"I summon the moon as soon as the day is done"
–East by Sleeping at Last
—-
Edmund ran a hand through his hair. He was so close. So close to getting the wording right.
He set his pen down and got up. Snatching his coffee mug off the table, he limped across the kitchen and refilled it.
It had been a week since the sudden winter had struck. Edmund was sleeping worse and worse as the days went by. He'd barely made it to midnight this past night. Susan would force him to nap if she knew he'd been up since then, working on his speech.
Lucy had spent the previous day walking the city, determining which radio station they were going to break into. It had to have the capability to broadcast outside the city, and they had to find a flaw in their guarding.
She'd selected a radio station that was about a twenty minute walk from their flat. Thirty minutes if they factored in his leg and stealth.
She would go out again soon, and find that flaw.
Susan would be their distraction, drawing the guards away long enough for Edmund and Lucy to sneak in the back window of the studio. As Susan had put it, she'd weaponize her beauty against the guards.
Both Edmund and Lucy had read multiple books on how to run a radio. They'd fire it up, and then Edmund would deliver his speech. He'd state his title, declare his opposition to the Witch and rally London. Hopefully.
That was the plan.
Edmund sat back down at the table and drained half his mug in one gulp. He wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there when Lucy came out.
She plucked his mug off the table. "How many cups have you had?"
Edmund made a face at her as she dumped the rest of his coffee down the sink.
"Really, Ed. It's not very good for you."
He grumbled under his breath, "It's good for speech writing."
"You don't need coffee to write a speech."
"I do if I'm running on four hours of sleep."
Lucy turned from the kitchen sink, studying him. She set Edmund's mug down in the sink.
"Four hours of sleep?" her voice was filled with worry, her brows furrowed.
Edmund rested his head on his hand. "It's her… I can't stop having nightmares of her…"
Lucy sat down beside him, slipping an arm around his shoulders. "Oh Edmund… you should've said something sooner."
"About what? The only thing we can do is get rid of her."
"You still should have said something." His sister hugged him tightly. "I know you usually talk to Peter, but—"
"Peter isn't here, Lu."
"I know," Lucy soothed. "But you can talk to Susan and I."
Edmund quietly said, "I know that. I just…"
"Just what?"
"I'm the reason Peter isn't here. If my schooling wasn't so expensive, Peter wouldn't have had to move away."
"We all want you to be able to go to school, Edmund."
"I know!" Edmund swallowed, lowering his voice as he continued, "Peter hates being away from us. And we need him here, he's our, our-"
"Our older brother. Our high king," Lucy finished for him.
Edmund nodded. "Our rock."
"Oh you two…" Susan murmured from behind them.
They both turned, seeing her standing in the hallway. She sighed sadly, and crossed over to them.
Wrapping them in a hug, she murmured, "The quickest way to Peter is to pull this off, and get a message to him."
Edmund nodded, wrapping his arms around his sisters. "He'll come. The moment he hears our message; he'll come."
It took Lucy only a day to memorize the guard rotations. At exactly eight o'clock, the guards would be refreshed before the night set in.
"So we'll strike right before they switch. When they're tired," Edmund said. "Lu and I head in first. Susan, you'll have to give us about fifteen seconds before you make your move."
Lucy nodded, unable to hide the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. Her brother looked every inch the king he was. From the way he studied their map of London and Lucy's notes to the way his shoulders were squared.
Susan spoke up, "And you're ready? You've got your speech"
Edmund held up a folded sheet of paper . "I've got it right here."
"You know," Lucy said quietly. "You always gave the best speeches when you didn't plan them."
Edmund wrapped an arm around her. "Thanks Lu…"
Susan hugged them both.
"We all should rest."
Edmund nodded. "Hopefully, by midnight, Peter will know."
Edmund ducked into a doorway, pulling Lucy with him, as a minotaur and a wolf prowled past the mouth of the alley. They waited a few seconds before ducking back out.
They crept along the side of the building until they reached the mouth. Lucy murmured, "There's the radio station."
Edmunded nodded, shoving his hands in his coat pockets in an attempt to ward off the freezing cold.
Lucy settled down beside him. "Now we wait."
He nodded again. They sat in silence for a few minutes. The city was near silent around them; a by product of the seven o'clock curfew the Witch had set.
"Ed?"
"Hm?"
"You weren't limping quite so much on the way over."
Edmund looked at his sister. "I wasn't?"
Lucy shook her head.
"Huh… I don't know why."
"I think I do," Lucy murmured back. "It's the Narnian air."
"We're not in Narnia, Lu."
Lucy scooted up against him as the wind picked up. "No, but Narnia is seeping into our world. We were always stronger in Narnia."
"Maybe you're right," Edmund murmured as he glanced at his watch. A few more minutes, and they'd make their move. Only about ten minutes, and Peter would know.
"I usually am."
The city clock, one of the few things the Witch had left running, chimed eight times.
Edmund stood, peered into the street and found it empty. Taking Lucy by the hand, he ran across to the alley behind the radio station. His leg didn't protest at all, despite the fact that he'd just been holding his cane, not using it.
Maybe Lucy really was right…
They waited in silence in the alley. After about a minute, a guard's voice rang through the streets.
"Hey! Miss! You're not allowed to be out after curfew!"
Susan's voice answered, altered so it was sickeningly sweet, "Oh! I'm so sorry! I was trying to get home from my brother's flat and I got lost. It's so hard to recognize the streets with all this snow."
Lucy giggled softly next to Edmund. He smiled, murmuring, "Come on Lu. She'll only be able to distract them for so long."
