Disclaimer – I own nothing.
AN – Hello Narnian fandom. I have always loved this series, it was part of my childhood. First with the BBC series, then with the new Disney movies and then with the books. I know, I did it backwards but I was kinda too young to read them at that point, but I did eventually read them. My favourite has always been The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, especially the relationship between Peter and Edmund and I always wanted to write a fanfic about it and now that I have fanfiction, I decided I would. Story title was kind of inspired by this song that I've had stuck in my head, Meet Me on the Battlefield by Svrcina. There's a line in that song that goes 'I will be your sword and shield' and it made me think of the relationship between Peter and Edmund because they both defend each other and fight for each other. Hope you all like it!
Enjoy!
Peter tried to resist the urge to look around Aslan's camp again since it had only been about five minutes since the last time he did, but he couldn't help it. It had felt like days, though it was actually about two hours, since Oreius, the centaur and Aslan's general, and other soldiers went to rescue Edmund and there was still no sign of them. How far away was the Witch? Would the wolf actually head to her? What if the Witch killed them or turned them to stone before they could rescue Edmund? What if she had already killed his little brother?
"Peter?" The oldest Pevensie turned around to look at Lucy, and found not only her staring at him, but Susan as well. They had finishing eating their dinner a while ago but were still sitting at the table talking. Well, Susan and Lucy had been talking. Peter had tuned out of the conversation not long after they were done as he started getting more and more worried about Edmund than he already was.
"Yes Lu?" Peter asked, turning his body to completely face her.
"They will rescue Edmund, won't they?" Lucy wondered, sounding as terrified as Peter felt. Glancing at Susan over top of his youngest sister's head, he saw the same fear in her eyes though it was more hidden.
"Of course they will. He'll be here with us again before you know it." Peter assured her with a large smile as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Then, he looked up and realized that the sun had already set. He stood up and said, "Come on, it's high time we were all in bed."
He held out his hand and helped Lucy up to her feet. Susan also got up and they started making their way to the tents that had been set aside for them. He wished his sisters a good night and watched them go into their own tent before he entered his. For a tent, it was very comfortable. There were several blankets and pillows in a pile on the ground for him to use on his hammock, there was a small table with a bowl and a pitcher of water and towels. There were a few candles for him to use if needed and a change of clothes but he didn't really care about that. He was too focused on the second hammock on the other side of the tent.
Ever since Peter realized that Edmund left and learned that he betrayed them, the fear of never seeing his little brother, of never making things right between them, threatened to overwhelm him. Now, seeing the empty hammock made it worse. He wanted to stay up and wait for the rescue party to return, but as he settled himself on his own hammock, the exhaustion from walking miles to the Stone Table finally forced him to close his eyes and fall asleep.
NARNIA
Edmund instinctively turned his head away as the Witch's dwarf, Ginarrbrik, pressed the edge of his dagger against his neck. He could feel it digging into his skin but it hadn't cut him, yet. Despite knowing his death was coming, having realized it around the same time he realized the Witch had sent her wolves to kill Peter, Susan, and Lucy and revealed her true colours, he was terrified. His heart was pounding in his chest and he was struggling to breathe, especially with the gag so tight. And it didn't help that the dwarf seemed to be enjoying tormenting him and was dragging this out a lot longer than Edmund would have liked. If he was going to die, he'd prefer it be quick.
Suddenly, the ground seemed to shake under him. At first, he thought it was just him, reacting to the fear of getting his throat slashed open, but then he felt the edge of the dagger start to pull away from his neck. Then, the dwarf pulled away from him completely, allowing him to turn his head and see what was going on. What he saw both confused him and filled him with a sense of hope.
There was a strange creature in front of him, it was half man and half a horse, a centaur. The lower part of his body was that of a black or dark brown horse but from the waist up, he was a man wearing red and silver armour and was pointing a sword right into Ginarrbrik's face. The dwarf dropped the dagger but made no other movement. That was all Edmund could see before his attention was drawn to a faun that had come up to him on his other side with a dagger of his own. Without a word, he quickly cut through the ropes tying him to the trunk of the tree, grabbed his arm, and pulled him to his feet away from the dwarf and centaur.
"It's alright Son of Adam. We are with Aslan. We are here to take you to him and your family." The faun said with a calm and soothing voice as he cut the ropes still binding Edmund's wrists before taking off the gag, allowing him to finally breathe properly. The faun then told him, "We need to go."
Taking a hold on his arm, though much more gently than he had earlier, the faun turned him around and led him to the centaur who was already walking towards them. The centaur then lowered himself a little and the faun put his hands under Edmund's arms and with strength that the human didn't realize the faun had, he lifted him up and placed him on the centaur's back.
"Hold on tight Son of Adam." The centaur ordered him, and Edmund immediately wrapped his arms around the creature's waist as tight as he could as the centaur took off galloping in the direction he had come from.
The ride was extremely uncomfortable. After walking for miles with his hands tied behind his back and getting whipped on the back of his legs, then getting tied to a tree and being stuck there unable to move had made every muscle in his body ache and throb. Moving around made it worse, and all the armour the centaur was wearing didn't help either. Right now though, it was his stomach that making the whole thing horrible. He hadn't eaten anything since he was at the Beavers'. He was sure it was empty by now, but he still felt like he was about throw up. He hoped that they were close to their destination, just so everything could stop moving and he could actually process what was happening. And it was all of that that was keeping Edmund from falling asleep. He was so exhausted.
