AWAKENING | Edmund Pevensie

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Gwyneth groaned out in pain quietly as she brought a hand to the purple mark that covered the entire left side of her forehead. She rose up unsteadily, keeping a hand along the wall as she walked with light and gentle steps towards the door. Voices could be heard from the room next door. Her arms pressed against the wall behind her.

"Trufflehunter I told you already, this is not some inn for Telmarines,"

"They are just children.." 

"Children or not they are still Telmarines,"

Gwyneth held her breath as she slowly started to pull out the knife of the buckle that was attached to the belt the wrapped around her waist. With the dagger in her hand, she rushed through the doorway. But she didn't get far before blindness and pain came back. The knife dropped to the floor with a thud. Gwyneth stumbled around for just a second before catching her balance on a nearby table. 

"Sit down, girl" 

Gwyneth looked up and turned her head from the dwarf towards the badger. Her eyebrows knitted together. "I'd rather not," She could feel the judging looks from the dwarf in the room. "Where is my brother?" 

"He's sleeping in the room over there," The badger said as he pointed towards a doorway on the other side of the room. She could see Caspian's feet sticking out through the doorway so she let out a sigh of relief. 

"What is your name, girl?"

 The question hung in the air for a few seconds before she decided to answer it. "Gwyneth of Telmar," She said, a bit colder than first intended. 

"Who are you?" The badger opened his mouth and was just about to answer the question but the sound of a huge crash interrupted. It came from the room where Caspian was. Some shuffling, and then her brother cam rushing out the door. He ran into the kitchen trying to get his sword but his way was blocked by the dwarf, so he picked up a metal fire stick instead.

"Hey! No no no, no! Stop that!" The badger cried out. 

"Caspian!" Gwyneth yelled.

"Gwyn?" He said while looking around at his surroundings slowly. "Are you okay?" Caspian's eyes darted between his younger sister and the two odd-looking creatures in the room. 

"I'm fine," She sighed, stroking her fingertips along the edges of the plum coloured bruise on her forehead. 

"Look at what you made me do, that soup took all of the morning to make," The badger muttered as he walked over to the kitchen sink. 

"W-What are you?" Caspian asked.

"Oh yeah, we were just about to get to that before you rudely interrupted," The badger gave

Caspian what Gwyneth thought to be a glare and she chuckled under her breath. "And I guess I was wrong in thinking that people would recognise a badger when they saw one," He continued to mutter while Caspian still clutched onto his fire stick. 

"Cas.." Gwyneth said as she gave her brother a reassuring look as she walked over, putting a hand on the stick in his hand to make him lower it. 

"No I mean.. you are Narnians. You're supposed to be extinct," He interjected. 

She let out a sigh and whispered in his ear, "Now that's extremely rude Cas.." Gwyneth jokingly elbowed the side of his ribs and he winced slightly. 

"Well, sorry to disappoint you," The dwarf gave him a glare before walking back to the table, shaking his head. The badger bumbled along towards the table while two bowls with steamingly warm soup inside of them. He placed them on the table and turned towards the two teenagers. "There you go, still hot,"

The dwarf let out a sharp huff, "Since when did we open a boarding house for Telmarine soldiers-" 

"I'm not a soldier," Caspian proudly cut him off and Gwyneth tried her best to hide a smile. "I am Prince Caspian and this is my sis-"

"I told them already," Gwyn whispered.

The dwarf rose his eyebrows in surprise, "What are you doing here then?"

She put a hand on her brother's shoulder and gave him a sad look, "We're running away," She told them. "My uncle has always wanted to claim that throne for himself.."

Caspian gave Gwyneth a gentle smile before speaking up, "I suppose I only lived this long because he didn't have an heir," he said as he turned to look into the flames of the fireplace. 

The badger sighed, "Now that changes things.."

"Yeah," The dwarf started. "Now we don't have to kill you ourselves at least," 

"You're right," Gwyneth added before she walked over to get her cloak off the small hanger that hung on the wall.

"He won't stop until the two of us are dead," Caspian explained, pulling on his armour and grabbing his sword. 

"But- you can't leave!" The badger said, "You are the one who is meant to save us!"

"What?" Gwyneth turned around to stare at them for a few seconds before turning her gaze towards her brother. "Caspian?"

"Do you know what this is?" The badger picked up the bone-white horn from the table as he turned his head from the girl to the boy. 

"Do you know what blowing in this horn means?"