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Chapter 6: Oreius

Several minutes after my talk with Lucy I found the person I had chosen to talk to next: Oreius the centaur. He towered over fauns and Talking Animals, giving each instructions and answering their questions. He looked extremely intimidating, several swords strapped to his large, muscular body, and his stern face could've sent anyone running to their mother except the White Witch.

"No, cousin, please do not go mixing the broadswords with the short swords. Just because the war is over doesn't mean we can neglect our weapons and let them become dull. We need to be ready. Layla, please go supervise the other Talking Rabbits and Squirrels in the cooking Tents. Dear dwarf, do you mind checking up on Shinpi with- no, I should do that myself. You go gather several of our younger friends and collect fire wood for the cooking staff," Oreius took a breath and watched the creatures hurry away and I quickly spoke up.

"Oreius, may I have a moment?" I asked politely. "I can come back later if it would be more convenient."

Oreius gave one last look around himself and then nodded. "Yes, I have a moment. Mr. Tumnus, is it?"

"I just have a couple questions for you. About Edmund Pevensie."

Oreius raised an eyebrow at me, clearly interested in what I wanted to ask. "Continue."

I gulped, suddenly wishing I had come to Oreius after I had talked to everyone else- or that I hadn't come to him at all. "What do you know about him?" I finally settled on asking. Not the question I had wanted to ask first, but it was a start.

Oreius gave me a grim look. "Mr. Tumnus, I do not know facts that you can rely on, only my opinion on the Son of Adam, which I don't give lightly. That's the way rumors start, and though I'm sure you wouldn't start stories around the camp I'd feel safer keeping my thoughts to myself."

I frowned. "What do you know about Edmund? Could you just tell me the facts you do know? How did you meet him?"

Oreius nodded slowly. "After Peter, Susan, and Lucy arrived and had talked to Aslan, the girls were by a stream and were attacked by two Wolves. Susan blew her magic horn- you have heard that part of the story, haven't you? When the three humans met Father Christmas?"

I hadn't, and shook my head. After Oreius had finished explaining the gifts, Peter's sword, Rhindon, Susan's horn, bow, and arrows, and Lucy's dagger and cordial, I realized what Lucy had given her brother on the battle field. I swallowed hard. Before I had thought it was just a dryad potion to revive the boy or something, but if he had to take Lucy's cordial he must have really been hurt.

"Susan blew her magic horn, and Peter heard it, along with Aslan, myself, and several other soldiers. We came to rescue the two Queens, and Peter was able to fight and kill Maugrim. The second Wolf ran away, back to the Witch's camp, and I took some creatures and followed it. When we arrived at their camp we found many of the Witch's army preparing for war; creating weapons, practicing with them, putting on armor, that sort of thing. The Witch herself was in one of the tents, working, but we had only come to rescue Edmund."

Oreius' face turned dark at this point, and I figured if a dryad didn't live in the tree not more than a yard away he would've punched it or chopped it to pieces with his sharp blades. "Edmund's only 10 years old! I think the only reason he's able to stand right now is Lucy's cordial."

I suddenly felt like I was free falling of the tallest mountain they could've thrown me from, and I felt my stomach drop at the centaurs words. Edmund had had to take Lucy's cordial twice? "Stand? He shouldn't be able to stand?"

"After the way I found him, tied to that tree? A dwarf was taunting him, holding a knife to his throat, and Edmund looked nearly defeated. Nearly, but not quite, because there was still a desperate gleam in his eyes, a tiny sliver of hope. As soon as he had been untied he fell to the ground, unable to move, so I picked him up to bring him back to camp. 'Are my brother and sisters OK?' were the only and first words he said to me the entire trip, because once I had told him they were fine, and that I was taking him to them, he gave me a dim smile, then fainted."

"How badly was he injured?" I asked.

"Pretty bad," Oreius said softly. "His back and legs were bleeding a lot, and I could tell he had been whipped; the dryads had been able to heal a lot of those, but chances are he'll have scars. Cuts and bruises covered most of his body, along with a bump to his head. He was pretty skinny, and I doubt he was given much, if anything, to eat while he was with the White Witch. He slept for quite a while after we returned to camp, the rest of the night and a good portion of the next morning."

