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im-a-wonderling · 3 months

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White Moves First, Part 5 ~ Edmund Pevensie

Summary: Despite the distance between their two lands, Y/N, princess of Archenland, is close friends with King Edmund the Just. But when push comes to shove, will friendship turn to more?

Warnings: none

Word count: 3k

White Moves First Masterlist

@writing-on-the-wahl you're amazing, in too many ways for me to try and sum up. Thank you so much for everything.

“Never in all my days did I imagine this would come to pass!” My father clapped his hands together, the sound an unnaturally sharp contrast to the excitement of his words.

I tried to match his radiant smile, but failed before I even started.

It was less than ten minutes after Edmund went to go find my father when I was summoned to the king’s study. Cor sat properly on the sofa facing the fire while Corin slouched beside him. Edmund stood by the right corner of the mantelpiece, his back to the fire and his gaze trained on the rich wooden floor. Not knowing where to stand, I stood by the left corner.

My father flitted between his desk in the corner and Edmund, seemingly unable to keep still. “My daughter and King Edmund?” he said with comical disbelief. “How wonderful it is!”

Corin shook his head, looking a bit dazed. “My sister, a queen.”

“Of Narnia,” Cor added, giving his twin a significant look. Not the fourth wife of a prince in Tashbaan, his expression said, likely familiar with the consequences of those words ever leaving his mouth. Most everyone in the room believed I still had no idea how close I’d come to being a princess of Tashbaan and not a queen of Narnia.

Edmund’s gaze didn’t shift from the floor.

To anyone else, his face would speak of deference and humility, but I knew him, like I knew the scratches on my chessboard too well to mistake it for another or the paths of the garden too well to get lost. His expression was one of discomfort. And how could he not be uncomfortable when he was stuck in a room with my father and brothers, discussing the topic of marriage?

He’d seemed so surprised when I brought up how much he loathed marriage, as if it wasn’t plain and simple to see. Whenever Queen Susan or Queen Lucy talked of weddings and betrothals, he looked as if he’d smelt something rancid. What kind of friend would I be if I hadn’t noticed?

Hopefully, we had a few months before we married, to give us time to figure out how this arrangement was going to work.

“I am overjoyed!” my father announced, needlessly. We could all see it on his face. “And your mother would be so happy.”

I pursed my lips. Would this make my mother happy? Would the proposal from Rabadash have worried her? Would she have been relieved? Or, perhaps, like me, would she have been left in the dark, blindly following my father’s choices?

“Father, perhaps–” Cor’s comment was interrupted as the door flew open to reveal Edmund’s older sister.

“Queen Susan!” my father boomed, spreading his hands like he was welcoming an angel.

“I came as quickly as I could.” She glanced around the room as she closed the door behind her. “What’s happened?”

“Your brother’s marrying my sister,” Corin grumbled, and Cor nudged him.

Queen Susan’s eyes went wide as they found her brother. “You…” She glanced at me. “And…?”

“Me,” I finished awkwardly.

To her credit, Queen Susan only blinked once before taking the news in stride. “Well then,” she folded her hands together, “I suppose we’re preparing a wedding.”

My father nodded. “Ab-so-lute-ly. Why, there isn’t a moment to lose!”

“Sorry,” I cut in, “but why do we have no moments for, uh, losing?”

“The sooner we get married, the better,” Edmund said calmly from his spot on the other side of the room. Everyone looked at him, a common occurrence whenever the Just King opened his mouth. But unlike normal when Edmund would hardly acknowledge the attention, he glanced uncomfortably at everyone before meeting my eyes. “It won’t do to wait, not with Rabadash’s presence here.” He started to push his hands into his pockets, and, at the last minute, he clasped them behind his back instead.

“Oh,” was all I said.

“And why would we wait?” My father seized one of my hands, dragging me closer to Edmund with such zeal, I nearly tripped, and would have, if Edmund’s hands hadn’t found my waist to steady me. “This is a fated union!” my father boomed in Queen Susan’s direction as Edmund’s hands flew away from my waist and his feet shifted to create space between us.

