The Call To The Old - An Edmund Pevensie fanfiction

Chapter twenty

Later on, in the evening, Talia was tasked with patrolling the grounds of the tomb, to make sure that the Telmarines weren't getting too close to their base. Several others of the best fighters had also been chosen to conduct this task- Edmund even offered to patrol paired with Talia, but she knew that he was needed by Peter to help plan for what they were about to carry out. Inside the tomb the great military generals of Narnia, were preparing for an immense task; it as an idea that Caspian and Talia had brought about in the earlier hours of the day- Peter was to personally fight Miraz, and who ever won got to win the throne of Narnia. It was a hard challenge for Peter, but the Narnians all placed their trust in him to carry out the task.

Talia was skeptical, she trusted that Peter was a far better fighter than Miraz, but she didn't put her faith into the fact that either Miraz or his followers would keep their word- especially if her father was involved.

The girl wandered about the forest that surrounded the tomb, her sword in hand just in case. She tried to focus on her task, but her mind kept wandering- wandering to thoughts of her brother, thoughts of her newfound power- although she still wasn't quite sure what that entailed, thoughts of her father, her mother, her friends. She couldn't focus. No matter how hard she tried. The past couple of days had been far too hectic for Talia.

The girl span around, on the heels of her feet, upon hearing a rustling from the nearby bushes, "not this again." she muttered, under her breath. How many times was the girl getting ambushed in trees? But this time she was angry, frustrated with all that was going on in her life- and she channeled all her past feelings of confusion and overwhelm into pure anger. She took a deep inhale, "I can hear you." she declared.

The rustling sound was heard again, this time Talia violently stabbed her sword into the bush it was coming from- praying that it wasn't a friend pulling a joke on her. But she now heard the rustling from another bush, then another, then another. The girl span in circles trying to place where this sound was coming from.

"Show yourself!" she demanded, her voice cracking slightly.

"I know you killed him." spoke a sudden voice behind her.

Talia spun around, with a shaky breath to face whoever had spoken to her. When she turned her eyes welled with fear. There stood her father, surrounded by his best soldiers and generals. Talia took another wobbly inhale in, "Can't face me without an army?" she questioned. Fear coursed through her body- her father was the only person that she truly shacked at the thought of, let alone the sight of.

"I know you killed him!" her father was shouting now. Rage spilled through his words and flowed through his veins. Cruelty ran through the lines on his face, and his eyes turned cold, black. "My only son!" he spat. This was the first time she had seen her father since she had first ran away from the palace, it was awful.

"I had to... or he was going to kill me." she mumbled, quietly.

"I don't care for your excuses. My son is dead! The first thing you do after being 'dead' this whole time! Kill my only son!" roared her father, King Gastez, stepping closer to his daughter, intimidatingly. His words echoed through the trees and carried in the violent wind. He kept walking closer to Talia, who had frozen in her spot, he continued stepping forward, until his face was inches from hers, he brought his harsh hand up to rest on her cheek, to wipe away a singular tear that had fallen from her eye. The girl shook under his touch. He titled his head, faking sympathy for his daughter, "my poor girl." he spoke, and Talia's eyes rushed up to look into his for the first time in years. Gastez quickly drew his hand away, slamming it violently against the girl's left cheek, "my poor, foolish girl." he spat.

Upon the impact of her father's hard slap, the girl dropped her weapon, to clutch her cheek- King Gastez saw his opportunity, "Grab her!" he demanded his men.

Talia looked to the sky, hoping that her stupid powers would now come to play, that her mother's magic would whisper to her- tell her what to do. But it never happened, nothing ever came. Seeing no other option, Talia drooped down to grab her sword, before she could get there, however, she found herself at the mercy of her father's blade; slowly the girl moved back into an upright position. She felt rough hands grab hold of hers, tying them tightly together. This time, Talia felt defeated, she had no escape plan, and in a way, she almost did not wish to even escape, her mind toying with the idea of death. If her mother's magic would not protect her now, then how could she protect a whole generation of Narnians?

She felt the sharp, metal prick of a sword resting on the small of her back, preventing her from running away. Her feet dragged through the mud of the forest ground, and Talia felt numb- the sight of her father reducing her to feeling so small, so meaningless. Talia was marched back to the Telmarine camp.

When they arrived at the camp, she was thrown onto the floor at Miraz's feet, and her father stood towering beside her, watching the interaction. Talia stayed on the floor; legs tired from all the walking.

"You would not bow to your King?" challenged Miraz. Talia did not respond, staying staring at the ground, Miraz sent a harsh kick to her stomach, "You will look at me when I address you!" he roared.

The girl was curled on the floor, but upon hearing the shouts of Miraz something rose within her. She slowly turned her gaze up to the King, a soft smile resting on her lips, "My King?" she questioned, with a scoff.

"Pardon?" Miraz huffed, "Gastez," he spoke, turning to Talia's father, "did I hear her correctly?"

Gastez walked over to his daughter, grabbing her by the hair forcing her head up to look into the eyes of Miraz. Talia took a sharp inhale, "you heard me." she spat back, her usual confidence beginning to return. Her father threw the girl back down onto the floor.

Miraz reached for his sword, unsheathing it, firmly. The man stepped forward towards the Princess, who remained on the floor, and placed his weapon just underneath her chin- forcing her into the standing position. Talia never dropped her eye contact.

"Did you kill Clidis?" he questioned, forcefully, but received no response from the girl. He pushed his blade further, "Did you kill your brother?" he shouted. A fury of emotions erupted inside Talia.

"Yes!" she exploded back.

Talia heard her father roar in anger from beside her, and recognised the familiar sound of him drawing his sword. She knew that this would be her end.

"STOP!"