Chapter 3

Within the first few days of his new employment, Edmund ran into Prince Caspian again when the Prince was unsaddling his horse after a ride. "Your Highness, if I might, that would to be my job."

Caspian started, having not heard Edmund come into the stall. "Oh. Yes, well, I enjoy taking care of Destrier." And, judging by the fact that Destrier was happily nuzzling Caspian's pockets for hidden treats, the horse enjoyed having his rider take care of him as well. Caspian gave Edmund a friendly smile. "It allows me to escape my studies as well, for which I am thankful."

While Edmund heartily related to the sentiment, he had to act the uneducated peasant boy who knew little of tutors and homework. "As you say, Your Highness," he said stiffly, giving a polite bow.

"Please, call me Caspian."

Edmund pasted on a startled look. "I could not do, Your Highness. You are the Prince. It would to be improper."

Caspian's smile faltered, and he turned to continue brushing down Destrier. "Improper, yes, I suppose so."

Edmund blinked as the sad look on Caspian's face registered and realization hit. The Prince was lonely. Edmund had fallen into the trap of assuming Caspian led a life similar to his own at Cair Paravel. But whereas Edmund had had his siblings and Philip and many friendly Narnians surrounding him, likely Caspian had no one. Miraz did not sound like a very fatherly figure, and would likely want to keep Caspian isolated in order to prevent him from gaining any sort of allies from amongst his peers. And, as someone close in age to him, Caspian likely saw Edmund as a potential friend, despite, or perhaps because of, his status. Schooling his features to a neutral position, Edmund quietly picked up another brush and began working on Destrier's other side. "Did Destrier ride well, Caspian?"

Edmund heard Caspian's brush still for a moment on Destrier's neck. The happiness in the Prince's reply was audible. "He did very well, though he still tends to spook at butterflies." Caspian smiled at Edmund over Destrier's back. "Not anything else, mind you. He can handle snakes and rabbits and leaves, but not butterflies."

The two boys shared a laugh at Destrier's expense. Edmund patted the horse fondly. "Ah, Destrier. We mean no fault to you. It is for two friends to fun on another friend, isn't it?"

Caspian mirrored his action and grinned, looking much younger than his years. "If we are friends, might I know your name?"

The hidden king smiled back. "I am called Ed, if you will." As if greeting him also, Destrier tossed his head with a wicker as Edmund patted him again. For the first time since realizing that all he knew in Narnia was gone, Edmund was feeling happier. These two were not Philip and Peter, but they could be friends.

~*~

For nearly two months Edmund played the part of Ed, stableboy and Telmarine peasant. While the work was not overly burdensome (he was certainly gaining muscles, or maybe it was regaining the muscles he used to have) and Caspian was turning into a good friend, still, Edmund was growing anxious. He had heard no word of his siblings, not one clue as to where they would be or what they were doing or if they were safe. Whenever he could, he would exercise the horses close to the distant treeline, hoping to catch sight of a hidden Narnian or be seen by anyone who might be looking for him.

Though Edmund thought he was hiding his agitation well, apparently Caspian could see through him. This was revealed one day when Caspian was riding Destrier as Edmund exercised Blanco. The prince watched as Edmund's eyes often strayed eastward and broke the quiet with a soft, "You are missing your family, are you not?"

Edmund jerked his head to look at Caspian. They had not spoken much about personal topics, keeping to light subjects. All Edmund had ever said about his family was that they worked one of the eastern farms, which was probably why Caspian had noticed where Edmund's eyes drifted. "I should to miss them greatly. It has been a far time; we have never lived apart this long, afore."

"What are they like?"

It was obvious that Caspian was genuinely curious, perhaps induced by longing for a real family of his own. Edmund looked off back east. "Mine mam…my mam," he purposefully corrected, as Caspian had been trying to 'teach' him proper Telmarine, "and my pa are good kith, but work hard and far long in order to get us by. There is to me a brother, of your age, Caspian, and two sisters. I…" Edmund sighed, remembering the day he had last seen his family. "My brother and me would to fight – were fighting – before I separated from them. My last words for him were anger." And Edmund was having a hard time forgiving himself for that. Peter may have been acting like a prat, but Edmund had always tried to support his brother and king, regardless. Yet he had sunk into selfishness and hurt at the train station, and who knew what consequences would result from his mistake?

Caspian gave him a sympathetic look. "I am sorry. Could you not visit them?"

If only. "No. I am sent here to work and so I do. I keep my pay for them. I would to hope my brother or sisters should arrive someday to fetch it." Shaking his head, Edmund gave Caspian a weak smile. "I would like to see them again."

Caspian nodded, his face wistful. "I wish…I wish I had a family to care like that. I do not see my uncle and aunt often. Perhaps…perhaps when my cousin comes I will have someone to care for."

Edmund's mind snapped back to the present and his eyes narrowed. "Cousin?"

The prince nodded. "Yes. My aunt is due to give birth in about a month. I thought that was fairly well known."

He had heard that Lady Prunaprismia was pregnant, but, if stable gossip was anything to go by, so were every other noble lady, their daughters, and even Lord Miraz. Stableboys were not always reliable sources of information. Edmund gave a tight smile. "I must not to be paying attention. Congratulations to thine aunt."

