Chapter 18

Peter was tossing and turning throughout the night with nightmares. They were all the same. He would be fighting with Jadis and somehow Falaah got involved. Every time he would watch her die and every time he would feel the same pain and rage as before. He would wake up in the middle of his battle and take another chunk out of his bedpost before realizing what was going on and try to go back to sleep.

After the third time this happened he decided to give getting some rest a rest. Choosing to walk the halls of Cair Paravel in an attempt to settle his mind, his walk lead him to the armory and the silence of the smiths being asleep. The further he went the deeper he went. Soon finding himself at the dungeon.

The guard at the gate was surprised to see the High King in front of him at such an early hour of the morning but opted to say nothing and let Peter go about his business unimpeded. The iron door creaked loudly and Peter could hear Otim stir from his cot.

When the two of them saw each other in the moonlight and stared. The guard must have heard the cell door open but he was under orders to watch the stairs and not the cells. If the High King came here to tourture or execute the former leader of the White Witchs' army then so be it.

Otim looked to Peter's hands and saw his axe in the young Sovereign's hands. When Peter extended his hands out offering the weapon Otim hesitated. Peter carried no weapon but that didn't make him unarmed. This may be a test or an excuse to execute him.

But neither of those made any sense, Peter was nowhere near as devious as the Witch. He would not bother with a test or excuse. Once the axe was taken Peter turned his back to the Minotuar. He had his hands clasped behind his back and his head up.

"How can you trust me like this?" Otim asked. He was annoyed that Peter didn't seem to take him seriously.

"I Know that you will not attack me," turning back from the window he was looking out, Peter continued. "There is little that happens in Cair Paravel without my knowledge." he was referring to the fact that Lucy had been having her dinner with Otim for the past several weeks. The guards had been sworn to secrecy on the matter by Peter.

"My sister sees something in you Otim, I know not what but she sees it and I trust her." motioning for the former General to follow, Peter walked from the dungeon with Otim behind him. The guard froze for a moment but when Peter told him to return to his quarters he did as he was told and left his post allowing the two to move into the halls of cair Paravel.

"Oreius said that you have a gift for dealing with the horrors of war?" Peter asked as they walked.

"I have much experience in their management. And as such I have much knowledge on them." Otim answered.

"I fear that you may not be of much help for me, I Suspect Jadis did something to scar my mind." Peter continued.

"That is possible but I doubt it?" Otim responded. "She had done such things in the past but if she had done them to you then you would not be able to stand let alone fight."

Stopping to look Peter in the eye he said. "You are a good king for these people. At first I did not see that but now I do. The price for what you and they had earned is the haunting of your nights. This will never change, mark my words."

They walked the rest of the way in silence until they arrived at the main gate of the sleeping city. "Something dark is coming, I can feel it, so can you." Peter said. "That is why i am releasing you, I know not what the threat will be but I feel you will best used elsewhere,"

"The Queen had several plans for the event something like this happened. I know of some of them but I will not be coming to your aide. I appreciate my freedom and as such I will no longer seek your death but I am not your ally" Otim said before jogging into the night.

Peter watched him go but something hung with him. Otmin had called Jadis. "The Queen," not "my Queen"

"I hope I didn't just make a mistake," Peter says to himself before returning to the castle.

…

The next morning Oreius was making his rounds when he noticed that the guard for the dungeons was missing. Entering the small hallway he found Otim's cell was empty. Panic gripped him as he realized that Otim had escaped.

Running as fast as he could he made his way up the stairs to Peter's room. When he arrived he saw Peter sitting at his desk looking at a painting that was of the battle of Beruna it showed Peter with his blade held high about to cut the head from Jadis' shoulders.

It was inaccurate and Oreious should know he was there. There was no glorious moment where Peter overwhelmed the Witch rather the moment when Aslan arrived she froze and Peter didn't all it took was a tenth of a second lapse on her part and it was all over.

As her body fell to the ground and soaked the dirt with her blood the two armies froze. With the Witch dead her army was too stunned to act, and the Narnians were waiting for Peter.

Oreious knew that in that moment Peter chose mercy, he could have ordered that the witch's army be destroyed and it would have been but instead he offered them the chance to surrender. A chance they all took.

Managing to take his eyes from the painting he went to speak only for Peter to cut him off. "I know that Otim is gone, I released him."

Oreious was going to respond when Peter once again cut him. "Something big is coming, and I suspect that he will be of more use to Narnia where he is now than where he was."

Oreious had his doubts but Peter seemed certain about the matter. Turning back to the painting Peter said. "I have been thinking about getting it redone. Made more appropriate, what do you think?"

The centaur needed several seconds to think of an answer. "There is a fine line between the truth and what is most understandable. The reality may not be reflected but the image is meant to be shown as just that, An image of the events not their direct actions. If it were up to me I would keep it the way it is."

