Lost and Found

45: Leave him alone

"Let me go!" Peter screamed, struggling against the guard with as much strength as he could manage, but it didn't get him far at all.

The guard only smirked before punching him square in the face, sending him to the floor where his vision went blurry and he went completely limp.

"Ed." He whispered, and it was at that moment that he heard the cry of pain come from inside the tent.

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"I will not let you harm my King." Orious said firmly, pointing his sword straight at the man.

He only laughed though. "If you do not let me past, then I will make sure my men kill your High King out there, and then he'll never get to see his brother again."

Orious hesitated, but he knew that Peter would rather die instead of let Edmund suffer for the rest of his life, so stood his ground. "I said I will not let you harm him." He said.

The man raised an eyebrow. "What if I got all my guards in here and shot him?" He laughed. "If you don't move out the way then that is exactly what I'll do."

Orious did nothing for a long while, before slowly lowering his sword.

"Leave."

The centaur had no choice but to hesitantly duck out the tent, hoping he could explain to Peter why he had just abandoned his brother.

Edmunds eyes were half open as tears streamed down his cheeks. Why was everybody leaving him? First Peter had gone, and now Orious, and he couldn't understand why.

The pain was getting way too much to handle, and in all honesty all he wanted to do was die. It sounded dramatic to even him, but if it was the only way to stop the pain, then so be it.

He frowned though when a face appeared above him, and had to blink a few times to get his vision into focus, before his eyes went wide. "No." He whispered, shaking his head as his heart pounded.

The man only laughed. "You didn't think you could escape me that easily did you?" He mocked, before smirking and grabbing Edmund's arms, yanking him into a sitting position.

Edmund screamed out in agony as every single part of his body protested against the movement, but his ribs especially, it felt like someone was piercing him repeatedly with a sword, and he just wanted it to end.

The man had to literally carry him from the tent seeming as Edmund refused, or really couldn't walk, but the second they were outside, he was thrown to the sand, another scream ripping apart his throat as he squinted in the scorching hot sun.

Peter had since been pulled into a kneeling position again, and his heart shattered, struggling to free himself from the guards grip. "Please just let him go!" He choked. "I owe you absolutely nothing! He is my brother, my blood, my family, yet you claim he belongs to you?!"

Edmund swallowed hard. "Peter's brother." He whispered, tears streaming down his cheeks as he spat sand weakly from his mouth.

The man laughed. "I bought him I'm afraid." He said.

"He was never for sale in the first place!" Peter all but screamed.

"Oh but he was." The man said, grinning. "And in my opinion I paid too much for him, but it seems to of paid off."

"You won't get away with this." Peter spat.

"I think I already have." The man smirked, before kicking Edmund in the stomach, causing him to cry out and actually cough up blood, the kick probably breaking his ribs even more.

"You monster!" Peter snapped, and before anyone had even known what had happened, he launched himself at the man, freeing himself from the guards grip.

He tackled him to the ground, but with his hands tied behind him still there wasn't a lot he could do, and he hardly had time to react before he was punched in the face and thrown to the floor, landing with a cough and a groan as sand was thrown up into his eyes.

He was grabbed once again by the guard and forced back into kneeling position, the man standing and brushing down his tunic. "That was the wrong thing to do." He growled, before pulling a dagger from somewhere in his clothes.

Peter's heart skipped a beat when he turned to Edmund, pulling the half conscious sixteen year old onto his knees and once again causing him to scream out in pain, before his head lolled forward, but not for long.

The man grabbed his hair and yanked his head up, pressing the dagger to his neck.

Peter swallowed hard. "Don't you dare." He all but whispered.

"Oh I'm not gonna kill him." The man laughed. "After all I want him working for me. No, this dagger is going in either his arm or his leg because of what you did, and guess what, you get to chose which one."

Peter felt sick. "You can't make me do that." He choked.

"Oh I can." The man said. "Because if you don't chose it goes in both his arm and his leg."

Peter swallowed hard, glancing at Orious, Philip and Amir who all looked extremely scared, although maybe not Orious.

"P - Pete." Edmund choked. "My - My leg, please. Arm hurt - hurts too much already."

Peter stared at him, stared at the tears rolling down his cheeks and swallowed hard.

"Not both - please not both."

Peter squeezed his eyes shut, before taking a deep breath. "Leg." He whispered. "Just not both."

The man smirked, before stabbing the dagger into Edmund's right thigh, ripping a scream from his throat before he was thrown to the ground, the man smirking at Peter.

Peter only glared at him, one tear making it's way down his cheek.

"Would you look at that." The man laughed. "He does cry after all."

"L - leave him alone."

Both looked down at Edmund when he said these words. He was gripping his leg, his hands getting stained red with blood.

"Gladly." The man laughed. "Because we are leaving now, I want the money on my desk by this time tomorrow, or your brother will become my property forever."

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