A/N: Just a wee something that popped in to my head after watching Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Set during the Golden Age, maybe about six or seven years in to it. All rights belong with C. S. Lewis. If you have the time reviews would be really appreciated! Enjoy :)
Edmund was barely keeping the goblins at bay. He struck out at them, ducked their blows, rolled away from their jabs and slashed as they came near before the process began all over again. He wasn't tiring but he was aware of the growing ache in his muscles as he fought to stay alive. As he spun to decapitate one particularly nasty troll he froze in shock and his eyes darted about the field in desperation. Lucy! She'd gone; sucked away from him as the battle raged on but there was a squirming sensation in his gut which he didn't like. He did not like it at all! His momentary lapse of concentration nearly got him killed. A black dwarf surged forward with an axe but at the last second, Edmund snapped out of his reverie and swung his sword down sharply in to the dwarf's neck. With the closest enemy dispatched, he spun round and charged off to find some higher ground, his heart beating frantically as he called out in desperation.
"Lucy! Lucy!" If she heard him it would be a miracle. Vaulting on to a pile of rocks he reached the summit and scanned the battlefield as best he could. The Narnians were clearly winning, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Edmund felt a very brief tug of pride before worry crashed down on him once more. He didn't know where it was coming from, for Lucy was more than capable of holding her own in a fight. Still there was an uneasy nagging in the pit of his stomach which made him more anxious than ever to find her. Then, as if against his will, his eyes were pulled to his right and his heart plummeted deep in to the bowls of the earth as an anguished cry was ripped from his body.
"LUCY!" Too late, he'd known what was going to happen even before he'd seen his sister. The golden haired girl spun at Edmund's cry only to let out a gasp as something sharp punctured through her armour. Her blue eyes widened in shock as she came face to face with a Minotaur. With sickening glee, it pushed its crude spear head further in to the young Queen's body then twisted it sharply. Not a sound came from Lucy's lips but her face crumpled in agony. With a roar of triumph, the beast simply let the weapon go and charged off in to the fray still going on around them. She stood there for a moment, her body and mind reeling from the shock, before her knees buckled and she sank with a croaked gasp to the ground, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
"NOOOOO!" Edmund's agonized wail was dragged from the deepest corner of his soul as he charged down from his vantage point, his legs carrying him faster than he'd ever thought possible. His eyes turned black with rage as he charged straight for his prey. The Minotaur didn't know what hit him. One minute he had been running the next he had been bowled over by a young boy...no...a young man, who had the strength of a berserker running through his veins. The King wasted no time in plunging his sword in to the beast's neck and twisting it viciously so that its head nearly became severed from its body. It gave one gurgled choke but Edmund had already detached his sword and was sprinting across the battlefield to where his sister had fallen, revenge suddenly very bittersweet.
"Lucy! No, no, no, no, NO!" He fell to his knees beside her, his eyes wide with panic, guilt, frustration and horror. Her eyes took a moment to find him, struggling to focus through the pain and in that one moment, Edmund felt as though he had a knife plunged between his ribs. When they finally focused on him he tried to give her a reassuring smile and was rewarded by one of her own. A shaky one, but one nonetheless.
"Edmund..." she croaked, her chest heaving as she tried to draw in small rattling breaths that set Edmund's teeth on edge.
"Lu, hang on. Just hang in there. I'll save you." His hands dived to her belt, searching for the cordial but with another stab of terror he realised it wasn't there. He looked at her with a tortured gaze, his eyes watering despite himself as he grasped Lucy's hand in his.
"Where...where is it Lu? Where's the cordial?" She didn't answer at first and Edmund felt his heart squeeze painfully in his chest as he dived for her neck, checking for a pulse.
"Ed...Really." Her tired, choking voice making a feeble attempt at humour actually made him smile although it was brief and it was all he could do not to turn in to a quivering wreck.
"It's...in...the tent...but Ed...don't leave me..." Her soft but terrified voice made him want to scream. He couldn't leave her even if he'd wanted to. Gazing down at her he wiped the small trail of blood away from the side of her mouth and, shifting position, lifted her head as gently as he could in to his lap. Her hand had curled round the spear shaft that was still embedded in her stomach. She tensed and Edmund realised immediately what she was about to try and do.
"Lucy, no!" He grabbed her hand and forced it away and she gave a short hiss of pain that made Edmund groan with frustration and helplessness. He stroked her hair with his free hand, soothing her as best he could.
"If you take it out you'll...you'll die Lu. I'll take it out soon, I promise, but we need...we need your cordial here first."
