Hello everyone! wow the last chapter got far more hits than I expected! But only a few snatches of feedback. Don't be afraid to tell me what you think and click that little button at the bottom! It'll only take a second and I promise it really easy:) lol so I hope this chapter makes sense! Just a warning, the little tidbit with your favorite Telmarine Kings (I threw that in there especially for you, obsessedchick15;) may not make much sense but I was really trying to let you get an insight to the plan without completely giving away my plot although now it should be pretty obvious. Oh, and i am A beta reader now! So if you have a story you would like me to take a look at, just send me a PM or email your story. Hope you all enjoy!

I don't own Chronicles of Narnia! obviously, since this is a fanfic site i do not. ANd this is the last time I am going to do a disclaimer so yeah.

Edmund was in a cage.

A cold hard, iron cage. In a corner. In a cold dark cave. With cold dark light wavering in through a small hole in the ceiling.

He had never been treated like an animal. Like...he was made of stuffing and he could not think or feel or breath. Even in England, where he was just an insignificant piece of dust that didn't even exist in the eyes of...anyone, he had never been treated like this. No one deserved this.

He was soaking wet, utterly ill, starved out of his mind and he saw no chance of any way out. The only thought that kept him from swearing on his crown that he was going to kill this beast was that Bumblehoof truly did not realize he was torturing Edmund or Trumpkin. He did not realize that the enormous cup of water hung from the gigantic cage would tip about fifteen gallons of water all over the prisoner. Or that him shaking the cage when he or Trumpkin would not answer a question made them sick and rattled their brains. But that wasn't the worst part, oh no.

Edmund had never been trapped in a place where he could not see the sky.

Or the Sun.

Or the trees.

And those were the things he needed the most. Because they reminded him of his family. If he could see the world, it was like his sisters and brothers were standing right behind him to watch his back. He saw them in everything.

The sky.

Susan's eyes.

The Sun.

Peter's hair.

The moon.

Lucy's eyes.

The trees.

Caspian.

He NEEDED to see the sky. He NEEDED to see the sun. He NEEDED to see the moon. He NEEDED to see the trees. Because they were his life. They were his LIFE. If he could not see the sky, this horrible fear that something horrible had happened to Susan crept into his mind. And every time a cloud drifted over the sun, he flinched, for he could not feel his brother next to him anymore.

But when the moon was invisible in the sky and covered by darkness, oh that was the scariest of all.

He had been through so much with his older sister. He had seen Rabadash run his hands all over her and seen her screaming and crying and seen her flinch and squirm every time a man asked her to dance or tried to nonchalantly put a hand on her knee or hold her hand. And there was this fierce instinct to protect her inside of him. Maybe he didn't hover over her and stalk her suitors and follow their every move and purposely talk to someone standing where he could easily see her and her suitor like Peter did did not mean he didn't worry about her.

It did not mean that he would turn around and pretend he hadn't seen it when he would turn a corner and see Caspian with his face glued to his sister's and his hand wandering down her sides and across her back. He loved Caspian but it did not mean he had not wanted to slap his hands away when his arms would wrap around Susan's waist when they were courting. He was not crazy obsessive protective over his sister but he would still wake up in a fit and rush to her room to make sure nothing was wrong. The difference, the real difference, between Peter and Edmund as far as Susan went was trust. Edmund hated to see men flock around her and treat her like she was a possession to be won but he trusted that she would put the suitors in their place when they were going to far.

It was not that Peter did not trust Susan or her judgment it was the boys he did not trust. He did not trust that they would be able to control themselves or obey her when she politely shrugged them off. Peter did not trust those men. Edmund did not either but his trust in Susan was stronger than his distrust for the male race.

If something happened to Susan it was….awful. Agonizing. It tormented him every day. A tearing ripping nagging excruciating agony that killed him piece by piece. But if something happened to Lucy…oh, he could not even think of it!

Perhaps it was a little odd for a young man to be so protective of an older sister but Lucy was his baby sister. If something happened to her, it was his JOB as her big brother, to make her feel better and keep her safe. Lucy. Sweet, innocent, lovable, optimistic little Lu. If something happened to her, he didn't know what he would do. No matter how old she got, Lucy would always be the baby. Whether she was fourteen or forty, Lu would always be the baby. Edmund sighed for a moment.

