Here we have a surprisingly long chapter which will hopefully answer some questions and raise others. Speaking of questions the poll on my profile is still open and, amusingly, still tied despite additional votes. If someone wants to break that tie that would be fantastic :-) Thanks for reading and reviewing :-)
"Get down!" shouted Edmund, pushing Susan down and back under the table for the second time that day. The serpent's scaly face smashed into the solid wood, splintering a good deal of it and making the table legs creak dubiously. Linus whimpered as the serpent's tail struck him at the same moment, and he was tossed back against the opposite wall to lie still.
In a flash, Edmund looked from the still Dog to the crumpled body of his captain and then to the pale, tear stained face of his sister. Such a feeling of cold rage swept over him then, that afterwards he always wondered if he had quite been aware of what he was doing. In a moment, he had freed his left arm of his damaged shield and drawn the long knife sheathed in his boot. Ignoring Susan's desperate protest, he abandoned the dubious safety beneath the table, and stood to face the serpent.
The Lady herself, for Edmund had been correct in his earlier assumption that the Lady and the serpent were the same, could scarcely have been more shocked by his actions than Edmund was himself. She paused for a moment, head drawn back to strike again, and hissed in what might either have been surprise or laughter. Edmund scarcely cared which it was; he had reached the end of his patience, and did not wait for her to attack before he slashed upward with his sword.
She towered so far above him, that the blow fell far short of her neck and did little damage as the steel shrieked against her scales and glanced off the armour-like plates. Edmund struck again, never afterwards knowing why she hadn't driven her head down and snapped her jaws together on him immediately, but infinitely grateful that she had yet to attack in return. The second attack proved as fruitless as the first, with the added disadvantage that this time his sword-already weakened by blocking Trebonius' earlier blow-snapped cleanly in half when it struck her scales. Edmund narrowly escaped being impaled by the point as it glanced off the serpent's body.
A red fletched arrow whizzed past his ear, and it too shattered against the serpent's scales. Edmund, rather too angry by this point to be particularly wise, did not do the most sensible thing and retreat back beneath the table. Rather, he shifted the long knife to his right hand and threw it with all his might at the serpent's face-which loomed several feet above him-though she still made no move to strike. The knife, more by luck than any real skill of aim and planning, struck the creature directly beneath the left eye, where a gap in the scales allowed the steel to sink several inches into its head. The serpent hissed in agony, thrashing her head back and forth as if trying to dislodge the blade, before fixing her burning eyes upon Edmund.
He realised then just how much of a fool he had been to throw away his only remaining weapon. Until that moment she had been amused, toying with him as he lashed out, incapable of causing her any serious injury; now she was injured, not severely enough to weaken her, but enough to replace her amusement with pained rage. Staring up into her lidless eyes, he could not doubt that she was going to kill him. The cold fury that had washed over him at the sight of his motionless friends suddenly left him, as he realised far too late that this had been precisely what the witch had intended all along. There was no time now to flee, even if he could have moved, but the serpent's gaze had caught him as effectively as a trap, and his feet seemed rooted to the floor.
The moment before she struck seemed to last forever; he heard Susan call out indistinctly, saw a flash of red and silver from the corner of his eye, and heard at last a well-remembered shout as Peter-suddenly and inexplicably-seemed to materialise by his side. Rhindon swept up in a gleaming arc, even as the serpent's head flashed downward in a blur of green. A moment later, there was a slightly strangled hiss and Edmund found himself knocked flat as the creature flailed in agony and slithered away, leaving behind a trail of dark blood in her wake.
Glowering darkly after her, Peter pulled Edmund to his feet. Edmund found himself glaring just as fiercely but at his brother and not the serpent's retreating tail. He was not sure whether he wanted to punch Peter or hug him, but instead settled for stepping away to help Susan to her feet.
"Well?" he asked a moment later, still glaring at his brother.
"Well?" Peter echoed, sheathing his sword and staring down at the floor in an uncharacteristically ashamed manner. Susan, obviously not caring whether her brothers were about to start fighting or not, threw her arms around Peter's neck and buried her face in his shoulder.
Edmund shook his head, and went to check on Trebonius and Linus. The rest of the guards, he was pleased to see were shaking their heads, appearing dazed but quite unlikely to be attacking their rulers anytime soon. Trebonius was stumbling painfully to his feet, one hand pressed against his shoulder and the other holding Susan's bloodstained arrow, which he had pulled from the wound. Satisfied that he wasn't about to bleed to death, Edmund turned his attention towards Linus.
The grey wolfhound whimpered pitifully as he tried to stand, and his right front paw would not take his weight, but he looked up at Edmund happily enough, tail wagging slightly. "Did I hurt her?" he asked enthusiastically, hopping forward on three paws.
Edmund smiled, relieved that he seemed otherwise unhurt. "I fear she did rather more damage to you, good cousin." He patted him on the head as his tail drooped in disappointment. "Perhaps you'll have better luck next time." Linus seemed to cheer at this, and loped clumsily towards Susan.
"Edmund?" Peter was frowning, looking torn between guilt and annoyance, and Edmund found he really wasn't in the mood to deal with either just then. He pushed impatiently past his brother towards the door.