Oreius began to absent-mindedly swing two of his blades in circles. I watched them swing in fast, delicate circles, mesmerized. "If I ever get my hands on whichever creature did those things to King Edmund, they'll regret the day they were born. He's only a colt, for Aslan's sake! A grown centaur would have trouble living through what that boy lived through and still have some hope at the end."

"Why?" I asked before I could restrain myself.

Once again Oreius raised an calm eyebrow at me, still swinging his swords. "Why what?"

I gulped, watching the deadly blades he seemed to be carelessly throwing around. "Why… why would you do that for Edmund? He's a traitor! He betrayed his own brother and sisters, for candy! The Witch told me herself, in the dungeons where-" I stopped suddenly, slightly out of breath. "Oh, Aslan!" I managed to gasp.

Oreius looked at me, curious but stern. "You never saw the wounds the young Son of Adam bore after we rescued him. I can not describe them in such a way to make someone understand; it's one of the many things in life you must see to understand."

I shook my head, almost in a trance. "But… but I did see. Not him and his wounds personally, but I saw… I saw the dungeon we were held in. It… it was covered… in… in his…" I choked on the words, still staggering at the memories I had of the dungeon, brown stains completely covering large portions of the ice.

Oreius sheathed his twin blades and placed a heavy hand on my shoulder. "Peace, Tumnus. Edmund is safe, and the Witch is gone; you need not worry over these matters any longer."

I shuddered under his gaze, not daring to meet it. I felt rather than saw the frown that settled on his face.

"You aren't worried that Edmund or yourself will get injured by the White Witch," He stated, a fact more than a question.

I hesitated before answering, suddenly very conscious of the fact that everyone else had forgiven Edmund and probably wouldn't appreciate my concerns. I finally found the courage to look up at the centaur's face. "You're correct," came my soft reply.

The next words came in a low rumble from deep inside Oreius' throat "Care to explain, my dear faun?"

"What if… what if he turns on us again? What if he's still a traitor?"

I waited for the anger and fury I knew would come from Oreius at my words, looking at the ground between his front hooves. Finally he grasped my chin in his hand and lifted my head so I had no choice but to look him in the eye.

"Aslan has cast his sins as far as the east is from the west," Oreius said, quietly but confidently. "Edmund made mistakes, but he'll be the first to admit his sins and the last to forgive himself. Watch the Son of Adam; he won't stop until he's proved himself worthy to be a king of Narnia and her people, and even then will run himself ragged serving us. Many a day in the future he'll stay up late into the night, working on some task or another, to positively change our country."

Oreius turned away to quickly help a dryad struggling under a load of clothes. "Give him a chance, faun, and I have no doubts that your worries will stay with you no longer than a week."

And with that Oreius left me standing on the field.

Hi there! I got some good reviews. People keep telling me this story is 'omnious' and I have to admit that when I wrote Finding: Answers it didn't feel nearly as creepy and suspenseful as it probably is. I was mostly worried about Mr. Tumnus' chapters, and that people would find it all boring. That's the only real reason Abaddón and Lilitu got a part in the story- I didn't want you to get so bored you would stop reading and wanted to give you some bait to read. If you like the way these chapters are going, even without the two Wolves, let me know! I'd love to hear what you think!

WARNING! (This is the part you're supposed to read...) This story is already (gasp!) half-way done! I'm afraid I'll get some shocks when I finish updating it, as my friend EMC was when she read the ending. Therefore, read to the end and I'll explain everything. Promise!

Two characters were vaguely mentioned in the first couple paragraphs. As I love looking up names for new characters (and I didn't want to keep saying 'dear cousin' throughout Oreius' little paragraph) I will note that neither Layla nor Shinpi are to be considered important in this story. However, if you are interested *grins* I've got the definitions right here. Layla is a female name that means famous beauty in Leyla and Majnun (I'm afraid I've got no idea whatsoever of what 'Leyla' and 'Majnun' is- I just liked the name Layla) and Shinpi is a male name meaning priest, mystery.