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The Water is Wide

Chapter 14

In the Palace Garden

I left Edmund and made my way to the refreshment table where I grabbed a glass of cool water. My heart was beating frantically; though it was similar to the anxiety I had over singing it was also very different. This beating felt wilder, more heated. Its beating pushed a fire through me and made my skin tingle. My hands still held his warmth; my ears still vibrated with the sound of his laughter. Unable to control my actions, I turned to look at the spot where we had danced, hoping to find him waiting still, but he was gone. A quick scan of the dance floor did not reveal his location. I would have to rely on my memories of the dance to get me through the rest of the night. Would it even be possible for me to dance with anyone else now and not imagine I was dancing with him?

"Was that my brother?" A familiar voice drew me from my thoughts. I turned to my right to find Lucy standing there.

"What?"

"Was that my brother you were just dancing with? Was that Edmund?"

I didn't trust my voice not to reveal my ecstasy, so I merely nodded my head.

"Ican'tbelieveImissedit!" she mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," she said. "Are you all right? Your cheeks are flushed." She placed a hand to my cheek. "And you're very warm."

"Yes…yes I'm fine." I turned my head so that her hand would fall from my cheek, and to hide the smile that my lips still held. "I'm afraid I've been dancing too much. I have become very heated. I need to cool off for a moment. I think I may take a walk through the gardens and allow the night air to chill me."

"That sounds like a good idea, actually. I think I might join you, but first I promised Eiad another dance."

"Then you should go to him Lucy; I will be fine."

"All right but please wait for me. Once this dance is finished I will come back and we can take a walk together. You shouldn't go off alone."

I nodded my consent and watched as Lucy ran off to finish her dance with whom I could only assume was Eiad. I did intend on waiting for her to return, but when I placed a hand to my cheek and felt its warmth I remembered why it was so warm. My senses were flooded everything Edmund. His touch. His smile. His laugh. The look in his eyes. It was all too much for me to handle at the moment, and I knew if I didn't retreat to the garden soon I was likely to burst into flames. The song would be ending soon anyway; surely a head start wouldn't be too dangerous.

The moon was bright, though not quite full, and the stars plentiful. The air was cool but not cold; it was just what my flushed cheeks needed, though the simplest thought of Edmund would quickly undo any of the night's cooling. I wandered aimlessly among the rows of shrubbery and flowers. At first I tried not to wander too far from the ballroom doors, so that Lucy might be able to find me easier, but at some point I lost track of how far I had wandered. The music and the hum of dancing grew fainter and fainter until it was barely noticeable.

I walked through rows of petunias, and rows of hydrangeas. There were lilies and tulips, and many other flowers I couldn't name. I found the roses further back; the sounds of the ball were now indistinguishable from the songs of the night air. The roses were beginning to bloom again. I knew it wasn't their first bloom of the season for I could see the clipped stems. Most of the roses were still simple buds, but there was one early riser that had fully opened. I made my way towards it, enchanted by its beauty. I reached out a hand and let my finger circle it, close to the petals but not touching them. Then I leaned forward to inhale its sweet fragrance. I loved roses.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" A deep voice shattered the still air around me and startled me. I gave a small cry of surprise and jumped back from the rose. I looked around me, but I saw no one. Then, from the shadows there stepped a man. I didn't recognize him, so I knew he wasn't among the Splendor's crew. His dress and accent hinted that he was a native of the Seven Isles, though I hadn't seen him around the palace before. Granted, when I walked the palace halls with Lucy or Salinus I wasn't really taking notice of everyone we passed. He was dressed nicely, so I assumed he was one of the ball guests; though, he didn't appear to be a lord. He must have been one of the lowlier courtiers. Palaces were full of them. Right?

"Yes, it is beautiful," I replied. "I think roses are always beautiful. Though, they can be quite dangerous too; their thorns can draw blood at the simplest touch." I had turned my attention back to the rose and didn't notice that the man was coming closer until he spoke again.

"You should be careful then. We wouldn't want anything to damage such beauty."

I wasn't sure if he was talking about me or the rose, but I didn't like the way he spoke either way. I turned to head back out but found that he was standing much closer to me than I thought, and he was in the middle of the path so as to prevent me from leaving. I smiled politely as I tried to make my leave.

