And here we have Susan and Lucy being generally awesome; hope everyone likes this chapter! :-)
"PETER!" Susan knew her aim had been true, she saw the giant King falling, but she had underestimated his fury. In the last heartbeat of his life, he raised his arm and let Peter drop towards the paving stones forty feet below. By the time he struck the ground, Susan was already running. Around her, Orieus and the army charged through the dust of the destroyed wall and crashed against the line of giants with a deafening explosion of sound, but at that moment she did not care about anything save reaching the crumpled form of her older brother.
He lay terribly still, one arm twisted beneath him at an awkward angle, blood running freely from a cut on his forehead, and did not stir when she dropped to her knees beside him. With shaking hands, she felt for his pulse, desperately trying to calm her own heartbeat as she waited to feel the steady throb of blood beneath her fingers. She nearly sobbed in relief when she felt it, weak but wonderfully present against her fingertips.
"Lucy!" Susan scanned the ranks of soldiers urgently, searching for a flash of fair hair to indicate her sister's presence. He's alive! Oh Aslan, thank you! But it was such a terribly long way to fall! "Lucy!" She saw her sister rushing towards her, hair flying in a wild tangle and cloak torn, but could not summon the words to scold her. Lucy had never looked more like a queen than she did the moment she knelt at Peter's side, cordial already in her hand.
As always there was the terrible, breathless moment of waiting before Peter coughed and cautiously opened his eyes. He blinked, rolled his shoulder as if testing that his arm really was mended, and sat up unsteadily, leaning his head wearily against Susan's shoulder as he drew Lucy into a hug with his other arm.
"That hurt." Susan giggled, nearly hysterical with relief, and finding his ineloquent but perfectly apt statement rather more amusing than she ordinarily would have. Peter huffed in mock indignation and leaned more heavily against her shoulder. "Edmund's going to kill me."
The three of them realised it at the same instant; Peter tensed, lifting his head from Susan's shoulder in sudden alarm, Lucy pulled away from Peter's embrace slightly, eyes scanning the courtyard swiftly, and Susan felt the panic which had lessened at Peter's revival sweep back over her as her hands began to shake again. Edmund wasn't there.
"Ed!" Peter staggered to his feet and Susan steadied him automatically-the cordial could heal any wound, but it was rather slow to do so with head wounds and the dizziness often persisted for hours or sometimes days-but he brushed her hand aside almost impatiently and stumbled back towards the main battle. Before he had gone more than three steps, Lucy gasped and suddenly darted past him, faster than either Peter or Susan could react to stop her.
"Lucy! Come back, you'll be crushed!" But Lucy wasn't listening to her sister's desperate command. She had caught sight of Edmund in the shifting mass of fighting soldiers and fleeing giants, and the giant he faced was stubbornly not fleeing, despite the obvious fact that the victory would belong to the Narnians. Lucy recognised the brute at once as the same one who had been her jailer (and nearly Edmund's murderer) and remembered in a flash her own determination; this giant's life belonged to her.
She barely had time to think as she darted to the giant's left, scrambling up a mound of rubble that had only moments before been the wall of a building and had collapsed as a giant blundered into it. She did however, have time to see Edmund stumble back, trip over an uneven stone, and fall, sword flying from his grasp as his head collided with the uneven ground. She could not remember ever being angrier than she was in that moment as she watched to giant raise his club to crush her brother.
What Lucy did next was long remembered as very brave by the soldiers who saw it, and very reckless by her terrified siblings. She jumped from the mound of rubble, scrambled up the plates of armour on the giant's back as if they formed a ladder, and pulled herself up onto his shoulder. The giant grunted in surprise, which swiftly turned to fury, as he realised he now had an angry, armed queen perched on his shoulder. Before he could do little more than curse and bat clumsily at her, Lucy had drawn her dagger and driven it deep into the side of his throat.
She felt a moment of blind terror as he swayed drunkenly, and she was forced to cling desperately to his hair, before he dropped to his knees and then fell forward, leaving Lucy to tumble the last couple of feet to the ground. She stumbled to her feet and stared at the body of the giant, feeling a queer sort of dizziness sweep over her as she realised that it was she who had killed him. Her knees buckled, for a moment she feared she would be sick, and then tears sprang to her eyes, blurring her vision and making her throat burn as she tried to hold them back. I killed him.
Lucy found she was rather surprised by her own reaction. It wasn't that she regretted killing him-she didn't, not when it was a choice between his life and Edmund's-but it is a rather terrible thing to realise you have taken a life however necessary it may have been. She realised suddenly that this was why Susan had done everything she could to prevent her from riding to war with her brothers. Susan had killed before and knew how terrible it could be, but Lucy, for all her stubborn bravery, had failed to realise it fully before that moment.
