"Is he alright?"

Peter glanced down the hallway to see Susan walking quickly towards them, a bowl of water in her hands which had split slightly on her dress because of her haste.

"They said he's gonna be fine." Lucy replied. "They stopped the bleeding, and the wound just needs to heal."

Susan breathed a sigh of relief as she reached her siblings, at once handing Peter the bowl.

Peter just stared at it for a moment before turning back to the faun. "Can we go in?" He asked, ignoring Susan's unimpressed frown.

The faun nodded. "Of course." He said gently.

"Peter." Susan said, stopping her brother before he could open the door. "At least wash you hands before you go in."

Peter sighed and quickly washed them, making sure to get every bit of blood off, it was making him feel rather sick.

Once he was done, he told himself to deal with the rest of the blood on his clothes, before opening the door and walking hesitantly into the room.

He stopped breathing when he saw his brother, tears springing to his eyes. Edmund was laying in the bed, eyes closed and by the looks of it unconscious. His chest rose and fell steadily, but much too slow for Peter's liking. His shirt had obviously been removed and Peter could see the bandage wrapped around the wound, noticing the faint red colour on the front.

Swallowing hard Peter quite literally ran over and sat on the bed beside Edmund, taking his hand and sighing at the pale ness of his skin.

Susan and Lucy joined him a second later, Susan sitting on a chair and placing a hand on Edmund's shoulder, and Lucy sitting at the end of the bed, being careful though not to sit on her brothers feet.

"When will he wake up?" Lucy whispered.

Peter slowly shook his head. "I don't know." He murmured, reaching over and stroking the still damp hair from Edmund's eyes.

"Well," Susan said with a deep breath. "When he does wake, we should get him to tell us what exactly happened."

Peter nodded a little. "hmm." He replied, not taking his eyes off his brother.

The three sat in complete silence for the next half an hour, before Edmund began to wake.

Peter was worried at the way he whimpered slightly, tossing his head back and forth a few times. "Hey." He murmered. "It's okay, you're alright."

Susan sighed at this and placed a hand on the top of Edmund's head, adding quiet reassurance of her own to Peter's never ending whispering.

"You're alright Ed." Peter choked. "Come on, just wake up."

Edmund let out another whimper as his eyes flickered halfway open, and he couldn't help but wince.

"It's okay Ed." Peter said softly, brushing the hair from Edmund's forehead. "I know it hurts a little, but it's gonna heal."

Edmund eventually managed to open his eyes all the way, and smiled in relief when he spotted Peter. "Pete." He choked.

Peter smiled sadly. "Hey." He said. "How you feeling?"

Edmund hesitated. "Sore." He mumbled a minute later.

Peter sighed. "The healers said they managed to stop the bleeding." He explained. "But they said the wound's got quite a bit of healing to do."

Edmund glanced down at his stomach, and swallowed hard at the bandage wrapped around it. "How - How long was I asleep?" He asked after a moment or two.

"Only about half an hour." Susan replied, her hand still on Edmund's head.

Edmund nodded before chuckling slightly. "I'm surprised you didn't use the cordial." He joked.

Peter sighed. "I wanted to." He mumbled. "But the healers said the wound would heal by itself."

"Of course it will." Edmund said. "I don't want the cordial anyway, save it for when it's actually needed."

"It wasn't actually needed when I was shot by that arrow." Peter muttered. "But Lucy still used it on me."

"Pete it's fine." Edmund reassured him. "I'll be fine without the cordial."

Peter stared at him for a moment before nodding.

Edmund smiled at him before slowly sitting up, letting out a quiet groan as he leant back against the headboard, Peter propping up the cushions for him, looking slightly worried at the look of pain on his younger brother's face.

"Come on Peter." Edmund said, catching the look. "Anyone would think I'm about to drop down dead!"

Peter sighed. "But-" He paused. "You almost did die."

Edmund stared at him. "But I didn't." He said slowly, reaching over and grabbing Peter's hand. "You saved me."

"But-" Peter took a deep breath. "But what if I was five seconds later! You'd of already been dead! That hag would've killed you!! I was just in time, but if I was seconds later you- you would've died."

Edmund slowly shook his head. "You saved me Peter." He said. "Now stop thinking about what could've happened, alright?"

Peter hesitated but eventually nodded his head. "Alright." He choked, tightening his grip on his brother's hand.

"Ed?" Susan asked a moment later.

"Yeah?" Edmund questioned, turning away from Peter to face Susan.

"What happened?" Susan said slowly, looking slightly wary.

Edmund froze for a moment.

"Ed?" Lucy mumbled, looking rather worried when Edmund didn't say or do anything.

But in the end Edmund took a deep breath and answered. "The hag just appeared out of nowhere," He explained. "I didn't even have time to try and fight back before she slashed her knife across my stomach."

Peter squeezed Edmund's hand reassuringly when his voice cracked, giving him a small nod.

Edmund swallowed hard and took a deep breath before continuing. "After that, my whole body went weak, and the pain was unbearable, I just couldn't bring myself to move, and then - then she raised the dagger. I don't quite know what she said, but then Peter arrived, everything's rather muddled after that."

Peter took a deep breath as Edmund finished. "She tried to kill you." He choked, shaking his head back and forth.

Edmund frowned. "I know." He said, looking slightly confused.

"I mean-" Peter said. "If she tried to kill you, then the rest of them will too!"

Edmund's heart skipped a beat, but he forced back the look of worry. "I'll be alright." He said. "I can protect myself."

Peter shook his head. "There's hundreds of them Ed." He said. "All it takes is for five to go after you at the same time, and then-" He trailed off, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Well, what do we do then?" Lucy asked, shuffling to the side of the bed and leaning against Susan.

Peter swallowed hard before looking up at his brother. "You need to leave." He choked. "And you need to leave now."

Cliffhanger!! ahah, see u all next Tuesday ;)