Beth never went to sleep. She drifted from one euphoric dream to the next, and then opened her eyes to find that the still light of morning lit the left side of the bed. Lost in a blur of new memories, it took her a moment to realize she was alone.

Edmund wasn't beside her. She sat up quickly. "Ed?"

"I'm here." He said quickly. He had been standing in the windowsill, looking out at the country. She turned at his voice, a hand flying to her heart. He was already crawling back into bed and had her face in his hands before she could draw breath to speak.

"Did you think I had left?" He asked, a note of teasing in his voice. He kissed her. "I would never."

Beth grabbed him, clutching his loose nightshirt in her fists and holding him tightly. "I thought you were gone again!" She choked.

Edmund tensed. Then he pressed his lips into her collarbone and stroked a finger lightly down her spine and under the covers. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

"It's alright." She said. She crawled into his lap. He stacked the pillows behind his back and pulled the covers over both of them. "My love . . ." he crooned into her hair. "My love. . ."

The honeymoon could not last forever. The plan Edmund helped develop against the witch was to be set into motion the next day. Both of their lives were at a risk. Edmund did not want to put Beth in such danger, but he knew the reason Aslan had sent him there. In order to make Beth realize her own strength and courage, it had to be so.

She was terrified for his sake. "What if you're killed?" She asked before they were separated on the battlefield. He put on a brave face for her. "I don't think I can die twice."

"Then what if I die and we're separated again?" She spoke softly in fear. Edmund thought it might be more for the separation than the death. It made his heart ache. "Do what you have to, Beth, and don't worry what happens. I'll follow wherever you go."

He kissed her ring before she had to run off, because the plan was all about timing really. As far as Edmund's experience went, he knew this plan was impossible to pull of; but as great as his faith in Aslan was, he also knew that it would work. They would win. Beth would discover herself. His job here would be finished and he would have to leave, but he was worried it would destroy her again. She had strength where strength could be built, but he wasn't sure about her strength when it came to matters of the heart; Susan's words kept replaying in his mind as he fought on the battlefield.

I don't think she would survive it again.

Susan was good at a couple of things, and reading people was one of them. If Susan thought Beth couldn't handle it . . . He couldn't think about it now. He was going back to Aslan one way or another. If it was all the same, he had rather not go painfully.

When the fighting was over, Edmund wasn't sure who had won. He had slipped into a trance, killing those who came close to him as quickly as possible like the old days. When no more came, he snapped out of it and searched for Susan in the war-torn field. He found her kneeling beside the steward, frantically trying to stop blood from flowing out of the stump of his arm. She was crying.

"Susan," Edmund said, reaching her.

"Get some firefly serum!" She cried. The blood looked unnaturally bright in its quantity. The steward was pale and shaking. Edmund glanced around and saw some young soldiers looking on. "Get the surgeon!" he barked. They hopped to obey him.

"We need the serum!" Susan sobbed.

"We haven't got any, Su. They're fetching the doctor." Edmund said. He removed his belt and tightened it around the steward's shoulder. The man yelped in pain despite his weakness. Susan stroked his brow. "Please don't die, Ardrew." She whispered.

Suddenly, Edmund knew why his sister was panicking. The knowledge warmed his heart like a sunrise might warm his back, but he was looking into the night, distracted by unbidden images of Beth bleeding in the grass where he couldn't get to her. He dashed the thoughts away, shooting a glare at more of the on-lookers.

"Where is that surgeon?" He barked again. More people ran off to look for the doctor. Edmund gently pushed the distraught Susan to the side and took over her efforts to staunch the blood flow. She gave Edmund room but remained at the steward's side, and continued to do what she could for him.

The sight of the steward's blood began to make Edmund sick, when never before it bothered him, simply because the man loosing it meant so much to his sister. He had been fighting beside a brother after all.

"You'll be okay, Ardrew." He told him. "The doctor is coming."

When the surgeon finally got there, the intelligent young man patched the steward up like all of his amputee patients. "It looks hopeful." He reassured Susan.

"Oh thank Aslan!" she gushed. Ardrew stirred on the rocking gurney.

"'S that me lady? . . . ah," he said half focusing on Susan's profile. She choked and moved closer to him. He reached for her with the arm he no longer had. The stump wriggled. He winced and looked down at it, then out to the battlefield. "'Ave you seen me arm?" he laughed deliriously, and that, for some reason, made Susan laugh through her tears. Edmund shook his head at the pair of them.

"You," he said, stopping a passing soldier. "Have you heard news of the other group?"

"ED!" Beth cried then. He saw her running over the hill toward him. Her face was shining brilliantly, and her laugh reached him across the distance. Edmund breathed easily for the first time, and relaxed. All who he cared for were safe.
She crashed into him and hugged him tightly, still beaming and laughing. She kissed him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Are you all right?" he asked.

"Never better," She told him. Her voice revealed how well she had risen to the occasion.

"That's . . ." Edmund's eyes fell on a majestic lion as He came over the hill towards them. "Great." Ed finished remotely. Beth looked around and gasped. He held her closer, but called over his shoulder, "Su."

The smile Ardrew had drawn from Susan fell and she allowed the gurney to go ahead without her, when she saw Aslan. She looked back at the steward, and then at Edmund sadly.

"Aslan," Susan said, gracefully sinking to her knees in reverence when He reached them.

"Hello, Dear Hearts," the lion said, looking at them each in turn, ending on Beth. He smiled. "If it were possible to have a favorite . . ."

Beth smiled widely and Aslan chuckled. He turned his smiling eyes on her husband. The pair kept eye contact for a long minute. Then the lion broke the silence. "Edmund say your goodbyes."

Edmund put his arms more tightly around his wife. She held onto him as if she would never let go. Susan closed her eyes and two fat tears rolled from under her eyelashes.

"Must I?" Edmund asked softly, knowing the answer. The lion nodded.

"But—" Beth started.

"Can she come with us?" Edmund asked desperately.

"That is out of the question." Aslan said gently. "Beth has still much more to do."

"Don't take him!" Beth pleaded.

"I must, My Heart. You are to return to England. He can not go back there."

A sob escaped Beth and Edmund rested his chin on the top of her head. He wasn't crying, but his eyes were deep with sorrow. He stroked her hair in silence.

"Aslan, please," Susan choked suddenly. "I never want to return to England! I have nothing there! Ardrew—"

The lion made a cooing noise in his throat. "Susan, I said Beth shall return. You shall stay here, with your fiancé."

Susan gasped and choked in happiness. "Oh Aslan!" She threw her arms around the great lion's neck and said thank you.

"That's not fair!" Beth cried. Edmund shushed her, softly muttering in her ear. Whatever he said, it didn't work.

"No!" She cried.

"Bethany." Aslan said with a hedging tone. "Walk with me."