So somebody completely made my day today with an awesome review. XD Thanks Rasberry! That is exactly what I like to hear; what you like about the story, and stuff that bugs you. I can't get better if I don't know these things. So... I super like this chapter. Honestly, Edmund is one of my favorite characters, especially in my stories. :p Cause he just rocks like that. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I do!

Chapter 4: A burning and how Edmund learns to make tea

Peter slept uneasily that night. Susan had come home from Archenland, but Lucy had stayed there and was not coming home till the end of the week. Susan had been in good spirits, but still Peter was restless. Ed had noticed it, and had suggested that they retire early that night. Peter was forever grateful to how understanding his brother had become. He thought mostly of Katriana, and how paranoid she was most of the time. He thought that he might be getting through a little to her, but he wondered what wrong move he would make that would send her back into her fear.

He rolled over and sighed as he thought of the conclusion he had come to. Abuse. She had definitely suffered at the hands of some cruel man, which was why she was so afraid of him at first. The way she shied away at any raised hand, her fear of being alone with him; they all pointed to it. The only thing that did not make sense was her skin. It was flawless. One would think that a victim under such fear would at least have scars or some sort of markings that would show their trauma. But she had none. Yet still she lived in fear. Peter toyed with this thought for hours before he finally drifted off into a restless sleep.

He woke to the feeling of someone shaking him violently. It was Mrs. Beaver.

"King Peter, you must come quickly! Katriana has taken quite ill in the night, and nothing that we have done has helped her!"

At this he sprang up so fast that he was dizzy for a moment. But he regained his balance quickly and raced to the maids' quarters as fast as he could, leaving poor Mrs. Beaver waddling behind. His mind raced for answers, but none came.

~*~

She was walking through the woods. It was dark; so dark that she could hardly see where she was going. The forest was thick with trees and branches. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a light appeared. But this is not one of those dreams where the light at the end of the tunnel means hope and second chances. This light was the terror of all her worst fears, though she did not realize it yet. She was more concerned about who was holding the light; him.

She stood there, paralyzed with fear, as he held the torch in front of him. She wondered if he saw her. His face seemed to be getting closer, though he wasn't moving. Finally it was so close that she could see his dreadful gray eyes. She couldn't move. He seemed to be holding her there; a captive forever. Then he moved out his hand towards a tree that she now realized he was next to. He held out the torch towards it, and then she realized what he was doing. She screamed.

~*~

Peter heard the scream as he entered Katriana's room. He saw her lying on her bed, covered in sweat, and Alia was next to her, holding her down. Alia looked up at him with a frantic look in her eyes. Grimmel was also there, holding towels. She turned to Peter.

"She's been in a disillusioned fever for an hour now, your majesty. She keeps talking about trees, and being found. Her fever spiked a few minutes ago. She never seems to realize that we're here. She doesn't seem to know where she is."

As Grimmel was talking to him, he was walking over to the bed. As he drew near he saw that though Katriana's eyes were open, they were glazed over and open unnaturally wide. Peter sat on the edge of the bed and put his hand on her forehead. She was burning up. Her breathing was sporadic and labored. Peter grabbed one of the wet towels that Grimmel was holding and wiped Katriana's face with it. He heard Mrs. Beaver talking to someone in the hallway. He turned and saw Susan and Edmund standing there.

"Susan! Did Lucy take her cordial with her to Archenland?" Peter asked.

"I'm afraid so, Peter," Susan said sadly. She had managed to put shoes on and grab a robe before coming. Edmund and Peter however, did not, and their bare feet and open-chested nightshirts were quite a shock to the maids that were there.

Peter continued to keep the cool cloths on Katriana's head as he tried to think of what to do. She moaned, and arched her back off the bed. Alia pushed her back down. Katriana started mumbling, like Grimmel had told him. Peter looked desperately at his siblings. Susan nodded mater-of-factly, and said,

"I'm going to go get one of the centaur healers. They might be able to help. I will be back in a little bit." She walked out of the room to go get an escort and her horse. Ed stood there looking helpless. Finally he shrugged his shoulders and said,

"Well, I guess now's a good time to learn how to make tea." He turned and left as well. Peter heard Katriana say something, and he turned back.

"The torch! Grab the torch! Get it away!" she started to thrash about in the bed and Peter and Alia tried to hold her down. Alia shook her head sadly. She turned and looked at Peter.

"Do you think the healers will be able to help her?"

Peter didn't answer right away. "I hope so."

Alia turned back to Katriana. She sighed and rested her head on one of her hands.

"You should get some rest. You've been up all night. I'll take over for now." She looked at him warily, but he nodded, so she got up slowly and walked to her room. Peter turned back to Katriana. He put a new towel on her forehead. He prayed that she would make it till the healers came. She was sweating so hard and breathing so heavily that he wondered what was going on inside her head. Her breathing suddenly became much faster and her face contorted as she clenched her fists. Peter grabbed her shoulders, prepared to hold her down should she start thrashing again.

She let out a blood-curdling scream, and grabbed her leg. Peter held her down as best he could, but she was surprisingly strong considering what poor condition she was in. Her body shuddered violently, and her breath came in short gasps. A few of the maids ran back in. Mrs. Beaver and Edmund came rushing in, and Ed was carrying a tea pot. He looked as awkward as could be, but nobody really noticed at that moment.

