𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙙 (edmund pevensie x reader)

XVIII. I Want You

I step into a snowy Narnian night. It's a direct contrast to the warmth of the Professor's house, and I welcome it. The sun is down, but I will not sleep. I have a long trip ahead of me, and I can't stand to waste any time.

I shiver in my thin dress, having shed my coat in the Earth forest yesterday. I turn around and grab a thick cloak from the wardrobe. It's navy blue and a little big, but it gets the job done.

I see a bright light up ahead, shining through the branches of dark fir trees like a star too low in the sky. I walk toward it, knowing that the light will help me see my map. When I reach the mysterious light, I realize it's an old lamppost. Very weird place to put it, in the middle of a gathering of trees, no civilization nearby.

I unfold the map and let the white light wash over it. I study the map for a second and groan, there is no way I can to the palace without a horse. No way. There's also no way you'll get to the palace if you stand here and mope all night, I chide myself.

So I start walking in the right direction, hoping for the best.

As I walk I start to worry. What if Edmund doesn't want me to come back? When he kissed me and the portal opened, that proved that he loves me. But what if he doesn't want to? Maybe his feeling for me were a means to an end, maybe he's already moved on. He said he was going to miss me before he pushed me, does that mean anything? It's all so very confusing.

And there's only one way to get answers.

I walk further and further, and the snow starts coming down harder. It sticks in my hair and melts into the thick fabric of my stolen cloak. My legs are cold and stiff from the walking, I have to resist the urge to let myself rest in a pillow of fresh-fallen snow.

The sudden sound of steps crunching in the snow makes me shake with strange fear. I slip behind a tree, silently cursing myself for not having a blade.

I peek around the trunk of the tree, squinting to see in the dark. The footfalls come closer...or wait, could they be hoofbeats? A stark white horse crosses into my line of vision and I feel a jolt of excitement rush through me. No, I realize, not a horse, a unicorn.

"Hey, hey." I walk out from behind the tree with a hand extended. The unicorn gives me what seems like a judgmental look—as much as a unicorn can muster, I suppose—and keeps stiffly walking on. "Wait!" I call out, rushing up to her side. I reach out and stroke her mane.

She turns again, putting her snout inches away from my face. I back up a little, continuing to stroke her back, "I need a ride to the royal palace. Can you take me please?" Can she even understand way I'm saying?

She answers my question by slowly raising her face to stair up at the branches of a tree. An apple tree that miraculously has lush red fruit on every branch in the middle of winter.

"You want one?" I question excitedly, thinking I understand what she means. She whinnies and I smile at her, "If I get you one, you'll take me to the palace?" Her head bobs up and down happily.

"Okay, then." I smile. I leap up as far as I can, my fingers brushing one of the apples but not getting a good hold it. I land back down, my feet stinging from the impact on the frozen ground. I try again, pushing as hard as I can off of the ground. I grab one of the apples but don't pull it off of the branch, it's too slick from the snow.

The unicorn gives me another unimpressed look.

"I'm trying, okay?" I leap up a final time, my cold and stiff fingers closing around the fruit. I yank it down from the branch and laugh triumphantly. "Here you go, girl." I hold the apple up to her and she gobbles it down hungrily. When she's done, she kneels down and lets me climb into her back. I brush the snow from her mane and settle down.