soldier, poet, king || e. pevensie | slow updates

the king • 5

there will come a ruler, whose brow is laid in thorn, smeared with oil like david's boy, oh lei-oh lai-oh lord.

"Your Majesty," Orien knocked on Edmund's door. "This is important."

The young king groaned and opened his bedroom door. He was still disheveled from sleeping and wasn't planning on getting up until later. There were no meetings that day, nor any suitors coming to steal Susan. Or Lucy, God forbid. "What is it, Orien?"

The centaur looked down at him and cleared his throat. "I am afraid there is a spy here in Cair Paravel. You are aware that we are adding more soldiers to our army."

Edmund nodded.

"Well, last night," Orien continued. "A girl arrived. I am almost sure that she is an Ettin here to infiltrate our army and tear us apart from the inside."

"A human girl? You're sure she's not a faun in pants?" Edmund smirked.

"Quite sure." Orien didn't laugh. "Get ready, I'd like to bring her before you and perhaps you can duel. I know you're bored."

Edmund frowned at Orien's back as he left. Another duel was great, but he wasn't exactly thrilled to face a spy.

He pulled on his usual battling tunic and pants before strolling out of his room.

"Ed!" His sisters voice rang through the corridor of the palace. "Where are you off to?"

"I'm dueling today, Lu." He sighed. "Against my will."

Lucy, the younger queen, walked with Edmund all the way outside to the dueling ground. She decided to stay and cheer him on. Peter, the High King and Edmund's older brother, had caught wind of the possible spy and joined them as well. Susan was either off in the apple orchard or practicing with her bow in the woods.

Peter dueled Edmund to kill time until the spy arrived. He didn't bother putting on any armor. He never did while battling suitors, so how could this spy be any different? She was no one but a filthy Ettin who'd been numb enough to think she could infiltrate Cair Paravel.

"Would you get your hands off me? I'm complying, relax." A female voice came shouting around the corner.

Edmund and his siblings turned to face the owner of the voice. A gangly girl dressed in pants and a light shirt. No armor, just a sword attached to her hip and the confidence to match that of a god's.

She faced the kings and queen and curtsied, but didn't address them otherwise. The faun who had dragged her here bowed as well, and stepped back.

"I am Coralia Findlay. I am a Narnian through and through and I plan on being in your army, no matter what it takes." The girl raised her chin.

Peter let out a small laugh of disbelief.

"You dare talk to your rulers like this?" Edmund scoffed.

"Yes, I do. I would like to prove to you that I am worthy of staying and fighting alongside my fellow Narnians."

Lucy was smiling. She was loving the confidence of the girl, and wasn't in the least bit offended. "Well now you have to fight her, Ed."

Edmund scowled, but drew his sword and beckoned for the girl, Coralia, to join him in the middle of the courtyard. "Do you have the courage to go against the greatest swordsman in Narnia, Ettin?" He spat.

The girl stared at him, unamused, but matched Edmund's stance nonetheless. Peter waited until they were both ready, then called for them to begin.

As soon as Coralia took the offense, Edmund realized how strong she was. The way she fought reminded him of something.

Little did he know, Coralia was thinking the exact same thing. The king fought just how her mentor had, and she'd beat him plenty of times.

Whenever he tried to get in a cut, she seemed to know exactly what he would do and blocked it easily. He tried lunging. She parried. A thrust. She retreated.

He had found her weakness. Sadly, it was also his own. He had trained constantly with slashing and cutting, never lunging or thrusting. And here she was, skilled in blocking the thing he was best at. He tried more lunging and thrusting, but soon she got used to it.

She caught him in a lock and he thought he was done for. She tried to push him away by his wrists, but he was used to this. He let himself get pushed away and kicked out to her stomach. On contact, she stumbled backwards. But she stayed on her feet regardless.

This was probably the longest match Edmund had ever had with a random outsider, 'skilled' suitors included.

He finally caught her off guard. He kicked her again, and she fell. She was down with a sword at her throat. He'd won, obviously.

He reached his hand down to help her up, but she ignored it and scrambled to her feet. Standing this close to her, he had to look down to meet her eyes. The few inches he had on her height helped him keep his dignity. He'd almost been beaten.

"Leave me," He waved a hand. "Come back tomorrow with the rest of them and perhaps I'll let you serve Narnia."

The faun who had brought her there grabbed her arm again.

"What did I say about the dragging? I can walk, you know." She started complaining again.

Pathetic, Edmund thought. He would never let a liar into his army, even if she wasn't an Ettin.

"Wow," Lucy said. "She almost destroyed you. So much for greatest swordsman." Peter laughed.

Edmund just scowled and put his sword away. "I'll be in the library."

He stalked off to the Cair Paravel library to research anything about humans from Narnia. Nothing at all. No books mentioned anything about any native Narnians that were human. The rulers were, but none of them were Native to the world of Narnia. The neighboring countries were all different. Nothing but humans there. She had to be an Ettin. There was no doubt about it. Why would a human girl come claiming to be a native Narnian and asking to join the army? She had to be lying. And King Edmund was going to figure out why.

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sheeeesh also ik she's way too informal with the pevensies she's just a bitch idk