˚✧₊⁎ Come Home With Me (the man who’s gonna marry you) ⁎⁺˳✧༚
Note: This chapter contains somewhat detailed descriptions of canon compliant violence, mild blood, and light descriptions of a panic attack. Continue reading at your own discretion!
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･**･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*ﾟ･**･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･''･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･**･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･
The clearing echoed with the sound of steel clashing as the two men battled viciously. The remaining bandit was more formidable than his lessers, clearly well trained in combat and swordplay and lasting considerably longer than the rest of them had.
The older man shoved Peter back roughly, the young king stumbling backwards. Before he could regain his footing, the blond boy tripped over one of the bodies of the men he had killed, leaving him open and defenceless, save for blocking the next blow with Rhindon, as the bandit forced his blade and body weight down onto him.
The man’s foul breath was hot in his face, his ugly face sneering with satisfaction as he towered over Peter, feeling the onset of his impending victory. “Thought I was going to be an easy kill, eh, Majesty?” He spat out, shoving more of his weight into the blade that ran vertically with Peter’s body. “Guess you underestimated your opponent this time. Shame you won’t be alive to learn from your mistake.”
Peter’s armed burned as he tried to force some distance between them, his muscles screaming for a release in the tension that had been placed upon them. For the first time in a while, he felt helpless, staring his oncoming death in the face as it swarmed around him like a thick fog.
He hoped Y/n had gotten away. Taken Zephyr and rode hard away from here, possibly towards Cair Paravel where she would no doubt seek help from the guards that patrolled the perimeter. Maybe they’d find Peter’s body here later, if there was much left of him to finish with.
He hated how he felt his limbs start to give up. How the feeling of his unconscious surrender flooded him with guilt, knowing his siblings would have to grieve him, knowing he hadn’t had the chance to say goodbye properly or apologise for all the trivial things he’d never thought to say sorry for.
Hopefully, Edmund knew he was sorry for stealing his expensive imported ink. That Susan knew he regretted the way he refused to let her be right about everything, and that Lucy knows that he didn’t want to die this way when he’d promised to come home in time for her birthday.
The feeling of surrender was so strong in his mind that he didn’t notice the shuffle of grass or hear the sickening crunch of rock against human bone until the man looming above him sagged, a ragged breath falling from the man’s foul mouth.
Peter snapped out of his thoughts and shoved with the last of his strength, successfully flinging the bandit off of him. The young king scrambled to his feet, jutting Rhindon between himself and the attacker, in preparation for another blow, but it never came. In fact, the bandit lay dead beside his comrade, bleeding from the back of his skull.
Searching wildly around the clearing, Peter locked eyes with a pale and shaking Y/n, turning to her in time to see the bloodstained rock fall from her grip as she came to terms with her actions. She glanced between Peter and the dead man, panic seizing her features as hyperventilation kicked in.
Springing to action, he surged towards her, letting his blade fall to the grass as he took a firm hold of Y/n’s arms. He tugged the girl towards him, cradling her head to his chest and lowering them to the ground as her knees buckled and gave out, soft whispers of assurance falling from his lips while she wept in relief and guilt.
“It’s alright. I’ve got you, you’re safe now. You’re safe.” He held her close on that windy clifftop, the words slipping from his mouth as much a reassurance to himself as it was to her. She cried out all her fear and pain into the safety of his chest, tears staining his linen shirt, until she shuddered from the wind and not the leftover terror in her system.
Y/n weakly pulled back far enough to look into his eyes, the last few tears sliding down her cheeks. He caught them with a deft swipe of his thumb, smiling softly down at her. “We really need to stop finding ourselves in this situation.” The joke slipped off his tongue before he could rethink it, and he cringed as Y/n’s face shifted swiftly between confusion and slight shock.
Then a wet laugh bubbled out of her, a relieved smile softening the worry lines on her face. Peter couldn’t help but join in with her giggling, the pair of them probably a frightening sight to any unfortunate onlookers; sitting in a small clearing by four human bodies and laughing their relief to the open sky.
They soon calmed down, cheeks flushed and a little more twinkle in their tired eyes. Peter sighed, surveying the damage of his rampage. “We should move elsewhere. If there were four of them here, then I doubt they were alone.”
“Gods, let there not be more of them. I don’t think I can take it anymore.” Y/n groaned, scrubbing her face with her hands. Exhaustion, a kind that was entirely separate to their travel weary souls, lingered in her face as she stared at him.
He refused to acknowledge the strange flutter in his stomach at the sight of her slight pout, chalking it up to post-battle stomach issues.
