Where'd everybody go? I haven't been gone that long, have I? Well, I guess we're still on what moment brought out the most emotion in you. So, what did? And what emotion was it? Joy, sadness, shock? Let me know in the reviews. :)

"Guilty."

The word rang above the all the ones before it, bearing relief and filling Peter's - and surely Edmund's - heart with overwhelming relief. Ziddim never gave any indication that he heard his last hope being willed away by the command of the subjects; he sat with his ears bent back, staring at the floor like he had been since the court re-gathered, surely knowing that his case was lost.

Glancing over to Edmund, Peter smiled at the look on his face. Edmund didn't grin or laugh, he just looked at Peter with sense of finality. He knew his brother well enough to know that, though he didn't show it, Edmund was happy.

"Sentence!" Shouted a voice from the crowd. "What is his sentence?"

Peter's eyes didn't leave his brother's. He searched Edmund's brown orbs, looking for a clue of what he would want. Peter would have immediately sentenced the wolf to death, having to no longer put up with him, but Edmund had argued his point, if not with his words then with the look in his eyes.

Turning back to the crowd, Peter spoke, "Cousins," He began. "This traitor was brought before us under most outrageous accusations and you have called him guilty. The one guilty of these crimes is deserving of our utmost punishment. You would say death, would you not?"

Shouts of agreement resounded through the courtroom.

"Well, death would be a kinder fate than a criminal such as this deserves." After glancing over to Edmund, who nodded his continuation, Peter spoke again, "We shall mark him with the brand of a traitor and send him into the wilderness, never to enter Narnia again and never to be accepted by the other lands because of his scar."

Grumbles of confusion followed Peter's words. The Narnian people knew well enough of their High King's nature, and this was certainly not it.

"By law of Narnia" Peter began. "And in the name of Aslan and his Great Father, The Emperor Across the Sea, I, High King Peter, sentence Ziddim, son of Zarreah, to banishment from this country and to rejection from all others by the brand of the traitor, thereby making him repulsive to any who might otherwise be deceived into providing hospitality for him. Never again shall he belong. Never again shall he have a home or a people."

Peter could see that some of the creatures were unsatisfied with this development; he couldn't blame them, Peter, himself, had had to force the words past his lips. How he wished he could have killed the traitor, himself, on the battlefield or, better yet, before he had caused all of this chaos. Things would be so much more simple. But the important thing was that Edmund was happy and Ziddim's life would be forced into a greater amount of difficulty than Peter would have wished on anybody - aside from Ziddim himself, or perhaps Judas.

Never before in the history of the Pevensies' reign had they sentenced anybody to this fate. The death penalty had been given before, but to be sent into the world alone to fight for your life or die trying to survive. To suffer through the bitter winter cold in the late seasons with you and yours to warm you. To know that because of a simple scar you will be spat at and cursed at. To be refused from any home or inn. To be looked down upon by all. This was a worse suffering than if Ziddim were to be ended now.

Though it wasn't technically illegal to treat the one marked as a traitor with kindness, everybody knew that you would be looked down upon for doing so. To serve the traitor was as close to sharing his fate as could be without receiving the same sentence. It was difficult to understand the intensity of the situation unless you lived it yourself. Luckily Peter would never have to understand, he'd only have to condemn others to a fate that can never touch him, a fate that can never hurt him.

PSELPSELPSELPSELPSELPSELPSELPSELPSELPSEL

"Oh, Edmund!" Edmund had to brace himself for the weight of his little sister as Lucy threw her arms around his neck and hopped into his arms, her shoes resting on their tips against the carpeted floor of the siblings' sitting room. "We heard the news!"

"Careful, Lucy," Susan scolded as she came to a stop before the pair. "He's not yet fully healed, you'll hurt him."

Lucy pulled away, but still kept close to Edmund's side. "Well, it wouldn't be a problem if he'd just let me give him some of my cordial." She hinted innocently.

Edmund chuckled lightly. "I shouldn't like you to waste it on me. I'll be just fine in a week or two. You'll see."

Lucy only rolled her eyes, indicating that it had been a response she expected, but still disagreed with.

"He's right, Lu," Said Peter, stepping up from behind Edmund and resting an affectionate hand on his shoulder. "He's been through quite a lot already; I think he can get past this without a crutch."

"It's not a crutch." Lucy argued, crossing her arms and taking defensive stance. "It's my healing cordial."

"Which," Edmund broke in, once more. "Should be saved for a time when we really need it."

Lucy seemed to contemplate this for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "At least I can say that I tried."

Edmund smiled but his attention was soon turned back when Susan spoke to Peter, "I heard what you said after the sentence was given." She spoke softly. "Do you think that's really wise?"

Edmund recalled the looks on the faces of all those in the courtroom upon hearing Peter's offer of mercy to Ziddim's accomplices. Surely, by now, everybody thought him on the edge of madness. Though none of it was really Peter's idea, he was still the one to deliver the news. Nearly every word that flowed past Peter's lips was the opposite of what he really wished to say. It touched Edmund's heart to know that his brother would push past his every instinct to fulfill the wishes of someone he cared for - especially when that someone was him.

Peter's blue eyes flicked momentarily to Edmund's brown ones, but they lingered only for a few fleeting moments before they turned back to Susan. "Everybody deserves a second chance; only those willing to accept it will be shown mercy. It may not have been the wise decision, but it was the right one."