The conversation changed course after that, but the news never left Edmund's mind. This was possibly an exceedingly dangerous situation for Caspian, one of which the prince seemed naively ignorant. If the child was a son, Miraz would have an heir of his own blood; there would be no need for the Lord Protector to allow Caspian to continue to live. Luckily, Caspian didn't notice Edmund's distractions as they continued their ride.

Later that night, lying on the mat in the small room he called his own, Edmund flipped through the thoughts in his head. In the time he had known Caspian, Edmund had become increasingly sure that the prince was the focal point behind him being called back to Narnia. Surrounded by an ocean of dour and, if rumor held any truth, cut-throat Telmarine nobles, Caspian somehow had managed to grow up free from the darkness he lived in. And Edmund had an inkling as to where that freedom came from: the same place he hoped he could find an ally in saving his friend's life.

~*~

Well, that explains a few more things, thought Edmund as he closed the book and leaned back in the chair. The room he sat in was a combination of a room and an office, cramped but cozy. With few decorations except for shelves of books, the room reminded Edmund ever so much of the house of his friend, Mankanik the Dwarf. Which, of course, added to his suppositions concerning the room's owner.

The owner who just then entered the room, pausing as he saw Edmund sitting at his desk near the lit fireplace. Edmund casually leaned back into the chair, crossing his arms. "Please step in, Doctor Cornelius. I would to be waiting for you. Oh, and you should wish to close the door."

Wary, the professor did so, noticing the dark menace that came with the boy's words. "You work in the royal stables," the old man stated, having recognized him from one of the few times Caspian convinced him to go on a ride.

"That I be."

Edmund's blank expression seemed to unnerve Cornelius. "May I help you?"

The hidden king let an intimidating smile grace his features. "Ah, but Doctor, I think it is you who is to need aid. For I do not deem Lord Miraz as one to approve you to teach the prince tales of Old Narnia." To emphasize his point, Edmund lifted up the book he had been reading, full of true stories of Narnia.

Cornelius stiffened at the accusation. "You are mistaken. I have not taught Caspian anything from those books, as the Lord Protector commanded."

Edmund just smirked. "I think I am not to believe you: Mysterious astronomy lessons on a tower that might to be not best for star-gazing, but best to not be heard by curious ears. Books on old-forth kings and queens, and beasts of speech. And, it is to my mind, a mam or pa with dwarf-blood in their veins."

"What do you want?" demanded a badly-shaken Cornelius, who seemed to be desperately trying to figure out how this peasant learned so much.

Putting the book on the desk, Edmund refolded his arms. "It is not to my care that you be dwarf or tell far tales. I care that you are to do seditious acts towards my Lord Protector. If you are to be loyal to him, I have not a fight with you."

Cornelius looked at him guardedly. "I am loyal."

"You walk on all allegiances but to him?" Edmund watched as Cornelius nodded, albeit with reluctance. "You should to give away your loyalty to Narnia?"

"Yes."

"To this High King?"

"I…yes."

"To Aslan?" There was a great silence, so Edmund pressed further. "Do you give away your loyalty to this Aslan-lion?"

Cornelius was visibly shaking, seeing not just a boy but his own death in front of him. Nevertheless, Edmund saw when he made up his mind. "I do not."

Edmund raised a menacing eyebrow and stood, though a child still taller than the tutor. "I will be moved to declare your guilt to my Lord if you should not to denounce this lion-lord of yours."

Cornelius raised his chin in defiance. "Not for my life would I betray Aslan."

"And what of Caspian? Surely your student will stare at the brunt of your punishment for treason to my Lord. And share in it as well."

The half-dwarf's eyes blazed with determined faith. "Then that will be my final test for him: that he will stay true to good and Aslan and not fall to the evil of his ancestors. For I will not renounce Aslan."

For a moment, Edmund brought his full imposing and dangerous aura to bear on the professor, but Cornelius did not waver. Then, in an instant change that had Cornelius blinking in confusion, Edmund relaxed and, with a pleasant laugh, clapped the befuddled man on the back. "Well spoken, my friend. You would to prove yourself worthy Narnian."

The sudden disappearance of all sense of peril had Cornelius spluttering, "What?"

Edmund gave him a sheepish smile. "Give me forgiveness, sir. I would to wish to make sure of your loyalty before I revealed myself."

"Revealed yourself? I don't understand."

"I think it is to your knowledge that the dwarves were not the only Narnians to bind with the Telmarines in family."

Cornelius fumbled with his glasses. "I…are you saying that you are Narnian?"

Edmund nodded. "Even your books tell of those human Narnians who would to hide themselves amongst the enemy."

"Yes, but, what…I do not understand."

Edmund's demeanor turned serious as he came to the matter at hand. "You did ask me what I wanted. As it is to my mind, so to yours that Prince Caspian is the best of hope for the future of Narnia. A hope now threatened by the coming of his cousin, as you should to know. I want to save him."

Cornelius slumped, the matter obviously having laid hard on him. "Yes, I know he is in danger. I…I have been thinking…" Suddenly he stopped, suspicion snapping onto his face. "Why should I believe you, after you broke into my room and threatened me?"

With a smile, Edmund replied, "Because I should not to actually go now to Miraz with my accusations. Because you know me as a friend to Caspian. And because you have no further choice."

Still uncertain, Cornelius still nodded his acknowledgment. "Very well. I have been trying to think of a plan to save Caspian from his uncle, but have met with little success."

Edmund sat down in the room's second chair, allowing the doctor his own seat. "Then we must to begin to plan, my good professor. We have a very small time."