CHAPTER 12
EDITED 7/16/21
"Caspian? Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
After the incident with the White Witch, all who were involved were pretty shaken up. Mary, Caspian, and the Pevensie's gathered around the Stone Table, discussing what had happened. Mary was processing her encounter with the White Witch, Caspian looked guilty for having almost helped her be brought back to life, Peter and Edmund seemed distracted as they were probably deep in thought, and Lucy and Susan were silent.
"If you'll excuse me, I need to see my professor," Caspian spoke up again after a short pause.
"Alright, then," Susan answered when nobody else did. She and Caspian locked eyes with one another and Mary could practically see the sparks flying as Lucy would word it.
"I won't be long."
When he had left, Susan broke the silence once more and said, "Why don't we all go out, as well? Looks like we all need some fresh air, too."
"It's not like there isn't air in here," Edmund and Mary chorused. The two shared amused looks but said nothing of it whereas Lucy fought back a knowing smile.
"I think I'll stay here for a bit," Peter announced. "You all can go ahead."
"Well, if you're sure..." Susan trailed off. "I'll take a walk if you want to follow."
"I can stay with Peter for now," Lucy said, sending her oldest brother a kind smile. Susan nodded and left the room right after.
Edmund hopped off of the Stone Table where he sat next to Mary and wordlessly offered her a hand. She took it and went down as well before asking, "Where to?"
"There's a good view on the hill," Edmund replied. "By the steps. We could stay there."
Not having gone up to that part of Aslan's How yet, Mary nodded in agreement. She and Edmund bid their goodbyes to Lucy and Peter and made their way out of the tomb through the tunnel with the carvings. In the main area of the How, it was oddly more quiet than usual. News of their encounter with the White Witch must have spread quickly as well as the death of Nikabrik, who Trumpkin had no choice but to kill. They passed through various hallways and turns Mary hadn't seen yet until they reached an opening, the first few bits of sunlight before the sun officially rose peeking through the cracks. Edmund gestured for Mary to step out first. She was met with the soft rays of the sun and a gentle breeze as she stepped out onto the cobblestone floor. She realized she was on one of the levels above the entrance of Aslan's How that Mary noticed when they first got there but never really thought about how to get to. It truly was a good spot to overlook the view; she could clearly see the vast and green forest that spread to all ends with the sparking river in the distance.
"Nice, isn't it?" said Edmund, plopping down on the ground. Mary followed suit and they let their legs dangle off of the edge of the steps.
"It is," Mary replied before slowly asking, "So... that really was the White Witch, huh?"
"Yes," Edmund said, looking straight ahead. "She hasn't changed."
Mary thought back to when she got lost in a trance just looking at the White Witch. It was frightening to think what would have happened if she — or Peter or Caspian — hadn't been interrupted by Edmund stabbing the wall of ice from behind. She could've given in to the Witch's requests without her realizing it.
"I... I have to admit that she really was deceiving."
"She really is. That was brave of you, though. To try and step in before Peter or Caspian could give in to her."
"That was before I realized how... tempting she could actually be. I didn't know what happened to me for a few seconds. I can't imagine how you went through that before."
Mary blurted out the last part before she could stop herself. She knew now that it was a bit of a sensitive topic to Edmund to talk about him and the White Witch because he had assisted her in almost succeeding during his first time in Narnia.
"I can't believe I helped her back then," Edmund muttered. "I suppose I had too much pride from the beginning and it just came back to bite me."
Mary felt bad for him as he beat himself up over something he did a year ago — even hundreds of years ago, if you counted it the way time passed in Narnia.
"But you did what was right in the end," she reminded him. "And just a while ago, you're the one who stopped her — who stopped anything awful from happening at all. You broke the wall of ice. If you didn't, who knows what we could've done?"
Edmund bit his lip, still feeling slightly guilty from simply remembering the things he did before.
"You shouldn't have to dwell on your mistakes."
"I know, but... I just can't help but think of all the bad things that happened, you know?" Edmund sighed.
"I don't completely understand how you feel, but I'm willing to try. And what I know for sure is that we all make mistakes, Edmund," Mary continued gently. "Besides, you were younger then, and alone in another world when you met the White Witch. I'd be surprised if you got everything right the moment you got here. What matters is that you learned from it. You said you lived here until you grew up, right? I'm sure in all those years, you grew up to be an amazing king."
Edmund, whose eyes had been looking down at his lap for the longest time in an attempt to stop himself from getting too emotional, finally lifted his head to look at Mary. She was caught off guard at how soft his gaze looked. She was used to his more piercing stare or even his grumpy expression he regularly had. It was surprising to see his eyes hold such a gentle look that it made her grow flustered.
