Edmund only waited a moment to see that the White Witch was actually gone before he yelled, "Peter!" He took off towards the dungeons, praying that was where Peter was. Alive.
He vaguely heard voices of his officers shouting and moving after him. He did not slow. He did not care.
"Peter!"
Desperation clung to him. Panting and out of breath, he hastily made his way down the steps. The same steps he had taken all those years ago. A flash of his memory hit his vision for a moment. He kept pressing on despite it.
When he reached the foot of the hall of the dungeons, he called, "Peter, where are you!?"
Just a sound. Anything. Just give me some indication that you are alive. Please.
He ventured down the hall, tears building in his eyes, as he opened the dungeon doors and finding them empty. He kept yelling for Peter. Not a sound was given in response.
"Your majesty!" A high-pitched voice called. He barely saw the blurry image of a blue bird flying overhead as Uven directed, "King Peter is over here!"
Uven flew in front, leading to the very end of the hall. Edmund ran after him. Edmund slid to a stop at the last dungeon cell.
Surprisingly, the door was kept unlocked, and only once Edmund was inside did he see why.
The door slammed open, and Edmund barged right in. Edmund's call of Peter's name died in his throat as soon as he saw Peter. Instead, it came out as a forced whisper.
For a moment, everything just stopped. Edmund's heart. His urgency. The sight of Peter made his chest constrict and hurt.
Chained and bloodied, Peter was blindfolded and gagged in the middle of this icy cell. His skin was pale and bruised terribly.
Edmund ran to his side, "Pete." Peter was trembling when Edmund reached him. "Let me get these off—"
Edmund barely touched Peter's face before Peter violently flinched away from his touch. Peter was moving his mouth. It took Edmund a second to realize Peter was pleading for him not to hurt him as he pulled away from Edmund.
"No one is going to hurt you anymore," Edmund promised. His heart broke, as he pulled out the gag and took off the blindfold, seeing the tears streaming down Peter's cheeks.
Peter's cheeks were hollowed in. Blood coated the tips of his hair and lined his face. His fingers were bruised and oddly positions. He had dried blood throughout his clothes.
Dark circles plunged underneath his eyes. The pupils in his eyes were huge, still adjusting to the light in the cell. He was shaking terribly. He must be freezing, Edmund thought considering he was scarcely wearing a light shirt and riding pants.
"Get the key to these chains!" He called quickly to Uven.
"At once, sire!"
Peter's eyes widened at the sight of Edmund before he squeezed his eyes shut, tugging on his restraints.
"No, no, Peter, don't do that. You are only going to hurt your wrists more," Edmund warned. They were already raw and swollen.
Peter shook his head, whispering, "Please, stop, please." He pulled on his chains some more.
"Pete, it's me, Ed," Edmund said, trying to keep the calmness from leaving his voice.
"No, just leave me alone," Peter begged him. "Please, I cannot keep doing this."
Puzzled by Peter's words, Edmund assured, "I am not leaving you here. We are here to rescue you, and once we get you out of those chains—"
"No, stop," Peter said with a harshness that then broke into a frailness. "I know you aren't real this time."
A sob left his throat, and he faced away from Edmund.
What has she done to you?
"Peter, I am real. I am right here," he reached up to Peter's face to provide a comfort, only halting his motion when Peter flinched away in anticipation. "We are going to save you."
"That is what you all have said," Peter reasoned through his cries.
"Pete, you have to believe me, I am Edmund. Your brother. Your best friend." He gently touched Peter's arm. "I am real. I am here to save you."
Peter looked at Edmund's hand on his arm and then at Edmund's face. Edmund thought he had convinced Peter until right before his eyes, he saw the doubt creeping back in Peter's eyes.
He shook his head. "Please, just stop."
What can I do to convince him I am who I say I am? That I am not some trick from the White Witch? He thought about this carefully for a moment. It needed to be something that the White Witch could not have replicated. Something no one else would have known.
He heard the rattling of keys, and he held his hand back to Captain Ver for her to halt at the door. She held the keys in her hands but waited outside, allowing them the space they needed.
"What if I tell you something only I, Edmund, could know?" And Edmund knew just the memory.
Slowly, Peter blinked at him, offering no open objections.
Edmund took a deep breath, asking, "Do you remember the day that I was rescued from the White Witch's camp?" Edmund waited until Peter slowly nodded before Edmund continued, "That morning, you had walked out of your tent, and you saw me standing on top of the mountain with Aslan. I never told you what he had said to me."
Edmund never thought he would ever share it either. While it was personal between him and Aslan, he never maliciously kept it from his siblings, Peter especially. But this was a moment he knew it was the best example he could use.
He did not know how Jadis's illusions worked, but if she had access to Peter's memories in any way, anything he knew, she could have manipulated him with them. This was the one memory Jadis did not have the information to replicate, nor did he think she would try to imitate what Aslan had ever said.
"I was scared up there with him," Edmund admitted. "It was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. Here, I was standing in front of a talking lion, and none of you were around. Not that I thought I deserved any of you to be there at the time."
