Secret - Edmund Pevensie

chapter one

Maeve ducks her head, entering the familiar cave she's grown to be accustomed to. Her life was once much different. She had lived many years under her mother's control and had little to no room to build any identity outside of the often upsetting rule her mother held. To an outside perspective, she lived a lavish life, waking up in a castle and getting treated with anything she could ever ask for. But although her surroundings were cold, her heart wasn't, and seeing those poor prisoners get carried into a place she was forced to call home never got easier.

"So nice of you to join us Maeve." Nikabrik looks up from his spot on the small wooden chair, sarcasm weaving through his harsh words.

"I'm sorry i'm late." The girl replies, now helping set the table. "I got carried away with exploring and I lost track of time."

One thing that always brought Maeve peace was watching the waves of the river flow and the trees sway in the wind. Sure, she risked getting caught, but being caught up in a tight dark space with men half her size wasn't ideal either.

She'd often go out and imagine an entirely different life for herself, one where she wasn't seen in such a negative light. Call it insane but it's what kept her okay. Focusing too much on the bad was never productive, and when everything's bad? Well, you have to use your imagination.

"Nikabrik lay off would you? We have enough on our hands as it is." Badger replies, offering the girl a warm smile.

She chooses to stay quiet, just sitting in the background of the men's bickering. "The bread is stale." The small man groans.

The menu while living in hiding wasn't ideal, especially considering what she was used to. But Maeve would never complain. She grew to be grateful for the two grumps, even if they aren't the best chefs.

"I'll just get him some soup. He should be coming around soon." Badger sighs

The girls eyebrows furrow. "He's still here?"

Nikabrik just rolls his eyes. "Well we cant just let him roam free after what happened. Though I wish I had hit him harder."

The man's heart was in the right place but after everything that happened in the years prior he found it hard to be joyous of the conditions.

"Nikabrik he's just a boy." Badger says, a more serious tone in his voice.

Maeve hadn't exatly signed off on the capture of a Telmarine citizen, but she also had little to no say. Everything worked when she kept her mouth shut, words can become weapons sooner than you know it.

"I said I would take care of him, besides, we can't kill him now. I just bandaged his head." Badger says in a soft tone. He's always been very protective of anyone in his sight, including the girl hunched in her seat.

Without any notice, the prisoner runs out from his spot in the cave, seemingly making an escape. Nikabrik was quick to block his exit, grabbing ahold of his sword and preparing to battle.

The boy, obviously scared, did what he could to fight back with what he had surrounding him.

The air grew tense. Nikabrik wanted nothing more than to just kill the enemy they had kept captive but neither badger nor Maeve would sign off on that.

"Both of you stop it!" The girl cries out. Maeve hated any form of chaos and she especially did not want it in a place where she felt safe.

Both the boy and Nikabrik stayed silent while badger went on to complain about some spilled soup.

The telmarine looked Maeve up and down before returning his eyes back to the talking animal. "What are you?"

"It's funny you would ask that. You'd think more people would know a badger when they saw one." The small animal replies, walking towards the kitchen to prepare another bowl of hot soup.