(Y/n)'s POV
We arrived at Cair Paravel. The majestic view that was presented in front of me took my breath away. The castle was built into the mountains surrounded by lush nature. It was grand and detailed, down to the last stone pillar.
"You live in there?" I said out of amazement. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was and how it would look inside.
"Yea, come on, I'll show you around," he said and mounted off the horse. He offered me his hand which I took. Stumbling, I end up grabbing onto his arm for more support.
"You alright?" He said helping me up.
" Yea-yeah, um thank you, " I avoid eye contact to maintain my composure and pride.
We walked towards the entry and were greeted by two centaurs.
"King Edmund, it's good to see your safe return," one of them said and they both bowed. Oh right, he's a king, I consciously reminded myself. Then I turned my attention to the existence of the centaurs, fascinated by them.
"Who's your guest, if you don't mind me asking your highness? "
"She's a potential ally, we're here on official business so no need to worry," He looked at me, giving me a reassurance look but I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be comforting or teasing. I followed him into the castle, waving to the centaurs.
I walked over to Edmund and quietly exclaimed,
"There's centaurs in Narnia!" He looked at me and lightly chuckled, "Yeah, there's a lot of other creatures in Narnia too like mermaids, pixies, minators, and look" he pointed towards the open courtyard area where we were headed to, "The trees dance." I looked over and saw them sway with the breeze, leaves swirling around and fluttering to the ground.
"It's so wonderful here, I never thought in my wildest dreams I could- I don't know witness such beauty and magic," I slowly look around, wanting to take in everything. The garden was filled with different flowers, ivy vines entangling the columns and archway, a stone walkway, and a fountain right in the middle. I sat down on one of the stone benches and stared at the flowers next to me. I realized little ladybugs and bees were attending to them. I squeaked out of pure joy but covered my mouth to not scare them.
"Excited are we?" he said and sat next to me.
"It's not something I get to see every day, I absolutely love all of the Narnian creatures, it's so amazing."
"You haven't seen anything yet, wait til you see everything from up above," he said while looking around.
"Really?! You gotta show me," I said like an absolute dork. I didn't care at this point if I sounded like a fangirl. My inner child was practically screaming.
"One of these days," he said smiling. It became a peaceful silence and I loved every minute of it.
"Hey how's your back, by the way, I know my arm and sides are sore," I asked.
"Um, it hurts but I'm at the point where I can't tell if it's pulsing or not," He said and then quietly mumbled something. I grimaced feeling my empathy overwhelm me. Why did I have to fall on him?
"Edmund there you are!" a girl came running in and then stopped halfway there, "who's this?"
"I'm (Y/n), and you are?" It was either Susan or Lucy from what Edmund told me.
"I'm Lucy, nice to meet you!" she came closer.
"You too, I like your dress," I looked at her pretty pink dress. I just adore it. When I was younger I loved the idea of dressing up. "Thank you," she said, doing a little spin to show it off. I knew Edmund said they were kings and queens but he was like what 17-18, so around my age, and Lucy seemed to be a little younger than us. I was still not over the fact they were royalty. To be honest, I was just jealous because I'd always wanted to be an empress or a queen. That or a pirate.
"You have to meet Peter and Susan," she put her hands together and walked backward to see if we would follow. Edmund and I both got up.
"Well we're going to have to cut this tour short," he said and began walking. I followed suit and softly smiled as we left the courtyard. This was definitely my favorite part of Cair Paravel, even if I haven't seen the rest of it. We continued our path through the castle and Lucy kept asking questions. I told her how I got here and a little about myself.
"You fell on Edmund! I can not believe that," Lucy kept laughing and I couldn't help but join in.
"Yeah, that reminds me, we should get to the infirmary," Edmund said, taking a turn. He went down the hall and we followed. My sides weren't pulsing with pain anymore but touching them hurt like a bitch. Poor Edmund, I hope it's not too bad. Considering he took most of the impact I bet he's in worse pain than I was in. Once we got there, I couldn't stop admiring the stained glass windows and the little suncatchers hanging by. There were six cots and curtains separating them. Each little side table had a vase of flowers. Even this infirmary is aesthetically pleasing!
"Hello, your majesties," a badger and rabbit greeted us.
"Hello Archer, Rue," Lucy waved and took the reigns of the conversation, "Could you look at Edmund and our new friend (Y/n) over here?" Edmund and I walked over and sat on the cots.
"Oh dear, what happened?" Archer the badger asked as he walked over and sat right next to Ed.
