Title: This will be the day that I die

Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian movieverse

Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Don McLean

Warnings: AU for movie

Pairings: none stated

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 845

Point of view: third

Notes: prequel to "we sang dirges in the dark"

It takes until the army is regrouping on the far side of the woods for anyone to realize Edmund isn't with them. Peter wants to return immediately, but Caspian and Glenstorm the Centaur hold him back.

"We have to save him!" Peter howls, twisting out of Caspian's grip. "Ed's still in there!"

Glenstorm scoops him up and holds him gently but firmly. "No, Majesty," he says. "We must regroup at the How."

Susan is crying as she says, "He's right, Peter. If Edmund is still there..." Her voice is lost in a sob.

"No!" Peter screams. "Please, we can't..."

Susan reaches up to touch his hand. "We can't get back in, Peter. We have to regroup."

He glares down at her. Glenstorm slowly lowers him back to the ground. "I am High King. I say we go back for Ed!"

"Peter." Caspian's voice is soft and his eyes full of sorrow. "We owe our soldiers a rest. We must return to the How."

Peter knows the wisdom of his words, of Susan's-if Ed's alive, he won't be for long. It would be suicide to go back.

"I can't," he whispers, looking Susan in the eye. "I can't leave him there without trying."

Susan takes his hand, leaning in to rest her head on his shoulder. "We must," she murmurs. "You and I, Peter-we must go back to Lucy."

It breaks his heart, but he knows she is right. "Yes," he says. "But-"

She puts a finger to his lips. "No, Peter." She looks around at the soldiers, their people, the ones he led here and let down so terribly. "We return to the How," she says softly. She meets his gaze. "Is that understood?"

And so they return to the How.

o0o

Peter will never forget the expression on Lucy's face when she realizes Edmund is not with them.

A week passes, spent in desolation. Caspian takes command again; Peter survives only because Susan and Lucy bring him food and water.

One morning, at sunrise, a Hawk comes barreling out of the sky. "Queen Lucy!" she screams. "Get Queen Lucy! We'll need her cordial!"

"Why?" Trufflehunter asks as a Cheetah delivers the message deeper into the How.

Peter sits on the edge of the walkway, head resting on his knees. His whole body clenches at the Hawk's answer.

"A Telmarine has brought King Edmund back to us."

Peter leaps to his feet amid Trufflehunter's exclamation of joy. "Take me there," Peter commands, feeling alive for the first time since he left Edmund. "Now."

Lucy hurries out of the How, Caspian and Susan behind her. "What's the matter?" his youngest sister asks. "Who's been hurt?"

The Hawk wings her way back into the sky. "Follow me, Majesties," she says and takes off over the field.

Peter sprints after her, quickly leaving his sisters a long way behind. Caspian falls away soon after, but Peter keeps his eyes on the Hawk and forces his tired body onward.

Edmund has come back. Nothing else matters.

o0o

Peter hears them before he sees them, in the thick of the forest. They sound like a stampede, but it's only two horses with riders and a Centaur: Glenstorm, an old man, and a Telmarine soldier with a bundle in his arms.

The Hawk lands on a branch next to Peter. "They come," she tells Glenstorm. "But their majesties will be hard pressed to find you here."
"A little further," Glenstorm tells the humans. "The trees end soon." He steps closer to the soldier. "Will you give him to me now?"

Both horses and riders are panting. Peter asks, "Is that Ed? How is he? He's alive?"

Glenstorm looks at him with kindness. "Queen Lucy's cordial will heal him, Majesty. Of that I am sure."

"I will carry him," the soldier gasps out. "I will carry him to the How and healing."

"Then let us go." Glenstorm trots over to Peter. "Your Majesty, I will take you."

Peter nods, holding up a hand. Glenstorm pulls him on and they gallop towards the edge of the woods.

o0o

Lucy is at the outskirts, surrounded by Narnians. They clear a path for Glenstorm and Peter, who slides off the Centaur. He hurries back to the Telmarine.

"Give him here," Peter tells him. Lucy races to his side, her cordial out and open.

"Be careful," the Telmarine says. "I only gave him a quick look-over. I'm not even sure how he's alive."

Peter gently lowers his brother to the ground. Edmund is wrapped in a horse-blanket, only his dark hair and bare feet visible. Slowly and carefully, Peter unwraps him.

Lucy gasps and Peter curses. Edmund's face is bloody and bruised, far too pale beneath the bloom of color and dried blood. His clothes are ripped and torn, and his breathing shallow.

"Lu," Peter prompts.

She nods, tears pouring down her cheeks. "Oh, Edmund," she whispers, tipping a drop of her cordial into his mouth. "What did that monster do to you?"
Peter takes her hand and Edmund's, waiting for his baby brother to heal.