Note: Chances are I won't be able to update tomorrow, as I'll be at a family reunion. Hopefully the next chapter will be up Sunday. However, to be kind, I decided to combine what had been chapters 9 and 10 (both fairly short) into this chapter, so you have a bit more to chew on. Of course that means that there will be a total of 33 chapters eventually, if you're keeping count.
Warning: This chapter contains a vivid, rather violent nightmare scene, along the lines seen in "Malum Somnium".

The three siblings set off, after leaving signs at the Cair in case Edmund stumbled on it. Heading west, they did not get very far before realizing that they had hit their first stumbling block. Apparently, the peninsula on which Cair Paravel had stood in their time had been pinched off to become an island. "I suppose," Lucy stated tentatively, "we could swim across."

"I think…" Peter began, but then stopped as something in the river caught his eye. It was a rowboat with two figures sitting in it. The three ran forward, at first hoping that they could flag down the rowers for aid.

As they got to the bank, though, they realized that something was wrong. The two figures were getting ready to drop something in the water. Peter's eyes narrowed as he saw that it was a Red Dwarf. He thought the armor of the two – men? – looked familiar, but he did not have time to place it as Susan's shout "Drop him!" and one of her arrows frightened the men. They dropped the Dwarf in the river and dove off the boat themselves, one of them catching another arrow as he moved to fire his crossbow.

Peter darted into the water after the Dwarf, vaguely noting Susan giving her bow and quiver to Lucy before following him. He managed to bring the bound Dwarf to shore as Susan dragged in the boat. Just as quickly, Lucy handed Susan her things and drew her own dagger to cut the Dwarf's bonds.

They waited as the Dwarf composed himself. His first words startled them. "Drop him! That's the best you could come up with?"

Susan looked nonplused. "A simple thank-you would suffice."

The Dwarf did not seem to care for such niceties. "They were doing just fine drowning me without your help."

His ungratefulness and derisive tone towards Susan angered Peter. "Maybe we should have let them."

Lucy gave Peter a look, letting him know that she did not approved of his bad manners. "Why were they trying to kill you, anyway?" she asked the Dwarf.

"They're Telmarines. That's what they do."

Peter felt a chill that had nothing to do with his wet state, and everything to do with this new information. "What are Telmarines doing attacking Narnians? And so far east?"

The Dwarf snorted in derision. "Where have you been for the last few hundred years?"

Since Susan and Peter were busy exchanging shocked and worried glances, Lucy answered him. "It's a bit of a long story."

Talk of Telmarines reminded Peter of his unarmed state. Bending over, he picked up Rhindon and his shield from where he had dropped them to enter the water. He noticed the Dwarf staring in disbelief at his weapons, then eyeing the girls' as well. The Dwarf shook his head. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. You're it? You're supposed to be the kings and queens of old?"

Peter held out his hand, glad to see even a grudging recognition of who he was. "High King Peter, the Magnificent."

The Dwarf eyed his hand skeptically and Susan bit back a giggle. "You probably could have left out the last bit."

As the Dwarf chuckled in agreement, Peter's anger burned in his humiliation. It took a great effort not to hit the insolent Dwarf, and he did remove Rhindon from its sheath. "You might be surprised."

The Dwarf, obviously a warrior in his own right, did not look impressed. "Oh, you don't want to do that, boy."

Though Peter had intended to challenge the Dwarf himself, the word 'boy' made him pause as a better idea entered his mind. "Not me. Her."

Peter nodded to Lucy who glanced back in surprise. He usually didn't care for her dueling, and here he was proposing the idea. Though wary, she slowly drew Edmund's sword. Peter held Rhindon out for the Dwarf to take, but the Dwarf hesitated. "I don't fight little girls."

Now, Peter knew Lucy had one of the kindest hearts in existence. But he also knew that one thing that could make her angry at someone is if they disbelieved or disdained her martial abilities because of her age or her sex. She was the Valiant after all. Peter was not disappointed in his inner prediction, as Lucy's eyes narrowed. "If I'm just a little girl, then you shouldn't have any trouble beating me. Unless you don't think you can."

