-Chapter 9-
A/N: This chapter is for all of my Ed/Ava shippers. You're gonna hate me forever. But what can I say? *shrugs* I'm evil.
All of my Peter/Analiese shippers, sorry! I seriously never planned for this to happen when I drew out the plotline, I mean their little talk and all. As a matter of fact, they weren't supposed to like each other at all. But I guess things have a way of switching themselves up and making an author's readers hate her, don't they?
To my new reviewers, I usually send out a PM thanking them for their review and answer any questions they have, but I've been getting behind. So I'm going to thank the following of my reviewers whom I haven't PMed here:
CountessofGalma: Oh, I didn't know DawnDestination had a sister! Well, I'm glad you discovered this story and that you like it! I'm sorry for the confusion; let me clear it up. Peter, as High King, has an advisor who helps him make all major decisions and does what's best for him. His advisor, Biff the dwarf, is good friends with Analiese's Uncle Fredrick. Fredrick's brother, Analiese's father, had mentioned that Analiese should be married soon, and Fredrick took it upon himself to talk to his good 'ole pal Biff, who had been looking to marry off Peter. Fredrick had simply been trying to find honorable, single men for his niece to meet, but when he discovered that Peter needed to marry soon, he and Biff plotted it out. It was only allowed for the arranged marriage because it was the High King's... I don't know how else to put it. I remember reading that passage when I read The Horse and His Boy, but somehow it got lost in my mind when I was writing
this. Sorry for the confusion! And make sure you keep reading; you should get a fanfic account!
outlawed-singer-sorcerer-girl: Glad you like the story, and sorry I haven't had the chance to PM you and personally thank you. I'm slowly becoming lazier as I get closer to the end of the school year. Keep reading and reviewing!
Disclaimer: I do not own Narnia.
-
"Queen Avaline."
There was a knock on Avaline's door. Avaline turned on her side to face the clock hung on the wall. It was 5:30 in the morning; why was a servant waking her now?
She dragged herself from her bed and rubbed her eyes sleepily as she made her way to her bedroom door. When she opened it, she found a faun standing in the doorway.
"My Queen," the male faun said, bowing respectively.
"Rise, faun," Avaline ordered. Though she was known for being the more witty and sarcastic of the three queens, she was also the most passionate, thus her title. So she had no trouble welcoming her servant, even though he did wake her up very early.
"What brings you here?" Avaline asked.
"Your Majesty, err," the faun hesitated. He looked to the ground awkwardly for a moment, then back up at his queen. "King Edmund requests your presence."
"Where is my presence to be held?"
"In the Just King's bed chambers. He wishes to speak to you alone, and sends me with a personal message." Here the faun pulled a piece of parchment from his messenger bag's pocket, and handed it to Avaline.
The Passionate Queen took the note from the servant, opened it quickly, and scanned through the writing. She remembered, after straining her eyes for a minute, that Edmund's writing was not always easy to read, and that skimming through the note's contents was out of the question. So, with a sigh, she began reading.
Avaline,
I wish to speak with you; your presence is requested in my bed chambers. I am sorry to awaken you at such a time, but it is rather important and has been bugging at me since yesterday. Talking it out with you may help me. After all, you always have been quite the confidant to me.
In short, please meet me in my chambers in five minutes. Knock on the door lightly, though; I don't want to wake Caspian, as his room is next door to my own.
With love,
Edmund
Avaline stared at the letter. What could Edmund want to talk to her about? She thought over everything that he could possibly want, but was brought back to the present when the faun sneezed.
"Oh my, I almost forgot you were here, faun. Do forgive me," Avaline apologized.
"No, my Queen, it is I who should apologize, for I woke you at such an ungodly hour. You are still half-asleep!"
Avaline chuckled. "No, you were just doing your job." She glanced down at the paper in her hands. "Thank you for delivering this. I will go see King Edmund. But I am going to ask a favor of you: if Queen Susan or Queen Lucy come to get me for dress decisions and fittings, tell them where I am, please. And if King Caspian comes by, let him know, also."
The faun nodded, then paused. "My Queen, what about High King Peter and Lady Analiese?"
