CHAPTER 16
POSTED 6/12/19
The moment that everyone had been preparing for had finally arrived: the battle between Narnia and Telmar.
"Be ready!" Peter commanded in a loud voice, turning around to point at the Narnians.
"Peter!" Caspian warned just as he was about to enter Aslan's How. Peter, Edmund, and Mary whipped around to find one of the Telmarine soldiers charging towards them while General Glozelle and Lord Sopespian climbed onto their horses and made their way back to their army. Peter took the soldier down easily, slicing through the man's stomach and then his face.
"Go!" Peter ordered again once he had finished. The Narnians took their places and got ready. Peter and Edmund looked at one another, knowing that as kings of Narnia, it was their duty to stand before them all. The two brothers rushed to the edge of the pathway that led to the How.
"To arms, Telmar! To arms!" Glozelle shouted. The Telmarines roared and raised their weapons as he and Sopespian stopped right before the first line of soldiers. And then, they shot their first few catapults. Mary watched in horror as the massive rocks landed on parts of the How and even where some of the Narnian troops stood.
"Cavalry!" Glozelle raised his sword then pointed it to the side of the field across them. "Attack!"
The first group of Telmarine soldiers charged. When they were near enough, Caspian and Glenstorm took this as their cue to ride back into Aslan's How and execute their plan. Peter and Edmund kept their calm, remembering what they had discussed earlier. If things went according to this plan, it would work out greatly to their advantage. Then, Edmund suddenly remembered his conversation with Mary earlier regarding the battle. He had to make sure she kept her word now that it was all becoming a reality. Edmund left Peter's side, the older boy watching after him in confusion until he realized he was only going to talk to Mary.
Edmund grabbed Mary's wrist to catch her attention and so that she would understand how serious he was being.
"Do you promise to do as I said?" he asked her.
Mary hesitated. She know she said yes when he asked her the same thing earlier that day, but she really didn't want to just cling onto other Narnians just so she would live by the end of it. It just didn't feel right.
"Mary."
"Edmund, you know I can't do that," she said apologetically. "I can't just sit back and let everyone else —"
"All I asked was that you don't get too deep into the fight. I'm begging you," Edmund stressed, looking back and forth from her and Peter. He didn't have much time and needed to take his place next to his brother soon, but he wanted a final answer from Mary.
"If someone needs help, I'm gonna give it to them. I'm not going pretend like there isn't something I can do," Mary said with a tone of finality.
Eventually, Peter started counting, "One... two... three..."
Edmund sighed in frustration, letting go of her wrist.
"I know you're not one to stand back and watch while everyone does something, but I'm serious," he pleaded.
"So am I."
"Four... five... six... seven..."
The ground beneath them began to shake and rumble, both from the Telmarine army charging at them from above the ground and the Narnians hidden from view underground as their plan went into motion.
"Stop overestimating your abilities!"
Although Mary knew Edmund was only looking out for her, she couldn't help but feel offended. Among the people in Narnia, Edmund knew her the best. He knew that she just wouldn't back down from a fight no matter what. All her teasing and banter aside, she was just a girl with a big heart and strong character. She would do whatever she set her mind to, and yet here Edmund was, telling her that she should hold back and not overestimate her abilities. It just made it seem like he just saw her as someone weak and defenseless, and she didn't like it.
Mary turned a cold shoulder towards him and said, "Maybe it's you who should stop underestimating me."
"Eight... nine... get ready!"
Edmund had no time to say another word to Mary when the ground started to shake more violently than ever, signalling that Caspian and the other Narnians had done their part. He couldn't spare a second more to convince Mary to do as he said. He sent her one last pleading look before hurrying back to Peter's side while she took her place with the rest of the Narnians.
Reepicheep had watched over Mary's horse when she was marshalling Peter and Miraz's single combat. When she finally arrived, he nodded politely at her and scooted closer to the front to allow Mary to climb on it. She and Reepicheep watched from their spot as the ground just before the stone path towards the How crumbled within itself right as the Telmarines had arrived. A mixture of the soldiers' screams and their horses' neighs sounded throughout the battlefield as they fell inside the pit.
"Stop! Back! Back!" Glozelle shouted. "Hold it now! Hold it!"
And then, from behind Mary where the archers were stationed and had their bows loaded, Susan declared, "Now!"
