Chapter 1: Gone
It was, in a sense, the perfect day. The morning was warm and a cool breeze rustled through the trees near CairParavel. All of the castle's inhabitants, including its young monarchs, were awake and bustling about on some business or another.
"Hurry up Pete," groused Edmund as he pounded on his brother's door, "or I'll go on without you"
"I'm hurrying. I'm hurrying." panted Peter as he pulled off his sweaty armor. Finally, he joined Edmund.
"What took you so long!" growled Edmund as Peter came out "I could have walked all the way down to the dining hall and finished eating in the time it took you to finish changing.
"I was sore from all the times dearGeneral Orieus bested me. I swear he goes harder on me than he does on you," grumbled Peter.
"Does not!" Edmund protested "And walk faster. I'm starving."
Peter grinned. "Race you!"
And both kings sped to breakfast.
They entered the dining hall moments later, panting from the exerting, and both insisting that he had beat the other in the race. Peter and Edmund sat down next to the queens and eagerly attacked the food. Lucy greeted them with her usual sunny smile and Susan gave them a prim nod. The four chatted amiably with each other and their subjects until the blast of trumpets signaled the end of the meal.
"I'll be in the tapestry room if you need me," Susan said as she made to leave. "There are a number of new hangings I ought to inspect."
"Take me with you!" Lucy piped up. "I want to see the satyr weavers."
Lucy was a little too young to take on a full responsibility of monarch being all of nine years old, but she took it to be her personal duty to get to know the all the Narnians, both inside and outside Cair Paravel.
With a wave to their brothers, Susan and Lucy left for the beautiful tapestries.
Edmund excused himself as well, saying that there were ambassadors from Calormene he was meeting and went towards the western end of the castle to the council halls. Edmund who was rightfully crowned "The Just" had excelled at diplomacy and the monarchs had all agreed that he was the best choice when dealing with foreign relations.
Having just remembered the huge stack of unread paperwork on his work desk, Peter walked through the castle to his study and settled himself down for what he knew would be boring, tedious work. About two hours later, Peter was ready to quit. He had just got up for refreshment when there was a loud knocking at his study door.
He opened it to see a breathless faun who hastily bowed and gasped between breaths, "Your majesty, General Oreius asked to see you in the eastern chamber. He said it was extremely urgent."
"Thank you, good faun, I will go immediately. You are excused," said Peter and he briskly paced towards the said room. Orieus will most likely discuss more details on defense methods, he thought with a sigh. The general had been excessively exuberant at teaching the kings to spar and Peter was quite reluctant to repeat the morning's tiring routine. He reached the eastern chamber at this point, and one of the guards, a cheetah, let him in. Inside, Peter saw a worried looking Oreius inspecting some maps. Oreius looked up and saw Peter.
"High King Peter, there has been some disturbing news just a few minutes ago. Some Narnians reported seeing a hag and a werewolf, definitely supporters of the White Witch, very near the castle. I have sent soldiers to investigate and await your further orders."
Peter considered, "We must wait for the soldiers first. However, I think an organized party of about thirty guards should be made ready just in case. I'll have to speak to Edmund for further decisions."
"Yes, your highness." The centaur galloped toward the armory and Peter walked towards the council chambers to find Edmund.
On the way, he ran into his sisters who both looked extremely anxious.
"Have you seen Edmund?" Susan asked, frantically clutching at Peter's tunic.
"I was just going to find him, Su," Peter said, "What's wrong?"
"It's Edmund," Lucy cried "Oh Peter, We can't find him anywhere! No one's seen him since the ambassadorial meeting which ended an hour ago. He's gone."
As the full implications of Lucy's words hit him, Peter grew cold with fear. He stared at the queens, afraid to tell them about his suspicions. Edmund's disappearanceā¦the activities of the White Witch's supporters. They were undoubtedly connected.
