𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 || Edmund Pevensie

XX

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
- Rhett Butler

For those who saw the previous version,
I'm sorry 💀
Thank u hirokasuzu ur an angel
And go check out her AMAZING story

Narnia, 1012

"Why does this place have to be so... hellish?"

Edmund shrugged. "Figures."

Calormen was horrible. To deal with yet another proposal from Prince Rabadash to Susan, the Kings and Queens had been invited to that hell of a Kingdom to meet with the Tisroc and his sons and daughters. Peter, the High King, had got caught up in a war up to the north, and Lucy, stayed behind in Cair Paravel, making Olivia go (against her best wishes) to Calormen. Susan pretended to be sick and waited by the embassy, managing to escape dinner the last night with the Calormene royalty.

But, not only the Narnian court had gone, but also the court of Archenland, whose people were to keep company to the Narnians and try to keep peace with Calormen. Of course, it had worked out very well, for the two Kingdoms were very close. Nevertheless, despite any closeness, living together for two weeks in that horrible place was awful. Tashbaan, the capital of Calormen, stunk of sweat and tears.

The problem was that King Lune had sent his son, Prince Corin, with the Archenlanders, claiming he was due to be King and that he needed to learn about his future duties. But, the boy had grown to be quite the troublemaker, and he was now missing.

Olivia, Edmund, together with a few members of the court, went ahead to search for the young boy, with the help of a Calormene soldier leading the way through the city of Tashbaan.

"Make way! Make way!" The Calormene would keep yelling. "Make way for the guests of the Tisroc (may he live forever), The King and Queen of Narnia and their lords!"

Olivia wanted to correct him, to say there were Archenlander lords as well but decided against her wishes. But, as Edmund and Olivia tried to hold back their laughter at the reactions of the Calormenes to them, Peridan (One of the Archenland lords) yelled:

"There he is! Our runaway!" Peridan rushed to the middle of the crowd, grabbing a young blonde boy by the shoulders.

As she realised that he might be about to slap the boy, Olivia went ahead and grabbed his hand whilst still in the air, sending the lord a deadly glare. Peridan retreated his hand, leaving the young boy with Olivia in shame.

It was, truly, Prince Corin. Except that he wore commoner clothing, had a lot of dirt on his face and acted like a small and shy slave, which he would never do. Corin was an altruistic boy, enthusiastic and excited. He was the kind of child who would always speak their mind and act like they owned the place, even if they did not. And he was staring at her cane attentively, which he never did, for he loved that cane and thought it was 'cool'. Instead, he looked very afraid of it.

"Are you out of your mind?" Olivia scolded. "You have been missing for an entire night! Scared the living heavens out of me!"

The boy darted under her gaze, something Prince Corin would have never done. When he would do something wrong, and Olivia would scold him, the boy would always try and argue his way out of the situation.

A soft hand touched her shoulder, sending a shiver of warmth down her body. Edmund gently smiled at them, helping Olivia get up from kneeling on the ground and grabbing one of Corin's hands.

"It's alright, now. We'll take him back to Susan and reassure her." He spoke, and the girl nodded in agreement, taking Corin's other hand.

The other lords and Narnians who had accompanied them started rushing after Edmund and Olivia, asking and questioning where Corin had been, why his clothing was so weird, and why he was so dirty.

Prince Corin stayed quiet for an entire half-hour walk, which was very uncommon for him. He did not answer a single question or let out a letter.

"Nothing?" Asked Edmund eventually, as Corin didn't say a word. "I have got to tell you, I'm disappointed. You're a prince, the future King of Archenland; I expected more from you than to merely run away in an unknown land and to pass as a Calormene slave."

The boy said nothing but seemed really sad due to Ed's words. He pouted his lip and went back to looking at the ground.

The Archenlanders and the Narnians returned to the embassy, where they were staying. The small boy was being tightly held by both hands since the people were concerned he could run off again.

They passed by the beautiful orange trees at the entrance and then the garden, the marigolds in their season of bloom. Olivia headed for a tree and grabbed a pomegranate, taking a delicious bite out of the fruit, its succulent pulp letting a sweet taste take over her mouth.

The large doors of the embassy were opened, revealing a concerned Susan pacing in the room, being comforted by Mr Tumnus and Sallowpad the Raven, who had come with the Narnians to Calormen.

At the sound of the doors, the Gentle Queen looked at Corin immediately. She tugged on the hem of her dress and hurried to him, embracing the boy tightly and checking if he was still intact.

"Corin! You had me dying of worry!" She exclaimed. "Your disappearance could have caused a war between Narnia and Archenland in a time where alliances are scarce. Never do this again! Where have you been?"

The boy stammered in his words. "Uh... I don't know..."

"See! I could get nothing out of him, Susan." Edmund replied, running his hand through his dark hair. Evidently frustrated, but he was trying not to show. Olivia grabbed his arm and squeezed it, sending him a calm look.

"Your majesties!" Called Mr Tumnus, and once Corin saw the faun, he went literally pale, but only Olivia seemed to have made such an observation. "Look at the boy! He is pale, hasn't had a touch of the sun! The prince needs to rest, your highnesses."

The crew of Archenlanders and Narnians seemed to come to a sudden realisation, comfortably placing Corin on a couch and giving him water and many fruits, telling him to keep quiet and to rest.

The two dwarfs who had come with the Narnians started chatting eagerly with Sallowpad, likely discussing when they could come back to their Kingdom, for they missed home.

Susan, Edmund and Olivia sat down by the table, drinking water and eating some biscuits. "Have you given any thought to my suggestion, Sue?" Asked the warrior Queen.

"I will not marry him, that I will." Susan replied. "I have known that for a long time now. Not even for all the jewels in Tashbaan."

"Oh goodness! I was getting worried you might actually marry him since you have been taking so long to refuse the proposal." Edmund sighed.

"I had been scared to refuse his proposal. But I admit, for a moment, he had caught my attention. But now that we got to know his true personality, here at his Kingdom, I cry out loud; I will not marry him!"

"That reminds me of an old saying: see the bear in his own den before you judge his conditions." Croaked Sallowpad, the Raven.

"Another similar one is: Come, live with me, and you'll know me." Said one of the dwarfs from the corner of the room.

"He is a tyrant, a proud and obsessive one, a selfish and unpleasing person." Olivia concluded, taking a sip of her water.

"Now, please, I beg, let's leave this hell of a place!" Susan pleaded.

Olivia and Edmund looked at each other nervously, dread coming to their faces. They reached out for the comfort of one another, holding their hands over the table and intertwining their fingers.

"You're looking weird. What's happening?" Susan asked, beginning to become desperate. Edmund sighed.

"Susan. " Edmund shared a look with Olivia. "I'm afraid we are in no small danger."