A/N Hello and welcome to summer, in which it is unbearably hot and I am unbearably motivated to do absolutely nothing. I'm really sorry about the wait for this one you guys, but I had to decide where I wanted to go from the point I left off, and I happened to choose backwards. Once you start reading (or if you've already ready the chapter and happened to come back up to read my note) you'll figure out what I mean. It's actually not just the fact that I'm painfully unmotivated, I've also gotten a job at a restaurant this summer which has taken up a lot of my time.
Anyways, enough with the excuses because let's be honest; no one really cares (I kind of never do as long as the chapter is good). Thank you to all of my readers/followers/chinchillas for all of the support and love you've given me for this story. I bow down to you because you put up with my bullshit. Therefore I have written you a very adorable chapter on the history between Nyra and Edmund. There are plenty more of these coming up, that much I can promise you.
Enjoy the newest chapter!
Chapter 7
Initium I
Spring 1005
Edmund was able to carry the tiny pup in one, steady hand as they made their way back to the castle of Cair Paravel. He had told Phillip to tread lightly, but the talking horse needed no orders once he saw him approaching with the small bundle in his hands. The King kept his left hand firmly on the reins and gently cradled the newborn against his chest. It was a strange thing- a mother giving up her child. Rarely did it happen, only in dire circumstances. The only thing that the young King could think of was if the pup had been in danger. The shadow of threat caused Edmund to turn his head and stare back in the direction of which he had found the wolf, checking to make sure that they weren't being followed. The bright forest held no sign of peril, and Edmund tilted his head to look down at the small creature once more.
"It is curious," Edmund thought, "that this infant would be sent away from its own kind."
While at the same time, another part of his mind thought, "Perhaps it is a bastard pup." Could wolves truly betray their own kind?No matter the cause, it was still a strange situation. Yet somehow, Edmund felt as though he understood the wolf's choice in giving him her pup. She seemed as though she feared for the young one's life, and the young King was more than willing to protect this blessing. In all honesty, Cair Paravel was one of the safest places in these lands. Any Narnian would be desperate for a position within her marble walls.
Perhaps war was the reason for this pup's exile. No, Edmund was sure that he would have heard of inner turmoil by now. Still, the King made a note to himself to send out scouts for any sign of tribulations in Narnia- other than the occasional appearance of one of the Witch's followers. That too seemed to be a possibility. Could it be that the mother was still a part of a rebelling group and wished a different path for her offspring?
Edmund dipped his chin to look at the sleeping whelp in his right arm. He ran his finger gently down the velvety fur on the top of her head, slipping it just behind her ear and resting it there. The pup made a soft grunting noise, digging her tiny face into Edmund's tunic as she continued to sleep. A tender smile crawled across the King's lips, and he repeated the stroking.
"My Lord," Phillip said, drawing Edmund's attention. "We are nearly at Cair Paravel." The boy nodded and tightened his left-handed grip on the reins.
"Thank you, Phillip."
"May I be so bold as to inquire what you plan on doing with the pup?" The horse asked after a moment of silence. Edmund inhaled deeply and fixed his gaze on the top of the saddle in thought.
"I haven't the slightest clue." The King finally admitted. "Feed her, raise her, teach her…" His steed let out an amused snort.
"Am I to assume that you are now the whelp's foster mother?" Edmund narrowed his eyes, but smiled at the talking horse's teasing.
"So what if I am?" He said, wrinkling his nose.
"I do believe Queen Susan will have something to say." Phillip nickered.
"She always does." Edmund grumbled, rolling his eyes. "I suppose you think I should have refused?"
"Believe me, as flexible as I am when it comes to young ones," Edmund smirked. "I would not be so quick to trust a wolf's intentions as good."
"The wolves pledged their allegiance to us." Edmund said, "What reason is there not to put our faith in them?"
"Well, they served as the Witch's secret police for one." Phillip said, flicking his tail to chase away the flies around his legs. Edmund's jaw clenched and he adjusted his grip on the reins, allowing the horse more freedom.