"Not now." He really didn't mean to sound quite so cross, but he was exhausted. "In case you haven't noticed, there is still a witch hiding here somewhere, we're inside a hostile castle in a hostile city, and if we don't find some way out of this mess we are all going to die. Not to mention that there is an entire army outside who will likely be killed as well." He chose to ignore the shocked expressions of his siblings as he collected his broken sword and, ignoring the still horrified servants, stepped through the door.
Peter stared blankly after his brother for a long moment before Susan put a hand on his arm, reminding him silently that Edmund was right. He wasn't entirely sure what he had expected from Edmund, and anger did seem an appropriate response, but from Edmund it was a rather unusual one. Unusual when I don't insult and distrust him, nearly kill him, and then force him to leave against his will. But somehow Peter doubted it was actually that simple.
"How is he?" he asked Susan quietly as they followed Edmund through the dimly lit corridor, their way guided by the trail of blood on the floor.
Susan shrugged, eyes clouded with worry. "I only got here yesterday; Lucy's the one you really need to ask, but I fear he is rather less well than he would have any of us believe."
"And Lucy?" He remembered with a shudder how terrified she had been when accused of murder.
"She's with the army (rather cross at being left behind) but well enough." Susan smiled, obviously remembering just how cross Lucy had been.
It suddenly occurred to Peter to wonder how exactly such a large group of Narnians had managed to enter the castle. He was just about to ask Susan, when Edmund stopped abruptly in the doorway that led from the Green Lady's rooms into the castle proper.
"Linus, the blood ends here, what can you smell?" The Dog in question hopped awkwardly to Edmund's side, sniffing the air rather loudly as the hair along his back rippled and stood on end.
"She smells strange," he complained, and Peter felt the old annoyance with the rather ridiculous behaviour of Dogs return. "Like human and not human. She went this way," he pointed with his nose down the long corridor, constructed for giants and not for humans, and Peter really wished he hadn't.
"Where is everyone?" Susan asked, letting go of Peter's arm to draw her bow.
Edmund glanced back with a grim smile. "Probably waiting to stomp on our heads around the next corner. Let's go." There really wasn't anything they could say in response to that, so they wisely chose to stay silent as they followed him out into the cavernous hallway.
Peter had very nearly worked up the courage to step forward and at least try talking to Edmund, when a flash of green up ahead caught his eye. Edmund had obviously seen it too, for he stopped again and motioned the guards back urgently.
"She'll only enchant them to attack us and we can't afford to waste time fighting each other," he said crossly, noticing Peter's surprise.
"Maybe I should go first?" He surprised himself by asking, rather than stating that he would go first. Edmund was clearly in charge of whatever mission Peter had stumbled upon, but regardless Peter wasn't willingly going to let him face a witch with only a broken sword.
His brother scowled, not looking entirely trusting or pleased with Peter's suggestion, but after a moment he nodded. "Maybe you should," he conceded quietly, but remained barely half a step behind Peter as they moved forward into the corridor.
A huge doorway opened to their right and looking through it, Peter saw another flash of green as the Lady turned at last to face them. The bright jade of her dress was stained with dark blood and more blood dripped from a deep cut beneath her left eye, but she had never looked more beautiful nor more murderous, and Peter felt his determination falter. Surely, she couldn't be as evil as he had previously thought.
"Peter dear!" There was the faintest hint of a hiss in her voice still, despite her attempt at sweetness, and a flash of pain tore through his head when she said his name. Peter gritted his teeth against it and took a single, unwilling step towards her. "That's it, dear." She smiled terribly, the blood on her face making the expression disconcerting to say the least. "Whatever they have said to turn you against me, you mustn't let them succeed in doing so. They're traitors, Peter."
Traitors. Edmund, Susan, Lucy; traitors. He shook his head desperately, caught between the poisoned enchantment of her words and the strength of his own will-but knowing she was stronger. Images flashed behind his eyes. Edmund and Lucy killing the giants' Queen, Susan laughing as she led Narnia's army to the gates of the city, not to save him but to kill him; Edmund standing over him with a cold smile as he raised an already bloody dagger to strike a final blow. And beneath it all-the chaos and the blood of the terrible lies she wove-was the music, haunting and pleading, compelling him to believe her words.
"Take my hand Peter." The pain in his head overwhelmed him and he was only vaguely aware of Edmund and Susan calling his name as he stepped forward, stretching out his hand to the Lady. Her smile was poison, her words daggers, but the power she held over his name would not be denied. One more step and Peter knew he would be lost forever, an unwilling slave to her will.
In a flash, Edmund had stepped between them, defiant and quietly furious as he pushed Peter back. "Names have power here, do they not Lady?" he asked, his voice sounding strange to Peter as he wavered still on the edge of losing himself to the Lady's magic. Traitor! He's trying to stop me from going to her! He shook his head, desperately fighting the thoughts that were not his own, yet clouded his mind all the same.
The Lady inclined her head with a faint smile. It was clear from her face that she knew she had won and had no objections to indulging Edmund's questions before she killed them all. "But if you think to best me by speaking my name, I fear I must disappoint you." Her smile widened predatorily. "I have no name."
