November 26th - Prompt: Sun
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"It's so warm in here..." Edmund mumbled, trying to fan himself with his hand as he sat against the wall, glaring at the bared door ahead of him.
Peter nodded, wiping sweat from his forehead as he paced the cell. "That sun is murder." He grumbled, staring at the tiny window above which allowed the sun to shine through into the cell, and he almost wished there was no window at all, as he might've preffered a dark, cold cell than this.
Edmund sighed, before growling low in his throat and pulling his shirt off. "We need to find a way out of here." He muttered. "It's too hot."
Peter stared at his brother for a moment, before turning back to the cell door, and all of a sudden kicking it as hard as he could.
Edmund raised an eyebrow when it did absolutely nothing, before running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, that's not gonna work." He muttered.
Peter sighed, walking over to sit next to his brother, nodding a little as he did. "Yeah I know." He mumbled.
Edmund hesitated. "Do you even have any idea where we are?" He asked quietly.
Peter only shook his head. "A long way from Narnia." He murmured.
Edmund bit his lip, and opened his mouth to say something in reply, only to stop dead when he heard the key in the lock and the door swung open.
Peter immediately stood, Edmund rising behind him, but he allowed Peter to stand in front of him, knowing it was what he always did in situations like these.
A man stepped into the room a second later, and after taking a few steps forward, he pointed straight at Edmund. "You're to come with me." He muttered.
Peter reacted before Edmund could, quickly taking a step forward. "Why?" He demanded.
The man shrugged. "Just following orders." He said. "I'm to take him to the courtyard, that is all you need to know."
There was silence for ages before the gaurd huffed. "If you don't come peacefully, I'll hurt you both." He snapped.
Edmund stepped forward at this. "No," He said quickly. "Don't touch Peter, I'll come."
"Edmund-"
"I'll be fine, Peter." Edmund said, staring at his brother. "Just let me go, I'll be okay."
Peter had a battle in his mind, but eventually nodded, after all, the guard would find a way to get Edmund either way.
Peter held his breath until the two had left the cell and the door was locked, before he ran over to the small window, standing on his tiptoes so he had a good view of the courtyard.
He waited a few minutes, before he saw Edmund pushed out into the courtyard and over to a short pillar, where his hands were tied together and the rope tied to the pillar.
He was forced to his knees, before the guard just left him, alone in the middle of the courtyard.
Peter stood there for half an hour, just waiting for something to happen... but nothing did, Edmund was just left there.
It took a while, but eventually a realisation crossed Peter's mind.
Edmund still had his shirt off, and the sun was currently glaring down on him, his back especially... and if he was left out there long enough, he would suffer a horrific sunburn.
Peter bit his lip, and after a further ten minutes, he started pacing the cell, sighing in frustration every now and then and silently praying to Aslan that his brother would be okay.
He paced until he made himself dizzy, before returning to the window, standing on his tiptoes and glancing outside, sighing when he saw Edmund still just knelt there.
He was too far away and too far below for Peter to be able to see much, but he did notice he was now lent forward, forehead resting on the top of the stump he was tied to.
It had been around an hour now, which was more than enough time for Edmund to be well and truly sunburnt, and the fact that it had to of been at least *40 degrees right now, told Peter that if he stayed out there much longer, directly under the sun, it was sure to do more damage than just a sunburn.
The minutes ticked by, and by the time three hours had passed, Peter had kicked the walls of the cell many times in pure frustration.
He checked on his brother again, but no change, he was still knelt, leaning against the stump, hardly even moving.
After a minute or so, he left the window, pacing again, standing around, sitting at one point, before another two hours had passed.
It had now been five hours since Edmund had been taken away into the courtyard, and the sun was now setting, heating up the cell even more if anything, which is why he was begging night to come quickly, at least then it would be cooler.
He walked back over to the window, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw that Edmund was gone.
He bit his lip, before turning to face the door, hoping and praying he was being brought back up.
He waited a minute, before he heard the lock in the door and it was shoved open, revealing the guard from before, and Edmund.
The guard shoved Edmund forward towards Peter, who had to catch him before he collapsed.
The door was slammed and locked again, and Peter gently lowered Edmund to the ground, wincing when he hissed harshly.
He lay him on his side, looking instantly at his back, which was extremely red, burnt raw and clearly really, really painful.
"Ed?" Peter murmured. "Ed you awake?"
"Y - Yeah." Came Edmund's whispered reply.
"You feeling okay?" Peter questioned, worried at the state of him.
Edmund sighed a little, and his eyes stayed close as he talked. "My back - burnt." He murmured. "I - I feel sick, and dizzy, my - my stomach hurts."
Peter nodded slowly, also realising his breathing was a little quick, which worried him, but confirmed his suspicions. "Sounds like heat stroke." He mumbled.
"That - That's doesn't sound - good." Edmund all but slurred.
"It's not." Peter breathed, "You need water, you - you need a cool place."
Edmund took a deep, shaky breath. "I feel so sick." He coughed, "And my back really hurts."
"You're really burnt Ed," Peter told him. "But I'll get you help, don't worry."
After many minutes of pounding on doors and shouting for someone to help, the guard from before burst his way in again, followed by two others.
"My - My brother needs help." Peter snapped. "He - He's got heat stroke and he's badly sunburnt."
The guard from before seemed to smirk at this. "Bad is it?" He grinned.
Peter's heart skipped a beat, and he didn't even have time to react before the other two guards grabbed his arms and pulled him to the corner of the cell.
The other guard turned towards Edmund, kicking him onto his stomach and grinned down at his bright red back.
Peter watched, and he felt suddenly sick when the guard unhooked a whip from his belt. "What - What are you doing?" He asked, voice shaking.
The guard chuckled. "You don't think he was left outside for five hours for nothing did you?" He said. "The whole point was to get his back looking like that, get his back feeling like that, so that this will be torture."
Peter tried to get away from the two guards, but they were threatening to break his arms with how tightly they were holding him.
"Peter?" Edmund whispered suddenly, now trembling and sounding slightly confused... another thing that pointed towards him having heat stroke.
The guard just ignored him, chuckling as he raised the whip above his head, bringing it crashing down on Edmund's burnt back, Peter screaming at him to stop.
Edmund screamed on the first lash, not a loud scream, but a pain filled scream, enough to bring tears to Peter's eyes.
"Stop it!" Peter screamed. "Leave him alone!"
Lash after lash followed, until Edmund's back was covered, his burnt skin no longer visible under the blood. He wasn't even screaming anymore, just silently sobbing, tears streaming down his cheeks as he shook.
With the burns, the sickness, the dizziness, the confusion, the lashes and the probably headache, Edmund was in so much pain, and Peter couldn't stand it.
After fifteen lashes, the guard lowered the whip, before leaving the cell without another word.
Peter was shoved to his knees before the other two left, and he didn't even pay attention to the door being locked as he scrambled his way over to his brother, who was shaking where he lay, tears still rolling down his cheeks.
"Ed?" Peter choked. "Eddy, please say something."
"It - It hurts." Edmund managed to choke out eventually. "I don't feel good."
Peter took a deep, shaky breath. "I - I know," He whispered. "But I will find a way to help you, I - I promise I will."
☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆
I would've carried on and had this all in one part, but it's 10:30pm as it is, so I'll split it in two parts :)
*40°c = 104°f