The Call To The Old - An Edmund Pevensie fanfiction

Chapter thirty-eight

Talia slammed the door to her bedroom and collapsed onto her bed. She grabbed a pillow and screamed into it, letting go of her frustrations. She had definitely taken it too far downstairs, Edmund had nearly died. All this was too much for her, and as much as she smiled and pretended to Caspian that marrying him was okay with her, her heart did break at the thought of loosing all of her freedom. She knew that it wouldn't be long before someone knocked on her door, wanting to know if she was okay and that it would probably be Lucy or Caspian. And if it were Caspian, she prepared herself for the lecture she was about to get. She began to pace around the room thinking of varying excuses for her anger: like her magic just got the best of her or something.

Her door slammed open, "Would you care to let me know what in Aslan's name has happened between you and Ed?" a voice groaned. Talia turned to face the speaker, and to her surprise it was Peter. He walked into her room, closing the door behind him, running a hand through his dishevelled hair.

Talia sighed, "I think we had an argument."

"You think?" he responded.

"No, no previously to the one in the dining room. I think I said something that I shouldn't have, and it appears to have angered him ever so slightly." she winced.

"Ever so slightly, could be one of the biggest understatements I've ever heard." he laughed, "I mean what could you have possibly said that could have got him that riled up?"

She sighed, "It's a long story..." she trailed off.

"The stuff he said-"

"He said all of the stuff that he used to get angry at you for saying to me." Talia cut him off.

"That's what I was thinking. I know I only said it because I was jealous, jealous that you guys got to grow up here and we kept getting thrown back to where we came from. Although I fear his motives may be deeper than that. It's like he planned it out, he knew what would hurt you and he did it on purpose. I mean even when you are drunk, how can you do such a 180 on your beliefs? There's something up- that kid has only ever looked to you in admiration-"

"It's all my fault." she frowned, "I said some things I didn't mean, and I only added onto my lies tonight. Oh, Peter, I told him I couldn't ever leave Narnia for him, I told him that we barely knew each other. And he was so excited... and I let him down. And tonight, I told him that I wouldn't care at all if he left Narnia." she exclaimed.

Peter smiled, "Talia, what you said is no excuse for him to react the way he did."

"But it is- I was cruel and I didn't even mean half of it. I was just so focused on other things and-"

"No, he just cares for you, and deeply too. If anyone else had said the words you did, he would have brushed them off like how one brushes off a fallen leaf from their shoulder, or a speck of dust on a shelf. You said what you said but you can't be held accountable for his actions, it simply isn't fair."

Talia smiled softly, "I suppose." she paused to look up at the older boy before her, "And I don't mean this harshly Peter but-"

"Oh here we go." Peter laughed.

"No, no!" she laughed back, "It's just, out of everyone you're the last person I thought would be here attempting to console me."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"No, not at all. In fact, it was nice." she responded.

"You just remind me of someone I used to know..." he trailed off into silence.

"Emeline?" she asked, remembering the earlier conversation she had had with the brothers, when Edmund had brought up a girl with strikingly similar magical abilities to her, who Peter had evidently cared for deeply.

"Yes, Emeline Baynton." he repeated.

"Tell me about her." Talia whispered.

Peter looked up to the girl who sat beside him, "Emeline was my closest friend when we had first ruled over Narnia. She was a year older than me, but we practically grew up together. She came to the kingdom as an orphan, her mother had just passed but her family were noble, so we offered to take her in. And then strange things started to happen; she could control the elements with her mind and claimed that she could talk to spirits that lived inside of her. One day she discovered a prophecy- stating that there would be a girl who had magical powers, who would be the one to save Narnia. And Emeline became all consumed by it- it drove her every day. She practiced magic until she exhausted herself, to the point where she could hardly sleep or eat, even. People around the kingdom began to talk and became quickly afraid of her. They feared how strong she was getting; and there were points where she talked about usurping the throne, thinking that that would be the thing to 'save' Narnia. She got paranoid and tried to kill me, thinking that my siblings and I were the thing Narnia needing 'saving' from... I told everyone she ran away... but really, I sent her away, I sent her to a province she had never even been to before, to marry a man who she had never even met, to fulfil an alliance I didn't even care for that much. And she begged me to let her stay, but I couldn't, I just couldn't." The boy succumbed to tears at his past regrets.

Talia wrapped her arms around her friend and the pair sat in comfortable silence for some time, until Peter let out a sigh and continued, "You remind me of her, obviously before it all went wrong. And I think that that prophecy she spoke of was about you. I think that you saved Narnia at that battle, and I think you will do so many times over in the future if necessary. And I know Edmund thinks that too, which is why I know he was lying when he spoke of his concerns of entrusting the crown to Caspian; because she trusts you dearly and has great faith in your magic and he knows that if you are by Caspian's side- Narnia will always be safe. He probably only acted out because he wanted you to be by his side, not Caspian's. He wanted to be the one to rule Narnia with you and is jealous that he'll probably never get the chance, because he knows that soon we must return home and you couldn't possibly come with him."