Edmund hit the torch frantically as he tried to get it working again.

"Come on..." He muttered as members of the King's Guard started filing down the stairs, flashing it in the air triumphantly as it came back on.

He looked down into the castle courtyard as part of the Narnian army galloped in, he heard Peter cry "FOR NARNIA!" and watched as his family and friends fought, Susan a whirl of death with her arrows, the mice taking Guards by surprise and Caspian mowing down anyone within arm's reach.

He climbed up a roof and looking down saw a Guard about to shoot at Peter with a crossbow. Climbing over the roof ridge, he slid down the other side, flying into the man and sending him tumbling down to the ground noisily, alerting Peter of the danger from the crossbows surrounding the castle courtyard.

At Peter's yell, he sprinted back into the castle, dodging the bows being fired at him until he kicked the door shut behind him, rendering himself safe for the minute.

He stood quickly and was about to make for a door that would lead him to the roof of another tower when he saw something that made him stop.

Through the bars of a window in a doorway he could see a pair of slender arms clad in dark green tied to the ceiling.

His eyes narrowed and he stepped forward to peer through the bars, seeing a young girl, no more than his own age, fourteen or fifteen standing on her tiptoes, arms pulled taut above her to the ceiling, head lolling forwards. He stared a second and noticed her whole body shaking, he was guessing from cold and the strain of standing on her toes for a prolonged period of time.

"What the-?" he began. His breath caught in his throat as she looked up slightly through half closed eyes at the sound of his voice and in a split second decision he unbolted the door, darting in and drawing his sword, cutting through the rope swiftly, causing her to fall now she no longer had the rope pulling her upright.

He caught her as she fell and, supporting her against his body slid his sword back into its sheath before slinging her over his shoulder and running out onto the roof, locking the door behind him and running to the edge of the tower, looking down to the ground as the Guard tried to break down the door.

Two guards entered, swords drawn. They saw the girl over his shoulder and exchanged a glance before pointing their swords at him.

Edmund stepped into one of the tower cracks and realised he had a dilemma, he could jump and kill himself and the girl, or stay and just be killed himself.

He looked down and looking back at the guards, let himself fall backwards as though to the ground.

The guards rushed to the tower edge only to stumble back as a Griffin with Edmund and the girl on its back rose up, surprising them.

The griffin circled over the castle and Edmund took in the slaughtered army with growing horror as he wondered if his siblings had survived. He removed the girl carefully from his shoulder and carried her in his arms instead, her back resting on his knees and the griffins back.

The griffin flew after the survivors and Edmund saw Peter look over his shoulder at him as he rode away, Susan ahead of him on Glenstorm.

The journey back was silent and Edmund knew he should be thinking about their diminished army, but his attention kept being diverted by the sleeping girl in his arms. Her eyes were closed now and she looked peaceful, although her hands were still tied together he dared not untie them for fear of dropping her.

He dismounted and thanked the griffin at Aslans How, deciding to walk up the path with the remaining army.

He watched them bring Trumpkin forwards and would've helped were it not for the girl in his arms.

He walked forwards into The How after his family, ignoring the looks he was receiving from others.

He entered the room a few moments after Caspian and his siblings and was greeted with a tense silence before-

"What have you got there Edmund?" Peter asked dolefully, looking up from his seat.

Edmund shifted her in his grasp slightly so Peter could see her faintly in the dim candlelight.

"ED! You brought a girl back with you!" Peter asked, astounded.

"She was tied up and-" Edmund tried to defend himself.

"Did you ever think there was a reason for her being tied up?? Did you ever think maybe she's a dangerous criminal? Do we really want to anger Miraz more by taking someone from his castle?" He asked angrily.

Edmund was silent a moment before answering, "I couldn't leave her" in a whisper.

Peter looked at him sharply, eyes narrowing as he heard Edmunds sad tone of voice. He approached him quickly.

"And why not? Why couldn't you leave – Oh..." Peter trailed of as he got a look at the girl in his arms. "Oh" he repeated softly, lapsing into silence as he too stared at the girl.

"What is it?" Caspian asked stonily.

Susan looked at the sleeping girl, realisation dawning on her face.

"When we left Narnia all that time ago," she explained, "Edmund left more behind than any of us. He had a...wife, she was called Ayesha and..." she looked at Edmund, "he loved her very much." She whispered. "We often teased him about how much even" she gave a small, sad laugh, looking at the ground. She looked back at the girl in Edmunds arms, "this girl, looks exactly like Ayesha when she and Ed first met..."

"I couldn't leave her." He repeated in a whisper, tears forming in his eyes as Susan told Caspian about the woman who had meant more to him than anything else in his life.

Edmund looked at the sleeping girl, he'd had one of the Faun's in to look at her and knew there was nothing wrong with her, she was just physically exhausted and needed sleep.

He'd removed the rope tying her hands together and now looked at the red chaff marks she had where it had dug into her cruelly, marking her delicate wrists and staining her olive skin.

Her eye-lids fluttered and she gave a slight moan before sinking into the pillows of Edmunds bed further, her eyes opening lazily.

He smiled at her from his chair.

"Hello, I'm King Edmund, who are you?"

"Esha" she murmured with a small smile, her eyes closing in a slow blink, making her miss Edmunds astounded face before he schooled it back into his normal one.

A/N : "Esha" is short for "Ayesha" anyone who didn't know 

Well I hope you all liked it :D Please review, it's very inspiring for me to get good reviews.

Disclaimer!: I don't own the Narnia characters, just Esha.