fic, narnia, edmund
Title: Poor Jerusalem
Fandom: The Chronicles of Narnia
Summary: Prince Caspian AU (movieverse); The battle at Aslan’s How takes a wrong turn when Aslan doesn’t show up and the trees remain asleep.
Characters: Warrior Pevensies, specifically Edmund. Jadis.
Rating: 16+ for adult themes, pevencest and character death
A/N: OH MY TRAGIC AU. Based on the question, “What do you think happens back home if you die here?” I promise to write about unicorns and kittens next time.
A/N the second: A million thanks to my beta, loki013, for holding my hand through this writing process and being v. firm!; and to my px for being intrigued by the premise; and to sloanesomething for last minute encouragement! <3
A/N the third: This fic is riddled with references to the other books. FYI.
for if you live you may yet have good fortune but all the dead are dead alike
- H&HB
*
The victory at Aslan's How is absolute.
The head of Caspian, the last of that name, rolls to the right. Battlefield executions are usually such sport, but the crowd of Telmarine soldiers stay silent and grave. Peter, the man who defeated their king, follows; Lord Sopespian's blade is sharp and true.
It is marked in the record that the rebel kings of Narnia die honorably, their eyes empty of fear and their last words inspiring. There are few among the listening Telmarines who do not feel a tingle of regret.
The woman Susan holds her head erect; her hands are bound tightly behind her back.
A gryphon cries in a far away tree.
*
Edmund, the younger of the warrior kings, is nowhere to be found. Sopespian and his men search every cave and interrogate every prisoner. They document the following: some say that a cold, harsh wind from the North swept up the boy, carrying him off into the skies; others say that the earth swallowed the last king of Narnia up; and a few believe that they saw him vanish completely, as if he was never there at all.
*
A dagger hilt is buried deep in a tree, somewhere in the forest. Another queen, her eyes fierce and her hands bound, is added to Sopespian's cells.
*
"You belong to me," she breathes into his ear. Her long fingers sliding across his neck are surprisingly warm.
Edmund holds himself very still in this cold, dark place.
"Aslan has killed your brother, betrayed your sisters," Jadis continues. "And how shall we avenge them, my king?"
*
Susan counts every stone in her prison, every bar. She counts her bruises next.
*
Peter sits in Aslan's country, leaning against a great apple tree. He looks westward.
"What is it?" Caspian asks, sitting beside him.
"I'm waiting for someone," he replies.
"Who?"
"I don't know, I can't remember," Peter says. "Can you?"
Caspian shakes his head.
*
Under the earth, Edmund sleeps without dreams. He awakes to Her voice and follows Her bidding. When he closes his eyes, he sees his brother's face.
He is kept without enchantment. She tries to hide her surprise.
*
Lucy sings in her cell. She sings Tumnus' lullabies, she sings ballads from far away lands, she sings her faith in Aslan.
*
The surviving Narnians circle in the woods, pooling their resources and intelligence. Their queens are locked in towers. Rumors flow in about the surviving king of old and his whereabouts, but no report reads with a semblance of sense and possibility.
Leaderless, they wait.
*
King Sopespian discovers the various difficulties in overtaking an unstable kingdom. The chase is far better than the capture. Ruling by force rather than by whispered words does not please him as much as he expected.
He regrets the loss of Lord Glozelle. But what with his failure to kill Caspian in front of their countrymen and his appeal for the prince's life - there had been no choice. Sopespian has no patience for changeable, weak men.
But Glozelle had controlled a number of voices on the council, and the army would have followed him into fire and water. Killing him so publicly and taking his lands was perhaps a mistake.
*
Sopespian makes other mistakes:
He does not listen to his spies who tell him that something is happening in the North. News of an army, of an ancient power, of poisoned water, of blackened trees.
He does not listen to his people who speak in reverence of the two imprisoned queens. From all corners of the kingdom, their legend grows; men speak of their beauty and wisdom.
He calls on the Tisroc for aid.
*
Edmund shivers in the dark, presses his palm to the cool earth and feels the pulse below. The captured earthman scuttles about in a corner, his eyes wide in terror.
"Will they help us?" he asks Her. "They are many."
Jadis turns her head, looking disappointed. "I would need more time with them. They are a wild people."
"Time is something we don't have," he says.
*
The visiting Tisroc asks that the Queen Susan join them for afternoon tea. She is brought to the room in chains; but her face and her hands are clean.
"O you wonder," the Tisroc breathes.
Susan curtsies in the Calormen style but her eyes never leave his.
He rises, his face the picture of astonishment and delight. "Your Excellency, such beauty should not be kept in the dark. She must be seen, she must be enjoyed."
