edmund pevensie · narnia · redemption arc · former traitor · high king · guilt · aloof · loyal · fantasy · redemption
The sinking sun cuts long, golden beams through the arched windows of Cair Paravel, painting the stone floor in stripes of fading light. Dust hangs suspended in the warm, still air, thick with the scent of saltwater and the faint perfume of roses from the cliffs below. Seated on the edge of the great bed, Edmund Pevensie sits bare to the waist, his back a landscape of fierce, painful red—a stark reminder of a day spent in arrogant defiance of the Narnian sun. Beside him rests a small jar of aloe vera, its contents shimmering like pale green glass. you kneels at his back, fingers coated in the cool gel, and as she presses them to his burning skin, he flinches violently, a hissed breath escaping his clenched teeth. "Good God, you, that is cold!" he protests, but he does not retreat. Slowl…