Even a traitor may mend || The chronicles of narnia

Regret

It took almost five minutes for Edmund to realise that he had forgotten his coat, but there was absolutely no way he could go and get it now.
So he wrapped his arms tightly around him and continued climbing the small hill that led up into the woods. From what he could see, going through the woods would be the quickest way to the queens castle.
Reaching the trees he froze.
"Edmund!"
Hesitantly turning around Edmund glanced down at the beavers dam, which from his distance was rather small.
Swallowing hard he watched his siblings run from the house, it was Susan's voice he'd heard, and he heard it again, screaming his name as loud as she could.
Her shout was followed by a worried shout from Lucy, who was (from what he could see) clinging to her older sister.
And then he heard it, causing his eyes to go slightly wide.
Peter.
He'd shouted his brothers name as loud as he could, his voice cracking half way through.
Edmund found himself shocked at the emotion in his voice, and for a split second, the thought of returning to his family crossed his mind.
He could go back, apologise for what he meant to do. No harm done. He could fix his relationship with his siblings, Peter specifically.
No.
His family hated him, they didn't care.
But deep, deep down Edmund knew this wasn't true, the worry in Peter's voice had been way too real and heartwreanching for it to be pretend.
Edmund shook his head viciously, squeezing his eyes shut before turning around.
The last thing he saw of his siblings was them turning to talk to Mr.Beaver, who'd come running out of the house after them.
As quickly as he could, Edmund made his way through the woods, his arms wrapped tightly around him to try and keep warm, although he couldn't say it helped much.
He soon forgot about Susan's panicked shouts, about Lucy's worried face, and Peter's frantic cry, allowing his head to instead be filled with thoughts of Turkish Delight and being King.
These thoughts caused him to walk faster, and it was probably only fifteen minutes later when he walked up a small hill, and came face to face with the biggest castle he'd ever seen.
It was made entirely of ice, making Edmund shiver just by looking at it.
Taking a deep breath Edmund hesitantly made his way across the clearing and up to the castle doors.
They were absolutely huge and to his surprise, open.
He stood there for a moment, hesitating.
Eventually though he plucked up enough courage and entered the courtyard, his heart skipping a beat when, unexpectedly, the door swung closed with a thud.
Swallowing heart, and his heart pounding in his chest, he made his way across the courtyard, only to stop dead when he saw what looked like a giant... but it was all grey.
Frowning a little Edmund walked up to it, wondering why it hadn't moved yet, and it was only when he reached up and layed his hand on its leg, did he realise that it was solid stone.
He breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking, noticing that the whole courtyard was filled with stone statues, including a stone lion.
Walking over, Edmund picked up a charred stick from the floor, setting about drawing glasses and a moustache on the lion, chuckling to himself before continuing towards the far arch, leading to what looked like a huge staircase.
He spotted what looked like a stone wolf laying across the floor, and slowly went to step over it, but cried out when the apparently not so stone wolf leapt up, causing Edmund to crash to the floor, the wolf immediately pinning him down with his paw.
"Be still stranger, or you'll never move again." It growled, baring its teeth and causing Edmund's eyes to go wide. "Who are you?"
"I'm Edmund!" Edmund replied quickly, his heart pounding. "I met the queen in the woods! She told me to come back here!"
The wolf obviously wasn't convinced, it just kept growling.
Edmund thought for a moment before taking a deep breath. "I'm the son of Adam." He said.
The wolf immediately closed Its mouth, seeming to calm down. "Oh, my apologies." It said, removing its paw from Edmund's chest and heading towards the archway (which led to an open door, through which was the staircase Edmund had seen) "Fortunate favourite of the queen."
Edmund frowned a little as he sat up, turning his upper body to face the wolf.
"Or else." The wolf said, stoppong and turning its head. "Not so fortunate."
Edmund's frown got deeper. What was that supposed to mean?
"Follow me." The wolf said suddenly, retreating into the castle.
Edmund swallowed hard and quickly stood, running after the wolf until he caught up, and even then he walked a few paces behind... just incase.
They walked up the huge staircase and into a room made of ice, but Edmund had expected that, obviously.
It had tall pillars going down either side, and at the end were a few steps, and then what looked like a throne.
"Wait here." The wolf growled, slowly leaving the room.
Edmund stood and watched him leave for a moment, before glancing at the throne at the end of the room.
It was only then that he realised how much his legs ached, the walk to the witches castle hadn't exactly been easy, seeming as most of it was up hill.
So, after checking he was still alone, he walked over and lowered himself to sit on the throne, sinking into the fur cloak in relief.
He sat there for a while, a thought crossing his mind.
He could definitely get used to this.
He jumped harshly when a voice to his left caught his attention.
"Like it?" The queen asked, something of an amused smile on her face.
Edmund stood up, his heart hammering, though he didn't know why. "Er, yes." He stammered. "Your majesty."
"I thought you might." The queen said, taking her seat on her throne as Edmund moved to stand in front of her.
"Tell me Edmund." She said. "Are your sisters deaf?"
Edmund frowned. "No." He said slowly, wondering why in the world she would ask a question such as that.
