Lost and Found

37: I trust you

Edmund groaned as his eyes flickered open to the sound of someone yelling at him to wake up.

The groan stung his throat, and he had no doubt there was a sizable bruise going around his neck by this point.

He must of slept funny that night, because when he dragged himself upright he almost couldn't keep back a cry of pain.

He was so stiff, his chest ached from being held up against that wall yesterday, his neck was extremely sore, making it hard for him to swallow or even breathe properly, his back was of course still stinging from the whip lashes he'd received at the other place, not to mention all the other dark black and purple bruises covering his body from when he'd gotten beaten up for saving that girl.

All in all he was rather in a lot of pain, and working in the heat really wasn't something he wanted to do.

But he had no choice in the matter, so reluctantly he forced himself out of bed, holding back a cry of pain as best he could before the door to the small room swung open.

"Get a move on!" The guard who entered growled, and Edmund found himself inching back against the wall, fear overwhelming him.

"I said, get a move on!" The guard snapped, voice loud as he marched away down the corridor.

Edmund took as deep a breath as he could without irritating his neck, before hesitantly walking from the room.

He was pretty sure he knew the way outside, but just to be on the safe side he followed a group of people who he'd seen working outdoors yesterday.

He kept his distance though, still too scared to approach anyone, and it was whilst he was walking a thought struck him.

Would he be like this with Peter? With Susan and Lucy? Would he be scared of them if they ever found him?

Edmund frowned at his thoughts... If?

No, Peter would find him, he was sure of it, although when pain shot down his back he found himself practically begging that he did it soon.

"Oh Aslan." He whispered as he walked, surprised that he could barely talk at all. "I trust you."

And that was all that was needed to make him feel just the slightest bit better, but all in all he still felt absolutely miserable.

He finally stepped outside, and without any hesitation he made his way quickly down to the stables, at once making himself busy despite the pain he was in.

All he had to do was deal with the pain until Peter found him, and in his eyes... he supposed it was worth it.

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"You were supposed to finish that half an hour ago."

Edmund's head snapped up, his heart skipping a beat. "I-"

"Why isn't it done yet?" The guard asked, taking a few steps into the stables as he glared at Edmund who was busy washing down the stables walls, trying to get all the dirt and hay that had stuck to them to come off.

"It's not coming off." Edmund choked out eventually, lowering the damp cloth he held.

"Well you'll just have to scrub harder then won't you?" The guard told him, not looking happy. "Its a bit of dirt, it can't be that hard to remove."

Edmund would've raised his eyebrow if he'd had the courage. A bit? "Please." He choked. "It won't come off."

His fingers had gone numb long ago from the cold water and the amount of scrubbing he'd done.

"Then scrub harder!" The guard all but shouted, making Edmund shrink back in fear.

"I've tried!" He all but sobbed, shaking his head slowly back and forth.

"Well you obviously aren't trying hard enough." The guard said darkly, before lunging forward and grabbing Edmund, who let out a choked gasp from the pain and the fear.

"Maybe this will teach you not to slack."

"I wasn't slacking!" Edmund cried in fear as he was shoved from the stables and across the gardens.

"If you keep back chatting me, I promise you my fist will meet your face." The guard threatened.

Edmund fell silent, but he couldn't help the fear he felt as they came to a stop near what seemed to be the blacksmiths.

His heart pounded as he was led over to a wooden pole sticking from the ground, frowning just slightly as his hands were tied to it, so he was facing it and couldn't go anywhere.

"You move and I swear there will be hell to pay." The guard all but whispered before disappearing inside.

Edmund practically held his breath as he stood there, trying to free his hands from the chains, but they held fast, he couldn't move if he wanted to.

He waited in silence for perhaps five minutes, before the guard stepped back outside, although this time he had what looked like a long bar of iron held in his hands, but what really scared Edmund was that half of it was glowing a bright orange, and his eyes went wide.

"No." He choked, shaking his head. "No!" He struggled to break the chains, but they held him in place, and in the end he had no choice but to just grab the top of the wooden pole and brace himself, squeezing his eyes shut.

The pain he felt when the bar was pressed to his back was unlike anything he'd felt in a long time.

It burnt through his shirt and skin, ripping a loud scream from him that tore his throat apart and allowed tears to stream down his cheeks.

But the guard didn't move the bar, he kept it pressed to the same spot on Edmund's back as the boy screamed himself hoarse, pulling against the chains as hard as he could... but with no luck.

This lasted all of twenty seconds, before the guard removed the bar, causing Edmund to collapse, dangling from the chains seeming as his knees didn't quite reach the ground.

His back was on fire where the burn was, and he screamed once again when the guard threw a bucket of water at him, and whilst it helped just the tiniest bit, he was still in way too much pain.

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