With that challenge, the Dwarf really had no choice but to accept Rhindon. He took a half-hearted swing at Lucy, which she easily parried and turned into a quick thrust at her opponent. The Dwarf barely got his sword up to block it. The exchange slowly increased in speed and intensity as Lucy called upon all the training she had gone through under General Orieus and Edmund. Finally, with a flick of her wrist, she disarmed the Dwarf.

Peter watched proudly as the Dwarf fell back on the sand, disbelief written on his face as he muttered, "Beards and bedstands, bested by a little girl."

Lucy's kindness emerged again in her victory and she gave the Dwarf a hand to help him up. "That was a good match. You nearly got me a few times, Mr…"

After a brief pause, the Dwarf realized that she was seeking his name. "Trumpkin. And no 'Mister', I'm not that old."

Lucy smiled at him, and Peter watched Trumpkin's embarrassment and anger melt, as usually happened when Lucy smiled. "I'm pleased to meet you, Trumpkin. I'm Lucy, and this is Susan. And you were already introduced to Peter."

Trumpkin nodded at each of them, but then frowned. "I'm no expert, but shouldn't there be four of you? Where's King Edmund?"

Peter's eyes tightened. "We…were separated from our brother when we came back to Narnia." He didn't like the worried look his words brought to Trumpkin's face. He was already inwardly fretting about Edmund wandering through a Telmarine-infested Narnia.

"Guess something was wrong with that horn, then," commented Trumpkin.

Susan's ears perked up. "What horn?"

Trumpkin quirked a grin. "I thought you, of all people, would know your own horn."

A little miffed, Susan glared at the Red Dwarf. "I left it on my saddle, the day we went hunting for the White Stag. It was not in the treasure chamber at Cair Paravel, so we didn't know what happened to it."

Trumpkin stared at her. "You mean there actually is a castle lying around here?"

"A ruin," answered Peter shortly and impatiently. "And we should probably head back there to get you some weapons, Trumpkin. While we walk, you can tell us what you know about Susan's horn and the Telmarines." It was less a suggestion than an order, a command from someone used to being obeyed.

Luckily, Trumpkin did not protest, so, as they headed back to the Cair, he started telling the three Pevensies about leaving Trufflehunter's den only to stumble on a semi-conscious young Telmarine. "Let me tell you, that was a right surprise. So I went to go cut his throat…"

"What!" exclaimed Lucy in shock.

Trumpkin managed to look slightly ashamed of himself. "Er, I mean knock him out and take him for questioning. But then I saw that horn lying next to him. Now, I'm not much for the old times, but I've heard Trufflehunter tell the stories enough that I could recognize it blindfolded. So I left the kid alone and went after the Telmarines who were pursuing him."

"Wait," interrupted Susan. "If he was a Telmarine, why were the others chasing him?"

Trumpkin gave a shrug. "Didn't know it at the time, but the kid just looked scared and his friend, who returned about then, went after the other Telmarine soldiers. I figured one dead Telmarine was as good as the next. Anyway, then I was captured and dragged all the way to the Telmarine castle at Beaversdam."

"Beaver's Dam!" exclaimed all three at once. Peter's anger just grew as he thought of Telmarines infesting the home that had once belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Beaver.

Trumpkin nodded, obviously not really understanding their upset. "I was brought before the Telmarine lords, and Miraz, the Lord Protector, accused me of kidnapping his nephew, Prince Caspian."

"The young Telmarine who had Susan's horn?" guessed Lucy.

"Yah, but I didn't know then. Learned everything later when I was sitting in the dungeon that night. A man came to my cell, told me he was a half-dwarf named Cornelius, who worked as the royal tutor in the palace."

"Half-dwarf?" asked Susan, not remembering any from their own time.

"When the Telmarines took over, some Dwarfs, and almost all the human Narnians who weren't killed outright, intermarried with the conquerors. Anyway, this Cornelius told me that he had helped Prince Caspian escape because Miraz wanted to kill him."

Lucy looked confused. "Why would he want to kill his nephew?"

Trumpkin smiled slightly at her innocence. "Apparently Caspian is the rightful Telmarine king, since he's the son of the old king, Caspian IX. His throne was basically taken by his uncle, who only needed him alive as long as he didn't have an heir himself."

"I'm guessing his wife had a baby," commented Peter dryly.

"Yah. So Caspian escaped with one of the royal stableboys and headed south where they ran into us."

