Chapter 3: It's okay to be scared

"How is he?"

Peter sighed. "He's healing," He said slowly. "It's only been five days though so he's still in a lot of pain."

Susan nodded slowly, staring at her little brother who was fast asleep in his own bed for the first night since he'd been taken to the healers.

"You should get to sleep Su," Peter murmured. "It's getting late."

Susan moved her stare to Peter. "Can we please talk?" She whispered.

Peter swallowed hard and allowed his eyes to slip shut.

Other than telling his sisters and Orious that the magician was here to kill him, he hadn't discussed his feelings with anyone, he'd refused to talk to Edmund because he'd been tired and in pain since it happened, he didn't want to upset Susan and Lucy, and Orious didn't really need to know how he felt, so he just didn't say anything.

"Su-"

"No Peter," Susan cut him off, but her voice was soft. "You need to talk to someone, this is more than likely eating you up inside, and it's not good for you."

Peter swallowed hard, glancing at Edmund for a moment and after reassuring himself that his younger brother was definitely still asleep, he took a deep breath. "I'm-" He paused, thinking carefully about what he was going to say next. "Worried."

Susan hesitated. "Scared." She corrected, her voice nothing more than a whisper.

Peter glanced at her, but turned away after a second, staring at the bed cover and fiddling with the sheets.

"It's okay to be scared Peter." Susan reminded him.

"But - I'm not a kid anymore Susan." Peter choked out. "I'm twenty one."

"So?" Susan said with a comforting smile. "Even adults get scared sometimes. You're being hunted by an immortal magician who wants you - you dead, I reckon you deserve to be scared. If anything, I'd be worried if you weren't."

Peter gave her a grateful smile back, before sighing. "No one's figured out what to do yet." He mumbled. "Edmund, bless him, has used the time he's been stuck in bed to go through every book Lucy can bring him. Not to mention all the other books everyone else has read."

Susan nodded slowly. "Yeah," She breathed.

"It truly seems like there's no way out of this." Peter choked. "And people are gonna start getting hurt-"

"Peter, this is about you okay?" Susan said quickly. "Let's forget everyone else for the time being, and focus on you. None of us are going to let you die, I can promise you that."

"And that's what I'm scared of!" Peter whispered, ignoring what Susan had said. "You saw what Edmund did, charged in without a second thought and ended up with cracked ribs and many painful bruises."

"He cares about you." Susan whispered, face falling.

Peter shook his head. "I won't let him die saving me." He choked out, sounding on the verge of tears and extremely frustrated. "I won't."

"Look, no one is going to die." Susan told him. "This is all going to be okay."

"And if it's not?"

Susan swallowed hard. "It will be." She said, but her voice shook as she spoke, and she didn't sound too sure.

Peter sighed. "You should sleep." He told her again.

"You'll be okay?" Susan checked, standing slowly.

Peter nodded. "I'll be fine." He whispered, not looking at his sister.

He waited until she'd left, wincing at the sigh she gave as she did, before slowly turning to his still sleeping brother. "You're such an idiot." He choked out. "And the terrifying thing is I know you won't hesitate to do it again."

Edmund of course didn't reply, he only rolled onto his side, burying his face against the pillows.

Peter bit his lip, before he stood, intending on blowing out the candles so he could go back to his own room to sleep.

He'd only just reached the small table with a few on when the balcony doors flew open with such force it shattered the glass.

Peter's eyes went wide, and he saw Edmund sit bolt upright in bed, groaning at the pain it caused him.

Peter stared in horror as the magician floated into the room, landing on the floor just inside the balcony and walking straight for Peter, his velvet cloak flying out behind him.

Peter drew his sword, ready to meet this guy head on, but his attempts were futile.

All the magician did was flick his wrist and Peter's sword flew from his firm grip across the room... towards where Edmund was.

He swung to face his brother, beyond relieved when he saw that the sword hadn't touched him, and instead was stuck in the wall above his head.

His attention was quickly brought back to the magician when he saw just how close he was, and before he'd known it, he was pinned to the wall by some magical force that knocked the wind out of him.

He groaned a little, trying to move but finding it totally impossible, the magician's magic was too strong for him to move any part of his body other than his head.

