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

the king • 23

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

Edmund huffed.

He had been having trouble sleeping. When Peodum got up to start a conversation with Coralia, Edmund sacrificed all hope of falling asleep that night. There was no way to get complete silence. He tried to tune the two knights out, but curiosity won when he heard the word 'lover.'

Coralia was talking about some man she had waiting for her back in her village. Peodum decided to suggest that she write to him and rekindle their love.

Edmund could hardly hold in a groan,
so he had settled on the huff. At least it was quiet now. The king finally fell asleep, but remained upset and frustrated the whole time.

When he awoke, he had about thirty seconds of happiness. It was a nice morning. The sun was just rising, the birds were chirping, and it was warm but not uncomfortable. As soon as his eyes fell onto the sleeping form of his bodyguard the whole day was ruined. His mind went straight to the conversation she had with Peodum the night before. She shouldn't have been talking about her lovers.

He shook her awake, trying to keep his distance otherwise. Coralia stood, brushed off her clothes, and mounted her horse. Usually she'd start off the day with a sarcastic comment, but she didn't even look at Edmund. Not that he wanted her to. He didn't need her attention. Still, the rest of the ride that day was too quiet.

And the rest of the week. Coralia was really taking the silent treatment seriously. Edmund was trying to, but he was getting bored. Even lonely. They had arrived back to Cair Paravel before Coralia even spoke to him beyond "yes, Your Majesty" and "no, Your Majesty."

He had grown sick of it. When everything was settled and unpacked, he found Coralia and
cornered her. She raised an eyebrow, but refused to make eye contact for longer than ten seconds.

"What's with your behavior? You haven't spoken to me in weeks. Are you unhappy?" Edmund said quietly.

Coralia shook her head. "No, I—"

"Look at me."

She looked up to meet King Edmund's eyes. "I am not unhappy. I thought you were upset with me, so I tried to give you space. I now understand that that wasn't very effective."

Edmund was having trouble focusing on her words. He was too busy drowning in her wide brown eyes. He didn't even try to hide it when he glanced down at her lips. So what if she noticed. And notice, she did. She blushed again. That's five Edmund, zero Coralia.

While he did enjoy flustering his bodyguard, he
did have to try hard to hide his own emotions. This particular instance was a major loss. He trained himself so hard to ignore those emotions and continue to see it as a game. However, he lost all sense when Coralia subconsciously wet her lips.

He took a small step forward. Coralia stumbled a bit, not expecting the sudden movement. His hands reached out to catch her. When she didn't fall, his arms floated awkwardly by her waist before he dropped them. They were so close to each other. Too close to each other. But Edmund couldn't make himself back up.

He wanted to kiss her. Damn it all, he wanted to kiss her.

The thought was a relief. And definitely long-awaited. Relieving, but horrifying. The fear won over and he stepped back. "I apologize. That was inappropriate. There is no need to accompany me to my rooms. Get some rest, meet me after luncheon for training." He turned on his heel and marched to his quarters.

Edmund was in shambles by the time
he sat down on his bed. He had been acting inappropriately for weeks, but it was all playful. This time he had almost crossed a line. He could dismiss Coralia, and take her
completely out of the picture. That would be less torture for the both of them. Edmund could focus on leading the army and Coralia could go back to that lover of hers.

The last thing Edmund wanted to do was get rid of Coralia. Why should she lose her job because he can't control himself? Besides, dismissing her would distract him even more with thinking about how she was.

He needed a second opinion. He opened his door and ran off to find his sister. She was sitting in the courtyard. "Lu!" Edmund was panting by the time he reached the Queen.

"What's wrong?" Lucy frowned.

"So much," Edmund plopped down next to her on the marble bench. "So much."

"How can I help?"

"Figure out my brain, please." Edmund began the whole story. How he enjoys making Coralia blush and get all flustered, how he gets disappointed when she isn't talking to him, how he hasn't been able to focus on being king whenever she's around, how her waking him in the morning is the best part of his day, how he almost kissed her.

Lucy sat listening with a grin on her face. "Oh, Ed." She shook her head, almost laughing.

"What?"

"You seriously don't know?"

Edmund gestured for her to continue, shaking his head.

"You like her. You have a crush."

"Oh, for Aslan's sake, Lucy. First, don't say crush. I'm a king, not a schoolgirl. Second, that's simply untrue. She's not royal. I can't like her like that. I should like a princess, or a queen."

"That's not very progressive thinking. Don't deny yourself what you want. Just because you don't think you should do something, doesn't mean you can't do it."

Edmund dropped his head into his hands. "I need to either duel until my arms fall off or sit in the library until I'm covered in cobwebs."

Lucy gave his hand a quick squeeze before letting him run off to the library. Literally.

Edmund didn't slow his pace until he was deep in the aisles of the library. The smell of the ancient books was very comforting. The library was so large that this particular section was almost too dark to see. He lit a candle and sat on the ground, leaning his head against a bookshelf. He shut his eyes and exhaled deeply. There was so much to think about and almost all of it was beyond stressful.

The army, Ettinsmoor, Coralia. He was increasing the hours of training, which also meant increasing the amount of time he spent with Coralia. As much as he wanted to be around her, the idea scared him. Now that it had really hit him, he didn't want to face her anymore.

If only he could just focus on training his army.

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me when i write merlin au but it's straight 💔

but! dantus time next cus i have been neglecting my boy