Not Goodbye

Chapter One

Peter groaned as he regained consciousness. The last thing he remembered was hiding in the tree watching their newly acquired Fox friend lie to the Witch's wolves about their whereabouts. What had happened next, he couldn't even guess.

He blinked owlishly and realized with sudden fear that he was bound hand and foot and lying face down on the ground. The ground that was covered in grass.

He quickly sat up and regretted it as the world around him seemed to spin. He closed his eyes for a moment to rid himself of his vertigo. When he reopened them, the first thing he noticed was his siblings laying nearby, more specifically, he noticed that Edmund was lying next to him.

Looking around cautiously, wondering why none of his captors had realized he was awake, he realized that they were enclosed by a tent made of a rich navy material, which struck him as odd. Who would take them captive and then shelter them in such a way?

Resolving to worry about it later, he reached over and gently turned Edmund over with his bound hands. His heart filled with different emotions when he saw his face. Joy at seeing his baby brother alive and out of the clutches of the Witch, anger at the Witch for the bruises on the face, and unbelievable guilt and sorrow for allowing this to happen.

"Ed?" he called softly, needing to see his eyes to know that he was okay. Those brown orbs fluttered open and Peter was able to breathe a little easier, which he knew was probably absurd given their situation.

"Peter…" Edmund immediately averted his eyes, unable to look at his older brother. "I'm so sorry. I never should have— "

Peter cut him off by pulled him into an embrace, albeit a little awkwardly seeing as how their hands were bound together. "No, Ed, it was my fault. I drove you away. Don't be sorry."

"Peter, no, I'm the one who was being such a prat. And I'm sorry."

"Edmund, look at me," he said. His brother reluctantly met his eyes. "It's okay. You may have been a prat, but I didn't help it any. Let's just focus on getting out of here."

Edmund nodded, tears filling his eyes as he momentarily buried his face into his brother's chest. He seemed to find strength from the action, and looked up and nodded again. "Okay."

They both then attempted to scoot across the ground to where their sisters lay. However, they were stopped short as they realized that their rope was tied to one of the two posts of the tent.

"We could just pull it down," Edmund suggested timidly, still not entirely sure of himself after the mess he had gotten himself into with the Witch. "It doesn't look that strong."

"We do that, we'll alert whoever has us tied up to the fact that we're awake, and that we're causing trouble. I don't think whoever they are would be too happy with that. Besides," he responded pointing towards the top of the tent. "The posts are connected together. One goes down, they both go down, and we all smother."

"Then what do we do?" Edmund asked.

"We wait."

OoooOoooOoooO

"Must you both go to this meeting, brothers?" Lucy asked, feeling uneasy about the situation for some reason unknown to her.

"My dear sister, King Lune requested that both Edmund and I attend. He fears that Calormen hostilities are rising," Peter explained, adjusting his saddle before turning towards his sisters.

"Besides, sister, tis a great excuse for us to miss the ball that our elder sister is planning. My only regret is that I have to leave you behind to her mercy," Edmund said, eyes twinkling.

"Now, brother, just because you have no class, does not mean that our youngest sibling shares the same frightful condition," Susan scolded in jest, flipping her dark hair behind her shoulder.

"Well, if you two are quite finished, I believe that we are all set to depart," Peter announced.

The two queens embraced each brother tightly and made them promise to stay out of trouble, before watching tearfully as they both departed. It wasn't as if this was the first time to bid their brothers farewell, but for some reason, this good-bye seemed much more ominous.

Tbc…

I know, another time travel fic from me. I'm beginning to get predictable. Please review!