It was Edmund who reached her first and wrapped his arms around her. She was not ashamed, even later, when she buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed. Then Peter was there, putting one arm around her and the other around Edmund, and Susan was smoothing her tangled hair and sternly telling her she must never do anything like that again. For a moment, despite her tears and the noise of battle that rose around their huddled group, Lucy felt content. For a moment, even in the midst of war, there was peace.
The battle was very nearly over. Most of the giant soldiers had either surrendered or been killed and the ordinary townsfolk had scattered, fleeing to the mountains in terror-not comprehending that the grim faced Narnians, for all their skill in battle, were far too noble to attack those who had not attacked them.
Peter, still dizzy and feeling rather giddy with relief that the nightmare was finally over, found a quiet corner of the courtyard and sat with his back against a wall, staring up at the sky. Night had fallen and it was nearly peaceful-the only sound being the occasionally crash of weapons in some distant street or a hoarsely shouted order. He knew as a king he should be leading his army even now, but Susan had strictly ordered him not to even consider going near the battle again, and for once he had not argued. It would hardly have seemed fair to disagree with her assessment of his health when she had already found him half dead once that day.
He looked back down from the sky-the stars were hidden by a pall of smoke-and scanned the courtyard quickly. There was Lucy, moving quickly through the wounded, cordial in her hand as she healed those near death and spoke soft words of comfort to those who were less severely wounded. Susan and Edmund were nowhere to be seen at first, but then he spotted them on the opposite side of the courtyard, arguing fiercely despite the fact that Susan appeared to be the only thing keeping Edmund from toppling over as he balanced precariously on one foot. Sighing Peter stood, intending to intervene, but Susan had evidently won the argument and, with a final glare at her, Edmund hobbled across the courtyard, rather dramatically threw himself down on a block of fallen masonry, and glared defiantly after Susan's retreating back.
Peter joined him a moment later and was unsurprised when Edmund studiously ignored him and closed his eyes, leaning his head back against a nearby wall.
"It's later," he said quietly, watching as Lucy helped a newly healed faun to his feet. Edmund made a vaguely annoyed noise, but otherwise remained silent. Peter nudged him impatiently in the ribs with his elbow. "Ed?"
Edmund opened one eye and glared at him. "Yes, you've been an idiot. Yes, I forgive you. No, I'm not hurt, I just sprained my ankle tripping over that bloody rock earlier and Susan is being overly motherly. If you even think the word healer I will punch you." He crossed his arms, daring Peter to argue, and closed his eyes again.
Peter, never one to back down from a challenge, decided to risk annoying him further. "What I said to you was inexcusable, but I truly am sorry."
Edmund opened his eyes to glare at him again. "What are you going on about now, Pete?"
"I called you a traitor." And I was the one guilty of treachery. "I nearly killed you." And you were going to let me.
"Oh, that," Edmund shrugged dismissively. "I'd forgotten." Peter knew that somehow, inexplicably he really had forgotten and shook his head in amazement. "It wasn't you saying those things, and in the end, you didn't kill me, so what's the use of remembering it?"
"Then what were you angry about?" He knew Edmund had been angry with him, terribly so.
"You aren't going to let this go, are you?" He sighed in resignation, sat up a trifle straighter and scowled darkly across the courtyard towards Lucy. "Fine, yes, I was angry. You ordered me to leave, made Lucy knock me out, and acted like an ass about the whole situation."
Ah, so that was it. "And you wouldn't have done the same?"
"No, I wouldn't have." He kicked angrily at a clump of grass that had grown up between the paving stones. "Look here Peter, I know Aslan told Lucy to follow your orders so it must have been for the best, but you can't just tell people to knock me out when I don't follow your orders. I made a promise and you forced me to break it."
"I'm sorry." He hadn't really thought about it like that before, and suddenly his brother's earlier anger made perfect sense. I know how I would feel.
"And I've forgiven you; can we move on now?" Judging by the annoyance in his tone, Peter knew there was still something upsetting him-likely the same thing that had caused him to nearly burn down an entire city.
"What really happened Ed? I asked Susan and she told me to ask Lucy, but-"
"Then ask Lucy!" Before Peter had time to formulate a response, Edmund had scrambled to his feet and was stumbling unsteadily back towards the smoking ruin of the castle. Peter watched him go with a mixture of frustration and concern. What am I missing?
Lucy, when he found her, did not seem inclined to be much more helpful in clearing up the mystery than Edmund had been. She sighed, pushed a tangle of hair back from her face, and turned towards the next cluster of wounded Narnians.
"Shouldn't you be asking Edmund?" She knelt next to a leopard with a twisted, bleeding leg and let a drop of cordial fall on the wound before standing and moving on to a dwarf with a nasty cut above his eye. She seemed to deem his injury less serious and spoke softly to him as she helped him to his feet.
