Metamorphosis || Edmund Pevensie

Chapter 6: Caught

"What are you doing here?"

Dhruvika was left speechless. It was Edmund Pevensie. Of all the people that could have caught her, it just had to be him, didn't it?

"Speak up, if you may."

"I...."

"How did you get up here?"

Edmund had had a long day of attending meetings after meetings. He tried to sound polite but seeing a stranger standing in the balcony of his room was not what he had been expecting. The Just King had his concerns, after all, his room was in one of the highest towers, and there was no way to enter from the castle itself. The secret passageways would not lead to his room and there was no way for someone to have climbed inside.

"Mmh?" Dhruvika's eyebrows twitched in anxiety. How was she supposed to get out of that situation!

"If you don't give me an answer, how will I know if you can talk or not?" He smirked.

She touched her forehead with a smile on her face.

It was Edmund's turn to have been left speechless. The lady that was standing in front of her, whoever she may have been, was the most beautiful person he had ever had the honour of laying his eyes upon. Her smile hit him in a jolt of warmth that he had never felt in a really long time. He wondered why Susan couldn't have suggested the woman in front of him as a potential wife for him. But this was not the time to get ahead of himself. There was a complete stranger in his room and that wasn't a good sign for a King.

"I came up here by mistake and it wasn't through the castle doors, if that's what you are worrying about." 

He was absolutely lost in her deep brown eyes that he hadn't listened to anything she had spoken, but even her voice made him sway. "Um....what?"

Robin resisted a smile at this particular reaction. "Well, the security here is strong, if that's what you are wondering about." 

"It is supposed to be, but it still doesn't explain how you found yourself in my chambers."

"I wasn't trying to." 

"Then how did you get up here?"

"Naa....I can't tell you."

Edmund and Dhruvika looked at each other, admiring the other. He had an instinct that he had met her before but he hadn't. He never forgot a face, and he would definitely not have forgotten hers. She, on the other hand, wanted to deceive him and get out as soon as possible before his suspicions of her identity increased. She wondered if he saw her turn into a human but reading into the situation, he mustn't have.

"I could order you to tell me the truth, you know? Or I could take you to the throne room where my brother, the High King will turn this into an inquiry." 

"You wouldn't." 

"I said that I could, not that I would." 

Though the situation was awkward, the silence between them was comfortable. "I'll take my leave then." She suggested and was about to walk towards the balcony when she realised that she couldn't fly out while he was watching. She groaned silently to herself.

"Uh..." Edmund started, finding himself at a loss of words for the first time in his life. What had the lady done to him? He wasn't the type to fumble. "If you want, I could sneak you out of the castle discreetly." 

Dhruvika turned around with her eyebrows knitted together. "Why would you do that?" 

"Maybe I am looking for a friend?"

"I'm not buying that," she said, even though the offer was exactly what she was looking for.

"Alright, maybe I am curious about how you got in here and being your friend seems like the best option."

She frowned. "Is that the Just King speaking or the eighteen-year old?" 

"Both." He smiled, melting her heart once again. "But more of the lone teenager really." 

"I don't trust the royalty." 

"What if I am only Edmund Pevensie, a young boy who lives at the castle and you are..."

"Dhruvika." 

Edmund could have sworn that this was the exact moment he found his ears heating up. The moonlight glistening off of her black hair made him smile. Her name was unique, quite like herself even. She could have been from Archenland, considering her deep skin tone, but for now, he only wanted to be himself around her. Even if only for a few moments.

"And you are Dhruvika, a young girl who just found herself in this strange chamber."

"You have to stress on the syllable more," she smirked. "And I would like that. I'd like that very much. Romba nalla irrukkum."

"You know the local language. Is 'Dhruvika' your real name though?"

"Like Edmund is yours. And that is a much better pronunciation, Your Majesty." 

"Please, call me Edmund. Well then, Dhruvika from the balcony of the Just King...." He wanted to ask her to follow him but noticed her shiver. "Aren't you feeling cold?"

"It's nothing I can't handle." It was easy to talk to him surprisingly. After all the scenarios that she had made up in her mind, this wasn't one of them. Definitely not. "I'm sorry to have bothered you but I must be heading back."

"One more question." 

"Enna?"

"It's more of a request really. Will you meet me here tomorrow?"

She was taken aback. "Kyun?"

"I wasn't lying before. It would be nice to be your friend."

"But you don't even know me."

"Let's change that."

Thunder shook the castle and Dhruvika knew that she must be getting back at once. Oreius would be needing her help against the rain. "Fine. Alright." She agreed out of the hurry.

"Will I see you here tomorrow?"

"What, why?"

"Well, we need to get to know each other somehow. Are you a part of any family of the court?" 

It started to drizzle and she would have to make a run for it. "I'll meet you here at the same time." 

"Here? How will you get past the-"

"May I please leave? I must be getting back. It's raining! I've....I've left clothes out to dry." It was an awful lie but it would have to suffice for now. There was no getting out of this situation, and if Oreius knew where she was, he would most definitely stop her from training alongside the centaurs, and that was a circumstance Dhruvika never wanted to see coming for her. 

"Do you live in town then?"

"I'll answer all your questions tomorrow."

"Promise?" He asked, a small part of him thinking that she would disappear one day, leaving him alone and fascinated.

"Promise." She nodded, trying not to get lost in his deep dark eyes.

"Let's go then." He opened the door for her for her to leave but she suggested something else. Edmund looked down at her holding the sleeve of his tunic, a smile tugging at the end of his lips. He lifted his head and looked right into her eyes, feeling his face grow redder by the second. 

"Close your eyes." 

"What?"

"I can find my way out but I need you to close your eyes first." 

"But...."

"If you want me to be your friend, you'll have to trust me. That's the way this works, in case you didn't know." She smiled and he abided by her request, the smile he was resisting taking over.

"How do I know you won't leave me behind?" He asked just as she was about to leap off of the balcony.

Dhruvika stopped in her steps. She had been considering that. Even if he searched for her, which he most likely wouldn't, he wouldn't find her in any of the towns. Only the Narnians knew who she was and nobody would give her up that easily. She was one of them. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, Edmund."