"Only tell them if they ask, please."
"Of course, milady. Anything else?"
"No, you may be off now. Thank you."
Avaline then headed off toward Edmund's quarters, being careful to walk using quiet footsteps, for fear she might wake someone. When she finally reached his bedroom door, she raised her arm to knock but lowered it slightly, hesitating. Should she go ahead and knock or just go in? Before yesterday, she would have said the latter, but considering the circumstances...
"Ugh, where is she?" Avaline heard from the other side of the door. It suddenly opened right before her face, and the Passionate Queen blinked in surprise as her eyes locked with the Edmund's.
"There you are," he said, smirking.
Avaline looked down at her feet uncomfortably. She didn't know what Edmund wanted, but it was sure to be awkward between them.
"Come on in. You don't have to wait for me to invite you, you know."
"Actually, I'd rather do this outside. It'd make me feel more comfortable," Avaline replied, keeping her eyes low for fear they'd meet his.
"Do what outside? What are you talking about?"
"You aren't- what did you want me here for?" the Telmarine queen raised her eyebrows, glancing up briefly at her boyfriend.
Edmund sighed. "Come with me."
He was about to turn to go inside, but Avaline stopped him again. "Edmund, I-"
"Avaline," he interrupted. She looked up at him questioningly. Sighing, the Just King said warily, "Just get inside."
So he stepped aside and motioned for his girlfriend to enter first, and she did. When he had quietly shut the door behind them, he turned to face his bedroom, only to be surprised when he found Avaline standing in the center of the room, looking uncomfortable.
"You can sit down, you know." Avaline simply shook her head, and Edmund sighed again. He shook his head to himself. This girl was just about as stubborn as stubborn could possibly get.
"I want you to sit down."
She shook her head.
"I'm asking you to sit down."
She shook her head again.
Edmund gave a huff of exasperation. "How about this? I'm ordering you to sit down."
Avaline shook her head yet again.
Yes, Edmund thought, she certainly is a feisty one. If being stubborn were a competition, Avaline would win it every time.
"Fine. You know what? I don't even care," he said, raising his hands in the air in defeat. "Do what you want. But don't come whining to me when your legs are sore from standing later."
There was silence as each looked over the other. Avaline looked at the Just King, and it was as if she was seeing him for the first time. Her eyes scanned his feet, which were covered in dark brown boots. She looked at his legs, clad in tree-bark brown trousers. Then his stomach; she couldn't keep herself from staring at his well-built abs, which were visible through his thin, white tunic. Practically drooling over him, she forced her eyes to move up his chest and to his jaw line. Square and clenched in an emotion she couldn't quite place; he looked so stressed. She moved to his lips. Those lips would always be the first ones she thought of when she heard the word 'kiss.' They had been the lips she had first kissed, and she hoped they would be the lips she kissed last. Then there was the best part of his appearance: his eyes. Edmund's eyes had to be the most beautiful sight Avaline had ever seen. Deep, dark, mysterious, handsome, amazing brown eyes that could melt you on the spot. They sometimes seemed as if they knew everything about her just by meeting her gaze, as if those brown orbs could read her mind.
Today, there was something different about those usually perfect eyes. Today, they held an emotion that Avaline had only seen once in Edmund's eyes. Pain. But that wasn't all; it was just the main emotion. There were tinier feelings floating around, feelings that Avaline couldn't quite comprehend. There was guilt; that was a strong one. Confusion was another. But what surprised Avaline most of all was when her eyes unfocused on his and refocused on his face as a whole, and she spotted his lower lip quivering.
Edmund's lips were quivering! This was almost laughable. It had to be some kind of a joke. If so, Edmund sure was a good actor.
"Edmund," Avaline whispered. "Why did you call me in here?"
There was a long silence again, but it was shorter than the last. "I had to apologize," he said quietly. "I couldn't bring myself to ignore you for any longer."
"You didn't have to do this. You could have just written me a note."
"It wouldn't have been the same," Edmund disagreed, shaking his head. "It wouldn't be just."
