HIDDEN CURSE
Edmund: 16
Peter: 19
Susan: 18
Lucy: 14
Thanks again for all the reviews. You guys are so lovely.
I apologize in advance for the ridiculous names some of these centaurs have been given.
WARNING: MILD CURSING.
Chapter 5: Arguments and Decisions
Peter's eyes snapped open at the sound of someone screaming. He bolted upright, and looked around widely with bleary eyes. His eyes fell on Edmund, who was thrashing and screaming in his sleep.
"Edmund! Wake up! It's okay, it's not real! Wake up!"
But Edmund wouldn't wake up. Peter tried everything: he shook him, he shouted in his ear, he hit with pillows, he tickled him, he pounced onto him, he forced him to sit up, but none of it worked.
Peter watched Edmund thrash, scream, and moan incoherent things into his pillow for the better part of an hour. Then Edmund just stopped moving, and continued sleeping like nothing had happened.
It was four in the morning, but Peter had no desire to go back to sleep. He sat and waited for Edmund to wake up, mulling thing over in his mind. He rubbed his eyes, which were still sore from earlier. That sealed it. He'd sworn to protect his brother no matter what the cost, and he wasn't going to fail again without trying. Edmund would be furious with him, and it could cost him that. At the same time, he could deal with Edmund's anger if he knew it was going to save him. He couldn't just sit idly by, bating the time until his brother's demise. He had to try.
Finally Edmund stirred, rolling over onto his back. He groaned and put his hands over his face, "I feel bloody awful."
When Peter's congested voice said, "Yeah, you look it." Edmund's eyes flew open, and looked surprised to see Peter there. He had clearly forgotten that he was in his brother's room, otherwise he would have never muttered that.
"Close the curtains, will you? The light is making my headache worse."
Peter went over and closed the curtains, blocking out the pale morning sunlight. He walked back over to the bed, and stared at the lump of blankets that was Edmund.
"Are you okay?" He knew the answer, but didn't really know what else to say.
"No. And I'm not going to be," came Edmund's muffled voice. He had put the blankets over his head.
"Ed, you need to stop that. You can't keep thinking like that."
"Why? I'm just saying how it is."
"Because I can't believe you're just giving up so easily! Edmund Pevensie never backs down from a fight. So where is he?"
He heard Edmund's exasperated sigh from underneath the blankets. "Edmund Pevensie is also practical and realistic. And this is him being both."
"But-"
Edmund's head emerged from the blankets. "Look, just shut up, okay? Your voice is making my head pound, and like I said last night, don't argue with me. I'm not in the mood."
Peter pursed his lips. "Fine. I'm going to breakfast, are you coming?"
"What kind of torture are you trying to subject me to? No. That would be stupidly futile." And his head slipped back under the blankets.
8888
An hour later Peter walked into his room to find that Edmund hadn't moved from where he left him. He climbed back into bed beside Edmund, and at the shifting of the mattress, Edmund pulled the blankets off of his head.
"How are you feeling?"
"Amazing."
"I wanted an honest answer, Ed."
"You're not getting one. How are you feeling?" Smirking as snot dribbled out of Peter's nose.
"Probably a lot better than you." Edmund nodded in agreement.
"Are you going to get out of my bed sometime today?" Peter asked with a playful smile that didn't reach is eyes.
"Nope, I think I'll stay here. Plus I get dizzy if I move too much."
Peter's smiled faded. "I could carry you to your bed-"
Edmund looked mortified. "You are not carrying me anywhere. I don't see why I can't stay here, it's not like you need your bed right now."
"Alright. Then is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" Peter asked trying to be compliant with Edmund's grumpy mood. Peter couldn't blame him.
"Yeah. Leave me alone."
8888
Edmund's mood wasn't likely to lift any time soon, so Peter decided he better get his plan into action. He found Orieus in the armory and walked up to him with a sense of importance.
"Orieus, I need to hold counsel with all the centaurs. Counsel will be in two hours, please spread the word around."
