The Call To The Old - An Edmund Pevensie fanfiction

Chapter thirty-five

The journey back to the castle was long but it certainly wasn't without its rewards. The Narnians paraded through the streets of Narnia, now free of Telmarine control. It's inhabitants lined the streets cheering the Narnians as they walked. Leading them was Caspian, on a beautiful black horse, with a shining gold crown decorating his head. He rode beside Aslan, and people looked on at the pair in great admiration. Behind him followed Peter and Susan, both sat upon darling, white horses. Susan wore a flattering brown dress, which complimented her hair colour kindly. Behind them were Lucy and Edmund. Lucy wore a billowing pink dress, and a sparkling silver necklace fell upon her neck. Each of them wore the most dazzling of smiles, that they directed at their people.

Talia walked behind them, although she was a Princess, she was far from the royal status of her friends, and she walked with Trumpkin and Trufflehunter. She wore a turquoise dress, with wide sleeves that synched at her wrists. It was decorated with a bow at the back, which kindly pulled in at her waist, giving the gorgeous of figures. She, too, smiled at the people of Narnia, only they could all tell that the young girl was distracted but, of course, they did not know why. When the recently liberated people of Narnia looked on at Talia, despite all of her obvious distractions, they saw their future Queen. As far as they knew, Talia and Caspian would be wed soon, just as it had always been told to them, and they were excited for this. They longed for a Queen just like her, and when they saw her interact their children ever so kindly their desire for the beautiful girl to be their Queen, to be Caspian's wife, only grew stronger.

Talia's mind, however, was racing a million miles an hour and despite her consistent interactions with the crowd, she couldn't help but place her focus onto the overwhelming thoughts that raced through her mind. She felt scared, she was worried about returning to court, and although she knew that it would be a completely different experience from the last time she was there, she still was apprehensive towards it; returning meant that she would finally be confronted with the idea that she would never see her mother again, and she was returned to the place where she felt so confined and restricted. But she also knew that with Caspian as her King, life would be different, and she would also be reunited with her nurse, Sefnei. However, in the back of her mind she knew it wouldn't be long before the nobles would push marriage onto her, and it certainly wouldn't be forever that the Pevensies would stay. Her thoughts always seemed to return to the Pevensies and her earlier conversation with Edmund. She watched, as he rode high upon his horse, he was happy, he was smiling, laughing, waving and she did not want to disturb his happiness any further. And she hated the idea that she may have contributed to him feeling pain earlier on. She didn't know if whether further interaction with him would deepen the pain that the pair were feeling, or if it would help to soothe it in a way. But the one thing that she did know was that she had to make a decision when it came to him: whether to succumb to desires, or to avoid the pain of losing him forever? Love is a strong word, but she felt as though it was possible in the future with him, and how cruel would it be for her to deny herself this pleasure? But if she did so, when he inevitably left to return home, could she ever love again?

Throughout all of her thinking, the Princess' smile never drooped, she greeted the people with the upmost beauty, interacting with the young children and laughing with the adults. And whilst the royals walked through the crowd, the villagers showered them with praise for their victory, and threw petals over them in celebration. All of the teenagers were proud of their achievements in battle, Peter especially- when he looked down to the smiling people looking up at him, he felt immense pride at all that he and his friends had done. His brother, on the other hand, felt a numbness that he had never felt before: he knew that he was meant to feel pride just how he saw his brother was feeling and he did, of course, but it was overwhelmed by a feeling of emptiness. He didn't want to return to England, and was, therefore, reluctant to bask in the happiness of Narnia, when he knew that he could not stay there forever. He was almost angered by his sibling's happiness and confused as to how they could be so joyous, when they all knew that this feeling was not forever, and soon they would be thrown back into the dreary landscape of England and have to leave all of their achievements behind with them. The boy was crazed with thoughts over Talia, just as she was with him, and all sorts of emotions ran through his head in relation to her: he was annoyed at what the pair of them had said, frustrated that he stormed off before either of them could come to a rational conclusion, he was upset that she did not wish to return to England with him, but he was beginning to understand why she had felt that way- because even he himself did not wish to return to his home country.

Narnia was truly a beautiful place, and the siblings felt ever so strongly towards it. This was their true home and none of them had ever wanted to leave. Here, they felt free, the magic of Narnia made them feel at peace and the people were kind, caring, and sweet. The weather was always warm, and the sun constantly rained down upon them. Here it seems as though dreams could come true, and everything you could have ever wanted to do as a child becomes reality; young boys who dreamed of action, of swordfights, of courting became true, and girls who dared to dream of things alike could do so. Everything was so fantastical, so whimsical; you could race through the corridors of beautiful palaces, with your dress flowing all around you; you could ride for hours on muscular horses, through forests full of looming trees, dancing all around you; boys were men, and girls were women. There was the perfect mixture of the innocence of childhood, and the responsibility of adulthood, and the Pevensie siblings cared deeply for the place. And Talia did too, although the place was once miserable under Telmarine rule, the Narnians had taught her love and she looked on excitedly for the future rule of her friend. Now everything was at peace again, she was ready to learn more of her magic, and the generations of women before her who possessed the same powers- including the young girl that the Pevensies had once known during their Golden Rule. And although Talia was apprehensive for her next conversations with Edmund, she was excited for happiness to re-enter her life.

So, as the teenagers walked into the palace, they knew only great things were to come for the country that they each loved so dearly. However, for some more than others the gnawing feeling of the fact that the siblings would eventually have to return home was becoming slightly too much to bear.