He sighed before continuing. "Avaline, I'm sorry about yesterday. I-I wasn't thinking at that party, and when I said those things to you, and to Analiese and Su and Peter..." he trailed off and looked into her eyes. "I don't know what came over me."
"It's not what you said that I'm mad about, Edmund. I think we both know what I'm really upset over." Edmund's eyes widened as he realized that Avaline remembered. He didn't think she would; he didn't think it had hurt her that bad. But it apparently had.
Avaline and Edmund stood in the hallway, just in front of Edmund's bedroom door.
Edmund kissed the brown-haired girl passionately and slowly began pushing her until he had her trapped against the wall.
"The p-party i-is going to start without you," Avaline gasped out.
The Just King stared intensely into her eyes, seeing the drunken passion in them that could only lead to trouble. No, Avaline was not drunk, she was much too sophisticated to do something like that, not to mention she was under age. But the two had just returned from a very heated dancing lesson. Suggested by Susan, this lesson had lasted for three hours straight, and made sure that nobody "made a fool of themselves" while on the dance floor at the wedding reception.
While they were in their dance lesson, it was all either of them could do not to kiss each other right on the spot. They were so close to each other; Edmund's hands on her hips, Avaline's arms around his neck. They were already in the position they took up every time they kissed; it wouldn't be too hard to take advantage of that fact. It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and the couple were now as eager as ever.
"I don't care," Edmund muttered. "Screw Pete."
"Ed!" Avaline scolded, though it came out as more of a giggly exclamation as he kissed her neck. He smiled against her skin as she laughed, enjoying the sound. Her laugh was one of the many things he loved about her. It sounded so carefree and girlish.
"I don't care," Edmund repeated. "Besides, I doubt anyone will be sober enough to notice my absence anyway."
Avaline laughed. Peter's bachelor's party had been moved to that night because the three kings had been considerate enough of Susan to not make her have to wake them up through drunkeness and hangovers the morning of his wedding. Edmund was fixing to leave, but those dance lessons had really screwed him up!
He began kissing up her neck toward her jaw, then her chin, then back down. Moving some hair out of the way, he kissed the exposed skin of her shoulder. He was glad that this was the day Avaline had chosen an off-shoulder dress to wear.
"Edmund," Avaline murmured. She wanted to resist, and to end this before it began, but she couldn't. The feel of his lips on her skin, kissing her in places he had never kissed her before, was slowly pulling her deeper into the sin they were already committing.
So when his teeth brushed her skin while kissing her, she let out an involuntary shudder and leaned her head back. Little did she know, she was only further sparking the fire that would soon be too heated to put out.
He moved his head up to kiss her lips again, rougher this time. Avaline then realized the danger behind their actions. She pulled away slightly. "What has gotten into you?"
"Nothing," Edmund smirked mischievously. "That is, nothing a little slumber party can't fix."
"Edmund," she said again, but he captured her lips with his to shut her up. She suddenly realized that all this time, they had been inching toward his bedroom door subconsciously. "Ed." Avaline pulled away, grabbing hold of his arms and pushing him back from her.
The dark-haired king looked her deep in the eyes. He hadn't even had anything to drink yet, nor had he even stepped foot at the bachelor's party, and he was already intoxicated, though not by alcohol.
"Come on, Ava," he murmured, twisting a strand of her hair. "Just this once."
The Passionate Queen's mind went back to her mother, and how she had always been told to never listen to a man that said something like that. "No," she said firmly, pulling his hand away. But he continued on, caressing her cheek, kissing her, and things that were almost too much for Avaline to resist. But she did.
"Please," he whispered. "Tonight. I promise, just this once. I'll never try this with you again, I promise, I just..." he paused, searching for the words he wanted. "I need you."
Avaline never thought herself weak, she never gave in to temptation. But this one thing, this cursed, wonderful thing that she submitted herself to... it was one thing she could never redo, something that she could never take back.
That was the night Avaline was no longer pure. (A/N: For lack of better wording, I used that... yes, I know there were about a thousand other ways to say that, but I'm trying to keep this less awkward for my friends to read and for me to write.)
Edmund had been stupid enough to think that after all they went through that night, that Avaline wouldn't be upset by what had happened the following morning when she woke.
