CHAPTER 8

EDITED 7/16/21

With plans to invade Miraz's castle in the dead of the night, a lot of training and preparations were in order. Some continued creating weapons with the few materials they had. Susan practiced with the archers and Lucy mostly watched. Mary had the opportunity to practice sword fighting with Peter and Edmund a few times, and she could clearly see that all those years in Narnia paid off. They were truly talented sword-fighters. They always went easy on her, though, never actually fighting her and instead mostly coaching her on what her next best move should be. But finally, Mary was going to officially sword-fight as Edmund facilitated one of the outdoor training sessions in front of Aslan's How while Peter stayed inside to discuss things with Caspian.

The group of sword-fighters stood under the clear sky, having finished their warm up. There were minotaurs, centaurs, fawns, satyrs, and dwarves of all shapes and sizes. Edmund had ordered for them to group into pairs and begin practicing. He was clad in a white tunic, brown pants, and black boots. Instead of a dress, Mary was thankfully able to find other articles of clothing that fit her and were more suited for moving. She had changed into a maroon long sleeved top, tan pants, and black boots. She certainly felt more comfortable than in those long dresses she had been stuck with the previous days.

Regardless of her change in clothing, she still broke out in a sweat under the heat of the sun after the warm-up. She pulled her dark hair into a ponytail, tying it with the hair tie she always kept on her wrist even when she arrived in Narnia. She was tightening her ponytail when a voice behind her said, "Let's fight, shall we?"

Mary whipped around and heard an "Ow!" before she could even reply. She found Edmund clutching his eye, an irritated expression on his face.

"What?" Mary asked. "What did I do?"

"Your ponytail whipped me in the face!"

Mary couldn't help but giggle. "Sorry," she said in between laughs.

"Clearly, you're not," Edmund grumbled, rubbings his eye. "Even your hair is lethal."

"'Even'?" Mary repeated. "Does that mean I am, too?"

"Perhaps."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Mary smirked. She felt a surge of confidence all of a sudden. Now that Edmund was challenging her to fight, she could feel the adrenaline coursing through her, determined to finally duel someone for real. She had to admit that her win against Trumpkin and battle with Caspian must have been pure luck. Although she had experience with fencing back in her world, it was still different.

Noticing the challenging tone to her voice, Edmund nodded knowingly.

"Ahhh," he said, a smirk finding its way to his face as well as he slowly unsheathed his sword. "Okay, we'll see about that."

Edmund badly wanted to show off how good of a sword-fighter he was, but he also didn't want to go all out since Mary was new to it. But he also remembered that she did have past experience with fencing as a sport and that she did manage to win a fight in one try. He was conflicted on whether or not to hold back. But when Mary stepped back and got into position with a grin, he decided he wanted to win after all. This was his area of expertise, and he wasn't going to lose.

"Hmm, I can go easy on you if you want," Edmund teased.

Mary narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

"No need."

She was first to swing her sword, but Edmund was quick to follow. They clash countless of times as they attempted to advance on each other. Edmund used his strength to gain on her, but her petite stature made it easy for her to dodge his attacks as well. Edmund was impressed to see her fighting smartly.

"This is easy?" she challenged when she ducked under one of his swings.

Edmund quickly used his arm to block her from moving away any further.

"Oh, I'm just getting started," he winked.

Trying not to get distracted by that, Mary swung her sword from below, only for Edmund to jump over it. He tried elbowing her to which she evaded by grabbing his arm and using it to turn him around. He let out a sound of surprise, clearly not expecting Mary to know how to do that. He soon recovered and spun back around, their swords clashing in an 'X' formation once more.

"Didn't know you could do that."

"Is there supposed to be this much talking in a fight?" Mary joked, stepping forward to press the sword against him.

"Not really," he admitted with a nonchalant shrug.

He took a few steps forward too, this time causing Mary to stumble back and land on her behind. Edmund reminded himself not to help her up, but she didn't seem to need it anyway as she quickly rolled to her side to avoid any of his strikes.

