*Chapter 25-Getting Caught*

Hey everyone! I'm back! :)

Sorry for the delayed absence, been busy, had other stories, had writers block, blah blah blah...

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Ima dedicate this one to my beta reader Kelsey for all her help and to Mystic Lover of the Fairytale for her constant support and help with the chapter. Love y'all!

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The days between Penelope's capture and the upcoming duel flew by until finally, it was the night before Peter and Miraz would face off. As promised, Peter(most often than not accompanied by Pattertwig) had come with gifts of food multiple times every day for Penelope. It was a risky business, but Aslan was on their side and kept the Telmarines at bay for the duration of their visits.

Just after sunrise found the High King sneaking into the cave of the food rations, his knapsack slung over his shoulder and his sword on his hip. He was on his way to visit his sister, intent on not only taking her food but also receiving comfort. For though he would rather die than ever admit it to anyone else, Peter was nervous about the upcoming duel. He, like Penelope, knew the chances of him winning in a match against someone more than twice his age, who was not only a viciously skilled swordsman but also cheated to boot, were highly unlikely. Now, Peter wasn't arrogant(usually), but he knew he was perhaps the most skilled swordsman in all of the Narnian army. In a fair match with Miraz, he had little doubt he would win. But the fact that not only did Miraz himself cheat, but he also used his Marshalls to cheat, weighed the advantage heavily on Miraz's side.

All these thoughts were racing round in his head, and Peter was hardly paying attention to where he was going when he found himself smacking in to someone coming from the opposite direction of the path he was taking. With a loud grunt and a heavy glare, Peter backed up and looked into the face of this obstacle, a disgruntled apology on his lips. His words died on his lips, however, as he found himself face to face with Caspian.

The Telmarine prince was looking down on him with a bewildered expression. "Peter? What are you doing here?" he asked, curiosity evident in his thickly accented voice.

Peter stared up at him in horror and spluttered for a few moments before coming up with a plausible excuse. "I was just on my way to fetch provisions to take to the wounded soldiers." he replied, perhaps a little too quickly.

Caspian's face relaxed, though his eyes remained somewhat hazy. "Well that is very noble of you, High King. I won't hold you up." he said, before offering Peter a nod and continuing down the tunnel.

Peter stood rooted to the spot for a few moments, feeling cold sweat accumulating on his brow. He was almost certain Caspian was not going to believe him, and was perhaps for the first time more glad than not that he had proved him wrong. Releasing a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, he quickly made his way to gather Penelope's meager meal, being more careful than ever not to be seen. Sparing not a moment, the High King slipped out of the How and in a fashion perfected by practice crossed undetected into the heart of the enemy camp.

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Caspian's mind was buzzing with suspicion at Peter's hastily yipped excuse for sneaking into the food rations, though outwardly he appeared to have no second thoughts upon the matter. Weaving his way past the notably disgruntled king, he couldn't help but notice as his arm brushed against him how tense Peter was. A small flag went off in Caspian's quickly working mind, though he kept his unsuspecting front as he continued on down the narrow pathway.

Caspian was no fool, and Peter was no liar. He was up to something that certainly had nothing to do with injured soldiers. Caspian had not failed to notice the knapsack on Peter's shoulder, nor the sword on his hip. That in and of itself was hint as to more long-term and dangerous ambitions.

Caspian had his guesses as to what Peter might be up to, though he could not be certain. Not without proof. And unfortunately in this situation, that proof would involve having to catch Peter in the act.

He had been on his way to check on the blacksmiths to see the progress of the armor and weapons, but instead he found himself heading toward the front of the How, for a little private archery training. After all, he would have a great vantage point of anyone trying to sneak to-or from-the How from the archery fields.

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Penelope heaved a great sigh and tried for the hundredth time to adjust herself to a more comfortable position, straining to take her weight off her aching bum. Fortunately for her, on one of his previous visits Peter had seen to loosening her bonds somewhat, allowing for less limited mobility. It was thus she was able to hoist herself onto her side, and though it was a somewhat awkward position to sit in, it offered abundant relief to her various aching body parts.

Her Telmarine captives were yet to free, feed, or offer any other types of humaneness, be it small or great. For the most part, the hundreds of Telmarine soldiers had taken to ignoring her, going about their business and passing her tree as if she weren't even there. Though that's not to say all of them ignored her-groups of them would occasionally gather before her and sneer derogatory things at her, some of which made her blood curdle and others of which made her face flush. Thankfully for the soldiers, they never chose to do so whilst Peter was in earshot, lest they be stabbed repeatedly on the spot.

Almost as soon as the thought of her twin had crossed her mind did she hear a familiar rustling of the leaves. Craning her neck around, she saw her own, slightly more masculine face peering anxiously from the shrubbery.

