The Call - Edmund Pevensie

6

After I introduced myself to the Kings and Queens, we began to make our way back to the How. As we walked, our group began to form a kind of line as we all walked through the forest. Leading the pack were Caspian and Peter who walked side by side as they quietly discussed things that I couldn't hear. Behind them was Glenstorm, followed by Queen Susan and King Edmund, Trufflehunter, Nikabrik and the blonde dwarf who's name was Trumpkin, then Queen Lucy and I. 

"Princess Catarina. You have a beautiful name," Queen Lucy said kindly breaking our silence. 

"Thank you," I laughed.  "It's a pleasure to meet you your Highness." I gave a little bow as we walked which caused her to giggle. Although I had only known her for not even an hour, I could already tell that Queen Lucy would become like a younger sister to me. She was so personable and kind. She had that personality where everyone was drawn to her. 

"So you're Caspian's sister then? And please, just call me Lucy." I smiled at her. 

"Yes that's right. And ok. It's nice to meet you Lucy." We smiled at each other. "Please call me Cat. It's what all my friends call me." She beamed at me and I couldn't help but smile wider. 

"So, what are they like?" I heard Trufflehunter ask ahead of me. 

"Malcontents, complainers, stubborn as mules in the morning," Trumpkin answered him. 

"Oh, so you like them then?" Nikabrik asked. 

"Well enough," came the gruff reply. Lucy and I looked at each other and giggled softly. I felt a pair of eyes on me and I looked up to see Edmund had turned around and was staring at Lucy and I. I felt my cheeks heat under his gaze, his beautiful dark eyes boring into mine. 

When we finally made it back to the How, Lucy gasped and ran ahead of me to where her brothers and sister were standing looking out across the large stretch of grass at the How in wonder. It knew exactly what she was feeling. After all, Caspian and I had only seen it for the first time ourselves this morning. Yet, it already felt like home.  

When we finally made it to the entrance, some of the centaurs lined the path down into the How with their swords drawn. They pointed them out to form a bridge to walk under as a sign of respect. The four kings and queens of old began to walk together in a line towards the How. Caspian and I held back for a few seconds to let them go in first. 

When Caspian and I joined them inside, all four of them were looking around the main underground cavern. Everywhere you looked, there was some kind of work being done. Dwarves and minitours manned one of the metal forges which helped fix and refine swords. Fauns and other creatures carried materials from one work station to another. In one section, armor was being made. In another, weapons we'd stolen from our uncle were being modified to fit in the smaller hands of dwarves, or the larger hands of minitours. In yet another, arrows were being fletched and bows were being created. 

Despite the dark cavern like area, I couldn't help but be proud of what we had accomplished in such a short time. 

"It may not be what you are used to, but it is defensible," Caspian said and I nodded. 

"Peter," Susan's voice rang out over the clang of metal and the din of voices. "You may want to see this." We all turned to see her standing towards the back of the How. I hadn't even noticed her walk over there. Our group of five walked over to join her.

Peter held up a torch he was carrying and aimed it at the rock walls. Painted and carved into the stone were pictures of Narnia's history from hundreds of years ago. The picture Susan was staring at was one of her and her siblings all standing in front of stone thrones. 

"It's us."

"What is this place?" Lucy asked. Caspian and I shared a look. 

"You don't know?" I asked them. They just stared back at us blankly. Cas grabbed a torch that was hanging on the wall and began to lead them deeper into the How with me bringing up the rear with Edmund. He shot me a quizzical glance, but I just smiled at him not saying anything. 

When we finally reached the bottom of some stone steps, Caspian put his torch into a liquid that instantly caught fire, spreading until it ringed the room lighting it up completely. There, in the center, was a giant stone table with a crack down the middle. A huge stone arch stood directly across from us at the mouth of the cave, and underneath the arch was a giant picture of a lion, or Aslan as Trufflehunter had explained to me when Caspian and I had found this room earlier. 

Lucy slowly walked up to the table and rested her hand on it. After a few seconds, she turned to her sister. 

"He must know what he's doing," she said. Susan and Peter both looked up at Aslan's picture. 

"I think it's up to us now," Peter said solemnly. 

With that, the six of us left and headed back to the main cavern where Caspian and I explained everything. How we had fled our home, how we had come to meet the Narnians, and that we wanted to defeat our uncle to give Caspian back his throne. 

They in turn told us how they'd been brought to Narnia, how they'd saved Trumpkin, and what they'd seen at the river which matched what we'd seen when we stole the weapons. 

After sharing our stories, I made my way over to Edmund. Peter had told us that Edmund had beaten Trumpkin in a sparing match, and it had interested me. 

"King Edmund," I called getting his attention. His eyes snapped up to mine and he smiled. 

"Just call me Edmund," he said. "Peter is really the only one out of the four of us who cares about titles."

"Alright, call me Cat," I smiled. He nodded. 

"What can I do for you Cat?" he asked. 

"How do you feel about a sparring match?" I asked. His eyes immediately lit up and he stood. 

"You're on." I grinned back at him. The intense emotions in his eyes were doing something to me. Butterflies were fluttering around my stomach and making me nervous. 

"Pull yourself together Cat," I internally chided myself. "You're not supposed to fear anything."

"I'd watch yourself if I was you Edmund," Caspian said from where he sat. I noticed he was sitting close to Susan, but I didn't say anything. "Catarina is my second in command with Glenstorm. She's devastating with any weapon." 

"Thanks Cas, no pressure or anything," I huffed at him and everyone in the group chuckled. Everyone made room for the fight as I headed over to where my stuff was to grab my sword. When I stood up sword in hand, I felt a body right behind me.

"I won't go easy on you because you're a girl." Edmund's breath was hot against my ear and I had to repress the urge to shiver, and lean back into him all at the same time. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. If I got this antsy just being around him, how was I going to do with fighting him?

"I wouldn't expect you to," I countered, proud that my voice came out stronger than I felt. "In fact, if you do I'll have to kill you myself." I spun to face him and swallowed hard. We were standing so close, I had to look up to see his face and I could feel his breath. His eyes darted down to my lips, and my knees almost gave out underneath me. 

"Alright enough smack talk you two!" Peter called out. Both of us blinked and stepped away from each other, faces red. "Are you going to fight or what?"