Chapter 8: Peter

The elder Son of Adam was discussing something with Aslan and his brother, but when Aslan saw me looking at the trio he sent Peter over to me. I gulped, knowing that now I had no choice. Now Peter would be wondering what I wanted to say, and how Aslan knew I needed to talk to him.

"Aslan said you wanted to speak with me?" Peter asked, eyes twinkling curiously.

I glanced back at his brother and Aslan, and saw Aslan was speaking quite seriously to Edmund. I wondered what they were talking about before Edmund nodded to Aslan and gave me a quick, guilty look. I drew in a deep breath and turned back to Peter. "Yes, I would. It's about your brother."

Immediately Peter stiffened, then forced himself to relax and allowed his eyes to search my face, a small sigh escaping his lips. "I suppose I shall have to get used to creatures asking if Edmund is trustworthy, wont I?"

"Well, it's not just me wondering if Edmund can be trusted," I said quickly. I wondered who I was trying to convince more- Peter or myself. "I heard Lucy had to give him some of her cordial. How badly was he injured in the battle? What happened to him?"

Peter's face hardened at the memory. "He didn't do what he was told," Peter finally said.

My blood boiled. I was about to speak up, probably saying unkind about Edmund and how he hadn't changed a bit, when Peter spoke up again. "And because of it, he saved my life."

Saved Peter's… I gulped, all angry thoughts toward the boy disappearing, finally taking a better look at Peter's face. I saw pain, anger, guilt, and fear all rolled into one giant package. "What happened?" I managed to whisper.

Peter's hand wrapped around the hilt of his sword and seemed to put it in a stranglehold. "We had created a battle plan, and we quickly set everything up, everyone in their places. The loss of Aslan was taking it toll on us, but everyone was determined to fight their hardest. I had told Edmund to remain with the archers to keep him from getting hurt and he, albeit reluctantly, agreed," Peter smiled wryly. "Well, actually, he agreed not to fight as long as he wasn't needed elsewhere."

I nodded in approval. Obeying his king, but protecting his people and land at the same time. "If he was with the archers, why was he hurt so?"

Peter shook his head. "He wasn't with the archers when he was hurt," Peter began to rub his fingers on and around the hilt of Rhindon, though I doubt he noticed. "The unicorn I was riding was shot with a spear and I was thrown to the ground. The Witch was coming toward me and I didn't have a chance to fight her and win. I'd only been holding a sword for a few days; compared to her knowledge and skill, that was nothing. Oreius and a Rhinoceros went after her in order to protect me," Peter's eyes glinted suspiciously, though I chose not to mention them. "Oreius was turned into a statue while the Rhino later had to take some of Lucy's cordial."

I shook my head in amazement. My fellow Narnians had really put their trust and faith in this young human. They really believed he would help us get through this curse. I was beginning to wonder if they weren't wrong.

"I could only watch as the Narnians fell right and left around me. A faun dropped by a minotaur just a couple feet away from me, two griffins fell right out of the sky by the Witch's spear and wand. I couldn't do anything to save them. I knew that things were going badly, so I ordered Edmund to take the girls and get them home safely. I didn't have time to make sure he listened to me, but I knew he would. I trusted him."

"If he had just left, he wouldn't have gotten injured, either," I stated, thinking through all the information and stowing away the fact that Peter trusted his brother to ponder later. "Was he injured before you gave the order?"

"No," Peter said softly. "No, he disobeyed, and knew full well that he was. And he couldn't have done it for a more noble reason."

"More noble reason- saving you," I murmured, putting the facts together.

"Yes," Peter said, voice still soft. "And no."

"No?"

"He didn't do it just to save me. He did it for all of Narnia. And a small bit of me wonders if he did it in order to-" Peter stopped talking and rubbed a hand against his temple. "I didn't see the White Witch until I heard Edmund's yell, and the sound of something shattering into pieces. Edmund had managed to ambush the Witch and surprise her just enough to stab her wand in half."

I whistled, impressed. For everything I knew Edmund had faced in her hands, standing up to her like that was extremely brave.

Peter shook his own head, obviously upset. "He never saw it coming," he said, his voice a mere whisper. "I saw a bright flash of light when the wand broke, so maybe he was blinded for a second. I suppose he was just surprised that he had managed to break her wand, and stood there for just a second- only a second- but it was enough. She stabbed him with the broken wand, and all I remember was shouting his name as he fell. Then I went after the Witch."

Either these Son's of Adam were unreasonably brave or irrationally foolish. What were they thinking, rushing the Witch with only a few days practice?

"For a couple minutes the Witch played around with me, not giving me any life-threatening blows but not giving me any real hits, either. Then Aslan appeared on the hilltop, and she took advantage of my shock and pinned me to the ground. The next thing I knew Aslan defeated her and," Peter shrugged. "You know the rest."

"So Edmund nearly died for you?"

Peter stood up straighter and gave me a look I'll never forget. Fierce devotion and overwhelming love threatened to take over his face, and I took it all in. "No. Edmund didn't nearly die for me. He did only for a few seconds, but he wasn't breathing. He was gone, and if Lucy had been a few seconds later he would not be breathing right now."

I blinked, wondering at the young human in front of me.

"I take it you've forgiven him, then," I said.

Peter's look of surprise was quite evident. "Of course I've forgiven him. Do you know what he went through? There's no words to describe the hurt and pain he's already been through. Why punish him more by not trusting him? Every time- every single time- someone gives him a look of anger, or disgust, or hatred, every time someone makes it known that they don't trust him, Edmund takes it without a word, and only his eyes give away the hurt and self-disgust he feels himself. To not believe he's changed, after everything that's happened, after Aslan-" Peter stopped, biting his lip softly, before continuing.

"Look, I should go find my brother. Last I saw after he finished talking to Aslan he was trying to convince a Couger and a dryad to let him help take down a tent, and they refused. Knowing him, they'll need some backup. He never did like laying around resting when he got sick, why should that change now? You should find Susan and ask her what happened last night. Ask her about the Stone Table," Peter said before he walked away, still softly biting his lower lip.

Stone Table? I swallowed hard, wondering what Peter had meant when he said the 'Stone Table'. I knew full well what was supposed to happen there, that traitors got killed on the Table. Technically I should have died on it. I was a traitor to the Witch, after all. Probably the only reason I wasn't was because She turned me into stone instead.

Putting these thoughts far back in my mind, I quickly took his advice, turning toward the other tents in search of the second Daughter of Eve.

A reader asked if Tumnus was upset about what Edmund did, after the little outburst he had with Oreius in the last chapter. I read this chapter and found that, yes, Tumnus was a little angry. So I started polishing up this, and made some changes. Hopefully you can see a bit more of what Tumnus is feeling, but I have no doubt that some are still curious to what Susan is going to say. However, I think that this chapter turned out pretty well! What do you think?

An apology is an order for the shorter size of this chapter. I tried, I really did, and I made it a couple hundred words longer when I polished it up, but this is the best I could come up with without having Peter and/or Tumuns ramble on and on about anything and everything. Forgive me?