The Golden Age - Narnia fanfiction (Edmund x oc)

14. Proposal

Diana had made up her mind. She was getting desperate, so she was going to have to take matters into her own hands, it didn't matter anymore who proposed what mattered was Carissa.

The night when the ball had finished, and they had all retired for the night, Diana was still laying awake in her room. Her heart was racing at the thought of what she was about to do.

When she had gathered enough courage, and was sure that everyone else was asleep, she got up and put her robe on over her thin night gown. She then quietly snuck out of her room and knocked on the door to Edmund's room. Her heart was pounding and she was sure he could hear it when he opened the door. His face lit up when he saw it was her, but he still looked like he had just been sleeping.

"What are you doing here gorgeous?" He asked in his usual teasing manner, his voice was hoarse making Diana's heart flutter. "I... uhm... well... I..." she kept stammering trying to collect herself but it was impossible. She then heard someone coming through the hall and panicked. She shoved Edmund inside his room and went in quickly closing the door behind her.

Once inside she took a deep breath trying to calm herself, but when she looked up, Edmund was standing right in front of her. She subconsciously pulled her robe closer around herself feeling exposed being this close to him and knowing she was only wearing her thin night gown underneath.

She took a deep breath and looked up at him her heart pounding even louder if it was even possible. She was glad that the room was dark, so that he could not see how red her face was. Though she was sure he could anyways as she was convinced that she must have been so red that she was practically glowing.

"Dina, what is it? You're making me worry over here." He said putting a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down, but that really did not help. She decided then to just say it.

"Please marry me." She closed her eyes as she was speaking, and clenched her fists at her side. He didn't say anything. Diana's heart sank and she did not dare look up at him scared of what she might find in his face.

Probably disgust, or anger or even worse a mocking grin. She thought tightening her eyelids.

She felt a gentle touch on her chin, and felt him lift her face. She still refused to open her eyes. "Please look at me." Edmund's voice was soft as he was pleading with her, and his touch still gentle, as he stroked her jaw with his thumb.

Diana slowly opened her eyes, and was surprised by what she saw in his face. His brown eyes looked at her, not with hate or disgust but they were gentle as his touch and soft as his voice. At this moment she finally believed that he really did care for her, and the realization made her break down in tears. They were not sad tears, or happy even, they were tears of relief.

"Hey now, there is no need to cry." He said, as if he was trying to calm a child. He wiped her tears away and kissed her forehead. He then pulled her into his arms, resting one hand on the back of her head, and the other around her back, so that her head was resting on his shoulder and she was pressed against his torso.

He kissed her hair, and whispered calming words to her. They stood like that for a while until he spoke again. "Listen, I know you were brought here to marry me, but you do not have to force yourself to do it right now, we still have time to get to know each other, and it's not a forced marriage, only an arranged one, so we both still have to consent."

Diana pushed herself out of his embrace and looked up at him in desperation. "So you don't want to marry me?" Fear was evident in her voice as she was trembling. Edmund looked confused. "That's not what I said, I said we still had time to get to know each other." He tried to explain. Diana grew frustrated. "No we don't, don't you get it? My father won't leave until it is done, and he has Carissa..." Diana's voice was almost a shout, and she pushed away the hand that Edmund had placed on her arm.

"Hold up, who is Carissa?" He interrupted.
She stopped herself in her tracks and took a deep breath. "Dina what's going on? Is there something you're not telling me? Is he threatening you?" Edmund sounded concerned.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you, we promised we would tell each other everything..." She started. Edmund gestured to a seat and they both sat down as she continued to tell him about Carissa.

"Well, this changes things." Edmund exclaimed with a thoughtful look on his face. Diana sniffled before speaking again. "And now you don't want to marry me anymore, so my father will be furious and..." "whoa hold up, I never said I didn't want to marry you." Edmund interrupted, startling the poor princess.

Diana looked up confused. "But you said..." "Never mind what I said, I only said that because I thought you didn't want to marry me." Diana was speechless, her face turning a dark shade of red, that she was sure Edmund could see even in the dimly lit room, so she hid her face in her hands.

He chucked at her embarrassment taking one of her hands away from her face and placing a soft kiss on it. This did not help the princess calm down, in fact she felt it made her blush even more if it had been possible.

"Listen, I do want to marry you, but only if you want to... and if we are gonna do this, I want to do it right. Can you wait just one more day for me?" Diana did not trust her voice to speak so she only nodded. He smiled and placed another tender kiss on her hand. "Thank you. Now go to sleep, it's late."

Diana went back to her room but she could not sleep no matter how hard she tried, her heart was still pounding, and she could still feel the soft kisses that Edmund had placed on her.