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✩.･*:｡≻───── ⋆♡⋆ ─────.•*:｡✩☠️Suffering Defeat☠️✩.･*:｡≻───── ⋆♡⋆ ─────.•*:｡✩

Edmund's feet was rooted to the concrete floor, cornered in a tower on the edge of the castle. The door vibrated vigorously, losing its defence against the guards.

His blood pressure elevated, sending a rush through his veins. Desperate for an escape route, he scanned possible angles anxiously as time slipped through his fingers like sand. He wished he had remained at the battle site where he could keep an eye out for his loved ones.

"Get it open!"

"I'm trying! It's budging!"

The wooden door finally busted open, snapping its wooden lock in half. The two guards positioned their swords at him, exchanging sinister grins with each other. Edmund stepped back on the edge of the tower slowly, completely aware that he was sandwiched between two death scenarios. It was only a matter of seconds before he decided which was less excruciating.

He peeked over his shoulder at the deep abyss, then at the guards, who anticipated his surrender. With an oddly calm expression, he ensured that their eyes were fixated on him. Then, without another word, he took his last step, giving way to gravity.

The two guards exchanged glances, absolutely flabbergasted at the unexpected turn of events. They rushed towards the edge, searching through the thick mists. Out of the blue, they were abruptly blown away by a gryphon soaring upwards into the sky. Edmund smirked triumphantly at them, apparently having the last laugh.

Soaring over the castle grounds, he scouted for the rest. The night was eerily silent. He could only hear the faint breeze of the wind as if the castle had returned to its slumber. Had the battle ceased? Did they defeat Miraz? He would have heard cheers and celebrations.

To his horror, the ground was filled with dead bodies. A million thoughts ran through his unsettled mind. He scanned all over the castle grounds for Charlotte. But she was nowhere to be found. Perhaps she made it out. Some of the Narnians were alive and no longer attacked by the archers. They merely waited in silence, which he failed to make sense of. Were they held as hostages?

Finally, a sense of familiarity comforted him as he caught a glimpse of Peter on a horse. He caught up to the High King galloping away from the castle, gliding over him. Susan rushed to embrace him as soon as he landed. Peter joined in, encasing them endearingly. Alas, they were reunited as one family.

"What's going on? Where's Charlotte?" Edmund questioned frantically, with his hands firmly placed on Susan's shoulders.

However, she only stared at him in despair. Her lips remained shut, and not one sound came out of her. She took his hands off her shoulder slowly, her gaze shifting from his eyes to their hands.

A light object dropped onto his palm. He peered down at a bracelet. Decorated with primroses and oak tree leaves, he knew it could only belong to Charlotte.

He met Susan's gaze, his beleaguered eyes slowly becoming glassy and wet. She pressed her lips as if she was withholding information. His eyes widened in skepticism. He shook his head, refusing to accept that the only thing left of her was her bracelet, which delicately sat in his palm.

"Susan," Edmund cried out in disbelief, as he clenched the piece of jewellery, "where is she?!"

When Susan refused to answer, he shifted his attention to Glenstorm. Edmund took a few steps, surveying their troops in search of her. He wanted to find her amongst them. He needed to. Even Glenstorm refused to meet his gaze, afraid of the Just King losing his rational thought. The rest of their troops, including Nikabrik, and Reepicheep, avoided him. None came forward to reveal the girl.

"Ed," Peter said slowly, heavily reluctant to be the bearer of bad news, "she went back in."

"What?" Edmund frowned, his chest rising and falling rapidly, "But I just flew over."

"I didn't see her," he added, "She had to have made it out."

"She went back in," Peter insisted, "we saw her."

"You didn't stop her?" Edmund almost barked, struggling to keep himself composed as he glanced at his sister, "None of you did?"

"W-we did," Susan came to Peter's defence, "we told her to stop, but she refused to listen."

"What about Miraz?" He asked calmly. "Did we win?"

"He got away," Peter sighed, "we failed."

