One
Edmund sat on Lucy’s bed looking at the picture. The same picture which had led them to Caspian had no boat anymore, no way of leading him to his home. He wished that he hadn't left but mostly he wished if he had stayed, his siblings and cousin would’ve been there with him. The seas seemed perfectly still, the clouds didn’t move- it was just a normal painting.
“Edmund, guess who came to visit us?”
He hadn’t realised the door opened, lost in hope. A foolish move, in the war he had yet to fight in- he would need to be alert. Edmund got up, turning fully around. His eyes widened as he saw the two people standing behind Lucy.
“Peter! Susan!” He exclaimed, “We aren’t meant to see you for a few months!”
A charming smile brightened Peter's face, opening his arms for a hug. Lucy fell into his embrace and ,after a moment's hesitation, so did Edmund. Susan quickly wrapped her arms around the three. They stayed like that for a minute. Complete silence apart from their breathing.
The eldest Pevensies let go, and Susan spoke softly, “So you went to Narnia?”
Lucy nodded, “With Eustace, we saw Caspian!”
Edmund looked at the ground, “it was our last time. I wish we stayed but I couldn't without you two there.”
Susan put her hand on his shoulder, surprised but loving blue eyes watching him. Peter’s smile faltered. Edmund slowly looked up, he saw tears in his brother’s eyes, Lucy was fidgeting with her sleeves nervously and Susan had a comforting , sweet smile. But what more caught his eye was Eustace in the doorway, scratching his neck, with adoring eyes as he gazed at Peter.
The eldest must have felt their cousin’s stare burn into his neck as he turned around.
“Cousin Eustace?” He said in surprise and awkwardness, “You look well and different- i mean- you look much more tanned than last time we saw you.”
Eustace bowed slightly, still in awe. “High King Peter.”
All of the cousins stared straight at the boy. Shock and mainly concern if he was alright was clear on their faces. Eustace had never shown this amount of respect to Edmund or Lucy when figuring out they were royal. Though, he always was more intrigued by stories of High King Peter when they were on their voyage through Narnia so maybe that was why the eldest Pevensie had gained his respect and admiration. Edmund couldn’t help but feel slightly jealous at that- he had done everything he could on the voyage to prove himself and had literally slain a sea serpent and yes, Eustace and him got along way better but he could still treat him the same as he just did with Peter.
“Eustace, there is no need to call me King here or in Narnia, we are family.” Peter chuckled, shaking himself out of his surprise.
“Oh- of course…” The Pevensies’ cousin nodded, his cheeks pink, looking as if he was embarrassed. Lucy and Edmund shared a knowing look. It had only been two months since their last trip to Narnia and it takes a while to get used to being in England, not treating everything the same as there.
Everything went smoothly that day. There was no awkwardness between the children and conversation hadn’t stopped at all. Eustace had been talking about his adventure with Edmund and Lucy, how he turned into a dragon and his training. Lucy described what went on when they were next to Aslan’s land (Susan was in awe about the experience) and Edmund listened to Peter talking about his school in America and about medicine.
The youngest Pevensie son hadn’t felt this happy since his last journey in Narnia. His siblings and cousin all together- there were only two things missing: Caspian and Narnia but the King was most important out of the two.
Edmund sat on his bed, the covers over him were slightly itchy but he had gotten used to it over the time he spent there. Over the last couple of days, the raven haired boy had started writing and drawing in a sketchpad that his cousin had gifted him. He was always good at doodles, his dad told him that the ones he drew in his school books were wonderful. Ed put pencil to paper, continuing off from his last sketch. The half done picture was a memory from his 15 years ruling over Narnia; a masquerade and the main focus was the kindest person (other than Lucy), the just King had ever seen. He was adding detail to their face, freckles, emerald eyes and the curls that fell into their face.
“Ed, you alright?”
Edmund looked up, Peter was standing in his red pyjamas , his shirt unbuttoned and hair very messy and slightly wet from his bath. His elder brother was trying to look into his sketch pad, dropping water onto the page.
The younger exclaimed, shutting his book. “Peter! You’re gonna soak my drawing!”
The blonde sat in front of him on his bed, smiling happily. “Good, because we need to go to sleep so you shouldn’t be sketching.”
The raven haired sighed, quietly putting his book on the floor, as Peter quickly checked if Eustace was asleep behind them. Edmund guessed his older brother didn’t want to have woken his cousin by talking. Eustace was such a deep sleeper he wouldn’t have noticed a gunshot- probably over his own snores. The youngest Pevensie son moved himself closer to the left side of the bed, lying down with another sigh; his brother got under the covers as well making sure he stayed on the right.
As much as Ed hated sharing a bed with Peter, he felt extremely comforted by his presence and memories of their first month of rule over Narnia flooded into his mind. Edmund had nightmares a lot because of the White Witch and the High King used to comfort him at night. He had missed those times. The memories slowly turned into dreams as tiredness took over. It wasn’t the only thing too, he seemed to have breathed in a tickle of magic.