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

Prologue ✔️

"Peter, Susan!" Mrs. Pevensie called out. "Edmund, Lucy! The Browns are here."

Almost immediately, four teenagers made their way down the stairs. The first was a short girl, younger than Mary without a doubt and had a kind face. Next was a much older boy with blonde hair, followed by another girl who was extremely pretty with her striking eyes and wavy hair. Last was a boy with hair so brown it almost looked black— Mary thought that her hair, with the color resembling that of soil, was dark enough, but he proved her wrong. He also had striking dark brown eyes that could probably tell stories if only he didn't look so grumpy.

"These are our children," Mr. Pevensie said. "You can relax in the living room for a few minutes. We'll finish setting up the table."

The adults' chatter lingered as they made their way to the kitchen, leaving the five kids alone by the doorway. Mary coughed awkwardly, not knowing how to begin. Luckily, the oldest boy was brave enough to take initiative.

"I'm Peter," he broke the silence, stepping forward and shaking her hand.

"Marlea— er, just call me Mary," Mary corrected herself. "I have a weird first name."

"Better than mine. It's really common," said the older girl, doing the same as her brother. "I'm Susan."

"Hi, I'm Lucy. Nice to meet you!" the youngest said happily, grasping her hand. Her enthusiasm brought a smile to Mary's face and calmed her nerves just a little.

In unison, Mary and the three siblings who had introduced themselves glanced expectantly at the only person left. He had his arms folded over his chest and was looking distractedly at the old wall clock, almost as if he was dying to get this dinner over with before it even started. Susan nudged him in irritation, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Oh," he said disinterestedly. "Edmund."

"Mary," the brunette repeated just in case he wasn't listening earlier. She held out a hand for him to shake. He simply stared at it for a moment, and just when he was about to give in and take it, Mary dropped her hand. He retracted his own hand as well, slightly embarrassed.

"Well, you didn't want to take it," Mary observed. "I know you want to get this dinner over with, and so did I. But I was hoping I'd end up having more fun than I intended."

"Great, Ed, way to make a first impression," Peter said in annoyance. She knew brothers bickered a lot, and this was exactly how she imagined it.

"Oh, shut up, Peter."

"Sorry, he's grumpy because he wanted to eat earlier," Lucy explained.

"Lucy!"

"What? It's true."

Susan chuckled at her brother and sister. "Look, just restart, the two of you."

Edmund sighed but agreed anyway. He looked back at Mary with a more relaxed posture and said, "Fine. Hello, I'm Edmund."

This time, he raised his hand for her to shake. With an amused smile, Mary took it — which was bigger and softer than she thought — and he shook it gently.

"I'm Mary."

"Congratulations, Edmund, you can shake hands," Susan teased.

Edmund chose not to reply and instead said, "Now that we got that over with, why don't we go somewhere with fresh air? It's cramped in here."

"There's air in here, too," Mary pointed out.

All siblings except for Edmund practically snorted. Mary looked at them in confusion, wondering why they found that so funny.

"What is it?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Susan waved it off. "It's just, Edmund said something like that before."

"We ended up breaking a glass window," Peter added. Mary's eyes widened, but she chose not to ask what happened.

"I'm guessing it's a long story?" she merely said and they all nodded.

"It was basically Edmund's fault," Lucy grinned. "That's all you need to know for now."

"Why does it not surprise me?"

Edmund glared at her, but it wasn't as harsh as he intended.

"Whatever," he mumbled, averting his eyes from hers. "It wasn't entirely my fault."

His siblings giggled at the memory while he blushed in embarrassment. Lucy sighed happily, looking at her brothers and sister and their newfound friend.

"I think we'll all get along great."