ok, so thanks for the few who understand the concept of reviewing. here's this chapter. after this one, don't expect another chapter for a little while...unless i work some things out with the story. it's gonna take a while to get everything in order because i have a tendancy to write my chapters out of order. so here ya go, enjoy! AND REVIEW.

For the next year, Edmund spent his days wandering around the castle, lost in sullen bemusement. After Elaina left, things had gone completely topsy-turvy in his life, according to him. Nothing made sense. But today was different. Today, something was nagging at him. He had to find her. End of story.

"You're going to get yourself killed. You're wasting your time," Peter said rolling his eyes, watching Edmund walk around the room.

"No, no I'm not." He threw random items into a leather bag. "If you were me, and Elaina was Callida, you would go after her instead of just sitting here like you don't care what happens!"

"If I were you," Peter put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "I would forget her."

"Well, it's good then."

"What is?"

"That you are not me."

"Edmund, this is ridiculous! Don't go waste your life looking—"

"Peter," Edmund turned on him, glaring him down with a ferocity that he had never seen before. "At our coronation, Aslan called me 'King Edmund: The Just'. What has been forced upon her is not just, so I'm going to go fix that." And with that response, he went to ready Philip.

He rode past a small clearing, and curiosity got the better of him. This was the place where Tumnus found some kind of magic pool. He needed to find Elaina, and this was a good place to get started. He walked into the grove, and found the crystalline pond. He suddenly dreaded what he might see. Well, this is what he saw:

Everyone was in the palace, awaiting the bride. But Elaina was nowhere to be found. Actually, she was a ways away sitting by a small creek, lost in sullen thought, silent tears rolling slowly down her painted cheeks.

"Oh, Aslan," she said quietly. "Why must this happen to me? Where are you when I need you?"

"Why do you weep, child?" a deep voice said from behind her. She whipped around to find the Great Lion himself, standing before her, sympathy in his eyes. She wiped away her tears and tried to hold them back. His soothing voice made her feel a little more at ease. But still, this was the equivalent to losing her father; such sadness that might never heal.

"Oh, Aslan, my brother is making me marry this man, and he is horrible and cruel and he is an enemy of Narnia. I cannot live with him, Aslan. Please help me. I am so lost." Her body shook with sobs. Aslan came closer to her and breathed on her. Instantly, she stopped and gazed up at him in wonder.

"Do not fret, my child. In time, everything will work itself out. Now, I understand what you have just told me about this man, it is nothing I do not already know," he said this more in a comforting way rather than matter-of-factly. "But you must be strong and carry through with this. It is crucial. Come, I will walk with you." And so he did. They went back through the forest, Elaina feeling slightly dazed. She held onto Aslan's mane mostly for support. When they reached the gates of the palace, he said one last thing.

"Non habet legem."

"Necessity has no law?" She looked toward the building. "Aslan—" she turned back to where he was, but he was gone. She took a deep breath, and made her way into the castle, and married the man she hated most.

Edmund watched the whole ceremony through the magic pool.

Now he stood before it, an angry scowl on his face. Elaina stood in front of a marble table where incense and two candles burned. Her face was completely emotionless. Even her eyes, those beautiful gray orbs that revealed everything to him, were blank. When the Tisroc kissed her, anger flooded him and he threw a rock into the pond. The image dissipated and he punched a tree beside him, unaware of the pain creeping up his arm. Then he mounted Philip and began riding towards Telmar.

Someone had to end this.

Elaina sat at a long table in a high backed chair. The men and women here were so much different than the ones in Dimitius or Narnia. Then again, it was a masquerade. Despite wearing a mask, she tried to keep her face void of emotion. What was she going to do? She looked up and saw a man, standing at the back, staring her. She could tell he was looking at her, even though he also wore a mask; but it was a lion's face.

"Wyn," she called her personal servant to her. "Find out who that man is, the one at the back in the lion mask." Wyn dipped her head and began asking around. Elaina looked over to where the Tisroc stood, speaking with other diplomats of ally countries. He was paying no attention to her. Wyn came back up to her.

"He would not say his name, but he said for me to tell you, 'come find out yourself, Ella'."

Her heart skipped a beat. Could it be Edmund? She prayed it was.

"Very well, then." She stood and walked to him, trying to keep her composure. As he saw her approaching, he did not move, but remained leaning back on a black marble pillar.

"My good sir, might you be so kind as to speak with me alone?" she asked, not knowing how much longer she could keep up this charade.

"Of course, your highness." He followed her into a back room used for conferencing...and private executions. It stank of death and misery, but it was the only place where no one would suspect anything. She closed and locked the door, whipped off her feathery mask, and stood in front of him. He pulled his off as they stared at each other.

"What took you so long?" she cocked her head to the side and put her hands on her hips.

