Set 6 months after lww / Golden Age
16: No longer a traitor
"How long until we're home?" Edmund muttered as he walked along beside Peter, sighing a little and shielding his eyes from the sun that was shining through the trees.
"Probably not for another couple of hours Ed." Peter sighed, but he couldn't keep back a smirk, not at the look of annoyance on his little brother's face.
"Why an earth did Philip pick now to fall ill." Edmund muttered. His horse had fallen ill the day before they left, so Edmund, unwilling to offend Philip by riding another horse, had kindly decided to walk to where they were headed, Peter agreeing and walking with him. Anyway, just as Peter said, it was only around a five hour walk to the lake they'd visited, trying to sort out something between two families of animals that Edmund couldn't remember even now, and they ended up turning it into a one night camping trip.
Although now they were on their way home, and after slipping on the wet ground (it had rained the previous night) and covering his back and hair in mud, Edmund was very much looking forward to a hot bath when they finally got back to Cair.
"Cheer up Ed." Peter said, smiling a little. "The time will fly."
"How an earth can time fly if you're wandering through the woods?" Edmund muttered. "Not to mention it's kinda cold."
"The sun's out!" Peter laughed, shaking his head a little.
"It's still coldish." Edmund grumbled, kicking a stone underfoot with a sigh.
"We'll be home soon Ed." Peter said with another laugh. "Just stop complaining." And with that he ran ahead a little way, grinning.
Edmund stooped walking to roll his eyes, before sighing and following a fair few steps behind his brother. "I'm not complaining." He called ahead.
"Of course not." Peter replied over his shoulder, unable to keep back the smirk. He enjoyed little trips like this, just him and his brother, able to spend some time alone together, and tease Edmund to his hearts content.
"I am not!" Edmund insisted. "It's just, you're not the one who's fallen over in the mud! I don't know about you, but I'm really, really looking forward to a nice hot-"
Peter's heart skipped a beat when there came the sound of what seemed like someone being knocked out, followed by his brothers groan and a loud thud.
Quickly drawing his sword, Peter swung around, his eyes going wide at what he saw.
Edmund was indeed now unconscious, laying face down on the ground, a small gash on the back of his head trickling blood, but it wasn't deep enough for Peter to feel overly worried.
What did worry him though was the man standing over his brother, a dagger in his hand which is obviously what he'd used to knock Edmund out, but now he was holding it against Edmund's neck.
"Take one more step." The man said, smirking. "And you'll be saying goodbye to your brother."
Peter swallowed hard, and glanced around when three other men appeared from the bushes, all armed.
"Do you have any idea who I am?" Peter muttered through gritted teeth, trying to keep in his anger at seeing his brother unconscious with a knife pressed to his neck.
The man holding the knife chuckled. "Oh yes, we know exactly who you are." He answered. "Which is exactly why we need you, well, your brother mostly, but I suppose you could come along too... now drop your weapon."
Peter took a deep breath. "You won't get away with this." He warned even as he placed his sword on the ground. The second he did, he was immediately grabbed by two other men, his hands tied roughly behind his back.
"I think you'll find we already have." The man laughed, before pain exploded through Peter's head, and everything went black.
Peter finally came around about- well, he wasn't sure how long later, and he immediately became aware that he was tied to a tree, the ropes so tight he couldn't even think about escape.
Glancing around he managed to figure out that the sun was slowly setting, which means he must've been unconscious the whole afternoon, which meant so had Edmund.
Edmund! Where was his brother.
Pulling harshly against the ropes, Peter tried his hardest to free himself, to find his brother, but he stopped when Edmund was all of a sudden pushed to his knees a fair way away from him.
Peter froze where he was sat, eyes wide as Edmund took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut, fisting his hands into the dirt beneath him before his eyes opened and he glanced around.
Peter and Edmund's eyes locked on each others, and Peter's heart broke at the fear he could see in his brothers dark brown eyes, which only caused him to pull harder against the ropes.
"Don't even try it." The man from before appeared, still holding his dagger threateningly in his right hand, a smirk on his face as he circled Edmund. "Those ropes are too tight, you'll never get free."
"What do you want?" Peter spat, going still and taking a deep breath.
"Oh we don't want anything from you." The man laughed. "It's your brother we need, you just happened to be with him when we found you."
"What do you want with my brother then?" Peter corrected, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
The man laughed. "That you will have to wait to find out." He said, before clicking his fingers.
