The Call To The Old - An Edmund Pevensie fanfiction

Chapter fifty-two

Talia was never one for goodbyes.

Aslan had given her the directions to the place in the forest, when she had asked him that morning, after handing out the letters. And just as she had planned, when the sun had begun to rise over the hills, she climbed onto her horse and left it all behind.

A part of her wished that she was brave enough to climb into Edmund's arms and whisper sweet goodbyes into his ear, whilst he did the same in return, but she knew that if she were to do that she would never be able to let go him; or the words she would want to say would not come out right; or she wouldn't even be able to speak at all. Talia knew that her running away was a selfish and cowardly thing to do, but she did it anyway.

While she road tears flooded from her eyes, as she thought about the memories that her and the boy had shared together. She thought of their first time meeting, or their first argument, their first kiss or near kisses. She thought about the way she felt when he cupped her face with his gentle hands, and the way his words could calm down even the apocalypse.

It took a lot for Talia to keep riding forward deeper into the forest, following Aslan's directions. There were plenty of times were she nearly pulled the reigns and stopped the journey all together; especially when she thought of Edmund waking up by himself all alone in that room, and what if he didn't find her letter? The twinkle of happiness that the boy had created within her, that shone out through her eyes, was beginning to be dimmed; but Talia could not let herself be defined by a boy, especially not one who would not leave her forever, so she continued to ride onwards- forwards to where she could better herself in every way possible and harness the very thing that she wanted to define her: her magic.

***

"Talia has already left." Susan breathed out.

Slowly, Edmund's eyes blinked, and the boy let out a deep breath; it wasn't long before his head was burrowed in his hands. Despair was something that was beginning to fill his body, but he refused to let it become his overriding emotion- he was restless. He jumped up from the bed, ignoring his siblings voices who attempted to calm him down and ran out to the gardens, hoping to maybe catch sight of the girl riding away in the distance and catch up to her on his horse.

But there was nobody to be seen; no shades of a golden horse, no glimmer of a brunette girl. The boy ran back and forth calling her name until his throat felt scratched and raw, but his calls made no difference to what he saw- the trees continued to sway as if they hadn't just let the girl pass through them, and the birds continued to call, mocking that they had seen her leave but he had not.

Edmund paced over to the stables, and as he did so he barked orders at various soldiers, pointing at random entrances to the forest telling them to find her. He began to ready his horse with a speed he had not ever seen himself get anywhere near before, but a soft hand on his shoulder stopped him. Believing it to be another soldier he shouted, "Have you readied the sniffer dogs?" he mumbled, his voice barely loud enough to hear, and when he received no reply he sharply span around and this time shouted, "Have you readied the-" but his voice was brought to a halt when he saw who was before him.

Peter solemnly looked on at his brother, "Edmund", he quietly whispered.

"Peter, I haven't the time for this." The younger brother sharply spoke.

Peter glanced to the floor, not wishing to be the one to break the news, and with a sigh he spoke, "It is time... you must now say your goodbyes."

Edmund let a sarcastic laugh fall from his mouth, "My goodbyes? How can you wish for me to say goodbye, when the only one I would have wanted to do so with has disappeared?"

The older boy frowned at his brother's emotion, "She has not disappeared, Ed."

"Oh?" Edmund raised an eyebrow, "So when I woke up this morning and all that was next to me was a cold patch of what once was, or when I searched the entire castle grounds, or when I read over the letters of goodbye that each of my siblings had received but not I, Talia was here was she?" he paused, raising his voice to say, "Peter, if she has not disappeared than where on earth has she gone?"

The high king looked away and shouted back, "She has not disappeared, Ed, because we know where she is!" Immediately, Peter regretted what he had told his brother, and turned to walk away.

In all of Aslan's time, not even he would have seen a face quite so angry as Edmund Pevensie's in that moment, he chased after his brother, grabbing a hold of his shoulders, "Tell me!" he roared, over and over, "Tell me! Tell me!" Now he had spun his brother around, and was sending hits the older boy's way, "Tell me!" he shouted in between punches, and breaths for air. The boy could barely speak as frustration coursed through him.

But Peter remained passive, taking every one of Edmund's hits with no reaction but a sympathetic look in his eye. Peter closed his eyes and spoke, "I can't tell you." he blurted out, holding back tears.

"Oh bullshit Peter!" Edmund shouted, he paused bringing his hands up to his face, and softly he whispered, "Please Pete." before choking out into tears.

Peter stepped forward, to embrace his brother who fell into his arms, "I am sorry, Ed, but it is time to go home."

Edmund stepped back, "how can you ask this of me?"

Peter sighed, It is not me who wishes for you not to know Talia's whereabouts, it is her. She wanted you to return to England," he paused to let out a shaky breath, "and forget about her. She wanted us all to forget."

Edmund's eyebrows softened, he had no words to say, still hurt by the fact that everyone had received words of goodbye apart from him.