"But it...it hurts. It hurts Edmund..." For a moment, the Just King thought he might break as reality hit him like a giant's club being crashed in to his skull. Lucy was dying. She was dying in his arms and he couldn't do a thing about it. He bowed his head and a sob wracked his shoulders but something sparked a flame of defiance in him. He stared in to Lucy's eyes, determination flooding them as if the dam of a great river had just been breached.
"I'm going to save you Lu. I promise I will save you. Do you trust me?" It seemed she was too weak to talk. It was only a slight movement of her head that gave Edmund the answer he needed. He nodded and gently laid her back on the ground but it still caused her to wince in agony. She was dealing with it remarkably well and a brief burst of pride filled his chest once more.
"Ed...?" She sounded terrified and Edmund frowned, holding himself together as best he could. He offered her a wavering smile and bent to place a kiss on the crown of her head.
"Trust me Lu. I'm not leaving you but I need someone else to help me." She nodded once and her eyes fluttered as if they were about to close...
"Lu...Lucy! Stay awake for me Lu, can you do that? For me? For Aslan?" The name of the great lion was all that was needed and Lucy even managed a pained smile as hope flared in her eyes.
"Yes" Satisfied, he kissed her forehead and dashed off to stand a few meters away. Scanning the skies he put his fingers in his mouth and whistled three times. A screech filled the air and in the distance, from the Narnian camp, a figure sprang in to the air and sped towards them. A large gryphon, one of the royal guards, spun down to where King Edmund stood and landed before him, bowing its great head before fixing him with an amber stare.
"I need you to bring me Queen Lucy's cordial. It's in her tent back at the camp. Hurry! We haven't much time!" The gryphon would have asked more questions but he heard the anxious note in his King's voice. Bowing again he scrambled in to the air and took off, soaring back to the colourful smudge in the distance. Edmund didn't watch him go. He immediately turned and ran back to Lucy, flinging himself to his knees beside her and once more pulling her damaged frame in to his arms.
"Ed...?" Her voice was so weak it frightened him to the core. What if she didn't survive the pain of the spear being pulled from her body? What if it would be too much for her and the drop of cordial wouldn't reach her lips before she...His grip tightened around her and he lowered his head to hers; brother to sister, forehead to forehead, both giving and receiving comfort from the other.
"I'm here Lu...I'm always here."
Not once in all their time in Narnia had Edmund ever seriously considered losing one of his siblings, let alone Lucy. Sure, he and Peter had had a few close encounters before but never had he thought Lucy's cordial wouldn't be on hand to do its job and heal the wounded. Not once had he thought Lucy wouldn't be there to administer it. The thought left him feeling dazed and vulnerable, as if he were stripped bare to the world; not just to his skin but to the organs and bones that lay under it. It should be him going through this pain. Not her, never her. Unbidden to his lips came a slow, soothing rhyme; a lullaby, and though his voice hitched while the words spilled from his mouth he found he couldn't stop as he gently rocked his sister, her breaths growing steadily raspier as she fought hard to keep her eyes open.
"Courage befriend you,
And strength fill your heart,
May Aslan protect you from harm,
Dreams may they whisper to you from the stars,
Love keep you safe in my arms,"(*)
His voice broke on the last line. His arms tightened around her protectively as he squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to hold on to his faith in Aslan as his broken sister lay so helplessly against him. The tears he'd struggled so valiantly to hold back ran freely down his cheeks and landed like rain drops on Lucy's forehead. The young Queen shifted and reached her small hand up to her brother's cheek. He jerked back with surprise and stared at her with such a haunted look in his eyes that Lucy felt her heart break. It was almost as bad as the pain she was going through but she fought against it to offer him a small smile.
"Don't...cry...for me Ed," She wrinkled her nose as the agony continued to ripple out from her wound but she kept her eyes locked on her brother. She was not going to allow him to blame himself for this.
"If...If I don't...make it Ed...it was...Aslan's wish and...nothing you could...have done would...would have changed it."
The young King had never felt less kingly in all his time in Narnia. His expression was one of a broken man, a man who had just lost everything. If he didn't die of grief, he thought wryly, Peter would do the honours or perhaps Susan would use him as target practise? They were the four monarchs...how could they go on with only three of them? It wasn't how things were meant to be. It wasn't how things were going to be!
"Lucy...hush. Don't talk like that. You'll be fine. Your cordial is on its way." He cast his eyes to the sky in desperation, wondering what could possibly be taking the gryphon so long. Lucy patted his cheek awkwardly, bringing his gaze back down to hers as she drew in a great, shuddering breath.
