Hazy, pre-dawn light is just filtering into the cave when Edmund hears a sharp, barely suppressed yelp from Adan. He sits up quickly, already reaching for the sword by his side as he blinks away the bleariness of sleep. Phillip, standing watch near the entrance, glances back at him, but seems unalarmed. Edmund looks down at Adan, stretched out to Edmund's right with the princess between the Wolf and the dwindling fire.
Adan is awake, but holds himself perfectly still. He carefully turns his head and looks up at Edmund before twisting his head around toward his shoulder. It's then that Edmund finally notices the princess's hand clenched tightly in Adan's fur, right at the back of his neck. The girl makes a soft, pained sort of noise in her sleep and presses her face into Adan's other side as her grip flexes again and the Wolf winces.
Edmund slowly sets his sword back down and shifts onto one knee. The girl's fingers are wrapped tightly in Adan's dark fur. Edmund looks past her at the fire, measuring the distance between it and the girl and debating if he could stop her quickly enough if she were to roll towards it. When she flinches in her sleep and pulls at his friend's fur again, though, Edmund finally reaches for her hand. He carefully pries her fingers from Adan's fur and slips a corner of the blanket into her grip instead.
She doesn't wake, but she does press closer to Adan. Edmund casts a sympathetic look at the Wolf, but then shifts onto his feet and picks up his sword before crossing to Phillip at the cave entrance. The snowy landscape outside is slowly gaining clarity as dawn approaches, and Edmund is too awake now to consider trying for a few more minutes of rest.
"You're sure of this?" Edmund asks quietly, laying a hand on his friend's neck. Phillip stands straighter, his muscles coiled tight.
"I may not be as young as I once was, but I will serve you well, my king." Edmund leans his head beside his hand on Phillip's neck, breathing in the earthy smell of summer fields that clings to his mane even in this winter-locked land.
"Be careful, Phillip," he says, pulling his head back. He threads his fingers through the Horse's mane for a moment before letting his hand fall to his side.
"Of course, your majesty," Phillip says quietly. He lowers his head in a deep bow, and then slips out of the cave without another word. Edmund remains there as the first rays of sunlight peek into the valley, the fresh inch or so of snow crunching under Phillip's hooves.
"Aslan be with you," Edmund says quietly as Phillip shifts into a trot.
"He's leaving?" the princess's startled voice asks, still groggy from her restless sleep. Edmund turns back toward the girl. Now disentangled from the princess, Adan sits up, keeping some distance between himself and the girl, Edmund notices.
"He's going ahead," Edmund answers, "for reinforcements." Adan stands and slips outside, disappearing into the woods, and Edmund just catches sight of the princess's panicked look in the low glow of the fire. She lurches to her feet, one hand at her waist— holding the too-large pants, Edmund realizes— and the other holding the blanket around her shoulders. Her steps are as quiet as Adan's with only wool socks on her feet, and she stops just beside him.
Edmund observes her peripherally as they watch Phillip's progress. Her hair is frizzy and coming loose from its braid, and she looks smaller than she had yesterday with his oversized clothing instead of her own. She stands almost motionless, though, watching until Phillip is out of sight around a bend in the trail.
Trusting his friend to Aslan, Edmund backs away from the entrance and turns instead to the pile of supplies by the back wall of the cave. The fire will be an obvious sign of their passing the night here, but Edmund would prefer not to leave any further aid for their pursuers– including any supplies that will be too heavy to bring along without Phillip's help.
The saddle can be left behind now, of course. Edmund opens his pack and the other saddle bags, deciding what else can be purged.
After pulling out a shallow baking pan, Edmund realizes there's another task that should take precedence. He slips out of the cave, noting the princess's presence by the entrance still, and steps out to pile fresh snow into the pan. He spots Adan's tracks heading off to the left— where he's hunting down his own breakfast, no doubt— and mentally calculates the remaining rations as he backtracks to the cave. The princess is no longer at the entrance, and Edmund panics for a second. As soon as he steps inside, though, he sees she's only moved back inside toward the fire.
She's already rolled up the bedroll and folded the blanket, placing both near the pile of supplies he left scattered on the ground. He sets the pan in the coals of the fire and dumps in the rest of the water from the waterskin as he surveys the supplies again. As his eyes scan over them, mentally sorting them, he notices the princess rubbing the hem of her dress and cloak.
"Have they dried?" Edmund asks, wrapping his cloak around his hand to adjust the pan.
"Mostly," she answers, picking up her slippers. Edmund watches her inspect the worn silk shoes and realizes she can't possibly hike through the mountains in those. He silently prays to Aslan for mercy from Lucy's wrath as he stands, removes his cloak, and holds it out at arms' length. With a leather outside and an inner lining of fur, the cloak is the best material at his disposal to fashion some sort of footwear from.
"Get changed," Edmund orders, settling close to the door with his back to the fire. "But keep the pants and put the shirt over your dress," he adds. Without a word, the princess does as she's told and Edmund pulls the small knife from his boot. He cuts the decorative leather cording on the bottom hem and carefully starts pulling it free. By the time the princess steps up beside him, Edmund has already loosed more than a yard of it from the bottom and sides of his cloak.
"Those slippers will be useless," he explains, looking over at the purple silk-clad feet beside his leg. The princess curls her toes before backing away from the door. Edmund stands and gathers his cloak and the cords, moving back to the dying fire. There's enough heat in the cows, though, that the snow has fully melted. He gently shifts the pan with the toe of his boot before settling against the wall.
Careful to avoid the fire, he spreads the bottom edge of his cloak on the floor and waves the princess closer. She sets her feet where he indicates, and Edmund carefully cuts two oversized ovals before shearing off the rest of the cloak's bottom to create a straight edge. It will be a few hands shorter, but it can't be helped. Edmund swings the cloak around his own shoulders, glancing at the cooling pan of water as he fastens it.
"Can you pour that into the waterskin?" Edmund waves at the pan of water before picking up the two ovals. It occurs to him a moment later that perhaps he shouldn't have asked, but when he glances up she's already moved toward the fire. Satisfied that she can probably manage that on her own, he uses his knife to start poking small holes in the edges of the ovals.