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

the soldier • 13

there will come a soldier, who carries a mighty sword. she will tear your city down, oh lei-oh lai-oh lord.

As Coralia walked at least a mile, she did nothing but complain. Only in her head, of course. If they got caught, King Edmund would definitely pin it on her. She had no armor except for chainmail and had just her sword with her. She brushed a bit of hair out of her face, trying to keep up with the king.

"Why are you walking so damn fast?" She whispered.

"Don't speak to me like that. Hurry up."

They finally reached the princess's room, and King Edmund knocked lightly on the door. It opened every so slightly, the light from inside spilling into the hallway.

Edmund slipped into the room and the door shut, leaving Coralia in almost complete darkness. All she had was torchlight from down the hall. As she heard the scuffle of footsteps from inside the room, she had a moment of panic. There was no way she was going to stand outside if she was going to be able to hear them. Luckily, everything from then on was silent.

Footsteps came marching down the hall. And fast. She could only hope that the room was soundproof enough so that no one passing by could hear. The footsteps were carrying a torch, and what Coralia saw was her worst nightmare.

The King of Calormen.

She stood up straighter, trying to look like an actual guard. The king stopped in front her, staring down at her. "Who are you?"

"I'm a bodyguard, sire."

"And why, pray tell, are you standing outside my daughter's chambers?"

"She asked for extra protection tonight. She was uncomfortable earlier and she doesn't have any guards of her own with her. She thought that I, being a woman as well, would understand and help her."

"Where are you supposed to be right now?"

Coralia paused. Edmund was the youngest king there. Princess Ailee's age. Anyone with a brain could see exactly what was happening. "King Lune's chambers, my lord."

"I need to speak with my daughter."

"She is asleep right now, my lord. I will go inside and check on her and wake her for you."

"Is there a reason why I cannot do it myself?"

Coralia took a risk and ignored the king, knocking on Ailee's door. "Your Highness?" She kept her eyes shut. No way in Hell was she going to open her eyes and see whatever was happening. "Your father is here. He wants to speak with you." Ailee let out a squeak, and Coralia heard shuffling. Edmund hiding, probably.

"One moment, I'm putting on my robe," She called out for her father to hear. Coralia opened her eyes. They were all good as dead. Everything about Ailee screamed that she was lying. You need to be a good liar to be a good politician. The king would soon realize that Edmund was under the bed or in the cupboard, or wherever he was and declare war on Narnia, murdering Coralia and Edmund and maybe even Ailee.

The King entered the room, and Coralia saw a piece of fabric get pulled quickly under the bed. Edmund's shirt. He was hiding under the bed, probably mostly naked. Coralia tried with every piece of her body to rid herself of the mental image.

She prayed that the King wouldn't notice. He started the longest conversation in history. Ailee was about to break, Edmund had been holding his breath for fifteen minutes, and Coralia was watching the entire situation play out.

The King asked his daughter about what she thought of the meeting, what she was going to do on the ride back to Calormen, anything you could think of that would take hours to talk about. Finally, Ailee told him she was too tired to keep talking and wanted to go to bed. He understood and left the room. Coralia bowed as he left and waited until he was out of sight and she couldn't hear his footsteps.

She stepped back out of the room and stood next to the door. She couldn't imagine that they could just go right back into it after an interruption like that. She was right, because after a minute or two, Edmund came out of the room, still putting his shirt on. They walked the hike back to their room in silence. Coralia didn't bother to look at the clock before she got into bed. She would not be doing any guarding outside the door that night. Just in case the king of Calormen decided to come by and ask why she still wasn't with King Lune.

•

Coralia woke up five hours later as the sun rose. She shook Edmund awake and they gathered their belongings. In order to avoid any chatter, the two left before breakfast without seeing anyone else.

Their return to Cair Paravel went by with mild conversation and some laughing about Princess Ailee and her father. While his visiting her chambers wasn't a kingly thing to do, Edmund was also seventeen years old. Something like that is to be expected from someone so young.

Edmund and Coralia reached Cair Paravel and a stable boy put their horses in the stables. Coralia hurried up to Edmund's room to prepare it for when he arrived. Everything seemed to be just as it was before they left. Edmund entered the room and Coralia stepped outside to guard. This job was exactly what she didn't want to be doing. She wanted to be fighting, not covering for the king as he ignored everything a diplomat should stand for.

That afternoon, it was time for training. That was the only time she could fight. Which was probably a good thing. She didn't exactly want the king to get attacked. Though it would certainly humble him.

Coralia followed King Edmund to the training grounds and helped him into his armor. He was training everyone that day, not just the knights. Tensions were at an all time high, and the army had to be ready. He decided to demonstrate new techniques on Coralia. New techniques for everyone else, but not for her. This happened to be Sowdin's favorite technique. She knew exactly how to counter it. She decided not to embarrass the king in front of everyone, so she let him win every time. Or so she told herself. He was very talented, there was no denying it. She sparred with just him all afternoon, winning only twice. She tried to think that she lost because of his snarky comments trying to get her flustered and distracted.

After the sun set, they headed back up to Edmund's room and she stood outside it all night. In the morning, she woke him, then went to her own room to bathe and get some sleep before the king had to do anything important. Dasia woke her after the kings and queens had their lunch so that she could go train again.

Same deal every day for the next few weeks. It was getting boring, but at least she was improving. She wrote to Dantus every week, but never got a response back. Perhaps he was angry with her. It wasn't fair for him to feel that way, he didn't control her. After a month, she stopped writing.

•

so it's merlin but also the selection