The Phoenix Archer ∞ Peter Pevensie

ii. | S E V E N T E E N

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P E T E R

"What you're doing?" Caspian's voice sounds from behind me, "It's only going to push her away."

"Look, I appreciate the advice but I really don't need this from you right now."

This is the last thing I needed to happen. My fiancée's brother, who so happens to be the one person I'm struggling to get along with, giving me a lecture on what I'm doing wrong in my relationship.

"She's getting weaker by the minute. Every second you spend with her should be filled with good memories, not ones like this-"

I don't know what came over me, but the next thing I know, I had Caspian pinned against the wall by the collar of his shirt.

"Stop acting like she's going to die!" I yell, my voice bouncing off the walls of the dark hallway we were in, making it seem louder than it really is. "S-she isn't. She can't."

Caspian raises a hand, clasping it gently on my shoulder. He's looking at me like I'm some rabid animal that needs to be tamed, and to some extent, it feels like I am. It feels like I'm going to lose it at any moment.

"You can't keep doing this to yourself. I know how hard this is to hear. It was hard for me too, but Nerissa's made her peace with it and you should too."

"I said stop!" I slam him against the wall, rearing my fist back, ready to bring it down on his face when a pair of hands tug me back.

"What the hell is going on here!" Edmund demands, shoving himself between Caspian and me. "Have you gone mad? The enemy's out there. That's who we should be fighting. Not each other."

A blanket of silence falls over us and I run my hand through my hair, tugging on its ends. Taking deep breaths, I desperately try to calm myself down, with my brother being my voice of reason.

"Do either one of you want to explain?" Edmund presses, crossing his arms over his chest.

Caspian opens his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it.

"Nerissa's dying."

The words come spilling out of my mouth, leaving a bitter aftertaste.

"Nerissa's dying," I repeat under my breath.

I run a hand through my hair, tugging firmly on its ends and allowing the sting that burns at my scalp to ground me.

Nerissa's dying.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I pace around the room, but nothing seems to calm the ache that I feel in my chest.

She's dying and all I've been doing is putting a wedge between us in my efforts to save her when I should have been loving her. But then again, I'm also too selfish to let her go.

Nerissa's life is non-negotiable. She's everything I've ever dreamed of. Everything I could ever want. I meant it when I said she was the love of my life. Hell, she's more than that. She's the air that fills my lungs. She's what gives me life. She is my life, and the thought of her leaving me kills me more than she could ever understand.

"What do you mean Nerissa's dying?" Edmund asks, colour draining from his face.

There's a bond between him and Nerissa that rivals ours. Not quite the same, but just as strong.

Edmund looks up to Nerissa. She's just as much family to him as the rest of us. She is the one that saved him after all. She'd offered him friendship and stood up for him in a time where little would have.

"What do you mean she's dying?" He demands again through gritted teeth when no one responds.

"Her body's rejecting the fire flower juice." Caspian says solemnly, "She's getting weaker every day."

The look on Caspian's face says it all. In the heat of my anger, I sometimes forget that he cares about her just as much as I do and this is affecting him just as much.

The dark rings under his eyes are evidence of sleepless nights- nights I could only assume were spent worrying about his sister. He's her brother in every sense of the word. They'd grown up together. Played together. Fought together. Cried together. He's family, and I guess that hasn't sunk in until now.

"There has to be a way to fix this." Edmund says, "Perhaps we could find a cure. Some medicine maybe?"

Caspian shakes his head, "I've tried. I've talked to Professor Cornelius and we have gone through books we thought could help or give us some type of answer. It's just as Nerissa says, there's nothing we can do about this."

"That's it?" Edmund's eyes dart between me and Caspian, taking in the hopelessness on our faces.

"No, it's not." I answer, getting to my feet, "We'll find something. Anything."

"Could Aslan help her?"

My eyes meet those of my brother's, his filled with determination and mine with hope seeping through the cracks. Surely Aslan wouldn't just let her die. After all she'd done for Narnia, there's no way he could.

"We'd just have to find him fast, then," Caspian says before I had the chance to. "We'd move the battle forward. Get your sisters out into the woods sooner."

I nod, "I agree."

The surprise that colours Caspian's face is hard to miss, and I meet his gaze firmly.

"The safety of my people is important, yes, and Miraz needs to be stopped. But right now, Nerissa's the priority. Can we agree on that?" I say, offering Caspian a hand to shake. A truce.

Caspian jerks his head in agreement. "What's the plan?"

"We go through with the battle. Get our troops ready. But as soon as we find Aslan, we get him to Nerissa first."

"Glad to see you two finally agreeing on something." Edmund snarks.

I ignore my brother's comment, hardly in the mood to entertain his sarcastic remarks.

"Brief the troops." I say to Caspian before turning to Edmund, "And you. Can I trust you with offering the challenge to Miraz?"

Edmund nods in response without hesitation, "She's not leaving us." He says with a confidence that I wished I could embody too.