Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.
Summary: This was not how it was supposed to be… Golden Age AU.
A/N: This is NOT part of my A Light in the Darkness universe.
Dark Divergent
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This was not how it was supposed to be…
It was to be a simple outing. All that needed to be done was for Peter to escort Susan back from the border after she returned from visiting Lune's court. It was supposed to be simple. There had been no news of any Fell or other threats in the area. All was quiet and peaceful within Narnia's borders. If it had not been so, General Oreius would never have allowed the High King and Gentle Queen to have such a minimal number of guards to form the royal escort.
Peter chuckled as Susan regaled him with the news of young Corin's latest antics. "At this rate, it will be a wonder if the walls of Anvard are still standing by the time he's ten."
Susan merely graced him with one of her characteristic gentle smiles. "I'm quite certain the good general has wondered the same thing in regards to Cair Paravel's walls where you are concerned."
Peter immediately straightened in the saddle, drawing himself up to look very magnificent as he loftily replied, "Alas, fair Sister, I fear thou hast mistook me for our lamentably mischievous younger brother." Susan was already shaking her head when he winked at her and added, "Not to mention, I think Edmund's really the one who worries Oreius."
"My dearest brother, I think it is the both of you. And-" The smile and gentle teasing light in her eyes abruptly shifted to wide-eyed alarm as she looked over his shoulder and screamed, "Peter! Look out!"
There was no other warning, only the painful impact that forcefully ripped him out of the saddle and tossed him to the ground. Peter could not stop his shocked cry of pain as a pair of vise-like jaws clamped down on his shield arm, crunching the bone. For a moment, darkness licked at the edges of his vision, threatening to steal his consciousness. Susan's pained scream reached his ears. No. He could not let them have Susan. His swordhand closed around a fist-sized rock and he swung it up over his left shoulder. A snarl answered his efforts and the jaws released his arm.
The pain cleared his head and adrenaline took over. He could see Fell everywhere, locked in combat with his soldiers. There were so many…too many. He spotted Rhindon lying half-hidden by the grass only a scant few inches away from him. The snarl came from behind him. Susan screamed again. Lunging for his sword, Peter grit his teeth in an effort to keep from screaming as his broken arm protested the action. His hand closed around the hilt and he rolled over onto his back, raising the sword as he did so, impaling the Wolf as it leapt on him.
The pain when the fell creature collapsed on his broken arm threatened to make him pass out. He cried out to Aslan for strength and shoved the Wolf aside, scrambling to his feet. Susan. He had to find his sister. He found her horse first. The poor dumb beast was in its death throes as it thrashed weakly in spite of the gaping wound to its throat. More of guard were falling to the Fell attackers with every passing moment. Susan's scream ripped through the air and Peter charged into the woods. He had to find her.
Susan was covered in blood. That was the first thing that registered as Peter reached her. Her bow in hand, she nocked an arrow, drew it back, then released. A Marsh Horror fell, writhing as it clutched at the red-fletched arrow buried in its throat before it stilled. Susan's eyes were wild when she saw him. "Peter! You're bleeding."
Peter just shook his head, the pain radiating from his arm and side were too great to allow him to draw enough breath to speak for a moment. It didn't matter anyway, he only wanted to make sure she got away. An eerie howl rent the air and Peter gasped, "I'll hold them off, Su. Run."
Her dark hair tumbling around her face in utter disarray, his little sister, the one who was always the gentlest of the four of them, shook her head as she narrowed her eyes and determination colored her voice. "No. I'm not leaving you here alone."
The Fell emerged from their hiding places. Minoboars, Werewolves, and numerous other Fell Beasts formed a ring around them. Peter looked at Susan and offered her a half-smile as she nocked another arrow. "For Aslan."
She nodded. "For Aslan."
Susan raised her bow and drew the arrow back. Peter raised Rhindon in defiant challenge to the Fell surrounding them. Their voices rose in unison. "For Aslan!"
The Fell attacked.
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This was not how it was supposed to be…
I stood there in the midst of a blood-soaked killing ground that spread out before a huge oak tree and struggled to find the words that needed to be said. I couldn't. A large hand clamped down on my shoulder and squeezed in silent comfort. It didn't help. A deep voice rumbled, "Majesty?"
I couldn't look away. They were covered in blood. Susan's hands still clasped her bow and horn. Peter yet clasped Rhindon. If not for the unnatural stillness, if not for the blood, I could almost make myself believe they had simply fallen asleep in the shelter of the oak's shade. Susan lay between the tree and Peter. It was obvious that Peter had fallen first then they had killed Susan. But, my brother and sister both had proven more difficult prey than the Fell had expected as testified by the thirty or so Fell whose dead bodies fouled the area, pierced by sword and arrow.
"Majesty?"
I wanted to weep, but I could not. Finally, I turned to Oreius, his stern countenance was drawn with grief for he did love my siblings as if they were his own colt and filly, and my voice sounded strange to my own ears, hollow and cold. "We need to take them back to Cair Paravel, General."
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This was not how it was supposed to be…
Lucy tried so hard to be valiant and resist crying but as we followed the litters bearing Peter and Susan to the vault not far from where the Line of Frank had always been buried, she turned her face against my arm. I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her close as we stumbled slightly. It wasn't usually my job to be the comforter. That was Peter's role, Susan's role, but they are gone. I had to be the comforter now. Thunder rumbled above us and it began to rain just as Peter and Susan were laid to rest in the vault. It seemed appropriate. Even nature should grieve the passing of the Magnificent and the Gentle.
The mourners departed but Oreius stayed. He stood behind us for a long time, merely offering comfort with the silent promise that he would not leave us to face this alone. The rain soaked our unrelieved black mourning clothes, but I didn't care. Oreius stepped forward then as Lucy sobbed against my chest and wrapped his arms around us. I stroked Lucy's hair even as I finally wept. Oh Aslan, why?
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This was not how it was supposed to be…
We had ruled together for only four short years. Peter was two weeks shy of his seventeenth birthday and Susan was sixteen when they were murdered by the Fell. We draped their thrones in black veils and left their golden crowns on the seats. Looking across their painfully empty thrones to meet Lucy's sad gaze, I was struck with the harsh truth that at twelve and almost fourteen, we were now the sole rulers of Narnia. I never expected this to happen. I never expected us to lose the ones who had stepped into the roles of father and mother, the rock and the comforter. Every day we sat with a painful reminder that this was not what we thought it was supposed to be. We would probably never understand why this happened the way it did until we were reunited with Peter and Susan in Aslan's Country.
This was not how it was supposed to be but this is what it was now. We would always carry the pain with us, but we would not shame the memory of our siblings. Nor would we forsake Aslan's charge. This was not how it was supposed to be but we would ensure Narnia survived.
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A/N: Please Read and Review! Okay, I never thought I would do a death fic...but, umm, I did. Leave a review and let me know what y'all thought about this one.