He woke up to Edmund's voice. It was soft and delicate. Often times, that was not how Peter was ever woken up by his brother, but there was a gentleness that Peter craved.
"Peter, you have to wake up," Edmund's voice called to him. He shook Peter's shoulder. As Peter blinked his eyes open, he immediately felt the achiness to his body. Soreness was evident.
But as his vision fixated on Edmund standing in front of him, Peter could not contain the spark of hope that entered his chest.
"Good, you're awake," Edmund said with worry in his voice. He was wearing his armor, sword strapped to his hip. Gingerly, he took the cloth out of Peter's mouth; the tied cloth landed on Peter's collarbone. "We need to leave. Are you hurt?" There was urgency to his voice.
This had to be real, Peter thought to himself. He looks and sounds like the Edmund I know. All the details are right.
Peter was lost in his conclusions that he missed what Edmund was saying next.
"Peter, where is the White Witch?"
Peter blinked blankly at him before saying, "I don't know." He shook his head. "She has kept me locked in here unless I was with her."
Edmund seemed upset by this, as he leaned in closer to Peter. His hand reached up to touch Peter's face before he pulled his hand back hesitantly.
"I'll get you away from here," Edmund said with certainty. "I promise, Peter. You will never have to see her again."
Oh, how Peter's heart soared. He needed this to be real. Needed it. He was bruised and battered. He needed help.
But his logical side of himself made him ask, "How do I know you aren't one of her illusions?"
"What do you mean?" Bemusement was evident on his face.
"She has made me see you before, saving me, but it was all a trick."
"It's me, Peter. I am here to rescue you," Edmund reasoned.
"Ed, please, how do I know you are real?"
Only after a moment's pause did he answer: "You don't."
That was when Peter felt the blade enter his stomach. Edmund's hand held the hilt.
"Ed?" Peter choked out, pulling on his chains to try to get Edmund's dagger out of him.
As the two of them both moved their attention from the dagger wedged in Peter's stomach to making eye contact, a smirk rested on Edmund's face. A smug one, one he had never worn while they were in Narnia.
The illusion faded around them, revealing Jadis holding the dagger. He gasped, feeling the pain shooting through him. She seemed to relish in it.
"I wonder how many times I have to show you your brother falsely saving you before you stop believing it," she said cruelly. A whimper left him when she slowly pulled the dagger. He nearly choked on a suppressed sob.
His hope had been sparked. He was hopeful it was real. He desperately wanted an escape, only to be disappointed.
With a flick of her wrist, the wound in his stomach started to heal gradually. It seemed like she intended to inflict the maximum amount of damage on him while still keeping him alive.
"Why are you wasting your time with me?" Peter asked, gritting his teeth to the sharp burning sensation of his new wound healing. "Why haven't you just killed me and gotten it over with?"
"Are you not enjoying our time together, dear one?" She asked.
Peter flinched at the name of endearment. Aslan was the only one to ever call him or his siblings that. It felt vile hearing it come out of her mouth.
"You and your siblings were the reason why the people rebelled. You led the army against me," she said with such disdain in her voice.
"Vengeance then?" Peter asked. "Does not seem like something you would waste your time on."
"No? My vengeance was having your brother against you," she countered.
"We have been through this. You are not changing how I feel about Edmund. You can keep your lies to yourself."
"I do not lie," Jadis said with finality. "I speak the truth when I tell you that dear Edmund had wanted revenge against you for humiliating him."
There was a weight to her words. His head hurt him too much to try to clarify if she was exactly wrong. He vaguely recalled Edmund mentioning some part of that.
"Oh, and he was all the more pleased for you to become his servant underneath him. The entire idea of sharing a kingship with you disgusted him so," Jadis said cruelly. "I have never seen a Son of Adam's face light up quicker than when I told him he could be King and you, his slave."
Peter's eyes widened. He had no counter this time. He did not know what to do with this new information. He did not know if it was true.
No, no, Edmund would not have wanted that. He would not have. She is just trying to hurt me.
"You are lying," Peter accused far less confidently than he hoped he would sound.
"I swear on the Deep Magic, it is true."
Peter's heart dropped. Every fighting spirit he had faltered. That kind of oath did not seem like one that could be used lightly, which meant that at least part of it had to be true. Peter physically had to shake his head to snap out of the spiral that she was deliberately sending him on.
"It does not matter then. Edmund is my brother, and he has changed. We all have."
"I am sure he appears that way," Jadis agreed, "but people like him are survivors. He adapted. If he did not look like he repented, he would never have become King."
"He is not like that. He wouldn't do that," Peter defended.
"He betrayed countless people while here in Narnia to protect himself. He let people be slaughtered for his actions, but if it kept him alive, he kept providing me with more information, no matter who it harmed," Jadis's words cut him deeply. "This was just the next part of his act."
Peter hated that she was planting doubt in his mind. Edmund had saved him in far more ways than one. They were closer than brothers. That could not be faked. Peter refused to believe such insinuations.
"You don't believe me yet, but you will," Jadis promised. "You just need time to think it over." She came over to him, forcing the cloth back into his mouth. With a quick precision, she tied a blindfold over his eyes.
With her final steps leaving the room echoed off the ice, Peter was left alone in far more ways than one.