How nice it would be to be Lucy where there was always a big brother or sister to make everything better.

He took his duty as an older brother very seriously. He was not as obsessive and controlling and paranoid as Peter could be but that was only because he forced himself not to be. He had let so much happen to his big sister and every time he saw those clouds drift over the moon this determination to shut out all the evils of the world to his innocent little sister bubbled and boiled inside of him. He turned to Trumpkin who was slumped miserably in the cage next to him.

"Do you think everyone is okay at home?"

The door creaked open and the young man crept in nervously, stopping several feet before the looming dark figure staring out the window and the icy rain pattering on the tower below.

"Is the job done?"

"Yes my lord. Both kings are soundly in the hospital wing. King Peter will not be walking for at least three or four days without that Queens are on their own my liege."

"What of the other King of Old? He is out. Find him. Before someone else does."

"But milord, we do not where he hath run off to.''

The shadowy figure whirled around and hurled a red tipped arrow towards the younger man. It pinned him down to the wall by the sleeve of his shirt. He shivered. Just an inch to the left and he would have been no more.

"I said find him. And bring him back to me. Oh, and the little girl. Keep an eye on her. Tomorrow, we make our escape with our pretty little friend."

The younger man frowned and pulled the red feathered arrow, Queen Susan's arrow, out of his shirt cautiously.

"But my lord, I thought we were supposed to wait under King Kasim gave the orders? He is hoping to wait quite a while to catch them off guard." he said slowly. Uncertainly.

The shadowy figure snarled and then laughed mirthlessly. "Now think a little. After dinner tonight, The Traitor King will be too ill to open his eyes and King Peter will so drugged with pain relief that he will not be able to remember his own name. The little one is no problem for us and our lovely little friend will be too frazzled and upset to even put up a fight. His Majesty will thank us.''

"And so will his son."

Things were not alright at home.

Peter was gushing blood and screaming about wanting to kill Tristan and ordering the guards to lock his sisters up in their rooms so they would be safe;Lucy was sobbing hysterically, Caspian had no idea what was going on and was not allowed to see anyone and was yelling like a mad man because all he heard was that someone shot at his wife. And Susan, Susan was frantic. She was-she was frantic.

And the Professor gently trying to usher her out of Peter's room because he was freaking out about her being alright didn't help. The Professor cared for both of the Queens like his own daughters and he hated to have to have one of the palace guards physically take Susan out of the room. Lucy was sobbing and wailing and crying as if her heart would break but Susan was an absolute mess.

Her gown was splattered with Peter's blood, she had makeup all over her face, she was screaming Peter's name over and over and she was yelling and babbling and rambling endlessly about a note. She was crying and crying and crying and felt like she couldn't stop. One of the guards had to stand behind her and lock is arms around her stomach, pining her arms to her side just to get her to her bedroom. And that definitely did not go over well.

Not only was she absolutely frantic, she was mad. She was angry. She was so angry. She wasn't allowed to go see her own brother...! And Tristan-oh she couldn't even think his name she was so angry. She hoped he came for her next. Because when he did, she was going to kill him. She was going to kill him over and over and over and over again until he felt even a fraction of the pain he had put her family through.

She was absolutely livid. Lucy had never seen her soft spoken, strong, patient, calm, level headed, sweetly gentle and caring sister so mad. Or scared.

Susan was not just angry; she was terrified. She was totally completely one-hundred and ten percent terrified. She shuddered as she pictured the blood soaked note that had been in her hand the moment her brother and herself were shot at.

The door was wide open. For a split second her heart gave a little somersault and she thought that maybe Caspian had been allowed back into their room. Susan HATED sleeping by herself. After being married to Caspian seeing that empty spot on the bed next to her made her want to cry. She missed him. She missed him so much. She missed him brushing kisses along her shoulders and jaws in the middle of the night. She missed him whispering into her hair until she fell asleep. She missed waking up with his arms around her waist and his chest against her back, his face in her hair. She missed his arms around her and his woodsy musky smell wafting around her. She missed how husky his voice got late late at night and how his hair covered most of his face when he slept. She missed how sweet he could be, almost like a little boy cuddling up to his mommy. She missed waking up in the arms of the one person she loved more than anything in the world. She missed it so much she couldn't stand it. She couldn't stand it. Caspian was the only person she had ever slept with and after only being married for three months she could not even imagine ever sleeping without him next to her. It was like...sleeping in a dungeon. She hated not waking up next to him or feeling his lips moving against her skin.

