Susan sat at her dressing table. She looked at herself in the mirror, remembering. It was no use; no amount of wishing would change things. She dutifully picked up her hairbrush and began to brush her long dark hair, sweeping it back from her face. The image of herself, sitting in her bedroom brushing her same hair in Miraz's castle floated across her mind. She tried to force it away but to no avail. She brushed harder – it was no use…
She stopped in mid stroke as she recalled the touch of Caspian's lips on hers when she had kissed him. The last sight of his face as she walked through the doorway back to England. His hair blowing in the slight breeze, a small, forced smile touching his lips while his eyes held that haunted look. Oh why did Aslan have to send them back, why couldn't she have stayed?
Her eyes pricked and her breath caught in her throat. A tear ran down her cheek as her face crumpled and her heart tightened. The hairbrush slipped from her fingers as more tears followed and a sob was wrenched from her. It wasn't fair… She laid her head down on her arms on the dressing table and finally gave in to the aching that had been threatening to overwhelm her all day.
Lucy quietly opened the door to their bedroom. She had heard Susan sobbing as she walked along the landing. Quickly she crossed the room, sat beside her sister and put her arms around her. "Oh Susan…"
Susan lifted her head and looked at Lucy. Her face held a look of such anguish and emptiness that Lucy was almost frightened for a moment. "I'll never see him again, and I can't bear it. Leaving Narnia for the last time was bad enough, but to lose him as well…"
Lucy didn't know what to say. This was her big sister, the one who was always there, could always be relied upon to be strong. What was she to do?
"I'm sure you'll feel better soon," she tried, weakly. No, that wouldn't work. She looked for the image of Aslan in her mind and frantically asked him for help. Dimly she remembered, years (or a year) ago when Susan had fallen for that Prince who had visited them at Cair Paravel. They had been both women grown then. What had she said when it became obvious that he did not care for Susan in the same way that her sister had felt for him?
"Susan, darling. I know you feel that this is the end of the world. In a way it is." Lucy tightened her arms around her sister. "I can't take the pain away, but I promise that I will always be here." Susan turned in her sister's arms and laid her head on Lucy's shoulder. In between the sobs she said "I didn't know how I was going to get through today at school. All those other girls, talking about silly nonsense things and I had just been through another war and lost him…"
