ugh sorry it took a little longer than usual. It took a long time for me to get all this figured out because it was pretty important. Plus I got braces today so my mouth hurts like heck and i look even uglier than usual and i am in a really bad mood but i hope that writing and updating will make me feel better. Enjoy!oh, and I can promise you that Edmund knows what he is doing.

"He's WHERE!"

Peter shrank back a before his little sisters slightly. He had dreaded this moment from the second Edmund had suggested going out to find Lu's cordial.

"Um well, he's uh,…out?" Peter tried. Susan's eyes were flaming. Peter couldn't tell if Lucy was angry or just stunned or, well, just not paying attention. But Susan, Susan was furious.

"You let out little brother go wondering off to the Witch's castle by himself?" she screeched.

"Of course not! What kind of brother do you think I am? Honestly Su!I'm hurt that you would think that! He's not by himself…Trumpkin is with him." Peter said in a very matter of fact tone.

Susan's eyes widened. "Yes, because that makes it all better now doesn't it!" she snapped. Peter winced.

"Look Su, I know your mad but just hear me out alright? He asked me. I didn't like it at first either but he is going to be fine. He's a big boy Su he can take care of himself." Peter said wearily as if dealing with a difficult toddler. She opened her mouth and then closed it angrily several times. Peter would have laughed endlessly at how fishy she looked if she hadn't been shooting daggers out of her eyes.

"He's fifteen Peter! He's not the twenty five year old we left in the Golden Age Peter Pevensie! I'm really beginning to wonder if there is actually a brain in that big blonde head of yours Peter!" she ranted. Lucy remained silent although her eyes were showing her uneasiness and the fact she was holding back tears. You know its bad when Susan says your name at the end of every sentence;its worse than when Mum used to call him his full name in front of his friends when she was cross.

"But that's the thing Susan; he really is. He is still that same person on the inside. He's trying to save your husband. He's been taking care of all of us-and yes that means you too Peter- for years. If he can take care of all of us, he can take care of himself." Lucy said soothingly. Susan gaped at her.

"Lu he's wondering around the witch's castle with Trumpkin. I love the DLF as much as you do but I'm still worried. They don't know what's going to happen in that place!'' she yelped.

"But he can take care of himself. And he's with Trumpkin. What's the worst that could happen?"

The Giant was huge.

And he meant HUGE. And stupid. So very very stupid. But that didn't mean Trumpkin and Edmund could take him.

He may have been the stupidest thing Edmund had ever meant but he was just so big! At least fifty feet tall. Edmund couldn't even see past the brutes giant hairy belly, a sight that would be very hard to un-see. But that didn't mean the giant couldn't see them.

Half way. They made it half way to the castle before they got caught. He was a like a bloody skyscraper, how did they miss that? The two were just riding along quietly on the way to impending doom when out of nowhere a boulder came out of no where and landed like, fifteen yards in front of them. Edmund hadn't known whether to laugh or turn his horse around and run when the droll giant lumbered clumsily out of the trees about 100 yards from the side with the silliest grin on his face. Trumpkin had about fallen off his horse but Edmund had just blinked several times like some sort of bloody rabbit.

"I Bumblehoof." the Giant announced loudly. Despite the overwhelming danger they were in, Edmund could not hold back a snicker when the great stupid brute opened his mouth and laughed inanely, revealing one tiny white front tooth in a mouth of about seven huge black teeth gnarled and scraggly at the edges. 'Baby teeth' Trumpkin had mumbled.

Two steps later the enormous brute was standing only a few yards away, bending himself practically in half to get a look at Edmund and Trumpkin. (Although Edmund didn't know how he saw anything through those enormous matted with blood eye brows).

Edmund heard Trumpkin gulp loudly and shift uncomfortably in his saddle. Edmund had to admit now that the giant was spitting distance away from him, he was getting quite nervous. He cleared his own throat.

"Hullo Bumblehoof. I'm Togglebog and this is...Sassifras." he said loud and clear. Trumpkin's head snapped over to him, his eyes blazing. "Sassifras? Why I outta-"

"So, Bumblehoof. What brings you here all the way from Ettinsmoor?" Edmund asked in a strangely high pitched voice. He eyed the 10 foot long knife on the belt of his loincloth and the blood splatters on the blade. He shuddered.

"Me no from Eating More. Me From Tella-Tally-Telli-Tellymarry-" he scrunched his ugly face in concentration as he tried to remember the name.

"Telmar."

Edmund and Trumpkin both corrected the struggling giant.

"Yes yes! Me from Tellymarr. You make pretty pet." he said loudly with a silly smile. Edmund scrunched his brow.

"Giants do not live in Telmar." he said skeptically. Bumblehoof grinned proudly.

"Bumblehoof the only one in Tellymarr. Me hired."

"Hired?" Edmund and Trumpkin said together. He nodded and somehow managed to make the entire ground shake.

