*WARNING*- This chapter contains the spanking of a minor. Don't like, don't read. You have been warned and I will not apologize for my work or its content.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Pevensie children, Narnia, or anything else affiliated with them, just the plot!


Edmund trudged down the steps upon hearing the dinner bell ring. His stomach was in his throat. He knew he had to join his siblings at the table, however, he did not want to see Peter. The sooner he saw Peter was the sooner that he would have to face up to whatever horrid consequences Peter had dreamt up for him, and he didn't care if he ever found out what those were.

All too quickly, he reached the dining room. Heart pounding, he peeked around the corner. Lucy made eye contact with him at once and he bit his cheek for the announcement of his presence that was sure to come. But Lucy didn't say anything. She just gave him a little smile and a wave.

Peter was sitting across from Lucy, who was facing the doorway. He turned when he saw her looking past him. "Ed," he spoke evenly, motioning his brother over. "Evening. Come sit." Edmund searched his face and his voice for any sort of foreboding. Unable to find any, he cautiously took his place at the table. The meal was simple: a couple of roasted chickens, roasted vegetables, and a loaf of bread. The food, which normally would have looked wondrous to Edmund, considering the very little he had been able to stomach in the last 24 hours, only turned his stomach even more.

Peter gave thanks for the food and the siblings all took a sip of water before making their plates. Edmund forced himself to take a little of everything, even though he had no idea how he was going to swallow a single bite. He could not look at his siblings. He instead studied the tablecloth and acted as though his plate of food were the most interesting thing he had ever laid his eyes upon.

The table was quiet. Peter and Lucy occasionally broke the silence with small talk and quips back and forth. Susan responded here and there when spoken to, but for the most part it seemed that no one really wanted to say much.

"Edmund, eat your food," Susan chided quietly at one point. "Don't let it go to waste." Edmund's eyes shot up to meet hers at the address and he ducked his head back down again upon seeing Peter's eyes on him as well. He stabbed a piece of a carrot and jammed it in his mouth, forcing himself to chew.

Peter was not unaware of the tension at the table. He knew that Edmund had to be uncomfortable, and truth be told, he didn't really mind all that much that he was. That was until Susan spoke to him and Peter saw the look on Edmund's face when he glanced up at her momentarily. Fear. Peter knew that he would probably feel rather if he were Edmund; there was no denying that the boy had had a rough go of it in the last couple days, his own fault or not...but there was something more there. His expression screamed, don't see me. It screamed, I'm afraid if you see me, you'll remember how much you hate me. Peter felt a pang in his chest upon the realization. Watching his brother almost gag upon swallowing, Peter made a decision. "Edmund."

He seemed to nearly gasp as his head shot up a second time and the two locked eyes. Peter gave a slight jerk with his head towards the door and rose. After a second to process, Edmund did the same and began to walk towards Peter. The elder placed a steady hand on his brother's back as they left the dining room.

They rounded the corner out of sight of the girls. Here, there was a leather bench up against the wall. Peter sat, motioning for Edmund to do the same. He turned to face him, placing a hand on his arm. "Edmund," his brow furrowed in concern. "I'm not very happy with you right now, as I'm sure you've gathered...but I still love you." Peter watched as Edmund blinked a few times, his lips working as he fought to remain in control of himself, absorbing Peter's words. He swallowed hard and drew a quick breath in and out. Peter continued. "Mate...you've made some rather...dissatisfactory," he chose the word carefully, "choices over the last few days, and I plan to address every one of them." Edmund bit his tongue, his fingernail digging hard into the back of his hand. "That being said…you don't need to hide, Edmund," and Peter's expression grew softer as he watched Edmund's eyes instantly fill with tears. "You were practically trying to melt away at the table. I'm not that angry at you."

"Aren't you?" Tears slipped down Edmund's face as he uttered the question.