"I think I ought to be heading back to the ball now. I am feeling much better now that I have had some fresh air, and my friend will be waiting for me."

I tried to step around him but he stepped quicker and blocked me once more.

"Why the hurry? Do you not want to spend more time with me?"

His eyes roamed over my body in a manner that made me feel extremely uncomfortable. I took a step away from him. "I don't even know you, Sir." I took a quick look behind me, hoping there was another way out. Unfortunately the rose I had found was at the end of a row and the only way out was the way I had come. The way that the man was blocking.

"If you'd like, we may talk more as you escort me back to the ball," I offered. Perhaps if I played nice with him he would be more manageable. The dark gleam that came into his eyes, told me otherwise.

"I think we should stay here. It's less crowded, more…intimate." His lips turned up in a sickening grin and I felt my stomach churn.

He came at me suddenly and I tried to dodge his grasp. I succeeded at first, but he was much bigger than I was. He grabbed me by the arms and pulled me flush against his body. I continued trying to fight against him; my hands beat on his chest as I begged him to let me go. The harder I struggled though, the tighter his hands squeezed. When I could no longer fight with my pinned arms I fought with my feet. I kicked at his legs and stomped at his feet. Finally making contact he loosened his hold enough so that I could break free and run around him.

What I hadn't realized though, is that during our initial struggles we had traded places. So when I ran around him to make my escape, I was running further into the dead end. I realized this too late to change my course in time to escape properly. And he wasn't distracted with pain long enough to allow me to get very far. He came after me again, this time slamming into my back and knocking me to the path below. I fell to my hands and knees roughly. He dropped to his knees by me and grabbed at me again, trying to force me to turn onto my back.

Suddenly there was someone else with us on the path; his arrival was silent and we weren't aware of his presence until he spoke. My ears recognized his voice instantly though. Edmund; he had come for me. My heart felt lighter at the sound of his voice, and I felt much safer knowing he was near. That safety was fleeting however. Before I knew what was happening the man had grabbed my arms and pulled me to my feet. He turned me so my back was flush against his chest, and then he had a small blade at my throat cutting into my skin. Edmund stood frozen when he saw the blade.

"No further, or the blade cuts deeper," said my captor. As though proving he would, he pressed the blade into my skin a little more and I whimpered at its sting.

"You seem to misunderstand me, Sir," Edmund said coldly and without hesitation. "I dare not come between a man and his prize."

I was confused. He wasn't here to rescue me? Apparently my captor was confused as well, for Edmund continued.

"I am not here to stop you." Even as he said the words though, his eyes sought mine and seemed to offer a silent plea for his trust. I didn't know what to do.

"Then why are you here?" my captor asked.

"I have come to offer my assistance…to you. You want her for the beauty her body offers, and yet your attempts to gain her have already begun to spoil that beauty. There is dirt on her dress, leaves in her hair…blood on her skin. You cannot both fight her and keep her beauty whole. You are in need of assistance."

"Why should I believe you? You are the Narnian King."

"It is true, that I am a King. But am I not also a man? I too have desires to feel a woman's skin. For the last month I have been locked in a room with graying lords, many who were old enough to be my grandsire. Before that, I was on a ship with only seamen and a sister for company. Then she came to me," Edmund turned his eyes to me, and I did not recognize the man behind them. "Lost and alone. I thought from my kindness she would fall to me, and do whatever I asked of her in gratitude."

Was it true? Was his kindness to me a lie? Had his words been nothing more than a ruse to bed me? Was this the true face of the Just King?

"You will assist me?" my captor asked. "You will hold her for me?" Ever so slightly did his hold on me weakened.

"If you will do the same for me," Edmund replied.

"And I suppose you would also require to be the first?" My captor did not like this idea and in his agitation his hold on me tightened again. I could feel my blood begin to run anew.

Edmund's face turned colder and he took a step forward. "It is true I would like her unsoiled, but I had my chance. You have obviously been the wiser to catch her unaware and alone. Fair is fair." Then he smiled a smile and laughed a laugh I did not know. That's when I knew. The treacherous king that stood before me was not the King Edmund I had come to know. Perhaps he never existed at all.

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