"That was years ago, Phillip." The King stood up slightly in the saddle, stretching his legs and then settling back down. "As hard as it may be, we must move away from our mistrust of a species in general for the greater good of the country." It was odd, repeating the words that Peter had used at their meeting only days ago. Phillip flicked his ear in approval.
"Well said, my King."
The pathway that led to the main gates of Cair Paravel came into view and Edmund cleared his throat, running his finger down the pup's neck again. The soft rustling of the grass beneath the talking horse's hooves turned to a light patter on the cobblestone. Against his chest, Edmund felt the pup stir and he looked down, tucking her closer to the heat of his body.
"Open the gates!" The faint cry of the tower guard echoed through the air, and a few seconds later the metal gate groaned as it was lifted.
Edmund nodded politely to the guard before he passed under the gate, smirking at the panther's curious stare directed towards the small bundle of fur he had cradled against his chest. Phillip turned down the smaller dirt path in the courtyard, making his way down to the stable area where they kept the dumb horses. The sooner he got this gear off of his body, the talking horse thought, the better. Without speaking, he had assumed that Edmund would want the fastest course to the kitchen area. Phillip stopped just next to the back door, letting out a small snort.
"Thank you, Phillip." Edmund said, pulling his left boot out of the stirrup and swigging it over the horse's back to hover in midair. With his free hand, Edmund kept his balance by holding on to the edge of the saddle, slowly lowering his left leg onto the ground and bending his right leg awkwardly towards his chest. As soon as his foot touched the ground, he slipped his other boot out of the stirrup and stood triumphantly with the pup in his arm, undisturbed.
The King walked around Phillip and pushed open the wooden door to the kitchen. One of the younger cooks, a nymph of an ash tree, looked up from where she was crushing grain. Her auburn hair was tied back into a tight bun to keep from getting in the way of cooking, and Edmund smiled at the girl as he closed the back door.
"My Lord." The nymph said in greeting as she turned from the counter she was crushing the grain on.
"Good afternoon." Edmund said, walking towards her. "Forgive my intrusion, but would you happen to know where Mrs. Beaver is at?"
"You were not interrupting anything, Sire." The girl said with a bright smile, "I believe that I last saw Mrs. Beaver tending the garden, she should be back soon if you wouldn't mind waiting." Edmund nodded.
"Very well," He looked down at the pup that was still resting in his arms. "You wouldn't happen to know what to feed a newborn pup, would you?" The nymph set down the stone she had been using and wiped her hands on her apron, swiftly striding over to where the King was standing with adoring eyes fixed on the buddle of fur. She ran a light hand over the pup's soft fur and softly smiled.
"It is to my knowledge that a mother's milk is the best nutrition for one so young." The nymph said, looking up at Edmund. "May I ask how you came into possession of this pup?"
"Her mother stopped me in the woods when I was on my afternoon patrol." Edmund murmured, bringing up his opposite hand to run it along the whelp's fur. "She gave me her pup- I have yet to figure out why."
"She ran off before you could ask." It was more of a guess than a question. Edmund nodded and inhaled deeply. He'd always enjoyed the smell of the kitchen.
"There are plenty of females who have recently given birth to young." The nymph said, "If you wish, I could find one who would be willing to nurse this pup."
"Could you?" Edmund asked, overjoyed that this girl was eager to help him. "That would be wonderful!" The nymph smiled and shuffled around a table towards the door to the storage room.
"Of course, until then I think that perhaps some warm milk will be acceptable for the pup to drink."
Edmund followed the nymph into the storage room and watched as she opened the doors to the cellar, emerging only seconds later with a ceramic jug. As he watched her pour a small amount of milk into a pan to heat over the fire, Edmund couldn't help but marvel at how casually the nymph was handling the situation. Honestly, Edmund was panicking on the inside. He didn't know what to do with a wolf pup- he was still learning to take care of himself. How was he supposed to assist with the care of another's life when it was so young? The King looked down at the pup in his arms with a small sigh. Well, perhaps this was Aslan's doing. Perhaps the Great Lion wanted him to learn how to handle the life of another's from its beginning before he was expected to handle the life of thousands in a spectrum of age. Yet still, Edmund couldn't help but stare at the young tree spirit.