"Not nearly," and his hand covered Edmund's smaller one, preventing his fingers from doing any more damage to the back of the opposite hand. "Hey," he searched his little brother's face. "You're safe, Ed." A small sob escaped the boy's lips, despite his very desperate attempt to conceal it. "I'm going to punish you, that much you can be sure of. Tomorrow will not be a very pleasant day for you," he gave a bit of a wry cough of laughter, "but you are safe. I would never hurt you. I would never allow anyone else to hurt you. And...we..." he stopped, unsure exactly of how to word what he wanted to say. Edmund ran the back of his sleeve across his eyes and under his nose as he waited for Peter to continue. "I..." Peter leaned down a little to look Edmund in the eyes. "I'd never...I'm not going to throw you away. You can't…oh, Ed, come here."

Edmund had bowed his head and his shoulders began to shake in response to Peter's last sentence, and Peter pulled him close, turning to wrap him up in a hug. He placed a hand behind his head, guiding it down into his shoulder. "Shhhh." Peter hushed him. "There's nothing you could ever do and no amount of horrid attitude or behaviour or choices that would ever make me want to get rid of you, Edmund," he murmured into the tussled mess of dark hair. He spoke slowly and firmly, needing Edmund to hear and absorb what he was saying. "Nothing, you hear? Do you hear me?" He repeated, waiting for a nod. "Good," he replied when he received one. He held onto him for a few moments, quietly, a little unsure of how to continue. "I stand by my reasons for not wanting you along on the trip, Ed. But...that doesn't correlate to not wanting you at all. Love, you're my only brother." He gave a little huff. "Just because you do things that make me angry with you-things that sometimes require me to punish you before we resolve them-that doesn't mean that someday I'm going to just decide I've gotten sick of it-or you-and want to get rid of you. Never, Ed," and he forced him back to look at his face. "Never," he repeated. "Nothing you do, no matter how rebellious or ridiculous or disobedient, could ever make me not want you or not love you. Nothing, Edmund. You understand?" His little brother gave him a very small nod. Then he sobbed, and for once in his life, Peter did not demand that he answer him with words. He simply guided him back against his shoulder and his chin dropped to rest on Edmund's head, and together they sat, each lost to their own thoughts, but each feeling perhaps just a little bit better.


Peter put Lucy to bed that night and turned to head back downstairs. Edmund was walking up the stairs towards him, yawning as he climbed. The boys, once collected, had gone back into the dining room and quickly finished their supper. Susan, upon seeing Edmund's puffy red face, had risen from the table and gone over to where he sat, wrapping her arms around him from behind and kissing his cheek before returning her empty plate to the kitchen.

"Turning in?" Peter asked. Edmund nodded. Peter reached for him, pulling him into a little side-hug and kissing his forehead. "Get some rest. Goodnight, mate."

"'Night, Pete," Edmund replied quietly, disappearing into his bedchamber.

Peter turned to walk downstairs, but stopped when he heard Lucy's door open. He spun around to see her peeking out from behind it. "Lu? What is it?" He reached her quickly, picked her up, and carried her back to bed, settling them both in the middle of it, him leaning against the frame, Lucy in his lap. "What?" he asked her again.

"I did something bad," she whispered.

"Oh?"

"Well…you already know."

"Is that so?" Peter inquired patiently.

"I…I'm feeling really bad about it, Peter…" and she ducked her head into his shoulder so fast that the force of it made him wince.

"Well, perhaps you could enlighten me as to what this very bad thing is that you have done, so I can provide some sort of counsel," he replied, glad that it was dark so that she was unable to see the tiniest bit of an amused smirk on his face.

"I didn't tell Susan…or you…that Edmund ran away," she confessed softly, pressing her head harder into his neck. "I made things harder for everyone. I should've woken you up."

"Yes," Peter sighed, "you should have, but it's not all your fault, Lucy. Edmund is good at twisting things around to get what he wants. I don't blame you for being unsure."

"But I knew it was wrong," she said miserably. "I…I sort of lied to Susan about that. I knew that I should tell you. I didn't want to get in trouble for…for eating biscuits. Oh, it sounds so stupid now!" She sighed hard. "I…a little bit…kind of…blamed me not telling you about Edmund on you saying that I shouldn't tattle." Peter raised an eyebrow.

"But I thought we've been very clear with you on the difference between tattling and actually telling someone because someone else is in danger."

"You have," she admitted. "I just wanted Edmund to be in trouble and not me. I'm sorry, Peter."