"Kingy hired me. Me supposed to go find pretty lady Queen Susan and bring her back. Mr. Princey will be real happy and give me great reward." he said stupidly. The silly grin on his face made Edmund even angrier if that was possible.

Edmund's eyes widened in shock and he could not speak for a moment. And then his surprise turned into rage. Pure undeniable rage. His sword hand was shaking so violently he was making his horse nervous. He couldn't have told you what Trumpkin's reaction was for his vision went red at the edges. He had half a mind just to keep riding to Telmar and strangle that arrogant toe rag in his sleep! Tristan had actually hired a giant of all things to kidnapp Susan and bring her back to Telmar. He hoped Tristan came to Narnia because when he did, he was going to kill him. And he would not be doing it with mercy. Oh yes, Tristan better watch his back.

"That's my sister." he managed to spit out in a low dangerous voice a few moments later. Every letter wavered with anger. He could almost see the steam bubbling out of his skin from his boiling blood. Bumblehoof however, looked delighted.

"Oh Goody! Then you know where I can find pretty Queen lady! Which way is her house?"

Trumpkin rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Blithering idiot..." he mumbled under his breath.

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you my friend. Because over my dead body is my sister going to that wasteland to see that son of hag." Edmund growled in his throat. His muscles were burning with anger and his brain was starting to crumble under the weight of his wrath. Tristan was going to die. Painfully. And as soon as possible.

Bumblehoof looked confused and then a smile spread across his face and he looked delighted. (If this was a cartoon, a light-bulb would have turned on above his head)

"Pretty Lady is your sister? You are two pods in a pea? Oh then you must be King Edmund. Mr. Prince Tristan talks about you lots. Just show me where you live and me and Pretty Sissy will be on our way," he said contentedly. Edmund wanted to scream.

"No! That's my sister!" he yelled, a bit louder than he intended.

"Back off your Majesty," Trumpkin whispered to the irate king. "NO! That's my sister he's talking about. That's my sister Trumpkin! Tristan hired a giant to steal my sister!" he yelled at the Dwarf. Trumpkin didn't even bat an eye.

Bumblehoof frowned at the two strange little men arguing in front of him. What a queer little place, this Narnia.

"What a queer little man! You two be pretty pets! I know! I'll take you home and then after you stop being such an angry little fellow you take me to get Pretty Sissy!" Bumblehoof announced rather loudly. He started to laugh and then jumped up and down excitedly. It was like the entire world was crumbling when the massive giant came back down. A giant crack opened up in the ground right underneath Trumpkin's pony.

The Red Dwarf gasped as he was nearly thrown out of his saddle sideways. Edmund screamed when the DLF slid out of his saddle altogether, his eyes wide and surprised. Edmund dug his heels into his horses side and the black stallion lunged forward and tossed his mane impressively as Edmund latched his hand onto his saddle horn and stretched out his other. For one horrible minute Edmund thought that Trumpkin and his pony were just going to fall into the Earth but right in the nick of time Edmund's hand closed around Trumpkin's wrist. (If he had been Susan he would have been remarkably reminded of a reversed situation in the Narnian Revolution).

Trumpkin's little pony had somehow managed to scramble off over the side of the crumbling crack and was now sprinting wildly towards the castle. Edmund's own horse whinnied and started backing up wildly from the crumbling edge of the crack. A huge chuck of the cracked Earth started to slide right beneath the horse's feet. Edmund's heart gave a little somersault. This was it. All of this to fall into a hole two miles away from the castle.

His body gave an enormous lurch forward and he opened his mouth to scream but and enormous force knocked into his stomach and only a gust of air came out. Bumblehoof laughed as he closed his hand tightly around Edmund's waist and plucked the DLF out of midair effortlessly.

"Silly silly Sassifras. Come on Pets, lets go home. You'll love it there in my brand new cave. I founded it just yesterday. It's big and wet and slimy and its got a big doorway and..."

Bumblehoof droned on and on for what seemed like hours to Edmund. He shook his head and sighed to himself. One day. They had been riding for one day and already some great giant was squeezing them like bloody hamsters and babbling on and on about his new cave. Both of the horses had managed to run away..along with Edmund's sword and Trumpkin's bow. Oh yes, this was going to be a long adventure. And every enormous step Bumblehoof took was taking them one step farther from saving Caspian.

The Telmarine soldier did not know what was so important about this tiny little note but he had been payed handsomely to place it on the Queen's pillow. A slight feeling of unease crept over the young soldier but he merely jingled the coins in his pocket and kept walking. Thirteen gold coins is thirteen gold coins.

Peter's head hurt.

It was like every drop of blood in the country was pounding against his skull. He felt like a dozen poisonous spiders were sinking their pinchers into the flesh behind his eyeball and sucking all of the sense out of him. After all those nights staying up at all hours, approving laws, taking audiences, writing proclamations, settling disputes, he had never had a headache more excruciating in his entire life. He felt for sure that some sort of dark evil was perched in the crevices of his brain and trying to turn his head inside out.