"That's what you get for whipping me in the face with your hair!" Edmund taunted, blocking her from standing up. However, she was able to roll away from him even further to recover. He still continued to approach her and when he was near enough, she kicked him behind the knees. Edmund lost balance and fell onto one knee. Mary scrambled up to her feet to directly face him.

"Oh, I'm just getting started," she winked back.

That was enough to throw Edmund off. He tried to regain his composure and kicked below Mary since he was already on the ground. But, he was too late. She had watched his move and managed to avoid it, jumping to the side before swinging her sword backhandedly onto Edmund's. His grip had loosened from being caught off guard by that damn wink from Mary, and so, her actions were able to disarm him. Already on the floor, her sudden move made him fall flat on his behind and she pushed him down even more. Next thing he knew, Mary had one hand on his chest as he lay on the grass while the other held her sword pointed directly at him.

To say that Mary was shocked at herself was an understatement. She never expected herself to even do that. She tried to hide it, though, as she smiled triumphantly and casually said, "I win."

Both her and Edmund were breathing heavily, staring at one one another. Edmund was still baffled at his loss and the fact that it happened because he got distracted by her, and now that Mary had processed her win, she was beginning to stare into his eyes again before she stopped herself, choosing to look at the grass next to him instead.

"I let you win," Edmund eventually answered, not having a smart comeback in mind.

"Yeah, so you're just lying down in defeat for nothing, I suppose," Mary said with a small laugh, just about to get up. She even offered a hand to Edmund, but instead of taking it, he pulled her down before she could stand and rolled her over so that she was the one on the ground while he hovered above her this time.

"That's better now," Edmund said playfully.

"Well, that's not at all inappropriate, is it?" Trumpkin whispered to a fawn to the side.

Fighting the blush on her cheeks, Mary glared and scoffed.

"Get over yourself."

Soon, the two got up, and it was only then that Mary realized what a scene they caused when the Narnians around them began to clap. She wanted to shrink back at all the attention.

"So, you managed to defeat the best sword fighter in Narnia," Edmund sighed dramatically. "It was because I was distracted, though, but I'll let you claim your victory."

"What could you possibly even be distracted by?" Mary questioned. "Either way, you shouldn't have let yourself get affected."

Edmund tensed, clearly not having any plans on elaborating to her why exactly he got distracted.

"Fine," he said instead, giving in. "Okay, you won. All joking aside, though... you really are good at fighting, Mary. I'm impressed."

Hearing the sincerity in his voice, Mary smiled softly.

"Thanks, Ed."

"Now..." Edmund faced the Narnians who had gathered in a circle to watch them instead of duel one another. "Get back to work."

They murmured in response and obeyed, getting back into pairs to train.

"Can't wait to tell the others how I beat you," Mary teased.

"Oh, shut it."

✧ ✧ ✧

Riding a horse was another one of the things Mary had to learn in the short time they had. It was practically second nature to the Pevensie's and Caspian, having grown up doing it regularly. Edmund informed her that the horses used to be able to talk, but that wasn't the case anymore. They still seemed to be more intelligent than the normal ones back home, though, so he reassured her that it wouldn't be hard to get used to it.

While Mary expected to learn how to ride the horse right away, Edmund crushed that reality by making her practically babysit a horse for a while. She was beautiful and seemed to actually understand Mary most of the time, which didn't make it hard. But, she couldn't deny that she was getting bored of trying to bond with a horse. They would be executing their plan at Miraz's castle very soon and she still wasn't accustomed to riding a horse that was running at full speed.

"You're not babysitting. You're horse-sitting," Edmund had jokingly told her when she first complained. Eventually, he obliged and taught her how to ride a horse. She was grateful that the horse was obedient and seemed to understand her commands and directions, which made it easy for her.

"Try and catch up with me, then," Edmund said mischievously when Mary jokingly said she was a pro after successfully riding a galloping horse a few times.

