Disclaimer: I do not own the Chronicles of Narnia or any of its characters or fictional land/lands; I am not C.S. Lewis, sadly. I only own the plot and characters not featured in the original books.

Author's notes: So, last chapter for this week. I'm off on holiday and won't have my dear laptop *sobs* but hey, do not fear, I will take all my plans and chapters on holiday with me and I'll be writing more chapters for you and as soon as I come back I'll upload a new chapter and then I'll have set out a update plan, so you'll probably have to wait a week for a new chapter. Hope you all have a rocking summer. Nat 3

It's just a drop in the ocean
A change in the weather
I was praying that you and me might end up together
Its like wishing for rain as I stand in the desert
But I'm holding you closer than most 'cause you are my heaven

A Drop in the Ocean- Ron Pope

Queen Lucy, Queen Susan and Ryder sat alone at the table, eating their morning breakfast, as yesterday after Ryder's disappearance, the two Kings thought she run off again and had ridden into the Lantern waste after her and had been away for the whole night. The two Queens were conversing on what they could do today now that Ryder was a lot better. Lucy and Susan were asking Ryder questions.

"What do you want to do?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, it's your day today; tell us what you like to do." Susan said enthusiastically.

Ryder smiled and shrugged. "Possibly go to the beach."

"Brilliant idea, maybe the boys will be back in time to join us." Lucy said clapping her hands in happiness.

"I'll inform Jason, the head guard that we'll be out for the day." Susan replied, getting up from her sit when the dining room doors burst open, King Edmund came charging in first, his face screwed up in an angry manner, and King Peter, charging in after him, looking less angry.

Ryder hastily rose from her seat and curtseyed to the two King. "Your majesties." She said lowering her head and when she looked up a fuming Edmund was in her face.

"Where did she get back?" Edmund demanded, staring at Ryder then turning to his two sisters.

"She never left." Lucy said, settling her knife and fork on the table and rising from her chair. She walked to Ryder's side and pulled her away from Edmund. "She was here all along."

King Peter sighed. "What a waste of time." He fell onto the head of the table's seat. "I told you we should have looked around the castle first, Edmund."

"Don't blame this on me; I was just thinking of the most likely possibility." He turned and looked at Ryder. "She is a Telmarine, full stop. We can't trust her; she could have been running back to her King."

Ryder stepped forward. "Let's get a few things straight here, King Edmund. One, I do not know what a Telmarine is so if you could please enlighten me, please do. Two, as I have state before you have trust issues, which is your problem not mine but I wish you take to time to study and learn about me instead of leaping to the idea I am untruthful. Three, I wish you wouldn't jump to conclusions about me because if you're going to act that way, I will too. As a King I find you rather vicious, vigilant and vindictive but also, rude and cold and not at all kingly!" And with that she marched past Edmund and towards the grand wooden doors, when she turned and said calmly, "Queen Lucy, Queen Susan, I thank you for breakfast and look forward to our trip to the beach today." She curtseyed and left.

After a long time of painful silence Edmund spoke, "Well, she is completely insufferable!" Edmund exclaimed.

"Not unlike yourself." Lucy unkindly replied.

"What do you mean by that, may I ask dear sister?" Edmund clenched his jaw and scowled at his sister.

"I mean that what she said was all true. You were rude and cold towards her and didn't act at all as a King should. You weren't at all welcoming and fought with her when she wanted to be free. I am not surprised by her actions because you Edmund have been so cruel to her ever since she came with your snide remarks and torments, that I cannot call you my brother or a King at that." And once again, another lady marched out of the room.

Edmund stared at the entrance for were Ryder and Lucy had marched out of. "I...I can't believe… I mean…really!" He stuttered.

Susan rose from her seat once again and turned to Peter. "If you care to join our party today, you Peter are most welcome to but if Edmund," She glared at him, "doesn't apologies to Ryder, I must say we shan't speak for a long time afterwards." And with that she too left the room. Edmund now was gaping at the door.

"What is it about you Edmund that makes every woman you encounter leave the room? Because I think it's becoming a problem, how are you meant to find a respectable woman to marry if you can't even forget what is in the past?"

Edmund banged his fist on the table. "For Aslan's sake, not you too, I mean come on. Don't you go storming out of that door too?"

He looked at his brother who had risen from his chair. "I will not storm out of the room but I will leave. Brother, you need to understand something. No matter what has happened in the past, that shouldn't control how you act now. Please Edmund, apologies to Ryder and come have a day out with us and like she said, learn about her." Then he too left the room, slowly and quietly, to leave Edmund to think about what he said.

