Chapter Thirty-Nine: Edmund

Edmund perched on the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees as he sat between his two sisters. His head was bent and he stared at the floor, waiting for midnight, for Jadis to strike him down from beyond the grave again. His tunic lay folded on a chair, leaving him half naked and exposed. He was as thin as he was frail. On the table beside the bed was a bowl of steaming water and a pile of towels in anticipation of double wounds. The horror of anticipation, of preparing to be stabbed, of being helpless before such evil, struck me again, as did the fortitude of my three siblings as they sat alone.

I wanted to weep in my dream. He was still alive. Lucy was still alive. If my nightmare about the storm had been as real as it seemed, then Aslan had reached them in time. The trio remained silent, both sisters holding their brother's hands. Time passed and Edmund tensed, waiting.

And waiting.

And...

He looked up, a frown creasing his face.

"Isn't it midnight?" he asked in a whisper.

The girls were equally confused. I watched them exchange odd looks, then Edmund stood. "Silvo! What time is it?"

The Faun hurried in. "'Tis . . . a full five minutes past midnight, King Edmund."

"You're certain?"

"Yes, Majesty."

Edmund stared at him. For a moment he stood there with an expression of absolute wonder on his face. He turned to Susan and Lucy. I could see him trembling as he touched the scar on his chest. The girls reached across to each other, holding hands, their faces alight with the same awe.

"He's back," breathed Edmund. "Susan! Lucy! Peter's back! He's back! He's brought the apple! He's home!"

Lucy squealed and leaped into his arms. Susan gave a shout and embraced them both. Edmund, fighting a smile and looking as triumphant as he had at Beruna, as the day I knighted him, let out a shout.

"Martil! Martil!"

"Sire?" the Faun valets were close to a state of mild panic, their typical reaction to anything outside of their normal routine.

"Pack me some clothes. Get word to the stables," he ordered, eyes blazing, "and have my horses saddled and ready. I'm setting out immediately. Alert the Royal Guard and have Bats sent to bring word to Aslan!"

The valets were positively scandalized. "King Edmund, it's midnight!" Silvo finally wailed.

"I know," he finally smiled, that smart, knowing smirk I loved so well, "and I'm going to join my brother."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

I don't know how long I slept, but I was told it was several days. I remembered Aslan sitting with me and Oreius, as well as a flustered Dwarf healer getting me to drink some truly awful-tasting concoctions. My sense of time was gone, swallowed up in a haze of pain and fever.

I awoke in my hammock in my pavilion with a very large, fuzzy, black Bat hanging upside down over my head, peering at me and rustling his wings impatiently. I stared up at him speechlessly, wondering what on earth he was doing in my tent and how I had ended up here myself.

"King Peter?"

His voice seemed to penetrate my ears, proof positive that he was no fever dream. Bats have voices that are best described as intensely high-pitched and it made my head ache. I liked them more when they just carried their messages.

"Yes?" I mumbled.

"I bring word from your brother."

Few other things could have excited me enough to try to sit up. I say try. I got nowhere with my efforts. My voice was hoarse and my throat was sore as I asked, "What word, good Bat?"

"King Edmund sends his greetings and his love and a single command."

I waited, but the courier said nothing and I finally wondered, "That being?"

"Eat."

I blinked. How very Edmund of Edmund.

"Your royal brother has vowed to eat and drink only as much as you. He said that unless you want him to starve right along with you, you will eat. He will be here on the morrow."

That was all. The Bat bowed from where he hung off one of the tent ropes (curling upwards, which for him was bending over) and launched himself through a narrow slit where the entrance flaps were parted. I was glad he hadn't offered me any bugs, which many of the Bats at Cair Paravel were prone to do as a sign of hospitality, for Bats are remarkably polite Animals. And no, I won't say if I ever refused that hospitality or not.

I leaned back into the pillows. Eat. Typical Edmund. I could read so much into what hadn't been said. He was better, much better.

And I knew I was much, much worse if couriers had already reached Cair Paravel and back. I sighed. It really wasn't fair of me not to try, not after coming so far. I had made Edmund promise not to give up. Fine example I'd set if I couldn't do the same.

He'd be here tomorrow. I was so very glad as I drifted off to sleep again.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

I don't know how much time passed before I awoke again, but it was to the sound of Dogs barking and talking and calling out greetings. Lots of Dogs, and of many sizes, too, judging by the range of their voices. I listened in confusion, wondering what all the noise was about, when a familiar, dear, and welcome voice rang out.

"Will you be quiet?" shouted Edmund at the yapping canines. Immediately there was silence save for a whimper or two.

"Majesty," said and aghast voice, "you'll waken your brother!"