Peter could not see Edmund's expression as he faced the enchantress, but he did not need to; it was clear to anyone who knew him that Edmund was furious. How dare he treat her thus! His grip tightened on his sword hilt; one quick step forward, one quick blow; Edmund would crumple to the floor, unable to stand between them again. No! Not now, not ever. Horrified that he could even have thought of taking such action, he dropped Rhindon with a sudden feeling of disgust.
I'm losing, he realised dully. Before that moment, he had scarcely considered that it was possible to lose a battle not fought with weapons, but with wills. She was strong, frighteningly so, and Peter knew that, regardless of how Edmund stood between them, he was fighting her alone.
Lucy would have smiled and slipped her hand into his, insisting in her absolute faith that they were never alone. Never alone. If names truly had power, then surely there was one Name more powerful than any other. Aslan! He did not call the Lion's name aloud, he found he could not, but he knew in a blinding flash of faith that he did not need to. He felt the enchantress's power over him recede somewhat and blinked, his mind clearing of the jumbled thoughts.
"Maybe not, but there is a name you fear." Peter barely realised that Edmund was speaking again, slowly and quietly. The Lady hissed, looking more like a serpent than a lady, and in a single instant the room seemed to explode. Edmund's quiet voice and the name he spoke was lost in the Green Lady's roar of sudden fury as she threw herself at him, hissing as her body changed. A terrible explosion of power burst outward from her and Peter found himself thrown to the floor as Edmund too lost his balance. She rose above them, a towering green serpent once more, and Peter felt her control over him shatter completely as her fury drove all else from her mind.
Peter heard Susan scream and had only a moment to realise that the serpent was diving back towards the floor, mouth open in a hiss of fury; poison dripping from her fangs. He darted forward, pausing only long enough to feel his hand close around Rhindon's hilt again, and stabbed upwards desperately. The sword met the serpent's flesh, and there was a terrible, furious and pained hiss as her body swayed, crumpling to the floor. Peter didn't have time to consciously realise that she was falling directly forward and would likely crush him, before he found himself knocked back to the floor. The serpent's body was strangely light, and a moment later he pushed it away, stumbling to his feet in confusion.
"It's a snake skin," he said, feeling rather stupid as he stared at what should have been the serpent's corpse, but seemed to only be a dried and scaly husk.
Edmund kicked at the coil of skin with the toe of his boot, disgust showing plainly in his expression, and Susan looked as though she might be sick. "It's just a skin; I don't think you killed her," Edmund said grimly, stubbornly refusing to speak to Peter directly and instead addressing the empty space over his left shoulder.
Peter really couldn't blame him. He had tried, and failed to resist her magic, and now had apparently failed in killing her as well. He hung his head in shame. I've made a mess of everything from start to finish. Now that the immediate danger was past he had nothing to distract him from the terrible feeling of guilt that settled on him like a shroud. There had been no energy to spare on guilt in the weeks he had spent in tricking the Green Lady, and now that she was gone, the full scope of all he was responsible for doing because of her threatened to overwhelm him.
The three of them stood in silence for a long moment, before Edmund shook his head and turned away. "It's no use moping over it. If nothing else, she's hurt badly enough to flee. We need to find some way of getting the gates open so the army can deal with the giants." Peter nodded miserably, still staring at the green coils of snakeskin. Edmund was right, he didn't have time for guilt now either.
"What do you suggest?" Susan asked quietly, still sounding rather shaken. The smile Edmund gave her in answer seemed far from reassuring, and Peter found himself wondering what had happened to make Edmund's eyes seem so cold and harsh. Whatever it was, Peter knew it was likely his fault.
"We set fire to everything that will burn." Edmund's voice sounded quite unlike his usual tone even when angry, and Peter glanced at Susan in concern. She only shrugged, silently reminding him that she knew little more of what had happened than he did himself. "Use the flames to drive them out of the city and let the army deal with those who try to fight," Edmund continued quietly. Peter hated the very thought of the damage to homes such a plan would cause. But are any in this evil city truly innocent? Are not all who stand by and watch their rulers murder and lie complicit in the results of such actions? Is it really justice to punish those not directly responsible?
But Edmund, King Edmund at least, had always been just even in anger, and Peter did not have the heart to question him. I don't have the right to, he realised, remembering how unjust his own actions had been since leaving Cair Paravel.
Susan didn't seem particularly inclined to object either, though she frowned in confusion. "Ed, stone won't burn."
Again, Edmund smiled that strange, almost ghoulish smile. "No," he agreed quietly. "But everything else, roofs, furnishings, and wooden supports will. Once they open the gates those who wish to flee will be allowed to; those who try to fight the army can deal with." Peter, who could think of no other more appropriate response, nodded.
Anyone think Edmund is going a little far by burning down a whole city? Well, technically not a whole city since Susan is right and stone doesn't burn, but still...Let me know what you think by leaving a review! (Also, I promise there is an explanation for how he is acting.)
Many thanks to my fabulous beta reader who was once again forced to add innumerable commas to this mess :-)
Cheers,
A