HIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! Thank you soooo much everyone for all the reviews and alerting and favouriting! It's wonderful to know that everyone's become so attached to my stories of Esha and Edmund; I'm updating now because the new Narnia DVD'S out! (and I've bought it..). I didn't want to update before I got the DVD because of any clashing bits of storyline or anything... didn't really want to include a scene from the movie later on but get another bit completely wrong because I didn't have the movie...anyway, enough rambling from me! Please review as you leave because it'll make me VERY happy. Enjoy!
Esha stared with surprise at the boy she found coughing up water at her feet as she stepped out of the body of the ship, jumping backwards slightly when he blindly almost bashed into her. Her room was next to Caspian's study; he had kindly insisted on giving up his own quarters so that she may travel in comfort and style (and he had refused to have a Lady bunking with the crew).
The sailors immediately all noticed her appearance and looked at each other with grins stretching their mouths. When she looked up she found them all smiling at her with odd, anticipating looks in their eyes.
"Esha?" The soft, shocked voice reached her from across the deck, seemingly loud in the momentary silence.
Her head snapped up as she recognised the voice from her dreams and her eyes quickly scanned the ship, almost not even daring to hope it was the person she'd been waiting a year for.
She almost missed him at first; though his face was similar to how she remembered him he was different; taller and with more refined features.
Their eyes locked for only a millisecond before he was galloping across the deck towards her, making sailors jump out of the way and sending his towel flying.
"Ed!" She cried as he grasped her around the waist, his momentum forcing them back through the doors she'd just opened.
For a moment she couldn't breathe; she could hardly feel for her happiness, it seemed to have numbed all of her senses, shutting off the sound of the sailors around them whooping and cheering and the chill that Edmund's wet body brought her.
Their insanely joyous moment would have been ruined by Edmund's cousin, who screamed, "That giant rat thing just tried to claw my face off!", but Edmund too was suffering from numbed senses and neither or them heard Eustace. He kissed her all too briefly, their lips meeting desperately. The kiss was exulting; it made Edmund feel like his chest was floating and he suddenly had no worries or cares, but it was different for Esha; seeing him again made her heart feel heavy; she suddenly felt very aware of every single one of its quickened beats. They broke apart, still with the residing feelings of their kiss, and simply stared into each other's eyes, checking again that the other was there and they weren't dreaming.
"I was merely trying to expel the water from your lungs, sir!" Reepicheep replied to Eustace;s accusation, his voice bringing the two back to reality.
Esha spotted Lucy and the two ran at each other, embracing and jumping around excitedly, sending Lucy's towel flying too.
As Eustace was panicking about the rat that could magically talk, Edmund walked the few steps required across the deck till he reached Esha and Lucy, feeling the need to be near her to make sure she was real.
"Actually it's getting him to shut up that's the trick." Caspian said as he too joined them, smiling broadly at Esha whose face was more alight than he had seen it all year, and handing Lucy her towel again.
"The moment that there is nothing to be said, your Highness, I promise you I will not say it." Esha was looking at Edmund's face rather than at Reepicheep, searching for changes and clues as to his life in England.
"Well, I don't know what kind of prank this is, but I want to go back right now-" Eustace's annoying voice interjected, breaking Esha out of her search.
"I wonder if we could throw him back...?" Reepicheep asked quietly, turning to Lucy and Edmund and asking their permission.
There was a moment's silence as Edmund's eyes suddenly developed a faraway, dark, hopeful look.
"Edmund!" Lucy cried in astonishment, half-smiling despite her protests.
"I demand to know, just where in the blazes am I?" The boy continued hysterically, commandeering all their attention again as a sailor handed Edmund his towel back.
"You're on the Dawntreader; the finest ship in Narnia's navy..." Tavros' deep, growling voice told him helpfully.
Esha's first response to the boys fainting was slight concern for she knew how shocking it was to see a minotaur for the first time, but as everyone else around her laughed she too saw the funny side of it.
Caspian walked towards the boy and she began to follow him inquisitively, but Edmund caught her arm and shook his head at her gently, unable to help the smile that tugged at his lips as he looked at her face again. Cupping her face gently in his hands he kissed her forehead, unable to believe that they were once again together.
"Was it something I said?" Tavros asked Caspian, his face deadly serious.
"See to him, will you?" The young King replied with a small smile, not stopping long enough to hear his reply but instead putting his arm around Edmund's shoulders and pulling him slightly away from Esha.
"Men." He called out, climbing the staircase to the poop deck and turning to look out over his crew. Esha knew what he was doing and moved back, leaving Edmund and Lucy alone in front of the crew as they were introduced. "Behold our castaways; Edmund the Just and Lucy the Valiant, High King and Queen of Narnia."
Everyone bowed to the two, excepting Caspian and Esha, the latter of whom shocked Edmund slightly by curtseying; he had come to think of her as his equal, not as his subject.
There was a short silence as everyone straightened up again before Drinian shouted at them all that the excitement was over and to get back to work.
"Come on, you must be freezing!" Esha said quietly, grasping onto both Edmund and Lucy's elbows and steering the grateful two towards her cabin.
"Looks like you're no longer the only Queen on board..." Tavros teased Esha as he walked past with the unconscious Eustace slung over one of his shoulders.
"Queen?" Edmund demanded in horror, whipping around to stare at Esha intently, already forming imaginary marriages between Esha and Caspian in his mind.
Caspian caught hold of Edmund's shoulders with a smile and propelled him the other way. "Relax, no King has snatched her up; it is just the nickname the old Narnian's have given her; she has you to thank for that..." He said, raising an eyebrow at the visibly relaxing Edmund and giving him a half smile. "Let's find you some dry clothes whilst Esha helps Lucy."