𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃 | ❝Hope is good, Hope will never disgrace, but make no mistake, Hope will hit you in the face!❞
In which the Just King becomes betrothed to a princess from a neighboring kingdom, only to fall in love with the prin...
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IT WAS PAINFULLY AWKWARD once everyone's stories aligned.
One by one, Hope and the Pevensies exchanged their tall tales of chasing dreams, leading kingdoms, and living in faraway lands. As everyone discovered what happened between now and then, the tension only grew stronger, and more questions arose. How and why did Hope and Odette end up, of all places, in London? Why were their memories altered? If time moved differently in Narnia compared to London, then how long had it been since the Pevensies last ruled the land? What happened to Narnia and Wysteria? It was much like finishing a puzzle, only to realize one piece was still missing.
Hope struggled to recall the details of her uncomfortable confrontation with King David, not because she didn't remember them clearly, but because she didn't want to remember them. At least she had the relief of not having to tell the Pevensies the grueling details of her and Edmund's accidental marriage, as he had done so already many years ago. Still, she couldn't help but cringe at the mere thought of recalling everything.
Likewise, Edmund couldn't recall the 15 years he and his siblings ruled over Narnia without grimacing. Those years, albeit glorious and fortuitous, were filled with thoughts that ate at him to this day, and almost all of those thoughts pertained to Hope.
Returning to England as a teenager instead of an adult, only to come back to Narnia one year later was enough of a shock for Edmund. But coming back to Narnia and reuniting with Hope and Odette after believing they were dead made him think he'd hit his head somewhere down the line and was stuck in a coma. Honestly, that made more sense to him than his current reality.
If Edmund was being honest, he was furious to discover Hope's fate. He was enraged when he heard King David wanted her dead for making a silly mistake (one that wasn't even her fault) all those years ago, but finding out that she was in London this whole time felt like the ultimate betrayal from the universe. He had been so certain that she was gone forever, probably dead. In reality, she was practically down the street!
Hope was different. Edmund could tell. He didn't know how he knew it since they'd only been reunited for an hour or so, but he was positive of it. She looked the same, of course. Saame fiery hair, same pretty smile, same bright eyes. But she acted differently. She stood taller, spoke louder, and spent less time hesitating and worrying about what she wanted to say. Perhaps living in a world where she wasn't constantly answering to someone was a good thing for her. She wasn't that timid handmaid anymore, and even if he wasn't used to it, he was proud of her.
