We approach the Telmarine castle. The griffins quietly glide through the air. Susan gives me a nod and mouths good luck before she, Peter, and Caspian head away from us towards the other side of the castle. Edmund pats the side of the griffin carrying us, and it dives, landing on the steep roof on a tower of the castle. Somehow, the Telmarine soldier on the balcony below us doesn't see us. Ed and I slide off the griffin and lean back against the roof so as not to be seen. Edmund nods to the griffin, and it swoops down swiftly and carries the guard away into the night.
Edmund nods at me and jumps from the roof onto the balcony. He looks up at me and beckons me to jump down.
"Come on!" He whispers up at me while checking to make sure no one can hear him. "I'll catch you, hurry!"
I swear. If I knew I'd be jumping off a castle this time two days ago, I would not have gone to that train station.
I suck in a deep breath of the cool night's air and step off the edge of the roof. I feel Edmund's strong hands grab my waist as my feet hit the ground.
"Are you alright?" He whispers. I turn around and am met with Edmund's dark eyes and brow furrowed with concern. I nod. He removes his hands from my hips and walks towards the edge of the balcony.
Edmund steps up onto the edge of the wall, extends his arm, and flickers his light on and off, signaling Peter, Sue, and Caspian that it's safe to land and the Narnians to head towards the gate of the castle.
"Now, we wait," Edmund walks over to where I stand with my arms crossed, leaned against the wall. "I might as well tell you the story while we wait."
"The story?" I ask, not sure if he means what I think he means.
"When I first happened upon Narnia, the White Witch was the first person I encountered. She was somewhat nice, offering me sweets and things," Edmund begins.
"Edmund, you really don't have to," I interrupt him.
"I know," he says, glancing at me briefly. "In short. She tricked me. I was struggling with Father being gone, and she told me I could be king,"
Edmund takes a deep breath. "She insisted I bring all my siblings to Narnia and tell her the whereabouts of my siblings. I knew next to nothing of the Narnian prophecy, so I did what she asked. I had an inkling that what I was doing was wrong, but I didn't realize how wrong until the Witch imprisoned me, which is where I met Mr. Tumnus."
"You were a prisoner of the White Witch?" I ask.
"Yes, not my finest moment," he says nodding with half a smile. "She took me on a hunt for my brother and sisters, and in the process, Aslan and his army rescued me. The White Witch demanded I be punished on the Stone Table as a traitor as Narnian law would have it, but Aslan took my place. He died for me."
"But Aslan is till alive now, right?" I ask.
"Very much so," Edmund smiles, "if the witch had known the true meaning of sacrifice as written in the deep magic, she'd have known the death of the innocent on behalf of a traitor wouldn't stop the fulfillment of the prophecy."
We sit in silence for a minute.
"Edmund, you realize you were manipulated," I tell him. "You're not some horrible person."
"I was at the time, though. I wanted my siblings punished. I hated them then, especially Peter. It wasn't until later that I realized I needed them, and it was only because of the sacrifice Aslan made for me that I realized the severity of my actions."
"But you realize them now," I look at him. "You need to stop beating yourself up about it. Your siblings have forgiven you, you can forgive yourself too."
"I'll never completely forgive myself. I think that may be why we came back," Edmund said thoughtfully. "This is my chance to make up for my actions."
We sit in silence for a few more minutes.
"Edmund, why am I here?" I tilt my head towards him.
"To keep watch, though admittedly you're not doing a phenomenal job."
"Thank you, for that, but I mean in Narnia," I say taking fake offense to his comment.
"Ah, right," he says with a smile playing at the corner of his lips. "I've been wondering that myself. I am glad you're here though."
At the moment, I'm thankful for the darkness outside hiding the blush creeping up my cheeks.
"I am too," I respond. I walk towards the edge of the balcony. "You know, if we weren't here with the intention of attacking a whole kingdom, I'd say it's a beautiful night."
Edmund comes behind me and leans his shoulder against mine. I glance over at him briefly, and I see he's looking at me. I hold his gaze with mine and feel my heart begin to race. He turns to face me completely and pulls me toward him abruptly.
"What are you doing?" I whisper. He leans toward me slowly, his eyes twinkling in the moonlight and a small smile playing on his soft lips. My heart is about to beat out of my chest when he leans close to my ear and whispers,
"Don't. Move. A muscle."
He nods ever so slightly down, and I see a slew of Telmarines have exited the door directly below us. Suddenly, a piercing shriek shoots through the silent night. Edmund flinches at the horrible cry and drops his electric torch, and it crashes loudly in front of the soldier below. We look at each other in horror. Edmund grabs my hand and pulls me down the stairs to a window.
We see one of the soldiers pick up his torch. He turns it on and waves it around. I put my hand on Edmund's shoulder and whisper, "what now?"
He turns to me with a serious expression.
"I'm going to jump on him and take him out. When I get the chance, I'll toss you the torch and you'll give the signal. On my word, you jump from the window to me. Ok?"
I nod. Edmund leaps from the window and takes down two of the soldiers. He smoothly takes out one more and tosses his torch to me. I immediately switch it on, signaling the Narnians to attack.
"EDMUND! Signal the troops!" Peter sprints under us towards the Telmarine guards that started running from the gate.
"I've got it!" I tell back at him.
I continue signaling until I hear Edmund call my name. He was becoming out numbered. "A little help would be nice!"
Oh heavens.
I take a deep breath and jump from the window onto a guard below. I whack another in the face with Ed's torch and run to the nearby door and barricade it shut. Ed knocks the last soldier over the ledge. We look at each other briefly before leaning over the edge to the sight below. Telmarines came from every angle, and Susan, Peter and Caspian were struggling to open the gate.
"This is going to be bad, isn't it?" I say to Edmund.
He nods with a nervous gulp.
They get the gate open, and the Narnians charge through. We have no choice but to watch from our perch as the Telmarines keep coming, taking us down in numbers. Telmarine archers take aim from above.
"Damnit," Ed runs toward them and I follow.
"Ed. What are you doing?" I ask frantically. The archers take aim below.
"He's aiming for Peter," Edmund says. Ed climbs onto the roof and positions himself in line with the archer. He grabs my arm, puts his hands on my waist, and pulls me onto his lap. He wraps his arms around me and whispers, "Hold on."
We slide down the roof, knocking the archer off the roof. Edmund draws his sword and takes out a few more guards before rushing me from behind up nearby stairs, trapping us on a balcony. We look at each other in a panic as we hear the guards chasing us. Edmund barricades the door with his torch once again and turns to me.
"Y/n stay behind me."
"What? No, I can take care of myself you don't need to protect me," I say holding my sword up.
"I can't have you getting hurt," he insists.
BANG. BANG. BANG. The Telmarines are breaking down the door.
"Ed, look," I point to the sky. The Griffin flew towards us and ducked under the building.
Edmund nods at me.
CRACK!
The Telmarines break through the door. We back up against the wall. Edmund pulls me in front of him. He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me snug against his front.
"Trust me," he whispers. Edmund jumps backwards off the balcony with me in his arms. The griffin swoops under us and catches us. We fly over the nasty battle below us. I see Caspian swing Susan onto his horse as he rides out of the castle. The Narnians were retreating, but the gate had closed trapping many inside. I see Peter give a mournful nod to the remaining Narnians from outside the gate.
"Edmund..." I say, my voice overflowing with emotion.
"I know," Edmund rubs my arms comfortingly as we fly over the horrible sight of lost Narnians below us.
Tears brim in my eyes, and Edmund hugs me from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder as the griffin takes us back to Aslan's How.
How could this have gone so horribly wrong?