"Is anyone around?" Peter whispered softly. Penelope swiveled her head around to examine the camp, only to find not a soul in sight. Then she remembered hearing word of there being a mass training session, for Miraz and his henchmen to evaluate the skill of their army-every last Telmarine was further down in the forest, geared up and pinned against his companions, dueling for the approval of their leaders. It was almost too perfect for the two Narnian teenagers.

"No, and there won't be for a while." And as Peter crept forward into the clearing she relayed the news of the mass training to him.

Instead of looking relieved, Peter looked worried. "It sounds as if they're preparing for the battle." he observed, brows creasing.

Penelope was assaulted by a wave of raw emotion rolling off her twin. In a heartbeat, she felt bitter, uncertain, frightened, hopeless, and angry. Her mind flinched away from the powerful feelings, and she looked at Peter in bewildered concern.

"Something's bothering you," she stated, searching his face for a clue as to what it could be. Peter met her gaze for a moment, the crystal blue of their eyes pooling together as emotions and thoughts jolted between them in a matter of seconds, before looking away as he brought the knapsack off his shoulder. Digging around for a moment, he found the food he had grabbed for her and began tearing it up to feed to her. Penelope waited patiently for him to finish, for she knew he was doing it so as to be able to gather his thoughts.

Without meeting her gaze, Peter finally said what was the cause for the distress still rolling off of him in tangible waves. "I know it sounds childish, and I really have no right to be, but I'm really worried about how this duel is going to turn out."

Penelope said nothing, only continued to gaze at Peter steadily. At her lack of response, Peter continued talking. "I mean, I know that I'm good at fighting with a sword, but.. Seeing Miraz when he was fighting you the other day really got to me. He was very good, and that's not even touching on his ruthlessness. And plus he has his marshalls.."

Penelope frowned, thinking back to the day when it was she who was pinned against the usurper. Heading into the duel she had known it was a fight to the death, but that knowledge hit home only after she was face to face with him, the clashing of their swords ringing out across the field. It was only then she was fully aware that dying was a very likely possibility for her, and this possibility very nearly became her reality multiple times. As much drama as it had caused her and the entire rest of the Narnian army, she was glad that her helmet fell off.

Pondering on how brutal her own match against Miraz had been made her mouth dry out, along with any encouragement she could have offered. Penelope turned to Peter to acknowledge that she had heard him, but only felt her mouth go drier as she saw that he was waiting for some kind of response. She swallowed hard and tried to think of something, anything, she could say to help him not feel so down.

Peter seemed to take her hesitation for what it really was, for he just sighed and shook his head. He turned away from her and gnawed his lip, seemingly drowning in an abyss of heavy thoughts. Penelope watched as an army of emotions marched across his face.

"I just want to know what will happen if I'm..not here anymore." he whispered, sounding very close to tears. Penelope's throat constricted as she saw how very near to breaking he was, but as she was about to offer him words of comfort a rustling of the bushes behind them caused her to fall deathly silent. Having also heard the ruckus, Peter sprang to his feet and whipped his sword out of its sheath, ready to take down whoever the intruder was. She shrank down as if to hide herself and held her breath as whoever it was paused, then stepped fully out into the open.

The intruder let out an angry hiss and the sound of a sword sliding through a sheath filled the air. "I knew it."

Penelope's heart leaped into her throat and she let out an involuntary shriek as she turned and faced the angry Telmarine. "Caspian!"

For the soldier who had followed her brother was indeed of the Telmarine nationality, though not of that army. Caspian stood halfway between the bushes and Penelope's loan tree, glowering down on the scene of the twins guiltily facing he who they thought was a threat. Although the look on Caspian's face promised trouble yet to come, Penelope could not help but feel immense relief at the sight of him as opposed to one of Miraz's army. She looked to his hip to see his sword safely in its halter, not withdrawn as she had thought he had done when he first arrived. She found that a large smile had spread its way across her face, as one usually did when she found herself unexpectedly in Caspian's presence.

Sparks of irritation exploded from somewhere to her right, and she didn't have to look to see that Peter was bristling. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?" he demanded sharply, wiping the smile straight off Penelope's face.

Caspian was not to be bullied, for he stepped right up to Peter's challenge with the same level of aggression and anger. "I should ask the same of you," he hissed, cutting Peter off even before he tried to retaliate. "You know damn well you are not supposed to be here, Peter. Now why are you here?"

"Caspian," Penelope interjected, as she herself was taken aback by the level of underlying authority with which he was addressing Peter. She could smell a fight brewing as well as a sailor could smell a coming storm.

