Journey to forgiveness (The Chronicles Of Narnia)

He just wanted a hug

It had been nearly three hours since Edmund had fallen asleep, and Peter hadn't left the tent for even a second.
Every now and then he'd have to walk over to his brother and whisper reassuringly to him, because he kept muttering in his sleep, hinting at nightmares.
Peter found it rather confusing why Susan and Lucy hadn't come yet, but in the end he told himself that Susan had probably talked Lucy into leaving them be until lunch, which would probably be soon now that he came to think about it.
As Peter sat there staring at his sleeping brother he couldn't help but wonder what an earth had happened to him whilst he was with the witch. And also, why he went to the witch in the first place. He must've had a perfectly good reason - right?
He took a deep breath when Edmund let out a sigh and turned onto his back (flinching as he did) his eyes flickering open. Edmund stared at the top of the tent for a while, a look of confusion on his face before slowly looking over at Peter.
Peter smiled a little when Edmund's expression changed from confused to realisation and he slowly relaxed.
"Hey." Peter whispered as he stood from his hammock and instead sat at the end of Edmund's, placing a hand carefuly on his knee.
"Hey." Edmund mumbled sleepily.
"How you feeling?" Peter couldn't help but ask.
Edmund shrugged carefuly. "Alright I suppose." He said. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Three hours." Peter replied.
Edmund only nodded.
"I expect lunch will be ready soon." Peter told him.
Edmund's eyes lit up, but he tried to hide it and nodded quickly.
But Peter hadn't missed the look of almost excitement in his eyes. "Ed?" He asked slowly.
Edmund looked slowly up at him, a worried look on his face. "Hmm?" He hummed.
"When was the last time you ate?" Peter said.
Edmund hesitated. "At the beavers." He said in barely more than a whisper.
Peter frowned. "What?" He asked, having not quite heard his brother.
Edmund sighed. "At the beavers." He repeated, louder this time.
Peter's eyes went wide. "You haven't had anything to eat since you left the beavers?!" He exclaimed.
Edmund sighed and shook his head. "Not unless you count a mouthful of dry, mouldy bread that I almost choked on." He whispered.
"She didn't give you anything to eat?" Peter said, still in a state of shock.
Edmund shook his head in reply.
"But you with with her for what, three days?" Peter said.
"I know." Edmund sighed.
"You haven't eaten in three days?!" Peter said.
Edmund sighed again. "No I haven't Peter." He said.
Peter swallowed hard and sighed. "Get changed - There's some clean clothes over on the table - and then we'll get you some lunch." He said gently.
Edmund nodded. "Sounds great." He mumbled as he slowly slid off the hammock and stood, taking a moment to get over a dizzy spell before slowly walking over to the table and staring at the clothes that were there. He grabbed the tunic before looking up at Peter.
Peter sighed, getting the unspoken hint. "I'll wait outside." He mumbled before slowly leaving the tent.
He stood just outside, waiting with his arms crossed.
"Ed you okay?" He asked after a few minutes.
There was a second of silence before Edmund answered. "I'm fine." He said from inside.
Peter frowned when his voice cracked and at the small gasp that followed. "You sure?" He asked.
"Yeah." Edmund choked from inside.
There was a few more moments of silence before there was another loud gasp from inside the tent.
Peter didn't even hesitate as he lifted the tent flaps and stepped inside the tent, too worried about his brother to stay outside.
The second he caught sight of his brother though he froze. Edmund was stood with his back to him, in front of a mirror that was stood in the corner of the tent. He had a pair of trousers on and knee high boots, but had yet to put on his tunic.
He was staring into the mirror, one hand on his collar bone over a particular bad, dark black bruise from what Peter could see in the reflection, but that wasn't what caught Peter's attention.
"Edmund." He choked.
Edmund's eyes went wide as he quickly spun around. "Peter!" He said. "What are you doing in here?!"
Peter didn't answer him. "Ed, your back." He whispered.
Edmund swallowed hard. "I - It's nothing." He said slowly.
"Edmund what -" He paused, looking for the right words. "What were those?"
Edmund sighed. "Nothing." He mumbled.
"Edmund come on." Peter said. "There's no point hiding it."
Edmund bit his lip. "They - they're whip lashes." He managed to choke out.
Peter took a deep breath, swallowing hard. "What - who - Why?" He stuttered.
Edmund sighed, he knew there was no point in lying, so hesitantly he told Peter. "She did it." He sighed. "She wanted to know where you were all going - Where Aslan was. But I wouldn't tell her, so - so she whipped me."
Peter's eyes stung with tears as he watched his younger brother.
"She tortured me for information Peter!" Edmund exclaimed, tears rolling down his cheeks.
Peter walked across the tent and gently placed a hand on Edmund's shoulder. "It's all over." He whispered.
"How is it?!" Edmund said. "She's still out there!"
Peter sighed. "I know Ed." He said. "But I won't ever let her touch you again."
Edmund let out a quiet sob. He just wanted a hug. He wanted a hug from Peter, from his big brother, and Peter at that moment wasn't able to give it to him.
"It's all gonna be fine." Peter said slowly, tightening his grip on Edmund's shoulder.
Edmund forced back his tears, sniffing. He shouldn't be crying, he'd brought this all upon himself, and he deserved it. Taking a deep breath he pulled away from Peter and slid his tunic over his head, being extremely careful.
"Ed." Peter said slowly. "Some of them we're bleeding."
Edmund sighed. "I know." He mumbled. "But - look, I'm hungry. Can we c - clean them after lunch?"
Peter hesitated - But he'd noticed how thin was brother was and knew that he really needed to eat. "Alright." He gave in, nodding his head.
Edmund nodded slowly back. "Thanks." He whispered.
Peter nodded too. "Come on then." He said, turning and heading out of the tent. What the heck! He couldn't even give his brother a simple hug! He'd seen the look in Edmund's eyes and knew exactly what he wanted, he wanted a hug. He wanted for someone to tell him that everything was gonna be fine and pull him close into a tight hug. Why was he unable to do that!?
He took a deep breath as he tried to push what he'd just seen out of his head. Edmund had been tortured whilst with the witch. He knew that Edmund was obviously hurt, but he didn't think it would be as bad as torture. He-
"Peter?" Edmund asked as he stepped out the tent behind him, hesitantly attaching a sword to his belt.
Peter looked down at him. "Let's just have something to eat." He mumbled.

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