A/N: After much consideration, I came to the conclusion that this chapter really needs an author's note. I must confess that I exaggerated Susan's flirtatious and older-sisterly teasing far beyond what it probably would have been. If you are a big time Susan fan (*cough, cough*, Queen Su) and don't like her that way, I apologize. I happen to think Susan needs to grow up (even in Narnia), and this story is showing the Pevensies' minuses as well as their pluses, so to speak. Never fear, however, ye fans of Su. She recovers in later chapters.
Also, this is where the story really gets going (yeah, as if it wasn't going before!). If you can't stand cliffhangers, danger, and evil, wicked badguys, please stop reading. If you think I'm crazy for even suggesting that you not continue, by all means read on. ;D
Here we go.
--Chapter 16: Confrontation--
"He's so romantic."
I bit back a laugh and leaned back in my chair as I listened to Susan.
"His hair—it's jet black, Ed. And his eyes—ooh! They make you want to shiver and giggle at the same time. And his smile—his smile!—" Susan paused and actually shivered at this one, "it's positively melting!"
I shook my head, watching her with a sympathetic smile.
"Sounds horrid. Poor, poor Col."
Susan laughed and slapped at me, but I dodged her just in time.
"Don't you have better things to do than to tease me about my love life?" Susan asked after a few minutes of trying to swat me with her pillow, smiling merrily in spite of my teasing.
"As a matter of fact, I do," I retorted with a cheeky grin. "Irwin's trial is in a few minutes. Just remember, my dear older sister, that you are the one who practically dragged me in here to tell me all about your latest love. Why don't you describe him in endlessly romantic terms to Lucy?"
Susan sighed and plopped down on her bed with another rueful laugh.
"Lucy won't listen to me. Always gives me that look and mutters something about me becoming a boring grownup. Imagine!"
"Yes, imagine!" I muttered, wishing to blazes that I could escape and not have to hear the rest of what Su was saying about her darling Lord Ther.
These Galmians. So terribly…romantic. I wrinkled my nose in distaste. Well here was one King who could do without all that sappy stuff. Su began describing Ther again more poetically than ever, even saying something—in a moony voice—about his "raven locks" and "azure eyes". It was enough to make me sick! At last, I grabbed Susan's arm and shook her gently.
"Hullo, Su? Wake up! You're not in dreamland anymore!"
"Oh Ed," Susan laughed, tousling my hair—I hate it when she tousles my hair—, "you're so funny about hating this kind of thing! You're so fervently against romance that one might thing you actually liked it after all, but didn't want to admit it. A secret love, perhaps? Who is she? Ranya? Elisabeth? Lady Claudia? Or maybe that minstrel girl you were with the other night—Fiona. Now there's a romantic name."
I blushed even though I knew Susan was just teasing. She was so horrid when it came to this kind of thing. It was practically the only reason I couldn't stand being in her company for very long—that and the fact that she unconsciously imitated Mum, behaving as overly protective as Peter.
"Fio's just a friend," I replied adamantly. "Really. In fact, she's leaving today with her Uncle."
"How sad," Susan said with a pout. "I was beginning to think we might have a real future for you, with a minstrel girl by your side."
I stood abruptly, knowing that my cheeks were burning red but not really caring.
"That's enough, Susan." My exclamation seemed to startle my sister, for the silly, giggly expression on her face vanished quite suddenly, replaced with a more serious one. "Fio is a friend. Nothing more, nothing less. And I don't want to hear another word about it—do you hear?"
"Of course, Edmund."
Susan nodded, astonished, I surmised, at seeing me, the quietest of us four, blowing up like that. A moment later, I sighed and turned back to face her.
"I'm sorry, Su. I just…I don't enjoy that kind of teasing. Not with friends whom I'd rather just think of as friends. All right?"
"I understand, Ed. I'm sorry."
My sister smiled at me apologetically, and I jerked a nod in reply. I took a step to the door, but Susan called out my name.
"Oh, Edmund!"
Before she could say anything else, however, a knock came from the door.
