Disclaimer – Still own nothing.
AN – Sorry this took longer for me to post. I've been busy. Hope you all like it though!
Enjoy!
"Jadis, the Queen of Narnia, Empress of the Lone Islands!" Peter heard a loud voice over the grumbling of the Narnians who were with Aslan. The minute that Mr. Beaver told them that the Witch was on her way to them, he and Edmund immediately dismounted and started running towards the pavilion with Susan and Lucy. He continued running until he finally reached the crowd, immediately followed by Edmund, Lucy and Susan.
Peter didn't know what he expected the Witch to look like. He only had his imagination to go and from the wicked things he was told that she had done, and the fact that she was called the White Witch. He was expecting her to be an old hag who wore all white or something like that. She was not like that at all though, except for her white dress. She was terrifyingly beautiful. He couldn't deny that, no one could. She had blonde hair that was pulled back with icicles sticking out as though that was her crown, her skin was extremely pale, her complexion perfect and she held her head with the all the authority a queen would have. Her eyes however were cold and screamed danger to him. She looked more terrifying than the creatures that were with her.
As she was bought closer to Aslan, who stood right by the edge of the small hill that his tent was on, Peter glanced at Edmund and though he couldn't see his younger brother's face, he could tell from his stance that he was scared to death. He didn't blame him, he was scared too. He didn't know why the Witch would demand a meeting with the real ruler of Narnia, but it seemed like too much of a coincidence that she waited until Edmund was rescued before she came.
Soon, her minions lowered the black chair that she was sitting on to the ground and she stood up, showing her amazing height. Peter wasn't sure if he had ever seen someone so tall. With confidence and without fear, she walked towards Aslan, turning her head to stare straight at the dark-haired boy. Peter wanted to move to stand in front of him, not wanting the Witch who kidnapped and hurt his little brother to even look at him, but he couldn't move. He was frozen in place.
"You have a traitor in your midst, Aslan." The Witch said once she stood about ten feet away from the Lion. Immediately the entire crowd started mumbling and Peter looked over at Edmund, realizing that she was talking about his brother. Already, Edmund had bowed his head in shame and fear.
"His offense, was not against you." Aslan replied, his voice calm and soothing which helped calm Peter as well.
"Have you forgotten the laws upon which Narnia was built?" The Witch questioned, almost sounding like she was talking to a child.
"Do not cite the Deep Magic to me, Witch." Aslan growled, clearly unimpressed with her attitude before he added, "I was there when it was written."
"Then you'll remember well that every traitor belongs to me. His blood is my property." The second the words 'belongs to me' left her mouth, Peter gripped the hilt of his sword and pulled it out of its sheath.
"Try and take him then." Peter told her, pointing his sword at her as he took a few steps forward in front of his siblings, specifically Edmund. He had just got him back. If she seriously thought that he was just going to let her take him, especially after what she had done to him, she was insane.
"Do you really think that mere force will deny me my right, little king?" She told him, not at all afraid of him. Her confident and strong voice made Peter feel like a child that was just insulted. Slowly, he lowered his sword, not really sure what to do now. He did know though that there was no way she was getting his littler brother without a fight and he doubted that Aslan would allow her to actually try.
"Aslan knows that unless I have blood, as the law demands, all of Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water. That boy," The Witch turned and pointed her finger at Edmund, staring straight at him, "will die on the Stone Table, as is tradition."
Edmund shrunk in on himself with every word that left her mouth while the entire crowd started mumbling, trying to understand her words and wondering what Aslan was going to do. Peter wanted to grab Edmund and run away with him and the girls, but he knew that he couldn't do that. They wouldn't get that far and from the look on Edmund's face, he wasn't sure he'd actually come. He looked, defeated, like he already knew what was going to happen and accepted it. As though he thought he truly deserved the fate that the Witch wanted to give him.
"You dare not refuse me." The Witch then said, looking back over at Aslan as she lowered her arm. Peter also turned back to Aslan, wondering what the lion's response would be. He wouldn't really let her take Edmund, would he? Then again, Aslan had warned them that rescuing Edmund would be harder than they thought. Was this what he was talking about?
