14: Charged with murder

Edmund sighed a little as he sunk back against the cold, stone wall, wincing in pain when his shirt caught on the many scrapes and scratches covering his back.

He sat there in silence, like he had been doing for the last few hours, staring down at the shackles around his ankles and his wrists, thinking over how he had ended up in this prison cell in the first place.

It wasn't his fault at all, he'd only been trying to protect his brother, keep him safe from that fool who'd dared try and actually kill him.

"Peter?" Edmund questioned, walking up behind his brother who was sat at his desk, bent over a whole pile of papers.

At hearing the voice behind him Peter jumped harshly, groaning shortly after. "Ed." He muttered. "You made me jump."

Edmund bit his lip at seeing the long line of ink going across the piece of paper, and instantly felt bad. "Sorry." He mumbled, walking over to stand beside him.

"Its alright." Peter sighed. "You're lucky I only just started this page."

Edmund sighed. "That's actually why I've come up here." He said, and after a frown from Peter continued. "Pete, you've been working on this paperwork for weeks! Don't you think it's time you took a few days break?"

Peter blinked at him, before sighing and shaking his head. "I can't Ed." He mumbled. "This is really important... like, really important Ed, I need to get it done as soon as possible."

"But weeks, Peter!" Edmund sighed. "That's hours upon hours of work!"

"You know what this feels like Ed." Peter said as he stood and walked over to the table, beginning to pour himself a glass of water. "You too have spent hours and hours on documents and papers and whatnot."

Edmund sighed, sinking down at the edge of Peter's bed. "We miss you Peter." He sighed. "The girls and I. You spend so much time cooped up in here working, we hardly see you."

Peter swallowed hard as he placed the water jug back on the table, gripping the cup tightly in his hands and looking actually rather guilty.

"Perhaps just a few hours?" Edmund tried. "We could all go down the beach for a while? I've got nothing else to do, and Lucy's just wondering around the castle looking so bored she could fall asleep."

Peter smirked a little at this, and Edmund smiled at him. "What do you say?" He asked.

Peter sighed and glanced up at him, before slowly nodding. "Alright." He breathed. "But no longer than three hours."

Edmund beamed. "Deal." He said firmly.

"Just give me a minute." Peter said, lifting the cup to his lips.

Edmund nodded and sat in silence as Peter drank, but it was two seconds later when his eyes went wide.

He watched in horror as a man climbed over the balcony railings... climbed over them, and made a dash for Peter, a knife gripped tightly in his hand.

"Peter look out!" Edmund cried, his voice cracking as he ran at his brother and pushed them both out of the way, wincing when he hit the floor side on, but sighing in relief when he realised he'd just saved Peter from possible death.

"What in the worlds-" Peter choked, clearly shocked.

Edmund didn't waste a second and immediately jumped to his feet, drawing his sword and swinging around to face the man, who was now stood in front of Peter's desk, the knife still held threateningly in his hand.

"Who are you and what do you want?!" Edmund snapped, taking a few more steps in front of Peter as he heard his brother rise to his feet.

The man didn't say a word, and only scowled at Edmund, before flicking his eyes to Peter and making another dash at him... but Edmund instantly pushed him back, sending him crashing into the desk."What do you want!" Edmund hissed, keeping his protective stance in front of his brother.

Once again the man, much to Edmund's frustration, kept silent, and did nothing for a very long while.

But just as Edmund was about to call for the guards, the man grabbed the huge pile of documents on Peter's desk, ran out onto the balcony, and disappeared over the railing.

"Hey!" Edmund cried, and ran after him, leaning over the stone but frowning when he saw nothing but an almost 70 foot drop down to the courtyard. "What?" He whispered to himself, leaning further over.

Peter, seeing this dashed over and gripped him around the waist, pulling him back with a sigh. "How many times have I told you not to lean that far over the balcony." He muttered, turning Edmund around to face him.

"Sorry." Edmund mumbled, before sighing. "Are you alright?"

Peter took a deep breath and nodded at his younger brother. "I think so." He mumbled. "Who was that?"

Edmund shook his head. "I have no idea." He said slowly.