"Is abandonment common here in Narnia?" He felt silly asking a question about his own country, but figured that if anyone knew Narnia the best, it was the trees. The nymph didn't look up from the fire.
"Not as common as you would think." She said with a breathy tone, almost as though she was distracted. "But orphans do turn up now and then."
Orphan. Was that what this pup was now?
"How many do you know?" Edmund asked. The nymph paused, still holding the pan over the fire.
"Just one."
Her voice was distant, well coated over with a trace of caution. After a few moments, Edmund realized that the nymph wasn't exactly fond of whomever she spoke of. A streak of panic and curiosity shot through the King's mind like a lightning bolt. Was this creature well known amongst the Narnians? If he or she was, Edmund was sure that he would know who it was. Were they a loose-cannon who didn't spend much time within the society? If so, would this pup grow up to be just like them?
"Who?"
"You know him." The nymph said, "He's not exactly what I would call social." She pulled the pan out of the flames and blew on the steaming milk to cool it down. "The milk is done if you want to feed her."
Edmund nodded, realizing that the girl would give no further indication of whom they were talking about. She smiled and picked up a leather pouch that had previously been used as a water canister for the patrols. They had since made far better quality pouches, and the older ones had been sent to the kitchen for storage and alternate use. The nymph carefully poured the warm milk into the pouch and cut off a small piece at the bottom left corner of the pouch to allow a few drops of the liquid to squeeze through. In his arms, the pup finally stirred, as though she knew that she was about to be fed.
"It's easier if you sit with your back against the cabinet and place the pup on your lap." The nymph said, leading Edmund out into the main part of the kitchen.
He nodded and carefully lowered himself onto the ground, the pup wriggling in his arms with soft grunts. As soon as he had himself settled against the cabinets, the nymph leaned down and showed Edmund how to hold the pouch, just a little bit over the whelp's head. The King tentatively took the leather and pressed it against the pup's nose, placing a small drop of milk there. She sneezed and licked the milk off of her nose with her bright pink tongue and Edmund's eyes widened. Did he do something wrong?
"I'll see if I can find Mrs. Beaver." The nymph said with a smile, before walking out of the room.
Edmund opened his mouth, ready to call out to the girl and ask for help, but paused as, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the pup running her tongue along the open cut in the bag. He was doing it- he was actually doing it; feeding a wolf pup. Edmund smiled proudly as the pup steadily began to suckle the milk that he was holding over her head, running his opposite hand over her fur as he balanced her in his lap. The King opened his mouth, but paused, looking around the kitchen to make sure it was empty first.
"You're a curious little thing, aren't you?" He murmured down to the pup. "Very cute though." The pup let out a small snort as she drank the milk, almost as though she had heard him. "I wonder why anyone would ever want to give you up."
There was a cool breeze that blew through the open window, bringing in the fresh scent of the sea. Edmund hadn't particularly loved the ocean when they had first come to Cair Paravel; it was too unpredictable, changing. One day the water could be as calm as the trees, and the next day it could be raging like a wildfire. He did, however, grow to love it. The Pevensies had boarded one of Narnia's most magnificent vessels, Thralida, and spent a whole day sailing down the coast, exploring the outer reaches of their new land. Edmund loved the feel of the cool breeze running past his ears, the swishing of the waves as it passed beneath the ship and especially the fire that ignited on the water when the sun went down. The ocean was just as much his home as Cair Paravel was.
"I've never had anyone to take care of before." Edmund admitted quietly to the pup. "Peter, my older brother, has always taken care of everyone. Susan takes care of us too, when Pete can't think straight- which happens to be a lot of the time. Lucy seems as though she just plays around all the time, but she's the real reason we get anything done. She's always giving out ideas. I think you'd like her."