"Enough." Aslan finally spoke, causing the crowd to grow quiet again. Speaking solely to the Witch, he said, "I shall talk with you alone."
The Witch hesitated ever so slightly, then walked up the small hill and followed Aslan into his tent. For a minute, everything was quiet, but then the mumbling started again. Peter ignored it though, his entire focus on Edmund. He reached out to put his free hand on his shoulder but immediately pulled it back when Edmund flinched, just like he had that afternoon. Peter then put his sword that he still held in his right hand back in its sheath and watched the opening of the tent, waiting for Aslan and the Witch to come back out.
After a few minutes, it became clear that they would all be waiting for a while. Everyone started to sit down on the ground, including all four of the Pevensies. Lucy then reached out to comfort Edmund, but he pulled away from her as well. She looked over at Peter, silently asking what they should do, but Peter just shook his head. They couldn't comfort their brother right now, not with his life hanging in the balance the way it was.
As they continued to wait, Susan started playing with her bow string, trying to distract herself. Lucy put her head in her hand, looking extremely bored and a little tired. Edmund was grabbing the grass in the ground in front of him, pulling it out and ripping it to pieces, needing to do something to keep himself from losing his mind. Peter however did nothing. He sat still and was silent, his eyes on Edmund. The younger boy looked as though he was on the edge of a panic attack and there wasn't anything he could do about it.
When he finally was able to tear his gaze away from his brother, he saw the tent opening, finally. He got to his feet, as did everyone else when they also noticed that something was happening. The Witch walked out first, followed closely by Aslan. Like before, the evil queen stared straight at Edmund, but walked past him and the rest of the Pevensies without a word. All four of them then turned their gazes back to Aslan and found that he was also staring at Edmund. After a few seconds, the majestic lion turned to address the crowd.
"She has renounced her claim on the Son of Adam's blood." Everyone immediately began cheering when they heard Aslan's voice. Peter felt like he was going to collapse with relief and as he looked over at Edmund, he grabbed his arm, the smile on his face growing when he saw that Ed was also smiling in relief. Susan came up behind their younger brother and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close to her, also smiling but the sound of the Witch's voice had everyone turning back to face her.
"How do I know your promise will be kept?" She asked Aslan, standing right by the chair that she was sitting on when she arrived.
Aslan apparently didn't like that his word was being questioned and let out a loud roar that had Peter shaking even though it wasn't directed at him. The Witch immediately sat down in the chair and everyone let out a laugh at her reaction. Her vile-looking minions then lifted her up and carried her out of the camp.
Peter was glad to see her gone and turned his complete attention back to his younger siblings, just in time to see Lucy hug Edmund, who not only returned the embrace, but also lifted her up. As he did that, Peter walked over to Susan and hugged her, watching the two youngest siblings with a wide smile that couldn't be contained. Deep down he knew that this wasn't over, not until they defeated the White Witch for good, but for now, they were all together and Edmund was safe.
NARNIA
After they finished eating their supper, later in the day, Edmund found himself alone in the tent he shared with Peter. He wasn't exactly sure how he did it since no one, especially his siblings seemed to want him out of sight, but he was glad he did. He needed some time alone, to process everything that had happened earlier that day. He didn't have time to do that after the Witch left. Not with so many people around.
Edmund never expected that the Witch would actually come into Aslan's camp just to try and take him back. He imagined that she would be upset that she longer had a hostage anymore, but for her to actually come in and demand that he be returned to her, he couldn't imagine that. Then again, he had no idea that as a traitor, he automatically belonged to her. He had never heard of such a thing, and the fact that she almost did succeed in taking him, filled him with a terror that he hadn't felt before.
