I know that there has been such a big gap in between this and my last update. Firstly I got the part of Susan in my school's production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which took up a lot of my time with rehearsals (1 lunchtime/3 after school,) added to the fact that our school made up do 'duties' like cleaning, running after school and lunch time clubs etc. none of which were optional as they would look good on our CV's apparently. At the same time I had my exams to deal with and then had to look after my cousin while her Mum was in hospital.
So I am so, so sorry. I know I have kept you waiting a long time, but I promise never to do it again as long as I can help it. Thank you all for sticking with me and continuing to favourite, alert, review and most importantly read!
P.S. Thanks to everyone who has voted on my poll so far. I will take it down in a week or so and begin writing the stories for those pairings.
P.P.S. If you did vote on my poll (and remember doing so as well as what you voted for,) could you please PM me, so I can dedicate the story to the write person.
Final note now. Because I have kept you all waiting for so long and am deciding to write 5-10 stories for you with the plot/pairing (anything within reason: including ratings,) that you would like to try and make up for the gap, so please PM me if you are interested and I will start writing those as well.
Thank you and here is chapter 15! (At last :))
"He isn't about to draw his sword and start-" Edmund hadn't even been able to finish his sentence before he started falling towards the floor.
"Edmund!" Peter shouted as he darted forward to try and catch his brother. Caspian moved forward as well, but it was Glozelle - who was placed directly behind Edmund - who caught the young king as he fell backwards.
High King Peter draw his sword and Caspian followed suit. Susan just glared and Lucy watched from a far, trying to keep herself out of the oncoming, inevitable fight that she could see starting up again soon.
"Let him go!" Peter shouted as he pointed his sword towards the Telmarine, but still far enough away to avoid it hitting Edmund: who had paled considerably.
"If you care for your brothers health then maybe you should help me." Glozelle replied as he lifted his hand from the wound over Edmund's stomach that he had been trying to apply pressure to. The moment Peter and Caspian saw it, they put their swords away. Susan turned to her sister.
"Lucy, your cordial, quickly!" She shouted to her and the younger dived forward to help even though she hadn't been quite able to see properly from where she had been stood.
Peter dropped down beside his brother and the Telmarine Lord as Caspian watched from where he stood behind them as the youngest Queen of Old rushed over with her cordial to her injured brothers side and placed a drop of it in his mouth, before moving to stand with her older sister.
It seemed like minutes had passed when, only seconds later, Edmund coughed and opened his eyes, looking up at the blue eyes and ruffled blond hair of his older brother. To his left stood Caspian and his two sisters to the right with Lord Glozelle behind him, sitting him up against him to stop him from falling on the floor.
Peter reached forward and lightly grabbed his brothers soldier, but still forcefully enough to pull him forward into a strong hug and breathed a sigh of relief at knowing that his brother was safe and well again. After a moment of peace, Peter remembered the Telmarine Lord behind them and moved Edmund forward, standing up at the same time and pulling his younger brother to his feet as well.
"Stay there!" Peter ordered as he reached for his sword, but Edmund's pale hand stopped him. Caspian also reached for his, however didn't draw it when he saw that the High King hadn't drawn his. Lord Glozelle hadn't moved at all and Edmund cast a small look at the Lord before looking up at Peter.
"He's a friend, Peter, he helped to keep me alive and well all of this time. He doesn't deserve this."
"Edmund, he's a Telmarine!" Peter almost hissed as he said the small sentence to try and get it into his brothers head.
"But they aren't all bad though are they." The younger bit back, looking his slightly taller, blond brother in the eye.
"He still has to join the rest of them Edmund, because he is one of them."cac
"Okay, so Caspian has to as well then," At hearing his name, the Prince took his eyes off of the Lord and looked at King Edmind, "He's a Telmarine."
"Caspian's on our side." Susan intercepted between the pairs conversation.
"And Lord Glozelle is as well," Edmund put back, "Hasn't he already showed to you that he cares? He's not like the rest of them and neither is Caspian."
Peter wanted to say something back, but he could think of nothing at all that defeated Edmund's argument. So giving up he moved his hand away from his sword and held his hand out towards the Telmarine Lord.
