Silence || The Chronicles Of Narnia

10: Trade

Edmund bit back a groan as he was suddenly pushed to his knees on the floor, and glancing around found that he was in the exact same place he was when Jadis had turned the fox into stone.

Of course the fox was gone now, having been revived by Aslan, but just being in that same place again, was enough to make Edmund feel slightly uncomfortable.

All of a sudden, a knife was placed to the edge of his neck, causing his breath to catch and for his eyes to go wide. "They have five minutes." The witch whispered in his ear. "Five minutes or I kill you."

Edmund swallowed hard, hoping beyond hope that they weren't going to be late... even by a second.

For the next five minutes, Jadis made it a point to let him know when every minute passed, and by the time she got to 2, Edmund's breathing was picking up, and then he all of a sudden couldn't breathe at all. Really? Now?!

Edmund squeezed his eyes shut, trying his hardest to breathe, but he just couldn't.

Jadis frowned down at him. "What an earth-" She muttered, before a look of realisation appeared on her face and she smirked. "Oh, you're still not fully recovered from the poison." She laughed.

Edmund choked slightly, his eyes wide now. He tried to imagine Peter's voice in his head, telling him to calm down and breathe, but it just wasn't working, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't breathe.

"Well as much as I'd like to stand here and watch this, I can't have you dying yet." Jadis snapped, before she lifted his head up and slammed her hand hard against his back.

Edmund at once drew in a deep breath, followed by a few more before he slumped forward, gasping and coughing.

Jadis rolled her eyes before pressing the dagger back against his neck. "One minute." She hissed.

Edmund's heart thudded against his chest, he was scared. Really, really scared. Granted he didn't actually want Jadis to have the wand, but he didn't want to die either. Well, not yet anyway.

"30 seconds." Jadis whispered suddenly, and Edmund felt her press the dagger harder against his neck.

"20." Edmund's eyes filled with tears and he took a deep breath.

"10." Jadis grinned. "The second midday hits, I'll slice this knife across your neck... so everyone better hurry up... 5...4...3...2-"

"Jadis!"

Edmund breathed a sigh of relief. Peter.

He was suddenly forced to turn around, the witch still keeping the knife pressed against his neck as she grabbed his hair and yanked his head up.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't come." She laughed. "Is it just you?"

"It's just me." Peter said, climbing slowly down from Philip and walking over until he was stood a short distance away from the witch and his brother.

Peter was relieved to see that Edmund didn't really look hurt, just a split lip was all, but he still feared that there were injuries that he couldn't see.

"I brought the wand." He said slowly. "Just like you asked... now let my brother go."

Jadis smirked. "Give me the wand first." She said.

Peter hesitated, his grip on the witches wand tightening.

"Give me the wand now Peter." Jadis hissed. "Or I'll use this knife!"

Edmund watched carefully as Peter glanced down at the wand before hesitantly holding it out towards Jadis.

The witch instantly grabbed it, a triumphant grin spread across her face.

"Now let my brother go." Peter said firmly.

Jadis rolled her eyes before removing the knife from Edmund's neck and shoving him towards Peter, who quickly caught him before he could collapse.

Two seconds later, the witch and the hag had disappeared, leaving just Peter and Edmund, along with Philip.

"Ed?" Peter asked gently, pushing Edmund to sit upright.

"I knew you'd come." Edmund said, something of a smile on his face.

Peter returned it with a small smile of his own, before grabbing his dagger and slicing through the ropes bounding Edmund's hands.

Edmund let out a sigh of relief and rubbed at his wrists, before looking back up to his brother and then resting his head against his chest.

"Oh Ed." Peter choked, wrapping his arms tightly around his brother. "What did she do to you?"

Edmund sighed. "Other than the one time she hit me... nothing." He mumbled.

Peter frowned. "She didn't hurt you?" He questioned, sounding hopeful.

Edmund shook his head. "No. She starved me and kept me in her ice dungeons, but other than that she kept her distance." He explained.

Peter breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank Aslan." He whispered, placing a kiss to the top of his brothers head. "I'm so sorry this happened Ed. I'm so sorry she's back."

"It - Its not entirely your fault Peter." Edmund said slowly.

Peter frowned and hesitantly pulled away. "What do you mean "entirely"?" He asked.

Edmund swallowed hard. "For her to come back to life, she - she needed her wand, which she had for a little while before it was stolen. And she needed - needed a drop of Adam's blood. She - she got to the dagger before I did..." he trailed off, watching the look of realisation appear on Peter's face.

"She used my blood." He whispered, suddenly going as white as paper. "It is my fault, I - I should've been more careful."

"No Peter." Edmund said quickly. "It's not your fault, you didn't know."

Peter stared at his brother for a little while before swallowing hard and pulling him back in for another hug. "We will get rid of her Ed, I promise." He murmered in his ear.

"I know we will." Edmund breathed.

"And I promise that I won't let her hurt you." Peter said firmly, his grip tightening. "I will do anything I can to protect you."

Edmund swallowed hard. "I know you will." He whispered, burying his face against Peter's neck.

"And I promise you that everything's going to be alright." Peter finished, placing a kiss to the top of Edmund's head.

Edmund had to fight to keep the tears back now, fight to keep his breathing under control, and fight against telling Peter what was going to happen. So instead he just settled with nodding his head and wrapping his arms around his brothers shoulders. "Yeah." He choked.

But deep down, he was screaming.

Oh Peter, if only you knew.

☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡
I hope everyone had a great Christmas ❤