He also didn't expect Peter to actually pull out his sword and threaten her. He always knew that his brother was brave, braver than he could ever be, but he didn't think that he would be that brave for him. After all, he betrayed him and their sisters and all of Narnia. Edmund knew he deserved to be given to the Witch for what that. He would've thought that Peter did too. The fact that he didn't, the fact that he defended him was shocking. He couldn't remember the last time Peter defended him.
Luckily, Aslan was somehow able to talk the Witch out of taking him back. Not just because he didn't want to die, but also because he didn't want Peter to get himself killed for trying to stop her. He would rather go with the Witch and die than have his big brother die for him. No matter how many times they fought, not matter how much he got annoyed with Peter acting like their father, no matter how much he felt like Peter was the perfect golden boy that would always be better than him no matter what he did, he would never want him to die for him. He didn't deserve that. He didn't deserve any of his siblings' love or forgiveness, or Aslan's either.
"Edmund? Are you alright?" The younger brother looked over to his right to find Peter coming into the tent, looked very worried. It was only then that Edmund realized he was trying to keep from crying.
Edmund stared at him for almost a full minute in silence before he asked, "Would, would you have really tried to stop her, from taking me?"
"Of course I would have." Peter answered without any hesitation, coming over to him when he saw his brother's eyes turning red with unshed tears.
"She would have killed you, or worse." Edmund mumbled, looking down at the grass, much like he had done when they were waiting for Aslan and the Witch to finish talking.
An arm wrapped around his shoulders, Peter's arm, and as he pulled him close, he said, "You're my brother Ed. I know I haven't been doing a great job of it lately, but I'll always protect you."
That did it. That broke down any walls he had left. Tears started to run down his cheeks, causing Edmund to bury his face into his brother's shoulder. When he did that, Peter tightened his hold on him and lifted his free hand to cradle the back of Edmund's head. Normally the young Pevensie son didn't like being hugged, unlike his siblings. He didn't know why, but it just made him feel uncomfortable. Right now though, he welcomed it, he needed it. It made him feel safe.
"I didn't know." Edmund said through his sobs.
"Didn't know what?" Peter asked gently, only barely making out what the younger Pevensie had said.
"That what I did, would hurt Narnia." Edmund replied, looking up at him with tears still rolling down his cheeks and explained, "What she said about Narnia being destroyed if she didn't, kill me."
"I know you didn't Edmund, neither did I. No one did, besides Aslan." Peter said, rubbing Edmund's arm with the hand that was still around him, "It doesn't matter though. He dealt with that. You're safe."
"What do you think Aslan promised her, to get her to let me go?" Edmund wondered, wiping the remaining tears from his cheeks.
Still holding his brother, though not as tightly as before, Peter shrugged and said, "I don't know. I'm really glad he did though."
Edmund didn't respond to that. He was beyond grateful for whatever Aslan did to save him, but his guilt still weighed heavily on him. Whatever the deal was made, he didn't deserve it, he knew that. While he may not have truly known what he was doing when he told the Witch about Mr. Tumnus and his siblings, or when he went to her and told her where his siblings were, he knew enough. He knew he was betraying his family and he will never forgive himself for that, even if they did.
A yawn broke through Edmund's mouth and Peter said, "We should get some sleep. We're going to need it for tomorrow."
Nodding, Edmund got to his feet and walked over to his hammock. He kicked off his shoes and climbed into it before pulling his blanket over him. As he got settled, he looked over at Peter and saw that he was doing the same. He waited until he saw that he was settled before he said, "Pete?"
The blonde snapped his head in his direction when he heard that. He couldn't remember the last time Edmund called him that. He pushed aside his shocked and replied, "Yes?"
"Thanks, for everything." Edmund told him sincerely, doing his best to hold his brother's gaze even though he was starting to feel embarrassed about the whole thing.
"Your welcome." Peter told him, giving the younger boy a smile. Edmund returned the smile, then closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep. Peter stared at him for a few minutes, then checked to make sure that his sword was right by him so he could grab it quickly if need be before he also succumbed to sleep. What neither of them realized was that in a few short hours, they would be awoken by a dryad with the news that Aslan was dead.