One of the other men, the one who had knocked Peter out, quickly appeared and pulled Edmund roughly to his feet, getting a gasp from Peter's brother which tore at his heart. "Don't you dare hurt him!" He cried, pulling once again at the ropes, but they wouldn't budge.
"I won't lie." The man with the dagger said. "This will hurt, but don't worry, unless this doesn't work, I won't kill him."
"What do you mean unless this doesn't work?!" Peter exclaimed. "Who are you and what do you want with my brother?!"
"It is of no concern to you who we are." The man answered firmly. "All you need to know is that once upon a time, my family for generations had a power greater than any seen in Calormen-"
"You're from Calormen?" Peter questioned.
"That is correct." The man answered. "Not originally, but I've lived there for ten years of my life, but with magic, I am free to leave, leave and travel to a land far away."
"And where does my brother come in to this?" Peted snapped, trying not to show his fear and calm his pounding heart.
"Well I need my magic back, which has been so cruelly taken from me." The man snapped. "And for that to happen I need one thing."
"What thing?" Peter said, now really beginning to worry.
The man smirked before turning to Edmund and walking over so his face was no more than five inches away from his, Edmund taking a deep breath and trying to free himself from the other mans grip, but it didn't work
"That's simple." The man whispered, staring Edmund in the eyes even as he talked to Peter. "For me to get my magic back, I need to recite a spell, and for the spell to work I need just one thing." He paused for a moment before smirking. "I need the blood of a backstabbing, pathetic little traitor."
Edmund shrunk back at every word, eyes filling with tears and a look of shame appearing on his face, mixed with a look of fear and worry.
"Hey!" Peter practically screamed, catching the mans attention. "Don't you dare call him that, or I swear you won't live to regret it."
"It's true though." The man laughed, once again turning to face Peter. "Your brother here is a traitor, we all heard what happened with the white witch."
"That was 6 months ago!" Peter snapped. "It's in the past, Edmund is no longer a traitor."
"We shall see." The man laughed, turning his head back to face Edmund, who looked absolutely petrified. "All we need is a drop of blood."
Peter took a deep breath. "Please don't." He choked, shaking his head back and forth, but knowing he couldn't do anything to stop this and they were going to do it anyway.
The man only smirked, not saying anything and grabbed Edmund's arm, rolling up his sleeve and pressing his dagger to his forearm.
"Don't you dare!" Peter practically growled, pulling against the ropes, but with no luck.
The man holding Edmund took a golden cup from his bag and handed it to the other man, before taking Edmund's arm and holding it out towards the dagger.
The man let go and was now holding the dagger, and the cup which he placed under Edmund's arm, causing Edmund's eyes to go wide and for him to struggle slightly.
"Ah ah ah." The man laughed, stilling him by pushing down on the dagger slightly. "The more you struggle, the deeper this knife goes, it's entirely your choice."
Edmund swallowed hard, taking a deep breath, but he still kept still, and Peter could clearly see him brace himself.
"You won't live to regret this!" Peter shouted, pulling hard against the ropes... he did not want his little brother hurt.
"It's only a drop of blood." The man laughed, before drawing his dagger the whole way along Edmund's forearm, cutting rather deep, causing him to let out a pain filled cry and for blood to spill over, dripping onto the floor... and into the cup.
Peter's eyes went wide. "A drop?!" He screamed. "You just sliced his arm open!"
The man only shrugged before turning with his back to Edmund, staring down at the golden cup in his hands.
Peter watched Edmund closely as his brother squeezed his eyes shut and let out a sob, gripping his arm close to his chest and taking deep breaths, pain clear on his face.
"You got what you wanted." Peter snapped. "Now let my brother go."
"Not until I know it works." The man replied, before he began reciting some sort of spell under his breath.
Peter however ignored this, and only had eyes for Edmund, who had gone alarmingly pale, his eyes closed, mouth open, and blood dripping from his arm and onto the floor... he looked in agony, and it sure wasn't helping that the man holding him had a pretty right grip on his shoulders.
Around thirty seconds later, everything went silent, the man stopped reciting his spell, and even Edmund's whimpering stopped, causing Peter to swallow hard.
"It hasn't worked." The man suddenly whispered, hardly loud enough for anyone to hear. "It didn't work!" He cried, making Edmund jump, his eyes snapping open.
Peter took a deep breath, unable to ignore the anger in the mans eyes as he turned back to face Edmund. "Why didn't it work?" He hissed, staring at Edmund who obviously had no idea how to answer.