"High King Peter," He paused and was about to add the rest of his title as well, but he always knew how Edmund thought it unneeded and so left it off, changing what he 'was going to say, "Thank you for looking out for my brother." Lord Glozelle looked to Edmund, who nodded, before taking Peter's hand and standing up onto his feet.
"Your welcome Your Majesty, it is truly an honour to meet you for your brother holds you in the highest of regard."
"Really?" Peter questioned.
"Yes, he has spoken very much and greatly of you in the short space of time in which I have known him."
Everyone gathered around each other and began to talk, their minds all drifting away from the battle just fought - and now won - as they enjoyed the moment of calm that had befallen them.
A cry of outrage returned them all to their senses immediately. Trumpkin was bellowing at them and no one could react quick enough to his words before the arrow was speeding towards them at an unstoppable pace, intent on hitting it's designated target as with force it finally found its new resting place and dug in deep with malice and intent just like a child uses to grip their Mother's hand when they feel an immense sense of fear.
Everything went silent with the same sudden quickness as it had when the arrow had finally connected with its 'Chosen One.' No one made a move for what felt like a stream of continuous hours that was actually a stream of seconds that headed towards making up a lonely minute.
The river itself seemed to slow and cease its sound of rolling waves and white anger that frothed up upon the crystal blue pool. The Dryads and the trees ceased any movement and retreated back, desperate to forget the moment that they knew would always hold in Beruna's History and that of Narnia's leader's minds and all present with a gripping horror that threatened to cut off the circulation of oxygen and blood in your body: allowing your heart to run cold.
It seemed strange that the battle had been deemed as 'over' when now it seemed that it had only just begun.
It was hard to say who reacted first, as all had reacted in their own unique way, but no reaction would be strong enough to truly forget the horrific moment: even for a second, not even just one.
Susan had gasped, but not looked away, however Lucy had done just that: screaming before the arrow had even hit. Nor Caspian or Peter had made a sound, although the Telmarine Prince hadn't been able to stop an involuntary flinch. Peter though, had ended up on the floor in the quick flurry of movement and as the entire situation made itself clear to him, the High King realised why he was where he was.
Edmund had fallen to his knees beside the Telmarine Lord and placed a hand on his shoulder as he looked at him. He had been hoping all this time that the arrow had only pierced his armour, though the aim had been true and the hand steady - perfectly so, Edmund concluded - allowing the arrow to become deep rooted in the block that had placed itself in front of its original target as a shield wall and barrier.
"Why?" Edmund asked, but it only came out as some form of whisper, a breathed word with all the emotion of a flood and determination of a killer, for him to get an answer.
"Because I found a King worth dying for," Glozelle replied as he looked at Edmund with the most sincere eyes the young King had seen in a lifetime, "Or I should say Kings and Queens."
"You don't even know them though," Edmund started, "Why would you die for someone you didn't know?"
"Why would you die for someone you did?" The Lord fired back quickly and Edmund tried to formulate a reply, but could find none that was worth giving in the last few moments of the man's life. After a moment he released a breath he didn't know he had been holding and looked away slightly.
"I'm sorry t-"
"Why?" Glozelle cut the young King off suddenly with his own question.
"Because this wouldn't of happened if I hadn't forced you to change sides." Edmund replied.
"You didn't," Glozelle begun, "I chose to and I'm so glad that I did." Edmund looked back at the Lord now, as tears began to form in his eyes, but remaining silent as he listened to the man finish.
"These few days in which I have known you, have been the best I have ever lived. You changed my view on Narnia and showed me that the world Miraz had told everyone to fight wasn't what he made it out to be. You taught me that there was more to live for than the joy of making Narnia another Telmarine conquest. It was never my dream, but it was always theirs," Edmund knew that 'theirs' was referring to Miraz and Lord Sopespian, "As for dying for someone you don't know - maybe you do know them - even if not as well as you would think. You can tell a lot about a person, Edmund, and from the way you have spoken about your family: they are worth dying for."
Time seemed to have dragged on, but it really had barely moved a few minutes forward. As the Telmarine Lords eyelid began to slide shut, Edmund tried to jolt the man awake and keep him that way, however he was failing. Lucy had long since looked away and curled herself into Susan; almost forming another body part to her older sister by the way she had enveloped herself.
