A/N: The main premise behind this story is that when the Pevensies returned to Narnia, things did not go as planned. The trees did not come save the day, Aslan has not been involved yet, and the rebellion has stretched on for two long years. I'll say no more than that, because it will all be explained, but do have to warnings for you.
Warning One: This is a series of one-shots all taking place around the two-year point after the Pevensies returned to Narnia. These one-shots will NOT be in order, and I will be updating at VERY odd intervals. But never fear, it will all make sense.
Warning Two: There will be a twinge of Suspian. Usually I would not touch Suspian with a pole, but considering the circumstances I'd think it strange if there was not something going on. All the same, it will not be very much at all.
Main inspiration comes from Ilysia's story Light Enough, a one-shot AU of LWW.
A/N2: Eep. It was pointed out to me that I'd accidentally left a proofreading comment in the middle of this. It's gone now, and I checked pretty carefully to be sure there weren't any others here, but just in case there are please let me know. Thanks.
Beginning of the End
---
Edmund twisted his arms, but the knots on the rope were too strong. He could feel the twine rubbing at his skin, even tearing it in places, and he tried to ignore the pain for he could not let his captors see any such discomfort.
His knees were sore from kneeling on the forest floor. Edmund tried to shift position, but at the crack of a twig beneath his shin the burly guard kicked his side.
"None of that, my prince," the man hissed, bringing his face close to Edmund's, "You do not want anyone to get hurt."
Amazing, Edmund thought sourly, Kidnappers really do have bad breath.
He did not give the guard a scathing reply or even bother to correct the mis-title, for a dirty cloth gag was tied across his mouth. Besides, he knew it would be a waste of effort in any case. Instead, he twisted his arms again, straining for the end of the knot that was just out of reach.
Of course, Edmund thought bitterly, Just my luck that these men know how to tie a hostage.
Any further effort was useless at this point, so Edmund relaxed his arms as best he could to save his energy for when it would most be needed. A chance to escape could come at any time, and he needed to be ready.
-
Lucy paced across the Bulgy Bears' cave, her skirts flying about her ankles. One hand clasped her dagger, the other held her cordial. Susan sat on the three-tiered stool in the corner, her fingers anxiously tapping her bow. The two Bulgy Bears watched them worriedly, the younger one sucking his paw.
"Where is he?" Lucy blurted finally, halting in front of her sister. "Edmund should have been back by now."
"He could have been waylaid," Susan replied mildly. "It could be that a Telmarine patrol got between him and us."
Lucy sighed and sank to the ground wearily. 'I know. And yet, with Peter and Caspian gone I'm twice as anxious as before."
"It is the same for me," Susan admitted. "And with Trumpkin gone, I feel twice as vulnerable."
Both girls fell silent, remembering their friend who had fallen in a skirmish only a few weeks before. He had been a constant companion to the Pevensies after meeting them at the ruins two years before, and his loss was hard on them all. It had been Trumpkin's idea to travel to Archenland in hopes of gaining the assistance of the Archen army. There had been little thought of following through on this until a month ago, when the Telmarine patrols had begun to increase. It had recently been decided that Peter and Caspian would head the informal delegation to Archenland, as it would be potentially safer for them than to stay in the country as the noose drew closed. Susan had argued that should the King of Archenland have an unknown alliance with Sopespian, they could be walking straight into their enemies' hands. Caspian had tried to reassure her that there had been no such alliance in the days of Miraz. Peter had simply replied that it was a necessary risk. There had been no way to dissuade the two of them from this course of action, and only this morning the delegation had left. Edmund was meant to have gone as far as the Dancing Lawn with them before turning back.
"It isn't like him to delay," Lucy murmured from her place on the floor.
That was just it. Edmund knew how much his siblings needed him and would never separate himself from them unless absolutely necessary.
"Is there anything we can do for your majesties?" the eldest Bulgy Bear asked hesitantly.
"Thank you, but you have done plenty already, my friends," Susan answered gently just as Lucy stood again.
"I need to walk," the younger queen explained. As Susan also rose to her feet, Lucy waved her hands vaguely. "You don't have to come. I know my way in these woods well enough by now. The dryads will watch me."
Susan sank back down, her fingers again tapping her bow as Lucy stepped out from the cave.
