A/N: I'm sorry this took so long to update! Holiday planning has been nuts, I keep losing track of what day it is, haha...

Sunlight through the trees bathed the world in dappled shades of green. Almost too green to be believable, but he was in enough of a rush that he didn't care. Was he chasing something, or was something chasing him? He couldn't quite tell. Either way it was vitally important.

Out of nowhere he was hit with searing pain. His green world tumbled, then was engulfed by roaring water. Deafening, pounding water. He felt a bizarre sensation of being cut off from air, yet at the same time he wasn't drowning. He couldn't tell which way was up.

Then everything stopped as quickly as it started. He realized he could breathe normally again. The water sound remained, but it was more distant. Peter began to find his bearings, both physically and with his surroundings. This part of the woods had a strange, ethereal quality.

Something moved up ahead, between two jutting rock formations. Peter took off after it. This cleft turned out to be a misty, mossy labyrinth of natural passageways. Always his glimpses of the elusive figure were at the farthest turn no matter how Peter tried to catch up.

He was just beginning to think he had lost his quarry when the cliffs opened up into a golden clearing. Barely did he have the time to take this in before the huge, sun-bright figure of a lion sprang right at him—

Peter jerked upright, pieces of straw sticking to his clammy face. His cell was still dark. His wrists still dragged from the weight of shackles. His left shoulder, though less painful, still felt taut with healing gashes.

He gulped down air, and tried to steady his heartrate. Where had that dream come from? Sure he could identify with the feeling of being imminently pounced upon by a ferocious predator, but why did every other piece of context remind him more of the childhood stories he'd been told? Those always spoke of a benevolent, protective guardian.

It was a nightmare, not much point analyzing it now, he chided himself.

The adrenaline left him too tense to go back to sleep, so Peter stared first at the silhouette of the cell door, then the play of the shadows in the corridor beyond, as the torches burned low. Gradually, his cell began to lighten with dawn.

No one seemed to bother with breakfast for him; that must mean today was the day. What were the chances he could stomach food, anyway? Outside the sounds of the city waking up slowly filtered through the window, not that it was of much interest to Peter. Anything that concerned him would be coming down via the dungeon halls.

"Peter! Peter!"

The fact that the voice drew closer from out in the square startled Peter out of his thoughts. He stood up just in time to see a dark shadow block the little opening.

"Susan?!"

Her eyes were wild. "Lucy's gone! She must have disappeared sometime in the night, I've looked everywhere in the upper town for her—"

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

"At first I feared Miraz somehow took her as a sort of insurance, but I don't know, her boots and cloak are gone too. What could she possibly be thinking?!"

A lead weight dropped into Peter's empty gut. Please, oh please don't let this be Miraz's doing. "You think she may have left the city altogether? Maybe you should take Edmund and get out of here—"

"What? We can't just leave you like this! And what if she is still here somewhere, we could be leaving her behind!"

"What if Miraz thinks this is a prelude to me going back on my word? If you're within reach he could kill you!"

Shouts echoed throughout the square. Reaching as far as the shackles permitted, Peter tried to shove Susan away. "Go, before they can catch you!"

He didn't speak fast enough. Gloved hands took Susan by the arms. She shrieked in protest, her fingers only briefly clutching Peter's before she was dragged out of reach.

"Susan! Susan!"

The butt of a pike jabbed through the bars of the window. Peter took it in the face, and went down. Blood welled up in his nose and from a fresh cut below his right eye. It was a miracle his eye was spared. Dizzy from the blow, he failed to notice the commotion building in the dungeon hall until someone flung his cell door open.

"Did I not make it clear that I would know every move your family made?" purred a silkily lethal voice. When Peter didn't respond, a kick to his chest propelled him into the wall. He saw black for a moment or two as the back of his head connected painfully with the stone. Miraz towered over him.

"I will give you one chance to explain whether you had anything to do with your sister's disappearance. After all, your devotion to your siblings' wellbeing is as stubborn as your loyalty to Caspian."

"I swear…I didn't even know until just now…" Peter struggled to take proper breaths to speak.

"There was no plan for your siblings to conveniently leave the city, perhaps to spare them the grief of seeing you die? Or do you have some kind of heroic last stand in mind?"

He shook his head as fervently as he dared while trying to keep his senses.

Tortuous seconds went by. Peter couldn't tell if the scheming lord was contemplating the validity of his answers, or simply drawing out the suspense for effect.

"Suffice to say, I am going to have the other two in the castle under guard now," Miraz finally spoke. "They will be my guests from now until your execution, for which they will have a prime view, and then I will decide what is to become of them."

Peter didn't think his heart could sink any lower. "I did everything as you wanted, they're innocent…"

"We shall see. For your part however, you will meet your end not knowing whether you were able to protect them or not. And if anything else happens in the meantime, you will have no way of knowing whether their fate has changed."

Miraz and his guards swept out of the dungeon. Peter felt like he was going to be sick, if he had had anything in his stomach. He could hardly bring himself to press his sleeve to the semi-coagulated drips of blood that ran down his face.

Otherwise, he must not have moved the whole time he was left alone, based on the stiffness in his body when the cell door next opened. It was General Glozelle again, looking truly conflicted about the macabre occasion.

"You are to come with me," he said tonelessly. Two guards entered the cell to unshackle Peter.