Kind and Brave // Tales of the Traveling Queen Book 1

6) .A Betrayal of Friends.

(Edited)

.A Betrayal of Friends.

~Tuesday Prince~

"Hurry!" I call quietly through the howling wind and harsh snow that has suddenly started coming at us, full force. 

We reach a cliff face and lay down in the snow as to not be spotted. Lucy calls out her brother's name, seeing him walking through the bitter snow with no coat. Poor Edmund, he must be freezing. No matter how much feeling he's lost, I still care. Peter suddenly gets up and starts racing toward the bottom where he can get to Edmund, but I pull him back and roll myself on top of him to stop him from moving. He pauses for a second as if entranced then starts trying to push me off, but I lay firm.

"Get off me!" he shouts.

"You're playing into her hands!" I hiss back. 

Thankfully, he stops so I can roll off of him again and flip over so I'm looking toward the castle made of ice again.

"We can't just let him go!" Susan cries from next to me. "He's our brother!"

"He's the bait!" Mr. Beaver warns us. "The Witch wants all five of you! Especially you, highness."

"Why?"

"To stop the prophecy from coming true! To kill you!" 

Susan looks over, glaring at me with such a force, I'm sure the snow has corrupted her too. "This is all your fault!" she shouts. 

I don't try to quiet her. She needs to get it all out while she can. 

"None of this would have happened if you had just listened to me in the first place and not convinced the others to save Narnia!"

"That wouldn't have stopped him," I tell her in all honesty. "He would have returned to her anyways if we had have gone back. The woman has him under her spell. Not a real one, a figurative one. She's charmed him with fake kindness. She is a witch after all."

"Oh, so you knew this would happen?" Susan spits. I can almost see the venom coming through her soul.

"I didn't know what would happen. I can only base things off of what is happening now!"

"Stop it!" Lucy screams, breaking out argument apart. "This isn't going to help Edmund!" She's right. The darkness will only break us apart. This is what Aslan warned me about. I need to be careful.

"She's right," I agree aloud. "Only Aslan can help Edmund now." 

Susan turns to Mr. Beaver, still shooting fire at me with her eyes. "Then take us to him." With one nod, Mr. Beaver scampers away, leaving us to follow.

*~~~~~*~~~~~*

I can tell the witch's wolves are coming. I can smell the wet and evil radiating off their coats. I usher everyone inside and shut the door behind us, locking the door. Mrs. Beaver looks up from where she sits at the table and when she sees our faces she doesn't ask any questions, just hurries to the kitchen and packs a bag with food.

"I'm sorry to worry you, Mrs. Beaver," I apologize. "But Edmund has given us away to the witch. If we don't hurry, her wolves will kill us all. They're on their way already." 

Mrs. Beaver nods and bustles away to get more things. "It's alright, highness," she says simply. "I expected this day to come." 

I shake my head. "Please, just Tuesday, Mrs. Beaver." Peter takes to my side, incredibly close. Even more so since we're trying not to hit our heads on the ceiling.