Metamorphosis || Edmund Pevensie

Chapter 8: Meetings

Dhruvika continued to visit Edmund and he continued to ask her questions that she wished that she could answer with the utmost honesty. She couldn't make his life more complicated and even though it was easy to talk to him, she just couldn't. She asked him questions as well and they knew each other's favourites. They would sneak to the library and talk about books. They had similar tastes in that and they suggested some must-reads to each other. Edmund was careful to make sure that Dhruvika didn't get caught by the guards because he wouldn't have been able to explain it to them or to his brother. He couldn't put her life in more trouble that he already had.

She found a telescope in the library one night and taught him the different names of the stars. "The north and the west stars are supposed to be matchmakers, which I don't really understand for some reason."

"It doesn't really make sense." He agreed. "How do you know all that?"

She bit her tongue because she couldn't close her eyes in anger. "I have a good teacher." She replied in a diplomatic way. "He is the closest thing that I have to family." She smiled softly to herself. She had never admitted it to Oreius because she wanted to seem tough. But the real toughness was in being vulnerable.

"I'm really sorry about your parents." 

They had talked about their family and Edmund regretted bringing the topic up after finding out that she did not have anyone in her life. But he assured her that he would treat her in the right way and would help her whenever she needed him.

"Once again, it's completely fine. I don't remember much about them but I get by. But I do feel terrible about bothering you with all this. We sneak around and though it shouldn't feel this way, I do keep looking over my shoulders for the guards to catch us."

"Don't worry, Dhruvi. I'll just give them an order to stay silent." He shrugged and then immediately widened his eyes. "Dhruvika! I meant to say Dhruvika!"

Dhruvika silently replaced the books she had borrowed from there, hiding the blush that crept on her face while Edmund caught the back of his neck, embarrassed at having used the name he had been wanting to call her by for the past couple of days.

Everytime that they met, Dhruvika knew that Edmund wanted to ask her how she travelled to his room without using the doors. He had tried to catch her in the act but she was clever to transform in a different balcony and then walk to his room. She was careful to not reveal too much. Oreius would have been proud of her secrecy, only if he knew about it. He had taught her to never reveal the answer in a direct way and she was finally putting her lessons to use.

One night, she found Edmund packing his clothes as she entered his room. He had asked her to make herself at home, but that was the most difficult thing for her to do as she knew that she would never belong anywhere.

"Hey," she said softly in order to not startle him.

"Hello," he said, closing the trunk, having gotten used to her sudden appearance.

"Are you leaving somewhere?" It was bad luck to ask somewhere where they were going as they were leaving but it was midnight and she knew that nobody would travel that late.

"Yes, in the morning. My siblings want us to visit Galma. We need their support for a trial that is coming up."

"Do you need any of our help?" Why was her guard down despite her efforts? She had just referred to her life in the woods but thank goodness, Edmund understood it as the help of the commoners.

"I wish we did. I know that you would support us."

"I would wave a banner but same thing really."

"I wish I could see that." He laughed and every time he did, it was the sound of music to her. She tried to ignore that part of her feelings but she enjoyed her time with him.

"You should rest then. You would be leaving very early in the morning." Edmund tilted his head in confusion and opened his mouth to say something. "I heard the guards talking about the speed of the horses."

She had to tell him another half truth because, of course, she couldn't tell on Oreius as he had been the one that told the Narnians that he would be accompanying the rulers somewhere early in the morning and that his daughter was in-charge. But after hearing that from the centaur, Dhruvika didn't realise that Edmund would be leaving for a while until that night.

"No, it is fine."

"I keep you up every night. You should go to sleep."

Edmund knew that there was no point arguing. "Alright." He conceded but rolled his eyes at the thought of being forced to sleep early. "But you should sleep as well."

"I don't know what you are talking about. I'll see you soon." She tried to leave, but Edmund was looking at her. She rolled her eyes at him. "You know that I can't leave with you looking at me like that."

"Like what?" He shrugged.

She walked over to him and kissed his cheek. He was left speechless and his cheeks were turning into a nice shade of red. "Close your eyes." She said and when he obliged, she turned into a bird and flew away. Once she reached the forest covers and turned back into a human, she blushed. Her knees shook as she held onto a tree trunk for support. Why did she kiss him? "Damn it, Dhruvi." The name sounded strange at her lips but she could hear Edmund's voice very clearly. It made her heart flutter and this was a feeling she never wanted to let go off.

She reached her part of the forest and as she climbed the tiny hill to reach her house, she found a dark shadow waiting for her. She groaned in exhaustion and hung her head low. "Yes, Oreius?" She called out to him to announce her presence.

"Now why aren't you following your schedule?"

"I strolled to look at the moon in the clearing." She had mastered the art of lying for the right reasons but Oreius saw right through her.

He stood straighter and spoke in a fatherly tone that Mistwhirl had warned Dhruvika about. "I don't know who you are meeting and I wish that you would talk to me, Princess."

"Dhruvika." She corrected him.

He sighed. "Please sleep tonight." He left without another word, which surprised both of them.

Oreius raised her as his own and although he couldn't teach her the tricks of galloping quickly, he saw no difference between Mistwhirl and her. Dhruvika knew that as she found a family in Narnians but she would never belong with them. They wanted her to have a normal human life in the town and she wanted to live with them. They stuck a pin on it and never talked about it, waiting for her to bring it up whenever she was comfortable with it.

She walked over to her hammock and lay looking at the silent stars and the blissful universe. She heard the flowing of the stream and the final chirps of the birds around her and without realising that she was doing so, she drifted to a peaceful sleep for the first time.