"Edmund...I, Lucy...Pevensie, Queen of Narnia...and of the Eastern Sea, bequeath to you...my dominions...should...should I fall...in battle." Edmund couldn't believe what he was hearing. Lucy never gave up. She never accepted defeat. Yet here she was effectively making her will as she lay dying on the field of battle. He couldn't say a word. His mouth hung open in shock and it took him a few attempts to close it, his throat tightening painfully as he struggled not to lose control.
"Lucy..." He heard the pleading note in his own voice as the tears ran faster down his cheeks. She looked up at him so trustingly, so full of faith that he suddenly wished he was dying too. His blood swiftly began pounding in his veins and all his experience of being a King came flooding through him as he managed to pull himself together. When he spoke, his voice rang with unprecedented authority.
"Lucy Pevensie you listen to me. You are not to give up. You are to fight and fight hard, harder than you ever have before. Your lands are yours and yours alone. You must return to them and rule them as you have done these long years. Aslan himself appointed you as Queen. You must return to that duty. You must return to the High King Peter, and Queen Susan. You must fight for me. Live Lucy. Live for Aslan...live for me."
His fervour died as quickly as it had come and he felt more exhausted in that one moment than he had ever felt before in his life. He pulled her head up to his chest slowly - wincing at her little cry - and cradled her as if she were a baby, rocking them back and forth as he grit his teeth and prayed to Aslan the gryphon would arrive soon.
Lucy wanted so much to obey his command but she could feel the cold seeping across her body and the tiredness was almost too hard to fight off. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly to stop the tears from falling as he rocked her but if the cordial was not brought now she knew she would never make it. Steeling herself, she realised with a jolt this would be her last chance to say goodbye. She clenched her fingers around his surcoat and pushed as close to him as her failing body would allow.
"I love you Ed." Edmund barely heard the small flicker of a voice that came from his sister but it made his heart leap to his throat in panic. He gently put Lucy back on his lap, his eyes wide and desolate.
"Lu...don't you dare. Don't you dare give up." His voice was harsh with the strain of watching her suffer. He gripped her tightly as her eyes began to droop and gave her a small shake that made her gasp and wince.
"Lucy! Focus on me. Look at me. Your cordial's coming. It's coming. Just keep looking at me." Lucy heard but she was so exhausted all she wanted to do was sleep. She was so cold, and her body gave small tremors as she struggled to fight on, but it was getting harder and harder every second. Edmund was a hazy blur now as she tried to focus on him. All she could see clearly were his eyes; his deep brown eyes filled with such intensity she felt horrible for even considering giving up her fight for life. But it was so hard just to breathe and when she choked, all she could taste was blood.
"Edmund..." she moaned, her voice thick with the blood that was seeping in to her mouth.
"I'm here Lucy. I'm here. You stay here too. Stay here." It was then that she choked - a horrible, grating, gurgling sound, and Edmund's eyes widened in horror as blood poured from her mouth on to her chest, covering her leather armour in a thick red paste.
"Lucy!" Her eyes writhed with pain and Edmund sprang in to action. He put her back on the ground as quickly as he could and pulled off his glove, wiping the blood from her mouth to try and give her space to breathe. His panic gave him a rush of adrenaline as he frantically tried to clean round the wound in preparation for the weapon to be removed. Where was the cordial? Where was it!
"Stay with me Lucy. Stay with me. Come on, just fight a bit longer. Stay with me!" His frantic begging made him realise just how serious the situation was and how close he was to breaking his promise, how close he was to losing his baby sister. He clenched his jaw and growled under his breath, leaping to his feet and whistling three times once more. When nothing happened he gave a great bellowing yell which echoed far across the battlefield; all his pain, anger a frustration erupting in to the air as he tore at his hair and fell to his knees beside Lucy, his voice filled with helpless desperation as the tears flew unchecked down his face.
"Lucy, Lucy please. Come on. Stay with me! Stay with me! NO!" He jerked forward when Lucy's eyes closed over and he shook her as hard as he dared, forcing them back open with a soft cry.
"Stay with me! You hear me? You stay with me! Don't you dare give up!" Then, across the field, there came a loud screech. With a painfully fierce surge of hope, Edmund wrenched his gaze from his sister to the sky. He trembled with the whirl of emotions being forced through his body as the gryphon circled around them then came to land by his side. In its large beak was a bottle and it was the most beautiful sight Edmund had ever seen. His whole frame quivered as he reached out to take it.
"Shall I put it down first sire?" The gryphon asked quietly, realising his King was in no fit state to hold it. Edmund could only nod, quite unable to speak. The gryphon lowered the bottle to the ground carefully and the second it let go, Edmund reached out to grab it.
"Lucy. Lucy it's here. Lu?" Edmund glanced at his sister and the world seemed to stop spinning. Her eyes were shut and her breathing was getting steadily fainter.