Before she could retort, Edmund slapped the reigns of his horse and ran full speed into the forest. Not wanting to back down from a challenge, she did the same, and Elista neighed before charging into the thicket of trees. Mary weaved through the trees and uneven paths until she could see the back of Edmund a few feet before her. She urged her horse to run faster until she was almost at par with Edmund.

Despite the inevitable war that was coming, Mary and Edmund relished in the moment, feeling carefree and with no worries. The wind blowing Mary's hair behind her just added to the thrill, and she couldn't remember the last time she felt this happy and relaxed. Edmund still outran her, though, further inflating his ego.

"Turns out you can't beat a King of Narnia, after all," he smirked as the two made their way back to the How.

"This is worse than when you would beat me at chess back home, which, by the way, I realize now is another one of the things you did in your spare time in Narnia," Mary said. "You have a solid gold chess set, for goodness' sake."

"To be fair, at least I don't rub my wins in your face as much as you make fun of me on a regular basis," he defended.

"Me? Make fun of you? I could never."

Edmund rolled his eyes at her words dripping with sarcasm.

"Would you like me to enumerate them for you?"

"Go ahead."

"How about that time mum scolded me for not helping her set up the table when you came over for dinner and you kept hinting at it throughout the whole meal?"

"I only brought it up twice."

"Or the time I tripped in the Underground and an old lady hit me with her bag and instead of helping me, you watched and laughed?"

"Who am I to fight an old lady back, though?" Mary tried to reason with him.

"Or when I went to your house to help you with homework —"

"Hey, I'm the one who helped you with yours —"

"And I fell asleep and you drew on my face?"

"Okay, maybe that was a bit too much," she chuckled nervously as they exited the woods, the hooves of their horses making quiet sounds with each step they took on the soft grass.

"You think?" Edmund said sarcastically. "Your dad was the one who pointed out that I had drawn-on glasses on my face. It took me half an hour to get it out."

"Is that so?" Mary smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, it was cute."

Edmund tried not to react at her words, but he could feel his face grow warm. She had indirectly called him cute, and it was messing with him. She didn't seem to think it was a big deal, though, as she sighed and said, "I'm tired."

Edmund cleared his throat. "Already?"

"Cut me some slack. I'm basically a beginner."

"You have a point." They had reached the entrance of Aslan's How. "Come on, I'm starving."

"Already?" Mary mocked him.

"I'm a growing boy."

As if to annoy him even further, she exaggeratedly moved slower than usual as they returned the horses to their places. Edmund was already walking ahead when he noticed that Mary wasn't next to him. When he turned around and found her moving all too slow to be considered normal, he groaned.

"Really, Mary? That's childish." She shrugged and continued anyway, only just about to remove the saddle from the horse. Edmund tapped his feet impatiently, watching irritatedly until she finally finished.

"That's it."

Mary didn't have time to react before he had stomped his way over to her, picking her up and hoisting her over his shoulder.

"H-Hey!" she exclaimed, startled. "Put me down!"

"No. You're taking too long."

"I was kidding!" she whined, defeatedly hanging on his shoulder. Edmund was a firm and lean person, but Mary never pegged him to be strong enough to carry her like that. Sure, she wasn't tall at all, but it still surprised her how easy it seemed for him.

"Aren't you getting tired?" she tried again.

"You're not heavy," Edmund said. "Well, it's because you're extremely short, so —"

"Okay, I get it," she cut him off, knowing that he would make fun of her height even more if she let him continue. Eventually, he set her down right before they entered the main room of the How.

Dusting herself off, she said, "Finally."

"What? Didn't you enjoy that?" Edmund teased, nudging her. "I'm incredibly strong."

Mary ignored him and walked ahead of him.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!"

"What a kid," Mary muttered under her breath.

"Mary, I heard that!"

A/N: Wow, a whole chapter full of Mary and Edmund? Hope you guys liked it :>