"He took all those papers!" Peter cried in frustration, running a hand through his hair as he stepped back into the room, staring at his now pretty much empty desk. "I've been working on them for weeks! I had to get them done within the next couple of days! and now I have to start again, I cant even remember half of what I wrote-"

"Peter calm down." Edmund said quickly, having followed him inside the room. "We'll find the papers, I promise we will, and we'll find that man too, and trust me, he's not just going to get away with attempting to assassinate the High King of Narnia."

Of course he'd failed in trying to kill Edmund's brother, but after hearing that he was supposed to try again, Edmund, fearing for Peter's safety, had gone searching for the man and for the papers... and had found them both within a few days, somewhere on the borders between Narnia and archenland. It was clear that that wasn't where he was heading for, but Edmund managed to catch up with him before he got any further.

"Explain to me why an earth you would want to kill my brother." Edmund snapped, pressing his sword against the man's neck.

He only chuckled in reply.

"You know your crime is punishable by death?" Edmund muttered.

"Oh I know that." The man laughed.

Edmuns scowled. "Where are the papers you stole?" He asked, tightening his grip on his sword.

The man was silent.

"You tell me where they are and I'll grant you a quick death," Edmund said. "Rather than you being dragged back to Cair Paravel to be executed."

The man glared at him. "They're hidden under a bush in the woods about twenty miles north of Cair." He muttered eventually.

"That wasn't so hard was it." Edmund said. "But you still haven't answered my first question, why did you want to kill my brother?"

The man smirked up at him. "He's a child." He spat. "He doesn't know the first thing about ruling a country."

"And that gave you the right to Kill him?" Edmund snapped. "Just because he's younger than most monarchs?"

The man rolled his eyes. "Catch on quickly don't you." He said.

"But if I'm correct you're not even from Narnia." Edmund said.

"My family moved there two years ago." The man told him. "But I knew better than to move to a country ruled by children."

Edmund just glared at him. "I'm gonna give you a choice." He spat. "I can either kill you know, quickly and mercifully. Or I can take you back to Cair Paravel and have you executed... the choice is yours. But either way, you have to die for what you did, the law is the law."

The man rolled his eyes. "I am well aware of the consequences of my actions." He spat. "Just kill me now."

Edmund hesitated slightly, unsure of why though.

"Just do it, or mark my words I will come back for your brother, and this time- My knife will end up buried in his chest."

The next thing he knew, Edmund buried his sword in the mans neck, and he died two seconds later, causing Edmund to collapse back in something he wanted to call relief.

After a while he sighed. "You're safe now Peter." He whispered. "You're safe."

It was then that he was found, and charged for murder, although found by who, he had no idea.

"Who are you?" Edmund asked warily as he lowered his sword, having no choice really seeming as he was surrounded by at least five men.

"That is not of a concern to you." One of them said. "But who might you be?"

Edmund hesitated. They clearly didn't recognise him, and Edmund thought it was probably better that way. "Who I am doesn't matter." He said. "And you can't make me talk."

"I think you'll find we probably could." The man almost laughed, before: "Whoever you are you are charged with murder, and it seems, plotting to kill the High King of Narnia."

Edmund frowned as his heart skipped a beat. "What?" He practically whispered.

"That man told you where he hid those papers didn't he, and you obviously knew about this apparent assassination on the High King?" The man said. "My guess is that you were part of his plan the whole time, but betrayed him and are now taking the papers for yourself."

Edmund flinched when he said that he'd betrayed someone, bad memories coming to the forefront of his mind, but he tried his hardest to push them back and instead asked. "Are you loyal to the rulers of Narnia?"

The man was silent for a little while, clearly thinking. "Partly." He said. "But if I had one in my grasp, I'm not saying I wouldn't hold them hostage for ransom."

Edmund swallowed hard. Yeah, keeping his identity a secret was probably a good idea.

"Grab him."

Edmund didn't even have time to blink before his hands were chained in front of him and his arms were grabbed, leaving him utterly defenceless.

"You have been charged with murder." The man from before spoke up. "And with stealing from the High King and being involved in this plot to kill him. You will be held in our cells until someone can come and take you to Cair, where I have no doubt you'll be executed for your crimes."

Edmund sighed a little. This really hadn't gone to plan.

He'd only come to save Peter, but instead had ended up charged with murder, stealing and attempting to kill the High King, and if Peter was here and the situation wasn't so serious, he probably would've laughed.