Susan straightens her back, lifts her head. She wonders if she should show them her teeth.
"In the great hall of my fathers in Tashbaan, there is an image of this woman's face," he continues. "She is a figure of torment, of seduction, of great deceit. I never believed such a woman could inspire such passion. Now I understand."
Sopespian looks from one to the other and regrets allowing this visitation.
"The answer to your problems lies in front of you," the Tisroc says, sitting down on his feathered cushion. "You must marry this queen of old. The people will follow her. And they will follow her sons."
Susan politely refuses the tea offered to her, her hands neatly placed in her lap.
*
The engagement is announced that very hour.
*
She remembers the brown eyes of Caspian, the curl of his hair, the curve of his mouth as he smiled.
She hears the echo of Lucy's voice, a plaintive song for Aslan.
She longs for her brother.
"No more," Susan says, calling out to Aslan and to the Emperor-Over-The-Sea. "I have nothing to offer you. This is not my world. I have no place in it."
Her voice resonates in her cell walls; no one sees her vanish into the shadows.
Sopespian curses to find that his bird has flown.
--
A member of the home guard passes a boy and a girl sitting on a bench in a London railway station. He doesn't remember seeing them a moment ago.
The boy leans heavily on her shoulder; she looks pale, disoriented.
"Peter, you're so cold," he hears her say as he walks by.
--
His rage comforts him, fills his belly and strengthens his arm. "It is time," Edmund says and his army begins to march.
*
Lucy is told about Susan's disappearance and the oncoming attack at the same time.
She stops singing.
*
On the last night of the siege, Sopespian removes the crown from his head and poisons his drink.
*
Jadis knows the Deep Magic; she knows that to the rule this world, a son of Adam must take the throne. The last queen of Charn has learned the value of compromise.
*
King Edmund sits straight on the Telmarine throne; the crown is heavy against his skull. He recalls the weight of another crown long buried beneath the earth. It takes getting used to, he remembers.
The air tastes like silver and cold; he wonders how it would have been if the silken words spoken to a young schoolboy thousands of years ago had been true, how he would have ruled under Her then.
She stands to his left, surveying the crowd with greedy eyes.
"What would you have done if Peter had taken your hand?" he asks softly.
Jadis leans close, lips red from wine. "What is it that the great cat always said to such questions?" She breathes in, her face inches from his own. He feels lightheaded.
"We can never know what would have happened, dearest."
*
The new king orders that every Telmarine is killed, down to the child that was born yesterday.
"This world is sieve," Edmund tells her, "Riddled with doorways to other places. We will not be lacking in subjects."
She smiles. "As you wish."
*
Seven days after the conquest, Edmund climbs to the top of a tall tower. He finds her there, waiting for him.
"Aslan died for you," Lucy says.
"Peter died for Aslan," he replies evenly.
They stare at each other in silence before she holds out her hands. "Oh my brother, what have we done?"
*
"She is here," Edmund says; his voice shakes. He sinks to his knees. "What is your will?"
Her eyes stare unblinking at his hand, clutching his sword hilt. "As all that is in this castle is mine," she says, "I shall give her to you."
He flinches, surprised.
Jadis cups his cheek. "My king, you are in need of wife, in need of a queen worthy of you."
"But-"
"I have spoken, Edmund," she whispers, her eyes only hinting at her anger.
*
Edmund is immediately sent to the Lantern Waste to find the ancient silver tree, to cut it down and bring it forth so that She can make a gift for his bride.
While he is away, Jadis attends Lucy in her rooms, lights the fire with her spells and breathes in that drowsy, sweet smell. "Give up your claim on him," she asks, her voice soft.
Lucy looks at her with tired eyes; her head is tilted as if she cannot keep it erect. "What?"
"Leave Edmund to me, daughter of Eve, and I will return you to the world of men."
She grips the arm of her seat. "I will not be parted from my brother."
"But your sister?" Jadis replies, her voice all sweetness and concern. "Your sister lives outside this world, she needs you. And I, for one, know the agony of being parted from my sister."
Lucy's eyelids flutter as she fights the spell. "Your sister?"
"She was a great lady, wise, and more beautiful than the stars," she says, the corner of her lip raised in a half smile.
"I didn't know you had a family," Lucy replies shortly, her head leaning back against the chair.
"We all have families, small one."
Lucy stills, her eyes unfocusing as she breaths in deeply.
Jadis leans in. "Take my offer."
"No," she says, her voice a whisper. "I do not trust you; but I trust my brother."
*
The silver chair's bindings cut into Lucy's skin during her frequent confinement, but as soon as she is released, she is healed.