Peter and Caspian remained where there were in shock, having managed to hear the entire of Edmund and Glozelle's conversion. Peter had managed to sit himself up before he had picked up on the conversation and had made no more moves after that and Caspian had only managed to look down as the conversation had dragged on and brought them to this final, ending moment of a man's life.
Glozelle had pushed High King Peter out of the way of an arrow fired by Lord Sopespian that had been directly aimed at said King's heart. He had seen it first and had reacted too quickly for anyone to stop him. But then if he hadn't, Peter would be dead and Edmund - although curious - had no intention of finding out what happened in their world if you died here.
Lucy's cordial wouldn't have been able to heal such a wound, that - with the strength of a thousand Aslan's - was not going to miss or waver from hitting a target, even if not the originally designated one.
Armour clad footsteps made their way towards them and heads were quickly raised. Susan (now on complete guard after witnessing one close death and not wanting to see other,) had already drawn her bow and placed an arrow ready which she fired as soon as the Lord had noticed the weapon, but made no move to stop his advance.
The Lord had grabbed his arm and fallen to his knees as the red and gold tipped arrow connected with his armour. Caspian had moved over quickly and pointed a sword at him to avoid him from going anywhere. Lord Sopespian did at least finally have what he wanted though: an audience.
"Just end it Caspian," Peter called to the Prince (now King,) "He deserves it." The High King looked over at his younger brother from his position on the ground.
"No," Caspian replied as he turned to Peter, "Like you did with Miraz, it's not my life to take." The Prince reached his swords hilt towards the High Kings younger brother, but he had made no move from the other Lords body. Peter stood up and crossed the short distance to his brother as he lightly pulled him up from the ground and walked with him to join Caspian. As they reached him, Edmund looked up and slowly reached out to take the hilt that was being offered to him.
Peter and Caspian took a few steps back as Edmund faced Lord Sopespian directly, however still near enough to intervene if so needed. As the Lord looked up, it was clear he held some form of intent hatred and was going to show that.
"Go on then, do it, kill me!" He said, raising his voice through each pause and at each one Edmund would move forward to strike just a little bit more. However after the shout of the final two words he lowered the sword slightly and looked at the man directly.
"Like you have so many others? Your own cousin included!"
"You need to have more backbone, King Edmund. Though I could always remove what you do have for you." The emphasis had been placed just where the Lord had wanted and Edmund (unwilling to kill the man,) ended up hitting him across the face before he even realised it.
Lucy, once again, cradled herself into Susan, looking at Aslan from around her sister as he just nodded at her before she hurried her face into Susan's dress and felt her older sister's arms wrap around her.
"You don't deserve to live, but death would be far too good for you. You just- I can't... How could you-" Edmund hadn't managed to finish any of those sentences by the time the sword clunked onto the gravel like floor beside the river. Peter rushed forward and grabbed his brother and Caspian picked up his sword and just held it as he waited for some form of instruction.
Peter motioned to Caspian with his hand for the Prince to hand him the sword and that was exactly what he did as Peter carefully swapped the sword for Edmund. Caspian had grasped the order very well from the small motion and had placed an arm around Edmund's shoulder as he led the King away and back over to his sisters.
Peter just looked at the Lord in front of him with a desperate rising urge to run him through before he could make any further comment, but instead he just pointed his sword at the man's throat and motioned to where all of the other Telmarines were gathering by order.
"Get over there," He paused as the Lord looked up at him, presumably processing and questioning the order in his mind, "Edmund's right. Death is too good for you: even with all that you've done."
The Telmarine Lord stared at the High King for a moment, but eventually rose when Trumpkin walked up behind him and pushed his dagger slightly into his back. Peter could only glare as the Lord was led away. Caspian's eyes followed the Lord the entire way as Peter walked back over and once again handed the Prince his sword. Caspian took it and removed his arms from around Edmund's shoulders allowing Peter to grab a hold of his younger brother as they all began to walk away from Beruna.
Edmund said nothing as they left, just clung to Peter for the walk. Susan and Lucy walked in front with Aslan and Caspian stood on the other side of Edmund, ever so often sending a worried glance at Peter when Edmund still said nothing: no matter what they said to him.
