༄ 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 (𝘗𝘊) ༄

Chapter 13: The Plan Goes Amiss

We ran quickly through the halls, trying to remain undetected by the increasing number of guards. They were searching for us and we knew we couldn't fight them all off. The Prince diverged from our current hall—likely a way out—but Peter continued forward. Peter's actions caused the rest of us to stop, unsure what to do. Susan looked from Caspian to her brother, conflicted by the need to follow orders and saving the lives of our troops.

"Peter!" she said.
"Our troops are just outside, come on!" Peter shouted.

The two royals exchanged a look before following after the High King. I knew now that this plan was indeed suicidal. We had a chance when the Telmarines didn't realize we were here but now our forces were going to be greatly outmatched. They already had far greater numbers than the Narnians we could rally and we only brought a third of those with us. Peter needed to call this off while he still had the chance before our troops were senselessly killed in this failed attack. But I couldn't tell him that so I could only begrudgingly follow after them. If it wasn't for my promise to Lucy and my duty, there was a high chance I wouldn't have followed.

Peter reached the courtyard before us and ended up engaging in a duel with two Telmarines. He quickly dispatched them—with no help from us—and shouted up to his brother. "Now, Ed! Now! Signal the troops!" he ordered before running towards the gate.
"I'm a bit busy Pete!" Edmund replied.

At his words, I glanced up and saw that Edmund was fighting a Telmarine. He was pinned against the side of the turret. With their close proximity, I couldn't take the risk that I would hurt Edmund rather than the guard. Especially at night when it was hard to distinguish who was who. I wanted to help, but I couldn't figure out how and the royals' disagreement distracted me.

"Peter, it's too late. We have to call it off while we still can," Susan tried to explain.
"No! I can still do this," Peter argued, struggling to turn the wheel and open the gate. "Help me!"

The three of us exchanged another look, one of confusion and worry. Then the Prince sheathed his sword as he and Susan rushed to help Peter. I watched Edmund struggle for a moment longer before running over to help them as well.
"Exactly who are you doing this for, Peter?" Susan asked him.

He never answered her though and I could see Telmarines rushing to flood the courtyard. Without help from our troops, I didn't see how any of us could get out alive. Although we were all skilled at fighting, four people versus a hundred men wasn't possible.

I glanced to check on Edmund's status and watched him struggling to get his torch lit. For some reason, it wasn't working and he was anxiously trying to get it to light up—or however, it worked. It was foreign to me. The army charging at us only made it worse as he knew this was all pointless if he couldn't signal our troops. Relief flooded his face as it finally flicked on. He flashed it into the night and the three made one final rotation to open the gate.

The Telmarines were growing closer. Asterius, the minotaur, charged through first with the rest of the Narnians close behind. Peter and Caspian both turned quickly and drew their swords. Susan and I both withdrew arrows from our quivers and prepared for a battle. At Peter's battle cry the Narnian army collided with the Telmarines.

Susan and I started the battle side-by-side. We couldn't always shoot fast enough so we sometimes used our arrows to stab or slice at the Telmarines. But as the fighting raged on, we ended up drifting away from each other. I knew it was dangerous to look around for her whilst in the middle of a battle, but I had to keep an eye on all the royals. So I tried to sneak glances in between bouts—preferring to let the Telmarines come to me rather than me going to them—and managed to locate everyone but Edmund. Last I had seen, he was on the roof and I could only assume he was safe.