lunam et stellas

chapter two

telmarines...

Alex smoothed out the front of her dress, calling out down the corridor. "Su! Can you come and help me lace this up? I can't reach the top."

Peter walked out from around the corner, smiling lightly. "May I?"

She nodded, her cheeks turning bright red. "Of course."

He walked up behind her, tightening from the bottom up just as Alex had taught him all those years ago. She laughed, pulling her hair out of the way. "You remember."

"I laced your dresses for ten years."

He cleared his throat, his voice just above a whisper. "Finished." She threw her hair back over her shoulder and turned around, quickly kissing his cheek. "Thank you."

"Anytime," He whispered, suddenly flustered by how close they were. Alex cleared her throat, her cheeks redder than her own hair. She walked back over to her chest, Peter following after curiously. "And just what are you looking for?"

Alex huffed, digging through the items she'd left behind. "My hair clips. I wore them numerous times in battle, and my hair was still mostly intact-" She grinned. "Here." She held them up and shut the lid. She laced her boots and put on her swords, clapping her hands. "Let's go."

He gestured to her hairpins, which were still in her hands. "You're not going to do your hair-"

"I can multitask." She yelled back, walking up the stairs. "You're falling behind, Pevensie!"

...

The five of them walked as far down the beach as they could, trying to find a way to more land. Edmund huffed. "So we're stranded then?"

Alex sighed. "Well, unless a boat just shows up by chance... Yes. Yes, we are."

Peter stopped, pointing out in front of him. Alex stood out from the back, and her eyes widened. Edmund laughed. "Maybe you're also a witch. And to think, mere moments ago, you were just a simple seer-"

Alex hit him up the back of his head. "Shut it, you."

Peter motioned for Susan to come forward, and she aimed, letting a warning shot go. She yelled. "Drop him!"

Alex hissed. "Not the best thing you could've said, Su-"

The soldiers threw him in, and Peter and Edmund ran towards the river, diving. One of the two soldiers reached for his crossbow, and Susan laid an arrow right into his chest. He fell into the water, and the other soldier dove in after him, not wanting to meet the same fate as his companion.

Edmund tripped over his feet, dragging the boat in, and Peter finally made it out of the water, dropping the dwarf onto the sand. Lucy drew her dagger, cutting the ties loose from his wrists and feet. Pulling down the gag, the dwarf coughed up water, and the five backed away, waiting for a reaction.

"Drop him!" The dwarf exclaimed. "That's the best you can come up with?"

Alex laughed, putting her hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. Susan scoffed. "A simple thank you would suffice."

"They were doing fine drowning me without your help."

"Maybe we should have let them." Peter interrupted.

Alex's jaw dropped. "Peter-"

"Why were they trying to kill you anyway?" The dwarf turned towards Lucy, his face sour.

"They're Telmarines; it's what they do."

Edmund tilted his head. "Telmarines? In Narnia?"

The dwarf laughed. "Where have you been for the last few hundred years?"