Chapter 13

Evelyn slid down from the saddle when they reached the safety of the woods. Peter followed her down, and then a wounded faun was lifted into the saddle. She fell behind as another Faun took the reins and led the horse on. Peter took to the front, Caspian and Susan behind him. Edmund walked with Glenstorm, and she limped on, holding her side. She'd gone numb again, and she couldn't tell how bad the wound was.

She heard the horn sound as she straggled from the woods, and even it sounded forlorn. But when she finally reached the ruined arena, she heard Lucy's pained question of, "What happened?"

"Ask him," Peter said bitterly, and she stiffened at his tone, ignoring the pain that it sent through her. How had she not sensed his need to talk?

"Peter," Susan protested her brother's accusing look, stopping on the stone walkway.

"Me?" Caspian demanded. "You could have called it off. There was still time," he said angrily.

Peter turned back to the Prince and said, "No there wasn't, thanks to you. If you'd kept to the plan, those soldiers might be alive right now."

"And if you'd just stayed here like I suggested, they definitely would be," Caspian snarled.

"You called us, remember?" Peter snapped.

"My first mistake," Caspian retorted.

"No, your first mistake was thinking you'd lead these people," Peter told him, turning to walk into the How.

"Hey!" Caspian shouted, fury darkening his voice to a snarl. Peter turned back with a raised eyebrow, daring Caspian to take the tone with him again. "I am not the one who abandoned Narnia," he reminded Peter.

"You invaded Narnia!" Peter growled, pointing at the younger boy with a crooked finger, and Evelyn could sense the fury rolling off her High King. "You have no more right to be here than Miraz does," he yelled at Caspian as the Prince pushed passed him. Caspian pushed Peter away, and Evelyn limped forward to Edmund's side.

"Oh boy," Edmund whispered, and she nodded weakly.

"You, him, your father," Peter yelled at Caspian's back. "Narnia's better off without the lot of you."

"Oh, no," she groaned, knowing what Peter had just done as she saw Caspian go still at the mention of his father.

With a furious, wordless yell, Caspian drew his sword on Peter, whirling as he did. Instantly, Peter's sword was out and they held them level with each other. Evelyn moved away from Edmund as he drew a breath, and she stumbled as another spasm seized her side.

"Stop it!" Edmund roared, helping Glenstorm lower an unconscious Trumpkin to the ground. Peter and Caspian turned to Edmund, lowering the tips of their swords to the ground. With a gasp, Lucy ran forward, through the lowered swords, pulling her vial free as she moved. She knelt next to the Dwarf, Susan coming to her knees beside his head.

The last thing Evelyn saw was Peter's back as he watched Nikabrik follow Caspian into the How. "Ed," she groaned, and then she had to wrap an already blood soaked arm over her waist as she fell to her knees beside the King.

"Evelyn!" he cried, seeing her fall from the corner of his eye.

Peter had moved to see if the Dwarf woke from Lucy's healing, and then he turned to walk into the How with Lucy and Susan. He heard his brother cry out, and he whipped around to see his Guardian fall. She bent herself in half, her forehead touching her knees as her arms covered a spreading bloodstain on her side. Panic gripped him, and he forgot all about Caspian. "No!" he cried, and he bolted away from his sisters. He dropped to his knees before the golden haired girl, and he gently placed his hands over the wound.

Instantly, his hands were covered in blood, and she looked up at him. Her skin was pale and her lips were white. But the thing that made him realize just how long he hadn't been paying attention was that the gold was fading from her eyes. The blue hadn't returned, but the color itself was fading. Then her eyes closed and she fell forward, her head in his lap. "No, no, no! Evelyn, stay with me, please. Come on, Evelyn, listen to me, and look at me. You can't leave me, I need you here. I've always needed you here, and I'm so sorry. Please, Evelyn, I need you to tell me what to do," he spoke without thinking about who was around him. All he cared about was keeping her alive. Then a memory struck him. "Defy it, Evelyn, you have to defy it," he told her, and she turned her head to look at him sideways.

"I can't," she hissed through clenches teeth, and she pressed her hands down over his with a gasp.

"Edmund, move!" Lucy ordered above them, and suddenly the King was replaced by the Queen. Lucy let a single drop fall between Evelyn's white lips. The pale lids flicked down over the fading eyes, and they stayed down. Peter leaned over until his forehead rested against her shoulder, and he felt her still against him. Then she drew a shuddering breath and he sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank Aslan," he breathed, and then he pulled her into his arms. Lucy and Edmund let out breaths they'd been holding as Susan murmured a thank you of her own.

"Peter?" Evelyn shifted as she spoke, and he stood, pulling her with him. She leaned against him as he walked into the How, and when he looked down, he saw that both of them were stained by her blood. His hands and lower sleeves had been darkened, and her jerkin and shirt were ruined completely.

"Come on, let's get you a new set of clothes," he told her softly, and she laughed humorlessly. He kept his arm around her waist and she let him support her. He ignored the looks the troops were giving him as he led her through the forge caverns to the chamber he'd been using as sleeping quarters. Setting her on the cot, he took out the pale blue long sleeve shirt he'd worn from Cair Paravel and handed it over. She undid the side fastenings with a wince and he pulled the vest from her shoulders with gentle hands. Then he helped her pull her dark shirt over her head and he was grateful for the darkness. He guessed the scars were still there, and it would break him to see them now.

She managed to get the shirt over her head and he pulled it down around her ribs for her. Then he wrapped his arms around her from behind and buried his face in her shoulder. "Why didn't I listen to you?" he mumbled into the shirt.

"I never could make you," she said, and she wrapped her arms over his, taking his hands.

"You have every right to say I told you so," he murmured, and she squeezed his hands in her own.

"No, Peter. That's not what you need. And I never said that to you before, I won't start now," she replied.

And he loved her more than he ever had then. "I love you, Evelyn. And I'm so sorry all this had to happen because I was too pig-headed to listen," he whispered.

"I know you're sorry. But now it's too late to change anything and we have to do the best we can to survive when the Telmarines come. And I love you enough to tell you that I'll stand with you when they do," she told him quietly.