(Image not mine, credit goes to original artist)
(One year later)
PETER'S POV
"There's no way you don't like her,"
Edmund jumped from my sudden comment. He was leaning against the railing of a balcony in the throne room with his back towards me, watching Susan and Lucy try to teach Y/n archery. I leaned against the doorframe and raised an eyebrow at him.
"What?"
"Y/n," I smirked, "You fancy her."
Edmund chuckled and turned to watch the girls again, I walked up and leaned on the railing next to him.
"I don't fancy her," Edmund sighed exasperatedly, "She's my best friend!"
"Friends don't look at each other like that,"
"What do you mean?"
I rolled my eyes, "Ed, no one gazes at their best friend the way you do. You look like a lovesick puppy whenever you look at her."
"I don't look at her like a lovesick puppy!" He insisted, "And besides, she's the closest friend I've ever had. It's not like I'm going to look at her the same way I look at any of my other friends."
I scoffed, this boy was clearly in denial. "All right, describe her to me."
"Why?"
"Just do it."
He sighed, turning so his back was facing the girls and crossed his arms. "She's kind and accepting and has a fun sense of humor." He began.
"Tell me something I wouldn't know from meeting her once," I said.
He glared at me, "She prefers lots of butter on her toast, she taps something when she's anxious, she waters her plants every Wednesday, she picks out the seeds of her watermelon, she has a defensive tactic in chess, her nose gets red in the cold, her eyes sparkle when she talks about something she likes, she brushes her hair before going to bed, she always puts her arms under mine when we hug, she knows all the right things to say, her real smile is infectious-"
He stopped listing and his jaw went slack, "Oh."
I laughed, "Oh? That's all you have to say?"
Edmund rested his arms on the railing to face the girls again, not saying anything. I followed his eyes to Y/n who was struggling to shoot the arrow straight, even with Susan helping her. Eventually, she got it in the bullseye but had clearly used her magic to do so, so Susan and Lucy were scolding her. I chuckled, she was getting a lot better at her magic and didn't even have to use her pipes for small things, which was pretty impressive. Although, when she first got a hang of it she would go around growing flower crowns on people's heads all day.
"High King Peter, King Edmund," a faun walked in and held out a letter, "A request from the kingdom in the West."
I thanked him and took the letter, tearing it open in one swipe. Scanning the paper, my eyes widened.
"What is it?" Edmund questioned. I turned to the faun.
"Get the Queens,"
---
"What's happened, Peter?" Susan walked into the room followed by Y/n and Lucy. They walked to stand in front of me and Y/n naturally moved to stand next to Edmund. I tried not to smile at the two.
I cleared my throat, "A kingdom in the West has asked for help exterminating some dragons that have been terrorizing the citizens."
"Dragons?!" Edmund exclaimed, "Those are real?"
"Apparently, and they've killed hundreds."
Silence fell over the group.
"And we're going why?!" Y/n questioned.
"To form an alliance with the kingdom," I explained, "We haven't formed any yet, and that makes us vulnerable. If we were to join forces with another kingdom we could lower the chances of being attacked in the future."
Susan nodded, "Makes sense. We just need to be able to defeat the dragons."
I nodded grimly, "We already defeated the White Witch, how hard can it be?"
---
Y/N'S POV
Everything, and I mean everything, was on fire. Before we even arrived at the kingdom we could see the smoke filling the darkening sky. It appeared the dragons had just attacked since nothing was significantly damaged yet. We made our way around the burning streets, avoiding the flames and heading towards the palace which was made completely out of stone so it hadn't caught on fire. The citizens were taking refuge in its walls and guards handed out water and ice for any burns, which most people had. An armored guard led us and our entourage through the gates and past the people gathered in the courtyard until we entered the throne room. A large man sat slumped on the lone throne, a girl my age standing behind him to his right, I assumed she was his daughter.
"Ah!" The king stood up, "The Kings and Queens of Narnia! Thank goodness you've come."
The five of us fanned out according to our throne arrangements, our entourage standing behind us.
"We are happy to help and will do everything we can to help, King Runas." Peter declared.
I watched King Runas smile with relief and run over to shake each of our hands, his daughter trailing behind him. Her eyes were glued to Peter as if in a trance, her face as red as a tomato as she stuttered over her greeting to him before moving to Susan. Immediately, her embarrassment went away when she faced the older Queen.
I snickered and tapped Edmund's hand, "That princess is head over heels isn't she?"
"Oh, yeah," He grinned, "I think we'll have to plan a wedding soon."