Peter looked flabbergasted. It was all he could do but sputter for an answer for a few moments before finally concocting a coherent response. "I don't answer to you! I'm the High King!" There was no anger in his words, only shock.

Caspian's frown darkened, and Penelope watched as his resolve cracked and his calm exterior dissolved in a flash. "You and I both know the conditions upon which she was sent over here. We are not to be here, Peter, her life and the life of every man in our army is at risk with every moment we are over here! How could you take such risks just because you wanted to see her?"

"D'you think I'm stupid? I know how risky it was coming over here-believe it or not I do possess some level of intelligence! I was bringing her food because they weren't feeding her, Caspian, is that really so selfish of me?" Peter snapped in reply, his words growing dangerously louder as he went.

Penelope cast a nervous glance around the tranquil camp, fearing despite their absence that the Telmarines would hear the two quarrelling. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw Miraz's tent flap open; she was sure they were caught. But a moment later and she saw an innocent rabbit dart across the clearing and she let out a deep breath of relief, feeling foolish now for her paranoia. Nonetheless, she felt Peter and Caspian had much overstayed their visit.

"Hey, you guys?" she called up to them, but Peter had his back to her and Caspian was talking too loud to hear her, so she was ignored.

"And how did you know she was not being fed?" Caspian was firing back in response to Peter's rhetorical questions, his voice rising even louder.

Peter fell silent for a moment, knowing he was caught. Moments went by before he said anything, and Penelope turned to see Caspian giving him a gloating look.

"Well, Peter? Are you going to answer me or not? Or can you not answer me, becau-"

"Shh!" Peter hissed lowly, slapping his hand across Caspian's mouth. Caspian scowled and shoved Peter's hand away, looking deeply angered his victory speech had been cut short but remaining silent nonetheless. Peter half turned away from Caspian so he was facing Penelope, his perked ear facing the camp.

"What is it?" Penelope whispered. His only response was a finger to his lips, and he froze with a look of deep concentration on his face. Penelope met Caspian's confused scowl with a look of worried confusion, when suddenly her head snapped back around to the camp and her blood ran cold. For in the not too far off distance she could hear what had made Peter react so strangely; the sound of many men dragging their feet through the forest, slowly making their way back to camp after a long morning of training. It was the Telmarine army.

Peter was kneeling at her side, collecting his knapsack and what was left of her breakfast. "I thought you said they'd be gone for a while yet!" he hissed in her ear.

"I thought they would, they seemed to be making a great deal of it!" she replied frantically.

"What are you talking about?" Caspian asked, sounding one step behind.

"The Telmarines are coming back," Peter replied shortly, not looking up at him as he spoke.

"I had figured that much out on my own," Caspian shot back hotly, giving Peter a nasty look. "I meant why have they been gone so long."

"They were having a mass training session with all their men for a few hours. I thought they would have been gone much longer, but apparently they don't want to overwork themselves." Penelope said, answering his question. His expression softened as he met her gaze and they stayed like that for a few moments before the noises of the approaching army became more pronounced, the danger even more real. "You two need to get out of here!" she said, her voice rising in the first notes of panic.

Peter threw his knapsack over his shoulder and stood to leave, fear obvious in his face. "You'll be alright?"

"That depends on if you all get out of here!" she hissed, smiling tightly up at the two to show there were no ill meanings. Peter gave a small nod and shoved into Caspian, turning him in the direction to leave but Caspian let him pass without moving. He looked up at the impending army, back down to Penelope, back to the army, and then in a flash was at her side. He whipped out a dagger and began furiously sawing at her bonds, causing both her and Peter to give cries of surprise.

"Caspian, what are you doing?" she shrieked.

"Are you insane?" Peter barked. Penelope looked up at him to see her own expression of dumbfounded disbelieve slapped across his face.

"I am not leaving her here! She has been here far too long as it is, I cannot stand the idea of her staying in this hellhole!" Caspian fired over his shoulder at Peter, sounding possessed. Peter let out a sigh and kneeled before her, cutting at the ropes on her ankles with the same intense fury as Caspian.

"You are insane," he grumbled, glowering at Caspian.

Penelope's heart rate accelerated as Peter's knife broke through the thinner bunch of ropes at her ankles first and he stood, starting for the woods. She looked to the clearing and felt a cold sweat break across her forehead as she saw the dark shapes of an approaching mass of men making its way through the trees, their conversations distinct enough to be clearly made out. "Hurry, Caspian!"

"Caspian, come on!" Peter cried, his voice breaking.

"Hey! Who are those men by the prisoner?"

"What are they doing?"

The three Narnians froze and shot each other terrified looks, realizing their game was up. They had been caught.

