Right by your side || The Chronicles of Narnia

Only when he was ready

Peter sighed sadly to himself, sitting atop Philip as the horse trotted quickly through the woods.
As he sat there he found himself thinking of past events, when he and his siblings were younger and everything had just seemed so simple, and then about when his father went off to war, when they were sent away from home, which then got him thinking about how they'd found Narnia, and then how Edmund had left, leaving him more worried than he ever thought he'd been in his life.
He then thought about the night when Edmund arrived at Aslan's camp. No matter how hard he tried, he knew he'd never be able to forget that, forget the look on Edmund's face, the look of pure terror.

Peter sat bolt upright in bed when a faun burst into his tent, looking rather worried.
"Your majesty." It said quickly as seeing that Peter was awake.
Peter's heart started to pound in his chest as he realised that it was one of the fauns who'd gone in search of his brother. "Yes?" He choked, eyes full of hope as well as fear.
"It's your brother." The faun said slowly.
Peter's stomach plummeted as his face fell. "Please tell me he's not-"
"He's alive." The faun said, quickly cutting him off.
Peter felt so relieved it left him dizzy, and he took no care to hide it.
"But - you see, when we rescued him, he passed out." The faun said. "But he recently woke up, and is totally freaking out, I thought him maybe seeing a familiar face might calm him down?"
Peter quickly nodded and climbed from his hammock, reaching for his sword that lay propped up against the leg of the table.
"Sir." The faun said. "I'd leave that here."
Peter stared at him for a while, eyes stinging with tears, before he quickly nodded and followed the faun from the tent.
He followed him through the camp until they reached a small group, gathered around the side of the tent. A few were talking amongst themselves, but Orious, it looked like, was speaking to the tent, but Peter knew that wasn't true.
Running over he carefully pushed passed the group, glancing towards the tent and seeing Edmund.
Edmund, his little brother, was backed against the tent, tears rolling down his already tear stained cheeks, he had a look of pure terror on his face and was trembling, so, so hard.
Peter took a deep breath and stepped forward, catching the attention of his brother, who upon seeing him, frowned slightly but still looked terrified.
Sighing to himself Peter knelt in front of his brother, staring into his eyes.
But Edmund was either to scared, or too tired, or in too much pain, or anything, to see that it was him at the moment.
Peter bit his lip when he saw the bruise on his little brothers left cheek, as well as the cut by his eye and his split lip.
His eyes scanned down to where Edmund's knees had been cut open, scabs only just starting to form, and to where his shins were covered in yellowing bruises and minor scrapes.
Taking a deep breath he looked back to Edmund's face, seeing that he was trying to back away, eyes full to the brim with tears.
Peter, doing the only thing he thought that would calm his brother down, slowly raised his hand towards Edmund's face.
Edmund's eyes went wide for a few seconds before he squeezed them shut, flinching as he turned his head away.
With a sinking heart Peter knew that Edmund was clearly expecting to be hit. What an earth had the witch done to him for him to come back in a state like this?
So when Peter gently and lightly pressed his hand to the unbruised side of Edmund's face, those dark brown eyes shot open, a look of complete shock filling them.
Peter managed a small smile. "It's me." He whispered. "It's Peter."
Edmund just stared at him, unable to hide the shock on his face.
"You're not with her anymore." Peter carried on. "You're safe."
Edmund swallowed hard. "Safe?" He choked.
Peter's heart broke at the pain in his voice. "Yeah Ed, you're safe." He mumbled.
Edmund was still visibly trembling as he asked: "No more pain?"
Peter's face fell at the question. "No Eddy, no more pain." He whispered.
Edmund stilled completely when Peter whispered the nickname, his eyes filling once again with tears. "Eddy." He mumbled to himself, before two more tears rolled down his cheeks. "Peter?" He asked, his voice cracking.
Peter nodded. "It's me." He reassured him.
A look of guilt immediately appeared on Edmund's face. "I'm so sorry." He choked. "I'm sorry - I didn't - well I - sorry - I'm sorry, so, so sorry. I-" he stammered, only to be cut off by his brother.
"Hey." Peter whispered. "It's okay, I know Ed. I know."
Edmund licked his lips, only to flinch.
"Are - Are you hurt badly?" Peter asked hesitantly.
Edmund stared at him for a while before nodding, hanging his head and not looking at his brother.
Peter swallowed hard. "How about you come with me and I'll sort you out." He asked.
Edmund looked rather wary as he shifted against the tent, once again unable to hide a flinch.
"I'll clean your injuries and it'll get rid of most of the pain?" Peter suggested.
Edmund sighed, but in the end nodded. "Thanks." He whispered.

Peter quickly wiped at the tears that had made their way down his cheeks, shaking any more memories from his head.
He sighed to himself - Edmund had been absolutely petrified of anyone and anything after he'd been rescued, even the days following he'd jump at the slightest sound. One night he'd ended up in Peter's hammock because he couldn't sleep with all the strange noises he could hear.
Peter, ever since the first time he saw Edmund after he'd been rescued, had been dying to know what had happened to him when he was with the witch, but he knew Aslan had said there was no need to talk about what was past.
But if he knew Edmund, he'd tell him when he was ready, and only when he was ready.

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I have so many versions of what might've happened when Edmund was brought to Aslan's camp 😅😅😂