Peter was so angry. How could Edmund and Lucy have wandered off like that, after he'd specifically told Edmund to come downstairs? They'd been gone all night, their beds not slept in, and now he'd been informed they just walked in as if nothing had happened. He wasn't standing for it!

Edmund came in, looking sheepish, it had to be said, as well as extremely tired.

"I hope you've got a good excuse!" Peter said the minute he laid eyes on his brother. "Where's Lucy?"

"She'll be in in a second," Edmund lied. Lucy had hurried off to find some way of giving Emma the mixture without her realising. He hated leaving it to his little sister to do it, but he knew she'd manage it far better than he could.

"I asked to see her and you," Peter reminded him crossly.

"We're not little kids, Peter," Edmund retorted irritably. "We don't have to come when you call. She's really tired…"

"Because you dragged her out all night!" Peter snapped. "What were you thinking, Edmund? We had important visitors here, and half the kings and queens in Narnia couldn't be bothered to meet them! What does that say about us?"

"Well you had Susan and Emma," Edmund pointed out, with more than a little sarcasm.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Peter asked.

"Oh, Peter, please tell me you've worked it out by now!" Edmund exclaimed. He was certain his older brother would have realised what it was that was so wrong with Emma. "You can't be that stupid!"

"What are you on about?" Peter demanded.

"Emma!" Edmund growled.

"Oh shut up!" Peter suddenly flipped. "What is your problem, Ed? Susan agrees with me, you've been acting so strangely lately, and we both think it's got something to do with Emma. Are you jealous or something?"

"Of what?" Edmund was completely wrong-footed. "What could I be jealous of?"

"Me and Emma," Peter replied. "Are you jealous that she's interested in me and not you?"

"What?" Edmund cried. "Peter, you have no idea what you are talking about! Have you not realised why she's so obsessed with you? Why she's suddenly so keen on being with you and everything?"

"She's in love with me!"

"She's bewitched!" Edmund shouted.

Peter sat down heavily in the chair behind him and stared at his younger brother in shock. "Don't be silly," he said in a much softer voice than before.

"I'm not." Edmund was also much quieter now. "But I'm not lying. Emma is under some sort of spell, Peter. She's working for the other side now."

The four Pevensies sat round the table in silence, all unable to touch their food. Lucy was exhausted, but was determined not to show it. Edmund's limbs were all aching, but his mind was working overtime. Peter and Susan were both in complete shock.

Finally Susan spoke. "I can't believe you two didn't tell us about this. Whatever happened to us making joint decisions?"

"There wasn't time," Edmund said calmly now. "After what the centaur had told us we couldn't afford to waste anymore time. I only told Lucy because I needed her help."

"You should have told me," Peter said heavily. "I'm the High King, I should have dealt with this."

"You can't deal with everything, Peter," Edmund said gently. "You were too involved, something had to be done immediately, without raising any suspicions. We did it."

Lucy eventually said what they were all thinking. "What now though?"

Susan sighed. "Exactly. How long will that potion last for, did Mr Tumnus say?"

"It depends." Edmund shrugged. "It all depends on the dosage. If it was too weak, not long, but if it was too strong…" He shook his head. "A day at the most."

"That doesn't give us much time," Susan remarked. "We need to make a decision now about what we're going to do." It was unusual for her to take charge, but she seemed to be the only one with the strength left to do it. She looked round at them. "Does anyone have any suggestions?"

There was silence for a long time, before anyone spoke.

"Kill her," Peter said finally, and very forcefully. All the others looked up from their own thoughts in shock. He immediately looked awkward. "Well what else can we do? She's going to wake up again, and we can't remove whatever spell it is that she's under… she'll be just as dangerous when she wakes up as she was before. What choice do we have?"

"We can't kill her," Edmund said in clipped tones.

"Ed, I know she's our friend," Susan said diplomatically. "And she is… was… a nice girl. But think about this for a minute. She's not Emma anymore, she let herself be taken over. I agree with Peter, she put us and Narnia in danger." She waited for her younger brother's response.

He looked up from the table, and to everyone's horror he had tears in his eyes. "I put Narnia in danger, remember? Do you think I should have been killed then?"

"Oh Ed, that's different!" Lucy protested.

"How is that different?" Edmund demanded. "I let myself be bewitched, though I assure you, Susan, there's no voluntary action on the bewitched's part. I suppose you think then, Peter, that I should have been killed by the White Witch after all. That Aslan was wrong for ever saving me."

"Edmund you know I don't!" Peter insisted.

"Then why can't you give Emma some support here?" Edmund stood up, impassioned and tearful. "She's just the same as I was, don't you see that? We can't just kill her!"

"Then what do we do?" Peter asked.

"We wait," Edmund said quietly. "What other choice do we have?"