edmund grinned and took off his top slowly. To be honest, his ribs were hurting like hell. Harry saw the wince on Edmund's face and sighed.
"I knew it."
On Edmund's bare chest, there were large purple bruises that looked a lot like a human fist. Harry got closer and quickly checked his ribs with a quick detection spell, and then reduced the bruises one by one. He was trying not to stare at Edmund. Seeing a half-naked Edmund made him blush of embarrassment, but he tried to hide it the best he could.
"So, all wizards can heal people?" asked Edmund after clearing his throat.
Harry shook his head.
"No, most of the time it's only our healers. But I had to learn some spells during the war. Or more like, Hermione taught me these spells."
After he had finished, Edmund thanked Harry with a wide smile. They both stayed together for a moment, listening to the rattle of the waves. At some point, the door opened slowly, and Hermione came in. When Harry saw her eyebrow rising and her smirk, he remembered that Edmund was still half-naked, and he blushed.
"Hermione, to what do we how the pleasure?" asked Edmund, pretending the awkwardness was inexistent in the room.
She cleared her throat after winking at Harry.
"There is a meeting in the Council Chamber, we are all expected – in decent attire obviously."
Edmund chuckled and Harry blushed, and the two men followed Hermione after Edmund grabbed a shirt.
After a tumultuous meeting and a lot of yelling, they arrived at a fair conclusion: they needed to establish a permanent mission to protect the borders against the creatures and to defend the villages. It was not the best of all decision, but they had nothing more to offer.
They would take a week to prepare this mission, and then left again, with two detachments, one in the north, one in the south. It would be easier to just find a way to defeat once and for all these creatures, they all knew it, they all yelled it at least once. However, so far, it has been a dead end.
The next day, while Peter was choosing and selecting Narnian's knights for the mission – a task he refused to share or to delegate to anyone – the rest of the humans were training in a way or another somewhere in the castle.
Cair Paravel appeared in a different light now that the sky was greyish and stormy, and the ocean was not deep blue but closer to a foaming white. A storm was getting closer and closer. On the horizon, they all could see worryingly dark clouds slowly getting closer and closer as the wind blew stronger and stronger.
Hermione had left the shelter of the library to walk on the old ramparts which surrounded the castle and were now unattended as Narnia was in peace. She had to be careful to not be swept away by the wind as she walked close to the edge. Beneath her, she saw the foam flying and being taken away by the wind like a snowstorm.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Hermione looked behind her and saw Susan joining her with a large smile.
"I really like walking down here," Susan added. "Especially when eastern storms are coming. The view is always breath-taking."
Hermione smiled to the young queen.
"I love it. I've rarely seen an ocean so large," she said.
Susan nodded and laid against the edge of the ramparts next to Hermione. A large gust blew and made their hair flew around. They had to close their eyes to the intensity of the blow and burst into a short laugh. Foam was all around them in the air. Susan suddenly grinned and bent toward Hermione and ran her finger through one of Hermione's lock. Hermione felt her heartbeats getting faster for a second.
"You had foam in your hair," said Susan with a grin before staring at the ocean again.
The wind started to get stronger, and clouds loaded with rainwater began to drop on them. Both women walked back slowly toward the castle.
"Would you be interested in spending time with me?" asked Susan.
Hermione smiled and nodded.
"Sure. I've been dying to ask you to show me how to shoot a bow," she answered.
"Who told you about my bow?" asked Susan with surprise.
Hermione laughed a little.
"Lucy might have told a lot of stories on our way to the borders to cheer up the mood."
"Bloody Lucy," laughed Susan. "Of course, I'd be happy to show you, and even teach you if you want."
The both of them walked their way back to the dry shelter of the castle by a secret passage in the ramparts Susan showed to Hermione. They reached an indoor training and shooting range in a large room. Narrow windows at the top of the walls let a shy light flooding the room. No one was there except a guard and a pageboy who bowed in front of Hermione and Susan.
Susan got her bow and showed her skills to Hermione with a large grin. She hit the centre of the target and Hermione cheered with amazement. Susan laughed a little.