By the time they reached the castle, Edmund had brought himself out of his reverie of silence and sadness and seemed to have picked himself up. He hadn't spoken to any of them yet, but as they made they way passed people, he did smile. That smile immediately left - as well as Edmund himself - the moment he got chance. As the five of them rode into what had been - during the Kings and Queens of Old time here so far - Miraz's castle, people cheered in happiness at the sight of seeing their new king as well as the Narnians who had helped him to get to that position, none of the people caring about the creatures walking through the main courtyard as the night began to draw on and into the celebrations.
The night seemed to draw in quickly and the celebrations that long since moved on. Lucy had cheered up and was now enjoying herself talking to her Dear Little Friend and Trumpkin. Susan had been spending much time talking to Caspian, but had eventually spilt apart from him to spend some time with her younger sister, who was calling her over by demand to play some kind of game.
Peter slowly made his way over to Caspian and stood beside the new King, offering his congratulations before further delving into conversation, "You succeeded in bringing peace to Narnia. Telmarines and Narnians as a whole." Peter explained as he looked at the mixed hall of creatures and humans.
"Yes, well I could never have done it without any of you." Caspian replied as he looked at the High King of Old.
"Maybe," Peter mussed, "Caspian, could I ask you a favour?" The new King just looked at Peter questioningly, but nodded and listened as the High King began to speak his enquiry to him.
Edmund stood on the balcony. The same balcony that Miraz had stood out on the night of the Narnians raid on the castle in order to watch them all be massacred. Just standing on the balcony brought back several memories for Edmund of the time he had spent in this castle. It wasn't that cold, but he shivered.
"If you're cold you could always come back inside," A voice spoke from behind him and Edmund whipped his head around quickly, not knowing who he had been expecting, but it definitely hadn't been Caspian, "Peter's worried about you."
Edmund just shrugged as he turned back around to look over the balcony once again. Caspian sighed, seeing that he had gotten absolutely nowhere. Taking a step forward he stood beside Edmund and leaned his arms onto the stone just like the Just King had done himself.
"I used to stand here and look out at the stars you know," His comment sparked nothing in Edmund, but he decided to keep going, "That's when the Professor started taking me to watch the stars at night every so often. Miraz never found out, it was just between myself and the professor."
Edmund still remained silent, but he had tilted his head upwards during the short beginning to the story to look at the stars and had kept it there since. Caspian looked up to before continuing, hoping that even the small motion meant that he was getting somewhere.
"He used to come and wake me up when everyone else was asleep and I could never wake up. Not because I didn't want to see the stars, but because I actually couldn't find a way to wake myself up. I used to say to him 'five more minutes.'" Caspian finished, placing a different tone on his last few words. A moment later he considered giving up and moved backwards, allowing his hand to drag over the stone as he went to turn away and go back inside.
Edmund laughed.
It was sudden, short and Caspian thought for a moment that he was going crazy, but then Edmund added more to it that confirmed to Caspian that he had indeed heard the other correctly.
"Peter's like that with school," The new Telmarine King turned himself back around and returned to his previous position as he looked over at the black haired Pevensie brother, "I can never wake him up and he's always asking for five more minutes and then five minutes later, he'll say the same thing again."
"I can't imagine him like that." Caspian replied.
"He isn't the same in Narnia. He uses every moment to his advantage, doesn't waste a second: afraid it will all go too quickly. To be honest I think he likes being a King."
"Who wouldn't? I'm quite liking it." Caspian replied and Edmund couldn't help, but chuckle and Caspian found himself laughing slightly too. When both of them finally stopped, Caspian brought up his original point of coming out here again.
"Peter's worried about you."
"Is he?" Edmund asked as he looked down at the courtyard again. Caspian allowed his eyes to follow and was slightly confused as to what Edmund was looking at. Only seconds later, Edmund had dropped to the floor and sat with his back leaning against the stone of the balcony, so that he had no view of the courtyard.
Caspian knelt down beside the King and waited, assuming that something would be said in due time. He had to wait for just over a minute, but he soon got his answer.
"Miraz slaughtered the Narnians from that raid."