"Well done edmund." He thought to himself. "You've really gotten yourself in a pickle this time."

On the upside, Edmund thought as he sat there, he was going to be taken to Cair Paravel within the next couple of days, so he couldn't say this was all bad.

He could handle a couple beatings every now and then, a couple of lashes every once in a while, although if he was honest, the boredom was probably the worst, that and the memories.

Edmund had never liked being locked in a cell or dungeons, not since his experience with the witch, which is why this whole experience was a lot worse for him.

He had of course been held in multiple cells since his coronation, but Peter had quite literally always been there, comforting him whenever he could, but now he was alone, he feared that the memories would become too much for him.

But all he could do was wait, wait to be taken back to Cair, and back to his family... finally.

"Edmund's been gone for days!" Peter sighed, pacing back and forth infront of a rather worried looking Lucy, who was sat on the sofa, cross legged and chewing on her nails. "He should be back by now, something has to of happened to him."

"You're always so negative Peter."

Said boy looked up when Susan entered the room, something of a smirk on her face. "Edmund will be fine." She said. "He'll be back soon... but in the meantime, we've gotten word from a group who would rather remain anonymous, that they have kidnapped someone who was involved in the plot to kill you."

Peter frowned. "There was more than one of them?" He questioned.

"It would appear so." Susan said, joining Lucy on the sofa. "And they know where your papers are, which is a relief."

"You're telling me." Peter muttered.

"Whoever it was involved, will be brought here and most likely put to death." Susan said slowly.

Peter flinched at this. He'd never liked having to sentence people to death. Granted it hardly ever happened, but for some of those poor souls who'd actually dared to try and kill one of the four monarchs, there was no choice but to have them executed.

"Do you have any idea who it is?" Peter questioned.

Susan frowned a little. "Not exactly." She mumbled. "But Orious said that he'd been told that the boy-"

"Boy?" Peter asked, sounding shocked.

Susan nodded. "They said he only looked around sixteen or something." She said, before continuing. "They boy apparently has dark hair, like black hair. Pale skin, freckles, brown eyes. He's tall and..." Susan trailed off, her heart skipping a beat when she looked up at Peter, to see his eyes slightly wider than usual.

"You literally just described Edmund." Peter said, sounding shocked.

"It can't be though!" Susan exclaimed, eyes wide.

"We don't know that." Peter said, before taking a deep breath. "Edmund's been gone for too long... Go to Orious, ask him to send a message to these people saying I'm coming to them. I have to know as soon as possible."

Susan hesitated slightly before she nodded and rushed out of the room, leaving just Peter and Lucy again.

"What if it really is Edmund?" Lucy whispered, staring up at her oldest brother.

Peter sighed. "If it is him." He said. "Then we get him back."

Edmund's head snapped up when the doors to his cell burst open, a man walking in, a scowl set across his face.

"We've gotten word that the High King of Narnia is instead coming here to see you." He announced. "I have no idea why he'd want to waste his time coming to see the boy who'd tried to kill him him but here were are."

Edmund had to fight to keep back a laugh.

No, Peter wouldn't travel all that way to see someone who'd plotted to kill him. But he would travel all that way to "waste his time" rescuing his brother.

If Peter was coming here, it meant that he'd somehow managed to find out that it was infact his little brother that was gonna be sent to Cair to be executed, and Edmund all of a sudden felt pity for everyone that had kidnapped him... because hurting Peter's siblings didn't go down well with the oldest.

The next thing he knew, Edmund received a hard kick to the face, which sent him crashing to he floor and split his lip wide open.

"I'd wipe that smirk of your face if I were you." The man spat. "You better show some respect when the High King comes. Granted, none of us really respect him either, but he's coming with a whole army of guards, and we ain't talking any chances."

Despite the pain Edmund couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, he knew Peter well enough to know that an army of guards was a definite overstatement.

Unfortunately this rasied eyebrow earned him a sharp kick to the stomach, causing him to groan quietly and curl himself into a ball.

"I will be coming to fetch you in two hours." The man hissed. "And I suggest you make the most of it, because I have no doubt that the High King wishes to kill you himself."

Despite the situation, all of this was rather funny. Peter, kill Edmund? The very thought made Edmund want to laugh out loud... but he didnt dare with the man still in the cell, looking as though he himself would execute Edmund at any minute.