Sensing the Peter wanted time to think on something Oreious left the room as the High King stared back into the painting thinking about what the general had said.

...

Simon woke up to the sound of Susan snoring lightly on his shoulder. When he looked down at her he saw her asleep with her face pressed deeply against his shoulder. The way that her face was contoured to match his shirt made his smile. He reached down and gently stroked her face.

Whether he meant to or not this woke her up. When she lifted her head the lines of his shirt could be seen pressed into her cheek. This combined with the messy nature of her hair made Simon chuckle lightly.

Susan either didn't hear him or didn't care; instead she smiled at him before settling back down this time her head on his arm and not his shoulder. Threading her fingers through his she said, "I should get going,"

Giving her hand a light squeeze Simon replied. "Yeah, you really should,"

Hearing the staff making their way down the halls they knew that they needed to make a choice and fast. Susan got up and was out of the room before anyone had the chance to see her. It seemed a little wrong working to hide her new found love but right now the last thing they needed was any extra attention.

When she got to her room she saw Lucy waiting for her while sitting in her chair with her ankles crossed and her hands clasped in front of her. "You look like the cat that ate the canary." Susan said.

"I know about you and Simon," Lucy responded.

The news didn't surprise Susan but she was still nervous about the thought of Peter finding out. Her brother was a good man and better king but his wrath is the one thing that still gives him trouble.

She had no doubt that in time he would forgive Simon but that would take time. "Have you told Peter?" she asked.

Lucy shook her head and said. "Of course not, not yet anyway,"

"I want to tell him but we need to wait for the right time," Susan stated as she went to get dressed for the new day.

She had grabbed the dress she was going to where when the alarm horn sounded. Grabbing her bow she ran for the front gate. Peter and Simon met her there and they saw Edmund and Joshua running back to the castle. As the two of them drew closer they could see that Joshua was carrying Edmund and they both seemed to have been shot with multiple arrows.

Three Calormen riders burst from the tree line and started after them. It was clear that not even Oreius could get to them in time. Turning to Susan Peter was about to tell her to shoot when she saw that she was already drawing her bow.

A click to his left drew his attention and he saw Simon resting a rifle on the wall getting ready to fire. Susan fired first and her arrow was true. Just as it sank through the soldier's armor Simon's rifle boomed and the second was knocked from his horse.

Both went to ready a second shot but it was hopeless. The soldier was too close and Edmund was still too far. Oreius was already halfway there but it still wouldn't matter.

Until a werewolf charged out of the woods and ripped the last soldier to the ground dragging him back into the dense vegetation. The only people not confused by this were Peter and Lucy. Otim still held sway with the remaining members of the witch's army. If he gave an order then it would be followed.

This was most likely a show of goodwill and thanks for his release. Yet it did little to lessen the pain and fear Peter felt when he saw his brother being carried unconscious through the main gates.

He was still alive so Lucy quickly made use of her cordial but nothing happened. After several tense moments Simon ripped one of the arrows from Edmund's back and looked it over. "This arrow has been poisoned." he kept looking at it and seemed to see something else. "It's also been cursed."

Joshua was shortly behind and he was trying to get his breath back. Once he was ready to speak he explained. "We were ambushed. They knew we were coming, we didn't stand a chance."

Simon pulled the arrows out thankful that they were designed to pierce chainmail and nothing more. They watched as he removed the armor and shirt from the young king. Once he had done so they saw that the wounds had a sickly black color to them.

"It's the curse," Simon said, turning to Lucy. "until we break the curse we will not be able to help him. But he seems stable. If your cordial stands up to the task then he may stay like this forever."

"How do we break the curse?" Peter asked.

"Kill the one who cast it." Simon's answer was curt and blunt.

As Peter was getting ready to set out after the men who ambushed Edmund he was met with a minotaur run to the gates with a white flag in his hands. Peter waited for him to arrive and when he did the beast wasted no time in delivering the message.

"My general sends word, we saw the ambush that happened rest assured that many of the Calormen did not survive our assault. We also intercepted a messenger. His note spoke of a spy in Cair Paravel and the arrival of an important person in Narnia."

Without a moment's explanation or thought he turned back and ran into the forest and out of sight.

When Peter looked he saw that Edmund was nowhere to be found but neither was Simon, Lucy, or Susan so he knew where to find them. It was a long quiet walk back to the castle. He could feel everyone's eyes on him. Watching him seeing if he was going to war or not.

Lucy was standing outside of Edmund's room like she was waiting for Peter. "What are you going to do?" she asked, wondering the same thing as the rest of Narnia.

Taking a moment to answer Peter said. "Right now, nothing. I have a spy to catch once I do then I will rain Hell down on the Calormen until nothing is left of them but ash and legend."

His answer scared the little queen as he knew it would. He never lied to Lucy; he couldn't even if he wanted to. War was coming but for now all that was available was to wait for the spy to make a mistake.