So she had refused to. She couldn't be in that bedroom by herself. As silly and needy as it sounded, she couldn't. She needed him next to her at night.

She for a week and a half she slept on a chair in Caspian's sickroom. It was not as good as cuddling up beside him and falling asleep in his arms but it was as close as she could be to him.

And so when she saw the bedroom door ajar, she figured that maybe Caspian would be laying on the bed waiting for her. But when she walked into the room, she felt it. When she walked into the room, her skin crawled. There was no Caspian waiting for her and yet the covers were wrinkled and Caspian's pillow was even on the floor, the sheet flipped back. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as her eye caught something laying on her pillow. It was a note.

A slow smile spread across her face. Could this be a note from her dear sweet husband?

As soon as she touched the crinkled piece of paper, she knew it wasn't. It made her fingertips tinge and her stomach churn. She unfolded it and struggled to read the strange looping words that made spots dance before her eyes.

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

Her blood curdled and her knees wobbled and the looped spiky black words danced before her teary eyes. Someone had actually been in their room. He had actually been in there. The very air seemed different. Tainted.

Husband or family, take your pick.

That was the part that scared her the most. Every since Caspian had proposed to her, this terrible fear that someday she would be forced to choose between her husband and her siblings had been slowly but surely, planting roots into her very soul. From the very moment Kasim kissed her hand at their wedding she could see the evil he had in stock for her family. It was right there in front of her, in his eyes. And that was the thing that scared her the most. That someone could even be capable of such evil. How could someone thrive so much on the pain of others? How can someone possibly want to cause another human being so much pain?

How could you even THINK that way?

"Father what are you waiting for! It has been several weeks now, close to a month. Tomorrow is the first of February and not a single soldier has been recruited." Tristan hissed at his father. Kasim gritted his teeth.

"Did you learn nothing from our time at that bloody palace you foolish boy?" he said in a low dangerous voice.

"I told you we were going to observe the Traitor King and his Queen. Or were you too busy making doe eyes at the filthy Narnian to notice how the King acted around her?" he said bitterly.

Tristan blinked several times. He had never been spoken to so in his life. Everyone was too frightened of his father to dare insult his son. Including his sisters.

"Father I-"

"He holds her as if she is the last morsel of food on the planet. He looks at her as if she walks on water. He speaks to her as if every word could be his last. He kisses her like he would die without her. And yet you cannot see why I wait!"

Now Tristan is utterly lost. If the king had been talking to his general or one of the lords he would have punched them squarely in the jaw for their foolishness.

"He needs her. If we take her away from her we take away his life. It is to be said that his soul was utterly shattered when three years ago when her and her filthy family were gone. I have seen him with her he makes his feelings concerning her safety very clear."

"And do you think if something happened to that that dirty minx he would think for even one second of marrying another?"

Tristan shook his head bitterly. He wanted the Queen desperately and this traitor was standing in his way. And when he wanted something, he got it.

"Of course not! If you want to break a king like Caspian X, the only way to go is taking away something he values. I wait for the me this my son, if something happens to his Barbarian queen before she bares him a son, he will never have an heir. For he will not marry another. But we must wait to give them that chance. Imagine the heartbreak of the king when his wife and child are found with arrows through their hearts.''

He turned to his son with an evil smile.

"And with the queen in his bed, I do not think we will have to wait too much longer before we can make our move."

Both men turned to the door when a small gasp was heard from the hallway. Although Kasim thought nothing of it when a snatch of golden skirts vanished around the corner. And perhaps he should have.

Caspian was worried out of his mind. He could not even think straight he was so worried. He was completely in the dark. And that enraged him. He was the bloody High King! If something happened to his family and especially his wife he should damn well be the first to know about it!

All he had heard was that his wife and Peter had been shot at in the hallway outside his and Susan's room. He had no idea that Peter was in the room next to him, gushing blood. Or that his wife was locked up in her room like a mad person sobbing and yelling and crying and fighting.

But the worst was yet to come. And perhaps if he had known that, he would not have left his bedroom to demand to know what was going on. But truthfully, it was all happening with every step he took.