But when the cell door slammed shut and the man was gone, Edmund let out a soft chuckle, wincing slightly when his stomach protested against it.

After recovering a little from the hard kicks, he sat up against the wall and wiped a hand over his chin, realising from the amount of blood just how deeply his lip was split... and boy did it hurt. Peter would flip when he saw it.

But all he had to do know was wait, although that was easily said than done.

His back was still sore from previous beatings he'd received. His lip was now throbbing, his stomach sore. On top of that he couldn't even begin to process how hungry and thirsty he was, and he was extremely tired too.

But he would stay awake until Peter came for him, and he would hold on until then, no matter what.

It was probably exactly two hours later when the cell door opened again, and two men wasted no time in walking over and grabbing his arms, hauling him to his feet which caused Edmund to wince and bite down on his tongue so as not to scream.

The chains around his ankles were broken by a third man, but the chains around his wrists were kept securely, and tightly in place.

That's gonna give Peter even more of a reason to kill you all

Of course he didn't say it out loud, and kept silent as he was pushed from the cell, breathing a sigh of relief at being out of there.

He was shoved down corridor after corridor until they reached a small wooden door.

"Remember what I said about respect." One of the men spat, and it was only then that Edmund recognised him as the one from earlier.

"Don't worry." Edmund muttered. "I'll show respect."

The man scowled at him before opening the door, the other two shoving him harshly inside the room.

He kept his head down the entire time, wincing when he was forced to he knees and they banged against the stone floor.

"Your majesty." He heard the man say, and it was clear he bowed, but probably out of fear rather than respect. "This is the boy that was involved in the plot to kill you."

It was then that Edmund had the courage to look up, and sighed at what he saw.

Peter was sat in a chair at a nearby table, face set in a scowl which he could easily pass off as him being angry at Edmund, but Edmund knew better than that.

He didnt look happy, and if the way he was clenching his hands into fists was anything to go by, these men would be lucky if they lived through the next hour.

"Leave us." He spoke up eventually, voice firm.

The three men didn't hesitate as they left, letting Edmund's arms goes and causing him to slump forward slightly, too weak to kneel straight on his own.

The second the door was closed, Peter stood from his seat and rushed over to his brother, falling to his knees in front of him. "Oh Ed." He murmered, placing his hands on his shoulders to support him.

"You know," Edmund murmered, a smirk growing on his face. "Being accused of plotting to kill my own brother has got to be one of the weirdest things that's ever happened to me."

Peter couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "Let me guess," He said. "You killed that man and then was caught?"

"Uh huh." Edmund replied. "They overheard us talking and I guess they got the wrong end of the stick."

"Why didnt you tell them who you were?" Peter questioned, frowning.

"They said that they were somewhat loyal to Narnian royalty." Edmund told him. "But they also said if they had one of them in their grasp then they wouldn't hesitate to hold them for ransom or something."

Peter sighed. "Yeah," He breathed. "It was probably best you didn't tell them."

Edmund nodded with a smile. "Probably." He chuckled, before wincing.

"How badly did they hurt you?" Peter asked I immediately, staring at the deep cut on Edmund's lip.

"Just a couple beatings." Edmund mumbled. "Plus they starved me, and I haven't had any water either."

"We need to get you home." Peter murmered. "To Lucy's cordial."

"I don't need the cordial Peter." Edmund said with something of an amused smile. "I'm fine."

Peter didn't look too sure but obviously came to the conclusion that Edmund was too weak to argue, so dropped the subject.

Instead he turned his attention to the chains around Edmund's wrists, and scowled darkly. "How long have these been on you?" He muttered.

"Since I was kidnapped." Edmund answered hesitantly.

"I'll find a way to get them off of you as soon as we get out of here." Peter said firmly.

Edmund smiled weakly. "Thanks." He breathed, resting his head against Peter's shoulder.

Peter swallowed hard and pulled Edmund straight into his lap, not caring in the least that his brother was 16, and just hugging him as tightly as he dared.

But after a minute or two he slowly pulled away. "Come on Eddy." He whispered, placing a kiss to his brothers forehead. "Let's go home."

Hope you liked this one!!! it was real fun to write :) xx