Disclaimer: I don't own the story, nor the characters, nor the land... I own nothing, really...

Authoresses Note: Allllll righty! So it has been weeks and WEEKS but I finally got this finished. I'm not sure if I have any reader's left, but if there are, you all get a cookie and a donut and a bowl of ice cream! Check out my profile for information on upcoming stories. Thanks again for being so patient! :D

What Have I Done

Chapter 9 - The End

Darkness.

Darkness and pain were the first two things I noticed as I began to regain conciousness.

I tried shifting my arm and found that that was not the source of pain. After I tried to sit up, I found it was coming from my head, a shaft of pain driving through my head like a dagger, and I struggled to keep from yelping.

"Easy now, Peter."

A voice. A familiar voice.

I forced my eyes open, only now realizing the darkness was from my eyes being closed, and settled my blurry gaze on my younger brother's concerned face.

Edmund stood close by the bed, a faint smile touching his face.

"How do you feel?" he asked, softly.

"As if I've been trampled by a horse. And you?" I croaked.

"Relieved. You were rather close to the edge there for a while."

"I was? How long have I been unconcious?" I rasped, lying back into the pillows.

"Oh..." He glanced out the window. "Exactly two days now."

I grunted in reply and sighed.

"I'm sorry things were so..."

"Now stop right there."

I blinked at Edmund's abrupt, commanding voice.

"The only fault you had in any of this was that you didn't look closely enough at the signs. The rest was all that hag's doing."

"So she was a hag? I cannot remember much about it."

He paused, thoughtful, eyeing me closely.

"Rest first, brother. You are still very weak from all that happened. And I am quite sure Susan and Lucy will like to hear that you are not going to slip away from us. Rest. And when you wake up, then we will explain everything."

I felt myself begin to object and then realized he was right. Really, what harm could more rest do, anyway?

I sighed and settled back deeper into the pillows, closing my eyes. I heard Edmund say "sleep well" and then remembered no more.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

I awoke again to a squeak. It wasn't a threatening squeak, but more of an excited one. I had heard that squeak, and it had woken me up too many times to count.

I opened one eye slightly to find Edmund holding back Lucy from pouncing on me.

I really should have kept my eyes closed, for as soon as Edmund saw that I was awake, he shrugged and released my youngest sister.

She landed heavily beside me. I gave a laugh that was only a bit less scratchy than it had been last time and smiled at her.

Her eyes were wide relief and unanswered questions. Both of us knew if I didn't say something soon she'd begin those questions until she ran out of breath.

I noticed Susan was standing beside Edmund, a relieved smile on her face.

"Hello," I said, weakly, offering them a grin of sorts.

"Oh, you're all right!" Lucy exclaimed, embracing me tightly.

She was too excited for me to push away or tell that I couldn't breath, so I returned the embrace as tightly as I could manage.

"Did you think I wouldn't be?" I smiled.

"For a while, we were not sure," Susan put in, walking around to the other side of the bed to sit close.

Silence filled the room for a few moments as I let the news settle on me.

When I finally grasped that I truly had been unconcious for two days I realized they were waiting for my next question.

"Was she a hag?"

"Yes. In full disguise," Edmund answered, leaning against my bed post. "We believe they might have been the band of Jadis' forces we heard about quite some time ago. There were many others. All of her guard, and even the horses they rode, were part of it. Each of them was dealt with swiftly, and we are closer to peace than before this happened."

A sense of relief washed over me.

It was finished.

I sighed and closed my eyes, sensing rather than seeing my siblings draw closer to me.

"Is there anything else I need to know?" I asked.

"No. Other than the fact we saved you from a painful death."

I opened my eyes and fought the urge to glare at Edmund. As if I didn't already know that.

"Well, yes, I believe I understood that. Anything else?"

Lucy cut Edmund off from saying anything else by replying, "When we came into the room, the hag had you in a strong hold, choking you, as I am sure you know. Susan let her arrow loose, and the hag dropped you. After that it was rather easy. Edmund finished the hag off, our guards were sent after the others and we got you in bed. It has only been to wait for your awakening since then. Everything is back to normal."

I smiled down at my youngest sister.

"It will be wonderful when I can get back on my feet again. But, if I know you three, you will not let me out of bed for at least three more days for recovery, am I correct?"

"As always, dear brother!" Edmund grinned.

I rolled my eyes at him, chuckling. "As long as you promise to visit three times a day."

They seemed offended at the prospect that I would accuse them of anything less.

"No less than five!" Susan exclaimed.

I grinned at each of them, feeling more content than I had in weeks. Things were truly back to normal.

There was a silence about the room, as we took in nothing but each other's presence. How long had it been since we had simply sat with each other? Much longer than I would have liked.

Suddenly, a look of amusement crossed Edmund's face.

"Well, at least there was one thing we learned from all of this," he said, slowly.

"What is that?" I asked.

"No girls are to be trusted. Especially... if they want to marry us."

Susan and Lucy feigned indignant and wounded expressions.

"Brother, I am deeply hurt!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Oh, all right, I suppose you two aren't quite as bad," Edmund said dramatically.

Lucy picked up one of the pillows and looked at me. "May I?"

"Be my guest," I replied, waving a hand towards Edmund.

With a grin, Lucy began mercilessly beating Edmund with the pillow.

He shouted with laughter, attempting to escape the brutal attack.

Susan smiled and shook her head, coming closer to sit near to me.

"Are you really feeling all right?" she asked in an undertone so as to not disturb our siblings' fun.

I cast her a smile and took her hand. "I feel better than I have in ages."

She smiled a relieved smile and kissed the top of my head. "Good."

Quite suddenly, a pillow smacked me soundly in the face, producing a yelp from my throat.

I heard Edmund's barking laugh at the same moment I heard Susan give a yelp of her own.

Lucy was smirking far too) mischievously to be trusted, and Edmund was nearly on the floor from laughing so hard.

Oh, yes. Things were quite back to normal. Despite what I had done.