Ok, studying done. Hoping for a good score on that test tomorrow! Now…back to what I WANT to do :D

EDMUND'S POV

I rode back to Cair Paravel in a state of disbelief. How could I have fallen for that? Once again, deceived by a pretty face…I really need to stop trusting strange women. I chuckled darkly at that thought as I pulled my mare to a halt outside the stables.

I brushed her down good, rubbing her soft, velvety nose. She nuzzled my shoulder and, even though she was a dumb beast, I felt like she could tell I was upset. Horses in my other world were intelligent, so I suppose Narnian Dumb horses had the same senses. I pulled a lump of sugar from the saddle bag I had taken off her and offered it to her, she accepted without hesitation. Thank Aslan for creating some animals that couldn't speak but still managed to make you feel better!

"Where is Natani?" Susan's greeting was less than civil, I thought. She was glaring at me like her disappearance was MY fault…I guess it was a little.

"Gone." was all I said. I walked right past her and took the stairs two at a time until I reached Lucy's room. I don't know why, but I felt like Lucy would be the one to talk to about this.

"Lu?" I knocked on her door lightly.

"Come in?" I pushed the door open and found Lucy sitting on a chair, mending one of her dresses. She looked up at me and smiled, but her smile faltered. Drat, and I thought I had put on an effective mask of indifference.

"Edmund, what's wrong?" she set the dress aside and stood up. The first thing she did was start feeling me for injuries. She poked and prodded me and successfully found the still sore burn on my chest and I sucked in a sharp breath at the shot of pain it caused. "Edmund! Sit down right now!"

I obeyed. Knowing she wouldn't listen properly until she had examined my condition. She pulled half of my shirt to the side and she squeaked when she saw the swollen, red, sword tip-shaped burn just beneath my clavicle.

"It's really not so bad, Lu," I tried to convince her but she just clicked her tongue against her teeth and went to retrieve her washing basin from the other side of the room. She filled it from the pitcher and grabbed a cloth. I couldn't see it very well so I assumed there was some blood on me somewhere in that area from the original cut.

"What on earth happened to you?" Lucy asked me, pressing the cold cloth against my skin. Oh man…that felt a lot better.

"Natani." I didn't have to say anything else, Lucy seemed to know plain enough.

"She got away didn't she?" she asked, looking at me with knowing eyes. I looked down at the floor.

"Well…I kind of let her go," I admitted, "Or at least I…told her to get out anyway."

Lucy's eyes were studying me, I could feel it. I wondered what she was thinking.

"Why are you so upset about it, Edmund?" she finally broke the silence.

I scoffed and stood up quickly, pacing back and forth in a short line in front of Lucy.

"I'm not! I mean…not that I let her go. Not even that she tricked me. No, I'm more upset that I have no idea why Aslan wanted her to live? I know he's not a tame Lion and our ways are not his but…sometimes I just wish I could see what he's planning."

I groaned and fell back on Lucy's bed, spent from my tirade. Lucy walked over and sat beside me.

"Edmund…" she began slowly, as if trying to plan her words carefully, "Aslan knows what he's doing. ALL the time, Edmund, even if we can't see it right now. Trust that he has a plan and that if we're meant to see it, we will."

I nodded. I knew all this, I had seen it many times before. But something inside me was doubting and I had no idea why. I think I was just feeling pretty foolish that I was so weak in the clearing. What had possessed me? I should have stopped it before it had even gotten as far as it did. Even if she hadn't lulled me into false security enough to stab me like she had intended, but, by the mane I had been such a pushover!

"And Edmund," Lucy continued, noticing my far off look, "Whatever happened today, don't blame yourself. She wasn't a person to mess with and I'm sure it wasn't your fault."

I laughed. It takes two to tango, Lucy. But I didn't feel like sharing any steamy details with my little sister. I sat up and looked at her and I forced a smile onto my face.

"I know he won't let us down, Lucy," I said, standing up to leave, "I just hope I know the reason soon."

"In Aslan's time, you'll know." Lucy was sometimes too wise to be so young, I thought with admiration. I only wished I could be half as innocently faithful as her.

With one last smile at my little sister, I slipped out the door and into the corridor. I walked toward my room which was at the end of this hall but something told me to go up to the tower in this corner of the castle, so I changed course to accommodate this urge. I walked up the steep, stone steps and out the wooden trapdoor at the top. As soon as I shut the door and actually looked around me, my breath caught in my throat.

The night sky was clear, not a single cloud in sight and the fog from earlier had lifted. Moonlight lit up the entire land as far as I could see. I looked up and saw the Narnian stars shining brightly, ten times brighter, it seemed, than they ever had in England. I smiled and began searching for my favorite constellations.

I sighed as a cool gust of wind blew across my face. My eyes closed automatically and my mind became clear for the first time in that whole day. And then a familiar scent washed over me. My eyes shot open and I turned around quickly.

"Aslan!" I cried, falling immediately to my knees, my head bowed before the Lion's presence.

"Arise, my son," Aslan's deep, unearthly voice seemed to be the force that picked me up to my feet. I looked at him in awe as I always did when I saw him. What else COULD one feel when standing before him? "You are troubled."

I nodded, my face blushing in shame.

"I am sorry, Aslan," I said softly, not meeting his golden gaze. I knew what I would see there, disappointment.

"Edmund," I flinched when he said my name. I wondered again, as I did so often, why he even cared enough to know it. "Where is the girl?"

I finally met his eyes. My head jerked up and, for a moment, anger rose in me.

"She's gone! I sent her away."

Aslan growled low in his throat and I took a step back. Such a soft sound but terrifying beyond all reason.

"Oh, Edmund, how brash you have always been!" Aslan's voice was reprimanding, but as I looked at him, his eyes sparkled with something akin to laughter. "Why did you send her away?"

I knew he already knew the answer to this, but I told him anyway. I have a feeling he just wants to hear us admit our problems for ourselves.

"I was foolish, Aslan. I trusted her and she came so close to killing me. I was afraid for my family and for myself. I…I told her to leave and never come back to Narnia."

Aslan shook his great golden mane and he stepped closer to me, his nose nearly connecting to my forehead, that's how BIG he was!

"Beloved son," he said quietly, but strongly, "This may seem like folly, but your concern for your family is never wrong."

"Was I always meant to send her away, Aslan?" I asked, hoping that, for once in my life, I had made the right choice the FIRST time.

Aslan's eyes looked sad and he answered:

"I can only tell you that what will be shall be harder to achieve because of your decision."

Great. What had I screwed up this time? My shoulders slumped, visibly I am sure, and I sighed.

"But have faith, my son!" Aslan's tone lifted and along with it my spirit did also. "Good shall come of your decision! What you did, you did for the love of your family and the respect that you owe yourself as my chosen king of Narnia. And a decision made with those thoughts in mind is not wrong. Now, is it well with your soul?"

I met his great golden eyes.

"Yes, Aslan." I replied quietly.

"That is good," Aslan's voice started to sound far away and I knew he was leaving again, "Remember, Edmund, I will never forsake those that I love."

I felt his breath wash over me and that sweet smell that always surrounded him was so strong it made me dizzy in a wonderful way and I closed my eyes. When I opened them again he was gone. Aslan would never cease to amaze me.

There you go. You know, I always thought that Edmund never spoke enough to Aslan and vise-versa in the books OR movies. You can tell that Aslan loves him immensely but there is very little dialogue between them, so writing this was very fun because I got to pour out Aslan's love and Edmund's respect.

Reviews are awesome!