Susan sprang from her bed and shoved the door open with a sharp cry of "Ther?!" It was Darm, my spy, to her disappointment and my bewilderment.
"Is King Edmund in here?" Darm asked, breathing hard as if he'd been running.
"I'm here, Darm. What's the news?" I asked, standing and pushing Susan gently aside.
Breathless though he was, Darm wasted no time on preliminaries—one of the reasons he would make such a great noble—and began speaking at once.
"I was passing the gardens on my way here to give you a message from the High King, when I heard someone talking in the hedge maze. When I went closer to listen, I heard two men talking."
He paused, and I nodded eagerly for him to continue.
"The first said, 'There isn't time to complete the plan the way I wanted to, with the Adder's Blood. They grow suspicious. We'll have to resort to our second option and make our escape.' Then the other man said, 'Where shall we meet?' 'The stables,' the first replied, 'be there in a few minutes'."
"Great Scott!" I shouted, cheeks flushing with excitement, "they're going to the stables! Quick, Darm! Get Pete and Peridan and the rest! Tell them to meet me there as soon as they can!"
Darm turned to leave, and I made to follow, but then Susan called me from behind.
"Ed, before you go, I have a message for you! From Corin!"
I turned impatiently and threw out my hands.
"Quickly, please. I have to get to the stable. I'm going to watch from across the street so if they try to escape—,"
"It's about the stable, Ed," Susan interrupted, running a hand through her own raven locks and frowning as she tried to remember. "He said he's following some stable boy…a Reth, I think? And he says that this Reth is going to the stable, and that you should follow at once. He told me to make absolutely sure you knew. Kept saying something about proving to you that he was right."
My blood turned to ice. I felt my face drain of color as all the facts came together and constructed a conclusion that I didn't like to think about. The murderers were going to meet at the stables. The stables where Corin was now aimlessly walking along, perhaps pretending to trail the stable boy who was inadvertantly leading him to his doom. Or perhaps not so inadvertantly as I had once thought.
Wouldn't it be ironic if he was right after all, if Reth really was in on it? I thought, trying to calm my suddenly anxious mind. But then I shook my head and groaned as I realized something else.
"Oh no!"
"What?" Susan exclaimed, grabbing my arm so that I couldn't get away. "Whatever is the matter, Edmund!"
I grabbed her arms and gave her a look so full of panic that she let go immediately.
"Something I said earlier," I shouted, my heart screaming that I had to get to the stables.
"What?" Susan asked again, still confused beyond anything.
I didn't bother answering her.
"I'm going to the stables. Find Peter and warn him and Peridan to be careful when they attack. If I'm right, then there may be trouble—Corin trouble."
I left her with this command, turning and running immediately down the corridor. My words from the day in the armory replayed in my mind over and over again.
"If there's any scrape to be got into, in he will get, and come out of it hurt the worst he possibly can…"
I bit my lip and forced my legs to go faster, praying to Aslan that I wasn't too late already. At last, I saw the familiar arch with a carved horse's head that marked the entrance to the stable before me.
Save Corin, save Corin, save Corin, chanted my mind, fixed solely on that one purpose.
"Corin!" I hissed, bursting into the stable.
Breathing hard, I looked frantically around, but until my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I could see nothing. When I could see, however, I almost wished that I could not.
In one corner of the stable, cowering back against the wall, stood Corin. Between him and me stood a tall man. My first impulse was to leap at the man, but then I saw something that made me halt with a jerk and freeze so that I stood as still as a stone statue.
He was holding a knife.
I knew instantly that the man had not yet seen me. He was turned with his back toward me, so that I could not see his face. I knew at once that it wasn't Reth, however. This must be one of the murderers. Quickly, I slipped into the shadows. Unfortunately, Corin had spotted me. I saw his eyes light up, but then, he forced his expression to go blank as he stared up at the man with the knife.
Good lad. He knows not to give me away.
"Why were you following me, brat?" hissed the man, so softly that I barely heard him.
"I wasn't following you," Corin replied, a mischievous gleam entering his eyes. "I was just going to check on Flaed. My horse. He's in the fifth stall from the back, and he's a golden chestnut with four stockings and a blaze and a tiny upside-down moon on his chest. D' you want to see him?"