Ryder was waiting at the entrance of Cair Paravel with Lycuson, the Wolf; she hadn't seen him since the day she was brought here and she felt awkward around him. Lycuson is the Kings and Queens best Wolf and very intimidating. He hadn't quite forgiven Ryder for the damage she had done but now that the two Queens had sprung a new friendship between themselves and Ryder, he thought she was a good enough fighter to look after the two Queens.

"But don't let it get to your head." He said to her afterwards.

Ryder laughed and smiled down at the Wolf. He bared his teeth at her, in what she hoped, was a smile too.

Soon, Lucy and Susan came to the entrance with the head guard, Jason, and greeted her with enthusiasm, Lucy seemed to emitting happiness and it was very contagious as Ryder grinned and hugged the young Queen when she approached.

"This is going to be a great day!" She predicted linking arms with Ryder. "We thought we could ride down to the beach, and Jason will ride with you just in case."

They walked down to the stables and there seemed to be a commotion going on. Horses were whining loudly and the sound of men shouting hit their ears as they enter the large, spacious stables. The women soon found the source of the commotion, a wild pure black stallion was going crazy, he was neighing angrily and kicking out at the men, he was luckily already tied down.

"You shouldn't bring the Queens in here, Jason, this one's wild." One man shouted.

"Maybe you step back, ladies." He said standing in front of the three women to protect them.

"He is absolutely beautiful!" Ryder exclaimed pushing passed Jason to get a better look at the horse.

"Lady Ryder, I demand you come back here this instant." Jason demanded.

But Ryder was too mesmerized by the horse, a memory flashing in her mind of riding a black horse though not as beautiful as the one stood before her, she reached out to the horse but Jason grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "I must insisted, Lady Ryder."

She shrugged him off and approached the angry horse; he was lashing out, wiping his head back and forth, left to right, and the men had to duck and dive as the horse wildly lashed out.

"Step back men, we should leave him to calm down." A man said, the men stepped back and Ryder felt someone pulling her back too. Though the men had backed away, the horse still was pulling at the restraint around his neck.

"Can't you see that it's hurting him, he wants to be free?" Ryder begged.

"Ryder, please step back." Susan cried as once again Ryder had stepped forward away from the group and towards the dangerous.

"Sshh, shh." Ryder hushed the horse, and then started clicking her tongue. The others watched as the horse stopped lashing out and looked at Ryder. "Well, aren't you a beauty."

The horse whined and Ryder outstretched her hand and felt its soft, think mane between her fingers. She kept shushing the horse quietly and soothingly stroked its mane. The horse rested its head in the crook of Ryder's neck and she bent in whispering into its ear. "I won't hurt you. You truly are beautiful." Then Ryder knotted one hand into the horses mane and put one hand on the horses back, with one quick, strong push with her feet and free hand, she lifted herself up onto the horse and sat comfortable on the horse. She untied the restraints on the horse's neck and massaged the area in which it had cut from the horse's wild acts. She looked down at the Lucy and Susan, and the rest of the stable hands and realised they were staring, gaping at her. "What?" She asked.

No one answered her so Ryder clicked her tongue and tapped the side of the horse and it began to trot forwards, the crowd stepped back and watched in amazement as Ryder lead the horse out into the open. She once again tapped her foot against the horse, but harder this time and as if the horse knew, set off in a galloping run.

Ryder had never felt so free in her life before. The wind was blowing through her wild, free hair and the feeling of the breeze blowing on her skin, sent shivers down her. She tugged on the horses mane left and turned around and galloped back to the stable. As she got closer she noticed two more people had joined the stable hands, Jason and Lycuson and the two Queens; High King Peter and King Edmund. They watched in amazement as the girl trotted forward on the once wild and dangerous horse.

"She just approached it, King Edmund. Slowly, shushing it and it seemed to calm down. Then she whispered into his ear and was able to ride the animal." A stable hand was explaining to the two Kings.

"It only let me ride it and come close to it because he knew I wouldn't do him harm. He was only going mad because you had tied him up, a wild horse should never be tied up. I would expect a stable hand to know this basic information." She clicked her tongue once again and said clearly. "Down, Cemal." The horse obeyed and lay down.

"Yes, Lady Ryder but the horse was let lose in the village. He'd destroyed a lot of things we had to restrain him." The man answered.

Ryder huffed. "Whatever you say."

King Edmund laughed and mumbled something that sounded like ignorant. Ryder glared at him and then turned to Peter. "Can I keep him?"

Peter looked taken a back at her question. "You want to keep it? But it's a wild animal, like you said it needs to be free."