"Long story short- we fell and we're a little beaten up," Edmund said lifting up his shirt to reveal the beginning of some nasty buries. I stared at them feeling guilty because it was my fault he looked like that.
"My dear, look at that," Rue starts grabbing things from the medical cabinet and Archer starts adjusting the cot for Ed.
"Go ahead and take off your shirt, I need to check your whole torso for any sprains or fractures," Archer said feeling around him. Edmund jolted back from the pain and groaned. I kept looking but mentally scolded myself for doing so.
"You too honey, show me where your injuries are," Rue hopped over to me and I lifted my sweater and tank top up to show my sides.
"Well that looks pretty bad, could you remove this," she pointed towards my sweater and I complied. I only had my tank top underneath so I got goosebumps straight away. I was going to cross my arms to keep warm but flinched due to the bruise on my arm. Damn it.
"Relax, you're in good paws," Rue said and adjusted my cot, and I laid back on the pillows, propping myself up. Edmund was the same, but I noticed some bruises on his chest close to his ribs.
"Oh god, Edmund I'm so sorry,"
"Hey, no worries," he groaned, "I mean- yeah I'm annoyed, but there's no point in getting mad, what's done is done." God he was really attractive, especially being so nice and respectful.
"Thank you, seriously," I said softly.
"No more climbing trees for you though," Edmund teased, and I laughed.
"Shut up," I said jokingly and he chuckled.
"Alright, it seems like it's just bruising for you miss so count your blessings. And for you," Archer turns to Ed, "you seem to have a small fracture in your ribcage but it should heal within 6 weeks and with some medicine, it should heal sooner. "
"Thanks, doctor," Edmund sighed. Rue hand-fed me a spoon with a green liquid in it.
"What's this exactly?"
"It's an herbal medicine used to help with pain," Rue, "C'mon now, drink up." I took one quick look and drank, hoping for the best. It tasted interesting but tolerable, like my family.
"Thank you," I said and settled back into the pillows.
That's when I realized Lucy had left in the first place because she came back with two other people, which I'm guessing were Susan and Peter.
"Edmund, where have you been," Susan said coming closer, "Oh God what happened?"
"I was just out practicing," Ed sighed.
"So you're the girl Ed brought home," Peter said looking over to me, "(Y/n) right?"
"Yeah that's me, I assume Lucy told you about me then? " I said, thinking she told them about how Ed and I met.
"Yeah, we can talk more about everything once we get to the conference room," Peter said. Rue and Archer finished and I put my sweater back on. Edmund did the same after he took his medicine.
"It's nice to meet you by the way, I'm Peter, that's Susan," he gestured towards his sister who looked up from checking Edmund over and smiled. He put his hand out and I shook it firmly.
"It's nice to meet you too," I smiled. They were all so attractive I kinda felt insecure.
"Let's go then," I said getting up and Edmund followed slowly.
"Ed, maybe you should stay here, I don't want to hurt yourself," Susan said.
"Yeah, the last thing you want is for it to get worse," I said.
"Look, I'll be alright, I rode back on Philip here just fine," he got up and began leading the way out. "See I'm okay." We continued our way out.
Soon I fell back, walking so that I could look at everything but still keep up. Peter broke the silence,
"So (Y/n) did Edmund treat you alright when he brought you home? I'm just asking to see if he said anything weird or he was bugging you-"
"Peter this is not the conversation we're going to have right now, you'll overwhelm the poor dear," Susan snipped at Peter.
I didn't know what to do since I wasn't all mentally there. Too preoccupied with Cair Paravel.
"Sorry I was just curious, it's the first girl he brought home, I was starting to think he played for the other team," he joked and Lucy laughed. Susan snickered and so did I. Funny, cause I play for both teams, haha.
"Shut up, at least I brought a girl home," Edmund said. Lucy and I kept laughing.
"Alright enough, Peter whatever happened with that one girl from...?" Susan started a separate conversation which I tuned out of. Edmund made his way over so that we were walking more closely.
"Hey...um sorry about my brother," he said staring him down.
"No worries," I smiled, "I have an older brother who teases me non-stop so I understand." Edmund and I felt a lot more comfortable after that. I couldn't explain why but he was very calming and nice to be around. I just hope he doesn't find me annoying to be around because I could see us becoming really good friends. If only I was good at keeping them.
- ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 3 -
Author's note ✎-
Y/n is bi (under the bi umbrella) but that won't really affect anything too much, if you don't identify as such then it's fine, you can just omit that detail.