I was so distracted by Edmund, it took me a moment to understand what my father had said.

Fated union? Hadn’t he just said moments ago that he never imagined this happening?

“If we work quickly,” my father walked towards the queen, “why, we could have them married by the end of the week!”

Queen Susan jerked out of some pensive musing. “Yes! Yes, I don’t see why not.”

“We’ll get started immediately.” My father offered his hand to the queen, which was quickly accepted. “Now, my lady, we must start with the guest list. Of course, the Archenland nobility will all be invited to this most auspicious event, but we must see about inviting High King Peter and Queen Lucy.” Still talking, he led her out of the room, leaving me and my brothers with Edmund.

Silence fell.

As the fire behind me let out a great pop, I peeked at Edmund, who was already looking at me. The moment our eyes met, we looked away.

Cor caught my eyes, quirking an eyebrow, but Corin was staring at Edmund with the defiant expression he wore whenever someone dared him to do something foolish.

“So why do you want to marry Y/N?” Corin asked.

“Corin!” Cor hissed.

“It’s a valid question!” Corin folded his arms. “You’re wondering it too!”

I looked at Edmund and knew we were silently asking ourselves the same question: did we reveal to them the true motivation behind why Edmund suddenly wanted to marry me? Edmund raised his eyebrows, clearly placing the decision in my hands.

If they knew, they would see how wonderful Edmund was…but they would also see how pathetic their sister’s position was, that I’d found out I was being married off and had to rely on a friend to rescue me because I couldn’t rescue myself. I didn’t want them to be party to my embarrassment. “It’s none of his business,” I said to Edmund, and I knew he understood my hidden meaning. “You don’t have to say anything.”

“It is too my business,” Corin argued, getting to his feet. Cor got to his feet also, putting a hand on his twin’s shoulder, which Corin quickly shook off. “If he’s going to be my new brother-in-law, I want to know.”

Brother-in-law.

The title made me feel suddenly queasy. If it made me feel queasy, it certainly made Edmund—the man who never wanted to marry—uncomfortable as well.

“Corin–” I started, ready to send him off the trail.

“Your sister,” Edmund cut in, drawing all eyes, “is special.”

Special.

That was like calling something interesting—it sounded like you were saying something, but you really said nothing at all.

“Really, Edmund, you don’t have to–”

“Shhhh!” Corin shushed me. Both my brothers faced Edmund, looking expectant. Outnumbered and helpless, I dropped into an armchair, watching Edmund try and stitch his words together.

“It’s not hard to find a beautiful woman,” Edmund said finally. “Nor is it rare to find a well-mannered woman of grace and poise. I’ve met many women of great intelligence or enthusiastic patience or tremendous humanity.”

I looked down at my shoes, my eyes watering from the smoke of my hopes burning.

“But your sister, somehow…is all of those things.”

I glanced up to see Edmund looking over at me. He wasn’t smiling, but there was a soft and undeniable fondness in his eyes. “Any man would be lucky to have her, but none could deserve her.” He shook his head. “Not even me.”

My heart overflowed, brought to the brink of pain with the amount of affection in it.

“I’m quite convinced that if she wanted to,” Edmund tilted his head, “she could outshine the sun.”

His words stole my breath. I fought to regain it, to be as unruffled and mighty as his words made me seem, but air seemed beyond my reach. He didn’t have to say all that, I’d given him permission to ignore my brothers, and yet he’d said it anyway. Did he really mean it? Or was he pandering to my brothers to convince them?

Even as I pondered the question, I could tell by his face that his words were in earnest, and it made me wonder. As underhanded as Rabadash proved himself to be…was he right? Did Edmund truly love me?

Corin pretended to gag. “Gross.”

“Corin!” I exclaimed, feeling my cheeks heat up.

“I didn’t ask for poetry!”

Cor shoved Corin. “Shut up!” Cor stepped forward to clap Edmund on the shoulder. “It will be an honor to have you as our new brother, King Edmund.”

Edmund politely inclined his head. “Likewise.”