-
Lucy the Valiant, Returned Queen of Narnia, Knight of the Order of the Cordial, Friend of the Dryads and Aslan, glided through the trees, lost in her thoughts. The trees lifted their branches from her path as she passed, and every so often a dryad would begin to materialize before fading away again.
Lucy laid her hand on a trunk and paused. She was the only one of the Old Narnians to be able to communicate with the trees, and even then the forest giants would not always listen to her. They were independent beings, but sometimes Lucy could not help but wish they were not quite so independent. With the help of the trees, this war could have ended years ago. The dryads were too fearful of the Telmarines, who could flatten an entire forest in months if so inclined. Lucy had tried to explain that the Telmarines could not do so if the dryads would act against them, but her words had so far not gotten through.
Her musings were interrupted as a flash of red appeared on the branch above her. "My queen!" exclaimed Pattertwig, "Thank Aslan I have found you. Your brother is in trouble!"
"My brother?" Lucy's throat closed up.
"King Edmund – he's been caught by a patrol!"
No. It was as if all the air had deserted her lungs, and the ground seemed to slant upward. Lucy did not realize her legs had crumpled until the oak dryad set her carefully on the ground. Pattertwig was shocked into silence; few dryads revealed themselves to any but the youngest queen.
"Pattertwig, where is he?" Lucy asked frantically, struggling to her feet again.
The squirrel raised a paw to point into the forest. "It was at Dancing Lawn that I last saw them, your majesty."
Lucy only paused to give instructions for the squirrel to find her sister at the Bulgy Bear's cave before sprinting into the thick woods. The dryads seemed to sense her urgency – no branches whipped her face, and no roots threatened her feet.
By the time she neared Dancing Lawn, Lucy was completely out of breath, her hair coming loose to fly around her face. Before she got too close to the clearing, she forced herself to slow to a walk, cautious of any Telmarines that might be near.
There was no sign of the patrollers, but the trees were silent and Lucy was wary. She knew she was hard to spot in the forest, clad as she was in a dark green dress with flowers woven into her hair. Her soft shoes made no sound on the forest floor. Just to be safe, Lucy reached for her dagger and gripped its handle tight in her fist.
All was still, and by the time Lucy reached the clearing, she was a little less tense. It seemed as though the Telmarines had already left, and Edmund with them. She paused at the tree line, but there was no sign of anyone. Guessing that the patrollers had left a trail, Lucy took a deep breath and stepped forward.
-
If there was one thing Edmund feared, it was being used to get to his siblings. Such a thing had happened to him once before in his first Narnian lifetime, and he would never forgive himself if he did the same again. He had once admitted this to Peter, who had responded that if Edmund felt so strongly opposed to such a thing, then obviously he would not again betray them. It was such a Peter thing to say that Edmund felt he could not argue, although of course a betrayal did not have to be voluntary.
The captain of the patrol had spent a good deal of time trying to learn the whereabouts of the Old Narnians' hideout. Edmund had resisted, twisting the captain's own words just as he had confused the ill-meaning ambassadors of the Golden Age. The captain had gotten fed up, and that was when Edmund had been gagged.
All the same, the patrol seemed sure that someone would return to the Dancing Lawn, and Edmund feared that they had seen Pattertwig as he ran for help. Or maybe they know us well enough after all this time to know that we never truly abandon each other.
A scout appeared from the forest, seemingly from nowhere. The man whispered a short message to the guard, threw one sharp look at Edmund, and disappeared. It was alarming how adept the Telmarines could be at hiding in the woods, once they got over their initial fear of ghosts. Sopespian had formed the Forest Patrols soon after he first took command, and the Telmarines were getting more skilled at creeping through the woods each day.
The guard stepped over to Edmund and grabbed his arm above the elbow, lifting him to his feet. Edmund shot him a glare, knowing at once why he must be wanted. He tried to resist as the Telmarine pushed him forward, but when the man had had enough he simply lifted the young king and draped him over his shoulder. Edmund's slight physique might give him an edge in battle, but in a situation such as this it was a downside.
At a soft-spoken command, Edmund was set down again, once more on his aching knees. The patrol captain stood over him, and so Edmund shot him as fierce a glare as he could. It was petty, he knew, but still he felt great satisfaction when the man looked quickly away.