Peter held Katriana's shoulders so that she was completely pinned to the bed. Alia had rushed back in, and was holding a towel on Katriana's face now. Katriana continued to moan in pain, but after a few moments she calmed down a little. She closed her eyes and lay there with fists still clenched. Mrs. Beaver snatched the tea pot away from Edmund, and poured some in a cup. She gave it back to him quickly, and he almost dropped it. Mrs. Beaver took the cup and poured some of the tea down Katriana's throat. Katriana choked on it, and some of it came out of her mouth, but Alia mopped it up. Katriana was able to take a few gulps of it after that, and then she settled into a sudden stillness that seemed very unnatural.

Everyone in the room was quiet. Peter turned to Alia and nodded again, so she left. Most of the other maids began leaving one by one, until only Peter, Edmund, and Mrs. Beaver were left. They were silent for a long time before Ed ventured to say,

"Well, I guess the tea did the trick!"

Mrs. Beaver shook her head. "She's not out of the woods yet, your majesty. Her fever is still too high. But sleep is going to at least calm her down a bit so her body can rest from all of those spasms she was having!" She waddled around the room, straightening things up and gathering the wet towels.

Peter looked at Mrs. Beaver very hard for a quite some time. Finally he said, "What did you put in the tea, Mrs. Beaver?"

Mrs. Beaver wouldn't look him in the eye. "Oh, well… just some herbs that have very nice calming effects, that's all. Now, you two should get back to bed! I'll take over from here. When Queen Susan and the healer get here I'll send her up as well."

Edmund nodded and waited for Peter to follow him to the door. But Peter said,

"If it's all the same to you, Mrs. Beaver, I'll stay here for a while. I'm not that tired, and I don't think I could sleep now anyway."

Mrs. Beaver hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and said, "Suit yourself, your majesty. I'll be close by if you need anything." With that she waddled out of the room, with Edmund following her.

Peter turned back to Katriana. Her breathing was so slowly that he wondered for a moment if she was breathing at all. She looked so tired and drained. He sighed and thought of the pain her body must have gone through to make her spasms so violent. He took her hand in his and was surprised at how cold it was, considering her fever. He covered her up with a blanket, and then began the long process of waiting.

About half an hour later, Susan arrived with a female centaur name Vakja, who spent some time examining Katriana. She was extremely surprised to find that her fever was gone, and that she seemed to have suffered no other symptoms. Vakja did say, however, that Katriana's lungs were surprisingly weak, but she had no real explanation for this. She said that Katriana's lungs seemed to have experienced a lot of exposure to smoke for an extended period of time. Vakja gave them something in case her fever came back, and also some herbs to put in tea. This would help her throat not be so sore from the cough Vakja predicted would come.

Susan went to bed then, and the healer left. Peter stayed with Katriana through the night. Hours passed with her still not moving. He wondered if Vakja had been wrong. Katriana seemed to be more in a coma than just asleep. He held her hand the whole time. He studied her dark eyelashes; the curve of her neck; her round lips. Eventually he began to get drowsy, so he propped his head up with his other hand. He was just dozing off when she moved.

He sat up and saw her eyes barely open. She blinked several times; then looked around the room without moving her head. Her eyes finally came to him, and surprised registered on her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but Peter put a finger to his lips.

"You came down with a very bad fever in the night. You were… disoriented for most of the time. A healer named Vakja came and took care of you, as did Mrs. Beaver and Alia. You're all right now, but Vakja said that your lungs are quite damaged. She thinks that it was probably from smoke. Were you exposed to a large amount of smoke?" Peter asked her.

She lay there without looking for him for a while. He wondered if she would answer him. She seemed to be debating with herself over something, but Peter had no idea what.

"Katriana?"

She looked at him; finally. He couldn't read the emotions in her eyes. "Yes," she said with a slight croak. This startled him. She hadn't been like this before.

"How long ago?"

She pursed her lips together and shook her head. "You won't believe me."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"You just won't."

Peter sat back, slightly upset. "Try me."

She gave him a look that said I told you so. "Last night." She coughed.

He looked at her for quite some time. "Where were you?"

She sat up and wheezed a little. Katriana stared out the window. "In my room."

He glanced out the window to see what she was looking at. The sky was just starting to show signs of sunlight. "So, there was a fire in your room?" This wasn't making sense.

She sighed, and ended up wheezing at the end of it. She held her chest. "Right here."

"I don't understand."

"I know you don't."

"So explain it to me!"

"I can't!" she exclaimed, turning to look him in the eyes. "I can't risk it." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Then I can't help you." Peter lowered his voice as well and leaned a little closer to her. She held his gaze for a few moments, but then lowered it.

"I'm sorry."

"You can trust me! I want to help you!" He squeezed her hand without realizing it. That was a mistake. She drew her hand away immediately.

"I didn't ask for help. I just wanted a job. I'm sorry I've been so much trouble." She was shutting him out. He could tell. Her voice became very monotonous. He folded his hands in his lap and bit his lower lip.

"Maybe you didn't. But that doesn't mean that I can't give it. I think you should understand where I'm coming from. I've been looking after people; protecting them and taking care of them for three years now. It's instinct to want to help. And I am a king here. It's my job to make sure that everyone is all right!" His speech did not sway her. She continued to look down, this time playing with the edge of the blanket. He sighed and leaned back. He looked at her for a moment; then got up.

"When you're tired of dealing with it on your own and being scared, let me know." He paused and turned to look at her. She was looking at him again now. "I'll be here." With that he walked out and shut the door behind him.

As soon as he left she drew her knees up to her chest and cried her heart out.