Author's Note: I'm sorry for the short hiatus, but I think I'm ready to start writing again. This isn't my best chapter ever, but it will have to do. Thank you for all of the prayers! :)

Song for this chapter: Crawl by Breaking Benjamin

Edmund and Ari slept soundly through the rest of the night. No nightmares for either of them. Edmund was broken from his deep sleep by a sharp rapping on the door. He raised a hand to wipe the sleep from his eyes. Ari was still curled into his side, her head resting on his chest. Her breathing was slow as she slept on, unaware of the noise coming from the door. He gently moved her off of him and covered her back up with the thick red blankets. He felt irritation rise in him as the knocking continued at a very fast pace. He quickly put on a robe and rushed to the door. He threw open the heavy wooden door and saw his older sister's smiling face.

"What?" He snapped at her irately. "This had better be important." Edmund looked back into his and Ari's room to his sleeping wife. She stirred slightly, but remained asleep.

"Ed," Susan began in a reprimanding voice. "It's lunchtime."

"Oh." Edmund said dumbly. "We had a late night."

Susan's eyebrows shot up into her hairline and she opened her mouth to speak. Realizing that his words had a double meaning, he backtracked. He could imagine that his appearance only backed up what his sister had been thinking.

"Not that kind of late night!" He amended. "Ari had one of her nightmares last night."

Susan's smile falter and her brow creased slightly, showing the worry she was feeling. "Is she alright?" She asked, leaning to try and see into the room past Edmund. He sighed.

"No. But she will be." Edmund said to his sister. She surveyed his slightly distraught look.

"Ed...What really went on when she was taken?" Susan asked, knowing the back of her mind that what happened was much more than a beating.

Edmund shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He paused for a moment of thought, and each of those thoughts cut him deeper than any knife ever could. After a moment of thought, he turned and pulled the door to his bedroom closed.

"I hope you know she won't be very happy if she finds out that I told you." Edmund said, basically telling her that she needed to keep her mouth shut. Susan nodded.

"Fine by me. You know I'm not going to tell anyone." Susan said, rolling her eyes. She crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall. In the back of his mind, Edmund wondered if Susan was worried about wrinkling the green dress she was wearing.

"Okay." Edmund said, taking a deep breath. "Ari and I were ambushed when we went for a short ride in the woods. We were only out there so she could tell me something important without having to worry about other people overhearing."

"What did she need to tell you?" Susan cut in.

"I'm getting there!" Edmund snapped. He pinched the bridge of his nose again. The next words he spoke cut him deeper than he thought they would. The wounds were still fresh, and the words brought the pain to the surface all over again. "Su...She was pregnant."

Susan's hand flew to her mouth as she tried to cover her sharp intake of breath. "Oh, dear Aslan, no..." Susan breathed. Edmund nodded solemnly.

"The baby didn't even stand a chance with what those monsters did to Ari." Edmund seethed. He wasn't sure whether he should be sad, or angry at everything.

"Edmund, I'm so sorry." Susan said, pulling him into a tight hug. "I know how much a child means to the two of you."

"It's not your fault." Edmund mumbled into his sister's shoulder. He looked up at her with a pained expression. "If anyone is to blame, it's me. I didn't-"

"Edmund Pevensie!" Susan snapped, effectively cutting him off. "Don't you dare go and blame this on yourself! You didn't do anything-"

"Exactly!" Edmund shouted. "I didn't do anything that I should have done! If I had protected Ari, like I promised I would the day I married her, then our baby would still be alive!"

"You don't know that, Edmund." Susan said, giving him a hard look. Her eyes softened as she spoke her next words. "Beating yourself up over something that is not your fault is just going to make healing that much harder."

Edmund's shoulders slumped. "I know." He said, his words coming out in a huff. He crossed his arms across his chest in a childish manner. It made Susan remember that even though he had once been an adult, he still had a lot of growing up to do, as did she and her siblings.

"Ed." Susan said, snapping her fingers in front of his face when he got a faraway look in his eyes. His entire body jerked as he lifted his head quickly. "Go wake Ari up and get ready for lunch. They'll have already started without us, but that's okay."

"Very well." Edmund said in a very formal tone. Susan frowned. He only ever did that when he was trying to cover up how he was truly feeling. He normally used it at parties and galas to cover up his disgust with all of the court women.

Before she could confront him on her thoughts, he turned on his heel and locked the bedroom door behind him. She shook her head and walked down the corridor, her green dress swishing behind her.

Edmund slumped to the ground against the door and put his head in his hands. He felt like screaming, kicking something, and overall just being destructive for a few minutes. When he finally looked up, a pair of green eyes were staring at him curiously.

"What happened, Ed?" Ari asked, climbing off of the bed. She came and crouched before him, laying pale white hand on his cheek.

"Nothing that you haven't already told me wasn't my fault." Edmund muttered. Ari tilted his chin up so his brown eyes stared into hers. Her gaze was piercing, like she was trying to bore a hole into his thoughts. After a moment of staring, she sighed and straightened.

"I guess it was Susan at the door." She said, opening the wardrobe in the corner of the room. She selected a flowing pale blue dress and threw it over onto the bed.

"I thought you were asleep." Edmund stated, getting to his feet.

"I was. But then I woke up and noticed you weren't still in bed, and I heard voices outside the door." She replied, pulling her sheer blue nightgown over her head. She slipped the new dress on and turned to Edmund, tossing him a pair of black pants and a green tunic-style shirt.

"It was Susan." Edmund admitted, changing his own clothes. Ari walked over to the mirror on the vanity and sighed as she looked at her short hair.

"It sounded like you were angry about something." Ari said, pulling a brush through her hair.

"I was." Edmund replied as he pulled on a pair of black boots.

"Well," Ari began as she donned a pair of slippers. "We had better get down to lunch before Susan has a cow."

Edmund chuckled. "Yes, let's." He said, taking her arm. The pair then proceeded to head to lunch with the other royals.

Author's Note: Yes, I know this chapter is pretty much just a filler, but… Yeah. I need to get back into the swing of writing. Leave a smiley face if you liked it!