“You picked a good one,” Corin told me, begrudgingly. With that, the twins left the room, arguing about Corin’s manners as they went.

And then, Edmund and I were alone.

All our familiarity melted away like snow in the spring. We didn’t touch each other, we didn’t look at each other, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if Edmund was trying to ignore the sound of my breathing the way I was trying to ignore his.

My current position far exceeded my position a few hours ago. Marrying Edmund was a vast improvement over marrying Rabadash.

But…with Rabadash, there was no obligation to pretend it was anything more than an arrangement. I could’ve spent my whole marriage loathing him, and it changed nothing. But with Edmund? I didn’t have the ease of hatred nor the certainty of love. It was still an arrangement, but an arrangement that left me unsure of where I stood.

“Will you stand up for me?”

I blinked, suddenly noticing that Edmund stood in front of my chair now, his hand outstretched. “What?”

“Stand up.”

I did, tentatively placing my hand in his. Edmund was standing so close, I had to tilt my head back to look in his face. This is how we stood in the drawing room, when Edmund looked down at me with an expression I’d never before seen.

He was wearing the expression again now.

Then, ever so slowly, he dropped down to one knee, and a sudden burst of alarm shot through me. “What are you doing?” I cried before clapping a hand over my mouth at the sheer volume of my shrill voice.

Edmund reached out for my other hand. “I’m doing this right.”

I curled both hands into my chest. “You don’t have to–”

“I do,” Edmund said grimly, looking up at me. “In fact, I should’ve done it in the drawing room the moment I thought of this whole plan. You deserve to have this done right.”

“But this makes it–” I’d been about to say ‘real’, but nothing about this was real. If it were real, Edmund would propose because he didn’t want to live life without me. Because he loved me, not because he was trying to save me from an impossible situation.

And yet, it was real. This was happening.

“Will you please let me do this?” Edmund asked.

“But I’ve already said yes!” I said shrilly. “We’re already getting–”

Married.

A measly little word, and yet I couldn’t make myself say it, too aware of its weight.

“You said yes to the plan.” Edmund got to his feet again, something raw in his eyes. “You didn’t say yes to me.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s implied!”

Edmund bent a little so that our faces were on the same level as he looked directly into my eyes. “I don’t want a marriage based on an implication.”

My knees shook a little, weakened by the intensity of his tone. There should’ve been no surprise about this. I knew what kind of a man Edmund was. Of course it would translate into the kind of husband he wanted to be.

“Y/N, please,” Edmund begged. “I-I need to feel like I’m doing this right.”

“You’re…” I trailed off. “You’re already doing too much for me.”

“Then do this for me.”

Why? my head screamed. I knew what Rabadash’s answer to that question would be, and it scared me. But as Edmund looked at me with his wheedling face, I knew there wasn’t much I could ever deny him. I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded, not trusting my voice. For Edmund. I could let him do this.

“Alright then.” Edmund clumsily and awkwardly took my hands, and I wasn’t sure if his hands were sweating or if mine were as he lowered himself onto his knee again. “Y/N, will you marry me?”

For a scary moment, I couldn’t form any words, couldn’t do anything except stare at him. Edmund was gaining new titles with this.

Son-in-law. Brother-in-law. Husband.

And so was I, I realized.

Queen. Sister-in-law. Wife.

I stared down at Edmund, cursing his persistent need to do things ‘the proper way’.

“Please say yes,” Edmund pleaded, his eyes imploring for the word.

Why did he seem so desperate? We were already getting married. The deal was already made. The wedding was being planned. Why did my ‘yes’ matter so much?

It didn’t matter that much to anyone else.

I swallowed hard. “Yes.” The word was strained and indecipherable, so I cleared my throat. “Yes, Edmund, I’ll marry you.”

Edmund didn’t smile. Instead, he released my right hand, shoving his own into his pocket.

“What are you–” My words died as my eyes caught the flash of silver. I gaped down at Edmund. “You got me a ring?”