They moved beneath the window, and Lucy crouched down, lacing her hands together so Edmund could step on them.
He made sure his good foot was stable on her hands before he reached up and began to slide the window open. It was smaller than he'd thought, but he figured he could still fit.
He paused once it was open, listening. He could still hear Susan talking to the guard's, their voices echoing off the empty streets.
Edmund looked down, whispering, "Alright Lu. I'm heading in."
She nodded.
Edmund grabbed the windowsill with both hands and began to pull himself up. Lucy was definitely right. He was stronger; a week ago he wouldn't have been able to haul himself up onto the windowsill.
Once he was up, he shifted so his legs were dangling into the building.
"Here," Lucy whispered, holding his torch up to him. It was nearly identical to the one he'd left in Narnia all those years ago.
He took it from her and paused. They both looked toward the front of the station. More guards were arriving; they could hear more and more voices responding to Susan.
A realization struck Edmund; his sister would be caught. The guards would move into the building once he began the broadcast, and there was only so much Susan could do to stop them. Which meant he'd be caught too, once they got inside. He wouldn't be able to run fast enough.
But Lucy could.
"Ed!" she hissed. "Pull me up, come on!"
Edmund shook his head.
"No."
"What?!"
"Someone has to escape, Lu." He reached down and clasped her hand briefly. "Someone has to be free to help Peter."
He could see she was realizing what he had.
His little sister bit her lip. "I don't like it, Edmund…"
"I know." He smiled softly down at her. "Aslan be with you, my Valiant Queen."
She murmured back, "And with you."
Edmund jumped down into the studio, and didn't look back.
He switched his torch on, sweeping it over the room to make sure he was alone. Once he was certain he was, he moved to the hallway, then down it to the broadcasting room. They'd also picked this station for the fact that Edmund had once been on a school tour here and knew the layout of the building.
The door squeaked a little when he eased it open. Edmund didn't dare turn on the lights.
He moved to the broadcasting system itself, his cane making light noises on the wooden floors every time he took a step. He leaned his cane on the wall, so he could use both hands to switch the radio on.
He grinned as it whirred to life. Edmund set his torch down, leaving the beam of light pointed at the radio.
Taking a deep breath, he paused to listen.
The faint voices of Susan and the guards still sounded from the street. He'd given Lucy plenty of time to get away.
Edmund picked up the microphone and flipped a switch to begin the broadcast.
Peter turned on his heel, and began what must've been the fiftieth lap across the Professor's ornate rug. He gone straight there, straight to the only other person who knew the extent of the danger his siblings were in.
It had been a week since the "Sudden Winter" had struck London. He'd called his siblings over a hundred times, even though he knew the phone lines were down. He'd barely slept from worry.
The only time he had slept was when the Professor had made him lay down and rest.
He was still pacing when the radio broadcast started. He'd left it on one of the London channels in the hope that maybe, maybe something would come through.
He wasn't expecting what he did hear.
"If you are hearing this, I have an important message."
Peter froze, staring the radio.
"My name is King Edmund the Just."
"If you are hearing this, I have an important message." Edmund stood straighter. "My name is King Edmund the Just. Years ago, my siblings and I stumbled into a magical land called Narnia."
"It was ruled by a cruel and powerful witch, who had blanketed the land in 100 years of winter."
Peter's hands were shaking.
"With the help of the inhabitants of Narnia, and their protector, Aslan, my siblings and I defeated this witch. We ruled for fifteen years, and Narnia prospered," his brother's voice said from the radio.
The Professor murmured, "Good Lord…" from behind Peter.
Edmund continued, "We came back to this world eventually, and began normal lives here."
Somewhere outside, Susuan screamed.
Edmund swallowed and continued to speak. He'd discarded his written speech the moment he'd begun to speak.
"But now, the world of Narnia is leaching into this world. The witch has returned, calling herself the queen of London. She is a tyrant–"
Edmund paused.
Outside, Susan screamed, "They're coming! Ed, they're coming!"
"She is a tyrant–" his brother stopped talking
Peter took a step forward. "Come on Ed…"
"She is a tyrant," Edmund began again, speaking rapidly now, "and she must be stopped. We did not let the Germans take our city, and we will not let this Witch do so either!"
A smile crossed Peter's face. But it faded rapidly as a loud growl emitted from the radio, and his brother yelled on the other end.
"For Narnia!"
As Edmund finished speaking, the door slammed off its hinges. He backed away from the radio, grabbing his cane.
A minotaur barged through the door, a wolf darting past it.
Maugrim, Edmund thought grimly. The Witch's captain.
Edmund hefted the cane like he would a sword as Maugrim ran toward him with a growl. The wolf leapt at him, and Edmund yelled, swinging his cane.
"For Narnia!"
The cane cracked, shattering in two as it made contact with Maugrim's head.
Edmund grinned as the captain went flying back into the wall, whimpering a little before falling still and silent. He tossed aside the remains of his cane.
But he'd forgotten about the minotaur.
It roared, lifting the table the broadcasting system sat on, and flinging it at Edmund.
The Just King could do little more than dive to the ground and cover his head.
His brother yelled, and then some animal yelped in pain.
"He's being attacked," Peter said, worry creeping into his voice.
The Professor put a hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing we can do for him. He is a king. He's smart and capable."
"His leg… how can he fight if his–"
An animalistic roar came out of the radio, and then there was a crashing, ripping noise and–
The radio went silent.
Well, this is the last chapter in the "act" of the fic, meaning there won't be another update till I've finished writing the next act.
This chapter is one of my favorites, mostly because of the sequence at the end with Edmund and Peter.
Leave a review if you liked it!