"I know, and it will. You have the largest wood right next to your castle, am I right Peter? I can train it to stay in the area and when I call," Ryder made a whistling tune, and the horse ears pricked up and he rose from the ground, "he will come when he is need. And in the end, as you can see already, he'll be quite attached to me." Ryder smiled at her intelligence.

"Umm, alright but he is your responsibility." Peter said.

"Of course."

"What is his name?" Lucy asked approaching the horse and knotting her hands in his mane.

"[1] Cemal." Ryder said. "Well, shouldn't we be off?"

Ryder waited as the stable hands gather five horses; Peter's horse, Jason's horse, Lucy's horse, Susan's horse and Edmunds horse, Philip. They rode off together in the direction down to the beach. Ryder's horse was by far the fastest; the girl seemed to fit nicely with the horse and was as if they were one. She didn't ride up right but bent low into the horse's mane and looked over through Cemal ears, this technique granted she was fastest.

She soon arrived at the beach before anyone, with Edmund close behind. She jumped down off Cemal and onto the sand, letting Cemal ride off into the sea; Edmund mirrored her actions and jumped off his horse too. She pulled her shoes off and felt to warm, soft sand between her toes. "Are you coming for swim?" She asked him. Peter, Jason, Lucy and Susan were just riding out from the trees.

"I haven't got anything to swim in." Edmund replied. "And nor have you."

Ryder laughed at started to strip down to her undergarments. The rest had just arrived and were looking at Ryder in bemusement. "What are you doing?" Peter asked, trying not to look.

"I'm going swimming."

Lucy and Susan jumped down off their horses and they too started to strip down to just their undergarments. "Avert your eyes Jason." They heard Peter growl, the girls giggled and then Lucy exclaimed. "First on in the sea is the winner, last one in the sea is a sore loser!" And set off running.

Ryder set off soon after her and they heard the oldest calling them to slow down. Ryder and Lucy looked at each other a giggled, they were head to head. Ryder pushed herself more and watched as Lucy fell back behind her. Then she heard the two Kings Voices and Lucy shout. "Ryder, look out Edmunds right behind you!" Ryder looked and noticed Edmund was only a few paces behind her and he was quick, with long legs like his he was going to beat her. Peter and Lucy were on a heap on the sand, tickling her, and Susan was trying to tickle Peter too.

"Come on Ryder, quicker or you're not going to win!" He shouted at her, laughing.

Ryder smiled to herself and tried to push her legs more but her muscles were sore, she hadn't run this much in what seemed forever, and they had already been pushed to the limit from overtaking Lucy. So, soon Edmund was running beside her. "This is easy." He said jogging next to her.

The sea was only a few feet in front of her and she knew Edmund could sprint faster than she could, so she quickly caught Edmund of guard as he was grinning at her and knocked him down with one hard shove, he toppled to the ground and Ryder ran quickly to the sea. She ran in and the sea met her legs. It was quite cold but refreshing, and Ryder dived in, dousing her whole body in the chilly water. She lay on her back, floating on water, and closed her eyes, the sun burning into her eyelids.

But the silence and peace didn't last for long. There was a loud splash and Ryder's eyes flew open, but before she could react, Edmund had jumped on top of her and he whole body including her head fell under the water. She felt Edmunds hands on her waist and grabbed for his shoulders, she pulled him down into the water. She held him down for a bit but let him go when he let her go. They resurfaced coughing and spitting out water.

"Were you trying to kill me?" Ryder exclaimed, pushing her wet hair out of her eyes and glaring at the soaking wet Edmund. He'd removed his shirt before he'd enter the water and was standing shirtless in front of Ryder, with not a care in the world.

Edmund laughed. "No, it's called having fun."

"I don't think death by drowning is fun." She snapped at him.

He splashed water at her and laughed. "Come on lighten up, I was only messing." He walked close to her and leant in. "And you must admit, you knew I wasn't going to kill you."

Ryder smiled. "Okay, but next time don't otherwise I will have to kill you."

"I don't doubt you won't." He said.

She splashed him and he did too. They got into a very childish fight and once again Edmund was sitting on top on Ryder tickling her this time. She punched him hard in the stomach and he tickled her harder. "Get off!" She shouted through giggles. Suddenly, Lucy leaped on Edmund and he toppled into the water, she shoved him under and laughed. He came up coughing and his dark hair was plastered to his face, his wet skin shining in the sun light.

"Hey, no ganging up on me, that's not fair." He said, wiping hair from his eyes.

Lucy giggled and looked at Ryder. As if they were reading each other's thoughts they jumped on Edmund and once again he fell back into the shallow water. Peter and Susan had kept out of the fun and were paddling around in the low water.

