When the first round came, Angelina couldn't watch as the giant knocked Edmund off his feet and drew his sword next to Edmund's neck. It was so close to the end, yet the Just King got back up on his feet and hit the giant with his sword. No matter how many times he was knocked down, he kept getting back up. Blood was dripping from his teeth and his head hurt like he was in the darkest parts of hell fighting the devil himself. Edmund could not afford to give up, so he kept fighting even though he received several blows to his head. The giant smacked him one more time and he fell flat down on the ground. Pushing himself up, Edmund spat out the remaining blood in his mouth and wiped his lips with his sleeve.
The fight was over, and he fell down on his knees as two guards dragged him from the arena back to his prison cell. Some people who passed by spit on him in disgust, others looked with sad eyes. He didn't care much for any of the faces he saw until he caught a pair of blue eyes which seemed familiar. Knowing that he was probably hallucinating from the blow, Edmund closed his eyes as the guards dragged him back to his cell. They pushed him in and left him on the ground, gasping for air.
Susan grabbed Angelina's hand, "are you stupid, we don't want anyone to recognize us! Besides, we will save Edmund and Caspian tonight." She pulled the young woman away from the crowd.
She couldn't wait for the night, there were so many things that could go wrong during the period of their wait for the night to come. Edmund could have a seizure, he could die from the blow he received earlier. This and so many other things could go wrong. She was worried every second for him, however, Angelina knew that right now she could not help him.
Deciding to go scout around the prison, Susan put on her cloak and told Angelina to wait. Susan Pevensie was always the adventurous type of person, never wanting anyone to tell her what to do. She was truly an independent woman who looked after herself. The only person she would let dictate her life was her older brother Peter, and even he did not have the authority to do so all the time.
Susan looked at her compass and then at the sea which was calling to her with its blue waves. She knew that going to battle was what she was born to do. Susan had fought many Narnian wars, and this was the first her brother wouldn't let her go to. Every time she would go on diplomatic journeys with Edmund, some Narnian princess wanted to marry her, but Susan never found any of them good enough for herself. Not yet understanding why this war was so special, Susan Pevensie wondered if her brother found out by now that she was gone. Knowing that he was probably worried gave her a resting thought that she was not yet forgotten by everyone.
Spending all day scouting and looking for a safer way to get to the royal Narnian ship which was surprisingly still in the docs, Susan discovered a forest near the prison. It was only by chance that trees grew in such a climate, and Susan thanked God that the trees would give them needed shelter to slip away unnoticed by the city. She ran back to Angelina who was at the boarding house.
The young girl was reading over the letter that she clenched in her hands every night. A part of Susan wondered what was in that letter, and another knew it was none of her business. She opened the door wider, letting Angelina see that she was back. Stuffing the letter into her pocket frantically, Angelina smiled.
"I found a way to get them to the ship unnoticed!" Susan exclaimed as she plopped down on the bed.
Angelina looked at the Queen with excitement, "how?"
"There are woods near the prison, if we get them at least out of the prison, we can run for it, no one is going to see us if we take that path through the woods." Susan took a piece of bread and filled her hungry stomach.
"If we can get them out," Angelina she looked down, worried that they would be too late or that something bad would happen to them or the boys.
Susan rolled her eyes, "you know I noticed something about you, you are always so pessimistic. Think positively for once!"
"I can't. The world is not what you expect it to be, it is dark and evil." Angelina hung her head.
Putting on a serious look, Susan stood up, "how bad could your life have been? I mean I survived the world war. Then I was magically teleported to another world where I fought many more wars."
She had a point, Angelina had no right to say that she had a more exciting and eventful life than Susan. Feeling bad for the entire Pevensie family, Angelina sighed. "You might be right. I have not survived a war, better yet I have never fought one."
"You are stronger than you think, always. I learned that the hard way. Sometimes, people don't see our true colors, but then there's always that one person who does, and that person won't give up." Susan looked out the window as she thought of Caspian and her brothers who always encouraged her to persist.
"What happened between you and Caspian, why is he with Corrine now?" Angelina asked.
"He is not with Corrine." Susan looked like she knew more than everyone else. "When you are a king, you are expected to act in a different way with certain people. I turned Caspian down when he proposed to me, so he had to find someone else to be his queen. He doesn't love her, but he is kind to her." Susan confessed.
"Why did you turn him down?" Angelina was curious now.
Susan looked at the watch that was in the middle of the room, "a story for another day, now we have to go save the kings of Narnia."
