A/N: Yup, that's right. I'm still here and writing. I know it's been a long time (more than a year?!) since I've posted the last chapter, and that's been because of a combination of writer's block, other stories, and real life. But I'm honestly trying to finish this up, because I'd much rather finish up a long story before I start a new one (or continue one). I hope all my old readers will continue reading, and maybe this will bring in new readers, but either way I was motivated to continue by a Guest reader who read this, posted a couple of reviews, and reminded me that I couldn't drop this. So thank you, whoever you are!

Currently in the process of editing and rewriting. Not as much as the previous chapters because this one is more recent, but it still needs a bit of tweaking.

Narnian Forest

Outside Aslan's How

Tempestra's heart was thudding. Up on the wall of the How, the sun beat down upon her and the rest of the Narnian army, but she could barely feel it for the tension that thrummed through her veins. Both the Narnians and the Telmarines were cheering and waving their weapons in the air, but the young woman stayed silent as she squinted down at the dueling area, where Miraz and his closest lieutenants were already positioned.

The Narnian shouts grew louder, and Tempestra looked directly below her to see Peter and Edmund emerge from the entrance of the How. She could not see their expressions as they walked towards the dueling area, but she could see that their backs were straight and their heads were held high. Good. They needed to look confident.

As the Pevensie boys approached, Glenstorm bowed his head and turned to face the Telmarines. Miraz, who was sitting in a chair and adjusting his gauntlets, briefly conferred with General Glozelle. Miraz nodded at Glozelle's crossbow, and received a nod in return before he stood, to the roar of the vast Telmarine army. In response, the Narnians cheered as Peter unsheathed his sword from the sheath that Edmund held. Miraz, looking tense, seized his helmet and unsheathed his own sword. He and Peter both stepped forward towards the center of the stone space and began circling each other as both armies quieted. From her position, Tempestra couldn't hear what they were saying, but Miraz and Peter seemed to be exchanging a few words.

After another moment of circling, Peter lowered his visor. A tense moment later, the two opponents ran headlong at each other. Peter, changing directions, jumped onto a nearby stone and leapt down at Miraz. As their swords clashed and they began battering at each other, their armies roared once more.

It did not begin well for Peter. Miraz slammed his heavy shield into Peter's head, knowing the youth's helmet off entirely. When the Telmarine slashed at his head, Peter whipped his head back and his coif slid off. They hacked at each other, trading blow for blow, as the armies looked on. After a minute, it became obvious to Tempestra that their fighting styles were very different. Miraz, though he lacked Peter's youthful endurance, was more animalistic and slightly stronger than Peter. He used his shield as a ram, battering Peter repeatedly with it. Yet even though Peter took a few hits, he was faster than his older opponent. He sliced Miraz on the back and leg, cutting through cloth to the flesh.

Miraz roared in pain. He stumbled to the side, clutching his leg, as Peter watched, staying en garde. His sweat-soaked hair was plastered to his face, but his expression was fierce as he waited for his enemy to recover. They both yelled – in pain or fury, Tempestra couldn't tell – and charged once more at each other. As Tempestra watched Peter roll on the ground and spring back up, she felt a brief moment of hope. Maybe, just maybe, Peter could win soon and end all of this before it could get any worse.

Her hopes were instantly dashed as Miraz used Peter's own shield to dislocate the youth's shoulder, earning a cry of agony from the young king. The Narnians drew in a shocked gasp and Tempestra's heart quickened, but Peter recovered quickly, rolling to avoid Miraz's second attack, then tripping the Telmarine and getting to his feet. He waited as Miraz rose, but it was clear that the fight was taking its toll on Miraz's endurance. Though the older man's face was obscured, he was clearly panting heavily.

From the corner of her eye, Tempestra saw movement: Susan and Caspian on horseback, riding towards the dueling area from somewhere to the right of the How. Lucy was nowhere to be seen. Peter must have seen them too, because he and Miraz exchanged a few words, and a moment later they circled each other and limped back to their own sides for a brief break. Even from her position, Tempestra could see that Peter was holding his arm, his face in a grimace, and Miraz was clutching his leg.

Tempestra realized that she was gritting her teeth. Below, Edmund went to help Peter as the Narnians muttered worriedly. Tempestra glanced over at the Telmarines and saw Miraz rip off his helmet and throw it down angrily before sitting down and letting his general tend to his leg. Obviously, the duel was not going the way he had planned.

Caspian and Susan joined Edmund and Peter. They conferred for a moment before Peter glanced up at Tempestra then Susan. He seemed to be telling Susan to station herself on the wall, because Susan gave him a quick hug – making Peter grimace - before running towards the How's entrance. Tempestra saw Edmund glance backwards at the Narnians and say something to Peter. In response, Peter turned towards his army and raised his sword, pasting a courageous smile on his face and eliciting cheers from the Narnians.

Tempestra was not fooled. She knew Peter was in considerable agony from his dislocated shoulder. The Narnians could see it too, but as long as Peter put on a brave face and downplayed his pain, they would continue to believe him. The last thing that they needed was to lose confidence in him. They fed off of his strength, he fed off of their support.

"Tempestra?" Turning, the young woman saw Susan, her face grim. The queen unshouldered her bow and gave her a nod. "I'll take it from here." Tempestra wanted to ask her about Peter, but she knew Susan wouldn't give any hint of Peter's condition in front of the Narnians. Instead, she just nodded – jaw still clenched – and ran down to join the others at the dueling area. By the time she reached them, Peter was already walking back to face Miraz.

