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

the soldier • 17

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

"I think King Peter is right, you know," Coralia said, sitting on Edmund's messy desk. "Ettinsmoor would destroy us if we tried to retaliate. You're alive and well, I think we should leave it."

"Why are you so adamant about disagreeing with me? The king has to pay for this." Edmund was changing out of his formal tunic. Neither of them had the chance to change after spending the night in the infirmary. Coralia was still in a blood-stained ballgown.

Coralia stood and walked over to the young king. "What can we do to keep this from happening again but still avoiding war?"

"Hang the king," Edmund suggested.

"It's my job to protect you and I did a shitty job of it, it's more my fault than the Kings." Coralia left the room with a slight bow, heading off to her own room. She knew it wasn't really her fault at all, but King Edmund was being very dramatic. Before she made it to her chambers, the physician showed up out of nowhere and stopped her.

"Can I speak with you for a moment?"

Coralia nodded, letting him take her aside.

"We haven't met before, so while you were asleep I did some tests."

"That doesn't sound legal."

"Regardless, I'm not familiar with your abilities. There's no explanation. Who are your parents?"

"My father is half Calormene. I never knew my mother. What abilities?"

"Half Calormene and half what?"

"What are you getting at?"

"I want you to write to your father and ask for the truth."

"The truth about what?"

The badger left Coralia to continue to her room, and she spent the walk in a panic. What was the badger insinuating? When she reached her room, she got out a pen and paper. She immediately began writing to her father about the encounter with the badger. She hastily sealed it and got ready to send it, but realized that she didn't have the time. King Edmund was supposed to train the army in less than an hour. She had to get him ready.

Coralia left the letter on her desk, changed out of her dress, and hurried back to Edmund's room. She opened the door without knocking and went to grab his armor, but he was already dressed in it. "Oh," She said.

"I figured you needed to take it easy and rest, so I got ready on my own."

"I need to take it easy? Why are you acting like I'm the one who's been stabbed? Besides, I never need rest. I've always run on little sleep. I work better with no sleep."

"You and I both know it was a traumatizing experience for the both of us," King Edmund rolled his eyes. "Plus, you can't lie to me. I'm a politician, and I'm a fantastic liar."

They both headed down to the training grounds anyway, but Coralia insisted that Edmund carried none of the equipment. She wondered why he was being so fussy, putting her over himself. She'd been his bodyguard for hardly four months. Sure, they were getting closer to acquaintances, but Coralia wanted to keep a professional relationship. Edmund clearly didn't care about that.

Despite her protests, Edmund dismissed her early that day, so that she could rest. She sent the letter to her father, and laid on her bed for some sleep. She woke up after dark and headed to Edmund's chambers to find him preparing for bed.

"Don't do that, your majesty, let me help." Coralia reached up to help him out of his armor and he winced, but quickly hid it. She noticed anyway and grabbed his arm to halt his movement.

"No. You need to stop pushing yourself, Your Majesty. You're acting like you're healed."

He looked into her eyes, frowning at her.

She was still gripping his arm, and she was close enough to see the faint freckles that dotted his nose. He smirked, challenging her. He so knew what he was doing. She released her grip and turned away. She was sure he saw her flushed face.

"I have a meeting with my army officials and the knights in the morning. I'd like you to be there."

Edmund chuckled, but before Coralia could collect herself enough to answer, he dismissed her to stand outside. "I'll see you in the morning."

She stormed out of the room, confused as ever. That was incredibly unusual for him, and mortifying for her.

At dawn, Coralia woke Edmund and helped him dress and get into a royal outfit and crown, then went to go sleep for the next four hours until the meeting. Dasia woke her at ten o'clock, with hardly any time to spare. She climbed into her armor and headed to the throne room. The other knights were starting to show up, and Edmund and the war officials were already seated.

Coralia took her spot next to King Edmund and listened politely to what everyone had to say.

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short and bad chapter and weird way to end it ik ik ik ik shut up