"He's awake!" insisted Edmund, and I could practically feel the electricity in the air as he must have been glaring at the Dogs. "Not even Peter could sleep through that racket you've been making since we left Beruna and I command you stop following me every time I go for a ride!"

I dropped my pounding head back into the pillows with a quiet laugh that hurt my ribs. The Dogs! The Dogs Phillip had set to follow Marsk and Jett. It seems as if their ranks had swelled and Edmund was at the end of his tolerance. I was so happy to hear him that I didn't care how cross he was.

"Ho! Felern!" he now hollered for the Dwarf healer. "How fares my brother?" I couldn't hear the answer, but I knew Edmund deliberately made sure I heard him. "What? I think not! Fetch twice however much food you want in him right now and I will take care of it."

A moment later he threw open the tent flaps and strode into the pavilion we always shared with a blast of cold air. He was shadowed by the wane winter sunlight pouring in behind him, but I though he was quite the most wonderful thing I had seen since Aslan, scowl and all. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me.

He was a little taller and far thinner than when I'd last seen him. His face was pale from stress and there were dark shadows under his eyes. Still, there was that usual smoldering fire within him and I knew his anxiety over the curse had shifted fully to frantic worry over his idiotic older brother that couldn't bring himself to eat.

For a long moment he just stared at me, taking in my deplorable condition and the health I had so blithely destroyed for his sake. I couldn't bear it any longer and I smiled, and that one gesture completely undid Edmund. He rushed to my side and snatched me up in a powerful hug, wary of my broken arm. I leaned heavily against him, the cold wintry air still clinging to his cloak and cooling my fever. A small sound escaped him, a gasping wail of love and happiness and grief. I tried to return the hold with indifferent success, and the effort exhausted me. I felt trembling, but I wasn't sure which of us it was. Both, perhaps.

"Peter," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "Oh, Peter."

That was all, but it was all that I needed. His presence was enough to restore me. Now I knew the quest had been successful because he came here without Lucy. All he did was hold me, his head bent close to mine, foregoing anything as unnecessary as words. We stayed like that a long time, until the tent flaps parted again and Felern entered with a tray of steaming food. Edmund reluctantly drew away, holding me at arms' length to get a good look at me. He frowned and I thought it was because of the amount of weight I had lost, but then his expression turned to one of disgust and I realized he had noticed my hair was tied back.

"You need a haircut. Leave the long hair to Susan."

I smiled. "It's the very first thing I plan on doing once we get home," I promised.

"Good." He turned to the harassed Dwarf healer and pulled a small table over to my bedside. "Set it here, please. Thank you." He gave me a steely look as Felern left us. "Breakfast, Peter."

"What time is it?"

"It doesn't matter. You haven't eaten yet today, so it's breakfast. Are you going to eat it or am I going to feed it to you?"

"I'm not hungry, Ed," I said with a sigh. He rolled his eyes.

"You? Peter Michael George Pevensie, not hungry? I'd sooner believe you don't feel like breathing, brother. Your problem is it's been so long since you had a decent meal your body's forgotten how to ask for one. I meant what I said by courier. I haven't eaten today either and I'm hungry. I suggest you start now, because if you think I'm being a pest, wait until Susan gets here! If she ever finished packing," he added under his breath.

He had an excellent point. I sighed again and he handed me a bowl of thick soup. I ate slowly with my left hand and he matched me mouthful for mouthful. There was bread with it such as I had longed for, and he forced a thick slice on me. It was delicious, soft and fragrant and buttery. I was surprised when I finished all the soup, but he smiled at me, pleased, and took the bowl away.

"Do you want to sleep?" he asked.

I nodded wearily and he helped me to get comfortable. "I have to go see Aslan," he told me as he smoothed the covers. "I came right to you. Then I have to check on Phillip. Oreius said he was a wise choice."

"He was," I whispered. "Very wise. He saved my life."

Edmund smiled a rare, unguarded smile of absolute satisfaction. "I'll be back later," he promised as I drifted off.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

I awoke to darkness and a cool hand on my cheek. Everything was burning and sweaty and I turned into the cool hand desperately.

"It's all right, Peter," said Edmund. "Your fever just came back."

With a vengeance, I heard his tone convey.

"Sit up. I need you to drink this tea."

I did my best to obey and managed to sit up partially. He held a cup of tea to my lips and the first mouthful made me gag it tasted so foul.

"I know," he soothed as I pulled a variety of faces. "It's awful stuff. That's how you can tell it will work. Drink it, Peter. I won't go away until you finish it."