Edmund threw Lucy and Ryder off of himself and he quickly scrambled up to his feet, Lucy sat in the water laughing but Ryder had got up to her feet and though laughing at Edmund, she was in a protective stance. He made a lung at her and she made a kick at his stomach, he grabbed her leg and she slipped and fell onto her backside. He then gathered her up into his arms and began to run deeper into the sea, the water up to his waist already, but reached his stomach as he moved in more. Ryder struggled against his strong arms but he enclosed her too tight. Then suddenly, she fell with a great splash into the water.

She kicked up from the sand to the surface and gulped in water but she didn't know how to swim and panic set him. Her head fell back under the water as she couldn't keep her body a float, the water was deeper, and now Ryder was struggling to breath. She kicked up once again and when she resurfaced, she shouted out his name and fell back under again, her mind going lightheaded/

Suddenly, she felt strong arms around her but her mind hand already gone black and Edmund dragged her back up to the surface. She wasn't breathing and Edmund began to panic, he gathered her in his arms, once again, and carried her back to the beach. Lucy was by his side and was crying.

He laid her on the soft sand, on her side and rubbed her back, water slowly came from her mouth and her eyes flashed open and she began to cough and choke, she spat out the water in her mouth and took large gulps of air into her lungs. She fell back on the sand and her chest rose and fell heavily.

"You nearly killed me." She said calmly, sitting up again and looking at Edmund, who was staring at her with worry.

"I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't know you couldn't swim." He wrapped his strong arms around Ryder and hugged her, holding her close.

Her fingers clawed at his skin as if to cling on to him, her head bent in the crook of his neck. "Well, now we know. I didn't know either."

He slowly let her go and Lucy was soon hugging her. She was sobbing into Ryder's shoulder. Peter and Susan had rushed over as well and stood over them. Susan handed a towel to Edmund and then draped one around Ryder's shoulder with difficulty as Lucy was clinging to her. "I thought you were dead." She was sobbing. Ryder pulled her up to her feet but slightly wobbled on her own two feet and Edmund caught her elbow and balanced her.

"I don't think Ryder could die that easily. You've seen her fight Lucy." Edmund said, letting go of Ryder's arm and frowning to himself.

"I think we've had enough fun for today." Peter said.

Everyone gathered their things up and Lucy, Ryder and Edmund got dressed into their dry things though. Just to be safe, Peter demanded that Ryder ride with someone else as she wasn't up to being on a horse on her own, so Ryder sat perched up against Edmund on his horse, Philip, while Cemal rode next to them. She soon fell asleep in his arms, which made it difficult for him to ride, so while everyone else galloped back to Cair Paravel, Philip slowly trotted along through the woods up to the castle.

This meant Edmund was left to his own thoughts. That same day Ryder had called him vicious, vigilant and vindictive and that she thought he was cold and moody and not at all kingly which made Edmund terribly angry but for some reason he obliged to come along on the day out and seemed to forget all about the days earlier events, and during that day he held her in his arms, fooled around with her and though he didn't want to admit it flirted with her. He seemed to like the girl, though his better judgement told him otherwise, but he couldn't help but be intrigued by Ryder and also, mesmerized by her beauty.

He looked down at her; she was sat sideways and had cuddled up to Edmund, her arms wrapped around his torso. He frowned to himself; he couldn't and wouldn't feel what he was feeling right now. It was against his better judgement and he'd already shown that he didn't trust her, so why would she believe him, if he couldn't believe it himself, that he was falling in love with her? In love with a Telmarine, as well. He couldn't be and he shook the thought from his mind but as he did, Ryder stirred in his arms and her arms tighten around him, a word escaped from her mouth that made Edmund freeze on his horse.

"Edmund." She mumbled.

At first, he thought she was awake but when he looked down, her eyes were still shut and her breathing slow and shallow.

And with that one word, a grin erupted on Edmund's face.

To be continued…

Author's notes: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUR!

So, what's going down with Edmund? He seems to be having an inner conflict with himself over Ryder. I can't believe I wrote so much for this chapter, 3,681 words and 7 pages, but it was necessary. It's to show how Edmund is feeling one minute his angry with Ryder and hates her and the next he having fun and laughing with her. I kind of based it upon myself, I was like this with a guy once; I'd hate him one time and liked him next. It shows that we like people on our better judgement, it happens we can't control it even if we detest each other one minute and then love each other the next, we have no control over what we feel.

[1] Cemal, another unusual name again. It means beauty in Turkish, hence why Ryder called it the horse.

Now I'm on holiday next, so I won't update for two weeks. So, reread it, share it with friends, read other stories till I update. I recommend Untamed by AC Collins, it's beautiful. Keep cool and don't go wandering into any wardrobes without me. :')