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one | a trip to edmund's gardens

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IT WAS FAIR TO ASSUME THAT EDMUND PEVENSIE WAS NOT A FAN OF BALLS!

Despite knowing the importance of it, the newly crowned king could not understand how people could find the pleasure of dancing and socializing all night long without getting bored. Whilst he was happy to be king, he still wasn't happy with the idea of huge social gatherings - even if they are centered around him and his family being crowned that very day.

Edmund had enjoyed it for a while. He had begun the night by joining Lucy and various other Narnians in dancing and talking about the plans they had for the kingdom but an hour in he had decided that he would rather be anywhere but there. It may surprise people, but Edmund himself was extremely unsociable - so unsociable that the first time he met his friend Genevieve he only stared at her, unable to speak.

Genevieve Potter was the reason Edmund was alive.

It was Genevieve Potter who had warned him of the witch, Genevieve Potter who had saved his siblings and calmed him when she was captured by the witch. It was Genevieve Potter who took the Witch's blow for him on the battlefield.

So yes, he was happy to have met Genevieve.

However, Edmund found that despite her knighthood at the coronation earlier in the day, he still hadn't been able to catch Genevieve and congratulate her on her position and speak to her about what happened on the battlefield. She was definitely the bravest and most selfless person Edmund had ever met and he valued her for that and wanted her to know how much he appreciated her and her doings to his family.

He didn't know a lot about Genevieve Potter, but what the young boy of ten did know was that he and her got along as if they had known each other their whole lives. He couldn't put his finger on it, but the two seemed to just click immediately and Edmund felt a connection with the girl he had never felt with anyone before. Sure he had a select few friends back home, but none of them shared the connection Edmund had formed with Genevieve over a couple of days.

It was strange really, Edmund didn't quite understand it - but he doubted that many people would understand that kind of connection so early on in their lives. There was just something about Genevieve that drew him to her and made him feel more alive than he ever had before.

He wished her knew what it was he felt.

He suddenly spotted her outside on the balcony, the girl smiling up to the sky and he quickly maneuvered his way through the crowd of Narnians to try and get to her. When he finally set foot outside, the cold air immediately hit him - the young boy watching as the Potter girl shivered but still kept a smile on her face. The young king settled himself next to her, leaning forward onto the rails as the found of music from the ball began to fade and he followed her gaze up to the stars.

"How come you're not enjoying the ball?" He asked the girl curiously, Genevieve in turn meeting his eye before her gaze settled on the beach that was in close proximity.

"The ball scene isn't really my thing. All the dancing and socializing is just not my style." Genevieve stated, Edmund turning to look at her as he leant his right arm on one of the railings. "I'd much rather be in a library."

"I'm the same." Edmund admitted, chuckling at her revelation before as he saw the soft smile settle on her lips.

There was silence for a moment, neither Genevieve nor Edmund speaking as they both stared at the night sky in deep thought. It was so surreal to believe that a few days ago they were just kids in the countryside, hiding away from a war not worth fighting and praying for their love ones and now they were bigger than that now. Edmund was a king whereas Genevieve was now a Knight. It was just so hard to believe.

"Would you like ditch the ball to explore the gardens with me?" Edmund asked after a moment, noting as Genevieve''s smile widened as she turned to him and nodded.

"I'd love too, your majesty." Genevieve teased and Edmund rolled his eyes as she took his hand and led him to the gardens.

One of the many perks that came with Edmund being King was that Aslan had bestowed the gardens upon him, giving Edmund a place where if he needs too he can de-stress and release any anger he may possess in the future. It's true that in years to come it would become a special place for him, Edmund finding solitude in the gardens because they were his and he could do whatever he liked with them whilst surrounded by nature.

Edmund smiled as Genevieve pulled him out into the gardens, watching as her eyes widened as her eyes immediately went to the rose bush a little way away. Genevieve let go of Edmund's hand momentarily as she reached up to try and grab a red rose- wincing as she pricked herself on a thorn and pulled her hand away. Edmund immediately grabbed her hand, checking to see if she had hurt herself but finding she had not. Not letting go of her hand, Edmund reached up and carefully plucked the rose from its bush.

Genevieve watched with wide eyes as Edmund wrapped a handkerchief around the stem of the rose before handing it to her with a shy smile. Genevieve beamed as she inhaled the sweet aroma of the rose, the girl smiling at Edmund who was watching her with an equally large smile on his face.

"Isn't it strange how fast things have changed?" Genevieve asked him as they continued to walk through the garden hand in hand, Genevieve clutching the rose in her other hand as they did so.

"Yeah," Edmund agreed as a sigh left his lips. "I was just a boy from Finchley with an attitude problem and now-"

"Now you're just a King with an attitude problem." Genevieve teased, Edmund nudging her as the two laughed. "It's just so surreal."

"To think, if we had never came to Narnia then we would have never spoke." Edmund had said, Genevieve frowning as she stopped in her tracks and just stared at him. "What?"

"Don't say stuff like that." Genevieve whined as him as she nudged him in the chest. "You make it sound like you wish we never had."

"I never said that," Edmund defended himself as he sent her a reassuring smile. "You've done so much for me and my family and you've honestly saved my relationship with them."

"You did that Ed," Genevieve whispered as she gave him a smile. "I just gave you a push."

Genevieve then gasped as she looked to the sky, dragging Edmund to sit down as they stared up at the stars in the sky with smiles on their faces. Genevieve immediately pointed up at the sky, pointing out different constellations to Edmund completely forgetting that there was a ball that they were meant to be attending.

"What's that one?" Edmund asked as he pointed up to the sky, Genevieve giggling as she looked at it.

"That's called Orion." She explained, watching as Edmund's nose scrunched up at the name for some reason as a smile graced her lips.

Orion was outlined by four bright stars at the corners of an imaginary trapezoid. Within the space defined by these four points, seeming to draw them together into a pattern, is a row of three stars tilted at an angle known as Orions belt. Arcing downward from the belt is another group of fainter stars which was known as his sword.

"Orion is considered to be the most splendid of constellations, befitting a character who was in legend the tallest and most handsome of men." Genevieve stated as she tried to remember what she could about the constellation. "His right shoulder and left foot are marked by the brilliant stars Betelgeuse and Rigel, with a distinctive line of three stars forming his belt. In Greek Mythology he is known to be the son of Poseidon, a warrior."

"Sounds like he'd have a bit of an ego." Edmund muttered, Genevieve giggling as they stared up at the sky again in silence.

It was weird to think that a week ago, the two never knew of each others existence: never knew that they were destined to be become a Knight and a King in a land they found in a wardrobe. The two wouldn't know the importance of the constellation Orion until they were in their twenties and wouldn't know how accurate Edmund was but right now it didn't matter to them.

They were just a broken boy and a broken girl who had finally found the glue that put them back together.

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