Orieus wanted to question what this was about but didn't at the look on Peter's face. "My pleasure, your Majesty."
Peter offered him a weak smile, "Thank you."
Two hours later Peter was holding counsel with a few dozen centaurs. They looked up and down the high table confused. Edmund was always present when they held counsel.
Peter spoke in his best commanding tone, drawing all the eyes onto him. "I have called this counsel to discuss a manner that weighs seriously on the well being of Narnia. I apologize profusely for the short notice, but I am sure that will become irrelevant as I reveal the manner at hand." Peter paused, sweeping his eyes across the room full of silent, respectful centaurs.
"King Edmund the Just has had a curse fall upon him that may severely shorten the time he spends with us." There was muttering among the centaurs.
Peter waited for it to die down before speaking again. "In order to reverse this curse, I need to find a fellow centaur who is as old as time itself, in the forest of Tyran. If any of you good centaurs have any information on the forest of Tyran or your fellow who resides in it, I kindly ask you to step forward."
There was an angry grunt from the corner. "He is no fellow centaur."
"I am deeply sorry for offending you good sir. But as King Edmund's life remains the price, it is prudent that we lay aside our prejudices, and share pure knowledge."
The angry centaur, bowed his head. Peter nodded at him in forgiveness.
A small centaur with a deep voice stepped forward. "Your Majesty, it is rumored that this centaur's name is Cornuck. He lives in the beastly forest of Tyran," he paused looking to Peter for his permission to continue. Peter nodded encouragingly, and he continued. "He holds all the knowledge to the world since the beginning of time, yet he is cruel. He does not share this information easily, and not without…payment."
The way the centaur said payment, Peter had a feeling it wasn't money or harvested goods. "Thank you, gentle fellow. Now how does one find this Cornuck, and urm…pay him?"
He was met with silence. Peter raised his eyebrows, and swept his eyes across the room again in the most commanding way possible.
A much older centaur stepped forward, his grey tail swishing. "Legend has it that he lives in the largest tree in the forest. The only way to gain an audience with him is too…weaken one self, so he is able to gain power over the intruder. For the matter of payment, one must accept a dangerous quest to bring him back some wanted object from another land."
"Thank you." Peter nodded towards him.
"Many thanks to those who stepped forward and volunteered information, I now must ask of you something else. Please do not take this the wrong way, but I kindly ask for assistance on my journey to the Tryan forest to save my brother. This will be terribly dangerous, and I ask those that have families to remain behind. But if anyone should want…"
Orieus stepped forward. "I, Orieus, will follow your lead on this journey, your Majesty." Peter bowed to him.
Another centaur stepped forward. He was old, but his torso was strong, and marked with many scars. "I, Rarnus, will follow your lead on this journey, your Majesty. I have been to the forest of Tyran before, and while I have sworn to never enter it again, I will do so for the sake of my country's Just King." Peter bowed to his knees at this.
No one else stepped forward; Peter rose from his knees. "Many thanks to Orieus and Rarnus, if we survive this journey, you will be regarded with the highest honor. Thank you again for coming on such short notice. Counsel dismissed."
Peter slipped through the back door, and headed to the library. He had a lot of reading to do.
8888
Edmund hadn't bothered to show up to dinner or lunch, and upon his request Peter had instructed his sisters to leave him alone. Now that the sun had set, Peter had decided that it was time to have a much needed discussion with Edmund. A discussion that Edmund was not going to like one bit.
Peter entered the room quietly, finding Edmund reading the book Peter had thrown aside the night before. Edmund looked up. "If you want your bed back, I can move now. You look exhausted."
Peter brushed the remark off, "No, you can stay there. We need to talk."
Edmund's smirk slipped away as if someone had smacked him. He had a sinking feeling as to where this was going. Peter turned around to face him, looking him square in the eye.
"I'm going to the forest of Tyran to find the centaur, Cornuck with Orieus and Rarnus. My. decision is final."
Edmund's mouth fell open, his eyes burned with anger and disappointment. "Have you lost your damn mind? One king gone is enough, but Narnia cannot lose her High King," he hissed.
