Always || Edmund Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia) [1]

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

EDITED 7/16/21

With plans to invade Miraz's castle in the dead of the night, a lot of training and preparations were in order. Some continued creating weapons with the few materials they had. Susan practiced with the archers and Lucy mostly watched. Mary had the opportunity to practice sword fighting with Peter and Edmund a few times, and she could clearly see that all those years in Narnia paid off. They were truly talented sword-fighters. They always went easy on her, though, never actually fighting her and instead mostly coaching her on what her next best move should be. But finally, Mary was going to officially sword-fight as Edmund facilitated one of the outdoor training sessions in front of Aslan's How while Peter stayed inside to discuss things with Caspian.

The group of sword-fighters stood under the clear sky, having finished their warm up. There were minotaurs, centaurs, fawns, satyrs, and dwarves of all shapes and sizes. Edmund had ordered for them to group into pairs and begin practicing. He was clad in a white tunic, brown pants, and black boots. Instead of a dress, Mary was thankfully able to find other articles of clothing that fit her and were more suited for moving. She had changed into a maroon long sleeved top, tan pants, and black boots. She certainly felt more comfortable than in those long dresses she had been stuck with the previous days.

Regardless of her change in clothing, she still broke out in a sweat under the heat of the sun after the warm-up. She pulled her dark hair into a ponytail, tying it with the hair tie she always kept on her wrist even when she arrived in Narnia. She was tightening her ponytail when a voice behind her said, "Let's fight, shall we?"

Mary whipped around and heard an "Ow!" before she could even reply. She found Edmund clutching his eye, an irritated expression on his face.

"What?" Mary asked. "What did I do?"

"Your ponytail whipped me in the face!"

Mary couldn't help but giggle. "Sorry," she said in between laughs.

"Clearly, you're not," Edmund grumbled, rubbings his eye. "Even your hair is lethal."

"'Even'?" Mary repeated. "Does that mean I am, too?"

"Perhaps."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Mary smirked. She felt a surge of confidence all of a sudden. Now that Edmund was challenging her to fight, she could feel the adrenaline coursing through her, determined to finally duel someone for real. She had to admit that her win against Trumpkin and battle with Caspian must have been pure luck. Although she had experience with fencing back in her world, it was still different.

Noticing the challenging tone to her voice, Edmund nodded knowingly.

"Ahhh," he said, a smirk finding its way to his face as well as he slowly unsheathed his sword. "Okay, we'll see about that."

Edmund badly wanted to show off how good of a sword-fighter he was, but he also didn't want to go all out since Mary was new to it. But he also remembered that she did have past experience with fencing as a sport and that she did manage to win a fight in one try. He was conflicted on whether or not to hold back. But when Mary stepped back and got into position with a grin, he decided he wanted to win after all. This was his area of expertise, and he wasn't going to lose.

"Hmm, I can go easy on you if you want," Edmund teased.

Mary narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

"No need."

She was first to swing her sword, but Edmund was quick to follow. They clash countless of times as they attempted to advance on each other. Edmund used his strength to gain on her, but her petite stature made it easy for her to dodge his attacks as well. Edmund was impressed to see her fighting smartly.