I forced my face to contort into a polite and regal smile as I shook the King's hand after he made his way over from Lucy. "Lovely to meet you, Queen Y/n." He smiled.
"Pleasure's all mine, King Runas,"
He moved on to Edmund and the princess stepped in front of me, "Thank you for coming, Your Majesty," She curtsied.
"I'm glad to be of help," I smiled.
She narrowed her eyes at me slightly and examined my face before trailing her eyes up and down my body, "I'll be forward," She quietly said, "What is your relationship with High King Peter?"
Her question took me by surprise. Who did this girl think she was? I glanced over at Peter who was busy talking to an advisor, "I'm his friend," I stated, "We're like family."
She frowned and nodded her head then moved onto Edmund, only giving him a small curtsy and curt greeting. King Runas sat back down on his throne and the princess took her previous place behind him.
"My daughter Anne and I will supply you with anything you need while you are here." King Runas spoke, "I'm afraid we wouldn't be much help otherwise, as we have already tried everything we could think of to defeat the dragons."
We nodded and thanked him before following his guards back out and into a separate area where our rooms and the sleeping quarters for our soldiers were. Peter dismissed everyone and we went to our respective rooms for the night, Susan, Lucy and I slept in the same room and Peter and Edmund slept in another room down the hall.
---
EDMUND'S POV
Blood curdling screams woke me up while it was still dark and I barreled out of my room, recognizing the screams as Y/n's. Smoke filled the hallway coming from the girl's room and ran straight through it, slamming the door open and unsheathing my sword. I wildly took in the scene as I rushed to Y/n who was sprawled on the floor in her nightgown, the curtains were on fire and billowing from the large open window, spreading the flame onto the carpet and the bed. Susan was standing in front of Y/n, also in her nightgown, blocking her from the window as she shot arrows through it.
"Y/n, wake up!" I shook her shoulders. She groaned and opened her eyes, immediately freaking out and trying to get out of my grasp.
"It's me! It's me!" I held her closer, she calmed down after seeing my face and relaxed a little in my arms. I looked up at Susan, "What happened? Where's Lucy?"
Peter barreled into the room with an odd mix of pajamas and battle armor and wielding his sword just as Susan answered.
"A dragon!" She cried, "It came in through the window and grabbed Lucy. Y/n tried to fight it off but it hit her with its tail."
"It's tail?" Peter cried.
"It was made of rocks, Peter," She lowered her bow, "It's skin is impenetrable, even I couldn't get a good shot."
"Ugh," Y/n rubbed her head and sat up from my arms, "I thought I could kill it but it was just too quick. It was much smaller than I thought it would be, and a lot more agile."
Susan nodded just as our soldiers mixed with a couple of King Runas's soldiers ran into the room, led by Oreius. Peter quickly filled them in while Susan and helped Y/n up, even though she insisted she was fine.
"We need to send a party to rescue Lucy," Susan commanded the soldiers, "The dragon didn't try to hurt her so must be holding her ransom."
Oreius nodded, "I agree, Your Majesty. We can send a party at dawn, leaving now would give us the disadvantage with the loss of light."
Susan pursed her lips, clearly disliking the idea of waiting so long. Peter just nodded and sent the soldiers back to bed before disappearing into our room.
I turned to Susan, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," She nodded then rubbed her temples, "I'm going back to bed, see you at dawn."
"I should be going to bed too," Y/n removed her arm from around my shoulders.
"Are you sure you don't need to see a medic?"
"I'll be fine, Ed," She smiled, "It's not like they have Advil in Narnia."
I nodded and bid goodnight to them before walking down the hall to the room I shared with Peter. Pattering across the room, I fell onto my bed and stared at the dark ceiling, trying my best to slow down my racing mind. Horrible thoughts of what Lucy was going through flooded my brain, erasing any chances of sleeping.
This is gonna be a long night.
---
Y/N'S POV
"Y/n, wake up,"
Was it dawn already?! I swear I only slept for five minutes. Keeping my eyes closed, I pulled the covers closer.
"Susan, go to sleep." I retorted.
I heard her chuckle above me before something heavy fell onto my stomach. Susan had just dropped the chainmail from my armor onto me and was heading back to her closet to grab her own chainmail. I groaned and stood up, immediately regretting it when my head started to throb painfully.
"That tail sure did some damage," Susan commented, watching me stumble around.
I gave her a side look and she grinned and turned back to her armor. "Edmund was very worried."
My hands stopped fumbling with the armor, "We are best friends after all."