"So you knew the whole time that you should say something? There was never a doubt in your mind that one of us needed to know? And you chose not to?" He felt her nod. "Because why not again? Because you thought there might be a chance of you getting in trouble for…for eating sweets?" She nodded again. "Lucy, tell me that you understand the large difference between eating sweets and leaving the castle without telling a single soul where you're going."

"I do. And…I did. I just didn't want to get in any trouble."

"Hmmm. Well. I am proud of you for telling me, though I'm not sure that half-past-9 in the evening was quite the best time to do that. And now," he sat her up, "the question is: what do you presume we do about that?"

"I should get a spanking," she whimpered. "I've been thinking about it a fair bit and…and I really really don't want to…and I'm really sorry, Peter, and maybe I don't really need one because I did tell you and I do feel awful enough about it-"

"I think you should get a spanking too, Lucy." She whined a bit at his statement but fell silent as he continued. "You did the right thing in telling me and I'm very proud of you for that, so I'm only going to use my hand. But lying means a spanking, Lu. Every time. You know that."

"I know," she said quietly.

"Stand up," he lifted her gently off of his lap.

"Wait, but…right now?" She squeaked.

"Yes, right now. I don't see a reason to put it off." Peter turned on a light.

"But…it's late!" Peter gave her a look.

"That's rich coming from you. Little Miss 'Can I Stay Up Just A Little Later Tonight?'. I promise I won't keep you from your bed for long," Peter assured her as he returned and sat down. Before she could protest, he was lifting her up and over his lap, pulling up the back of her nightgown and tugging down her panties. "Family comes first before anything else, Lucy; it doesn't matter if it's biscuits or something much larger. I'm-" he stopped before the word disappointed, knowing the effect it would have on her if he used it. "It makes me sad," he continued, "that you would choose to only think about what you want instead of what could help your brother, and that you would stoop to lying in order to preserve it. It's not your fault Edmund snuck out," he made sure to clarify. "But it's wrong to be selfish and not prioritize the good and in this case, safety, of others. And it is always wrong to tell a lie or stretch the truth; you know that. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Lucy squeezed her eyes shut.

"Good girl. Hand," Peter reached down and grasped Lucy's right hand, half for comfort and half because he knew she would try to reach back and he didn't want to smack her fingers. "Here we are."

The spanking was fast. Peter aimed for speed so that the sting would build up quickly instead of prolonging it. Much as he was amused by Lucy's attempt to finagle her way out by leveraging bedtime as an excuse, he did want her in bed at a decent time and didn't want her worked up directly before trying to put her back to bed a second time. He concentrated on three or four specific areas over and over again, then moved down to slap her thighs. Lucy, who had begun to cry immediately after the spanking began, bawled and drummed her little feet against the bed, twisting to try to avoid the burning swats. "Oweeeeeeeee!" She wailed. And then as quickly as it had started, it was over, and Peter was pulling her panties back up and smoothing her nightgown down.

Lucy hopped up, sobbing and stamping her feet a bit, hands flying back to soothe the biting sting. Then she was flying into Peter's arms, and he rocked her and hushed her and kissed her over and over again until she was quiet and had calmed down to mere sniffles. "Sorry," she whispered.

"You are completely forgiven, Lu," Peter kissed her head. "All's well. And again, I'm very proud of you for being brave enough to tell me that." Lucy yawned. "Now. Bedtime?" She nodded.

Peter slipped her underneath her sheets and tucked her in snugly, planting another kiss on her forehead before turning off her light. "I love you, Lucy," he bent down to whisper, "and I will always love you, no matter what."

"I'll always love you no matter what too," she replied sleepily, and Peter smiled.

"Goodnight, darling."

"G'nigh'," she blearily replied. Peter shut the door behind him with a click and made towards his chamber, suddenly feeling completely exhausted himself.


To be continued!

A/N: The whole bit with Lucy was unexpected as well (as I said before, sometimes these characters just write themselves!) but I think it works. I'm glad it resolves Lucy's guilt over the whole blasted biscuit matter lol. Poor girl may not be able to bring herself to touch another one for quite some time!

As always, please review and dm anytime! -Cas xx