"Thanks, Mary," Edmund eventually said in a small voice. He didn't know what came over him when he placed his hand on Mary's as a grateful gesture. He turned red in realization, but when she didn't pull away, he linked their hands together and smiled softly at her. Mary felt all fluttery inside as he did that. To her, physical contact was not unusual for friends, whether it was with a boy or girl. Hugs or placing an arm around her shoulder was a normal thing, but she found that recently — she couldn't pinpoint the exact day, but she was sure now that it must have happened sometime back in Finchley and only grew stronger when they arrived in Narnia — whenever Edmund did it to her, butterflies would erupt in her stomach. She didn't want to admit what that meant because she cherished her friendship with him and the Pevensie's far too much.
To get her mind off of those thoughts, Mary asked, "By the way, how exactly do you get in and out of Narnia?"
Edmund shrugged. "There's no set way in and out."
"Then when do you arrive and leave?"
"No one actually knows, to be honest. I suppose whenever you're needed."
Mary nodded in understanding, wondering what that could mean for her. Did that mean she would leave once the battle was over? Would she return with or without the Pevensie's? Or... would she be given the chance to stay in Narnia longer? She couldn't deny that she wanted to see more of this land and its creatures. It had only been more than a week, and it was spent fighting enemies rather than exploring Narnia and what else it had to offer.
"Last time we were here, we stayed so long that we forgot what was beyond it," Edmund admitted. "Like I said before, we grew up to be adults here. We were hunting for something — the White Stag — when we stumbled upon a familiar lamp post."
"A lamp post?"
"It lead to the wardrobe," he explained. "Something drew us to the thicket of trees past it and before we knew it, we found ourselves toppling out of the wardrobe and back into the real world."
"Did you miss Narnia when you came back?"
"I did. I mean, I enjoy life in Finchley, too..." he paused a bit too long as he looked at Mary when he said that. "... but, Narnia is a beautiful place. It wouldn't be right to not miss it at least a bit."
When they fell into a comfortable silence, Edmund wondered what Mary really thought of Narnia. She was thrust into the world without warning as well as been given the pressure of fulfilling a prophecy none of them knew about until a few days ago.
"What do you think of Narnia?" Edmund turned to question around to her.
"It's wonderful," she answered truthfully. "I would like to see it in its glory the way you and the others did, though. It's a shame everyone's been living in hiding because of the Telmarines for so long. I wish I could do something to help."
"You've helped a lot," Edmund reassured her. "And you can still do more. Who knows how long we'll stay here until we get back?"
Mary simply smiled in response before looking at the sun rising. Edmund's thumb rubbed her hand in a comforting gesture as they were still linked together. Though it made Mary's heart race, she chose to focus on the beauty of the sunrise instead, relishing in the peace and quiet. It was a nice feeling to sit next to someone she cared a lot about in that particular moment for she knew that soon enough, a more violent battle would break out between the Narnians and the Telmarines. She just didn't expect it be so soon.
Edmund felt more or less the same way. He couldn't fight off the soft smile that made its way to his face as he watched the rays of light hit Mary's face. He really couldn't ignore it now: he cared about Mary as more than a friend. He didn't know when it began, but he assumed it was somewhere far along their course of friendship. He had initially only viewed her as a family friend, but now that he was thinking about it, he realized that she meant more to him than just that after a while when they grew closer to one another. Now that they were in Narnia and had gone through so much in a span of just a little more than a week, it was difficult to deny that he didn't care about her deeply. He always found himself wanting to protect her but was also proud whenever she defended herself. He admired her bravery and eagerness to be of any help to people she had never met before, going so far as to be included in all their plans even when she had no experience in that field. At the same time, he loved her playful and sarcastic personality that she still had even in Narnia that never made a moment with her dull.
"Hey, Mary," Edmund began before he could stop himself.
"Yeah?"
"I've been meaning to tell you something."
"What is it?"
It was like the words got caught up in Edmund's throat. He couldn't find the right way to phrase what he wanted to say. He stopped fiddling with her hand and the sudden halt of his movement made Mary look at him curiously.
"Edmund?"
"I, uh..."
Before he could continue, something in Mary's peripheral vision caught her eye.
"Wait, Edmund," Mary cut the boy off, removing her hand from his to tap him urgently.
Edmund frowned for he was just about to say something important. However, the urgent tone to Mary's voice told him it was serious, too.
"What's wrong?"
"Look."
Mary pointed towards the forest. Coming out from the trees were countless rows of men clad in suits of armor, some riding horses and others holding flags. She shared a worried look with Edmund. Miraz has finally brought his army to them for a fight.
"They're here."
"We have to tell Peter," Edmund said hurriedly. He and Mary scrambled to their feet and rushed back inside the How, weaving through the Narnians bustling around. They reached the room with the Stone Table, slightly breathless. That was enough to catch Peter and Lucy's attention.
"Pete," Edmund said. "You'd better come quickly."