"Mhm," She pulled on her leather breastplate before turning to me, "Come on, we both know there's more."
I spun around to see her knowing face. I sighed and glared at her, "You know, I don't like how smart you are sometimes."
Susan grinned and handed me my chestplate, "I'm just observant. You guys would be cute together."
"Let's just focus on rescuing Lucy from the blood-thirsty dragons, shall we?"
She threw her hands up in surrender before slinging her quiver around her shoulder. I checked my reflection one last time and followed her out of the room after grabbing my pipes. Neither of us put on our crowns as they would get in the way during battle. We walked briskly down the hall and into the meeting room, coming face to face with our entire team of Narnians as well as Peter and Edmund.
"All right," Peter's voice echoed through the room, "We're all here now, let's go."
With that the entire group marched out of the room in full battle armor towards the front gates. Peter, Edmund, Susan, and I led the soldiers and I realized just how wrong it felt not to have Lucy there. She usually helped lift the spirit of everyone around her, no matter how bad the situation was, and now that she was gone there was an uneasy tension in the air. The tension remained until we reached the top of a jagged cliff that the dragons made their nest on. This is where our large group split into four, one group would go farther to bargain with the dragons for Lucy, two groups would wait nearby as backup, and the last group would be the evacuation team if anything went south. The four of us were the bargaining group since we represented our forces, and we just really wanted Lucy back.
Once everyone was in position, the four of us walked forward a couple of yards and around a corner until we were in sight of the dragons. At first glance, the clifftop seemed empty except for a massive pile of rocks in the center. But as someone who has seen a dragon up close I knew that those rocks were in fact fire breathing winged reptiles.
"We have come for Queen Lucy." Peter shouted, "We wish for a peaceful exchange."
The dragons shifted and rumbled, unraveling a hidden tail and unfurling giant wings that made up the large "boulder". The smaller rocks around it popped up to reveal small baby dragons, yapping and crying after being disturbed from their nap. A large reptilian head rose from the ground and peered cautiously at us, when it did it revealed a small cavern-like area inside its curled form on the ground. A figure sat alone on a small rock in the center, staring straight at us.
"Lucy!" Susan cried. She knocked an arrow and aimed it at the large dragon's eye.
"No!" Lucy ran up to stand in front of the dragon, still wearing her nightgown. To my amazement, it didn't bite her head off.
"Lu, what are you doing?!" Peter shouted while stepping forward slightly. The dragon snarled at him but Lucy didn't move.
"Don't hurt her!" She shouted back, "She's just trying to protect her babies."
I made an 'O' shape with my mouth and let go of my pipes that I didn't even realize I was holding, letting them fall against my chest. I placed my hand on Edmund's sword arm and pushed it a little, telling him to put the sword away. He looked at me doubtfully but sheathed his sword nonetheless, Susan and Peter following our lead. The dragon relaxed at this and Lucy stepped forward.
"She won't hurt us," She tried to reason.
"Then why did she kidnap you?!" Edmund questioned.
"It was a last resort," The dragon's deep voice rumbled through the ground, "The humans of the kingdom below are fond of this little one. It was the only way they would listen."
"Listen to what?" Susan asked. At this point none of us were surprised that the dragon could talk.
"King Runas has been sending hunters after her and her kids," Lucy explained, "He wants their impenetrable hides for his soldier's armor."
"And that's why you attacked the kingdom," I realized, "To protect yourself, not to kill them."
The mother dragon nodded, "It was a warning at first but they kept coming, forcing me to keep them away from my children at all costs."
"Why don't you just leave?" Peter questioned.
She shook her head, "I cannot carry all eight of my children on my own."
Oh wow, eight children. Ouch. No wonder she was so protective of them, it must've taken a lot of painful work.
"We'll help her, right?" Lucy stepped towards us.
"Of course," I replied immediately, going to stand next to Lucy. When the others didn't respond I looked at them incredulously, "You can't possibly think of not helping her!"
"Y/n, she's terrorized hundreds of people," Peter said.
"And they've terrorized her!" I argued, "It's not her fault that the King wants her and her kids skinned for armor."
I watched Edmund look between me and his brother before sighing, "All right, I'm with you."
As he walked forward to stand next to me I couldn't help the warm and fuzzy feeling in my chest. I quickly shoved it down as Lucy spoke again.
"We can't leave her to fend for herself when we could help,"
Susan and Peter looked at each other for a moment and Susan smiled, "Lucy's always right about these sorts of things."
