Chapter 5: You can't keep doing this

Peter held his breath when he heard footsteps echoing through the room, unsure of what the heck they were going to do.

Edmund seemed to be thinking exactly the same thing, for he turned to his brother, looking beyond worried. "Any ideas?" He whispered.

Peter slowly shook his head, biting his lip as his grip on Edmund's shoulder got slightly tighter.

Edmund stared at his brother for a moment or so, before sighing. "Nothing's gonna happen to you okay?" He said. "I'll make sure it doesn't."

Peter looked terrified. "I will not let you jump in to save me." He hissed, trying to keep as quiet as he could so they weren't found.

Edmund hesitated. "And I won't let you die." He replied firmly, drawing his sword quietly and taking a deep breath.

Peter drew his own sword too, before taking a step forward.

"Where are you going?" Edmund murmured.

Peter sighed. "We need to find a way out of here." He replied. "There's no point staying behind this bookshelf."

Edmund bit his lip, but he had to agree, so with a nod he followed Peter to the end of the bookshelf, where his older brother poked his head around, checking if the coast was clear.

Peter soon nodded, and the two hurried to hide behind the next bookshelf, although they now didn't have the back wall hiding them, so from one side they were completely noticeable.

"Stay close." Peter whispered.

Edmund nodded, before he spotted something just outside the window through a small gap in the curtains... Two birds.

He waved his free hand madly until he caught their attention, before trying to get his point across that they needed help, and when the two birds eventually flew off, Edmund could only hope they'd gotten the message.

Peter was currently checking if the coast was clear again, and soon dragged Edmund off to the next bookshelf, now a little closer to the door, but still so far away.

"I know you're in here, High King." Came the deep, echoing voice that made shivers run down Peter's spine. "How about we stop this game of hide and seek and you just give yourself up, after all it would save your brother there from risking his life for you and ending up hurt, or worse I guess."

Peter froze, and Edmund could almost see the terror appear in his eyes, but he immediately grabbed his brother's arm. "Don't you even think about it." He hissed.

Peter swallowed hard. "I can't let you get hurt." He whispered.

"I won't get hurt," Edmund replied. "But help will come Peter, just have faith."

Peter didn't look too sure, but he slowly nodded his head in the end, before Edmund dragged them behind the next bookshelf.

They stood there for ten seconds, before making it to the next bookshelf, although now the sudden footsteps seemed a lot closer.

Edmund took a deep, shaky breath, before noticing the two birds again, this time out on the balcony.

He noticed them through a slit in the curtains, and he quickly realised they wanted them to go out there.

Only question is... how?

"Pete?" Edmund hissed.

"Yeah?" Peter replied, who was currently trying to check if the coast was clear so they could get closer to the door again.

"We need to get out onto the balcony." Edmund told him. "Help's come."

Peter turned his head, peering through the curtains for a moment before turning to Edmund, smiling a little, before frowning. "How?" He asked.

Edmund thought for ages. The doors were obviously locked by magic, so there was no point trying to bust them open, which was annoying, but then another thought came to mind.

"The doors are mostly made of glass..." He said slowly.

Peter stared at his brother. "Won't that alert the magician to where we are and what we're doing."

Edmunds heart was pounding, before he peered around the bookshelf, actually this time spotting the magician, over the other side of the room.

"He's over by my desk..." Edmund said quietly, hiding again. "From when we smash the door, we should have ten to fifteen seconds."

"To do what?" Peter asked. "It's too high of a drop to jump."

Edmund sighed. "We'll just have to trust that the two birds brought help." He murmured.

Peter took a deep breath, before slowly nodding. "I don't see what other choice we have." He breathed.

Edmund nodded, "Okay." He whispered, before glancing around.

After a while he spotted a small table, a tiny one, small enough for him to just pick up and easily throw at the glass, and it was sure to break it.

Sheathing his sword, he removed the three books resting on top, before he and Peter quietly made their way over to the balcony doors.

Peter drew back the curtains, hoping the magician wasn't in a place where the sudden light would catch his attention, and nodded at Edmund.

Edmund hesitated only a little, before using all his strength to throw the table straight into the glass.

The glass shattered on impact, making a deafening noise that definitely would've alerted anyone nearby.

"Go, go!" Edmund hissed, pushing Peter forward.

Peter climbed out onto the balcony, managing to avoid any bits of glass, but Edmund wasn't so lucky.

Whilst he was climbing out, he sliced his palm on a shard of glass, biting down on his lip but pushing forward. "There Peter, the rope!"

Peter, not knowing that Edmund had hurt himself, made for the rope, and upon reaching it glanced down, to see Susan, Lucy, Orious, Tumnus and the Beavers stood below in the courtyard.