"Oreius, he isn't looking well." Edmund heard the faun that cut him free say through his panting as he ran alongside them. Within seconds of that, the centaur slowed to a stop and the faun helped him down to the ground, keeping him steady when he almost lost his balance. Now that everything had stopped moving, he could finally try to figure out what was going on.
Edmund could see that along with the centaur and the faun, there was another faun, two other creatures but he had no idea what they were, and a large cat of some kind. He couldn't see it very well in the dark. He tried to focus on them, to figure out who or what they were, they were his rescuers and deserved that much, but he didn't know. Lucy was the one who read all the fantasy books, not him. All he could tell for sure, was that except for the cat, they were all wearing armour.
"We can't stay for long. The Witch might have sent someone after us." The centaur, Oreius, told them.
"Here Son of Adam, drink some wine, it will settle your nerves." The faun who had helped him said as he offered Edmund a flask.
"Thank you." Edmund replied with a shaky voice as he took it. Normally he would've raised his eyebrows at the offer of wine, he was only ten, but he was so hungry and thirsty that he didn't care. He took a few sips of the wine before he couldn't take the taste anymore and he handed it back.
"Come along, we need to keep moving." Oreius said when he saw the exchange. Edmund started making his way back to the centaur when his legs finally became unable to hold him up. He started falling to the ground but before he hit it, a pair of strong arms caught him.
"Is he alright?" Edmund heard a voice he didn't recognize ask while another different voice asked, "Is he hurt?"
That was the last thing he heard before everything turned black and he finally passed out.
NARNIA
The feeling of something cold and wet yanked Edmund back to awareness. He opened his eyes and found a woman covered in leaves leaning over him. With a gasp, he tried to sit up and get away, but she put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down whispering, "It's alright Son of Adam. You're safe. You are in Aslan's camp."
At the mention of Aslan, Edmund relaxed enough to lie back down but he still watched the woman warily. She then brought up her hand which was holding a small cloth and began to press it against his split lip. It was wet and cold, that must've been what woke him up. He waited until she seemed to be finished cleaning the small cut before he asked, "Where's my brother, and sisters."
"They are still asleep. The sun hasn't risen yet. You were brought in only half an hour ago." The woman told him as she put the cloth down and handed him a cup. Edmund pushed himself up into a sitting position, this time with the woman's help, and took the cup of what appeared to be water and downed it in two gulps. He was so thirsty, and hungry.
"Thanks." Edmund said as he handed the now empty cup back to the lady. It was then he noticed his arms.
The sleeves of his shirt had been rolled up to his elbows and there were white bandages around his wrists. With the sleeves pulled up, he could now see the small bruises and scrapes that he had gotten from constantly slipping and falling on the ground. It made him wonder how many other scrapes, cuts, and bruises he had. He imagined there was a lot. It made him feel worse than he already did.
The sound of fabric rustling and hooves hitting the ground drew Edmund's attention the tent's 'door' and he saw the centaur from earlier, Oreius, enter the shelter.
"It's good to see you awake Son of Adam." Oreius said when he saw that Edmund was up. Without waiting for a response, he added, "Aslan wants to see you."
A feeling of dread and fear began to make its way through Edmund's body upon hearing that. Aslan, the King of Narnia, the Lion, one of the many people he betrayed, wanted to talk to him. This wouldn't end well. But, he wasn't about to disobey an order from Aslan. That would just make things worse, if that was at all possible. So he pushed himself up to his feet, his legs shaking slightly under him, and followed the centaur out of the tent.
The first thing he saw, was the Lion standing just a few feet away, clearly waiting for him. Edmund had never seen a lion before, but it was bigger than he thought lions were. It was big enough that he was sure he could ride on him, not that he'd dare try something like that. He might get eaten or something. Slowly, he looked up and into the Lion's eyes and immediately lowered his head. He felt like the Lion's gaze was going right through him, that he could see every thought, every emotion, every action he had done in his entire life and it terrified him.
"Welcome Edmund, Son of Adam." Aslan's soft yet powerful voice said. Edmund didn't say or do anything. What did one do when there was a king who also happened to be a lion talking to you?
"There is no need to be frightened, Edmund. You are safe here." Aslan assured him. He sounded so sincere that Edmund hesitantly lifted his head again.
Aslan's eyes were warm and filled with reassurance, compassion, and if he didn't know any better, he'd say there was love in there too. But that couldn't be right. Why would Aslan love him, someone he didn't even know and who had betrayed him? It made the guilt he felt deep in his stomach worse.
"Come, walk with me." Aslan told him and started walking away from the tent. Edmund looked over at Oreius, silently asking if it was safe and okay for him to go. Oreius gave him a single nod and Edmund quickly caught up to the Lion then slowed his stride to walk beside him, towards a hill and away from all the other tents.
AN – I'm ending this chapter here because I actually like the fact that no one knows, not even C.S. Lewis knew, what was said between Aslan and Edmund. Some things should just be private. Next chapter will be about Edmund reuniting with his siblings. Hopefully I will have it done soon. Hope you guys liked this chapter!