Avaline woke to bright light streaming through the dark blue curtains in Edmund's bedroom. Wait... Edmund's bedroom?
She jerked up into a sitting position and looked around her. Sure enough, she was in her boyfriend's room. Lying in his bed, sleeping on his pillows, covered by his sheets... or maybe not quite as covered as she thought. Her lower body was covered by the royal blue sheets, but her upper body was uncovered and exposed. Avaline quickly yanked the covers over her before she began hyperventilating.
Why was she sleeping in Edmund's room? And why in Aslan's name was she... Avaline shuddered. She wanted to put it off as a draft of cool air coming into the room, but she realized after seeing that the windows were closed that she had shuddered due to whatever memory of last night had come to her.
She thought back, hard, to the night before. Edmund had asked her to stay the night in his room, she had tried to say no, she finally said yes, he kissed her, they were in his room, they were on the bed, they...
So that was where the shudder came from.
Avaline sat cross-legged on the bed, still and silent, for a few minutes before it hit her. Her innocence, her childish ways and clean thoughts and pure actions, it had all been taken away from her last night. She remembered her mother giving her a long lecture about denying this kind of intimacy with a man until after getting married, and she now regretted everything that had just happened. But the harder Avaline thought about it, the happier she got. Soon, she was no longer simply happy, but giddy with excitement and joy. And she had absolutely no idea why.
Somewhere inside her mind, she knew that last night was wrong, and that it was wrong on so many levels. Her actions had destroyed the teen years of her life, not to mention Edmund's, and if anyone found out about it... Avaline didn't even want to think about what would happen if anyone, but especially the Narnians, found out about this. Her reputation would be forever damaged; her bond with her subjects would be severed beyond repair.
She lay back down and rolled over to one side. Expecting to feel Edmund's body next to hers, she cuddled into the place next to her and closed her eyes, only to find a moment later that there was no one there. However, a piece of paper was resting on top of Edmund's pillow, folded with her name written on the outside.
Carefully unfolding it and opening the note, she began to read.
"Ava,
I'm heading out to the bachelor's party now. It's around three in the morning now, so it will surely still be going on. Plus, I can see the bonfire still flickering from a distance out the window.
You're probably wondering why I'm leaving right now. I only have one reason.
After you fell asleep, I laid in bed and thought about what happened. Then I saw you, sleeping so soundly and peacefully, your bare shoulders peeking out from under the covers, and I realized what I did to you.
Ava, what we did last night was wrong. You and I both know that. I hate myself for doing this to you, and I hope more than anything you'll forgive me. I'll understand if you don't, though.
You probably won't be seeing me the rest of the day, so don't be looking around. I'm planning on taking a one-night camping trip by myself in the woods to think. Don't bother following me.
With love,
Ed"
Silent tears slipped down her cheeks and quiet, heart-breaking sobs wracked her body. Why would he do this to her? Didn't he know that it didn't matter what they did? She loved him; that was all that mattered. Didn't he realize how much pain she was in? He left her because of something she did, something she agreed to. And there was nothing she could do to stop him.
And so Avaline stayed in that bed, tired, hungry, happy, devastated, angry, and exhausted, until just before time to meet the Pevensies and her cousin in the library for more wedding planning.
"Are you mad?" Edmund asked.
"Mad? No. Angry? Kind of. Furious? Definitely. Embarrassed? Completely," she answered angrily.
"So I humiliated you beyond repair?"
"Darn right, you did!" she shot back, her brown eyes glaring into his.
Edmund could hardly believe this was happening. He felt as if it was a dream, and he wanted more than anything to wake up. But his emotions were too strong and his blood pressure was too high for it to be anything but reality.
"What, so now you aren't even going to say anything?"
Edmund's eyes looked back into hers. "There's nothing for me to say."
"Wrong!" she exclaimed. "You know, it's always something with you. It's my fault that I fell in love with you, and maybe you'd feel the same if I wasn't pressuring you. It's my fault that the raid of father's castle was unsuccessful, because you were too busy kissing me to signal the troops on time. It's my fault that Peter and Analiese are in a fight right now, because if I hadn't butted in, they'd still be alright. It's my fault that we did what we did, because I couldn't control my body! You know, you're real quick to throw me under the bus, especially when I never did anything wrong!"
