Fandom: Narnia
Codes: Caspian/Peter
Rating: R
Summary: Edmund witnesses a moment between two Kings. Set during the book Prince Caspian - this is not movie related. Part 1 of the Kings Series. This is SLASH - you have been warned.

Ages: Peter-17; Caspian-17; Edmund-15 - I had to work out the ages myself; I'm not going to muck around with canon (besides the obvious mucking around!) so I haven't made them older than what they seem to be in the books. I'll give the ages for each story as I write them.

Disclaimer: The character's belong to CS Lewis. The blame is mine.

Author's Note: I originally wrote this back in 2000, I think, long before the movies were even announced. It's the first part of an Edmund-centric series that I've been working on, on and off, for some time and that I'm close to finally completing.

Kings Comfort

The battle was hard fought all day, and when it was over, and they had won, they all stood silently for a long moment, staring at each other. An odd mixture of relief and joy swept through Edmund and he could see it reflected in the faces around him. The moment broke when Aslan arrived leading a procession of Dryads, Maenads, animals, and people, and suddenly everyone was talking excitedly. Edmund couldn't help laughing as he found himself crushed in a bear hug from a bear, with several talking mice wrapped around his legs.

Things happened quickly after that. Aslan restoring Reepicheep's tail, and escorting the Telmarine soldiers to the town and locking them up, were a blur to Edmund, but eventually he found himself seated before a huge bonfire as an amazing feast began. And such a feast he had never seen before, even in his time as a King of Narnia. The amount of food was astounding, anything he could ever have wanted to eat in his life was there before him, but even more amazing was the way it appeared. The dancing of Bacchus, Silenus and the Maenads was beautiful and compelling, but Edmund's mouth dropped open when he saw the food appearing wherever their feet touched the ground.

Eventually they had eaten all the food, and more dancing began. Edmund was swept off his feet and whirled into the dance. At times it seemed riotous, everyone was laughing as they danced from partner to partner, but finally a complex pattern seemed to emerge and Edmund found himself threading his way through the circles of dancers with ease.

As the sunset faded, and the stars came out to twinkle down at them, the dancing became slowly more sedate, the music and style reaching back to the time when Edmund had lived with Peter, Susan, and Lucy in Cair Paravel. Edmund smiled to himself, as he moved through the more formal measures of this dance, various happy memories of that time rising in his mind.

Finally, the dance ended, and they all sat around the fire and told stories. Stories of the past, and the present, and hopes for the future. Edmund sat gazing into the fire, pleasantly tired, but his mind alert, as he listened to the soft talking around him. Slowly the voices died away, and when Edmund glanced around he saw that many of the company were now peacefully sleeping, only a few like himself were wide awake, sitting quietly and staring into the flames.

Peter, Susan and Lucy were amongst those awake. The girls were talking quietly with Aslan, but Peter was gazing pensively into the fire. Edmund shivered at the expression of pride and sorrow he could see on Peter's face. He watched Peter for a moment but Peter did not notice and did not meet his questioning eyes. Edmund was oddly reluctant to speak and break Peter's spell; his brother seemed even more self-contained than usual.

Edmund glanced around the fire again, and smiled affectionately as he noticed that Susan and Lucy had now fallen asleep. He felt tired as well, but he was not ready to join them. Slowly, he rose to his feet and stretched luxuriously, and smiled again as he heard the soft purr behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he met Aslan's golden eyes. The great lion's eyes gleamed in the firelight as he looked at Edmund for a moment, and then he turned his face to gaze up at the moon.

Edmund followed his gaze. The moon had now risen high in the sky and flooded the clearing with bright light. Certainly light enough to walk safely in, and almost without thinking, Edmund found himself heading for the forest path.

For a while, he walked among the trees. Being in Narnia again was heavenly, but it was a strange sensation, to still be a boy, but to remember and feel the strength and knowledge that had been his as an adult, as a former King of Narnia. Sometimes he thought that he noticed it more than any of the others, and he remembered his first bad days in Narnia, and knew that he was certainly the one who had been most changed by their visits. That thought was humbling, but he was grateful for it.

Lost in deep thought, he meandered on through the forest until the soft sound of running water came to his ears and he glanced up to find himself nearly at the ford. Then his heart leapt and his hand flew to his sword as he saw that someone was sitting on the bank, clear of the last line of trees. After a tense moment, he noticed the moon gleaming on pale, blonde hair, and he smiled ruefully as he realized it was Caspian.

Edmund was going to step out to join Caspian, but stopped at the last moment. He realised that he hadn't even noticed that Caspian had left the fire, and the way he was sitting here, alone in the dark, could only mean that the new King had crept away for a moment of quiet thought. Probably the first moment he's had to himself for a long time, Edmund thought, and he quietly stepped backwards into the cover of the trees.

