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✩.･*:｡≻───── ⋆♡⋆ ─────.•*:｡✩🥷Telmarine Spies🥷✩.･*:｡≻───── ⋆♡⋆ ─────.•*:｡✩

Charlotte sprinted after Edmund, trailing behind him as they headed out of the How. He held out to her an extra sword when she appeared by his side, casually reminding her of their objective for the day's training.

"You remember what we're doing today, right?" He prompted, vaguely meeting her eyes as he released his grip.

She nodded, "Peter said it's very difficult to master."

"It is," he confirmed, observing the quiet trees as they made their way to their training station, "even he chooses to only wield one in battle."

"I'm not sure if I'm ready, if I'm being honest," she pulled an uneasy expression, wiping the sweat off her hand against her attire.

"Don't worry," He turned to her with a warm, genuine smile, "I have confidence in you."

Seeing his contagious smile was all she needed in the world to feel sure of herself. She could feel her heart melting at his simple friendly gesture.

"Of course, in battle, it's completely up to you," he reminded her, "I just think it would be good for you to learn, given that you're a fast learner."

Once they arrived near the lake, Charlotte sat herself down on the grass, anticipating his demonstration. She secretly enjoyed this part of the training, where she could simply admire his stance and fierce expressions. At times, she wondered if he noticed but simply ignored it.

"Most might say it's actually risky to use two swords in combat," Edmund shared, "because you've got minimal protection. You're exposed and vulnerable to attacks. So you must be a really skilled fighter to be confident with dual wielding."

"You may lack a shield," he demonstrated slowly with his blades, "but you've got two tools for attacking. You can bind your sword with theirs easily and use the other to attack."

Charlotte made sure to nod to indicate she was paying attention. She was paying attention indeed, but she enjoyed focusing on his features at the same time. His dark eyes were filled with concentration, eyebrows knitted together fiercely, and lips slightly parted. She stared intently at him, lightly biting her lower lip.

Then Edmund glanced at her unexpectedly. When their eyes met, she quickly shifted her gaze to the ground, not wanting him to realise she had been staring at him with a burning passion.

Little did she know, he definitely noticed it. He could vaguely feel her intense stare lingering on him from his peripheral vision. A smirk tugged on his lips.

"I don't know if it's my looks or stances you're focusing on," he lightly teased, "but I can tell you're quite enjoying this lesson."

She cleared her throat. Gradually, she began to itch all over, possibly from her shyness. Her hand raised to scratch her hair, attempting to put up an indifferent facade.

"Obviously, the latter," she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

He chuckled and decided not to press on the matter.

"Come on, let's try it together," he extended his blade, beckoning towards her, "I'll go easy on you."

She nervously picked up her blades and wielded them by her sides. Her insecurities easily shot through the roof, as she cautiously approached her trainer.

As Peter had warned her earlier, she struggled in coordinating her arms with Edmund's two swords coming at her from left and right. She was able to throw some attacks in the first few minutes, but it was gradually getting challenging to keep up with him.

He tried to match with her slow pace as promised, careful not to be too harsh in defeating her. Eventually, she ended up using both swords for constant blocking with an X formation, nervous and cautious in striking at him. Clearly she was too reliant on the shield, he thought to himself.

"Charlotte, don't be afraid," he chuckled, separating from her shortly to give her some space, "you're just defending yourself, quite poorly, in fact. The purpose of two swords is to attack."

"If you keep doing that, your opponent might just wear you down."

"I don't know, Ed," she panted, admitting defeat, "I don't think I'm good enough. A shield is much more protective than an extra sword."

"Charlotte, you're an excellent fighter!" Edmund exclaimed with a bright, genuine smile, "you've mastered so much in just one week. Take it from me, you've got potential."

Charlotte's heart melted, and she broke into a grin.

Edmund's cheeks flushed upon seeing her cheerful expression, and he cleared his throat nervously.

"Shall we try again?" He suggested, holding his blades up.

"Sure," she nodded, feeling more confident.

Then, without warning, Edmund swung his blade. Charlotte raised her left blade instinctively, alarmed. Then, her other blade spun out of control as Edmund locked it with his other sword, disarming her in a lightning flash.

"H-hey!" She whined, shooting him a glare, "I wasn't ready!"

"I know," he snickered.

Realising she was still glaring intensely at him as she bent to pick up her right sword, the corners of his lips curled upwards in response.

Charlotte stared at him in bafflement, not exactly expecting such a positive reaction. How could he possibly be smiling? She was growing irritated by the second.

"It's really not that funny," she scoffed, not catching his drift, "you said you'd go easy on me."

Out of the blue, he blurted out, "You're adorable when you're mad, you know that?"

Her jaw dropped at his words.

He smirked, teasing her, "I doubt the Telmarines would want to fight such an adorable kitten on the battlefield."

She frowned, her eyes loudly conveying her vexation. Then, she swung her blade fiercely at him.

He chuckled, dodging her attack by taking a few steps backwards.

"Now, it's a fight!"

Edmund swung his blade, only to have it bounded to hers. They fought for control over the blades, eventually resorting to pulling them away from each other.

She mirrored his actions, observing his coordination and slowly integrating it into her own techniques. She picked up the skills fairly quickly, bursting with energy with each attack.

He occasionally complimented her when he realised she was assimilating his moves excellently.

They eventually got stuck in a loop, in which they would take turns to dodge and attack. There were moments where he would overpower her, forcing her to push him back using her limbs.

He decided to increase his force upon realising she was advancing progressively, swinging with his might. She managed to block it in time with both of her blades, her eyes widening when she realised their faces were so close together at one point.