"She cannot lose her Just King either," Peter replied smoothly.
Edmund's face turned red, and considering how pale he was, Peter couldn't help but notice that he looked like a freckled tomato. If this had been any other argument, he would have pointed this out.
"I know what this about, High King Peter," he spat Peter's title. "It's about your effing pride, and idiotic oaths to keep me safe. It's about you feeling like you have failed. It's about you feeling helpless. Well I'm sorry you feel those things at my cost, but use your head for a minute."
"I have used my head Edmund, and this is what conclusion my head has drawn." Peter was refusing to get angry, and this made Edmund livid. He hated when Peter tried act like the bigger man, when in reality he was being the biggest moron ever.
"No, I'm sorry I don't think you have. If you go off to Tyran forest and get yourself killed, it will be down to Susan and Lucy. They are perfectly capable of running Narnia on their own, and they could do it extremely well, but this works because there are four of us…" Edmund faltered realizing he'd just played into the hands of Peter's argument.
"Four, which will be soon be three. Unless I do something to try and prevent that," Peter said quietly.
"Are you daft? Yes you can try, but what if it comes down to only two? Then where will Narnia be? Can't you see that it is better to let one king die, and not risk the death of another!" Edmund was shouting now, but lowered his voice to a hoarse whisper for what he said next. "You're going to just have to accept it Peter, and by Aslan the day that I die, I hope you find it in yourself to carry on. Because that's what I want. I don't want you possibly dying at the hands of some foul centaur named Cornuck."
A single tear escaped, and trailed down Peter's cheek. "And I don't want you dying at the hands of a foul curse from an evil woman."
Edmund bore his gaze into Peter's cracking blue eyes, and held it until Peter looked away. He watched Peter pace, fighting to regain his composure. Five minutes later, Peter walked over to the side of his bed. He clasped his hands behind his back, and used the voice he used in counsel.
"This is what is going to happen Edmund. You are going to take a drop of Lucy's cordial to slow the curse down. I am then going to proceed to the Tyran forest. It is final, so there is no point in screaming yourself hoarse."
Edmund opened his mouth to say something, "Don't argue with me. I'm not in the mood," Peter shot, using Edmund's own words against him.
Edmund clamped his mouth shut, and gave Peter a death glare. Peter soaked it in, it may be possibly the last time he'd see Edmund give him one. "I'm going with you," Edmund said slowly into the silence.
"You will do no such thing, Edmund. You are to stay here."
"But the cordial will slow it down, I can come with you. I can help you. I can, can…protect you." Edmund looked away.
"Who's protective instincts are coming out now? But the answer remains no."
Edmund opened his mouth to protest, but Peter cut him off. He knew this was going to be a low blow, striking when Edmund was already down. But he knew this was the only way to get Edmund to do as he was told.
"I understand, Ed. But you're going to get worse, no matter how much the cordial slows it down. Soon you won't be able to defend yourself properly, and I will have to defend for two. And…and what if something happens as a result of this? What if I get injured because I have to defend you as well? What if, what if I die…?"
Edmund looked like he had been punched in the gut, and made no move to try and hide his hurt. "You don't know how long this is going to take, you could come back with the damned apple but I could already be dead," he whispered.
Now it was Peter's turn to look like he'd been punched in the gut. "No. My decision is final," he whispered back and left the room to get Lucy.
8888
Lucy and Peter had at first gone back to Peter's quarters to find it empty. Edmund had made his way back to his own bed, and had drawn the curtains around him. Lucy gently opened the curtains, and smiled cheerfully. "Open up, Ed."
Edmund's lips remained together, as if someone had glued them. Peter was soon beside Lucy. "Now, Edmund," he told him in a hard voice, but his eyes were even harder.
Edmund opened his mouth just a smidge, and Lucy quickly pounced, and forced a rosy drop down his throat. Edmund's glare was met with Lucy pecking him on the forehead, and skipping off. He turned his glare onto Peter.
"I cannot believe that you are doing this."