"I know Edmund," Caspian replied, his tone going slightly softer, "I saw it."
"No, you didn't," Edmund bit back as he looked over in Caspian's direction, "You didn't see the aftermath, with them all looking up into your eyes – Narnia's Just King – all of them waiting for me to do something to help them and I could do nothing. You didn't see him crowned King, or see your brother almost killed or-" Edmund cut himself off as the level of hysterics that he was getting to, almost caused him to choke on his own words.
Unsure of what to do, the newly crowned Telmarine King did nothing, but sit there and allow Edmund the moment of silence and someone to talk to: even if no more words were said between them.
It had taken a while, but Caspian had eventually asked Edmund if he wanted to go back inside and was surprised when the Just King accepted.
Peter had moved to stand himself at the edge of the celebrations in wait for Caspian's return. He had wanted to talk to Edmund himself, however had no idea where his younger brother had run off to. On top of that, he thought Edmund should have a chance to speak to Caspian on a one to one level – some kind of proper greeting: kind of.
When he eventually saw Caspian return to the hall, he was overjoyed to see that he had Edmund with him and rushed over to them. Caspian had nudged Edmund on the shoulder and pointed his older brother out to him. The Just King just mouthed him a thank you before rushing forward to his brother and gripping onto with the might of the entire Narnian army.
Peter was slightly shocked by the amount of force, but wasn't willing to swap this moment for the world as he closed his eyes and just held onto his brother: glad that he was back where he belonged.
Lucy and Susan were busy talking to Reepicheap when Caspian joined them and pointed in their brothers direction. Looking up, both of the Queens of Old soon noticed what Caspian was meaning and shared a short glance with each other before getting up and crossing the hall.
"Edmund!" Lucy shouted as she ran over to her black haired brother and embraced both of them as she joined the pair. Susan had taken a slightly more calm approach, but even she chucked her arms around her two brothers in the family embrace.
Caspian just remained stood with Reepicheap, who by now had decided to sit on the Kings shoulder for a better view.
"I do love family reunions don't you?" He queried.
"Yes, I'm glad for them. They deserve it-" Caspian started, but was soon cut off by the talkative mouse.
"Do you think I could be your royal adviser, Sire?"
"Well, yes, I suppose you could be, bu-"
"Very well, if you insist, Sire for I have many ideas on what we could do to improve Narnia and a start would be for people to stop commenting on me being a mouse, because yes I am a mouse, but I am a fighting mouse and…"
For Caspian, the evening had continued in that way, while the Pevensie's had hosted their (albeit small,) Narnian family reunion. Not evening an hour later, Caspian was sure he had a headache coming on.
"Ed? Edmund?" Peter asked as he looked over to his brother, who was sleeping soundly, "Are you awake Edmund."
"I wasn't, but I am now, Pete," Edmund answered as he rolled from his side onto his back, "What do you want?"
"Can I come in?" The elder asked from the doorway as Edmund sat up, eventually motioning for Peter to enter the room. The blonde carefully shut the door behind him and made his way over to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it as his younger brother looked over at him.
"Now really is there a reason for waking me up or is this another one of your sudden impulses to want a midnight game of chess?" Edmund enquired as he blinked his eyes to keep himself awake.
"I just wanted to make sure that you were alright."
"I can look after myself Peter," Came Edmund's reply eventually. A second later he sighed and added, "But thank you for asking anyway."
Peter smiled and looked over at his brother for a moment and eventually added a small, "Good night."
"Good night, Peter." Edmund replied. Five minutes later when Peter was still sat with him, Edmund gave up and climbed out of bed, accompanying his older brother on the search for a chess set.
It ended up being a long night of loses for The Magnificent King to add to his already long tally list back home.
Well there it is, chapter 15 done! The next one will probably (this made me sad,) be the last chapter for this story :( I'll actually be sad not to be writing this anymore as I have really enjoyed it, but I don't want to drag it out either and completely ruin it and 15-17 chapters had always been my original end point when I first started writing this and planning it out.
Thanks to everyone who had favourited, alerted, reviewed, read and stuck with me to this point :)
I will try and have the next chapter up by next weekend at the latest and hopefully another chapter of The Just in the next few days as well :) x