Susan frowned. "A stableboy?"

"Cornelius said he was a descendent of some of those human Narnians." Trumpkin grinned cheekily. "Me, I think he looked enough like Caspian that he's probably the Prince's bastard half-brother."

Though Susan gave Trumpkin a displeased look, Peter couldn't help but laugh. Luckily, before Susan could turn her glare to him, they reached Cair Paravel and busied themselves with arming Trumpkin. As they fitted him to a bow, Lucy asked, "What happened to Prince Caspian and his brother when you were captured?"

"Well, I was caught soon after someone, probably Caspian, blew the horn – I'm guessing that's what called you lot. Last I saw, Nikabrik was knocking Caspian out, and the stableboy was falling off his horse."

This rather upset Lucy. "Oh, I do hope they're alight!"

"They're Telmarines, Lu," pointed out Peter roughly.

Susan, being contrary, said, "Well, the brother at least might be part Narnian. And if Caspian was being taught by a half-dwarf and was entrusted with my horn, we can assume he knows something about Narnia."

"Just having the horn will be enough for Trufflehunter," added in Trumpkin. "If I know him, he'll have had them both healed by supper. And then he and Glenstorm will have had this Prince Caspian leading an army of Narnians against the Telmarines by breakfast the next morning. They were already worked up enough about the echo of the horn."

"Echo?"

Trumpkin shifted his bow as they left the treasure chamber. "About…almost 4 months ago now, we heard an echo of the horn. Glenstorm, he's the leader of the Centaurs, he said that it wasn't time to move against the Telmarines, but that the echo was a sign that the time was nearing. Now, with the horn actually being sounded, he and Trufflehunter will be itching to find a way to put Prince Caspian on the throne."

Peter frowned inwardly. He didn't like the sound of this Telmarine boy leading Narnians in battle while seeking his own throne. Of course, he did not trust Telmarines in general to think of anyone other than themselves. "We should head to Trufflehunter's den, find this Prince Caspian. I'm sure he'll need us if he wants to fight a war."

"What about Edmund? We can't just stop looking for him, not with Telmarines wandering about everywhere!"

Susan's insistence was beginning to frustrate Peter. Yes, they needed to find Edmund, but they needed to help Narnia too! "The situation's changed. We can still look for Edmund as we go, we'll just have a direction other than just 'west'. Besides, if Ed hears about a Narnian army gathering, he'll head straight for it. Finding Caspian is probably the best way to find Edmund."

"Are you sure that's really why you want to find Caspian?" asked Susan, her voice dripping with pointed disapproval.

The air between the eldest siblings was cold with tension. Not liking it, Lucy piped up with a suggestion. "We can take the boat up Glasswater creek."

"That's probably a good idea," added Trumpkin, who was eying the High King and, supposedly Gentle, Queen warily.

Luckily Peter and Susan put aside their argument and agreed to the plan. They headed back to the rowboat in silence, no one commenting on the fact that Peter had never really answered Susan's question.

~*~

By their second day rowing up Glasswater, moods had deteriorated even further. Susan and Peter were barely talking, leaving conversation almost solely between Lucy and Trumpkin. Peter generally kept to his own thoughts as he rowed. Mostly he mentally went over their intended path, and potential strategies to attack the Telmarine forces. But, despite his efforts, Peter's mind kept being blindsided by his anger. Anger at the invasion of Narnia, the destruction of his land and people, and even at Edmund for being so stubborn and not taking Peter's hand at the train station. If he had, Edmund would be here, with his siblings; he would be supporting Peter in his leadership of the group and helping combat Susan's disgruntlement.

Peter tried to ignore the fact that Susan had been right in at least one point: Peter could have grabbed Edmund's hand, despite his reticence. But Peter had to ignore his own culpability; if he thought too hard about it, he would spiral into a cloud of guilt and fear, knowing that, even as Peter set up the campfire, Edmund could be in Telmarine hands. And Peter didn't think he could handle that again.

Unfortunately, though Peter could move his thoughts away in daylight, in the dreams of the night he could not escape himself.

Peter was running, his lungs heaving as he raced, clad in full armor. He had to find him, had to find him now. He turned a corner and his movement turned to molasses; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move. "Looking for something?" A dark-haired figure stepped out of the shadows – MirazSantosianCaspianTelmarine whispered his mind – his face now scarred, now smooth, one eye blue then both black.