Edmund doesn't know, but he suspects.
*
"I have beaten your Aslan," Jadis says over breakfast. "I wish to try my might against Tash. Are you with me?"
"To the death," Lucy replies, eyes all too bright and her hand on Edmund's arm.
*
Nothing is so grand in all the empire as the court of King Edmund and Queen Lucy, blessed by her most imperial magnificence Jadis.
Supplicants arrive daily; as well as knights, eager to win favor and ensure the safety of their families.
The banquets served are long and opulent. (Jadis smiles in memory as Edmund whispers in her ear that he's poisoned the left side of the table.)
The tournaments are renowned for their sport, their violence and the richness of the rewards. Men come from every inch of the known world, determined to spill blood for their queen, hear words of wisdom from their king and catch a glimpse of the Glorious One.
The dancing is all delight and intrigue.
On one such night, the king dances with his merry queen. Lucy laughs and laughs, her arms around him as they glide across the floor. The king, so grave and solemn, begins to laugh as well and the court hushes, watching them in their joy.
Jadis is quick to cut in, and the room echoes with whispers. Edmund almost matches her for height; they make a pretty pair, king and god. As they dance, the smile fades from his lips and his eyes grow dark. They dance as if alone, as if the queen wasn't there watching them, her eyes shining.
That early morning, a poor enchanted girl goes mad with rage and struggles against her silver bonds.
*
Jadis rules her dominion for an age. She keeps the son and daughter of Adam youthful and occupied. She keeps Edmund busy fighting wars and building grand infrastructure. She keeps him by keeping Lucy alive, wide-eyed, and sane.
The moment he stops, she knows she will lose him. And enchantment would only spoil his pretty face, his strong will.
Conquest tastes sweet in her mouth.
*
"I have lost my dearest son," Aslan tells his newly-called son of Adam and daughter of Eve.
"And my most treasured daughter is under a deep enchantment. You must follow these signs to complete your task…"
Peter listens to the exchange from his apple tree. He writes down the names, Lucy, Edmund, and tries to remember to ask Aslan about them later, ask why he thinks he might know them, ask why the sound of their names brings him joy.
*
"For Peter," Edmund says, rushing into battle. Lucy urges her horse to run faster.
--
Another train, another minute passes.
Susan sits with her arms around her brother, unable to move. She waits for the others to return.
THE END.
Fandom: The Chronicles of Narnia
Summary: Prince Caspian AU (movieverse); The battle at Aslan’s How takes a wrong turn when Aslan doesn’t show up and the trees remain asleep.
Characters: Warrior Pevensies, specifically Edmund. Jadis.
Rating: 16+ for adult themes, pevencest and character death
A/N: OH MY TRAGIC AU. Based on the question, “What do you think happens back home if you die here?” I promise to write about unicorns and kittens next time.
A/N the second: A million thanks to my beta, loki013, for holding my hand through this writing process and being v. firm!; and to my px for being intrigued by the premise; and to sloanesomething for last minute encouragement! <3
A/N the third: This fic is riddled with references to the other books. FYI.
for if you live you may yet have good fortune but all the dead are dead alike
- H&HB
*
The victory at Aslan's How is absolute.
The head of Caspian, the last of that name, rolls to the right. Battlefield executions are usually such sport, but the crowd of Telmarine soldiers stay silent and grave. Peter, the man who defeated their king, follows; Lord Sopespian's blade is sharp and true.
It is marked in the record that the rebel kings of Narnia die honorably, their eyes empty of fear and their last words inspiring. There are few among the listening Telmarines who do not feel a tingle of regret.
The woman Susan holds her head erect; her hands are bound tightly behind her back.
A gryphon cries in a far away tree.
*
Edmund, the younger of the warrior kings, is nowhere to be found. Sopespian and his men search every cave and interrogate every prisoner. They document the following: some say that a cold, harsh wind from the North swept up the boy, carrying him off into the skies; others say that the earth swallowed the last king of Narnia up; and a few believe that they saw him vanish completely, as if he was never there at all.
*
A dagger hilt is buried deep in a tree, somewhere in the forest. Another queen, her eyes fierce and her hands bound, is added to Sopespian's cells.
*
"You belong to me," she breathes into his ear. Her long fingers sliding across his neck are surprisingly warm.
Edmund holds himself very still in this cold, dark place.
"Aslan has killed your brother, betrayed your sisters," Jadis continues. "And how shall we avenge them, my king?"
*
Susan counts every stone in her prison, every bar. She counts her bruises next.
*
Peter sits in Aslan's country, leaning against a great apple tree. He looks westward.