Dozens and dozens of arrows soared through the air, most of them getting past the catapults flying towards them. They landed themselves on the Telmarine soldiers struggling to get out of the pit, successfully taking them down. However, many soldiers still escaped unharmed. The battle was far from over.
"Charge!" Peter yelled with his sword raised. Mary slapped the reigns of her horse and did as Peter told. Together with the Narnians — the centaurs, fawns, minotaurs, dwarves, bears, mice, wolves, and leopards alike — she charged towards the Telmarine army, her sword and shield at the ready.
Everything became a blur. Mary directed her horse to where the Telmarines in the pit were. She and Reepicheep both agreed that they would be their first target while they were already down. As she neared the pit, she saw another platform open on the ground where Caspian and the other Narnians exited from. Reepicheep jumped down to do his part while Mary almost immediately found an opponent, a Telmarine soldier just about to get out from the pit, still on his horse. He let out a battle cry as he brought his sword down on Mary. She reacted fast and blocked his hit, their swords clashing loudly. It was easy to beat him because his horse was already losing its balance. All Mary had to do was swing a few more times, and when she used her shield to push the soldier, he fell backwards with a yell.
Once again, it wasn't difficult to find an opponent. The Telmarines were everywhere and their number never seemed to decrease. Mary tried counting how many men she fought and took down — one, two, three... and then she just couldn't anymore. They were coming at her at an alarming rate and she couldn't tell how many she had encountered anymore.
After backhandedly slicing her sword across a Telmarine's chest, she found herself next to Reepicheep again, whom she thought she had lost amidst the chaos. The mouse had just cut the throat of one soldier and jumped off of him to land right at the edge of the pit where yet another Telmarine was attempting to climb out of.
"You're... a mouse," was all the man said.
"You people have no imagination!" Reepicheep said in irritation before aiming for the man's face. The soldier screamed as he lost his grip on the edge of the pit and eventually disappeared from their sight.
But, things were only just getting started. Even as the griffins carried the dwarves who shot multiple arrows at the enemy, they were outnumbered. Glozelle simply had to say the word and then the next army would step forward and take their place.
When Mary tried to dodge her current opponent's hit, he pushed her with his shield from his place on the ground, making her lose balance. She fell sideways off of her horse but landed on her feet, quickly recovering to attack the man back with a deep cut to both his legs, rendering him incapable of walking as he fell to the ground with a cry. During the short time she wasn't fighting anyone, she couldn't help but notice that things were becoming a lost cause. The fight never seemed to cease and the Telmarines looked like this was just their warm-up.
Somewhere within the crowd, Edmund felt the same way. Lucy still hadn't shown up with Aslan and he was beginning to lose hope no matter how much he initially believed in them. It wasn't hard to do so when they had just finished fighting only the first set of the Telmarines' army.
Mary regretted letting herself getting distracted by her thoughts when a hand latched itself around her ankle. She yelped in surprise as someone pulled on it, causing her to fall down with a thud. She groaned at the impact before looking over her shoulder to find that it was the same man whose legs she cut, angrily looking at her. Only a few meters away, Edmund had heard Mary's yell. His head turned from side to side, frantically searching for her. It took him some time until he found her on the ground, struggling to get away from the grip of a fallen Telmarine soldier. He slapped the reigns of his horse and charged towards that direction, preparing to shoot the man once he was close enough.
"Mary!" he called out.
But Mary didn't have time to acknowledge the person who called her. She had just found a way to get the soldier off of her. She brought her sword down on the man's wrist, just narrowly missing her own leg. He cried out in pain at the new wound but shot out his uninjured hand to try and grab her again. Mary expected this and rolled over to evade it before she sent a strong kick at the Telmarine's face, finally knocking him out. She quickly got back to her feet and looked for the person who called her, only slightly surprised when she found Edmund staring at her with wide eyes, his crossbow at the ready.
"Edmund," she greeted, a little breathless. She couldn't find more words to say as she was still shocked at how she had gotten herself out of that sticky situation and she couldn't help but still be a little mad at him as well.
Edmund paused, not knowing what to say either. This was certainly not how he expected things to go; he thought he would be the one to take the Telmarine down for Mary as it looked like she couldn't escape his grip, but he was proven wrong. She managed to take him down perfectly fine on her own.
