There was always a great joyful bustle when Aslan the Great Lion arrived, as every creature in Cair Paravel wanted to speak to him, the kings and queens being no exception. Peter always bowed and laid his sword at Aslan's feet paying homage to the King above all Kings of Narnia. Susan always muttered that he never gave them warning, so the silver wasn't polished and she didn't have her best dress on, but really she was as glad to see him as any of them and the smile on her face as she gave him the most graceful of curtsies showed this. Lucy always shamelessly ran and hugged him, burying her face into his mane, forgetting all the etiquette that her tutor had so painstakingly tried to teach her. But Aslan always smiled when she did this, making Susan wonder if this was the correct way to greet Aslan after all.

Edmund always gave the customary bow that courtesy demanded, but would wait until he could find Aslan alone. The love that Edmund had for Aslan was deep in a way that none of the others could understand, because he had been forgiven so much.

It was hours past sundown (and really time for him to be going to bed) before Edmund finally found Aslan alone in one of the gardens. On this occasion Edmund knelt and wept into his mane. He always tried to stop doing this once he had started, but found he never could until the tears had run their course. Aslan seemed to have infinite patience and waited quietly, sometimes rubbing his mane comfortingly against Edmund's face. Eventually the tears dried up and Edmund sat back, gazing into the beautiful face that was shining gold and silver in the moonlight. His fragrance mixed wonderfully with the scent of the roses to make a soothing smell unlike anything else Edmund had ever smelt. It would have been soporific if Aslan had not been there. But he was wide awake with expectancy. For Aslan was the oldest and wisest of all the creatures in Narnia, and whenever they met Edmund always learned something that changed him forever.

"What did I call you when I crowned you?" asked Aslan after a time.

"King Edmund the Just," Edmund was a bit surprised by this question and didn't mean to add, "but I don't know why."

Aslan didn't say anything. Edmund waited, a little ashamed of this confession; but Aslan waited too. Eventually Edmund knew that he was expected to explain what he had said.

"I mean that I don't think I am very just. I'm not very wise and never have been very fair."

Edmund was expecting Aslan to scold him and to tell him that he was just and fair, but that he didn't realise it yet. But Aslan didn't. Instead he was silent once again. Edmund found that his fears of being a poor king were rising in him once again, and he desperately wanted a kind word.

"Why did you call me King Edmund the Just?"

"Tell me Edmund," Aslan said, "Was your sister Susan gentle when you were in the Professor's house?"

"No," said Edmund positively. But he hadn't meant to be mean, so he added, "It wasn't her fault, she had a difficult job keeping our family together."

"Then why did I call her Queen Susan the Gentle?"

Edmund was stumped by this at first. He thought of his sister and how in England she had tried to be mature in the absence of their parents. She always did what she thought their mother would have done, even if it meant being harsh to him and Lucy. He didn't blame her as he knew that she had been doing her best.

Then he thought of her after she had become queen. At first she had been the same, telling the others what to do and trying to organise everything in the castle and getting on the housekeeper's nerves. But as Peter had come into his own, they had all acknowledged that Peter had the maturity that would be necessary to lead the country, she had found that she did not have to feel responsible for everyone and everything and had relaxed more than he had seen her relax since before the war in their own world. Leaning on Peter's inspirational leadership, she had flourished and become more … gentle.

"You called her Queen Susan the Gentle," Edmund replied at last, "because that is what she would become."

"Yes."

"Aslan I can't see myself becoming just."

Aslan growled making Edmund look up in surprise and fear. Aslan was very far from gentle with those who were his enemies and it was always good to remember that he was not a tame lion.

In a quiet and terrible voice, he replied, "I know each creature in Narnia intimately. I see every time they get up each morning, I know when they sleep every night, I hear every word they speak. I raised the stars up into the heavens and one day I will call them back down. I was there at the dawn of time when the Deep Magic was written. On that first day I sang Narnia into being. You know this, Son of Adam. Why do you doubt what I have said?"

Until that moment Edmund had been very doubtful, but when he remembered who Aslan really was, he found a small spark of courage growing in him and he was able to say truthfully:

"To doubt what you have said is to doubt who you are, isn't it? I don't doubt you. Not anymore."

Edmund and Aslan sat side by side in the garden for a long time in the simple pleasure of being near each other. Aslan was one of the few creatures with whom he could be completely silent and completely comfortable at the same time. Finally Edmund knew that he couldn't stay here any longer or he would be exhausted the next day, so he reluctantly bade Aslan farewell and returned to the castle.