For Penelope, things seemed to move in hyper speed, yet she caught every minute detail of it. As she caught sight of the men who had caught sight of them, she pushed herself to her feet, fighting against Caspian as he still worked to break the rope. Peter drew his sword and stepped before Penelope, offering protection should any of the men decided to charge; lucky for them they were at the moment befuddled by the situation. However, their tiny stroke of luck did not hold out, for Miraz's head minions, Glozelle and Sopespian, shoved their way forward in the crowd and beheld the mutiny which was unfolding right beneath their noses. Simultaneously they gave their war cries, and their men instantaneously rushed forward like a river breaking a dam. At the same moment Peter yelped at Caspian to get her undone and she herself have an unintelligible shriek of sheer panic, Caspian's knife cleared the last threads of rope and she was free.

Penelope for a moment stood and stared at the onrush of Telmarines before Peter had her arm in a vice-like grip and was dragging her behind him, Caspian following right behind with his palm on the small of her back. Her brain was filled with a numb buzzing as it tried to keep up with the hectic and deathly turn of events, and as she pushed her feet faster than she had ever urged them before her brain fell behind the pace. Though she registered what was going on, the overwhelming numbness of fear blotched out any capabilities of comprehending the events taking place. She was aware of the sounds of their heavy breathing and clumsy footsteps as they crashed through the forest. She ran faster than ever in her life, to the point where she was sure if she tried to go any faster she would implod, yet each time Peter or Caspian yelled "Go!" or "Come on!" she would push herself that much harder. Yet no matter how hard they ran, the sounds of the Telmarines were always right at their heels. Angry voices hurled violent threats as what seemed like the whole army came after them.

A new, much faster charging of feet broke through the haze in Penelope's mind and caused her to throw a look behind her at their pursuers. What she saw made her wail in desperation. "Horsemen! We aren't going to make it!"

Peter, hearing her cry, also turned to look. In his moment of turning, he slowed just below the pace Penelope was going, and she crashed into him, falling heavily to the forest floor and landing roughly on her injured arm. She let out a harsh scream of pain and wanted to lay there till the pain had passed, but knowing she hadn't the time to wallow tried to push herself up again. This, however proved too painful, and with another scream she collapsed. As her head hit the ground, she could feel the vibration of the approaching horses hooves through the forest floor, getting ever closer and closing in on the three young Narnians.

"Penny, come on, get up, get up! Please get up!" Peter was hollering frantically, yanking her forcefully up by her other arm. Caspian grabbed her from behind and pulled her up that way, and between the two of them she was back on her feet. Peter took her hand and the two began running, but a sharp cry from behind made Peter slow and look back. Penelope got ahead of him and kept running, dragging him behind her as he let out a ragged gasp. She heard Caspian's screech of "Go! Run, Peter! Don't worry, and don't look back! GO!" and then she gave a tug on his hand, pulling him along with her own shouts of "come on." After a brief moment, Peter turned and started running faster than he had before, pulling ahead of Penelope and again taking the lead. Breathlessly, Penelope followed, not thinking anything of the fact that she didn't again feel Caspian's hand on her back.

Moments later, they broke through the last of the trees and were sprinting through open field, Aslan's How looming in the near distance. They didn't drop their pace as they pushed through the knee length grass, sprinting the last stretch to safety. Penelope's lungs were on fire and her legs felt like lead, but Peter's hand encasing hers kept her going. As they puffed past the archery field, those out training dropped their bows and arrows to their sides and stopped to stare in astonishment as they ran like those possessed until they made it to safety. From her peripheral vision, Penelope saw the archers-Susan included-pause for not a heartbeat before taking off after them.

Peter gradually slowed as their feet met the hard, ancient stone of the long walkway into the How, coming to a stop only after they had cleared the arch of the entryway and stood in the entrance chamber. At that moment he stopped and leaned face first against the wall, leaning his forehead into his arm and panting hard. Penelope, likewise, dropped to the ground and lay down, gasping thirstily for air and closing her eyes.

She heard the many footsteps of the practicing archers filing in after them, and spoke to everyone in the room. "We made it." She chuckled in relieved disbelief, opening her eyes and gazing at her brother where he stood against the wall. Peter offered no reply. "We made it, Pete." she croaked again. This time her laugh was cut short as she saw, what she had thought was a lack of reaction, was actually a stiffening of his back, a tightening of his shoulders, a clenching of his fists. She drew herself up into a sitting position, her frayed nerves suddenly hyper tense. "Peter? What is it?"

At the same moment Peter turned his bleak white face and his red, teary eyes up to her, Susan stepped forward from the crowd of what she know realized were somber looking archers. "Where's Caspian?"

Realization hammered into her with the force of a short distance arrow from the best archer in the land, and in a moment her doe-wide eyes had rolled back into her head and she had lost consciousness.

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