Because he had absolutely experienced that before…
“Come on, there’s a place nearby we can make camp at.” He ushered her to stand, helping her up with a steady hand. They led Zephyr down the hill, the steed slowly calming down with each meter put between them and the site of Aslan’s Table.
Peter guided them across the rolling foothills that had once been the encampment of Aslan’s army prior to the battle against the White Witch, heading for the enclosed tree line by the small stream that trickled merrily through the wood.
He set them up by the tree, in front of which he had begun his journey out of childhood and into leadership, earning his first title and the start of his knighthood after killing Maugrim the wolf. Y/n seemed to enjoy the bubble of the stream, washing her hands in it as Peter set about gathering some firewood to make a small fire.
By the time dusk began to fall, they’d fallen into a strangely chipper conversation while basking in the remnants of the sun that had shown itself in the last few hours before sunset. Y/n had begun it by recounting some childhood memory of her eldest brother trying to teach a six-year-old version of herself basic swordplay, and how her mother almost had fire pouring from her ears in anger when she’d found out. Since then, they’d swapped countless childhood memories, Peter having to slightly alter his own to not arouse suspicion from the girl as to his place of origin not being anywhere within this world at all.
He told her of Lucy, and what it was like to hold his baby sister for the first time and how much he couldn’t wait to get back home to see her. Peter had to think quickly on his feet when Y/n’s eyes sparkled in curiosity as to her whereabouts, explaining she was much younger than the rest of them and wasn’t permitted to come along on such a dangerous mission.
They shifted closer to each other over the course of nightfall, sitting side by side by the time Peter pulled out some of the last slivers of bread and nuts in the saddlebag to make up their dinner, plus some of the berries they had foraged earlier for some variety.
They sat in quiet company as they ate, listening to the chatter of the forest as the sky darkened gradually above them. Peter remembered how it had felt to lie beneath the stars for the first time, their twinkling unburdened by light pollution from the city lights and the roar of fighter planes careening overhead. The strangeness of knowing that was all a faraway dream of the past. There was strange comfort in the absence of air raids and the warning sirens waking them from sleep.
“So, how did you know about this place?” Y/n asked from beside him, interest glinting in her eyes as she chewed on the corner of the bread. Peter glanced at her, sighing slightly as he recalled the memories of the site.
“I took my first life here.”
The words were sour in his mouth. He hadn’t been proud of it, just one more necessary thing to do in order to keep his sisters safe. Y/n was silent at the revelation, but she didn’t press further, giving him the time to continue at his own pace if he wished.
“One of the White Witch’s wolves had cornered my sisters here and they barely climbed this tree in time to get away from him. I challenged him and by some stroke of luck, managed to kill him before he killed me.” He could feel her gaze on the side of his face, and he refrained from looking into her eyes for fear of finding something akin to pity in them.
“How old were you?” She shuffled closer, curling her legs beneath her as she leaned against the tree with him.
Peter tilted his head to the sky, hidden by the canopy above them, but he imagined the stars had begun to smatter the inky black. “Thirteen.”
There was no intake of breath from Y/n, no shocked outburst at the revelation. He wasn’t even sure she was breathing.
Then—
A warm hand landed on his shoulder, prompting him to meet the gaze of the girl beside him. There was nothing but solemn sadness in her face, a deep empathy that jolted his heart in his chest. When she spoke to him finally, her voice was tender and full of emotion. “I’m so sorry. You must have been so scared.”
Peter found himself nodding, shifting to turn his body more towards her. “Yeah, I was terrified. All I could think about was whether it was going to hurt and if it was enough to save my sisters.”
Y/n smiled softly, cocking her head to the side. “It must have been, otherwise you wouldn’t be here today.”
He matched her smile with one of his own, chuckling a little under his breath. “Yeah. I just wish it had made me feel braver.”
“Bravery isn’t the absence of fear.” Y/n corrected, shaking her head. “Bravery is when you fear to do something, but decide to do it anyway, even if you’re scared.”
Peter looked at her clearly then, searching her face as the words settled in his mind. “Then you must be incredibly brave yourself.”
Y/n snorted, waving her hands in dismissal. “Heavens no, I’m just foolish. You, on the other hand, are much braver than I could ever be. I don’t think I could have done any of the things you’ve done for me the last few weeks.”
“Don’t put yourself down like that. I know exactly how hard it is to come to terms with taking a life, and for you to put aside the guilt and fear you had the other day to save my life by taking another willingly, is incredibly admirable and brave.”
Her cheeks flushed with colour, and Peter felt some sort of smug satisfaction knowing he had brought the blush to her cheeks. “I don’t even think that I thought about what I did earlier. All I knew was that you were losing and I would have been in a hell of a lot of danger if you had lost. I just grabbed a rock and smacked him with it.”