So Peter opened his mouth instead. "It did not work because you haven't used the blood of a traitor." He answered, voice firm. "My brother is no longer a traitor, he was forgiven by Aslan, and that is why your little spell didn't work."
The man looked outraged, and Peter was now starting to worry about his brothers safety, causing him to start pulling at the ropes again, despite the pain it caused him.
The man stared from Peter to Edmund a few times before his eyes locked with Edmund's. "You." He whispered. "You wasted my time, it didn't work and it is all your fault."
"If you hurt him I swear I will kill you!" Peter screamed, his heart pounding as the man walked up to his brother, stopping only a foot away.
Edmund shrunk backwards, eyes wide even as he still gripped his arm to his chest. His breathing was heavy, and he knew as well as Peter that this was not going to end well.
"If I remember correctly, I said that if this didn't work, then I'd kill you." The man whispered, so quietly Peter couldn't hear him... but Edmund could, and his eyes went wide.
He struggled against the others mans grip, tears rolling down his cheeks, and Peter immediately gathered that something wasn't right, and he too began struggling, determined to free himself.
The man gave Edmund one last smirk, before raising his dagger and shoving it through Edmund's chest.
Time seemed to stop altogether for Peter as he watched, horrified at what he was witnessing. Edmund's eyes slammed tightly shut and his mouth opened in a silent scream, extreme agony covering every inch of his face, the look wasn't unlike when the witch stabbed him at Beruna only six months before, only this time... he hadn't taken a wand to the stomach... he had taken a knife to the chest.
"EDMUND!"
Peter hardly recognised his own voice as he screamed, watching as Edmund collapsed to the ground, landing with a dull thud before going completely still.
"EDMUND! ED! NO! I - I'LL KILL YOU!! I WILL KILL YOU BOTH I SWEAR IT!! EDMUND! EDDY, ED WAKE UP!"
The two men only smirked, before leaving Edmund and walking towards Peter.
The man with the dagger knelt in front of him, purposely showing him the blood covered knife, before running it along his cheek, staining his skin with his brothers blood.
Peter gagged, turning his head away before pulling harshly at the ropes still binding him to the wretched tree. "I WILL KILL YOU BOTH!" He screamed. "EDMUND!"
The man laughed, before standing and cutting through Peter's ropes, but before Peter could even comprehend this, the two men ran.
Peter watched them go for a split second, wanting nothing more than to go after them... but he had to see if his brother was okay... if he was alive.
Stumbling to his feet, he wiped his hand across his cheek, determined to get rid of his brothers blood, before he ran over and fell to his knees beside Edmund, his heart pounding in his chest.
Rolling him over, his eyes went wide at the blood that was soaking into his tunic, and he quickly pushed down on the wound, determined not to let his brother bleed out.
The second Peter's palms hit the stab wound, Edmund let out a pain filled moan, two tears rolling down his cheeks which were quickly followed by more.
Peter's eyes went wide. He was alive. Edmund was still alive, the knife hadn't gone through his heart. "Oh thank Aslan." He choked, before taking a deep breath. "E - Ed, if you can hear me please listen. You have to hold on, you're gonna be alright, I promise okay? Just hold on and keep breathing, you'll be just fine." He pushed down harder on Edmund's chest, but he wasn't sure if it made a difference, because he could still feel the blood slipping through his fingers. Swearing under his breath Peter pushed harder, wincing when Edmund let out something of a sob, his eyes squeezing shut as tightly as they could. "I - I know." Peter choked, voice barely above a whisper. "I know, but please just hold on, I'll figure out what to do, I promise you I will Ed. I - I won't let you die."
Glancing around Peter took a deep breath. He had no idea how far away Cair was, how far away help was, and he had no doubt that Edmund probably wouldn't last the next five minutes.
Swallowing hard he looked back down to Edmund, letting out a sob at the look of pure agony on his paper white flace. Blood had stained his teeth and lips, and Peter found himself wanting to throw up. He didn't know what to do. "Ed." He choked. "Ed please."
Edmund took a deep, raspy breath before reaching for Peter's hands, gripping them weakly in his and forcing his eyes open the tiniest bit. "I - It-s o - ok'y." He choked, managing to force a small smile. "It - it'll b' 'right."
"No Ed." Peter sobbed, only just managing to figure out what Edmund was saying. "No, you have to hold on, hold on Ed! You can't die on me, not here... not - not like this."
Edmund swallowed hard, wincing in pain before opening his mouth again. "I love you 'ete." He choked, his whole body trembling from pain.