Edmund was on his way to some Aslan forsaken castle trying to find some bloody cordial to heal his poisoned brother, Lucy was bursting into hysterical tears at random moments of the day, Susan was absolutely terrified and running about the castle like a chicken with her head cut off. Not to mention that she was mad. Spitting mad. And of course she couldn't just be mad about the fact that her husband had been poisoned by a perverted prince that was after her like a normal person. Oh no, she also had to be mad at Peter for letting Edmund who was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, out on a dangerous mission to heal her husband.

Perfect.

Caspian had gotten slightly better in the last day. He had tried once to get out of bed and had wondered all the way down to the kitchen before falling on his face and having to yell for one of the guards to carry him up the stairs. He was still sick as a dog and in pain almost every moment but the agony had slowly began to ebb away. But that didn't help Susan's mood. She was most dangerous when something was wrong with her family. He pitied the lord that tried to complain about a Bunny eating the apples out of his garden to Susan.

A few days ago Lord Adrian had made the horrible mistake of trying to blame the king's poisoning on Matio, the main chef for the castle. He had never seen Susan so ferocious as she was that moment. She was absolutely silent. And that was the scariest part about it.

When Susan was really really really mad, she would scream and throw her hands in the air and pace like a caged leopard and throw things. But when she was absolutely livid, she went silent. And it was utterly utterly terrifying. Her siblings instinctively had taken several steps back and remained as still as possible. But not Lord Adrian. Oh no, he thought the Queen was simply ignoring him or did not care. And so he started to yell. And pace and throw his hands off. That's when Peter and Edmund very gently had Susan removed from the corridor and put in 'time out' as Lu called it. (Really they just made her sit in her and Caspian's bedroom alone for a few minutes until she stopped yelling and trying to throw things.)

The High King groaned and tried for the fifty thousandth time that day to rub out his aching temples. All of the torches and stones in the main corridor seemed to blend into one as he half haphazardly stumbled down the hallway to go see Caspian for the five millionth time. He had just turned into one of the tightest corridors in the castle, the one leading to the High King and Queen's bedchambers, when a tall slender shadow came flying down the hallway at an almost impossible speed from the opposite direction.

Because of his uncharacteristically poor vision due to his splitting headache, at first he thought it was his mother and became horribly confused. "Mum? What are you doing here?" he shouted down the hallway as he began to swagger down the hallway as quickly as he could manage while his head was practically being torn apart. Susan flew down the hallway and stopped right in front of him with an utterly confused and utterly terrified look on her pale as snow face. Peter's shoulders slumped slightly.

"Oh. It's you." he said unenthusiastically. She shook her head almost violently, sending a shower of tears splattering on the stone floor. It was like a needle was shoved through Peter's heart when the dim torch light fell on her face and the tears tracks and smudged makeup almost popped out at him. The one thing he didn't see was the small scrap of paper clutched tightly in her left hand.

Even her lips were white and her entire body was shaking so violently it was like an earthquake was happening inside of her. He grabbed her forearm.

"What happened? Susan what happened!Look at me! What happened Susan Pevensie!'' He said in a firm but gentle tone. She didn't answer and only threw her arms around Peter's neck.

"Peter! Peter something is going to happen. Something horrible Peter! I don't know what and I don't know when but something horrible is going to happen to you or Lu or Caspian! And I don't know I don't know what or when or who but something horrible." she choked out in a shaky voice. If Peter had read the paper maybe he would have known.

Maybe he would have believed her or seen it comming or been able to do something. But he didn't.

He pulled away. He pulled away for one split second; something that he would regret for the rest of his life but also something that saved his life. When he pulled away to look at her face for that one split second, a flash of black flew barely an inch from his face, brushing the bridge of his nose. He jumped and his head whipped around wildly. Susan didn't even scream but the one thing Peter would remember forever was the look in her eyes. Horror. Pure unaltered horror. A split second later a Peter heard a twang and instinctively turned towards the small sound. Susan gasped and tried to knock Peter to the ground but in that half a second between the arrow being fired and it burrying itself into Peter's side he gave her a hard shove that sent her just out of range of a second arrow that stuck in the stone right where her throat had been not a second ago.

Pain exploded all through Peter's body and he screamed. The one thing he remembered was looking at his sister and seeing the horrified look on her face as she stared at the blossoming blood on the side of his torso. She couldn't even scream. The blood just kept flowing out of her brother. And she was frozen. Paralyzed, almost. Peter slumped sligthly against the wall but did not scream or even close his eyes. Susan lunged forward with tears in her eyes and tore off the hem of her dress without a second thought to the fact that the assinators could still be shooting and wrapped the cloth around his waist with trembling fingers.

She never noticed the little scrap of paper with the spot of blood on the left corner that drifted out of her hand but the words would forever be branded into her very soul.

Husband or family, take your pick. Choose carefully little queen, you have so much to loose. And so much blood to shed.

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