Peter's expression was unreadable. Edmund could not tell if this was going well or not. He continued regardless. He slightly beckoned Captain Ver, as he was telling his story, to hand him the keys, and then she immediately dispersed. Peter barely noticed.
"I was ashamed of what I did, and I was scared of what Aslan would do to me for it. But when he finally spoke, I knew he was like no one I had ever met," Edmund told. "I tried apologizing to him, for I was truly sorry. While he accepted my apology, he told me, 'What's done is done. You can only go from this day forward and be better than you were before. You are a traitor no more. Live out your days showing Narnia the strength of forgiveness'."
Peter just slightly nodded to this. Edmund could not tell if he was agreeing with Aslan's words or if he held an understanding that Aslan would say such a thing. Gently, Edmund unlocked the first shackle around Peter's wrist.
"He breathed on me, and for a moment, I felt the warmth of the sun, the kindness in his soul, and the gentleness of the world. I felt that everything would be okay because he was there."
Peter looked away at the end of this, staring at his lap. Edmund unlocked one of the shackles around his ankles.
"Then I heard Lucy yell my name, and I saw the three of you. Just standing there. I suddenly was terrified again. I asked Aslan if you three hated me. He told me that the three of you loved me dearly, but I would have to talk to you myself to know how you truly felt, and when I came to you, the three of you welcomed me back."
Edmund's gratefulness shined through his words, even after all these years. He unlocked Peter's last ankle from their chains.
"Even then, after everything I had done, you made sure I was alright, and you did not make me feel like a traitor any more. All because of you, I did not feel like an outcast."
Just as he ended his story, he freed Peter's last wrist. There was a moment's pause after Edmund concluded his story, a moment where Edmund was not sure if he had failed or succeeded.
Then Peter's face contorted, scrunching in effort, as he choked out, "Ed, it's really you?" A sob almost broke through as he added, "you promise?"
"I swear, Pete, it's me."
A relieved sob broke out of Peter's voice. Peter leaned forward, arms outstretched, as Edmund followed his lead, and the two hugged each other.
"I thought I wouldn't see you again," Peter quietly cried. "I didn't think I would—" His sobs kept his words at bay.
Edmund held him close. Pulling Peter's head into his shoulder, he ensured the embrace amplified the safety and love he was trying to emulate.
"You are safe now, I've got you," Edmund promised. When they broke apart, Edmund asked, "How about we leave this place? I am going to help you stand, okay?"
Peter nodded as Edmund gently moved Peter's arm around his shoulder. Edmund wrapped his arm around Peter's back, trying to support him best. Gently, he pulled Peter to his feet. He was leaning heavily into Edmund.
Peter's legs buckled underneath him, and Edmund barely steadied him, catching himself and Peter before the two of them crashed to the ground. Peter mumbled some apology out, but it did not change the need Peter required of Edmund to support him.
"Captain Ver is going to help me carry you," Edmund asked as she approached to help. "Is it okay if she touches you?"
At first, Peter shook his head, nearly shrinking into Edmund's neck. After a few moments of reconsideration, he said quietly, "Yes."
Captain Ver came over to the other side of Peter, gingerly taking his other arm, putting it around her shoulder. The two of them were able to practically carry Peter out of this cell. He heard Peter take a shaking breath at leaving his cell.
Once they struggled their way up the top of the stairs, their soldiers were lined up there. Peter slightly ducked his head, almost in shame. He leaned into Edmund more.
Their soldiers then bowed to them both, lining their exit. As they continued passing their soldiers, there was a deadly silence. Edmund saw his own pain reflected in his soldiers. They were bitterly angry; some were terribly sad. Only Aslan knew what Peter had truly gone through, but based on his appearance, they all could speculate a horrific ordeal for him.
As they passed the throne room, Peter flinched, tugging away, nearly pulling the three of them off balance.
"It's over, Pete. She is gone," he quietly reassured. "She is gone." A few more tears dripped down Peter's cheeks; he said nothing in response.
Finally, they reached the front gates. Peter's breath hitched when the gates were finally opened. The three of them blinked their way into the sunlight. A relieved breath left both Edmund and Peter, as they took their first step outside the castle walls.
Phillip immediately came over to them. Gently, he nuzzled Peter's face. A painful, scarce twitch flickered against Peter's lips, but no smile was every truly formed. He touched Phillip's snout. Not a sound left Peter.
Phillip turned on his side, kneeling all the way down. With effort, Ver and Edmund got Peter on Phillip's back. After making sure Peter could keep himself upright for the time being, Edmund went to Phillip's face.
"Phillip, I know it's a lot of weight," Edmund began, knowing just how awful it was for a horse to carry two people on their back.
Phillip never let him finish. All he said was, "Just do not let him fall off."
Edmund nodded, tears brimming. Quickly, he climbed in front of Peter on Phillip's back. Peter wrapped his arms around Edmund's stomach. He was still shaking. He held Edmund close.
Phillip started their trek back to up the ridge. Edmund heard Peter breathe once more, for he was finally free.
Thank you for reading! The next chapters will be up some time next week
