"Wouldn't it be better to go after them now?" Imira asked as Peter looked at the Ettin's last position on his map. "The longer we wait, the further they'll get,"

He shook his head slightly. "They're wounded, they won't get very far. If we go after them now, we'll reach them at sundown. You know I don't like fighting at sundown. The sun's in your eyes, you don't have proper time to examine the terrain... The troops need some time to recover, and besides, I do not want to ambush them,"

Imira was perplexed by this. "Then what do you want to do?" she asked. She was under the impression the entire point of this incursion was to ambush the escapees and deal with them before they warned the others.

He looked up at her with a look Imira knew all too well.

"Peter, no. You can't,"

"Imira,"

"No! We can end them right now," her tone became louder.

"It'd be the wrong thing to do," Peter said seriously.

"Peter, this is war," Imira said. As if Peter didn't know it already. "We came here to end them and so we should,"

"We came here to take back our lands and protect our kingdom," Peter clarified.

"From a horde of invading giants!" Imira exclaimed, exasperated by Peter's lax response. "We should stop them before they alert the others,"

"There are rules to war,"

"All is fair in love and war," she reminded him. "This is war,"

"You know very well how faulted that saying is," Peter said, reminding Imira of the ordeal her cousin went through. "Just because they have no honour does not mean we should forego ours,"

"This is not the time for courtesy," Imira insisted, getting a tad more upset.

"Doing the honourable thing is never wrong," Peter replied, firm in his conviction. "We will offer them a chance to surrender. If they take it, we spare their lives, if they don't," he looked away from her and back to his battle plans, "you shall have the bloodshed you so crave,"

"I do not crave bloodshed," Imira said, offended. In her mind, the sooner the Ettins were gone, the sooner she could return to Cair Paravel and her sons. And for her, the only way to accomplish that was to defeat them in battle. Diplomacy hadn't once crossed her mind.

Peter had different ideas. He hadn't discussed parlaying with the giants with anyone but Edmund, for he tended to keep a cool head in those sort of situations and be the more reasonable one. All they had discussed during their preparation previous to their departure was battle strategies, numbers and locations. His diplomatic plan he had kept secret, telling himself he'd only bring it up if the opportunity arose. And in his mind, this was the perfect opportunity for it.

"Then why are you so opposed to diplomacy?" Peter asked. He knew he could talk her into it, he just had to deal with her strong emotions first.

"They are Ettins! They can't be reasoned with," Imira stated. A fact that was as obvious to her as the taste of seawater and the colour of the sky.

"Not if you don't try," Peter retorted. But Imira couldn't wrap her head around it. Talking with Ettins? The thought seemed as absurd as a faun dancing in heels.

"You have the upper hand, why won't you use it?" Imira pleaded a little more calmed this time.

"Because I don't want to lose a single more soldier than I have to," Peter looked back at her.

Ah, she had been thinking with her heart and gut again and not with her head.

She nodded. He was right and she knew it. Even if it annoyed her, he was being reasonable and she was not.

It took her some seconds to accept it and then a few more to swallow her pride, but when she did, Peter knew he had won her over.

"What do you need me to do?" 

Armies grant one dominion over the land, a ship over the sea, but a dragon gives you the sky and everything and everyone beneath it.

They left at dawn and their roles were somewhat reversed. This time it was Peter riding on Firestream's back and Imira leading the army on horseback (although technically she was ridding a pegasus).

The sun had risen not too long ago but the Ettins were just now preparing to leave. Narnia's northern border was poorly defined. No one could accurately say without an ounce of doubt to whom it truly belonged to, but that did not matter. Peter had the dragon and Peter claimed it as his. He asked for parley.

"Yield now, run back to the moors and never return, and we shall spare your lives," High King Peter said.

Outnumbered and in no condition to battle Peter's army, much less Firestream, the Ettins had no other option but to agree and surrender.

Peter watched as the invaders retreated from his newly expanded border wishing that would be the last he'd see of them, but his Ettin problem didn't end with those who had taken over New Castle. From there to the eastern sea, Ettins had taken over Narnian land and it was Peter's duty to show them out. Emboldened by the easy victory, he marched his army East. But not before ordering the construction of a watchpost. 

Wishing to properly define his border, Peter took to the skies. From the new watchpost to the Eastern Sea, that would be his new frontier.

So high above the clouds anyone looking would have easily been mistaken for a bird, he and Firestream soared all day. When he returned to camp, he drew a line on his map and one word above it in neat script. Ettinsmoor. 

"You're back," Imira sighed in relief with a smile as she entered the tent. "It's so late, I was worried," she went to hug him. 

"I missed you too," he hugged her back and then kissed her. 

"Your nose is freezing, as are your hands," 

"I didn't expect it to get so cold during summer," he said, rubbing his hands together. "Next time I'll wear gloves," 

"Did you spend all day up there?" she asked running a hand through his messy hair as he laced his fingers behind her back.

"Yes. Did they start working on the watchpost as I said?"

"Yes. I deployed twenty soldiers to be stationed there. Two catapults and a ballista have already arrived, courtesy of our giants, and wood is already being chopped to begin construction tomorrow. The dwarves will make quick work of it," Imira replied, lacing her fingers behind his neck. "Did you eat anything?"

He shook his head. "I didn't take anything with me,"

"Peter,"

"We stopped for water. And there was a pear tree so I ate a few,"

"You must be famished," she guessed correctly. "I'll fetch you something, you wait here," 

While he waited, he actualized his map marking the Ettins he had spotted on his flight.

"You didn't cook that, did you?" he asked when Imira returned carrying a tray of food.

She gave him an unamused look but held back a smile.

"I'm only asking because—"

"— because I can't cook, yes, very funny,"

"You're smiling," Peter pointed out with a cheeky grin as he took a look at what Imira had brought him. 

Imira gave into the smile and took a seat on the other side of the table. 

"So... what did you see? What's our next move?" 

"We divide and we conquer," Peter said. 

The war council stood around the table examining the updates King Peter had made.

"Our current position is defensible and only known to the ones we let go, so I am not concerned about them attacking us here," He began. 

"The news will spread quicker than wildfire," Oreius said.

"Which is why we need to be quicker still," Peter replied. "I flew all day and this is where they're located. The largest group is in the plains north of the marshlands,"

"Compromising our water supply, and eating all our fish," Master Sullenose pointed out, much to Lord Henry's annoyance. 

"Yes, but we cannot go there without dealing with the others first," Peter pointed at the others on his map.

"What does His Highness have in mind?" Lord Henry asked too formally.

"If we approach from the west they'll flee east and join the others," Peter said, showing the move on the map with his markers. "But if we position ourselves between them," he arranges the markers to show what he was talking about,

"Chances of them doing that lessen," Imira finished for him. Peter nodded. 

"We separate them and offer a chance to surrender," Peter continued. "Odds are, they'll take it,"

"And if they don't?" Sir Derrick asked.

"Then we engage and make them regret it," 

And so it was decided. There were four Ettin groups that needed to be dealt with before going to the eastmost Ettins. Imira would take the majority of the army and march them to the smaller groups while Peter took Firestream and a smaller force to deal with the larger ones. They would both ask for parley and make the same offer: move to the northern moors or test their luck in battle.