Silver and Gold

making the deal

4 )making the deal

After about an hour of riding, Edmund brought Phillip back to the stables. Frustration happened to rise as thoughts of his conversation with peter re entered his mind, but the young king tried not to show his frustration in front of Phillip.

He still didn't feel like going back to the castle and facing his brother. He glanced back at the woods that covered the grounds around them. He felt the urge to go and explore. Obviously it would be easier to go on Phillip, but Edmund had ridden his horse enough for one day.

He needed more time to clear his head before returning to cair Paravel, so he decided there would be no harm in taking a walk into the woods, alone.

Since peter hadn't told his brother about the witch's followers hiding out so close in the woods, Edmund walked into the wood without a second thought. He was clearly not aware of the danger he was getting himself into. He had obviously brought a sword with him, just in case of emergency.

Everything seemed so silent. But Edmund liked that about the woods. No chaos. No arguing. No stress.

Twigs snapped beneath him as he trudged through the heaps of leaves that surrounded to grounds of the wood.

Edmund wasn't even sure what direction he was walking in. He was so deep in thought that he didn't realise the sun was starting to set, rather quickly.

But his deep thinking didn't last much longer, as he suddenly heard footsteps from between the trees...and he knew the footsteps weren't his own.

Almost like a reflex, Edmund reached for his sword and held it in front of him cautiously.

It wasn't until the footsteps got gradually louder, that Edmund had to contain his panic.

'Just breathe' he thought as he shut his eyes for spilt second and shook his head
'it's proabably just your imagination'

But what Edmund saw was not from his imaginative mind. It was real.

Low growls could be heard as four wolves appeared at once, each standing in different directions...surrounding the king.

It was impossible for Edmund to point his sword at all of them, so he swivelled round every once in a while to remind them that he could run through at any moment.

But unfortunately, Edmund knew he was outnumbered.

"just like your brother. He's not threatening with a sword either" the first wolf spoke up, chuckling slightly to himself. It's name was Vardan.

"That didn't stop my brother from running your leader through" Edmund snapped back, referring to when peter had killed maugrim, who used to be the leader of the wolves.

The comment caused two of the wolves to growl even louder, which gave Edmund both satisfaction ( because he had annoyed them) and fear ( as he was still outnumbered.

Not entirely sure what to do next, Edmund decided to speak up again.
"What do you want?" He questioned in the most demanding tone he could muster.

"Straight to the point. I like it" vardan said as he stepped a few inches closer to Edmund. He clearly wasn't afraid of the blade Edmund was threatening him with.

"We need you to do something for us" vardan explained.

That wasn't exactly what Edmund had expected them to say. He assumed they just wanted to capture or kill him.

When Edmund took his time to reply, vardan continued.

"We need you to go back to your 'grand' castle and get us some of your sisters healing cordial"

Edmund couldn't help but laugh in disbelief. "And why in aslans name would I ever help you?" He questioned.

"Because we know you believe in fairness. And we only want the cordial to heal the remaining troops of queen jadis' army" vardan continued.

"First of all, jadis is dead and isn't a queen anymore. And secondly, how do I know you're not going to use the cordial, bring your troops back to life and then try to attack cair?" Edmund pointed out, not trusting the wolves one bit.

"Because we plan on leaving once all the troops are healed" vardan replied.
"We have nothing left to fight for. I swear to you...if you get us that healing cordial...we shall leave your castle and narnia in peace. That's a promise"

"My brother received a note from the witch's followers a while ago...that's another reason I should not trust you" Edmund pointed out. Even though Peter hadn't explicitly told Edmund what the note had said, Edmund wasn't stupid and had managed to take a logical guess that it had been from the witches followers.

"We know nothing of this note. But when we find out who sent a threatening note to your brother, we'll handle them" Vardan said confidently.

Edmund couldn't help but drop his guard slightly. It was believable. And Edmund wasn't one to doubt whether it was too late for someone to change.

"Besides, you won't have a choice when it comes to helping us." Th wolf added.

This snapped Edmund right back into the conversation.
"What? Why is that?" Edmund asked.

"Because me and the rest of the wolves have secret tunnels that lead into your precious castle" vardan explained with another sinister chuckle.

"You're lying" Edmund stated.

"You don't have to believe me. Your belief won't stop me from going through the tunnel that leads straight the youngest queens room and killing her" vardan snapped back, his tone getting more aggressive.

Vardans threat towards Lucy made Edmunds heart beat ten times faster.
"Listen...You don't have to threaten my family. I'll keep my word and get you the cordial, and once you're finished using it...you give it back and leave narnia.
You just swear on aslans name" Edmund ordered.

"Deal." Vardan said with a nod. "Oh...and you must keep it a secret. That's my orders"

Edmund sighed in frustration. He hated lying to his family, but he hated the thought of them getting killed by wolves more.

"Deal" Edmund agreed with a nod.

Edmund thought he was doing the noble and fair thing, but what he hadn't realised is that he had started something he eventually wouldn't be able to stop.

[ a cliffhanger...who saw that coming 😂😂✨✨]