~By the Lion's Mane: The Call~

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

~Edmund~

When I saw her sitting there all alone by the fire, staring forlornly into the flames, I knew she was probably blaming herself. She had always been like that, taking the blame inside her, feeling guilty for everybody else, plus herself. I had to talk to her, to make sure she saw that it wasn't her fault those soldiers had died.

After we exchanged greetings, I asked her something that had been bothering me all day. When Caspian and Peter had been battling it out between themselves, something one of them had said had sent her to her knees, in tears. When I asked her, she told me it was Caspian's accusation about abandoning Narnia.

I was suddenly afraid that she might think that I had left her on purpose, that I had grown tired of Narnia and wanted to go back to England. I voiced my concerns and she reassured me that she didn't blame us at all. I was momentarily relieved before I found that she put the blame for everything that had happened to Narnia and her inhabitants.

She told me about the events that had happened in the weeks after we had returned. I felt my heart pound harder when she told me about her injury and brush with death, and found myself wondering what I would have done had she died, and I never saw her again.

But then suddenly she was in tears as I tried to reassure her, and then she said those three words, "I love you." And as she went on about how long she had loved me and how she knew I didn't return her feelings, I felt the blood rushing in my ears and my heart pounding right out of my chest. She loves me, she loves me, she loves me. All those years...

And suddenly I realized I loved her too. For the past year I had thought about her nearly every night, my greatest companion, and the regret I felt at leaving her behind in Narnia, without a proper goodbye. I had loved her for such a long time, and had never dared to acknowledge it until now, when she made me see.

This crushing realization that my obliviousness had caused her so much pain over fifteen years prompted me to tell her that I loved her too, I always had. I whispered her name to her to stop her and took her tear-streaked face in my hands and kissing her pink lips softly, gently. She eagerly kissed me back and our mouths moved together, exploring. I savored the taste of her, wanting more. I pressed her to me harder, kissing her for another moment before breaking contact with her lips. I stroked her soft, freckled cheek with my calloused thumb and whispered the words back to her, hoping she realized how much I truly meant them.

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~Rose~

Peter avoided me, and when I tried to meet his eyes at dinner that night, he looked right through me as if I weren't there. But I knew he couldn't avoid me for long in the limited space in the How, and so I confronted him after the meal in one of the tunnels leading to the armory.

"Peter!" I called, grabbing his shoulder. He stopped and stiffened, his spine ramrod straight. "Peter, please talk to me," I pleaded.

He turned to face me, stony-faced. "What?" he asked sharply. "Do you want to rub it in my face? That you chose my own brother over me?"

"Peter, it wasn't like that-"

"How long?" he interrupted.

"W-what?" I stammered, taken aback.

"How long have you... loved him?" he asked.

I looked away, clenching my hands at my side.

"How long?" he demanded.