The Golden Age - Narnia fanfiction (Edmund x oc)

15. The hunt

The next day Edmund was acting weird, and was barely even around, so Diana was spending her time with the two queens who had become her close friends. Her family were still roaming the castle, but they preferred to be left to themselves, so the only times she would see them would be at meal times.

When they sat down for dinner, Edmund wasn't there yet, and Diana was anxious, looking at the door every time she heard footsteps outside. Finally the door opened revealing the dark haired king, and Diana immediately felt better. She had been tense up until that point, without realizing, and noticed her body relaxing as soon as she saw him.

"Pardon my tardiness, I had some important business to take care of." He explained, while walking to the seat next to Diana, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze and smiled at her once he sat down. "No matter, you're here now." Diana's father answered, and she noticed the well hidden impatience in his voice.

When they had finished their dinner and were waiting for dessert to be brought out, Edmund stood, clearing his throat and gently tapping his fork on his glass, causing all the attention to focus on him, and the room to fall silent.

"As the king of Narnia, I would like to formally invite all of you on a hunting trip tomorrow. It would only be right that we entertain our noble guests while they stay here with us, and what better way for them to see the beauty of this country that we love and rule? I am sure we will get well acquainted and have a wonderful time together." He said, and the others agreed, and Diana was surprised to see that even her family seemed to be excited about this.

The next morning they all prepared to go into the woods, even bringing a nice picnic for them to enjoy on the trip.

"I've never been on a hunt before." Diana confessed once she had a moment alone with Edmund. He smiled. "Well you've been missing out then. This is going to be fun, just stick close to me." He said taking her hand and placing a kiss on it. Diana instantly turned red.

"Come on lets go!" Lucy came into the stables shouting with excitement. Diana quickly pulled her hand away and took the reins of the horse she was borrowing and walked out still blushing. "Oh sorry, was I interrupting you two lovebirds?" She teased. "Oh shut up." Edmund pretended to be annoyed, but he could barely contain his smile.

Peter was entertaining the visiting king at the front of the traveling group, while Susan and Lucy were talking with Diana's siblings, and her and Edmund were at the back.

"For the first bit of the hunt, nothing usually really happens, but once we get to the woods, we will start to see more game, and thats when the actual hunting begins." Explained Edmund.

"We have these falcons with us, to locate them" He said pointing at a wagon that was carrying a cage with a couple of falcons in it. "But don't worry, they're not talking falcons, they have just been trained to locate our targets. We don't hunt talking animals either, that would be the same as hunting humans, but even though it may not seem like it, there are still non talking animals here in Narnia, the greatest prize being the white stag which is said to grant a wish to anyone who catches it."

Diana was admiring the king as he was explaining all of these things. She loved the way his brown eyes lit up with excitement when he was talking about something he was passionate about, and how he looked at her once in a while to make sure she was still listening, making eye contact, and quickly looking away again, slightly blushing.

The sun was shining through the leaves of the trees above them and once in a while a ray of sunshine would hit his face, or his eyes or his hair, giving him a magical golden glow. Diana was staring at him as if in a trance.

"Something on my face?" He asked, pulling her out of her trance. She jumped slightly and blushed, realizing she had been caught staring at him. "Sorry, I couldn't help it." She admitted, seeing no point in lying. Edmund laughed, and was about to say something but was interrupted by some commotion from the front of the line, realizing that the hunt had begun. "Hold that thought, we'll finish this later." He said, still with a smug grin on his face.

"Come on slowpokes!" Lucy shouted back at them, laughing and then setting off into a gallop, they all fanned out between the trees in the forest, following the falcons. Diana was determined to stay by Edmund's side, however she was not used to riding at such speeds, and he was much faster than her, so she soon lost track of him.

Not wanting to hold him back she just continued at her own pace, following the sound of the cheering company. She fell further and further behind, soon realizing that she was alone. She could still hear them up ahead, but they were getting fainter.

She grew nervous when she couldn't even hear them anymore. "Ed?!" She shouted, but it was no use. "Edmund!" She heard some rustling in a bush near her, and the sound of a horse coming closer. "Ed is that you?" She was relieved, only for a short time, as the rider came into view, she realized that it was definitely not Edmund.

There was a man dressed in black, with a cloth covering his face. "Who are you?" She asked, but her voice was barely above a whisper. The man didn't answer and soon more men showed up. She shook the reins on the horse, and dug her heels in its side, prompting it into a gallop, but it was too late, she was surrounded, and the horse neighed, standing on its hind legs.

Diana not being accustomed to riding, fell of the horse, and landed on her back, groaning, she quickly got up though. "Well, little princess, I am afraid your hunting trip must come to an end." Said the first man that had showed up as he got off his horse. She then felt a sharp pain at the back of her head and fell to the ground, unconscious.

A/N: Don't worry this isn't the hunt where they all accidentally go back to England again 😂 they're still pretty early in the years that the Pevensies were ruling in Narnia, so that won't be for a long while still. Hope you enjoyed this, see you in the next part.