He gawked at her, eyes wide. Did she really think all of that? Did she honestly think he felt that way?
"I-"
"Hush!" she shouted at him.
"Let me-"
"Be quiet!"
He sighed and waited a minute for her to cool down just a bit. "Avaline, I deserve to talk."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously at him, but she let him continue.
"Look, we were wrong to do what we did. I just wasn't thinking and-"
"The heck you weren't," she interrupted. He waited to go on.
"As I was saying," here he looked pointedly at Avaline, "it was the heat of the moment that got to me, and I couldn't resist."
"Hey, Edmund," Avaline said sarcastically, and he prepared himself for another one of her snarky, sarcastic remarks. "That's why there's this little thing inside of you called self control. You should use it sometime!"
Edmund had to fight back an angry snarl. "Watch it."
"Watch what?" she replied, her hands behind her back as she batted her eyelashes in mock-innocence.
"Watch your tone! I apologized for what I did, and the least you could do is consider accepting it."
"It's hard to consider something when you gave me nothing to consider." Her words stung him. They stung him hard. He had no idea how to reply.
"Ava..."
"Don't 'Ava' me!" Avaline's expression suddenly changed from one of fury to one of complete disgust as she went on. "I can't believe I fell for you. Who in their right mind would? I mean, no one can love a lying, cheating, perverted moron, right?"
His face went blank. His heart nearly stopped. What just went wrong? Did she have any idea what she was saying?
But she wasn't done yet. "I can't believe you. I thought I knew you, but I guess I didn't see you for who you truly are: a heartless, rotten traitor. And I. Hate. You." She spit each word out slowly and carefully, each word laced with more revulsion and utter disgust than the last.
What? No, this couldn't be happening. This wasn't real. It had to be just some crazy nightmare he was having. The real Avaline was asleep right now, and she still loved him. This couldn't be real.
But the longer he told himself this, the more convinced he became that he was deluding himself. This was real, and the woman he loved truly hated him.
"But-" he objected.
"No. Just no. Don't say another word to me. As a matter of fact, don't say another word to me ever again." He stared at her, his expression filled with the pain he was feeling. "I will never forgive you, as long as I live. And I will never forget what you took from me."
And with that said, she was gone, leaving behind a defenseless Edmund.
He clutched his chest, as if trying to hold it together, and as if trying to put his broken heart back together, but it didn't help. Edmund's heart was broken, shattered into a million pieces that he knew could never be picked up and put back together the same way ever again.
From that night on, everything had changed.
-
A/N: Okay, I'm almost positive that you all hate me now as much as Avaline hates Edmund. And I honestly don't blame you... I hurt poor Eddie! His heart is broken, poor fella! Stupid boys. Sometimes I can't stand them! I'm not trying to be sexist, because not all boys are stupid, but there are a select few that will take your heart, hold it gently for a while, and then crush it. That, ladies, is why you should never, ever fall for the "bad boy." And I'm not talking about Edmund anymore.
lucypotter14, when you read that last sentence or so that I just wrote about, you know, "the board"... don't even ask. I'll explain later.
By the way, have I ever told you that I love you people? When I was this far into "Just the Justice," I only had eighteen reviews. Can you believe that? Eighteen reviews by chapter nine! Oh my gosh, and I'm writing chapter nine of "Mostly the Magnificent" as you read, I haven't even posted it yet obviously, and I already have fifty-four reviews. FIFTY-FOUR. Do y'all get how awesome that is?! Can I get a WHOOP WHOOP! I love you, I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU PEOPLES! You are a group of amazing reviewers, and I don't deserve what you all give me when you review and read.
But since you can never have too many reviews... REVIEW! I'm greedy, aren't I? ;D
Oh, and by the way, this chapter was 4,500 words long. That's literally, like, the longest chapter I have ever written. Seriously. So you had better be happy and love me. But earlier I thought you hated me… I guess it's a love-hate relationship here, huh?