When Peter woke again, it was only a few hours later and he heard quiet whimpering coming from next to him. He quickly deduced that his younger brother was trapped in the throes of a nightmare. Sitting up and moving the short distance, Peter gently shook his brother and whispered, "Ed, Ed it's me, Peter. You're with your siblings. You're safe. I won't leave you, Edmund. I won't let anyone hurt you. You are safe, Edmund. I've got you. Edmund, you have to wake up. You're safe. You're not in danger anymore. Wake up, Edmund."

Slowly the boy's blue eyes opened, wet with unshed tears. "P-Peter?" the boy whispered.

"Yeah, Ed, it's me. You're safe. I've got you," Peter answered. He was slightly shocked when the boy instigated a hug, but he quickly recovered and wrapped his little brother in a protective embrace. "Ed, can you tell me about the dream?"

"Memory," Edmund corrected automatically. The younger boy remained silent for a long time, and Peter started to think his brother wasn't going to tell him. After what felt like an eternity, the boy did begin speaking, "I...I was back in her dungeon. It was covered in ice, even the shackles around my ankles were covered in ice. The ice cut through my very bones. Mr. Tumnus had already been...they had already taken him away, so I was alone. The silence was unnerving, b-but then I heard their footsteps coming down the hall. I-I shuffled into a corner and tried to disappear as if I could've hidden from her in that tiny icebox," Edmund gave a cynical half laugh which was particularly unnerving, and then continued his account. When she came through the cell door, well...she was absolutely pissed. S-she was ranting...screaming about how the snow was st-starting to melt. H-how her police had almost cornered you guys at the waterfall, but h-how the ice had melted. I thought my heart had stopped when she told me about how you all had almost... I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. After everything I did...I had no right to even be worried. I...anyway...she blamed me for how the ice was thawing, and I can assure you she w-was not pleased at all. When she left she instructed Ginarrbrick to give me an incentive to help her f-find you all. H-he..." Edmund trailed off.

After several minutes of silence, Peter felt the need to prompt his brother. Although Peter felt apprehension at hearing what his younger brother had been subjected to, he needed to know in the hopes of helping the younger boy. "Ed, what did he do to you?"

"H-he whipped me. I-it hurt so bad, Pete. W-well, it's the least I deserved. I-I'm so sorry. Anyway, th-that's when you woke me. Thank you, by the way...for waking me up," Edmund said.

"Edmund, I'm so sorry you were hurt. You did not deserve that. I wish I could have protected you. And you needn't apologize, you've already been forgiven," Peter said lamely trying to provide some sense of comfort to the hurting younger boy. "Edmund, did...did they beat you often?" Peter asked scared of the answer.

"Almost every day. I think, anyway. It-it was hard to keep track of time in that dungeon," Edmund answered without a drop of emotion in his soft voice.

Peter tightened his grip around his brother. "You're safe now, Edmund. I'll do everything in my power to protect you. You're safe here with me, Edmund," Peter whispered.

"Thank you, Peter. Thank you for being so kind to me. I don't know how you've forgiven me. I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself."

Peter hadn't thought his heart could possibly break any more than it already was, but hearing the broken admission of his brother who sounded...disgusted with himself, absolutely shattered him.

"Oh Edmund, I hope someday you will be able to forgive yourself. Aslan forgave you, Aslan sees good in you, and all of us have forgiven you as well. You made a mistake, Edmund, but you learned from it and you've repented from it. You'll waste away to nothingness if you allow it to eat away at you forever," Peter said gently.

"Maybe I deserve to waste away to nothingness, Peter," Edmund answered.

"Oh Edmund, Aslan choose you. You are valued. You do NOT deserve to waste away to nothingness. Please, Edmund, you have to realize you are loved, you are so valued, please don't waste away to nothingness," Peter pleaded. Edmund just shrugged in response and Peter sighed sadly. "I have a sneaking suspicion you don't believe me, Ed. I'm so sorry. I feel like I have failed you miserably and for that, I am so, so sorry. I'll keep telling you until you do believe me. Just, promise me you won't fade away to nothingness until I can convince you," Peter said with sadness in his voice.

"I...It's not...You haven't..."Edmund tried to find words, heaved a sigh, and then said, "I promise."

Peter smiled sadly. "Good, thank you. Now, do you think you'll be able to fall back asleep?" Peter asked gently.

"I-yes, I'll be able to fall asleep. You should get some rest too though. We've got a long day tomorrow," Edmund answered.

"If you're sure?" When Edmund nodded in response, Peter went back to his bedroll and lied down. "Aren't you going to lie down?" Peter prompted.

"Huh?" Edmund asked physically jumping out of whatever void his mind had been in moments before. "Oh, yeah," Edmund quickly amended and then lied down.

Peter watched his brother for several moments. Edmund lied stiffly on his back staring up at the sky without moving for several minutes. "Ed, to fall asleep you've kind of got to close your eyes," Peter prompted lightly.

Edmund didn't respond. Although Peter was very worried, he decided he'd pushed his younger brother far enough for one evening and soon drifted off to sleep.