Watching her, Peter could not help but feel a sense of loss mixed with the usual pride he felt when realising how grown up she had become. The wide eyed nine-year old who had trailed after him clutching her worn teddy bear was gone, and in her place was a young woman, growing tall and beautiful enough to rival Susan in the offers of marriage that were presented for her. Her eyes had not lost their wonder, but she was more serious now and the month or more of hiding in the mountains had taken their toll, even on her bright spirit. It was one more thing he had cause to regret.
"Peter?" She looked up from bending over a satyr with a broken neck-no amount of cordial could bring him back-and frowned at his silence.
"Sorry, I was thinking what a fool I've been," he admitted with a rueful smile. She rolled her eyes, rather resembling Edmund for a heartbeat, before she smiled.
"Well, stop. I'm sure we've all forgiven you without you needing to ask. You were enchanted; she could have fooled anyone."
"She didn't fool you, or Edmund, only me."
"Only you, a castle full of giants, and anyone else she came across." There was exasperation in her tone now. "Peter, when it comes to feeling guilty for things beyond your control you're nearly worse than Edmund! Honestly, one sulking brother is bad enough, don't you start as well."
That reminded him of his original reason for seeking Lucy out. "What did happen Lu? There's something terribly wrong and he won't talk to me." He looked miserably back towards the castle where Edmund had disappeared so suddenly.
Lucy sighed and impatiently brushed her hair back again-it kept falling across her face and was obviously annoying her-before shaking her head stubbornly. "Then make him talk to you."
"You didn't see him earlier. He ordered the guards to burn the city, then when we were leaving the castle a giant blundered in front of us and he panicked. I had to drag him out of there with him refusing to breathe the whole while, but before I had time to ask what the blazes was wrong, he'd jumped up and ordered the guards to stop." He ran a hand through his own hair distractedly.
Lucy crossed her arms and scowled, uncharacteristically cross. "Then ask him now."
"I did, he told me to ask you."
"Boys! Why do you all have to be so bloody stubborn!" She seemed to relent slightly when she saw his half desperate expression, and sat down wearily near the makeshift tent the other healers had hurriedly set up for the wounded. "I don't suppose he told you what happened after I was arrested?" Peter shook his head, turning his thoughts reluctantly back to the horrible moment he had realised he was unable to do more than watch as Lucy was carried away.
"The giant you killed, that was the same one who hurt Edmund and took you away, wasn't it?" Had it really only been a month? It seemed far longer ago.
Lucy nodded, expression darkening at the mention of the giant's death, and Peter silently reminded himself that he should talk to her about that as well. "I'm really not the best person to explain what happened-Metelus and Trebonius were the ones who were actually there."
Peter listened with slowly growing horror as she quietly recounted the tale told her by the satyr captain; how the guards had been killed, how Trebonius and Metelus themselves had barely managed to escape in the confusion, and how Edmund had been found.
"He never talked about it to me," Lucy concluded quietly, "But he's been having terrible nightmares ever since and it's no use trying to wake him. I was hoping he would talk to you." Peter diplomatically offered her a handkerchief before she could wipe the tears on her cheeks away with her filthy sleeve.
"I'm sorry Lu," he repeated miserably as she let her head drop against his shoulder. "None of this should ever have happened."
"It wasn't your fault," she insisted, voice muffled by tears and her head being buried against his shoulder. "Edmund doesn't blame you and neither do I."
"You should; all of you should. Susan had to ride to war because of me and kill to save my life, even though there's nothing she hates more. I just stood there and watched when they took you away, and then I sent you out into the mountains with an unconscious brother and an army of giants chasing you. And Edmund-" his voice caught in his throat and Lucy silently handed him back his handkerchief.
"I think, brother dear, that Susan would hate you being dead more than she hates riding to war and killing. Aslan is the one who sent me into the mountains with an unconscious brother and an army of giants chasing me," she lifted her head, eyes twinkling with sudden amusement. "I confess I wouldn't have done it for you. You would have had to knock us both out to get us to leave if Aslan hadn't told me to follow your orders. And Edmund," she shrugged and put her head back against his shoulder though her tears had stopped. "That is a conversation you need to have with him; he's forgiven you but that doesn't mean he's alright." Lucy yawned, and Peter couldn't help smiling as she shifted even closer and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I know. Lu, don't you think you ought to go to bed?" She mumbled something indistinctly into his shoulder and gave no indication that she was going to move. Peter smiled fondly and kissed her tangled hair. "Alright Lu. Sleep well." After all, there were worse things in life than having your baby sister fall asleep on your shoulder.
I couldn't resist the opportunity for fluff at the end :-)
Leave me a review and let me know what you thought! Many thanks once again to my awesome betareader PaintingMusic14, and to everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far! A resolution is fast approaching, so keep reading!
Cheers,
A