Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.
A/N: Still nothing except… REVIEW!!!!!
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Cassie tossed and turned for three hours before giving up trying to fall asleep. Don't get her wrong, the bed was amazingly confortable and the room was imaccualte but she just couldn't sleep with the thoughts about everything that had happened swimming in her head.
Leaping out from under the covers, she searched around in the dark until she found a robe to put over her new Narnian night gown. It was laying there on the chair in the corner of the blue painted room. She grabbed it and felt her way to the door of her new bedroom. Finally finding the door knob she turned it and walked silently out of the room into the corridor but not before she knocked down several chairs in her room. "I think I'll go to the library. Books always put me to sleep."
She tip-toed down the hallway, not wanting to wake anyone else up. The fire from the pillars illuminated her path to the library. Little did she know, someone was already there, hard at work.
--
Edmund had been pouring over books for three hours. He had a kink in his neck and his back was stiff as a board. As he stood and stretched, he let out a long moan of pleasure. He stacked up his books as he was going to turn in for the night. The Council would've wanted answers as soon as posible, but unlike his brother, he was able to tell people to stick it. And he was very proud of this talent. "Oh, sorry," someone said from the large doorway. "I didn't know anyone else was in here."
Edmund turned around to find Cassie in a night gown and robe standing barefoot by the library's door. "No, that's okay. I was actually just leaving. You know, to get a fresh start in the morning." Edmund stood up too quickly and knocked the books from the table onto the floor. He blushed but bent down to pick up the fallen books to hide it.
"Wow. I think you have worse luck than I do," she chuckled while rushing over to help him. While reaching for the final book, their hands brushed up against each other. Both quickly pulled their hands away and blushed. "Sorry. Um…" she picked up the last book and handed it to him, "here you go."
Edmund gave a nervous chuckle and said, "Thanks," as he took it. He stood up first with all the books in is hand and set them down on the nearby table. Cassie followed by getting up off the carpeted floor. Suddenly, it hit the boy. "What are you doing up at this hour?"
"Oh, um, well I couldn't really sleep with all that's gone on. Falling into a new world can sort of do that to you. Books and reading tend to make me tired so I figured you know, I'd come down here and give it a shot." She paused for a minute landing them in an awkward silence. "I just didn't expect anyone else to be here."
Edmund laughed. "Yeah, I'm not ususally here this late but, Peter asked me and I always do what I can to over shadow him. It normally doesn't work, but its better than not trying." Cassie smiled. Edmund noticed just how beautiful her smile was. It lit up her features, especially her eyes. They were a green he had never seen before and there was a sparkle in them when she laughed. Whoa, he thought. Slow down. What are you thinking? You've never looked at a girl's face like that before. Come to think of it, you've never thought anything like that about anyone before. But whenever I see her butterflies erupt in my stomach. What is going on? "Well, I should go," he said. "I have to be up early in the morning. We have some things to do."
"Yeah, yeah," Cassie agreed. "Its late. Sorry I disturbed you, Your Majesty."
"Please, call me Edmund. Or Ed. It doesn't matter as long as its not like Anna or something." Cassie laughed and more chills went up his spine. "Good night, Cassie."
"Good night, Edmund." He smiled at her and walked out. "Oh, my God," she whispered to herself as soon as he was out of hear shot. She sank into the nearest chair and put a hand on her forehead. "What am I doing, flirting with a King? That's so wrong." But he's so cute, her internal voice argued. "No, I can't. He probably doesn't like me anyway." But did you see the way he was looking at you? He was checking you out! And he was trying to make you laugh! Talk about flirting! "No, no, no. It was just his personality. He wasn't flirting." Cassie was trying hard to convince herself she wasn't falling for the Just King. Trying but failing. She put her head down on the table and sighed angerly. "What am I going to do?"
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Edmund literally ran to his room. As soon as he slammed the door shut, he lit the lamps and walked onto his balcony in need of fresh air. He took several deep breaths but that feeling he had didn't seem to want to go away. Wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers, he thought what this could mean. "This is…mad. I've never even looked at a girl like that. What's special about her?" he asked the air. "I'm not falling for her. I'm just not." He groaned. "Who am I kidding? I'm in denial. I should talk to Kaylee. She knows about this kind of stuff. Peter does too, but I am not talking to him. He'll just say I'm not aloud to do it or something stupid. Kaylee is the right choice." Edmund finally decided what to do and he was going to talk to her tomorrow, before the feelings got more intense.
He layed down on his bed and tried to find sleep.
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"Cassie," someone whispered. "Cassie? Wake up." The girl moaned and lifted her head up off the desk. Opening her eyes she found Edmund standing over her. "Books really do put you to sleep, don't they?" he said with a smirk.
"Yeah," she laughed trying to hide her blush at his lingering hand on her back. "Yeah, they do. What time is it?"