"You're getting better," Edmund taunted with a teasing smirk, "but you're not getting tired, are you?"

"No," she assured him, mirroring his expression as she pushed him back with her might.

She knew disarming him was nearly impossible. She was up against the best swordsman of Narnia. They were caught in the same loop of attacking and dodging, and she knew if she kept this up, he would eventually wear her down as he had warned her. She made her last attempt at swiping his swords towards his sides, creating a clear path ahead of her.

Thud!

Edmund landed harshly on his back from the great force of her kick. Seizing the opportunity, she stepped on his lower abdomen, earning a groan from him. She swiftly placed her swords onto his gambeson underneath his armour before he could strike back, restraining his movement instantly. He stared up at her in awe. She stood triumphantly over him, not long before dropping to the ground beside him instantly, panting from exhaustion.

"Wow," he chuckled, "See what I tell ya?"

"Bloody hell! You are difficult to beat!" She complained, catching her breath.

"I'm impressed," his chuckles soon diminished, "Now please, get these swords off me."

"Oh, right," she giggled, lifting the blades off.

"That was risky putting your foot out there," he warned her, "but also a good tactic to throw them off. Just make sure your path is clear, otherwise, you'd get sliced, or possibly lose a leg."

He sat up, still mesmerised by her skills. She noticed him staring intently at her, causing him to blink and shift his gaze elsewhere. He cleared his throat uneasily as he supported himself off the ground.

"I, erm," he stammered, running his fingers through his wavy locks, "I should share your progress with Peter. I suppose it would be great news to him."

"Will you be alright here, practising on your own?" He suggested.

"I just beat you with the hardest technique you ever taught me," she chuckled.

"Alright then," he raised his hands as he stepped backwards, "keep practising!"

He took a few seconds to admire her as she continued practising her stances, and a proud grin crept upon his face. He then mouthed a wow to himself with a nod, expressing his admiration as he marched his way back to the How.

✩.･*:｡≻───── ⋆♡⋆ ─────.•*:｡✩

Charlotte spent the next half an hour practising her stances, with her back facing the lake. She thought about how impressed he seemed when she defeated him, and it made her feel warm and fuzzy all over. She subconsciously giggled to herself, replaying flashbacks of it in her mind.

Snap!

"Ed?" She swiftly turned her head, only to meet the silence of the woods.

The trees and lake soundlessly observed her. Somehow, the silent atmosphere was eerily tranquil. How could there have been a noise? Had she imagined it, perhaps?

She was almost certain she had heard the snap of a twig and pulled her eyebrows together, surveying her surroundings cautiously. Her ears focused on the silence among the trees. Failing to spot anything out of the ordinary, she warily resumed practising her stances and postures.

Snap!

"Edmund?!" She called again, and let out a gasp.

This time, her sharp eyes caught a glimpse of two horses camouflaging among the trees, underpinning Telmarine soldiers firmly on their backs.

Alarmed that they have been spotted, one of the soldiers swung out a crossbow, taking aim at her. Her eyes darted towards their belongings by the nearest tree behind her and made a run for her shield.

But the soldier released an arrow. It narrowly missed her head, plunging straight into the bark of a tree. She leapt back and shrieked from eluding the pointy weapon.

He shot once more, and Charlotte's hand flew to her calf, letting out another cry. Her eyes widened, and her heart pounded with fear, as the soldier took aim again at her.

"Charlotte!" Edmund's voice howled, jumping in front of her with his shield, blocking them from a third arrow.

Alarmed by the sight of her protector, the soldiers galloped away on their horses and vanished out of sight. Edmund loosened his grip on his shield and glanced over at her.

"Are you alright?" He asked, eyeing her up and down for any injuries, "Your leg, you got cut."

"Y-yeah," she shivered in fright, "it's just a minor cut. Don't worry."

"What were they doing here?" She thought aloud, sweat forming on her forehead, "Do you suppose they were spying?"

"I think so," he nodded, sighing in distress, "come on, we have to report this to Peter. This can't be good."

As Charlotte and Edmund rushed back to Aslan's How, they bumped into Susan and Prince Caspian, who looked just as shaky with fright as they were.

"We saw a Telmarine soldier in the woods," Prince Caspian reported, "we've been spied on."

"You saw them too?" Edmund asked, his eyes darting between all three of them, "they attacked us by the lake and fled."

"Them?" Susan repeated in shock, "How many are there?"

"What's going on?" Peter marched into their conversation with Lucy trailing behind him, curious about their gathering from a distance.

"Telmarines, Peter," Edmund reported, "they're watching us."

"Possibly gathering information," Susan added.

"What should we do?" Lucy asked softly, her beleaguered eyes shifting towards Peter for directions.

Peter paused. He glanced at everyone, particularly the Narnian creatures working so hard to curate weapons and train themselves. He shifted his glance to Edmund, who patiently awaited instructions.

"Gather everyone at the stone table, Ed, we'll hold a meeting in a while," Peter declared.

*****A/N: YAY it's Monday and I'm glad I could publish this chapter this week. But my later chapters are still being edited, and I may be delaying the next chapter to 2-3 weeks later. So much school assignments to clear first 😩 I keep telling myself that I can always edit my published chapters when I want to make minor changes.

I also feel my descriptive writing slowly diminishing but I promise I'll work on that! Sometimes creativity just doesn't flow through my head, it's infuriating.

Anyway, vote and comment if you enjoy the story flow so far! I really appreciate reading your thoughts on this journey 🥰💖

Team Charlotte x Edmund!! 😋