The man stood stock still, from all I could tell, staring down at the boy. His hand tightened on the knife, and my muscles tensed as I prepared to leap at him.
If he takes so much as one step closer to Corin…
"Y'see, your highness," Corin continued, chatting cheerfully as if he hadn't a care in the world, and certainly not appearing to be frightened by being cornered by a man with a knife, "Flaed was my birthday present from last year. He's not a talking horse, though. Sometimes I wish he was, but in Narnia and Archenland, sir, you're not supposed to ride talking horses."
"Lower your voice, boy," the man hissed, hand tightening on the knife grip, and then relaxing again.
"Lower my voice, your highness?" Corin asked loudly, making the words 'your highness' especially loud. "But why? Reth isn't asleep right now. I just saw him walk in here, and…" his words trailed off as the man inched toward him.
"You saw Reth?" the man asked.
"Yes, your highness," Corin replied, putting such emphasis on the title that I could've kicked myself.
So that's what he's doing, I thought, biting back a moan, exasperated at myself. He's stalling. But, what does he mean by 'your highness'…
"Were you following him?"
The man's voice echoed in my mind and I finally recognized it. The pieces flew together, and I closed my eyes as the truth finally came to light.
It was King Gavin. He was the one behind the attempted murders.
Everything fit: the poison and the effort to murder Peter, and then the placing of the blame on Lord Irwin as a scapegoat. Even the king's reaction to the news about his Lord Chancellor suddenly made sense. And the motive: he really did want Narnia for himself, not just an alliance. I felt like such an idiot by not having figured it out sooner.
But Corin figured it out…almost…
"…wasn't following anybody, your highness."
The voice of the young Prince of Archenland broke through my reflections, and I then realized that the danger was not over yet. I glanced at the stable door, praying that soon, Peter and Peridan would burst through them, arriving just in the nick of time as they usually did.
Why don't they come?
"You look familiar, boy," said Gavin, the jeweled dagger in his right hand quivering threateningly. "What is your name?"
A flash of uncertainty crossed Corin's face in the time it took to blink an eye.
"Corin, your Majesty."
The king bent down closer to him, clenching the dagger tightly.
"Prince Corin? The son of King Lune?"
Corin swallowed hard, and nodded hesitantly. Gavin grabbed Corin by the arm and held the knife at his throat, turning around so I could see his face as he did. I clenched my fists, watching them helplessly.
"What do you know, boy?" Gavin asked, giving Corin's broken arm a painful squeeze.
Corin gasped, but shook his head in false bewilderment.
"I don't understand," he whimpered. The king gave his arm a twist, and Corin let out a pained yelp.
I could bear no more of this. Drawing my sword, I leapt forward recklessly, swinging the flat of my blade at the king's feet and hoping to catch him off balance. Alas, Gavin spotted me before I reached him, and he jumped back, dragging Corin with him. I stumbled forward, thrown off balance because I had missed my target. Gavin raised the knife, and rested the edge on Prince Corin's throat.
"Take one more step and the boy dies," Gavin hissed, staring at me anxiously.
My arms shook with rage, and I gritted my teeth, wishing that I had been able to think of some sort of plan. My gaze shifted to Corin's face. To my surprise, I found that he was glaring at me, not one hint of fear in his eyes.
"Get him," the boy hissed, baring his teeth, eyes blazing with hatred. "Don't let him get away; he's the murderer."
My mind whirled with hesitancy, even as I admired the sheer courage of the young boy who suggested such a thing. But even so, I knew—knew—that if I charged the king, Corin would die. I glanced back at the prince, and made my decision. I lowered my sword and saw Corin's eyes widen.
"Look out, Ed!" he shouted, voice filled with panic.
I managed to turn halfway around, thanks to his warning, but by then it was too late. A heavy blow, like a mallet, exploded my head in pain, and everything disappeared into blackness.
TBC.....(*laughs insanely at the horrified look that just crossed your face* I did warn you.)....