Here we go! Everything begins to come together in this chapter though most explanations will be in the following chapter. I haven't done a disclaimer in awhile, sadly that does not mean I have suddenly inherited the Lewis estate. I'm still just a fanfiction writer with a laptop.
Now:
Peter shivered and pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders; the night air was bitter cold this high into the pass. They were traveling far more slowly than he liked, but he understood Orieus' caution against rushing ahead. No one knew quite where the hidden trap would spring and if they stumbled upon it unawares they too would become trapped and be of no help to Edmund.
They had almost reached the top of the pass when Orieus halted, and signaled a warning to Peter. Peter followed the centaur's gaze and saw the dim outline of a horse and rider against the sky. They stood, silently, at the very top of the pass and seemed to be watching Peter's troupe, though neither horse nor rider made any move to attack or flee. Peter drew his sword and nudged his horse forward, cautious of some trap, but nothing happened. The ground beneath his horse's hooves remained solid and no more horses galloped from out of the night to attack him.
As he neared the figure he saw that it was a very small, slender person, wrapped in a dark cloak with the hood pulled up to hide their face. They made no move to avoid him as he approached and the closer he drew the more familiar the horse appeared. It was Philip. Peter's first thought was one of joy. Ed! But Philip's rider was too short to be his brother and suddenly he felt a rush of anger. He was quite near to them now; near enough to reach out and pull the hood from the other rider's head. Lucy smiled innocently up at him, the moonlight glinting off her golden hair.
Peter glared at her, trying desperately to control his temper. "What have you done, Lucy? What of the guards and their orders to confine you within Cair Paravel?"
Still Lucy smiled. "I climbed down the castle wall and slipped into the stables to find Philip. Really Peter, had you forgotten how Edmund and I used to slip away and climb the cliffs near Cair Paravel? As I recall neither you or Susan were altogether pleased when you found out."
Peter sighed, suddenly weary and sheathed his sword. "Go home, Lu," but his anger had faded and she knew there was no force behind the order.
"But I found it! I found the entrance to the cave; I don't think it's the same one you fell into, but this one is safer." Lucy's eyes were sparkling; she seemed filled with some intense light, far different from the guilty shadow of herself Peter had last seen at Cair Paravel. "Aslan showed me how to find it."
Peter shook his head and turned back to Orieus, who was slowly leading the rest of his guards up the last few yards of the pass to meet them. Orieus bowed to Lucy, but seemed unsurprised by her presence. Peter realised then that while he wasn't pleased by Lucy's recklessness it did not surprise him either; he could not have realistically expected the Valiant Queen to remain behind.
"Lucy, show Orieus what you've found, we'll send scouts to determine if the entrance is safe."
Lucy frowned at him. "It is; Aslan showed it to me Himself. He led me this far safely; won't you trust Him to lead us to Edmund?"
Peter found he could not meet her eyes. All these days I have been praying to Aslan and He has not answered, but He leads Lucy where she needs to go with no such pleading. "Very well Lucy, lead on." He scowled at Philip who had so far remained strangely silent. "Well Philip, what have you to say for yourself? You have disobeyed my direct order to remain behind and have aided Queen Lucy in disobeying my order to her."
Philip hung his head. "Forgive me, King Peter, I am loyal to you and would ever disobey your orders save in the most dire of circumstances." He stamped his hooves uneasily. "But, if you will forgive me for saying it, my first loyalty is to Aslan, and second to my King Edmund. I could not remain behind while he was in danger and my good Queen Lucy assured me that Aslan had spoken to her and was sending her in search of her brother."
Peter nodded, unsurprised. He knew the loyalty Philip felt towards Edmund would always exceed that he owed Peter as High King, but again the mention of Aslan annoyed him. "Well then, we might as well continue on with this foolish enterprise."
They followed Philip and Lucy to the edge of the road until it seemed they would walk straight into the side of the mountain. At the last moment Peter saw a particularly large boulder which seemed to have fallen from the peak and behind it a faint glimmer of light. A small entrance to an underground passageway lay behind the boulder. Lucy and Peter had to dismount to keep from hitting their heads on the low stone ceiling and Orieus had to stoop and shuffle along clumsily in a perpetual bow.
The passageway was dreadfully cramped and lit only dimly by a pair of smoking torches just inside the entrance. Their progress was very slow, for every few steps the passageway twisted off in a new direction and they had to back up slightly so that Orieus and the horses had space to turn. Peter hated to think what would happen if they were attacked by a group of smaller creatures in such a cramped space; he did not even have room to draw his sword.
At last the passageway opened into a larger room which Peter immediately recognized as the cave where he had awoken to speak with Edmund. He briefly saw his brother across the torchlit space; he appeared to still be sleeping, but before Peter could take another step towards him two dark cloaked figures stepped forward and barred their way.
"Trespassers!" The taller one hissed. "You have come to destroy our mistress, we will not allow it!" They drew long, curved daggers from somewhere within their black robes. Peter nodded grimly to Orieus and Lucy and drew his sword.
"For Edmund."
Edmund did not know how long he sat there, staring into the dying coals and trying not to think about what he must do. Surely there must be another way, even in a dream he could not face killing Peter. And if this isn't a dream? What then? I will have fallen for some trick and killed my brother in truth. How can I know? Aslan had instructed him to trust, but how could he when reality blurred around him, impossibly warped and confused?