The magician said nothing as he approached Peter, but Peter wasn't worried about what was about to happen to him, he was worried about what Edmund would do.

He didn't have to wait long to find out, for he heard a sudden cry, only to be cut off with a choked gasp.

His head snapped to the left, seeing Edmund fully lifted off the floor by the magicians magic... and he couldn't breathe.

The magician was strangling him.

Edmunds hand shot to his neck, his legs kicking under him as his eyes went so wide it was like they'd pop out of his head.

"Let him down!" Peter screamed. "I'm who you came for, not him!"

"He gets in my way." The magician finally spoke, and Peter shuddered at his deep, echoing voice. "No one gets in my way. And if they do, I remove them from my way."

Peter's eyes were wide as he watched his brother struggle, and he screamed out loud when the magician flicked his wrist in Edmund's direction and his brother fell to the floor, blood slowly starting to soak into his white nightshirt, around his chest area.

"NO!" Peter screamed, voice cracking. "EDMUND!"

"He's not dead don't worry," The magician told him. "But now he's not in my way, now I'm free to do what I'm here to do."

Peter's heart pounded and he felt slightly sick as the magician walked closer, that smirk once again the only thing Peter could see of his face.

Was this truly the end?

Was he really about to die?

He was going to admit it to himself, when he heard the sound of an arrow being let go, and the magician suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Peter watched in almost slow motion as the arrow flew through the smoke and straight into the headboard of the bed, and he recognised it instantly.

He didn't have much time to process his sisters being stood in the doorway, for he was finally able to move again and collapsed to his knees, the magic disappearing and leaving him rather dazed for a moment.

He shook his head, before stumbling to his feet and rushing to his brother's side. "Ed?" He choked, rolling him onto his back and gagging at the blood soaking his shirt, from a slice across his chest. "Edmund?"

Edmund only groaned in reply.

"Lucy." Peter whispered, turning to his little sister, who looked horrified at Edmunds injury and quickly hurried over, her cordial already gripped in her hand as if she'd known she'd need to use it.

Edmund was healed quickly, but he was rather dazed and weak when they sat him up, and Peter wasn't sure whether it was the blood loss, or the aftereffects of the magic... he guessed it was the magic, because he too felt rather weak and sick.

Edmund sat there for a moment, taking deep breath after deep breath, and throughout his fear of him nearly dying Peter had almost forgotten the magician had strangled him too.

"That's it," Peter whispered. "Deep breaths."

Edmund gripped Peter's hand, and after a while took a deep breath. "Thank Aslan you're okay." He whispered, looking up at Peter.

"Thank Aslan I'm-?" Peter stopped dead, his eyes wide. "Edmund you did it again!"

Edmund winced slightly, noticing his sisters sat nearby and giving them a grateful look and getting two sad smiles in reply.

"I stopped you from dying again." Edmund murmured. "Or I tried to, I'd say Susan did most of the work."

Susan went to say something, but in the end thought better of it and kept her mouth shut, worried about the way Peter was reacting.

"That's the problem!" Peter cried. "You tried to get in the way of a magician that certainly does not like people getting in his way!"

"I couldn't just let you die!" Edmund growled, raising his voice a little, but not as much as Peter was.

Peter glared at Edmund, clearly wanting to say something but having no idea exactly what to say.

His siblings all stared at him for a moment, before Peter ran a hand through his hair, stumbled to his feet and hurried from the room.

"Peter!" Edmund called after him, but Lucy placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Leave him." She murmured.

"Leave him alone!" Edmund cried. "Are you crazy!?"

"There are plenty of guards around the castle," Lucy told him. "He'll be absolutely fine. Right now he just needs some space to think."

Edmund stared at her for ages, before he slowly nodded, lowering his gaze to the ground. "I - I know he doesn't like me jumping in to save him like that," He whispered. "But I can't let him die."

Susan's heart shattered then and there, and she gently pulled Edmund close. "No one is going to die Edmund." She said firmly, placing a gentle kiss to the top of his head. "I can promise you that right now."

But Edmund shook his head. "I really don't think that's a promise you're gonna be able to keep."