"I suppose you didn't need my help, after all," he said awkwardly, hopping off of his horse. Mary pursed her lips and simply nodded at his words.
"Yeah, well, I didn't want to underestimate my own abilities."
She knew it was petty to be cold to him in the midst of a battle, but she wanted to prove to him, to everyone, and especially to herself what she was capable of doing. Moreover, if she really was the girl in the prophecy, then she wanted to show that was meant to do so much more than just stand back while everyone else fought for their lives and what they stood for.
"Mary, come on. I'm really sorry about that," Edmund said, regret lacing his voice. "I'd take it back in a heartbeat if I could."
Mary was going to respond when a new group of Telmarines ran towards them. She and Edmund raised their weapons and fought them back to back, taking them down one by one until they were all lying on the ground.
"I just didn't want you to get hurt," Edmund continued as if they hadn't just fought a group of soldiers.
Mary grew warm at his honesty and concern but felt that this wasn't the right place to talk. They were still in the middle of a battle and General Glozelle had just sent the next group from their army at them.
"It's fine, Edmund. Let's talk later, okay?" Mary said hurriedly, tapping his arm and pointing at the new line of soldiers approaching. "We have more important things to —"
"No!" Edmund said so firmly that it startled her. He didn't know if it was just the adrenaline rushing inside of him that made him feel so confident, but there was no stopping himself now. He cleared his throat and straightened up. "Look. I've been trying to tell you something this whole day but you've been cutting me off."
Mary looked at him, puzzled. She didn't even realize she had been cutting him off, but how important could what he wanted to say even be for him to say it in the middle of a battle?
"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize," she said, eyebrows knitted together in confusion at why he was in such a hurry to tell her anyway.
"Actually, you didn't cut me off the entire time. I kept chickening out, too, but —"
"Just hurry up and tell me before we die."
Edmund glared at her but chose to look past that. After taking a deep breath, he finally said, "I like you."
Unfortunately, the sounds of swords and shields clashing, rocks crumbling, catapults being shot, and the battle cries had become so loud that Mary didn't hear Edmund.
"What?" she asked loudly.
"I like you."
"Speak louder, Ed —"
"I like you!" he shouted over the noise. "More than a friend. I like you a lot — I think I always have, and I always will."
Mary gaped at Edmund, wondering if he was joking. But the look on his face told her that he was being sincere. She was stunned, to say the least. This was the moment she had been waiting for deep inside but never wanted to admit, but this certainly wasn't how she imagined it to unfold.
When Mary hadn't said anything back, Edmund began to panic. Was all she said a few days ago when Lucy interrogated her back at the camp just her being polite? Did he overthink all those little moments they shared that hinted that they cared about one another? Did he just assume and hope too much that she would return his feelings?
When more Telmarines had reached them, they had to halt their conversation — which was basically Edmund waiting for Mary's answer — to fight them off. It took a few more minutes to get rid of that certain group of soldiers, and Mary was just about to leave her spot next to Edmund to fight off a few more nearby when the boy pulled her by the arm and towards him.
"Aren't you going to give me an answer?" he asked, searching her eyes for a reaction. "I wouldn't usually demand for one —"
"Okay, okay, I —"
"— but we're already in the middle of a battle right now and —"
"Edmund!" she raised her voice. "I like you, too."
Edmund instantly shut up upon Mary's confession. The brunette girl was beet red upon revealing how she felt about him. She had mixed feelings about her saying it so plainly and in such a messy situation, but she was glad she finally admitted it in the first place. Luckily, Edmund was pleasantly surprised at her straightforwardness and grinned from ear to ear.
"Good."
And then, without warning, he snaked an arm around her waist and brought her closer. She stumbled at the sudden movement and her eyes widened when he lowered his head to place a kiss on her lips. It was a short yet chaste one, just enough for her to grow weak at the knees, for her brain to turn into mush, and her heart to go haywire.
When they separated, Mary was speechless as she processed what had just happened. Meanwhile, Edmund was smirking cheekily as he said, "Let's continue this after we win, shall we?"
A/N: THEY KISSED. THEY FREAKING KISSED. FINALLY. It was so fun to write this chapter ahhh my Marmund/Edry heart is so happy right now :'> I hope this chapter made you feel the same wahaha the book isn't over yet! We still have around 9 more chapters and an epilogue to go yay see you all in the next update!