Thanks to all readviewers! Kestrel: I am flattered but I must be honest and admit that any retelling was unintentional.
This chapter is set in the same AU as Chapter 21, in which Lord Bar accidentally kidnapped Corin instead of Cor. Some canon quotes have been adapted.
Prompt: A time someone mistook Cor for Corin, or the other way round.
The king took Cor by the shoulder and began to remonstrate, but the moment his ears were boxed the prince attempted to box Edmund's ears back. Peridan and several other Archenlandish lords immediately leaped forward to restrain him.
"Let me go!" Cor yelled. "Bree! No! Leave me alone! Bree! Let me—mmph!"
"What in Aslan's name has gotten into the boy?" asked Peridan, panting as he fought to cover the prince's mouth without being bitten.
The king frowned deeply. "Would that I knew. Shame on you, my lord! Fie for shame! Truant for a whole night, Queen Susan's eyes red from weeping, and now this entirely unbecoming scene when you are at last found! Peridan, Lornar, Hallin, of your courtesy carry his little lordship along, and do not loosen your grip. Our royal sister's mind will be greatly eased when she sees our runaway once more safe in our rooms, whatever illness seems to have befallen him on his adventure."
They set their course for the lodging house provided for them. Cor eventually calmed enough that they no longer needed to restrain his entire body, but it was too late for Peridan's hand. And Cor stubbornly refused to answer any questions put to him.
By the time they reached the courtyard, Peridan was as irritated as everyone else by the boy's uncharacteristic recalcitrance. He was glad to release him into others' care for the moment, and seek assistance.
"I don't understand it," he muttered as the medic washed and bandaged his palm. "Cor has always been the soul of courtesy. What in this benighted city could have happened to him..."