"Well, first I had to get over the initial shock of you leaving and telling me that we would never see one another ever again. There was also the problem of finding out where you were. It would be nice if you—"

She covered his mouth with her hand, and, just as she had before, she kissed him softly, savoring every moment. She pulled back and looked up at him. Edmund could no longer hold himself back. He grabbed the back of her head and kissed her almost roughly. He began unlacing her corset.

"No, Edmund," she said backing away. "Not here, not now." She laced it back up.

Four Days Later

Elaina lay in her bed, alone tonight, thankfully. Her husband was gone away for a few more days. She had to cherish these few moments of sanctity. She was sleeping after crying herself there. She had not cried like that in so long. Now, she dreamed of Edmund, and her memories of him. Suddenly, she awoke to a tapping on the glass doors leading out to the terrace. Through the gauzy curtains she could see the silhouette of a tall figure. She stood and wrapped a burgundy robe around her body. She pulled back the drapery to see Edmund standing out in the rain. She gasped and stood for a moment, mouth agape. Then she threw open the doors and embraced her beloved.

"Oh, Edmund," she whispered in his ear. "I missed you so." A tear fell down her cheek.

"I missed you too." He held onto her and kissed her, both still out in the rain. He stroked her hair and simply looked at her. She pulled him back inside and pulled his lips to hers. He grasped her shoulder and she flinched and pulled back slightly.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Ella," he said, looking concerned. "What's wrong?" She shed the robe and he found two things: one, she was much thinner than she used to be. Two, bruises lined her arms and back.

"Did he do this to you?" he asked, pulling away, suddenly enraged. Elaina looked at her arms.

"Edmund you can't do anything about it."

"Yes I can," he got up from the bed, where they had ended up. "I'm taking you with me. You're coming back to Narnia."

"I wish I could," she took his face in her hands. "But I cannot. Aslan told me what I have to do. I—must—stay—here." She spaced the last sentence out very carefully, as if speaking to a child.

"But—"

"Aslan told me himself. I want nothing more than to be with you, and if it was up to me, I would leave right now and never come back to this dreaded place ever again." She kissed him. "But I have to stay."

"I understand." He said after a moment's silence, even though he was lying. He brushed her cheek affectionately. Her skin was softer than a rose petal, newly formed from the earth. He kissed her dawn-tinted lips, then her neck, and, well, you can imagine the rest. All they wanted was time together; all they wanted was eachother. Non habet legem. Necessity has no law.

7 Years Later

Peter was in a mood. What exactly his deal was, nobody quite knew. But there was some speculation. Some said it was because of the fight he had had with his wife that morning. They still had not made up and they had been married only three years. Others, they believed he was simply exhausted from staying up much too late going over documents and treaties and not having enough to eat. Only his siblings knew what it was. Some years ago, Elaina had had a son. Edmund had taken it particularly personal, slipping into a rut that made him his old self again: rude and sarcastic. He was standoffish and to the day, never mentioned her name. She was out of his mind, or so they thought. Now, he was quiet and kept more to himself. But with Peter he seemed to have a specific problem with, well, not necessarily him, but his authority. The fact that Peter had gotten married did not help. To put it plainly, Peter was tired of Edmund's moping and his attitude.

Callida came up behind him as he was running his hand through his already graying hair. She put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, then turned back to the Narnian sky. The sun was setting and tinged the sky with golds and oranges and reds and yellows.

"You're aging already, my king. Listen, Peter," she began. "I'm sorry, but there is something that—"

"No, Cal," he said, turning and sighing. "It's not your fault. This sounds incredibly cliché, but it's me. No, it's Edmund. He's driving me mad with his unceasing despondency. I took it out on you. I'm sorry." He kissed her softly.

"Well, now that we have cleared that up, I have something important to tell you," she looked at him and smiled. "I'm pregnant."

He looked at her wide-eyed. "You're...you..." he could not find the words to say anything.

"Peter, say something understandable. Aren't you happy?"

"Callida," he said after a moment. "I've never been happier." He picked her up and twirled her around in a circle, both of them laughing. Then another thought hit him as he set her down:

How would Edmund take this?

"Oh, no. No, this will not go over well with Edmund."

"Why not? What does he—oh. Ugh, I feel so bad for him."

"Why can't he just get over her, be a man and stop crying?"

"Because tears are the emotions we fail to and cannot say. Things will be better eventually."

"Yeah, eventually."

Sitting up in the owlry, alone, by candlelight, Edmund read through the letter he had written. It was a simple poem he had constructed, and frankly he had never been very good at poetry until love's piercing pain had hit him. Now, he thought in poems and saw the world in poems, mostly sad and depressing ones, since he was in a life without Elaina, well, sort of. But he would never tell the others that. He shrugged slightly, as if unsure what exactly he truly wanted to say.

so...how was it? tell me the good the bad and the really good. i am really not in the mood to hear crap from people who thought it was crap. and i'm pretty sure that the math in this story doesnt add up exactly, but i'm no mathmatician. school started again and things are super hectic already so just be patient and wait for the next chapter. thanks all. oh, yeah. GIVE ME MORE REVIEWS!