Silence || The Chronicles Of Narnia

20: He needs space

Edmund swallowed hard as he climbed back into bed late that night, trying his hardest not to wake Peter, who was fast asleep, buried beneath the blankets.

Once he was laying down and under the covers again he breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that he'd managed to get rid of the blood stained tunic he'd hidden earlier without waking his brother up.

He lay there for a minute or so, trying to think of anything but the pain he was in, but it was harder than it sounded, and after a moment he found himself rolling over and burying his face against Peter's shoulder, but still not making enough movement to wake him.

After a moment he couldn't help the tears that rolled down his cheeks, and carefully wrapped an arm around his stomach, taking deep breaths to calm himself, but it didn't work much.

It was probably 1am by this point, and he hadn't slept at all, the pain had kept him awake, that and the way he kept thinking about his own death.

After a moment, he shuffled closer towards his brother and wrapped his other arm around his waist, curling up next to him and burying his face against his neck.

He didn't care if Peter woke up anymore, he could just blame his tears on a nightmare.

And of course Peter did wake up after a moment, and frowned down at his brother. "Ed?" He whispered, still sounding half asleep.

Edmund let out a quiet sob that he was unable to keep back, burying his face further against his older brother neck.

"Ed what's wrong?" Peter asked quickly, forcing himself to wake up as he wrapped his arms around Edmund and pulled him close.

Edmund swallowed hard, biting the inside of his cheek against the pain. "Nightmare." He choked, guilt hitting him the second the word was out of his mouth.

"Oh Eddy." Peter murmured, hugging his brother tightly and placing a kiss to the top of his head. "You're alright, you're safe I promise."

Edmund took a deep breath and nodded slowly, although like always all he wanted to do was shake his head and scream.

"Try and get back to sleep." Peter whispered in his ear. "I'm right here and I'm not leaving, ever. I promise."

It took a while, but thanks to Peter's whispering and gentle rocking, Edmund eventually, despite the pain, fell into a deep sleep.

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"Have you heard anything back from the spies?" Susan questioned at breakfast the next morning.

Peter shook his head. "Not yet." He said. "But I'm guessing we will by tonight."

Susan nodded a little. "The sooner we find out what's she's up to the better." She sighed.

"The sooner we get rid of her the better." Peter corrected, sighing too.

"Do - Do you think Aslan will come?" Lucy spoke up, hope in her voice.

Peter stared at her. "Perhaps." He mumbled. "But just remember he could be busy with other countries, it's not just Narnia."

"I know." Lucy replied, before frowning. "Ed are you alright?"

Edmund's head snapped up, blinking at his sister for a moment. "Yeah sorry." He muttered. Trying my hardest not to scream is all. "Daydreaming." He added quietly.

Lucy glanced at Peter, and so did Edmund, pleading in his eyes. He had practically begged Peter not to tell the girls what he'd said about the spell, not wanting to lie to his sisters as well, lying to Peter was bad enough.

Peter stared at Edmund for a second before turning to Lucy and nodding his head, causing Edmund to breath a quiet sigh of relief before turning back to his breakfast. "Peter?" He mumbled after a moment, sounding unsure.

"Yeah?" Peter asked slowly, having heard the uncertainty in his brothers voice.

Edmund took a deep breath. "Can - Can I go and read in my room?" He asked. "I'm tired."

Peter hesitated. "Ed I've got a meeting." He said slowly. "And Susan's busy too, and Lucy's off with Mr.Tumnus for the day."

Edmund swallowed hard. "Peter, nothings going to happen to me." He sighed. "There are about two hundred guards throughout the castle! Including two outside the bedroom door. I'm perfectly safe."

Peter was still hesitating. "I'm not sure." He mumbled.

"Please." Edmund breathed. "I need some space, some time alone. This is all too much."

Peter stared at him, stared into his eyes, which was a bad idea. "Alright." He found himself saying. "But you are to go straight to our room and stay there until I come up after my meeting, do you understand?"

Edmund nodded immediately, glad that Peter had said yes. For now, he didn't have to hide the pain he was in, he could have an hour to himself to tend to the wound and just cry if he needed to. "I will, promise." He said quickly. "Thank you."

Peter nodded at him, not looking very happy. "Be careful." He said as Edmund stood from the table.

"I will." Edmund replied, before leaving the room.

"He'll be alright Peter." Susan reassured him. "He's right about the guards you know. Nothing's gonna happen to him."

"I know." Peter breathed. "I just can't help but worry about him."

"We're all worrying about him Peter." Susan sighed. "But he needs space every once in a while, you being by his side 24/7 isn't helping him at all. And I'm not saying it like that-" She continued when Peter opened his mouth. "Of course he enjoys your company, we all know that. But sometimes he needs space, needs some peace Peter, so let him have it, he's dealing with a lot at the moment and probably just needs time to think everything over, and you being with him all the time isn't going to help."

Peter stared at her for a while before sighing and nodding his head. "But after the meeting I'm going to find him." He said quickly.

"That's fine Peter." Susan said. "Even just an hour a day to himself will help."

Peter swallowed hard, nodding.

He sure hoped she was right.

But soon he was gonna find out that he never should've left Edmund alone... he should of been with him, to keep Edmund safe... from himself.

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