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

Chapter 8

"This is easy?" she challenged when she ducked under one of his swings.

Edmund quickly used his arm to block her from moving away any further.

"Oh, I'm just getting started," he winked.

Trying not to get distracted by that, Mary swung her sword from below, only for Edmund to jump over it. He tried elbowing her to which she evaded by grabbing his arm and using it to turn him around. He let out a sound of surprise, clearly not expecting Mary to know how to do that. He soon recovered and spun back around, their swords clashing in an 'X' formation once more.

"Didn't know you could do that."

"Is there supposed to be this much talking in a fight?" Mary joked, stepping forward to press the sword against him.

"Not really," he admitted with a nonchalant shrug.

He took a few steps forward too, this time causing Mary to stumble back and land on her behind. Edmund reminded himself not to help her up, but she didn't seem to need it anyway as she quickly rolled to her side to avoid any of his strikes.

"That's what you get for whipping me in the face with your hair!" Edmund taunted, blocking her from standing up. However, she was able to roll away from him even further to recover. He still continued to approach her and when he was near enough, she kicked him behind the knees. Edmund lost balance and fell onto one knee. Mary scrambled up to her feet to directly face him.

"Oh, I'm just getting started," she winked back.

That was enough to throw Edmund off. He tried to regain his composure and kicked below Mary since he was already on the ground. But, he was too late. She had watched his move and managed to avoid it, jumping to the side before swinging her sword backhandedly onto Edmund's. His grip had loosened from being caught off guard by that damn wink from Mary, and so, her actions were able to disarm him. Already on the floor, her sudden move made him fall flat on his behind and she pushed him down even more. Next thing he knew, Mary had one hand on his chest as he lay on the grass while the other held her sword pointed directly at him.

To say that Mary was shocked at herself was an understatement. She never expected herself to even do that. She tried to hide it, though, as she smiled triumphantly and casually said, "I win."

Both her and Edmund were breathing heavily, staring at one one another. Edmund was still baffled at his loss and the fact that it happened because he got distracted by her, and now that Mary had processed her win, she was beginning to stare into his eyes again before she stopped herself, choosing to look at the grass next to him instead.

"I let you win," Edmund eventually answered, not having a smart comeback in mind.

"Yeah, so you're just lying down in defeat for nothing, I suppose," Mary said with a small laugh, just about to get up. She even offered a hand to Edmund, but instead of taking it, he pulled her down before she could stand and rolled her over so that she was the one on the ground while he hovered above her this time.

"That's better now," Edmund said playfully.

"Well, that's not at all inappropriate, is it?" Trumpkin whispered to a fawn to the side.

Fighting the blush on her cheeks, Mary glared and scoffed.

"Get over yourself."

Soon, the two got up, and it was only then that Mary realized what a scene they caused when the Narnians around them began to clap. She wanted to shrink back at all the attention.

"So, you managed to defeat the best sword fighter in Narnia," Edmund sighed dramatically. "It was because I was distracted, though, but I'll let you claim your victory."