"Edmund?" It was Peter, looking exhausted with dark circles under his eyes and such an expression of desperation on his face that Edmund could not understand how he had ever doubted him to be real. "We've been looking everywhere for you." Before Edmund could speak Peter had crossed the room and embraced him. "I was a perfect beast to you last night; I'm sorry Ed."
"It's alright, Peter." It's alright, I'm awake now. I have to be. He smiled weakly when Peter released him. "I didn't mean to worry you, I just needed to think."
"And you couldn't think in your room?" Peter's voice changed somehow growing colder. "You had to worry everyone? Half the castle is looking for you."
"I'm sorry."
"Why can't you learn to do as you're told?" But the words were not spoken in jest as they had been often in the years of their reign. They were spoken as the Peter Edmund barely remembered, the Peter from the other place, had often spoken them. Suddenly and terribly Edmund knew; he must have known for some time, though he tried to convince himself otherwise. It wasn't real; it couldn't be. Peter had not spoken to him so harshly and with so little cause in all the years they had ruled Narnia. But I can't, oh Aslan, I can't kill him!
"Do you have nothing to say for yourself?" Peter asked, still in the same cold tone.
"I'm sorry." He was terribly sorry, but he wasn't quite sure what for.
"That doesn't make it better! Saying you're sorry doesn't fix anything!" Edmund saw the blow coming and knew he wasn't fast enough to avoid it. The punch caught him full on the jaw; he stumbled and fell, too weak to do much else. His vision flashed and he tasted blood. This wasn't right. Whether it was Peter or not he didn't deserve this.
"It's not my fault!" For a moment Edmund didn't realise the shouted words were his own. He stood shakily and faced his brother, suddenly confident. "It isn't my fault Peter, not this time. I didn't choose to be captured trying to rescue you. I didn't choose for the Witch to come back; I'm not the one who got Orieus killed. It isn't my fault!"
Peter's face contorted in anger and Edmund knew he was about to strike again. He waited, saw the blow coming, and did they only thing he could under the circumstances. As Peter stepped forward to strike him Edmund put out his foot and tripped him. Peter, in his rage had no time to regain his balance. His eyes widened in shock as he fell, sprawling on the stone floor. His head struck the corner of the fireplace with a terrible dull crack and he lay still.
Edmund's knees buckled and he slid to the floor, shaking. I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to. A slowly growing stain of blood crept outward from Peter's head and Edmund did not need to look closer to see that he was dead, eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling and face fixed in an eternal expression of shock. It isn't real. It isn't real. Peter. Edmund buried his face in his hands and wept.
Crying was all well and good, but Edmund knew that in the end he would have to stop and decide what to do next. If it was all a dream, and he couldn't bear to think it was anything else, then he had to find the Witch next, but how? He lifted his head and wiped the drying tears from his face. Then he blinked and looked around in shock.
He was no longer sitting on the floor in the library next to his brother's body; he was back in the cave though now his hands were free and he was not bound to the tree roots. He stood, cautiously and looked around, puzzled. Then his heart felt as if it would stop beating, for the Witch stood across the cave from him and she was smiling a terrible smile.
"Edmund dear, well done!" She beckoned him to come closer and though he wanted nothing more than to resist he found he could not. His legs felt wooden and not his own as he crossed the cave to stand by her side. "I knew you would not fail me; with Peter dead, no one will dare stand before us!" She smiled again and brushed a tear from his face with her icy hand. "Why do you cry, little king? Isn't this what you wanted; to rule at my side without your brother's shadow always hanging over you?"
Edmund found his voice with difficulty. "You aren't real." But he was no longer as certain.
She laughed and it was a sound like breaking icicles; it set his teeth on edge. "Not real? Of course, I'm real. You're the one who brought me back, Edmund dear. You're the one who wanted all of Narnia for yourself."
"No; I don't. That isn't what I want!" Aslan help me!
"It's too late for that." The Witch's expression darkened. "You killed your brother, Edmund, you can't go back. I'm the only one you can turn to know; I'm the only one who understands you. I killed my own sister, my own people, my whole world. I understand you, little king. Do not dare to betray me again, Edmund."
No; this isn't real. A knife glinted suddenly in the Witch's hand and Edmund knew then what he must do. He drew his sword even as she leapt at him, sudden hatred flaring in her eyes. It was easier than he expected for she did not try to avoid the blade as it ran her through. She laughed, once, a pained and gleeful sound before her body exploded into shards of ice. Edmund's sword dropped from his numb fingers as he slumped to the floor, the Witch's knife buried to the hilt in his chest. He was vaguely aware of the dream fading, replaced by the clashing sounds of weapons and the realisation that once again he could not move.
He struggled to open his eyes and looked down at his chest where the Witch had struck him. The knife was gone but the blood remained, soaking his shirt and staining the pale vines that bound him.
"Edmund!" It was Peter's voice; something seemed strange about that but he couldn't remember why. The cave seemed strangely crowded but he couldn't focus and darkness was creeping back across his vision. Somewhere a Lion roared, but Edmund had no strength to open his eyes.
So...it was almost resolved so nicely, and then it wasn't. At least two more chapters to go, please keep reading and reviewing! Reviews make my day!