Terror gripped Peter's heart, blinding terror. "What have you done!" he screamed, his voice low and scratchy, adult now childish.

"Did you think I would not find your spy, little king?" The Telmarine grinned and stepped to the side, revealing a mess of a human body handing by bound and bloodied arms.

Barely recognizable, Peter knew who it was. "Edmund!"

The body stirred and Edmund dark, pain-filled eyes gazed at him in confusion. "Why?" he croaked, his voice as bruised as his body. "Why did you do this to me, Peter?"

Peter wanted to stagger back in shock, but he could not move backwards anymore than he could run to his brother's side. "I didn't…I wouldn't…how could you…?"

It might have been easier if Edmund had looked at him in anger instead of this soul-crushing hurt. "You let go. You left me and they found me. Why did you let go of my hand?"

Peter shouted his desperate protestation. "You told me to!" His excuse sounded weak and cowardly to his own ears.

An icy voice chilled Peter to his core as the White Witch appeared, standing on the other side of Edmund from the Telmarine. "Poor little Edmund. How many times will your older brother fail to protect you before it's too late?"

Edmund didn't look at the Witch, his accusing eyes still locked with Peter's. "Why did you let go?"

Peter knew what was about to happen, felt it in his soul, but he was helpless to stop it. "No, Edmund!"

With a smile, the Witch whirled and shoved her wand through Edmund's body, and the younger boy's scream echoed in the shadowed hallway. Gasping back his own strangled scream, Peter stretched his hands out for his brother. They couldn't reach, not matter how hard he tried. Peter could only listen to Edmund's last whisper, "Why did you let me go?", before watching the Telmarine draw his knife slowly across Edmund's neck, silencing him forever.

Peter gasped awake, heart tight and pounding against his ribs for escape. Even now the dream was fading in detail, but Edmund's accusing gaze still floated before his eyes. Peter sat up, hugging his legs to his chest and resting his forehead against his knees to try and calm his breathing. Not real, not my fault, not real, not my fault, he chanted silently, desperate to believe it.

"Peter?"

His head jerked upward at Lucy's inquiring whisper, having forgotten that she had been sitting watch. He forced himself to look calm in front of his little sister. "Just waking up, Lucy. Thought I could take over the watch for you."

Lucy did not seem to believe his shaky lie, and cuddled up to his side. Her eyes saw right through him. "Are you worried about Edmund?"

Her words, hitting so close, destroyed Peter's fragile composure. "I…why didn't he want to take my hand?" he whispered, almost without meaning to, his own words striking near the center of his anger and confusion. Because a year ago, in Narnia and when first back in England, Edmund would have taken Peter's hand without question, might have even initiated the contact. Instead, Edmund had just looked at him with anger, his refusal dripping with frustration, no longer following Peter as he had so many times before.

Lucy wrapped her arm around his. "Edmund…well, we all had a hard time adjusting to being back in England. Of all of us, though, Ed managed to remain strong despite his own problems. But, because of that, he was left having to be strong for the rest of us. And he kept helping us, despite the fact that we ignored his efforts even as we depended on him always being there."

"And by 'we' you mean me, don't you?"

Lucy's eyes averted to her lap before she leaned against Peter's shoulder. "He was always there, but you didn't see him. I think…" She hesitated, but then seemed to decide it was important enough to go on. "I think he wanted to give you a chance to reach out for him, to show that you needed and wanted him."

Peter looked down at the earth by his feet and did not answer her. How could he? He could not admit, even to himself, that he had pushed Edmund away, could not dare consider that he might have hurt his little brother so much that Edmund felt he had to test Peter's love for him in such a way. Could not admit that he had failed.

Lucy squeezed his arm in reassurance, as if knowing his mind. "He'll give you another chance to show that you care. Edmund gives everyone a second chance." His heart calmed at her words, so intrinsically true. Feeling slightly better, Peter gave Lucy a small smile before standing to go get some more firewood. As he walked towards the edge of the clearing, Lucy added a warning to her comfort that struck his soul with fear. "Be careful, though, Peter. Push him away too much, and you may really lose him."

He pretended he had not heard and kept walking.