Fire and Ice(Narnia Book 3)

Chapter 34 Deals

(Edmunds POV)

It took only one word, as it did with the others, to convince the stranger to trust us- Aslan. As we all sat together in the dark ally, I couldn't help but get a usual feeling of dread.

The man named Iago looked around aimlessly with a sort of smugness that he asserted with ease. The baggy, multi colored pants he wore were ripped in various places, and the colors of both the pants and the off white shirt were faded. His entire body was dirty as if he hadn't had a bath in ages, and scratches covered his arms and face.

"I'll help you." He spoke after a while, finishing off the last of his apple and tossing it to the side. I watched as the core rolled a few feet before turning my attention back to him.

"Really?"

He gave me a pointed look. "Not what you were expecting?"

"No." I shook my head. "Not really, to be honest."

Beside me Emmy cleared her throat, placing a hand on my arm. "It just usually takes a bit more convincing."

He hummed. "You didn't let me finish." As soon as he spoke those words I knew my hunch about him had been right. He wasn't agreeing to help us for the good of Narnia, we was doing it for himself. "I had a run in with a dark sorcerer a few years back. I foolishly attempted to swipe something from him during his travels to Agrabah, but I was caught. As a cruel form of punishment he used a particular staff to turn me into a parrot, stuck for the rest of my days as a servant of his."

"Well clearly you've made amends." Emmy smiled lightly.

He scoffed. "No even close. I was lucky enough to meet a gene, one that, after assisting him and his friends in defeating the sorcerer, turned me back."

"What happened to the sorcerer?" Emmy asked, glancing back out to the streets where a vender did his best to yell louder than all the others, trying to draw people in to his booth.

"He was cast out of the kingdom. Banished to the desert, where he resides to this day."

"So what do you want us to do?" I asked point blank, groaning internally in aggravation as he smirked at me.

"He took something from me years ago, something I'd like back. You're going to help me get it."

I pulled Emmy back a bit, whispering to her. "How do we know we can trust him?"

She frowned at me. "Because Aslan does. If he is willing to take the risk of sending us out here to find him, we have to trust that there's a good reason."

I sighed, squeezing her arm. "You know, you're starting to sound a whole lot like Lucy."

She laughed lightly, leaning into my side. "You say that like its a bad thing."

I nudged her before turning my attention back to Iago, who was dramatically checking his wrist for the time on an invisible watch. "We help you, you help us. Do we have a deal?"

"Oh, most definitely."

"And the sorcerer," Emmy leaned forward. "Does he have a name?"

Iago laughed bitterly, his face setting into a grimace. "Jafar."