Peter chuckled at her humble recollection of the earlier incident. “Even if you did just bash the man with a rock, I still owe my life to you today. Thank you.”
The blush on Y/n’s cheeks increased in intensity as she turned her face away from his line of sight, covering her quivering mouth with a hand to hide the smile that threatened to break out. “Don’t be ridiculous. I just paid back the debt of you saving my life so many times.”
A smooth laugh escaped his mouth as she swatted him away, unable to help the easy grin on his face. “Whatever you say, my lady.”
She looked at him out the corner of her eye, face still noticeably flushed, the gentle smile on her lips betraying the playful glare she sent his way.
Peter struggled to recall the last time he’d felt this at ease and comfortable with someone who wasn’t his siblings. Someone who was around his age. And from the pensive expression that fell onto Y/n’s face, he figured she felt the same way. She had probably spent nights since the announcement of her engagement wondering if she’d ever have this comfortable contentment in the presence of another person again after her wedding. Probably wondered if her assigned husband was her age, or if he was much older and looking for nothing but a pretty gem to add to his collection.
The feeling filled him with bitterness, imagining this lively and feisty girl sitting alone in a dull room, adorned with jewels and fine fabrics but lacking that defiant spark in her eyes that had lit a roaring fire in his soul from their first interaction.
Maybe he would be the same with his own wife once he returned to Cair Paravel.
The weight of the expectations that awaited him back at the castle sent a fresh bout of anxiety through Peter’s system, heart rate steadily climbing as he mentally poured over all the different possibilities of what his return to his home would look like.
So wrapped up in his own thoughts, he didn’t even notice his breathing get obviously faster until Y/n’s face blocked his hazy vision. “Peter, look at me.”
Her voice was like a bucket of ice water over his senses, snapping him out of the downward spiral he’d been descending into. It never transcended more than a steady volume, but it held a command underneath the soft edges that had him meeting her steadfast gaze.
“I’m having a panic attack.” Anyone else might’ve scoffed at his statement, but having gone through various episodes of panic attacks and anxiety attacks alike in his years, he was cognisant enough to recognise when they happened to him.
Y/n merely nodded, never breaking eye contact. “Is it alright if I come closer, or would you prefer I stay back?”
Even the consideration of how he might be feeling had the faint flicker of warmth trickle into his chest again, but he nodded, confirming his consent to physical touch. Then real warmth enveloped his hands, gentle pressure from soft palms kneading into the callouses on his own as a grounding sensation.
“Is this ok?” She whispered, eyeing him carefully for any adverse reaction to the pressure.
Peter nodded, manually slowing his breathing to match the rise and fall of Y/n’s chest. She leaned to the side, blindly fumbling for the bag of supplies until she found what she was looking for. Her hands withdrew from his momentarily, before the water flask was offered to him, uncapped and full of liquid.
He took the offer with shaky hands, swigging the water and letting the cool temperature of it relax his racing heart. Y/n sat with him, her knees pressing into his leg, as he calmed down little by little, finally in enough control of his body to take over quieting his mind.
Once the worst of it was over, they sat in anticipatory silence, wondering which of them would crack the tension first.
It was Y/n who spoke first, quietly, as if she were unsure to ask. “Does this happen often?” There was never judgement in her tone, simply soft curiosity and concern.
Peter sighed, chewing his lip for a few moments. “Enough that I know how to recognise them as they come. Unfortunate perk of the job.” He chuckled bitterly, a grim half smile lifting his mouth.
She hummed, thoughtful as she shifted to sit back beside him. “I’m sorry to hear that. They’re not exactly something I would wish on another person.”
He agreed, huffing a breath at his predicament. “I wish I didn’t have them… But I suppose the truth of it all is just that I’m just incredibly afraid of everything all the time.” It was a hard confession to make, the vulnerability of it making him wish to have never spoken them aloud in the first place. “I just overthink it all. I think after Ed nearly died at such a young age, I got anxious all the time, and I just never really thought about what I could do to minimise it.”
Y/n looked at him then, unrecognisable emotions flickering through her eyes. “Your family means a lot to you, don’t they?”
The question caught him off guard, but she wasn’t wrong in her observations. “Yes. They do.”
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･**･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*ﾟ･**･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･''･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･**･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･
○○○ ~ © WRITTEN BY AERIEINTHENEST 2026. DO NOT TRANSLATE AND REPOST, COPY, OR SCRAPE MATERIAL TO TRAIN AI, CHAT BOTS, OR LARGE LANGUAGE LEARNING MODELS ~ ○○○