Edmund shut his eyes momentarily, rolling in his lips to stifle his sobs, "No, this doesn't make sense. I'm going back in."

"I will not allow it."

"She might still be in there, I've got to, at least, check!"

"No!" Peter barked fiercely, startling Susan beside him.

"They're still alive in there!" Edmund persisted. "They need our help."

"We can't," Caspian opposed, hoping it would persuade Edmund, "we've lost them."

"No, no, we haven't," Edmund stubbornly said, attempting to climb on the gryphon.

But Peter dragged him back down instantly, with his patience wearing extremely thin.

"Stop it, Ed!" He demanded furiously, with his chest already rising and falling.

"I can fly over and open the gates! Or something!"

"I'm not letting you risk your life now! We've already lost enough soldiers!"

"How could you have let her gone back in, then?" Edmund challenged.

"She disobeyed my orders and flew the gryphon! I won't have you doing the same thing and putting yourself in danger!" Peter yelled furiously, no longer keeping himself collected.

"The gryphon," Edmund repeated softly, looking back at the creature who had just rescued him from the tower.

His expression turned sour at the thought that he was rescued at her expense.

"Look, Ed, we saved who we could," Peter lowered his voice, fatigued by his rage, "Let's just focus on getting everyone else to the How."

Before Edmund could respond, a thunderous thud of a big block of wood caught their attention. They turned their heads to the bridge that was lowered, and the gates that winded up. This sent the Narnians into an alarming state, and the crowd burst with panic.

"They're coming!" Peter howled. "Retreat into the forest!"

"Wait!" Susan cried out, raising her hand, "It's our troops!"

Everyone stopped in their tracks, peering back at the bridge. As Susan had mentioned, the rest of the Narnians dispersed in rejoice. They fled out of the castle, embracing the rest before the woods.

Susan heaved a sigh of relief, embracing Caspian. Peter only blinked with his mouth agape with perplexity by the scene.

Glenstorm galloped forward in search of his sons. Tears of joy escaped his eyes at the sight of them galloping forward, grateful that they were saved from terrible deaths. They rushed into his arms, to his relief, celebrating their reunion.

"I... I don't understand," Peter frowned, looking to his siblings, "what's going on?"

Edmund surveyed the troops again in search of Charlotte.

"Where's Princess Charlotte?" His tone was brightened with high hopes.

Their rejoice was short-lived. They hung their head low, refusing to make eye contact with him. Some of them exchanged glances with each other. But mostly, they all shared the same grave expression.

"She was brought into the castle as a prisoner, your Majesty," Glenstorm's son revealed, "and then they opened the gates."

Edmund shut his eyes, sighing. Relief washed over him now that he knew she was alive. The worst thing that would have destroyed him was her death.

"It was her freedom," Susan mumbled, her eyes concentrating on the ground as the truth dawned on her. "She gave up her freedom for theirs."

"But this doesn't make sense," Edmund protested, "wouldn't Miraz see that it's not a fair trade? How could she have fooled him?"

"She fought him in single combat, your Majesty," the young centaur revealed, "and she spared him for our freedom. He decided to keep her prisoner."

"Peter," Edmund looked to Peter pleadingly, "we have to get her! We can still win this!"

"And risk our troops again?" Peter asked dryly, "No. We have to go."

"But the prophecy," Edmund insisted.

"Alright, enough about the prophecy!" Peter snapped. "Look at us! Does this feel like victory to you?"

"Peter," Susan tugged on his arm.

"Your Majesty," the centaurs called, bringing forward an injured Trumpkin.

Susan gasped lightly, placing her delicate hands over her mouth. He was breathing, but faintly, as if his life balanced on breaking branches. Peter and Caspian rushed to place him on Glenstorm's back.

"We need to get to Lucy, and quickly," Peter announced, looking to the rest, "let's get moving."

