Come Home - E. Pevensie [2]

2 - The Ungrateful Damsel

We all raced down the mountain edge to the boat drifting in the water.

"Drop him!" Susan shouted, pointing her bow at the men who were holding a bound and gagged dwarf over the water. I had a mental facepalm. Probably not the best word choice.

Listening to Susan's command, the men in armor launched the dwarf into the sea. Susan released an arrow into the chest of one man, sending another one as a warning into the side of the boat. The remaining man jumped into the water with a yelp.

With a grunt, Edmund tossed me his sword as he and Peter dove into the water. I retreated to stand in a line with the girls, watching worriedly as Edmund dragged the boat to shore and Peter rescued the drowning dwarf.

Peter set the struggling blond on the rocks. Lucy fell next to him and drew her dagger, using it to release his hands and feet. The man ripped the cloth from his mouth, coughing up water.

"Drop him?!" He howled at Susan. "That's the best you can come up with?"

Susan shared an incredulous look with me as I passed Edmund back his sword. "A simple thank you would suffice!" She spat in reply.

The dwarf shook his head as he pulled the cloth from around his neck. "They were doing fine drowning me without your help."

"Maybe we should have let them." Peter said coldly.

"Peter!" I chided, swatting his shoulder. I addressed the dwarf softly. "Why were they trying to drown you anyway?"

"They're Telmarines." The dwarf shrugged and stood, brushing off his legs. "That's what they do."

"Telmarines? In Narnia?" Edmund gaped.

"Where have you been for the last few hundred years?" The dwarf mocked. Lucy shuffled on her feet, an unsure look on her face.

"It's a bit of a long story." She said.

We all nodded. Susan returned Peter his sword, and I watched as the dwarf's head looked between the lion hilt and the five of us.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," He said. "You're it? You're the Kings and Queens of Old?"

I leaned closer to Edmund. "Not exactly the reaction I was expecting to come back to." I murmured. Edmund raised his eyebrows in agreement.

Peter stuck his hand out to the dwarf and held his chin higher. "High King Peter, the Magnificent."

Susan scoffed lightly. "You probably could have left out the last bit." She grinned, even earning a laugh from the dwarf.

"Probably."

Peter smirked and drew his sword. "You might be surprised."

The dwarf chuckled and shook his hands. "You don't want to do that, boy."

"Not me," He said, turning his sword so that the hilt was facing the dwarf. He nodded at Edmund. "Him."

Edmund grinned and drew his own sword, backing up and into the stance.

The dwarf took Peter's sword and dropped the tip in the sand, earning a cocky grin from Edmund. Without warning, the dwarf swung the sword above his head and knocked Edmund's sword to the side. Edmund ducked, to which the dwarf used to his advantage and hit him in the face.

"Edmund!" Lucy cried as he stumbled back.

My hand inched towards my sword, the instinct to step in and assist Edmund overwhelming. Peter stopped to my side and grabbed my hand, preventing me from moving. I scowled at him, to which he smiled back softly.