Edmund's plan of attack on introducing Nyra went like so: have Lucy fall in love with her, have Susan fall in love with her, and finally have those two convince Peter to fall in love with her. It was a foolproof plan.
"I wonder if you had any siblings of your own." He continued on, "What do you suppose happened to them? I do hope they aren't dead. Then again, you may have been the only one in your litter. I would never tell my siblings this, but I think it would be a sad thing to grow up without brothers and sisters." Edmund leaned his head back against the cabinets, slowly feeling his mind open to speaking to this pup. "Awful lonely…"
"I'll have to take you to the beach some day." Edmund said, changing the topic to one more positive. "I get the feeling that you would like exploring the sand. The beach we have here just outside of the castle walls is rather beautiful. The sand is white as far as one can see; much like Cair Paravel's outer walls. Sometimes, trinkets of the sea wash up along with the waves. Lucy and I have found hundreds of shells and seaweed. The head hook tells us that seaweed is edible, but I wouldn't eat that stuff if you tortured me."
"Edmund?"
The King's head snapped forward as he heard someone approaching the closed door. After a few moments, he recognized the voice as Mrs. Beaver's. The boy adjusted himself to sit taller and readjusted his grasp on the pouch as the door swung open, Mrs. Beaver hurrying in with the nymph only a few steps behind her. Mrs. Beaver quickly made her way to where Edmund was sitting and stood by his side, looking over the pup.
"So this is the wolf pup you found?" She asked, running her claws along her chin in thought.
"I didn't find her." Edmund corrected Mrs. Beaver. "Her mother gave her to me in the woods."
"Hmm… Awful strange scenario, don't you think, Loifa?" Mrs. Beaver said, turning to look at the nymph who had summoned her. The girl smiled and nodded, heading back towards the counter to where she had been previously cooking. "She can't be more than a few days old."
Edmund looked down at the pup and noted that she was suckling slower now.
"Why don't you take her up to your room and make sure that she stays both warm and in the dark." Mrs. Beaver ordered, turning to open the cabinets for something. Edmund nodded and slowly stood, carefully scooping the pup back into his arms and taking away the pouch. The pup let out a cry, craning her neck around in search of the milk.
"Shhh…" Edmund cooed, running his fingers over her chest lightly.
"Well, go on; let's not wait for the grass to grow, darling!" Edmund chuckled and finally started moving out of the kitchen as Mrs. Beaver pushed the back of his legs. "And don't forget that dinner is at seven sharp."
"That's another thing, Mrs. Beaver." Edmund said, turning around and still slowly making his way towards the door as he spoke to the beaver. "Suppose you could just have someone bring my dinner to my room tonight- so I can keep watch over Nyra?" It was funny that he asked such favors when he was the King, but Mrs. Beaver was nearly like a mother to the Pevensies. She scowled and placed her hands on her hips, disapproving of Edmund's request.
"Just this once, Edmund." Mrs. Beaver said, "And only because of that there pup, don't expect this to happen any other night." Edmund's brown eyes gleamed in triumph. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy having meals with his siblings, he just enjoyed solitude. "I'll inform the others, so expect visits from them soon."
The King smiled, "Thank you very much."
"Now off you go!"
You like? Can I just say how much I hate using '!' because they really don't seem like something a real writer would use. It just makes everything look kind of stupid and childish. For example: A) She can't be more than a few days old. B) She can't be more than a few days old! No seriously, it makes me feel like I'm a fourteen year old popular girl on Twitter using omg, lol, yolo and other slang as such. Not to offend anyone... but yeah kind of to offend some people. Have a wonderful day and I hope to get another chapter up soon, so keep your hopes up that I stay up this late to get my creative brain juices flowing!
Any questions, comments, or life threatening concerns don't hesitate to pm me!
(I'm also going to stop using symbols in my signature like a white girl who thinks that they know Japanese because they watch anime and speak 3 words of the language... once again, refer to my comment a few lines above [it's late, I'm tired, and I'm in the mood to get punched in the eye])
Charlii