"NO! Lucy it's here. Come on. Look at me. LUCY!" She twitched and Edmund let out a sharp breath with relief. He hovered over her and glanced hesitantly at the spear.
"I'm going to take it out now Lu. You'll be alright okay? It'll hurt for a little while. Just a little while. I'm right here with you. I'm right here." She barely managed to open her eyes to look at him but she gave the tiniest of nods and clutched his hand tightly.
"Sire...may I? I have done this before. I fear you will only cause more pain." Edmund was about to protest when he saw how badly he was shaking. He hesitated for a moment then nodded once and tightened his grip on Lucy's hand, offering what comfort he could. The gryphon latched its beak on to the wooden shaft, near the point where it was embedded in Lucy's stomach, then looked towards Edmund, waiting for the command. There was a tense silence then, closing his eyes, Edmund nodded. In one swift movement, the gryphon pulled the spear from the Queen's body. Her strangled scream made Edmund cringe but there was no time to lose. He immediately uncorked the bottle and held it over Lucy's mouth, struggling to stop his hands from shaking. It took all his will power not to give her more than one drop of the fiery liquid. As it landed on her tongue she choked and with one last look of agony, let her lids slide shut. There was a brief moment of silence then Edmund broke with a gut-wrenching cry.
"NOOOO! LUCY!" His sister's name was torn from his lips as he pulled her in to his arms. His control shattered as he howled with grief and his tears streamed on to her hair as an agony unlike anything he had ever experienced crashed down on him like a tidal wave. He couldn't stop rocking, his screams and wails carrying far across the now silent battlefield. His eyes became swollen and red and his voice grew hoarser and hoarser as he begged her to come back. Lucy couldn't be dead. She couldn't be. How could the world exist without Lucy? He tilted his head to the sky and roared with pain and anger, pushing all his emotions in to that one sound until he didn't have the breath to keep it going. Only then did his sobs lessen. Only then could he bear to lower Lucy to the ground. Only then could he stare at her beautiful face and brush her hair away from her closed eyes with a tenderness he could never have shown her when she was alive. Why hadn't he? It seemed silly now, avoiding her hugs or refusing to show her too much affection just to appear more manly or grown up. Now he could never make it up to her...now he'd never get the chance to call her beautiful, or hug her when she was upset or just...be there for her. He would never again be a big brother and it was all his fault.
He pressed his warm forehead against Lucy's cold one and pushed his fingers in to her hair, weeping bitterly over the loss. The gryphon had watched the scene with complete shock before backing away to give his King some time to grieve. Narnia would be broken hearted at the news of their beloved Queen's death.
As Edmund lay sobbing over his sister's body a small breeze picked up, swirling round him as if wrapping him in a cloak. He pulled away from Lucy, peering through swollen lids as if to see through the wind. When it died down he dropped his gaze back to his little sister and felt fresh tears fill his eyes at the sight of her lying dead beneath him. Before a new wave of grief could assault him, a voice carried across to him on the breeze.
"Have faith, Dear Heart"
Edmund's head spun round in shock and he gazed desperately out over the battlefield.
"Aslan?" His voice was husky from crying but it held a spark of hope as he searched for any sign of the Lion; but as the breeze disappeared entirely he felt a crushing disappointment and nearly succumbed once more to his grief. Then, so faint he almost missed it, came a soft moan.
Edmund whipped round to stare at Lucy's body and his eyes widened in astonishment when her eyelids began to twitch and her lips parted to draw in a short, shaky breath. He pulled her quickly back in to his lap, his hands gripping hers so tightly his knuckles were nearly white, hardly daring to believe what he was seeing.
"Lu? Lu can you hear me?" She twitched again and after one agonisingly slow moment, her eyes opened.
"Ed?" The cry of relief that came from his mouth was nothing compared to the feeling of pulling her in to his arms and holding her so tightly he thought he'd never let her go. His tears were ones of relief and gratitude and as he felt her put her own tiny arms around him he offered Aslan a silent prayer of thanks. In that moment, he vowed he would never let her out of his sight again and in that moment, he knew he had never loved anyone as fiercely as he loved Lucy.
As the gryphon watched from the sidelines he smiled knowingly and swung his head up to the sky. Their enemies had tried many times to separate them in battle but none had succeeded. Now it seemed even the greatest enemy of all, death, could not bring itself to part the Silver Crowns of Narnia.
(*) If you've ever watched the Prince of Egypt I tried to write these lyrics to the lullaby Moses' mother sings to him when she puts him in to the river but feel free to come up with your own interpretation of how it would sound :) (*)