"Its uh," he glanced at his watch and his eyes widened. "9:10, and I'm late. Sorry to wake you and run but, I have to go to the throne room now. Um, you can just go down to the kitchen and say I told them to feed you. See you later." And he ran out.
"Thanks!" she called. She smiled to herself. He actually made it a point to come and see if I was still here. That's different. The growling of her stomach alerted her to the fact that she was starving and decided to take Edmund up on his offer. She walked down to the kitchen and true to what Susan said, she got lost a few times but found her way anyway.
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Edmund dashed down the halls as fast as he could, knowing Peter would be angry at his tardiness. He rounded the corner to the throne room to find Kaylee at her normal post at the entrance to greet the incoming subjects. Out of breath he panted, "What did I miss?"
"Well, its about time you showed up," she said to her brother-in-law. "Where have you been?"
"Slept in late," he lied. "So…?"
"Well, Peter's distracted and basically just nods and says 'okay'. Apparently the Council wants to talk to Cassie and he told them to wait and now he's wondering if that really was a good idea."
"Well, of course it was! They'll scare her to death!" Edmund objected.
"That's exactly what he thought which is why he said no. Susan is taking care of business elsewhere and Lucy is the only one really solving their problems. She's been getting increasingly annoyed with Peter and a few moments ago she told him she was pregnant and getting married tomorrow."
"Is she?"
"No, she just said that to get Peter's attention."
"Did it work?"
"No, he told her that was nice and she rolled her eyes and proceeded to continue with the people. You should help her because if you don't, she is going to be in a bad mood all day."
"Okay."
"Hey Edmund?" He looked back at her. "When you get finished, you're going to tell me why you're really late. All right?" He sighed knwoing she was right so he nodded. "Good. Now go on."
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"Edmund!" Kaylee called with a sing-song voice. "Walk with me." He reluctantly walked over and sighed. "Now," she said when they were a safe distance away, "why were you late?"
"I…Well, it started when I saw Cassie in the library last night while I was doing research and I knocked my books over and she helped me pick them up and she told me books help her sleep and I lost track of time when I was in my room and when I went back to the library, she was sleeping and I woke her up and when she finally asked what time it was I realized I was late so I ran here," he rattled off.
Kaylee was silent for a moment pondering what Edmund had said. "Let me guess. You like this girl, don't you?" Edmund gave a small admititory whimper. "Okay, and you told me because you don't know if anyone else will understand." Edmund nodded again. By this time they were out in the courtyard surrounded by yellowing trees and leaves crunching underneath their feet. "What do you want me to tell you?"
"Well, what should I do? I don't know if she likes me back. And the problem with that is, every time we touch I get this tingling sensation throughout my body and when she looks at me or smiles, I can't keep my eyes off of her. Every time i feel her presence I get butterflies in my stomach like I'm nervous or something."
"The best thing to do, is not to ignore it like I did with Peter for so long. If you just tell her, she may feel the same way. What I've noticed is that when you like someone, you tend to get tunnel vision and don't notice the signs that the particular person likes you back. If you tell her, you get rid of that tunnel vision." Edmund swallowed hard and nodded nervously. "I'll even help get you two alone. Without letting anyone else know what I'm doing." Edmund gave a greatful smile and Kaylee chuckled. "I know you don't really understand what's happening, but that's okay. Just go with the flow."
"I will. Thanks Kaylee." Kaylee smiled and walked back to the castle leaving Edmund alone to his thoughts.
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Cassie was walking out of the dining room after having a full breakfast. Lucy was walking down the same hall to get things ready for lunch in a few hours. "Oh, hey! You're Cassie right?" she asked.
"Yeah, I am. And you must be…Lucy?" The young girl nodded eagerly. "Cool beans. Nice to meet you kid."
"It's nice to meet you too. Would you like me to give you a tour of the castle? It might help you get around easier," Lucy offered with a grin.
"Sure. That'd be cool."
"Wonderful. Let me just check in this single thing and I'll take all around, all right?" Cassie nodded. Now that she had met all of them, she saw that they all really were a close knit family. They all were similar but in their own ways different. I wish I had that. She thought. Her parents had divorced before they could have another kid and by living with her father, who never dated, she didn't have any sibblings. She didn't have many friends either. She was a loner girl but sometimes she wished she had the comfort of a close family. When Lucy returned she grabbed the older girl's hand and led her off to another part of the castle chatting wildly.
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Two days later, Edmund rushed into a meeting Peter was having with the Council yelling, "Peter I think I've found it! I think I found what we've been looking for!"
"Well let's hear it then!" Peter said with a smile. Edmund grinned and started.
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A/N: Mwhahahaha! A cliff hanger! I'm so evil! Actually, I have to come up with a prophecy first so if anyone has any ideas, I may need a bit of help. So…….REVIEW and place your ideas in the review. (if you have any…*hint* *hint*)