Peter choked on his tears. "I love you too." He whispered. "But please Ed, please hold-" But he stopped dead when Edmund relaxed, his eyes shut as he relaxed, the pain fading from his face as though it was never there.
Peter's heart stopped beating. "Ed?" He choked, giving his brother a gentle shake, but he didn't respond. "Edmund!"
When Edmund didn't respond again, Peter burst into tears, his breathing heavy as he sobbed, tears streaming down his cheeks, but he didn't care, how could he care? His brother was-
"Peter!"
Peter's head snapped up, and he let out a sob at seeing Susan, Lucy and Orious running towards them, plus a couple of fauns. They must of sent out a search party when Peter and Edmund didn't return home when they were supposed to.
"No." Susan choked as they finally reached them and her and Lucy fell to their knees beside Edmund. "What happened?!"
"He - he was stabbed." Peter sobbed, shaking his head. "He - he's not breathing!"
Susan took a deep breath and placed her fingers against Edmund's neck, waiting with baited breath, before her eyes went wide. "Lucy use your coridal!" She practically shouted. "I can feel a pulse."
Peter nearly collapsed in relief, and he just continued sobbing until Lucy had poured one drop of her coridal into Edmund's mouth.
He waited, eyes wide, tears streaming down his cheeks for almost a whole minute, before Edmund let out a weak groan followed by a few coughs, and ten seconds later, his eyes flickered open.
Peter could hardly believe it, and the second Edmund seemed to figure out what was going on, he grabbed him and pulled him into his arms, holding him as tightly as he could.
"Pete." Edmund whimpered, burying his face against his older brothers chest.
Peter let out a sob. "Just breathe." He choked. "Please just breathe."
Edmund did as he said, and wrapped his arms around his brother, his breathing heavy and slightly shaky.
Peter refused to let go for atleast five minutes, but eventually he pulled away, placing one hand against the side of Edmund's face, Edmund ignoring the blood on his hands as Peter glanced up at the girls. "Could you give us a minute?" He choked, voice quiet as he spoke.
It was clear they both hesitated, but after a while they stood and wandered over to stand by Orious.
"Oh Ed." Peter murmered. "I'm so sorry."
Edmund swallowed hard before taking a deep breath. "You don't need to apologise Pete." He whispered. "It wasn't your fault."
But Peter shook his head. "You were stabbed Edmund... again." He choked. "And I couldn't stop it, just like the first time, and I'm sorry, really, really sorry."
Edmund sighed. "The most important thing is that I'm alive, right?" He asked.
Peter stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Right." He whispered.
Edmund gave him a small smile before glancing down at the ground. "Peter?" He whispered.
"Hmm?" Peter replied, pulling him close again and resting Edmund's head against his chest.
"You said - You said the spell didn't work because I'm no longer a traitor." Edmund mumbled, sounding unsure.
Peter sighed sadly. "It's because you're not." He reassured him. "That happened months ago Ed, you paid for what you did, you made up for what you did, and you were forgiven, by everyone."
"Not everyone." Edmund choked.
"Maybe not." Peter sighed. "But you were forgiven by Susan, by Lucy by Aslan. By the beavers, by Mr.Tumnus, even the fox forgave you. And I forgave you too. You're not a traitor Ed, I can promise you that."
"Really?" Edmund mumbled, raising his head to stare at Peter, eyes wide and full of tears.
Peter gave him a gentle smile followed by a small nod. "Really." He whispered, placing a kiss to the top of his head, and whilst he knew he didn't have Edmund entirely convinced, he also knew that he needed to get him home and into bed.
"Let's head back to Cair." He murmered. "Get you cleaned up and into bed."
Edmund swallowed hard and glanced down at his chest, cringing visibly at the blood staining his tunic... and there was a lot of blood.
"Ed." Peter sighed, placing a finger under his chin and tilting his head back so they were looking at each other. "I - I know you've lost a lot of blood, but I promise you're going to be okay. You may be weak for a few days, but you're alive alright? And I won't let anything else happen to you, I promise, those men will be found and severely punished for what they've done, I dont care what anyone else thinks on the matter, I promised I'd kill them, and I intend on keeping that promise."
Edmund nodded slowly before burying his face back against Peter's chest. "Thank you." He whispered. "And I love you."
Peter smiled, two tears rolling slowly down his cheeks as he placed a kiss to the top of Edmund's head. "I love you too."
Thank you to everyone who's been leaving comments and stuff, it means a lot to me xx hope you liked this one, and I have two more ideas that I cant wait to write xox