"What is it?" Caspian asks, sitting beside him.
"I'm waiting for someone," he replies.
"Who?"
"I don't know, I can't remember," Peter says. "Can you?"
Caspian shakes his head.
*
Under the earth, Edmund sleeps without dreams. He awakes to Her voice and follows Her bidding. When he closes his eyes, he sees his brother's face.
He is kept without enchantment. She tries to hide her surprise.
*
Lucy sings in her cell. She sings Tumnus' lullabies, she sings ballads from far away lands, she sings her faith in Aslan.
*
The surviving Narnians circle in the woods, pooling their resources and intelligence. Their queens are locked in towers. Rumors flow in about the surviving king of old and his whereabouts, but no report reads with a semblance of sense and possibility.
Leaderless, they wait.
*
King Sopespian discovers the various difficulties in overtaking an unstable kingdom. The chase is far better than the capture. Ruling by force rather than by whispered words does not please him as much as he expected.
He regrets the loss of Lord Glozelle. But what with his failure to kill Caspian in front of their countrymen and his appeal for the prince's life - there had been no choice. Sopespian has no patience for changeable, weak men.
But Glozelle had controlled a number of voices on the council, and the army would have followed him into fire and water. Killing him so publicly and taking his lands was perhaps a mistake.
*
Sopespian makes other mistakes:
He does not listen to his spies who tell him that something is happening in the North. News of an army, of an ancient power, of poisoned water, of blackened trees.
He does not listen to his people who speak in reverence of the two imprisoned queens. From all corners of the kingdom, their legend grows; men speak of their beauty and wisdom.
He calls on the Tisroc for aid.
*
Edmund shivers in the dark, presses his palm to the cool earth and feels the pulse below. The captured earthman scuttles about in a corner, his eyes wide in terror.
"Will they help us?" he asks Her. "They are many."
Jadis turns her head, looking disappointed. "I would need more time with them. They are a wild people."
"Time is something we don't have," he says.
*
The visiting Tisroc asks that the Queen Susan join them for afternoon tea. She is brought to the room in chains; but her face and her hands are clean.
"O you wonder," the Tisroc breathes.
Susan curtsies in the Calormen style but her eyes never leave his.
He rises, his face the picture of astonishment and delight. "Your Excellency, such beauty should not be kept in the dark. She must be seen, she must be enjoyed."
Susan straightens her back, lifts her head. She wonders if she should show them her teeth.
"In the great hall of my fathers in Tashbaan, there is an image of this woman's face," he continues. "She is a figure of torment, of seduction, of great deceit. I never believed such a woman could inspire such passion. Now I understand."
Sopespian looks from one to the other and regrets allowing this visitation.
"The answer to your problems lies in front of you," the Tisroc says, sitting down on his feathered cushion. "You must marry this queen of old. The people will follow her. And they will follow her sons."
Susan politely refuses the tea offered to her, her hands neatly placed in her lap.
*
The engagement is announced that very hour.
*
She remembers the brown eyes of Caspian, the curl of his hair, the curve of his mouth as he smiled.
She hears the echo of Lucy's voice, a plaintive song for Aslan.
She longs for her brother.
"No more," Susan says, calling out to Aslan and to the Emperor-Over-The-Sea. "I have nothing to offer you. This is not my world. I have no place in it."
Her voice resonates in her cell walls; no one sees her vanish into the shadows.
Sopespian curses to find that his bird has flown.
--
A member of the home guard passes a boy and a girl sitting on a bench in a London railway station. He doesn't remember seeing them a moment ago.
The boy leans heavily on her shoulder; she looks pale, disoriented.
"Peter, you're so cold," he hears her say as he walks by.
--
His rage comforts him, fills his belly and strengthens his arm. "It is time," Edmund says and his army begins to march.
*
Lucy is told about Susan's disappearance and the oncoming attack at the same time.
She stops singing.
*
On the last night of the siege, Sopespian removes the crown from his head and poisons his drink.
*
Jadis knows the Deep Magic; she knows that to the rule this world, a son of Adam must take the throne. The last queen of Charn has learned the value of compromise.
*
King Edmund sits straight on the Telmarine throne; the crown is heavy against his skull. He recalls the weight of another crown long buried beneath the earth. It takes getting used to, he remembers.
The air tastes like silver and cold; he wonders how it would have been if the silken words spoken to a young schoolboy thousands of years ago had been true, how he would have ruled under Her then.
She stands to his left, surveying the crowd with greedy eyes.
"What would you have done if Peter had taken your hand?" he asks softly.
Jadis leans close, lips red from wine. "What is it that the great cat always said to such questions?" She breathes in, her face inches from his own. He feels lightheaded.