He grabbed the rope, swinging his legs over and testing how tight it was before making his way down a little so Edmund could join him.

Once the two were over the edge and gripping the rope, they tried making their way down as quickly as humanly possible, but it just wasn't quick enough.

Looking up, Edmund spotted the magician, a knife in his hand, which he suddenly used to cut the rope.

Everything happened in slow motion after that, Edmund fell, the rope breaking and leaving them with nothing to hold on to.

As they fell, Edmund felt Peter reach out and grab him, pulling him close, before, to the sound of screams, the two hit the ground, and everything went black.

Edmund wasn't sure what was happening when he woke, and if he was honest, he didn't want to open his eyes and find out.

His entire body ached, but he wasn't in the amount of pain he expected to be, and after forcing his eyes open, he realised why.

"Lu?" He choked out.

Lucy, who was sat on the edge of the bed, smiling brightly, looked beyond relieved. "Oh thank Aslan you're awake." She breathed. "Are you okay?"

Edmund thought carefully about his answer for a moment, before nodding. "Just a bit achy." He replied.

Lucy gave him a sad smile. "That's to be expected." She said. "I used my cordial to get rid of the serious injuries the fall caused."

Edmund smiled weakly at her, before taking a deep, shaky breath. "Peter?" He asked, sounding worried.

Lucy nodded. "He's okay," She said gently, "He's across the room, not awake yet though."

Edmund would've sat up to find his brother, but his head was pounding and he didn't even think he could lift it off the pillows, so he remained where he was. "What happened to the magician?" He whispered after a while.

"We don't know," Lucy told him. "He disappeared after he cut the rope, perhaps he thought that would be enough to kill you both."

"Perhaps." Edmund murmured.

Lucy nodded, before taking a deep breath. "I'm gonna go over and check on Peter okay?" She breathed. "I'll send Susan over to sit with you."

"Okay," Edmund whispered. "Thank you."

Lucy smiled at him, and after placing a gentle kiss on his forehead she disappeared, Susan sitting beside him only ten seconds later.

Edmund smiled at her, but his smile faded when he spotted her arm, in a sling. "What happened to your arm?!" He choked out.

Susan sighed. "Let's just say trying to catch the two of you and soften the blow of you hitting the floor wasn't the best of ideas." She admitted.

Edmund blinked at her. "What did you do to it?" He asked.

"I only dislocated it." Susan told him. "Don't worry, it's back in place and I'm fine."

Edmund looked extremely worried, but he could tell Susan didn't want fussing over that much, so only sighed. "You idiot." He grumbled.

Susan smiled softly, before chuckling a little. "You're rubbing off on me." She teased.

Edmund rolled his eyes, before he heard a voice from the other side of the room.

Peter.

At this, Edmund managed to sit up, only now seeing that he was in the healers ward, and spotting Peter laying in a bed on the other side of the room. "Help me over there Su." He whispered.

Susan frowned, looking worried. "Are you sure?" She mumbled.

Edmund nodded as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Yeah, Yeah I'm okay." He breathed, standing.

Susan immediately stood beside him and wrapped an arm around his waist for support, before the two made their way over to Peter, who sunk into his pillows in relief when he saw them.

"Ed," He breathed. "You're safe."

Lucy moved out the way so that Edmund would be able to sit right next to his brother, and he smiled at him when he did. "Of course I'm safe," He said. "It's gonna take a lot more than that to get rid of me."

Peter couldn't help but smile a little, but just like Edmund, his smile faded when he spotted Susan.

After a few moments, Susan had explained to Peter what had happened, but Peter looked so guilty it broke Lucy's heart.

"You both got hurt trying to save my life." Peter choked out.

"It's not your fault Peter." Susan stepped in, voice firm.

Peter brought his hands up to cover his face, shaking his head a little. "You can't keep doing this." He murmured, sounding beyond worried.

"If we find a way to stop this magician, then we won't have to keep doing it." Edmund told him, keeping his voice calm and gentle.

"But there is no way to stop him!" Peter cried.

"Peter calm down," Susan said quickly. "Look, we'll talk about this when you and Ed are feeling better okay? You've both had a nasty fall today, you need to rest."

Peter squeezed his eyes shut, not answering his sister but not saying anything else.

Susan sighed and turned to Edmund. "Ed?" She whispered.

"I'll stay here." Edmund said quickly.

"You sure?" Susan breathed.

Edmund took a deep breath. "Yeah," He mumbled. "I'm sure."

Sorry for not updating last week, I had a lot on my mind :)