The Queen's Tales

Chapter 27: Aslan's Table

That night, with Chloe and Eustace's fire burning bright, the sky was scattered with constellations and stars. For the past three years, Chloe watched the stars with wonder. Edmund had set himself next to her, however leaving a bit more space between them than normal so as to keep her comfortable if she was still angry with him.

"I've never seen these constellations before," he spoke through the silence.

Caspian was sitting up on the other side watching the stars twinkle, "Me neither."

"That's cause you never payed attention to them before," Chloe remarked.

Both boys seemed to have work past their issues, now looking to make things right with her, "When I was a boy I used to imagine sailing to the end of the world...finding my father there," Caspian confessed.

"Maybe you will," Ed encouraged.

They looked to Chloe, who was staring at the sky blankly, "I'm glad I have my best friends with me," Caspian addressed her softly.

There was silence for a moment, "Me too," she muttered, making the king feel better, he knew she just needed some time but they would be alright. They always were.

Edmund, however wanted to talk to her alone, "Can we talk?" He whispered. She nodded and he offered her his hand to help her up. He led her away from the others, but still in view of their fire. With the two of them finally alone, the both of them felt a bit more at ease, "First I want to say how sorry I am for what happened in the cave. I don't want to use the evil as an excuse because I know what I said was terrible. I want you to know that I would never again say anything that awful about you or to you," he had her hands in his as he forced her to look at him.

"I would never leave you for Caspian," was what she responded with.

He nodded, "I know that... I was just jealous cause you've been here for so long with him and I was missing you so much that I-" he stopped himself.

He thought maybe she wouldn't notice, but she did, "You what? What did you do Edmund?" He didn't want to tell her, afraid of how she would react.

"I....tried to enlist in the army-"

"YOU-" he quickly shushed her, seeing as the others were trying to sleep, "You what?! You're not even eighteen back in our world yet! You could get yourself killed if they took you! What about Lucy?! You were prepared to just leave her by herself? What about when I got back?! Edmund!" Her words sped as her head started racing through the possible consequences of Edmund illegally enlisting. He could see she was freaking out, he softly grabbed her shoulders and brought her to him. Chloe immediately wrapped her arms around him and copied his deep breaths, listening to his heartbeat. It took a minute before she'd calmed down, she stayed in that position as she muttered, "My nightmare was me loosing my power and you leaving me for....someone else."

He tensed in her arms, separating to look at her, "Is that why you were so quiet earlier?"

Chloe wasn't sure if she should tell him the rest, she didn't want him to worry over her more....but Edmund was like her, stubborn. And they both knew that he wouldn't drop the situation until she told him, Chloe sighed taking a step away and crossing her arms, "The both of you were telling me...I should just jump off the ship and into the ocean-"

"Chloe!" He hissed shocked, "I would never-"

"I know," she nodded softly, "But it just...it felt so real. You were mad about Caspian, and then when the both of you were fighting I just..."

He understood, their argument had brought her back to that. He felt even more guilty over the way he'd been acting. She was fiddling with her ring again, a small smile played on his face, "You still have it."