A week later things were pretty much back to normal. The Narnian kings and queens were still visiting and Cor and Corin were back to causing trouble. But there was still one problem. Cor had not been able to bring himself to tell his brother what he had done. Corin knew something was definintely been going on, because King Lune had barely let Cor out of his sight, and he made sure that Cor was never alone for long. But Corin still had no clue as to what it was that was going on and he was worried about his brother. They were joking around more, and his brother appeared to be the happiest he had been since he had arived in Archenland, but still, Corin was worried. He felt that he needed to know, so that he could be there for Cor. He had to come up with a way to get Cor to tell him. He had tried tricking him into telling him what had been going on, but maybe he should just confront his brother. As they snuck back out of the kitchen after snagging some cake in a couple on pieces of cloth and sticking them in their pockets, Corin tried to figure out exactly what to say. When they got outside they quickly slipped into the orchard and started to climb up into an apple tree. Cor seemed happier than he ever had, but Corin still felt that he had to know.

He took a deep breath and managed to finally ask what he had been wanting to for over a week. "Cor?"

"Yeah?" Cor answered as he absently started to unfold his napkinful of stolen sweets.

"There is something that I have been wanting to ask you. I have tried to figure out exactly what has been going on with you without coming right out and asking, because you told me that you would tell me when you were ready, but I really want to know. You are my brother, and I care about you, and I just want to make sure that you are alright. I just want to know so that I can help you with whatever it is. Can't you understand that?" His voice trailed off, not exactly sure whether he had done the right thing, or said the right thing, or even if he should have said anything at all. Maybe he should have just waited on his brother to tell him.

"Corin, I know that I should have told you sooner, but I just wasn't ready. And to be honest, I am not sure that I am ready now, but I know that you want to know and I know that you only want to know so that you can help me, so I will tell you, but it isn't going to be easy for either of us, and I just want to warn you of that ahead of time. Okay?" Cor said all of it in one breath. He was more nervous about telling his rambunctious brother than he was his dad. His dad was aware of the kinds of things that had happened to him, and he had known that his dad would at least be somewhat calm about it, but he had no idea whatsoever about how Corin would react. Okay he had been scared out of his wits to tell his dad too, but at least he had had King Peter to help him. He took a deep breath trying to calm himself without making it obvious to his brother just how nervous he was about explaining the whole thing. He knew that it would hurt his brother to know just how deeply everything had hurt him, and just how hard it was to talk about it, even to Corin.

"Okay, Cor. You really don't have to worry about me freaking out or anything. I am going to try to be really calm about whatever it is. I know that will probably help you, won't it?" Corin wasn't sure why he said all of that, but he hoped he was helping his brother. He could tell that Cor was really nervous, and not doing a very good job of hiding it, although it was obvious that he was trying not to show it.

"I don't know how to tell you this, because I know that it is really going to upset you, and I hate to do that, but I guess I have to explain it soon. It wasn't just that they made me work back there..." And then he launched into his story for the second time, but this time trying to explain it so that his brother would understand. His dad knew what went on in the kind of situations he had been in, but is brother didn't and that made it all the harder to explain. By the time he finished his story Corin was in tears and Cor wasn't sure exactly what to do.

Finally Corin managed to put himself together enough to tell his brother what he had been thinking the whole time. "I wish I had know sooner so that I could have helped you. I hate it that you felt that way. I'm sorry."

"It certainly isn't your fault. I should have known better. Then I never would have been in this mess."

"You shouldn't blame yourself."

"I know. That is what Dad said too."

"So, do you think you have really quit? Like you won't do it again?"

"I hope so. I don't like doing it. It scares me every time I do it. There have been multiple times every day that I have felt like doing it, but the past two days it hasn't been quite as bad. I haven't gotten too, though. Either Peter or Edmund or Dad has been there to stop me."

"And now you have me too," Corin said in an almost overly cheerful voice.

It wasn't going to be easy, they both knew that, but now Cor's family knew, and somehow, somehow it would be alright. He would still feel like he needed to cut himself sometimes, and there would be days that he still was hurting over what had happened to him, and it would be hard to deal with it, but now that his dad and his brother knew, he wouldn't have half a chance to slip back into the mess that had bound him for months. Yes, it would be alright.

A/N: So, I hope all of you liked it. As I said, this was something that I felt I really needed to write because I used to struggle with it. I hope I haven't offended anyone, but if I have, I won't apologize, because of what I just said.

A/N 2: So now my focus will be on A Narnian Mystery. However I can't promise frequent updates, because I am working on getting some stuff ready for college (a.k.a. West Point). But it is going to take a lot of work because I need a lot of math and science (which I don't like). :)

God Bless,
Ashleigh