"Steady, steady!"
"Timber!"
The Pevensies, Adela, and the dwarf watched the Telmarine soldiers build for a possible attack. They ducked carefully behind a tree log.
Miraz entered the scene, and they scrambled to hide deeper. Adela shut her eyes in fear that her father would see her.
"Perhaps this wasn't the best way to come after all." Susan faltered anxiously. She looked to Peter with worried eyes.
Peter sighed. He raised his head to study the scene in front of them. Upon realizing that the only way out was to go back where they were before, he stood up. The others followed silently after him, directly into the woods.
They walked just a little more to be safe from the Telmarines' views, and when they were deeper into the forest, they stopped to think.
"So, where exactly did you think you saw Aslan?" Peter asked Lucy. The girl who was staring at a large boulder turned around with a frustrated expression.
"I wish you'd all stop trying to sound like grown-ups." Caterwauled the girl. "I don't think I saw him. I did see him." She huffed.
"I am a grown-up." The dwarf exasperated.
"It was right over..." Lucy trailed off. She stepped over to the side, spinning around curiously.
All of a sudden, the ground beneath her caves in. Lucy screamed, distressing the others.
"Lucy!" Susan fretted in worry. They all ran to the hole in the ground. Lucy was fine. She landed directly on both her legs. The opening was not much higher, just unstable.
The girl stood in place, shaken, for just a moment. She then stared down at the water running beneath her. "Here." She explained as she looked back up to where the others stood.
There was a clear path down towards the water. "Well, that's convenient." Muttered the dwarf.
"Let's go, then." Declared Adela with determination. She was the first to walk forth, therefore leading the group, even if she was unsure where she was going in the first place.
"She's scary, that one." Edmund whispered to his brother who walked alongside him.
"Royals can be full of themselves." Peter prattled with a small grin.
"And you're not?" Edmund bantered. Peter scoffed, and with a rolling of his eyes, accompanied Adela at the front of the line.
"Adela." He spoke. The princess glanced in his direction.
"Do you actually know where you're going?" Peter questioned. This didn't seem to amuse the girl. "No, do you?" Adela raised her eyebrows expectantly. Peter stifled a laugh. His lips formed a smirk.
"I'll take that as a no, High King Peter, the Magnificent." Adela jested. She looked back ahead while she continued to walk.
"You're poking fun at me for that, while you act like you're better than everyone else." Peter remarked.
"Maybe you and I aren't so different." Adela responded softly. Her eyes averted their gaze back to Peter's. Unlike Edmund, Peter didn't show any signs of nervousness from this. He instead squinted his eyes in an intimidating fashion, sending Adela the exact same energy she was sending him.
Edmund watched from behind with jealousy. Peter always managed to swoop in just at the right time to ruin everything.
By now, they reached the water, and began walking carefully on the rocks. Adela stepped onto one of the rocks, though with such a lack of elegance that her mother would definitely scold her for it.
Her foot slid down the rock, causing her to fall back. Just in time, Peter caught her by the waist, hoisting her back up to her feet.
Edmund watched again with a frustrated grimace. He scoffed and crossed his arms. Adela looked to Peter with plain eyes.
"Are you alright?" The blond boy asked considerately.
"I'm fine." Adela sighed. She turned back around, but after stepping onto another rock, she paused. She didn't look to Peter, but uttered two words heistnately. "Thank you."
Peter smiled. He spun around to look at Edmund, who pretended to not be watching. As he marched angrily on the rocks, he fell back as well, except no one was there to stop him.
Everyone who heard him fall turned around. Edmund's eyes met Adela's with embrassement. He thought she'd laugh at him, but she had no reaction at all.
Edmund, with his lips slightly parted, as they usually were, stood back up with his clothes soaked in the river water. "I'm fine. I'm fine." He quickly uttered.
Everyone continued their walk, apart from Adela, who, oddly, waited for him. Edmund widened his eyes in shock. She held out her hand in his direction.
Edmund looked back and forth between her arm and her eyes. He searched for any sign of mischief.
"Relax. The last rock is slippery, I'm just trying to help." Adela explained upon noticing his worried expression.
"Oh." Edmund slowly reached for her hand. The girl pulled him up to the dry land. "Thanks." He mumbled.
Adela stared ahead at him for just a moment. "You're..." She glanced down at their hands, then pulled hers away. "Sure thing." She nodded.
"Too bad I didn't have Peter to save me." Edmund joked while Adela began walking again.
"He didn't save me." Adela defended silently.
"Right. Right." Edmund whispered to himself, although loud enough for the princess to hear.
"So... you.. fancy Peter?" Edmund implied in a questioning tone. Adela looked to Edmund as if he had said something offensive. "What makes you say that?" She asked calmly, though she appeared angry.
Edmund gulped. "N-nothing. You two were just... talking earlier." He stammered anxiously.
"Well, I'm speaking to you right now, does that mean I fancy you? I spoke to the dwarf, does that mean I fancy him?" Adela raised her eyebrows.
Edmund pursed his lips. "I suppose not, then." He mumbled. Adela chuckled to herself. Her eyes remained on the path ahead.
"I take back what I said about you seeming nice earlier." Edmund spoke bravely.
"At least you're right about something." Responded Adela with an innocent smile. She lightly set her hand down on his shoulder, then ran off closer to the others.
Edmund huffed in amusement before he followed after her.
Later that evening, they all went to sleep on a field of grass. It was rather pointy, and poked at Adela's arms. She lay awake on her back, exhausted, yet too uncomfortable to sleep. She was so used to her bed, her warm blanket, her large pillows.
Edmund lay beside her, fast asleep. Beside him, was a fire that keept them all warm. Adela stared at Edmund's peaceful face. He smiled a little in his sleep, and as they did during the day, his lips still hung open which made him appear confused even while he slept.
"Lucy." Susan whispered. "Are you awake?" She asked. Lucy hummed in response. It appeared that Adela was not the only one with sleeping troubles.
"Why do you think I didn't see Aslan?" Susan questioned. She propped herself up on her elbow.
"You believe me?" Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. She now turned to her side and propped herself on the grass just how Susan did.
"Well, we got across the gorge." Susan faltered.
"I don't know." Shrugged Lucy with an unfortunate frown. "Maybe you didn't really want to." Lucy suggested. They went silent.
"You always knew we'd be coming back here, didn't you?" Susan continued. Lucy nodded. "I hoped so."
Susan sighed, then lay back down. "I finally just got used to the idea of being in England." She began.
"But you're happy to be here, aren't you?" Lucy asked hopefully.
"While it lasts."
Adela sighed to herself. She pulled down her still damp dress sleeves over her arms. Though it made her much colder, the feeling of the grass against her stopped.
Adela would never admit to this, but she was afraid. If anyone were to ask her why she refused to sleep that night, she would tell them it was the discomfort, maybe her determination to find her cousin, but in truth, she was just afraid.
What if a bear were to come at night and kill them all? What if her father finds her? So many things could go wrong if they just fell asleep.
And maybe, Adela cared for the Pevensies after all.