"PETER, HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING!?"
Edmund Pevensie turned on his heel, and followed the loud voice of his sister as it rang throughout the castle. He observed that all of the residents had stopped whatever they were doing to listen to the mad tyrant of their so called "Gentle" Queen.
"OUT OF EVERYONE YOU ARE THE PERSON I WOULD HAVE LEAST EXPECTED THIS FROM!"
-
There was a moment of silence and Edmund guessed that Peter was trying to calm their sister down.
"EXCUSE ME?"
It obviously had not gone as planned.
"THE FACT THAT YOU ARE OLDER THAN ME GIVES YOU NO RIGHT AT ALL TO DO THAT! DAMN IT PETER!"
Edmund now broke in to a run. His sister never, ever cursed. And she certainly never screamed curse words for all of her subjects and friends to hear.
"OH DON'T GIVE ME THAT LOOK! WHAT IN HELL POSSESSED YOU TO TELL HIM THAT?"
Another pause.
"GO AHEAD AND TRY IT! I DARE YOU TO" His elder sister's tone sent chills down his spine. Peter must have really screwed up to make her this upset.
Edmund began to full out sprint when following Susan's statement, there was a small crash and yelp. He soon reached the door to the throne room and threw it open. His jaw dropped at the sight before him.
His graceful, charming older sister was lying on the floor, a deep scowl across her face and her gold tiara left abandoned on the floor a few feet away. The worst part was his kind, caring older brother had pinned her down by the shoulders, his own crown sitting askew on top of his head.
"Will you just listen to me?" Peter asked her, desperation evident on his face.
It was very rare that Susan ever got riled up, but the other Pevensies knew that when she did, it was quite frightening.
"No Peter, I will not listen to you! Why should I listen to anything a lying, scheming, turns-his-back-on-his-sister scum bag like you has to say?" she asked him, struggling under his grasp. But Peter had always been a well built young man, while Susan was rather petite, making her efforts completely useless.
"What in the name of Aslan is going on in here?" Edmund asked, finally stepping in. Peter turned to acknowledge him, but Susan simply continued to glare at her brother.
"I'll tell you what's going on. Your older brother decided that it would be a good idea to tell that creepy Prince from the Lone Islands that I would consider his marriage offer and that I would be more than happy to accompany him to the dinner ball here at the Cair being held in his honor." She seethed, turning her head to look at him.
"You mean the one with pumpkin shaped head and crooked nose?" Edmund asked, thinking back to her most recent suitor.
"That's the one" Susan said disdainfully.
"But I thought we labeled him a definite no a few days ago when he sang that awful song to confess his undying love for you" he pointed out.
"So did I" She turned her head back to glare at Peter again,
"So imagine my surprise when Prince Whatever His Name Is comes up to me and says how excited he was that I had not declined his offer as abruptly as I usually do and that he was very much looking forward to spending Friday evening with me"
"Well what's the big deal then? On the night of the ball, just grin and bear it, and then you can dump him the next day" Edmund asked, confused by how out of proportion Susan was blowing this.
"Thank you" Peter sighed, appreciative that his brother understood.
"That is so not the point!" she shrieked.
"It isn't?" Edmund asked meekly.
"No! The point is that my brother cares more about this country's allies and public affairs than his own sister!" with her last words, she mustered up all of her physical strength and shoved as hard as she could, causing Peter to topple off and lose his grip on her.
She then walked briskly to where her crown was, picked it up, placed it on her head, and proceeded to storm out of the room.
When she was gone, Edmund simply turned to stare at his older brother,
"Nice one" he stated dryly.
Peter scowled as he straightened his crown,
"Well it's not my fault she's so dramatic"
Edmund stared at him incredulously. What was coming to the world? Susan getting pissed and Peter not caring?
"Are you serious? Do you even realize what you just did?"
Peter sighed and slumped his shoulders as he walked towards Edmund,
"Of course I do, and I feel terrible about it"
That's more like it Edmund thought.
"But that doesn't mean I didn't do what I did without good reason. Our alliance to the Lone Islands is very important, especially since it's been rather strained lately" he said, defending himself.
"So you figured it would be worth it to jeopardize your sister's happiness?" Edmund asked shaking his head slightly,
"Of course not! Nothing is worth that!" Peter said, appalled that Ed would even think that he would do something like that.
"Than what in the world do you call what you just did to Susan?" Ed asked, proving his point. His older brother simply stared at him with guilt spread across his face.
"That's exactly what I thought"
He then proceeded to follow his sister's footsteps and exit the room. He immediately headed for the gardens, where he knew was Susan's favorite spot when she needed to think or wanted to be alone.
Edmund found her on the swing that sat between two tall oak trees, where the sun broke through artistically and a beautiful array of flowers were planted all around.
Susan's eyes were downcast as she dug her feet into the ground, causing the swing to slowly sway.
"What do you want Edmund?" she asked, not even bothering to look up as he drew closer.
"How'd you know it was me?" he asked, sometimes amazed at the things that his sister knew.
"Peter shuffles his feet and Lucy usually skips everywhere" she answered with a small trace of a smile.
Edmund laughed lightly as he took a seat on the swing next to his sister.
"You know that Peter didn't mean to make you upset? For Aslan's sake, he would rather die a horrific death than see you unhappy" he started, diving head on in to the subject instead of beating around the bush.
Susan sighed softly as she nodded slowly,
"I know. It's just…" she drifted off, turning her head to look up at the sky.
"It's just that I already feel useless around the castle, and having Peter set me up on dates just to save the country doesn't really make me feel any better"
"What do you mean useless?" Edmund asked, confused.
"Well Peter always deals with wars, and important matters, you always take charge in any matters of law and justice as well as being a huge help in wars, while Lucy is the little ray of sunshine who makes everything better and is always attending to public affairs. Then enter me, the stereotypical queen who pretty much just waltzes around the castle and looks pretty" she explained, her eyes returning to look at the ground.
Edmund frowned as he looked at his sister. Is that really what she thought of herself?
"Su, look at me" he told her. She raised her head to look him in the eye.
"That is not true and you know it. Without you, this entire kingdom, not to mention me, Peter and Lu, would completely fall apart. If you think that you're nothing more than a pretty face, well then you would be terribly mistaken. You're the glue that holds everything together, the brains of the operation. I can't imagine that we would have even made this far without you to help us through every step of the way"
Susan narrowed her eyes slightly,
"You're just saying that because you're my brother and you have to be nice to me, aren't you?"
"Of course not! Every single word of that, and more, is true."
Edmund leaned over and hugged his sister tightly, a gesture which she gratefully returned.
"I don't want you to ever think that you're useless again, because that couldn't be further from the truth" he told her as he released her from the hug and stood up, offering his hand to her to help her up.
Susan looked up at him and took his hand, a warm, genuine smile gracing her features. When she was up, she enveloped her little brother in another hug.
"I love you Edmund"
"Love you too Su"
oOoOoOo
A/N: So yeah, sweet and short. I had gotten a request for an Ed/Su sibling fic, and I hope that this meets the requirements. I know that there was only about a page of actual siblingness between the two, but I hope that the time where Ed is defending her also gives off the same sense. If this isn't quite Ed/Su enough, I'd be more than happy to give it another go. Just say the word! A reminder that I do take requests. Read and Review please!
Useless is a work of fanfiction. All canon characters, places and events belong to C. S. Lewis. Only non canon characters, places, events and the plot of this story belong to me.