Just as he was turning to follow his path back to the fire, Edmund heard a loud rustling in the trees nearby. He tensed, glanced back at Caspian and saw that the other boy had risen to his feet. Then Peter stepped out into the clear moonlight and Edmund could almost see his own sigh of relief echoed in Caspian's body.

"There you are, Caspian," Peter's voice was hushed but in the stillness of the night Edmund could hear his words clearly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Mind if I join you?"

Edmund watched as they both sat down on the bank, and then he turned to leave again. But then Peter spoke and Edmund's feet froze.

"How are you feeling, Caspian?"

The words were simple enough, but there was something strange about the tone of Peter's voice. Edmund frowned and looked over at the two boys, but while the moon was bright, he could not see their faces clearly. He was still trying to puzzle out why Peter sounded odd, when Caspian replied, and he almost missed it.

"I think I feel overwhelmed."

"Yes, being a King of Narnia can certainly be overwhelming," Edmund heard Peter reply. "But cheer up, the battle is over for today."

"Yes," said Caspian, so quietly that Edmund strained to hear him. "But what about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is the first day of Narnia's new freedom. A day that will always be remembered, just as our days as King of Narnia were always remembered."

Peter's voice rang clear and strong in the night air, but Edmund frowned as he finally realized why Peter sounded strange. The sorrow he had seen in Peter's face earlier was now deeply echoed in his voice, lending it maturity that, in their own world, Peter was only just beginning to show.

"You're right though," Peter continued. "The battle is just beginning. You have a lot of work to do, rebuilding Narnia, but I know you can do it, just as we did. The key is in the help you have around you. I had Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. Particularly Edmund. Sometimes I don't know what we would have done without him."

Edmund's face burned, and not just with the pride and embarrassment that Peter's words made him feel, but at the fact that he never should have heard them. While it was wonderful to hear that Peter, his older brother, and, perhaps more importantly, his High King, valued him, the fact remained that he was eavesdropping. Even if he was worried about Peter, it was no excuse to do something so sneaky. It was something he would have done in the bad days before Aslan and Narnia changed him, and he quickly stepped back and turned away.

Then he froze in horror as he saw Aslan, standing in a small glade in the trees, watching him. For a moment, Edmund was motionless, caught between the desire to run away, and the desire to fall at the lion's feet begging for forgiveness. Eventually he pulled himself together, lifted his chin and took a half step towards Aslan.

Instantly the lion shook his mane.

'Stay'

The one word seemed almost breathed towards Edmund, so quiet was the lion's deep voice.

"What?" Edmund whispered in shock.

Aslan simply shook his mane again, and Edmund always swore afterwards that he almost seemed amused, and then he turned and padded softly away through the trees.

Edmund's brow rose in amazement and then he stepped quietly back to the bank as he heard Caspian's clear voice.

"… and I have Trufflehunter, Trumpkin, and Dr. Cornelius. Oh, and I mustn't forget Reepicheep."

Edmund smiled as he heard Peter's amused snort. "No, by Jove, you can't forget Reepicheep."

For a long while, there was silence, and Edmund's mind flitted between two problems. One was why on earth had Aslan told him to stay and listen in on a private conversation? There had to be a good reason for Aslan to do something so strange, but for the life of him, Edmund could not see what it might be. The other problem was why was Peter sad? Edmund could only describe that pensive note in his voice as sad, and again, he couldn't see a reason for it. They had come back to Narnia, and won the battle. Why should Peter be sad?

He was so busy thinking about all this that he almost forgot that the other two were still sitting on the bank, until he heard a soft sigh from Caspian.

"What is it, Caspian?" Edmund had never heard Peter sound so gentle, and he smiled. It seemed that this was a night of never ending surprises.

After a moment, he heard Caspian answer, again so quietly that he found himself pressing forward to catch the words.

"I… I guess I'm lonely. Strange isn't it?"

"Not so strange, really. Kings are often lonely."

"Were you?"

Edmund caught himself holding his breath, wondering what Peter's answer would be. He had never heard Peter talk so openly with anyone, including Edmund himself, and Susan and Lucy.

"Yes," Peter eventually answered. "Even though I had the others, I was the High King, and that was lonely."

"I understand," said Caspian, and Edmund could hear a new note of firm authority in his voice. "And I understand that you've fought for me and placed me on the throne and that means you won't be able to stay. I just wish you could."

It almost seemed like bells went off in Edmund's head as he heard these words, and he knew they held a clue to Peter's sorrow. He hadn't seen it like that before, but when Peter had fought King Miraz on behalf of Caspian, he had been effectively handing his throne to another King. And even though it was Caspian, it had to hurt Peter in some way.