"I'm cheating a bit, I have to confess," she said. "My bow can't ever miss a target. But I can promise you that I'm as talented with regular bows."
Hermione laughed too.
"Magic is not cheating, or I'll be the biggest of all cheater!" she said.
"it's not cheating when it's a part of you, me, it's just a gadget. But it had proven to be very useful at times."
"May I try?" asked Hermione.
Susan grinned and showed her the posture.
"Don't face the target, be on your side, right foot in front. Yes, like this. Now aim at the target. And Shoot!"
The arrow did not leave the bow in a very straight direction but aimed the target at the centre anyway. Hermione cheered for a second and then said, "This is cheating, I shouldn't have hit the target."
"Maybe, but it's the best way to learn how to shoot. And honestly, you did good. A bit of training and you can try with an actual arrow and bow."
Hermione nodded and took another arrow to give it another chance. They spent a major part of their morning at the shooting range. Hermione got better and better at every shot. The two women were engaging in a friendly rivalry to see who would aim best with a random bow. Susan was winning but only because of her amount of training as Hermione seemed to have a natural gift for this activity.
As they were having a break, they went out to breathe some fresh air. The rain had stopped, and the wind was still smelling like wet storm. On a terrace, they sat in front of a pond. It was a garden on a terrace that recalled to Hermione drawings of the hanging gardens of Babylon she saw in classics books. Fruit trees and flourishing bushes surrounded them. And in the middle of the marble pavement, a small fountain was pouring into a rectangular pond which then fall into a waterfall on the terrace below them. Even under the stormy sky, it was beautiful. It smelled like rain and delicate tropical flowers at the same time.
"Even with the storm coming, this place is beautiful," said Hermione. "It's hard to get use to comfortable and nice places after the last couple of years."
"You had to travel a lot?" asked Susan.
"We couldn't stay in the same place for a long time, or we would get caught. I'm sure Edmund told you about the Wizarding War. I've stayed mostly in squat houses, in slums, abandoned buildings, even in the sewers. It was after our HQ was found out."
"I'm sorry you had to go through all of this," whispered Susan painfully.
"It's life. I could have left the country and changes life. But I choose to stay and fight. It was my decision. I could've left with my parents to Australia."
Susan stared at her with surprise.
"Your parents let you stay there?"
Hermione sigh painfully.
"Not exactly. I forced them to leave. My parents are not wizard, they had no way to defend themselves, and they could have been target because of me."
"They accepted to left?" Susan was surprised. "My mother would never have let us stay in dangerous places, even if it had cost her life..."
Hermione winced. Susan noticed.
"I'm sorry," the queen said. "I shouldn't have insisted."
"No, it's okay, I need to accept it. It's me who sent my parents away. I'm a witch, and I altered their memories. I erased myself from them and pushed them to go to Australia."
She stopped talking for a moment and took a deep breath. Her heart was squeezing in her chest.
"But at least, I know they are safe. That they didn't die because of me."
Susan sighed and put a hand on Hermione's shoulder and pulled her into a hug.
"You are so brave." whispered Susan in her ear.
They stayed like this for a moment, trouble only by the rattle of the ocean and the wind in the leaves. Hermione had tears in her eyes she did not tried to stop from falling onto her cheeks. It had been a very long time since someone had pulled her into a hug like this. Embraces with Harry did not really count, he is like a brother to her. This was different and very pleasant.
"It's not the same," said Susan softly. "But I miss my mother so much sometimes. I haven't seen her since I'm in Narnia. I'm feeling sad and guilty sometimes at the idea that she doesn't know what happened to us, that we are safe and happy. She was so heartbroken to let us go with the children program, to keep us safe from the bombs. I worry for her every day."
Hermione had a sad smile.
"The hardest part is to learn to live without our parents. We have to live our life for ourselves, and it's so difficult sometimes to not be with them, to not reassure them, to not be reassured by them."
Susan nodded in agreement.
"And to start a family of our own.' added Susan. 'To create our own life and standards to live by."
The wind was once again getting stronger and colder, another rainstorm was getting closer. They both stood up to get back at the shooting range holding each other's hand. Hermione could feel a warm feeling growing in her chest, and it felt amazing. Susan was smiling discreetly and blushing not so discreetly.