Such a pest. To shut him up I drank the whole mess, choking it down. By the time I laid back down I was chilled and shivering. He wiped the sweat off my face with a damp cloth, then carefully elevated my broken arm again by placing it on a pillow.

"Send for Bathelstane," I heard him order. When I opened my eyes minutes later, he held is arm up as if for a hawk, only now a Bat hung down under his forearm as he gave it a message. "Tell my sisters the queens to move as quickly as possible. Peter needs Lucy's cordial. Hurry!"

The Bat bowed and flew off. Edmund turned and was surprised to see me awake.

"That bad am I?" I rasped.

"As a matter of fact, yes," he answered. "Only you would get dehydrated with a whole river full of water right next to you." He smiled and sat next to me. "The tree has an apple on it."

Tree? It had grown already? It had flowered already? I don't know what I expected to happen when I planted the apple, but I certainly didn't expect such swift results. But then, Aslan had breathed upon it. Perhaps that stirred the life within the apple. After all, he had brought stone back to life the same way.

"Good," I rasped.

He was serious now. "I want you to eat it."

"What? No!"

He held up his hand. "It can restore you. Aslan said the apples have healing powers. I can wait."

"So can I," I replied as sternly as I could manage. "Ed, that's for you and no one else. Who knows when it will bloom again? The cordial can restore me, but nothing but the apple can remove Jadis' blood from your system. You eat it."

We stared at each other, both of us stubborn beyond measure, but I had the advantage of having been responsible for him far longer than he had felt any responsibility towards me. I won our silent battle. Edmund glowered, but moved from the folding stool to my hammock.

"You're an idiot," he whispered, and kissed my temple.

"Lucky for you," I replied, then curled up around him and went back to sleep.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

I awoke feeling a thousand times better. The pain was gone from my arm, every ache had been banished, and I was so hungry I was positively ravenous. I had no notion of the hour, the past few days having been little better than a blur. I sat up. The splint had been removed and I flexed my arm experimentally. I had been completely healed. Every bruise and cut and crack and scrape had been erased. My head wasn't pounding, my back and legs no longer cramped and ached. That could only mean the girls had arrived last night and Lucy had administered her marvelous cordial. I grinned into the darkness, anxious to see them. Edmund was in his own bed, soundly sleeping, and I rose and tucked the blankets around him again. I dressed in several layers of clothes and Edmund's cape since I couldn't locate another one and stepped outside.

It was just before dawn, frost glistening off every surface. Now that I was safe and secure I could appreciate its beauty, not look at the ice with apprehension. Back in Narnia, Nature was no longer my enemy.

I turned as footsteps approached. Oreius came around the corner of the pavilion and stopped, staring at me with open satisfaction and pride. I smiled and hurried over to greet him.

"Majesty," he said, bowing in the Centaur fashion. He barely straightened before I threw my arms around his middle in a firm hug that surprised and pleased him even as he grunted at the impact. He returned the hug, then held me at arms' length, his eyes aglow with relief and delight as he studied me keenly. "You look better. Far, far better!"

I snorted and laughed. "I don't look dead and delirious, you mean!" I displayed my newly healed arm. "The girls are here?"

"Your sisters the queens arrived late last night."

I nodded, still gazing up at him. "Oreius?"

"Yes, King Peter?"

Covering his big hand with my own, I said, "Thank you. Thank you for everything. You saved me and you kept Narnia safe. I cannot thank you enough."

"To see you safely home and to see your brother restored is thanks enough, good king. From what Phillip says your training stood you in good stead."

"You would have been proud most of the time."

"Most?" he teased seriously, frowning, and I laughed.

"PETER!"

Lucy. Her ecstatic shout probably roused the whole camp. I whirled as she ran across from her tent and she threw herself at me with so much force I would have tumbled over but for Oreius catching us. I laughed and cried and crushed her to me. A moment later Susan, still in her sleeping gown and slippers with a cloak hastily thrown over her shoulders piled on with an ecstatic shout, hugging me tightly. I never wanted to let them go. Both girls were talking and tears streaked their faces and I thought they were the loveliest things I had ever seen.

I heard a growl behind me. Turning, I saw Edmund standing under the canopy of our tent, wrapped in a blanket and looking cross and mussed. He was quite possibly the furthest thing from smiles and sunshine in the mornings. He didn't just wake up badly, he woke up positively murderous most of the time. And I shared a room with him on purpose. What did that say about me?

"The sun's not even up!" he complained. "Why are you? Why am I?" he added, more to himself than to us.

Susan's eyes grew wide and Lucy's mouth dropped open in a perfect 'O.' Clearly it had been a long while since Edmund's true morning colors had come shining through

The rest of us exchanged wide grins and without a word we all rushed over and tackled him.