"Peter!" Susan shouted at almost the same time as Edmund.
Peter sighed to himself as he took a step back, waiting for the ice wall to start forming before returning to his siblings, sitting down beside Edmund.
"Peter!" Edmund choked in disbelief as he watched the wall of ice grow taller. "Why did you do that?!"
Peter cringed at the terror in his brother's voice. "Because I want answers." He told him as firmly as he could.
Edmund frowned at him but didn't reply, he only looked back at the ice where Jadis was once again.
Peter took a deep breath before standing again, only to be grabbed by Edmund.
"Ed it's fine." Peter said quickly. "Stay with the girls."
Edmund hesitated but let Peter go, watching with a pounding heart as he walked over and stood in front of Jadis.
"Well." The witch said, folding her arms. "Out of all the people I wasn't expecting you to summon me."
"Shut it Jadis." Peter spat. "I want answers and I want them now."
"What could you possibly mean?" Jadis mocked.
Peter took a deep breath. "What just happened." He said. "You had something to do with it, didn't you?"
The witch stared at him for a moment, a small smirk appearing on her face. "Nothing gets past you does it Peter?" She laughed. When Peter said nothing in reply she went on to say: "Yes. I may of had something to do with it."
Peter frowned, looking for the right words. "What happened?"
Jadis raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it obvious." She said. "Edmund was stabbed."
"You know what I mean." Peter said threateningly.
Jadis laughed at him. "Well, let's see then." She said. "I have placed your brother under a curse. He could get stabbed at any time of the day or night, depends when I want it to happen."
Peter swallowed hard, unsure of what to say.
"The stab wound will always be in the same place as Beruna." The witch continued, keeping her eyes glued on Peter. "He will get weaker as the curse goes on, because of the amount of blood he'll be loosing."
Peter's heart was pounding in his chest. He glanced around at Edmund, who looked like he was about to throw up. He was gripping Susan's arm, staring up at the witch with nothing but fear in his eyes.
"But there is a way to stop this." The witch said suddenly, catching everyone's attention.
"What?" Peter whispered.
Jadis laughed. "I said that there's a way to stop this." She said.
"How?" Peter asked, sounding rather unsure.
"That's the best bit." The witch laughed. "I can stop the curse. But - I have to be alive."
Peter's eyes went wide. "No." He choked.
"Yes." The witch said, smirking as she looked down at Edmund. "And there's one more thing you should know." She said quietly as Edmund stared back up at her. "If I'm not alive within a week, the curse will become permanent. No matter what any of you do. And sooner or later you'll either die from weakness or, the cordial will just run out altogether."
Peter swallowed hard and stepped in front of his brother, blocking Jadis from his view. "Can't Aslan stop this?" He said slowly.
The witch laughed. "Not even Aslan himself can stop this curse." She said evily.
Peter shook his head. "Why are you doing this?" He choked. "After all the pain you've caused him already."
The witch scowled at him. "Because he ruined my plan to come back to life." She spat. "The one who broke the ice, must pay a terrible price."
Peter shuddered, looking away from the witch for just a second.
"I'll be waiting for your answer." The witch said. "One week don't forget. Otherwise you'll be saying goodbye to your precious little brother." She spat the last three words before disappearing from the ice, causing it to then shatter.
Peter ducked again and shielded his face before looking back up again, she was gone.
"Pete."
He turned around at the sound of his brothers voice, sighing at the look on his face. "I - It's gonna be fine Ed." He mumbled, kneeling on the floor in front of him.
Edmund sighed. "I-" He choked before stopping, shaking his head.
"How - How did she curse you?" Caspian wondered aloud, getting questioning looks from both Susan and Lucy.
"That's a good question." Susan muttered.
"Ed, any idea?" Peter asked.
Edmund thought for a moment before his eyes went wide. "When I - When I broke the ice, it felt like an electric shock or something, and I - I felt really cold for a second and pain shot through my stomach. But it was all over within a second." He said hastily, panicking. "She cursed me then." He choked after a while. "She knew it was me who destroyed the ice."
Peter took a deep breath. "You should've said something." He mumbled.
All Edmund did was shrug in reply, sighing as he looked down at his blood covered hands. "I can't do this again." He choked.
"Oh Ed." Peter whispered. "Yeah you can."
Edmund shook his head. "No I can't." He said firmly, looking up at his brother. "She broke me before Peter, there's no reason why she won't do it again."
Peter shook his head back. "She never broke you Ed." He said just as firmly. "And look, your over a year older than you were when you first entered narnia, you're braver and stronger."
Edmund sighed. "But when it comes to the white witch," He mumbled. "I'll always be that scared, broken twelve year old boy."
Peter's heart shattered. "Oh Eddy." He choked, pulling his brother into his arms.
Edmund said nothing about the nickname and just buried his face against Peter's shoulder, taking a deep breath.
"We will find another way to stop this Ed." Peter whispered into his ear as Susan placed a hand on her little brothers shoulder. "I promise you that."
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