TW: Mentions/depictions of anxiety/panic attacks.
I don't own Narnia or the Pevensie siblings, just the plot!
Edmund plodded along beside Peter, feeling drained. Peter's arm remained tightly around Edmund's shoulders as they walked, a mute attempt to soothe his little brother.
They made their way along the cliff and down the wide stone path until they reached their sisters (along with 8 guards, 4 on horseback) at the large granite gate that opened to lead to the beach. Both of the girls held a massive picnic basket in arm, and the horses were also loaded with food and supplies. Seeing Peter coming, Lucy dropped her basket and skipped over to him, reaching up and jumping into his arms. He laughed, letting go of Edmund and slinging Lucy over his shoulder, holding her with one arm like a sack of potatoes. Both of his sisters were wearing blouses, loose trousers, and boots; a rarity, as they both normally preferred their gowns (Susan more than Lucy). For hiking, however, dresses would have been quite impractical.
Susan met Edmund's eyes and gave him a small smile. It faded when her smile was not returned, and his eyes darted away. She huffed. Brat, she thought to herself.
"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Lucy interrupted her thoughts, smacking Peter on the back for emphasis. "It'll be dark soon!"
So the band set off across the beach and up the narrow dirt path into the woods. Gradually, the path tightened such that they all had to walk single file. Peter insisted upon allowing the others to go on ahead so that he could hang back to make sure they were all moving along safely. When the trail steepened as they began to scale the base of the cliff, Peter noticed his baby sister stumbling a bit, her legs growing tired from the climb. He held up his hand to the guard nearest to him, who alerted the party to stop. Peter strode towards Lucy, intending to have her mount behind a riding guard, but Edmund was ahead of him, already slinging Lucy onto his back. She gasped, aghast with laughter, and smacked him in the back of the head as he made some snide comment Peter didn't quite catch. Peter blinked, shaking his head a bit in amusement, and the band was off once more.
When they all finally reached the flat plateau at the top of the cliff, Susan let out a shout of joy, bouncing on her toes a bit before pulling Lucy off of Edmund. The girls raced to the edge of the cliff hand in hand, ignoring Peter's shouts to be careful and not to get too close. He groaned in exasperation before following, Edmund close behind. The sun shone wildly golden, reflecting off the grass and the leaves on the trees. Susan pulled off her boots and ran to retrieve her bow from the horse its satchel was secured to. Snatching it up, she sprinted back to meet her siblings, who had shed their shoes and socks, and outer layers of clothing as well.
"Pete, come here!" She called. Retrieving a wooden arrow from her quiver (her lethal arrows were stored; she saved them for combat. Her wooden arrows had a blunt tip and were used for practice and sport exclusively), she took aim. Making sure her older brother was watching, she announced, "furthest shot gets double dessert!" before launching the arrow clear into the sunset. The children squinted, then Susan and Edmund shouted in glee, Lucy's mouth fell open, and Peter let out a whistle as they watched the arrow disappear, far below them, almost out of sight.
"No way you're beating that, mate," Edmund shoved Peter playfully on the back of the head. Lucy laughed.
"Don't you just adore the amount of faith your brother and sisters have in you, Peter?"
"Oh, just completely. I'm overwhelmed with the support." He grinning and rolled his eyes, snatching the bow from Susan. "Watch and learn, tots." Susan and Lucy made eye contact, thoroughly amused. This was going to be good.
Peter took aim, freezing for a moment to admire the view. Then, he released the arrow…into the grass at his feet. The bow twanged and he hissed as his arm burned with the scrape of the string. His siblings burst into heavy peals of laughter.
"Once more," Susan gasped. "That one was practice, I presume."
"Quite," Peter grumbled. He took aim once more, this time targeting the top of a tall oak tree far in the distance. He let it go. His siblings cheered halfheartedly as it sailed a short distance and disappeared into the top of the nearest sapling.