A moment later the satisfaction was gone again as the captain pointed out to Edmund a slender figure making her way through the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. The girl would pause periodically to scan her surroundings with a practised eye, but evidently did not see the soldiers waiting.
So. It was to be his sister they lured, using him as the bait. Edmund had been the bait once before, and the thought of having it happen a second time left a sick taste in his mouth.
He could only watch helplessly as Lucy darted from the trees, bending over the marks on the ground as though reading the story they told. His throat tightened as two men with crossbows emerged from the trees behind her. Closer, they stepped, and closer, and Edmund's heart pounded in his ears.
A branch fell from a nearby tree, landing with a heavy thud that startled Lucy and had her whirl about, gasping as she saw the Telmarines. In a moment her knife was in the air, striking the first soldier at the neck. He fell to the ground without a cry. The second soldier was advancing, but already Lucy had pulled her second knife from her sleeve. It too was thrown with deadly accuracy.
Run, Lucy! Edmund shouted in his mind, Get out!
But Lucy paused for a moment, running to the dead soldier to pull up her dagger. Only then did she turn to run, and of course by then it was too late.
The captain had lifted Edmund to his feet again, pushing him forward until they were fee of the cover of the trees. Edmund felt the point of a knife at his throat, in plain view of his sister.
He saw her lip tremble briefly before she straightened up and became the queen once more. "Release him," Lucy demanded, her tone strong and fearless.
"He will not be harmed if you behave," the captain replied. "Drop your weapon."
For a moment, Lucy's grip tightened on her dagger, then with an almost imperceptible sigh she let it fall to the grass at her side. She lifted her eyes to stare directly into Edmund's own. Never fear, her gaze said, We shall get out of this. Aslan is with us.
"Step forward," the captain directed.
Lucy complied, her eyes still on Edmund's. He could guess what she was planning, and let his body go slack.
"Closer," the captain ordered.
Lucy did so, closing her fist as if to stop the shaking. Her chin lowered in a veiled nod.
One, thought Edmund, gripping his feet against the ground, two...
On three, a knife appeared in Lucy's hand from a hidden pocket in her skirt. Before the Telmarines could move, she threw it at the captain's head. The man ducked to avoid it; as he did so his grip loosened on Edmund, who gave the man a hard kick in the stomach before running forward to Lucy's side. She already had picked up her first dagger from the grass and quickly slit the ropes from his wrists.
The release was painful, but Edmund ignored it as he ripped the gag from his mouth. Lucy's hand flashed at his side and a gurgle sounded behind him as another man was struck. "That was my last dagger," she gasped, and helped Edmund to his feet once more. He tottered a moment before finding his footing, and then was pelting toward the cover of trees, Lucy at his side.
It seemed unlikely they would make it, but just as a Telmarine ran from the trees ahead of them, he tripped over a root that had not been there before. A second soldier was knocked down by a falling branch.
"Thank you, friends," Lucy breathed to the trees as they passed into the cover of the forest.
The running was easier now for them, but from the sounds behind them, the remaining members of the patrol seemed to be having a much harder time.
-
They only stopped when Edmund fell to the ground gasping for air. Lucy dropped to his side, afraid that he had been hurt, but Edmund waved her away.
"I'm alright, I'm ... alright," he panted, "Legs just... hurt from kneeling... so long."
Her poor, dear brother. Lucy did not know how he had managed to run as long as he had. She waited in silence for him to collect his breath, and when he finally told her he was ready to go again, she made no protest but quietly helped him to his feet.
It was a long time that they walked through the forest, taking a roundabout way to deter any possible followers. Leaving behind a trail of any sort was unlikely, for the trees were erasing any signs of their passage, but Edmund did not want to take any chances.
By the time they returned to the Bulgy Bears' cave, the sun was touching the horizon. Susan was waiting for them, her white face betraying her fear. "A dryad told me you were safe," she explained as she ushered them inside, "but I could not help but think-" She did not need to finish her thought, for each were thinking the same.
Edmund fell into his makeshift bed without a word, leaving Lucy to explain what had happened. "The patrols are learning the ways of the forest," she whispered to Susan in the candlelight. "I'm afraid we will not be safe here for long."
"So," Susan sighed, rubbing her finger along the familiar wood of her bow, "It is the beginning of the end."
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