As they walk past the edge of the terrace, they heard a rattle of swords from above them. They did not need to look up to know it was Edmund and Harry training again on Edmund's balcony.
Since they both woke up, Harry and Edmund were training, on the balcony or inside in Edmund's lounge when it was raining. Rainfall was disturbing the sky regularly since dawn and flooding the balcony.
Edmund was clearly in a bad mood and was not talking much, despite Harry's efforts. He was not the best trainer on that day. The rain had stopped pouring once again, and they went outside, on the balcony to breathe some air and to start another round of sword fight.
Edmund's hits were hard and violent. Harry had to be careful to not be cut by his moving blade. He was tempted to stop the training there, but he knew Edmund would just stay alone, depressed, and sad. If he wanted to keep him company, he had to train, which was not to please Harry's sore muscles. He was getting slower with tiredness.
Therefore, he did not see Edmund feint coming, and he let his sword fall under the shock. Edmund did not seem to notice and kept aiming his sword at him. Harry felt onto the ground. The sword was about to hit him directly on the arms that he crossed in front of his face.
"Edmund!" he screamed.
The young king seemed to notice but too late to stop. The sword violently hit Harry's forearms and the shield which wandlessly appeared in front of them. Edmund's eyes widened and he let his sword fall at his feet, and he rushed on his knees to check on Harry.
"Oh, dear god," he said. "Harry, are you okay? I'm so sorry."
He looked pathetic, and the rain which started to fall again and to wet his hair was not helping.
"I'm okay," said Harry in a hoarse voice. "But you're not going to touch this sword again today."
Edmund helped him to get back on his feet. He was patting him all over to check if he was not hurt. Harry looked slightly amused by his awkward patting and gently pushed him away.
"I told you I was okay, but you are definitely not. We should have stopped training a long time ago. You look like shit."
Edmund sighed desperately and ran a hand through his soaked hair. He walked several steps back from Harry before going toward the edge of the balcony. Harry stared at him for a moment, he looked sad, and hurt. He joined him and laid against the edge next to him. Their shoulders were touching.
"I'm… not okay" muttered Edmund, the head down.
"I've noticed, you've been like this since we came back, and even after the attack at the village," answered Harry.
"I wonder if Peter isn't right. I did fail Narnia before. I have messed up. I'm not strong enough, not brave enough. I don't deserve to be a king."
Harry put an arm around Edmund's shoulders and squeezed.
"First of all, no one deserves to be a king. You became a king because of a combination of circumstances, you deserve it after, with your actions," said Harry. "And you deserved it, Edmund. You saved Narnia in battle before if I recall Lucy's stories well. And for each time you made a mistake, you made up for it by being brave, and a better knight than before."
"But today, there is nothing I can do," he sighed.
"There is nothing no one could do. The oracle was clear, you had to find help at the edge of the world. It meant no one in Narnia could have found this out. And you went to the edge of the world, you risked your life to find help for Narnia and you found it. So far, it has not been you who is failing but me and the other wizards. We are the one who have to help here."
"Don't try to cheer me up by blaming yourself," groaned Edmund.
Harry snorted.
"I'm just telling the truth here," he said.
Harry bent toward Edmund to kiss him on the cheek.
"This is to cheer you up," he grinned.
Edmund chuckled and bent toward Harry with a grin. Their lips met, and they kissed softly. Edmund felt Harry smiling against his lips, and he put an arm behind his neck and moved his head away gently. They both smiled awkwardly for a moment before stepping back. Harry's heartbeats were sprinting like an Olympic champion. Edmund was trying to hide his blush, but his freckles made him looked like a stop road sign.
They rainfall was increasing and they both went back inside.
None of them talked about the kiss ever again. Harry was not even sure it really happened. Maybe it was just a dream. He must have been daydreaming. And Edmund detachment did not help him to think otherwise.
To be continued...
I didn't plan for them to kiss so soon by they definitly wanted to, so why not letting them have this?
I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. Don't forget to tell me what you think about it! See you next time!
