Disclaimer: I do not own The Chronicles of Narnia

A/N: This takes place the day after the last one. I'm toying with the idea of writing more about Priscus...I just like the idea. Not so sure that I'm good at action scenes though.

Edmund had accepted the guards that Patrouse had assigned a pair of dogs; one looked like a Mastiff and the other like an English Bulldog. He knew there were others, but Jago and Pasco were the two he met first. Unlike Peter, Susan and Lucy, Edmund spent most of his time in the law library or the Great Library, depending on what he was looking up. He worked alongside a faun named Priscus, who was from a long line of historians and law experts. For Priscus, having the opportunity to study the books preserved in Cair Paravel was the high point of his very long life. As he told Edmund one day as they researched Dwarf law after a dispute, he had seen five summers before the White Witch sent the Long Winter.

He was the only one Edmund felt really understood him, if not entirely, then at least enough that they were friends. Today, they were in the Great Library tracking down journals written by Centaur stargazers in response to an obscure law granting the stargazers unusual access to the Royals in Narnia. Edmund was curious to know if this was based on fact, or if there had been a King who had depended on the stargazers for advice in ruling Narnia.

Just as Edmund reached the corner of the Library that they thought would hold the scrolls, he heard a faint thump. He looked around, then shook his head, it was either his imagination or another scholar was in the stacks. Edmund bent over to take a scroll from a lower rack and when he straightened up; he found a dagger embedded in the wooden frame. He spun just as the knife thrower came out of hiding. "No!" Priscus shouted, he came around the frame as Edmund froze, faster than his age suggested, throwing himself in front of Edmund as the knife thrower cast again.

Time seemed to slow down for Edmund, he could hear the odd thump of the knife striking home and the strangled gasp from Priscus. As he stared, the elderly faun fell to the floor, a knife in his chest. "Run," Priscus whispered. "Run, my King."

Edmund looked up at the knife thrower and ran. "Pasco, Jago," He shouted as he sprinted into the stacks. He managed to end up by one of the large fireplaces just as Jago found him. "Assassin," he panted out, dropping his head for a moment. "He, oh God, he got Priscus."

"Majesty," the bulldog said, "you must go. We will find this killer."

"Where," Edmund asked.

"I'll show you," a fox said, "it's this way."

Edmund took a deep breath and followed the fox as Jago bounded back the way he'd come. They reached the main aisle, and Edmund started down it for the doors. "Majesty, look out!" The fox bellowed.

Edmund, a veteran of many games of football, dropped, one leg extended like he was determined to kick a winning goal. He slid across the polished wood floor and under a table. Glancing around, Edmund saw his sword hanging from the chair with his bag and he slid out to grab it, turning just in time to block another sword. He stared at his attacker, different from the last one. A faun, he thought as he blocked a second strike, and then a third. "Edmund!" Susan shouted behind him just as his cloth 'indoor' boots slipped on the hardwood, sending him sprawling.

The swordsman sprouted two arrows in rapid succession, and as he fell over, Edmund realized that this one was human.

"Edmund," Peter said, coming up beside him.

"I'm ok," Edmund said, still staring at his attacker.

"The other one got away, your Majesties," Jago announced. "I think you should come see this, however."

Peter helped Edmund up, and the brothers followed their guide to where Pasco was pacing in front of a blank wall, growling. "What happened?" Peter asked.

"I was tracking the other one," Pasco growled, "the one as killed the Historian. He vanished right here. His smell is all over this wall, but not beyond it."

"Maybe it's a secret passageway," Edmund offered.

Peter stared at him a moment, "Edmund, what happened?"

Edmund took a shaky breath, "Priscus and I were researching a queer law we found. We were back there," he pointed, "and, I bent down to get something and when I stood up, there was a knife embedded in the frame of the scroll racks. Then Priscus…" he stopped.

"Ed," Peter said, gripping his shoulder tightly, "I need to know."

"He jumped in front of me," Edmund said, fighting back his tears. "He took a knife for me and told me to run."

Peter turned, "Where were you?" He asked Jago and Pasco, his voice harsh.

"The library was empty," Jago said, "we stayed to watch the doors as they are the only entrance and exit."

"Clearly the library wasn't empty," Peter snapped.

"There was no one here," said the fox. "I check when King Edmund and Historian Priscus decided they needed to come to the Great Library. Cade and I were both patrolling the walls when King Edmund shouted."

"Who leads Edmund's guard?" Peter asked, "I want to speak with them this instant. Clearly there has been a great misunderstanding in his selection and an honored Historian has paid the price.

Priscus, Edmund thought, feeling tears sting his eyes. The faun had been the only friend he'd made in Narnia, and now he was dead; killed to protect him, Edmund, the one who had betrayed Narnia. The price is too much, he thought, remembering Aslan's warning about the cost he might pay for his ignorance. Aslan, this price is too much. Edmund leaned into his brother's warm grip on his shoulder as the world began to spin around him. He locked his knees to keep from swaying as a loud rushing sound filled his ears. He could barely hear his sword as it hit the ground, nor his brother shouting his name as he sank into comforting darkness.