Edmund ran his fingers through his hair in distress, bringing himself to rest on a boulder as they retreated into the forest. Susan approached him slowly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"We lost her," Edmund pointed out, "and we still lost. This makes no sense."

"She told me to tell you that she's sorry."

Edmund could only shake his head. He could feel all the hope draining from his body, leaving him drowning in a sea of melancholy.

"It doesn't matter now," his tone was dry and monotonous. "She's not here with me to say it."

He examined the bracelet in his hands, his features brimming with sorrow, before tucking it away neatly in his pocket.

✩.･*:｡≻───── ⋆♡⋆ ─────.•*:｡✩

After sunrise, Lucy rushed out to the entrance, only to be greeted by dull, gloomy faces. She was baffled upon their expressions, eventually noticing a missing face among the crowd.

"What happened?" Her tone was tainted with despair, her eyes filled with concern.

"Ask him," Peter grumbled, shooting daggers at Caspian.

"Peter," Susan said sternly, but he ignored her.

"Me?" Caspian shot back in disbelief, "You could have called it off. There was still time."

"No there wasn't, thanks to you," he insisted, turning around.

"If you've kept to the plan, those soldiers might be alive. We were lucky Charlotte saved the rest. But if it weren't for you, she would be here, with us right now. They all would be."

A tear escaped Lucy's eye. She stood motionless, lowering her head.

"If you'd stayed here like I suggested, they all definitely would be!" Caspian raised his voice, extremely exasperated by Peter's accusation.

"You called us, remember?" Peter challenged with a frown.

"My first mistake," Caspian replied with a hiss.

"No," Peter smiled sarcastically, "your first mistake was thinking you could lead these people."

With that, he turned his back towards Caspian.

"Hey!" Caspian raged furiously, "I am not the one who abandoned Narnia."

Peter jabbed a finger at him, "You invaded Narnia."

Caspian, no longer in the mood to put up a fight, shoved past him aggressively. They had just lost a battle and he was not about to allow Peter to worsen his guilt. Peter knew nothing about how he felt.

"You have NO more right to lead it than Miraz does," Peter continued, "you, him, your father..."

Caspian stopped in his tracks, clenching his fists.

"Narnia's better off without the lot of you!"

That was the last straw. Letting out a frustrated scream, Caspian drew out his sword, and Peter mimicked his actions.

"Stop it!" Edmund yelled from the crowd, drawing their attention.

Glenstorm approached them, carrying the injured Trumpkin. Edmund gently placed him the ground and gestured Lucy to come forward. Lucy hurried forward and gave a drop of her healing cordial.

Caspian proceeded to enter the How, completely drained by their differences. What could he say against the High King anyway? He was right. Caspian summoned them for help, in the first place, to resolve the chaos that his ancestors left behind. Nikabrik trailed behind Caspian into the How, but Peter was too furious to investigate his intentions.

Trumpkin's eyelids shot open, and he stared at everyone who hovered over him.

"What are you all standing around for?" He grumbled. "The Telmarines will be here soon enough."

Lucy rose on her knees, appeased that her work was completed.

Tugging on Lucy's arm, he struggled to articulate his thoughts. "Thank you. My dear little friend."

Hearing that roll off his tongue made Lucy smile, their DLF banter lifting her spirits amidst their predicament.

Lucy and Susan joined Peter to enter the How, and Trumpkin noticed Edmund looking sour.

"The prophecy is fulfilled," Trumpkin attempted to calm Edmund, "we must work on fulfilling the rest of it."

Edmund remained silent, and rose on his knees. His mind was clouded by doubt, his heart consumed by anxiety, his soul tainted with rage. He could only withdraw himself to the one place where he felt tranquil with her - the lake.

*****A/N: Another sad chapter 😭 Fret not, my readers!

But yay, I'm glad I uploaded this today. I should be revising for my exams so... Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out what happens to Charlotte! 😉

Vote and comment if you enjoy it so far! Feel free to leave some feedback too. It would really mean a lot to me ☺️❤️