descendants [ edmund pevensie ] [1]

vi.

06 | THE BETTER RULER

The Howe had finally come into view. Caroline had left Peter's side, noticing the glares he was sending her brother and wanted to let him cool off. Instead, she ended up searching through the crowd of battle damaged creatures for the Pevensie boy – who had been looking for her.

Lucy came running out of the Howe, with a few others behind her, "What happened?".

Peter glared at Caspian, "Ask him,".

"Me? You could've called it off, there was still time," Caspian replied.

"No, there wasn't thanks to you. If you had just stuck to the plan then those soldiers would've been alive right now," Peter said.

"And if you had just stayed here like I suggested they definitely would've been," Caspian stated.

Peter turned to face him, "You called us, remember?".

"My first mistake," Caspian sneered.

"No, your first mistake was thinking you could lead these people," Peter corrected, turning away.

"Hey," Caspian snapped, "I am not the one who abandoned Narnia,".

Peter pointed a finger at him, "You invaded Narnia. You have no more right here then the rest of us. You, him, your sister – your father, Narnia would've better off without the lot of you,".

The hurt look that crossed the young girls face was painful to look at. It wasn't the fact that Peter had insulted her during his vent, it was the mention of her father and how after forming a bond, that he still found the need to blame her for her ancestors mistakes.

Caspian let out a pained cry, turning around and pointing his sword at Peter – as the high king did the same.

"Stop it," Edmund exclaimed, stepping forward with Trumpkin in his arms.

Lucy ran towards the dwarf, pouring a drop of her healing potion into his mouth as Caspian stormed off in anger.

Trumpkin coughed, staring at the people above him, "What are you all staring at. The Telmarine's will be here soon,".

The high king turned to his siblings and the princess, instantly feeling regret about what he said as he saw the look on her face.

Caroline decided to leave the group alone, not wanting to hear what they had to say. She had already seen Edmund, and knew he was safe. At least not everyone died during the battle. However the raven haired boy had decided to follow her, what happened happened, it was over for now and he wanted to be with her – he felt drawn to her.

"I did say that we'd meet here – alive," Edmund reminded.

Caroline sighed, "I almost didn't, Peter was generous enough to come to my rescue. I got consumed with revenge and just wanted to kill every one of them,".

"When I first came to Narnia, I was jealous and annoyed at my siblings – especially Peter. I ended up joining the White Witch, I knew it was wrong but I was so consumed by my emotions that I didn't care," Edmund sighed, looking over at her.

"I know," Caroline replied, "It was apart of the stories,".

"Do you still have them? The stories," Edmund questioned.

"In the castle, yes. As much as I stopped believing, I couldn't bare to get rid of them," Caroline nodded.

The sat in silence, it was comfortable though. Calming. It allowed them to just be together and to think.

The king tucked her hair behind her ear, his hand falling to her side and placing it over her fragile fingers. Caroline glanced between his face and their hands, softly inhaling at the touch.

Susan ran past them, calling, "Edmund. Caroline. Come quickly,".

The two rushed to her side, Caroline clutching her dagger unsure of what was happening. As they entered the Stone Table cave, Caspian and Peter were fighting off a dwarf, werewolf and hybrid bird.

The icy wall that had formed along the back wall gave a chill to the room. A  figure, laced in white, stood high and mighty within the ice. The flames fading as the cold and darkness overtook the light. Edmund ran forward, plunging his sword into the ice, a cry irrupting from the White Witch as the ice shattered to the ground.

Edmund glanced at Peter, "I know. You had it sorted,".

Caroline looked at Caspian with disappointment in her eyes, "What were you thinking?".

But he didn't reply, or meet her gaze, instead he walked away. The four siblings unsure of what to do. Susan had disappeared, followed by Edmund who assured the princess he would check on the prince.

Caroline sat down at the foot of the Stone Table, her head falling into her hands.

Peter walked over, sitting next to her, "It's odd, not having Aslan here to help,".

"Maybe if you didn't act all mighty, he would've showed up by now," Caroline muttered.

"I wanted to apologise, for what I said about your father," Peter admitted, "I was angry – you understand what that's like. And if it's any help, I like you more than your brother,".

Caroline gave a crooked grin, "I know. Do you think that if my father was still alive, he'd be proud of me?".

"Of course he would. I think he'd be stupid not to be," Peter assured, his tone becoming mocking, "You're her, the princess of the Telmarines, so young and pretty,".

Caroline knew that she shouldn't dwell on the past, it hurt and it always would but she had to focus on now. The war, her kingdom and her family – that included the Pevensie's and the Narnian's. It was time to realise the stories are real, that they grew for better not for worse, and she had to as we'll.

Lucy walked in, slowly advancing towards the two, "Do you think he knows that we need his help?".

Peter turned towards his sister, "You're lucky, Lu, at least you saw him. I just wish he'd give us some proof that we could win this war".

"Maybe we're the ones who need to proof ourselves to him," Lucy suggested.

Peter smiled, wrapping an arm around Lucy's shoulders before doing the same to Caroline. Edmund walked in, looking at the three with a worried expression.

"Pete, you better come quickly," Edmund instructed, "All of you actually,".

Peter and Caroline got up to follow Edmund, heading out to the small viewing ledge and watching carefully as a group of Telmarine soldiers marched towards the Howe with catapults and horses.

"Oh, we're so screwed," Caroline mumbled.

a/n: I'm not really sure if I like this chapter but whatever.

Dedicated to bobmorley  because you're amazing and love Edoline as much as I do.