"It would be nice," Edmund could clearly hear the tight control in Peter's voice. "But we can't."

"Do you think you'll ever come back again?" Caspian asked hopefully.

"I have a feeling…" Edmund saw Peter shake his head. "Edmund and Lucy might, but I have a feeling that this is the last time for Susan and me."

Edmund's gasp of surprise echoed Caspian's. It was a shock, but now he felt he understood the depth of Peter's feelings. He'd not only given up his throne, but he wasn't ever going to come back to Narnia, and that was worse than anything Edmund could imagine. His eyes filled with tears of sympathy, and he brushed them away quickly as he heard Caspian's soft reply.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not that bad, you know, I've already lived a lifetime in Narnia. Having another lifetime in my own world is rather exciting."

Edmund smiled ruefully. How like Peter to see the positive side of things, and Edmund could tell by the new determination in his voice that he would continue to do so.

There was another long moment of silence, but this time it seemed filled with peace and contentment. Edmund was almost going to leave; he was finally starting to feel tired, after everything that had happened that night, when he saw Caspian move.

Caspian leaned closer to Peter, and Edmund watched in dawning amazement as Caspian brushed his lips across Peter's. He saw Peter freeze in shock and pull back quickly. He expected Peter to get up and walk away but instead his brother raised one hand to Caspian's face. There was a low murmur of voices, and Edmund could not make out the words, but eventually he saw Peter lie back on the bank, pulling Caspian with him, and then they were kissing again, really kissing.

Edmund's eyes widened with horror as he watched them. This was more than just a simple kiss between Kings. He took a quick step forward, intending to stop them, but then he heard a soft moan from one of them and a strange excitement flared throughout his body and he couldn't move. He just couldn't take his eyes off them. He saw when Peter pulled Caspian completely over his body, saw his hands sliding along Caspian's back. He watched as they broke a deep kiss to gasp for air, laughing softly, and then Caspian dove back onto Peter's lips and he heard his brother groan.

That groan broke the spell, and Edmund swiftly turned away and plunged into the trees, not caring if he was heard. When he saw the light of the bonfire through the trees, he stopped and leaned over trying to catch his breath. His mind was in a whirl. Why, why had Aslan told him to stay? Why had Aslan wanted him to see that? And why had he felt such horror at what he had seen? The truth was he'd seen such sights before, both in Narnia, and as a student at a boy's boarding school in England. Was it because it was Peter, he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to look his brother in the face again, … or was it because it was Caspian?

When he had calmed himself as best he could he made his way back to the fire. Everyone was asleep, but a quick glance in Aslan's direction showed him that the great lion was awake and gazing at the moon. A strange resentment rose in Edmund's breast, this whirlwind he was in was Aslan's fault. As if he could read Edmund's thoughts, the lion turned and gazed at him impassively. Their eyes met, Edmund saw something fierce in the huge eyes of the lion. A warning.

Flushing with shame, Edmund steeled himself and walked across the glade to kneel at Aslan's feet.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I don't understand… why…?"

"Be still, son of Adam," Aslan interrupted. "This will be your battle to fight. This will be your sacrifice to make. For now, sleep."

Edmund felt as confused as ever, but he knew better than to question further when Aslan had that expression on his face. He found a spot beside Lucy and tried to go to sleep. He did not think he would be able to but the next thing he knew he was woken by a bright ray of sunlight on his face.

With some trepidation he glanced around the group, searching for Peter and Caspian. His heart fluttered strangely when he saw Caspian talking with Trumpkin, but Peter was nowhere to be seen and eventually he realised that Aslan and Susan were also missing.

Caspian seemed completely the same as he had yesterday, and when he smiled and waved at Edmund, Edmund found himself automatically returning the greeting. And when Peter finally returned Edmund was able to look him in the face without showing any of his inner turmoil. Again that aura of sorrow surrounded Peter, and now also Susan, but when Peter and Caspian exchanged a shy smile, Edmund saw a quiet peace enter his brother's eyes.

He couldn't take his eyes off them. Even as they both stood on either side of Aslan at the gate, he watched them. He was still puzzling over the whole thing, when suddenly it was time to leave. Peter and Caspian made their farewells as brother Kings, with no indication of anything else, and Edmund began to feel that he had imagined the whole thing.

But then, just before they stepped through the gate, Peter turned, and Edmund glimpsed his face as he gazed back at Caspian. He saw pride there, and joy, but no sorrow at parting.

As he found himself back on the railway station, with their luggage piled around them, Edmund wondered if he would ever understand.

THE END