A/N. So sorry it took so long! I was out of town, at my country house, which was awesome by the way) Enjoy the new chapter!
Chapter 22.
Edmund and Edelle walked upstairs to the upper deck-the sailors were still buzzing around, no one even seemed to notice their absence. 'Good.' they both thought. The last thing they wanted, was for the whole crew to start giving them dirty glances.
They approached Lucy, who was side-leaning against the bark.
"Edmund, is there a time of the day…or night, when your arm isn't around her waist?" Lucy said, sarcasm evident in her voice.
Edelle laughed "Don't think so, Lu. I'm kinda used to it by now, though."
"Not that you don't like it." Edmund grinned and pecked her on the lips.
"Oh, please, not in front of me!" Lucy moaned, her hand covering her eyes.
They laughed and turned their eyes to Eustace, who was busily pulling the ship with his tale. Edelle looked at him with admiration 'It's amazing how a change in your appearance can change who you are' she thought. To think about it, a week ago he would've rather had his diary taken away from him, than to even think of helping them. A week ago, if someone told him he was going to be pulling the Dawn Treader with his dragon tale, he would have called them insane and threaten to call the asylum. But there he was. Edelle sighed hopefully- maybe he has changed…or maybe he never was a snob in the first place.
"LAND AHOY!"
The three swiftly turned their heads to the ocean and smiles instantly illuminated their faces, as they saw it in the near horizon.
Edelle glanced at Edmund "Is that Ramandu's Island?"
He smiled even brighter "It is, love. We're here."
The ship sailed gracefully towards the Island, getting closer and closer with each passing minute. Finally, when the sun was beginning to go down, their destination was close enough for them to port.
Eustace let go of the nose of the ship, and Reepicheep shouted with glee "You got us there! What did I tell you, Eustace? Extraordinary, EXTRAORDINARY!"
The sailors got the boats down and soon everyone was floating towards Ramandu's Island. The sun has already set by the time they got to the shore; they looked around the land and started walking through it. Edelle chuckled at the confusion on all the sailor's faces when Edmund pulled out his torch and lit up their way.
After quite some time of walking they reached something that looked like a hall, except in was in the open air. They passed several griffon sculptures until they came close to an arch, which was made of tree's roots. Edmund walked through it first and the rest followed after him. There, in the middle of the woods, was a large table, food and drinks covering every inch of the surface.
Edmund illuminated it with his torch and suspiciously looked over it, walking by. The Minotaur reached out to take something, but Drinian halted him. Edmund turned the light to the end of the table, and Lucy gasped, Edelle flinched, and the men snatched out their swords: sitting there were three old men. Their beards have grown so long, they ended on the table. The men's clothes were all filthy and entwined in tree branches and cobwebs- the men didn't look very alive. Their eyes were open, but none of them moved.
Caspian looked at the men's hands and recognised the rings on them.
"Lord Revellion…" he looked at the other one "Lord Mathomore…Lord Argos" he concluded as he eyed the third man.
Just then Lucy reached out and moved several strands of grey hair out of one man's face and sharply backed away as she felt movement.
Caspian leaned down to take a look "He's breathing." He stated.
"So are they!" Edmund pointed to the other two. "They're under a spell…"
Caspian looked over the table "It's the food!" he shouted, as several sailors dropped he food they've already taken a bite of.
"Hey, it's the stone knife." Edmund pointed "This is Aslan's table."
"Aslan's table? We have to lay down the swords then." Edelle said and pulled Edmund's sword out of its confines, laying it on the table.
Caspian took the rest of the lord's swords out, and laid them down on top of each other.
"That's six" Edmund said "We're still missing one."
Edelle furrowed her eyebrows "So, nothing's going to happen now?"
And just as the words left her mouth, the swords on the table began to glow a blue light.
" 'Nothing' never happens in Narnia, it's always something." Edmund said.
"Look!" Lucy pointed to the sky, and everyone looked up and saw the Blue Star making its way down. It slowly descended from the sky and landed merely two meters away from the table. The glowing gradually subsided and the star took the form of a young woman in her early twenties.
"Travellers of Narnia, welcome." She said and all the men, except Edmund and Caspian bowed respectfully.
"Arise." She gestured and looked questioningly at the crew "Are you not hungry?"
"Who are you?" Edmund asked.
"I'm Lilliandil-daughter of Ramandu. I am your guide." She smiled.
Caspian looked over here in wonder "You're a star?"
She nodded.
"You are most beautiful." He complemented in an awestruck voice.
The star's expression turned concerned "If it is a distraction for you, I can change form…"
"No!" he cut her off, sounding almost commandive.
Edmund snorted and pulled Edelle to him. She chuckled at both: Caspian's interaction with the star and Edmund's 'Well, I've already got a girlfriend" move.
"The food is for you." Lilliandil continued and lit the candles on the table with a movement of her hands "There is enough for all who made it to Aslan's table, always. Help yourselves!" she encouraged the sailors.
"Wait!" Edmund interfered "What happened to them?" he pointed to the three Lords at the back.
"These poor men were half-mad by the time they reached our shores." she explained "They were threatening violence upon each other…violence is forbidden at the table of Aslan, so they were sent to sleep."
Lucy felt sorry for the men "Will they ever wake?" she asked and Edelle also looked concerned- if the Lords weren't in their right minds when they reached here, it wasn't really their faults they were saying such things. Surely, they didn't deserve to stay living statues till the end of days!
The star smiled "When all is put right. Come, there's little time." She eyed Caspian, Lucy, Edmund and Edelle and led them away from the table into the depths of the woods.
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