"And your brother." The queen said after a small nod. "Is he-" She paused for a moment before nodding again. "UnIntelligent?"
Edmund snorted. "Well I think so." He said easily. "But Mum says-"
But he was cut off by the queen, who all of a sudden stood up sharply and opened her mouth. "Then how dare you come alone!" She shouted, taking a few steps towards a now petrified Edmund.
Edmund backed away quickly. "I tried!" He exclaimed.
"Edmund I asked so little of you." The queen said, still walking forward.
"They just dont listen to me!" Edmund tried, but the queen continued.
"You couldn't even do that!" She said, shaking her head.
"I - I did bring them half way." Edmund said suddenly. "They're at the little house at the dam, with the beavers!"
The queen stared at him for a moment, tapping her fingers against her dress as Edmund waited, heart pounding.
"Well." The queen finaly spoke up. "I suppose you're not a total loss then, are you?"
And with that she turned away.
"Well I was wondering." Edmund said quickly, causing her to turn back around and stare questioningly at him. "Could I maybe have - have some more Turkish delight now?"
The queen stared at him for a little longer, before she smirked and turned to Ginnabrik, who Edmund had only just realised was there. "Our guest is hungry." She said simply.
Ginnabrik smirked, and ice shot down Edmund's spine, he did not like the look of that smirk.
"This way-" Ginnabrik sneered, all of a sudden pulling out his knife and pressing it hard against Edmund's back.  "For your num nums."
Edmund had no choice but to walk towards a door to the side of the room, his breathing quickening.
He came to a halt though when the queen spoke again.
"Maugrim." She said.
At once the wolf from before appeared at her side.
"You know what to do." She said, an evil smirk on her face.
Edmund's heart sped up even more (if that were even possible) when he heard more wolf howls, before atleast ten wolves darted from the room...
On their way to the beavers dam.
His siblings.
No.
"Take him downstairs."
Edmund's head snapped up to see the queen stood behind them, having stood from her throne. "I will be along shortly."
Edmund's heart skipped a beat as he was pushed into a walk, she'd be along shortly? Why?
As he walked he couldn't help but think about his siblings, would the wolves actually kill them?
He hoped not, because no matter what he'd done, he never wanted his siblings to die.
He thought for a moment, before an idea came to mind. What if he could escape? Ginnabrik was rather small, he could easily escape from him, right?
He'd run back through the castle and back to the dam, and maybe even save his siblings.
Taking a deep breath, Edmund quickly pulled away from the knife and swung around, charging past Ginnabrik and knocking him straight to the floor.
Edmund could hardly believe his luck, and he did hesitate as he ran, determined to get away, to get to his siblings.
But a second later, something wrapped itself around his legs, immediately ripping through his socks and skin and sending him crashing to the floor.
He stilled completely when Ginnabrik crouched beside him, something of a smirk on his face.
"Her majesty won't be very pleased when she hears about this." He spat.
Edmund swallowed hard, flinching at the tone of his voice.
"Get up." Ginnabrik hissed, yanking his whip free of Edmund's legs.
Edmund stood shakily on his feet and this time allowed the dwarf to lead him down two flights of stairs and to a huge iron door.
He was shoved inside and pushed to the floor, where he landed with a thud and a groan.
When he glanced around, he realised that where he was, looked much too like a prison cell for his liking.
But he was proved right when Ginnabrik walked over and locked shackles around his ankles, smirking at him the whole time.
Edmund was half tempted to kick him in the face, but he knew that that probably wasn't a good idea, because he was probably in enough trouble already after trying to escape.
He flinched at the tightness of the shackles, and made a point to glare darkly at the dwarf as he watched him leave.
Edmund was left alone, his heart pounding, absolutely freezing and tears stinging his eyes... but he refused to cry.
His head snapped up when the doors opened and the queen... no, the witch, for that was indeed what she was, walked in.
"I hope you told me the truth Edmund." She said, her voice sickly sweet. "Because I don't think you want to know what will happen to you if my police do not find your siblings."
Edmund took a deep breath, not saying anything.
"Just a warning." The witch laughed. "So, did you tell the truth?"
Edmund swallowed hard, his breathing picking up again as the witch knelt in front of him.
"Did you tell the truth Edmund?" The witch repeated.
In the end Edmund slowly nodded, he had of course told the truth, although he was now starting to actually regret it.
The witch smirked at him. "We will see." She whispered, before: "Ginnabrik says you tried to escape?"
Edmund swallowed hard, not saying anything.
"I will punish you later." The witch said suddenly. "Not now, I'm busy now, but later definitely."
Edmund's eyes went slightly wider... punish him?
The witch laughed before slowly standing. "I'd get comfortable if I were you." She said as she made for the door. "You're gonna be here a while." And with that, she left.
Edmund swallowed hard, wrapping his arms around him to try and keep warm, for once he didn't actually care about himself, the thought of being stuck in an ice dungeon didn't bother him as much as he thought it should.
Sure, he was still absolutely terrified, what with his soon to come "punishment"... but he was even more scared for his siblings, and the thought that all of them could actually be killed, made him feel sick.

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I'm hoping to update a bit more frequently from now on 🤞🤞😂😂😔