Edmund laughed nervously, looking down at the band in his hand. “Not exactly. It’s actually my signet ring from when I was younger. I, uh, I outgrew it, and they had to craft another one.” He lifted his right hand to show off the ring on his pointer finger. “I-I just thought, um, that it could work until we could have another one made for you.” His rushed and uncertain words floored me. He scratched his neck. “It’s small, I know, and it’s very simple, but I just, I mean, I thought perhaps, in a way, it’s right–”

“It’s perfect.”

Edmund looked up at me. “Really?” I nodded, wordlessly holding out my hand. Edmund, staying in his position on the ground, gently slid the ring onto my ring finger. It nearly slipped back past my knuckle. “Um…I guess it’s too big.” He started to pull it off.

“Wait!” I quickly slid it onto my middle finger. Still too big.

Edmund rose to his feet. “Really, if it doesn’t fit, you don’t have to–”

I slid it onto my pointer finger, and it stayed right where it was. “It fits,” I said, showing it to him.

“It’s not on your ring finger though,” Edmund said, frowning.

“No, it’s okay. I like it on this finger.” I held it up to the light, admiring the birch leaves right in the center. “And anyways, we match.“ Taking his hand in mine, I spread his fingers until our palms met, the rings matching up with our pointer fingers. “See?” I said softly.

Edmund didn’t reply at first. Then, his eyes met mine. “I guess we do.” He let his fingers slip, intertwining with mine. I held my breath, suddenly anxious as his thumb gently, soothingly rubbed mine. “Are you okay?” he asked.

I let out the breath, sinking into the comfort of my courteous and wonderful friend. “Yes. Are you?”

“Apparently,” his Adam’s apple rippled as he swallowed, “we’re going to be married by the end of the week.”

I knew it, I knew he didn’t want to be married. I loosened my grip on his hand. “You don’t have to do this–”

“Y/N,” he said softly, holding my hand tighter. “We’re not going to have this conversation over and over again.”

“I-I just, I can’t–”

“If the roles were reversed,” Edmund cut in, “would you do the same for me?”

“Of course I would,” I replied without a moment’s hesitation. “I’d do anything for you, because you’re my best friend.”

The corners of Edmund’s mouth turned ever so slightly upward. “And I for you, because you’re mine.” His expression turned a little devious. “Should I be offended that you keep trying to let me out of this?”

I chuckled a bit self-consciously. “It’s probably bad manners, isn’t it, to reject a gift like this?”

“It is,” Edmund said pleasantly. “But have no fear, I’ll still bring you gifts on your birthday every year.”

I smiled. “Except you’ll only have to walk them down the hall instead of sending them across nations.”

“I’ll save on so much postage,” Edmund murmured. I giggled lightly, and Edmund smiled fully. The tightness in my chest eased at the familiar sight. It was the type of smile that promised we were going to be okay. The awkwardness of our impending marriage couldn’t shake our friendship.

The door opened, and we respectfully stepped away from each other.

“Y/N,” said Queen Susan’s melodious voice, causing me to look up. She pursed her lips, clearly trying to conceal a smile. “I want your opinion on flowers for the wedding.” Her eyes flicked towards her brother. “Edmund tells me you like flowers.”

I looked over at Edmund, and the pink dusting his cheeks made me smile. “Yes, I do,” I said lightly, walking over to Queen Susan. She turned to lead me down the hall, and I glanced over my shoulder at Edmund.

He looked the very picture of regality.

His hands were behind his back again as he stood at his full, kingly height. Even the smile on his face was lordly, yet spoke of such warmth, I wondered at his assertion that I could outshine the sun.

Didn’t Edmund know he already did?

Overall tag list:

@thelastpyle @valiantlytransparentwhispers

White Moves First tag list:

@thelifeofsecretpenguins @read-just-cant @chesh-ire-cat @emotionallyattachedteen

#narnia #chronicles of narnia #edmund #edmund pevensie #edmund fanfic #edmund fanfiction #king edmund #king edmund the just #arranged marriage #arranged marriage trope #friends to lovers #chess #narnia fanfic #narnia fanfiction #marriage #wedding

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