Peter groaned but mirrored her smile before turning to face the way we came and cupping his hands around his mouth, "It's all right!" he called, "They're peaceful, lower your weapons and come help."
Our group of thirty or so Narnians emerged from around the mountain wall curiously.
"Split up into groups of three or four," Peter ordered, "Each group grabs a baby dragon when I say to. In the meantime, Y/n, I need you to use your magic to make some sort of sleigh."
"A sleigh?"
"We're gonna go sledding with the dragons." Peter grinned.
"But there's no snow." Edmund swept his arm at the rocky terrain.
"Then make some wheels!" Peter shouted and ran to help some soldiers calm down a baby dragon.
Edmund looked at me in disbelief.
---
EDMUND'S POV
"This was a horrible idea!" I screamed.
Y/n's hair billowed in my face as I held onto her from behind while the wagon we were riding barreled down the mountainside. Even with two baby dragons in the back, the wagon didn't slow down at all and hurtled forward. I grasped onto Y/n's waist for dear life as she used her magic to move trees and boulders out of the way.
"I'm gonna kick Peter the next time I see him!" She shouted.
"I'll join you!" I shouted over the wind, "But how are we going to slow down?"
"I'm working on it!"
Oh great, we're doomed. I could see the bottom of the mountain through a few more rows of trees, ending at a roaring river. If we fell into the river, the baby dragons would sink and drown.
"Is there any way you can make a bridge over the water?" I shouted.
"What?!" She screamed, "That fast? No way."
I wildly searched the area for anything that could potentially save us and my eyes landed on thick vines hanging on a tree right before the river. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms tighter around Y/n and hooked my legs around the wagon while grabbing the vines. The vines pulled taught and yanked on my arm, swinging us to the right mid-air. Y/n screamed as we careened to the side and rode along the bank of the river, slowly coming to a stop in the mushy sand.
We sat there for a moment in complete shock after coming close to a watery death. Y/n turned around and looked at me with a broad smile.
"That was terrifying!"
"Why are you smiling then?" I laughed.
"You're doing it too." She chuckled and hopped off the wagon, stretching her limbs. "And now we just wait for the others."
Not five minutes later a screaming Lucy and Peter along with two more dragons came through the treeline at break-neck speed. Y/n controlled the vines to quickly wrap around their wagon and swing them towards us, still screaming. I laughed as they came to a halt, Lucy's hair covering her face and Peter's hair was pushed backwards.
"I almost couldn't tell the difference between your girlish screams." I laughed.
Peter glared at me and pushed his hair back down while Lucy walked off the wagon with wobbly legs. They hauled their wagon to ours and the baby dragons hopped off to greet our dragons. Y/n stomped up to Peter and playfully kicked him in the shin, earning a yelp from the High King. Only a couple more minutes passed before we had all four wagons, eight baby dragons, and one frazzled Susan accompanied by the mother dragon.
"Thank you, Kings and Queens of Narnia," She lowered her head at us, "I will forever remember your kindness."
We smiled and watched her walk with her children upstream, away from King Runas's kingdom.
"Wait!" Lucy called, "We never got your name,"
The mother dragon smiled warmly at her, "Vara,"
Y/N'S POV
And with that, Vara and her children walked out of sight. We rounded up our soldiers once they climbed back down the mountain (none of them were comfortable riding a wagon down a mountain) and marched to the palace that King Runas awaited us in. When we reached the throne room, he jumped up from his seated position and ran to us.
"Have you succeeded in defeating the dragons?" He asked impatiently.
"No, Your Majesty," Peter said calmly, "We drove them out of your lands badly wounded. They will not be returning."
"Ah," A forced smile stretched across his face, "Very good then. Thank you for your help, I hope to return the favor one day."
"Thank you, King Runas. We will take our leave now."
"Oh, but you mustn't!" Princess Anne rushed forward towards Peter. He looked surprised at her sudden outburst. "I- you... you haven't eaten anything yet, and it will be a long journey back to Narnia."
"Thank you, Princess Anne, but we really must be going." Peter turned and led the group out of the palace. I looked at Anne as I walked past her and she glared at me, as if blaming me for her poor persuasive skills.
"She really doesn't seem to like you," Edmund whispered as we walked with the Narnians. I huffed and crossed my arms.
"The feeling's mutual,"
-Holy heck that was long. I have a plan for each chapter but I didn't expect it to be this long when I'm done. It's literally 13 pages in google docs. Most of the chapters won't be this long, just the ones where they go on adventures. Oh well, there were some pretty great parts in here so it's fine. Thanks for reading!-
-Mocha