"It was a good shot, Pete," Lucy wrapped her arms around his waist. He sighed dramatically in defeat, leaning down to press his cheek into the top of her head. She snickered. "Get it? Shot?"
"Yes, yes, you're quite the jester, sister dearest," he praised her sarcastically. Susan danced towards him.
"I believe you owe me your share in pastries," she flashed him a wide, triumphant grin. Lucy leaned up on her tiptoes to whisper in Peter's ear,
"You can have some of mine."
"And that," Peter announced loudly, "is why you," he bounced her up into his arms and bopped her on the nose, "are my favourite." Susan rolled her eyes, but Lucy cheered, clapping her hands onto his cheeks. "What say we eat before we can't see our food?" The group met at the center of the plateau, uncovering baskets of bread and various spreads, cold meat, mounds of fruit (courtesy of Lucy), piles of freshly picked nuts, and 4 or 5 different types of pastries. They gave thanks and ate until they couldn't stomach another bite. Lucy instructed the guards to distribute the uneaten food among the bases of the trees further down the cliff; many animals would hungrily and gratefully gather and eat the food they couldn't.
When they were all done eating, Peter turned to Edmund. "What say you, brother? It's been a fair while since we had a proper duel." He snatched up his sheathed sword, as well as Edmund's, from where they lay in the grass. Edmund's face began to glow with a smile, and the group began to rumble with excitement. To watch a duel between their kings this front and center was quite the privilege.
"Yes…yes, I believe it has. Would be a fair shame to allow my poor brother's skills, as well as his sword, to grow rusty. Though…ah. Though, I fear, it may already be too late. I saw you at training this morning. Poor, poor Oreius." Edmund bit his lip to keep from beaming widely. His eyes flashed, challenging. The men hissed and hooted; Susan and Lucy again made eye contact in excitement. Peter turned his head to the side, his eyebrow raised, a dangerous and signature look on his face.
"Very well, brother. Let us all hope that your swordsmanship is as sure as your tongue." He tossed Edmund's sword at him and leaped up, jogging backwards a few strides away from the rest of them. "To me!"
Edmund advanced on him, unsheathing his sword and grasping it in front of him.
"To the death! No, I'm only kidding," Peter quipped, blocking the first blow as Edmund leaped at him. The band cheered wildly as the boys dashed back and forth, swords clanging, shouting at each other, twirling and dodging and lunging. Lucy was on her feet and jumping up and down, dashing back and forth, alternating between screaming for Peter and screaming for Edmund. Susan's hands were clasped over her mouth, her eyes wide with delight and concern; she was waiting for one of their swords to sink itself into an arm or a leg. She hadn't need to worry, though, as moments later, Edmund disarmed Peter with 3 short blows, accented by a matching,
"ha! Ha! HA!" Peter's sword fell to the grass. Everyone erupted into roaring cheers, rushing towards the two boys, who stood bent over, panting. Edmund gave a tight laugh, reaching out his hand to shake Peter's. Peter reached for it…and then flipped his younger brother towards him, over his own shoulders, and onto his back. He pinned him there as he hopped up easily and strode towards the far east end of the cliff. Edmund pounded on his back, but there was no use. Peter stalked down the rocks until he reached the edge, which descended perhaps a dozen feet down into a long, deep pool of freshwater, now dark as the sun had almost set.
"Hope the win was worth it, Ed!"
"Peter, wait, wait, don't—" Edmund tried. He was drowned out by Susan and Lucy cheering in Peter's ear.
"You can think all about the glory of your win as you trudge home in soggy undershorts!" And Peter flipped Edmund off of his back. Edmund flailed as he tumbled down, down, finally landing with a loud splash in the water below. Everyone applauded. Lucy and Susan raced forward to join Peter at the edge, watching eagerly as they waited for Edmund to resurface.
But Edmund didn't resurface. And after a long, awful pause, Peter turned to look in horror at his sisters. Then, he yanked off his tunic, bolted to the cliff's edge, and dove into the water.
To be continued.