"We can never know what would have happened, dearest."
*
The new king orders that every Telmarine is killed, down to the child that was born yesterday.
"This world is sieve," Edmund tells her, "Riddled with doorways to other places. We will not be lacking in subjects."
She smiles. "As you wish."
*
Seven days after the conquest, Edmund climbs to the top of a tall tower. He finds her there, waiting for him.
"Aslan died for you," Lucy says.
"Peter died for Aslan," he replies evenly.
They stare at each other in silence before she holds out her hands. "Oh my brother, what have we done?"
*
"She is here," Edmund says; his voice shakes. He sinks to his knees. "What is your will?"
Her eyes stare unblinking at his hand, clutching his sword hilt. "As all that is in this castle is mine," she says, "I shall give her to you."
He flinches, surprised.
Jadis cups his cheek. "My king, you are in need of wife, in need of a queen worthy of you."
"But-"
"I have spoken, Edmund," she whispers, her eyes only hinting at her anger.
*
Edmund is immediately sent to the Lantern Waste to find the ancient silver tree, to cut it down and bring it forth so that She can make a gift for his bride.
While he is away, Jadis attends Lucy in her rooms, lights the fire with her spells and breathes in that drowsy, sweet smell. "Give up your claim on him," she asks, her voice soft.
Lucy looks at her with tired eyes; her head is tilted as if she cannot keep it erect. "What?"
"Leave Edmund to me, daughter of Eve, and I will return you to the world of men."
She grips the arm of her seat. "I will not be parted from my brother."
"But your sister?" Jadis replies, her voice all sweetness and concern. "Your sister lives outside this world, she needs you. And I, for one, know the agony of being parted from my sister."
Lucy's eyelids flutter as she fights the spell. "Your sister?"
"She was a great lady, wise, and more beautiful than the stars," she says, the corner of her lip raised in a half smile.
"I didn't know you had a family," Lucy replies shortly, her head leaning back against the chair.
"We all have families, small one."
Lucy stills, her eyes unfocusing as she breaths in deeply.
Jadis leans in. "Take my offer."
"No," she says, her voice a whisper. "I do not trust you; but I trust my brother."
*
The silver chair's bindings cut into Lucy's skin during her frequent confinement, but as soon as she is released, she is healed.
Edmund doesn't know, but he suspects.
*
"I have beaten your Aslan," Jadis says over breakfast. "I wish to try my might against Tash. Are you with me?"
"To the death," Lucy replies, eyes all too bright and her hand on Edmund's arm.
*
Nothing is so grand in all the empire as the court of King Edmund and Queen Lucy, blessed by her most imperial magnificence Jadis.
Supplicants arrive daily; as well as knights, eager to win favor and ensure the safety of their families.
The banquets served are long and opulent. (Jadis smiles in memory as Edmund whispers in her ear that he's poisoned the left side of the table.)
The tournaments are renowned for their sport, their violence and the richness of the rewards. Men come from every inch of the known world, determined to spill blood for their queen, hear words of wisdom from their king and catch a glimpse of the Glorious One.
The dancing is all delight and intrigue.
On one such night, the king dances with his merry queen. Lucy laughs and laughs, her arms around him as they glide across the floor. The king, so grave and solemn, begins to laugh as well and the court hushes, watching them in their joy.
Jadis is quick to cut in, and the room echoes with whispers. Edmund almost matches her for height; they make a pretty pair, king and god. As they dance, the smile fades from his lips and his eyes grow dark. They dance as if alone, as if the queen wasn't there watching them, her eyes shining.
That early morning, a poor enchanted girl goes mad with rage and struggles against her silver bonds.
*
Jadis rules her dominion for an age. She keeps the son and daughter of Adam youthful and occupied. She keeps Edmund busy fighting wars and building grand infrastructure. She keeps him by keeping Lucy alive, wide-eyed, and sane.
The moment he stops, she knows she will lose him. And enchantment would only spoil his pretty face, his strong will.
Conquest tastes sweet in her mouth.
*
"I have lost my dearest son," Aslan tells his newly-called son of Adam and daughter of Eve.
"And my most treasured daughter is under a deep enchantment. You must follow these signs to complete your task…"
Peter listens to the exchange from his apple tree. He writes down the names, Lucy, Edmund, and tries to remember to ask Aslan about them later, ask why he thinks he might know them, ask why the sound of their names brings him joy.
*
"For Peter," Edmund says, rushing into battle. Lucy urges her horse to run faster.
--
Another train, another minute passes.
Susan sits with her arms around her brother, unable to move. She waits for the others to return.
THE END.