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"ARE YOU SURE you're eighteen?"
The man looked up at Edmund, who twiddled the corner of his tweed cap. The boy was standing up straight, his hands behind his back. He was first in line out of a couple dozen men, who wished to be drafted off to war.
"Why?" Edmund retorted, with a calm face, "Do I look older?"
The man raised his eyebrows and gestured for the boy to hand over his card, filled with details about the boy- but it wasn't his card...in fact the card belonged to his aunt and Edmund had merely nicked it while she was out.
"Alberta Scrubb?" The man questioned skeptically, looking up at the boy expectedly.
Edmund pointed to the sheet, "It's a typographical error" he informed the man, "It is suppose to be Albert A. Scrubb."
Lucy stumbled through the doors holding bags full of food for the house. "Edmund, you're supposed to be helping me with the groceries." She called out, making Edmund groan inwardly.
The boy snatched the card out of the mans hand and spun on his heel- his anger rapidly spreading. "Better luck next time, ay, squirt?" Another man joked, tipping his hat at Edmund.
Edmund stormed out of the hall carrying a brown paper bag. "Squirt? He barely had 2 years on me!" The boy raged, "I am a king. I've fought wars and I've led armies!"
Lucy smiles sympathetically, "Not in this world." She spoke steadily, trying to calm her older brother. Her eyes drifting off to the left where a boy and a girl were leaning against a pillar talking.
"Yeah, instead I'm stuck here." Edmund spat bitterly. "Doing battles with Eustace Clarence Scrubb. If anyone so deserves the name." The boy noticed Lucy tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, a distracted look overcoming her.
"What are you doing?" Edmund asked, looking around in confusion.
Lucy snapped back to reality, facing her older brother. "Nothing." She replied hastily.
Edmund scrunched his eyebrows together, "Hang on a minute...Where's El" he questioned, once again looking around- his eyes finally landing on the girl and the boy by the pillar.
Eliza leaned against the marble pillar, listening to Thomas as he spoke. The two had met when the three youngest Pevensies had moved to Cambridge, to live with their aunt and uncle while their parents, Susan and Peter all departed to America.
There were times when she really missed her older siblings. She missed Peters effort to try 'protect' her and Eliza missed Susan's smart alec responses. She hadn't seen her siblings in months and heaven knows when she'd see them again.
"Thomas- you can barely stand the sight of blood," Eliza continued, brushing her precious thoughts out of her mind, while tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she chuckled, "You aren't fit to fight in a war like this."
"Oh- so all of a sudden you're the genius when it comes to wars?" Thomas pouted, crossing his arms. Eliza laughed at the irony of it- for, she was somewhat of an expert when it came to wars, just not this one.
"Well...Out of the both of us? Yes, yes I am." Eliza remarked, making the boy chuckle lowly.
"You really are something else Eliza Pevensie." The boy said in awe, his hand taking hers, squeezing it tight. The girl felt a radiant heat spread across her cheeks.
"LIZA!" A voice called, interrupting the bliss. Eliza turnt to face her sister who was yelling and Edmund who, Eliza could tell was angered.
"Well, Thomas... I'll see you tomorrow." The girl grinned, hugging the boy before rushing towards her siblings.
"Liza's got a boyfriend." Lucy taunted with a mocking tone, all while Edmund scowled.
"Lucy! How many times?!" The girl groaned, making Lucy grin more mischievously "Thomas is a friend."
"Thomas is the guy everyone in school wants to court." Lucy said with folded arms, "I may be younger than you but I sure have heard a lot about Thomas."
The older girl rolled her eyes. "What's up with you, Mr. Grump?" Eliza asked, turning to her twin, who's arms were folded in dismay.
"Nothing." Edmund said bluntly, lightening up, "Come on then. We better get back." And with that the three mounted their bicycles and rode through the busy streets of Cambridge.
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ELIZA PEVENSIE three open the door to the Scrubbs abode, where Lucy, Edmund and herself had been unwillingly staying for the past few months. "We're home!" Eliza called out, straightening out her horrid plaid skirt she was being forced to wear as an act of a lady in society.
"Hello?" Lucy called out, carrying the ingredients to the kitchen, "Hi, Uncle Harold.
I've tried to find some carrots but all they had were turnips again."
Eliza dropped a brown bag onto the kitchen counter before standing beside her brother who looked more annoyed than usual.
"Should Eliza and I start making soup?" Lucy tried once more, "Aunt Alberta is on her way home...Uncle Harold?" Edmund now completely fed up with his prudish uncle, rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue at the man who sat on an armchair, engrossed by the newspaper.
"Father, Edmund was making faces at you!" Eustace yelled from the stairs, making Eliza groan internally and turn around to face her younger cousin.
Edmund snarled, before rushing up the stairs, "Why, you little-" he hissed, before being cut off by Eustace's squeals.
"Father, he's going to hit me!" Eustace shrieked in panic, cowering away from Edmund. Eliza turned to the boy with her arms crossed.
"Oh for the love of Aslan, Shut up!" Eliza exclaimed, the Narnian name rolling off her tongue out of habit, earning a look of warning from her twin. Eliza fell silent, it had been a full year since their second adventure in Narnia, and to say the girl missed the magical country would be an understatement.
Lucy suddenly darted out of the kitchen, clutching an envelope in her hands, waving it triumphantly. "Eliza, Edmund look," she cried out, "It's from Susan!"
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UWU
HERE WE GO LADY, GENTS AND MY NON-BINARY PALS, the first chapter of the third act. Yes, Thomas is somewhat of a love interest for Eliza because it's the 1942 (roughly) and she's a teenage girl- so yeah...!
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