The women with cloaks were already on their way to the prison, and Angelina and Susan slipped in among some of them. All of their cloaks were different so it was easy to blend in. The guards looked over the baskets and smiled at the woman, which disgusted Angelina. She didn't want any of their dirty hands on her skin. The people that plagued these lands of Narnia and spread their own control and regimes, were uncontrollable.
"Hold on honey," one of the guards grabbed her. He reached into the basket and took some of the bread from it, "go." He smiled and gave her a slap on the butt that she didn't expect, Susan was about to slap him back, when Angelina touched his shoulder with the light in her hand and he couldn't speak any longer. The man spit the bread out of his mouth and grabbed his throat trying to say something to the guard next to him, but no sound came out.
Angelina glared at him and continued walking. This place needed justice and only the kings and queens could restore it, or more specifically the just king of Narnia.
She finally reached Edmund's cell and looked at the young man who was sitting on the wooden bed as Susan went in further looking for Caspian.
"You like him," she heard Conscience smirk and say.
Shut up, Angelina thought.
"You know, I heard that," he said and disappeared.
The two guards opened the door for her and she walked in. The guards quickly locked the door behind her and she slowly made her way to the table. Not knowing if she should take her cloak off and let Edmund know it was her, Angelina decided to take the bread out of the basket.
"I don't want any of that." He said, looking out into the window and not at her.
She took some bread into her hands and approached him. He didn't move, still distracted by the moon he was staring at.
Waving her hand in front of his eyes she said quietly, "Edmund?"
Edmund instantly turned to her. Looking into her eyes he couldn't understand whether she was really in front of him or whether it was an illusion that he was trying to create to say goodbye to her.
"Angelina?" He looked at her, his eyes squinting to see better, although he had excellent vision. She smiled at him, cupping his cheek in her hand. Wincing from the contact, he realized that she was physically in front of him, although he didn't know by what miracle.
"What the bloody hell do you think you are doing here?" He jumped up, waving his hands around though he could feel pain in every single rib.
She furrowed her eyebrows, "I beg your pardon, I am here to rescue you!"
"By putting yourself in danger, how could you," he turned away putting his hand to his forehead, and then aggressively grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her, "you're so impossible!"
Angelina pulled herself away from him, "chill buddy! if I don't help you before tomorrow-"
"I'm going to die tomorrow am I not?" She heard his faint voice as he sat back down on the wooden bed.
Angelina breathed out, "you shouldn't say such things. You never know what tomorrow brings." She sat down next to him, inspecting his wounded body and how heavily he was breathing.
"Well, what's the point of living then, if I won't be free?" It was not like him to talk of such negative things, Edmund was the one who had always seen the silver lining on every cloud that came his way.
"Is there really no one you want to live for?" Angelina almost cried out, trying to reach to his conscience, hoping that he would wake up from his strange trans that he was in.
"Of course there is someone I want to live for. But while I am stuck here I can't do anything, it is impossible for me to protect you if I am going to die tomorrow. I am afraid I finally found my match." He said, his head sinking down.
She ran her fingers through his wet hair and pulled his head closer to her shoulder. Looking around the room, she tried to find the best way to escape, the guards would soon enough be wondering why she is spending so much time in that particular prison cell. Of course, she could always use her light against them. She couldn't control exactly what the light did, but it somehow seemed to find the right way to punish everyone who stood in her way.
"Angelina," Edmund interrupted her thinking she could tell that he wanted to say something, but now was not the time at all.
"Susan and I came here to rescue you and Caspian," she stood up and moved away from him nearing the door and breaking the moment.
Edmund looked down at the ground, "and how exactly are you going to do that? How did you get here anyway, I thought you were supposed to be training with Aslan?"
"You ask many questions Edmund," Angelina turned to him, "do you trust me?" She added.
He looked into her innocent eyes and said, "yes, of course, I trust you."
Opening the wooden door, she turned around and looked at both of the guards, there was a spark in her eyes and both the guards instantly fell to the grounds. Edmund walked out, looking at the fallen men behind him.
"Did you kill them?" Scared, he checked their pulse. He was scared because he didn't know what she did to them.
Angelina shook her head, "no, they are only sleeping."
Looking around, Edmund grabbed her hand and they started making their way out of the prison, slipping past the rest of the guards. The power inside of her stirred and it came out when she least expected it, all she had to do was pause and think about the situation she was in. However much of the light she used at the moment, was nothing compared to the amount she would have to use to defeat evil.
Edited: 4/22/2020