"How is he?" Tempestra murmured to Edmund, watching Miraz shove aside the helmet that his general offered. Peter was also going in without his helmet. They held their naked swords at the ready as they approached each other warily. They were both tired.

Edmund kept his eyes on his brother as he replied, "He tried telling me his last words."

Tempestra felt her chest constrict. "And?"

"And," Edmund continued as Peter and Miraz walked forward and renewed the fight, "I told him to save it for later."

Tempestra grinned at this, but her smile quickly disappeared as Miraz shoved Peter against one of the stones. When Peter fell to the ground, the Telmarine didn't wait for him to get up again; he hacked at the youth. Still on the ground, Peter deflected his blows and swung his legs around to balance his opponent, who fell in a heap. The two rose again and continued to battle, their movements slower and clumsier than before but more desperate. Theoretically, Peter had the advantage because his endurance was better than Miraz's. If he could keep it together and wait for Miraz to tire himself out, he could deliver a final blow.

A few moments later, Miraz was attacking a weaponless Peter. The young king used his armguards to deflect Miraz's slashes, delivered a backhand blow, then solidly punched Miraz on his wounded leg. The Telmarine roared in pain. He clutched his leg and stumbled backwards, and Tempestra heard him plead for mercy. Fists half-raised, Peter hesitated.

"Now's not the time for chivalry, Peter!" Edmund yelled besides Tempestra. Everyone was tense as Miraz held up a hand to hold Peter off. As Tempestra watched, eyes narrowed, Peter dropped his hands in disgust and began to walk away.

In a flash, Miraz seized his sword from the ground and leapt to his feet.

"PETER!" The name burst from Tempestra's lips before she realized she'd shouted it. At her cry, Peter lunged to the side to avoid Miraz's attack. Turning, he dodged Miraz's sword thrust, grabbed the sword by the blade, and wrested it way from Miraz. In one smooth movement, he swung the weapon around and stabbed Miraz in the arm through a gap in his armor.

There was a collective sharp inhale of shock. Miraz gasped, his eyes wide. Peter yanked the sword out and Miraz fell to his knees in front of him, clutching his arm where Peter had stabbed him. As everyone looked on, Peter drew back the sword, readying himself to behead his opponent. When the young king paused, Miraz glared up at him.

"What's the matter, boy?" Tempestra heard him say. "Too cowardly to take a life?"

Peter was facing away from the Narnians, but Tempestra heard the disgust in his voice as he lowered his sword and replied, "It's not mine to take."

The victor turned and resolutely extended the weapon, hilt first, to Prince Caspian. It was clearly an offer. Everyone stood in tense silence as Caspian, stone-faced, took the sword from Peter and raised it. Tempestra saw him shaking as he drew it back. This was what he had been waiting for. Years of deception, and only days of pent-up fury.

Miraz murmured something to the youth and bowed his head.

Caspian gave a yell, and the sword cleaved through the air. But it did not slice through flesh. Instead, it slammed into a patch of grass in front of Miraz, who looked up in disbelief. Caspian murmured something back to Miraz. Next to Tempestra, Peter let out a long exhale of relief, and Tempestra did the same. She hadn't even realized she'd been holding her breath. But Caspian had done what she'd hoped and scarcely believed – he had spared Miraz's life.

The Telmarines looked as disbelieving as Tempestra felt. Caspian held their gazes for a moment, then turned and walked back to the Narnians, who gave a deafening roar of triumph. Tempestra, smiling broadly, clapped Caspian on the back as she, Edmund, Peter, and Glenstorm crowded around him, smiling in approval. Caspian had redeemed himself, and best of all, they had won. As Tempestra relaxed, a small part of her smugly reflected that they hadn't needed Aslan's help after all. It was over. It was all over. They'd won, and without any bloodshed.

But they celebrated too soon. Tempestra was turning away from the dueling area when something caught her eye. After Caspian had walked away, the Telmarine second-in-command had walked forward and grabbed Miraz, slinging the king's arm around his shoulders to support him as he stumbled back to the other Telmarines. But suddenly, there was a sharp gasp, and everything suddenly went horribly wrong.

Tempestra whirled around. Miraz was lying face-first on the ground, and one of Susan's arrows was buried in his back. As she stared at his dead body, she distantly heard the Telmarine second-in-command yell, "Treachery! They shot him! They murdered out king!" The Narnians stared in confusion, but the Telmarines were already riding back to their army, blowing horns and waving their banners to signal the troops. The battle hadn't been averted; it was back on course.

"That son of a bitch."

Tempestra knew Susan hadn't shot the arrow; from one glance, she could see that the queen looked just as confused as everyone else. No, the Telmarines were obviously lying. The Telmarine who had grabbed Miraz must have had one of Susan's arrows already, and he must have killed his own king. They should have seen it coming – she should have seen it coming. Just because she was in Narnia and not Earth didn't mean that they were exempt from political turmoil, duplicity, and literal back-stabbing. The Telmarines, including Miraz, had never meant for the deal to last, and they had never intended to surrender. Clearly, they had only participated in the duel out of pride and an easy chance to kill Peter.

She had been naïve – no, stupid - to think that the Telmarines would keep their word and the Narnians could win like that so easily. She had been clinging to Earth's concepts of justice and fairness. Here, in Narnia, there was none. No one's promises could be held to the law because there was no law. There was no police to keep violence in check, and there were no courts to make sure justice reigned supreme. In Narnia, it was kill or be killed. Injustice could thrive here amongst anarchy and violence - and it would have to be met in kind. She knew that now: when enemies could not be trusted to keep their word, and there was no chance of negotiation or redemption, they would have to be put down.

A/N: The real battle is up next! Expect lots of fighting!