"I cannot allow this!" Susan fumed, "How dare they even suggest this?!"
She slammed the piece of parchment on the table with enough force to make the it quake. Susan was normally a calm and gentle person, with a kind and giving nature but some things were not things she would tolerate.
"No one is forcing you to -" Lucy began carefully only to be interrupted.
"They seem to wish they could!" Susan exclaimed angrily, "The councilmen seem determined to have me marry for an aliance with Archenland!"
"They cannot do this without your consent," Lucy reminded her.
"They certainly are trying their hardest!" she snapped. Then she took a deep breath. "They will not succeed." Susan stated, sounding like she was trying to convince herself.
"No," Lucy agreed, "They won't." She sounded so determined when she said this, that Susan began to calm down. Lucy had a way of making people believe things that seemed impossible.
"We will find a different way to get them to lend us troops to help in the North." Susan said, sounding calmer.
"And we need to focus on that now," Lucy told her, "We need the help, if Edmund and Peter's report is anything to go by."
"Peter and Edmund wrote that they could do with what they had until the end of this month." Susan looked thoughtful. "That gives us until the end of this month to figure something out."
Lucy sat down at the table and stared hard at the flower adorning it, her tongue stuck out in thought.
After a moment, Susan sat down next to her.
"Maybe we could go help?" Lucy suggested.
Susan gave a small, sad smile. "I don't think two people are going to make much of a difference, Lu. We also still need troops here incase Calormen or someone else get's any ideas."
"We still have some time." Lucy reminded her. Susan always seemed to assume the worst and worried too much.
A knock at the door interrupted their conversation.
"Come in!" Lucy called.
A fawn stepped in looking extremely nervous.
"My Queens," he said, "The council demands your presence immediately."
Susan's mood soured again. Nevertheless she put on a smile and thanked the Fawn for letting them know. She waited until he was out of the room before turning to her sister.
"And that puts another dampener in my day," she said.
"They're persistent." Lucy stood up and grabbed the piece of parchment that had offended her sister earlier.
"They have no idea how stubborn we can be yet." Susan's face was how it was when she fought. Calm, calculating and promising defeat. "We will get the soldiers we need," she said, "Our brothers need our help and I for one shall not fail them."
"Nor shall I," Lucy said, "Now, I do think we have some councilmen to talk to?"
"Let's get this over with," said Susan, standing up.
Together, the sisters strode out of the room and in the direction of the council room. They walked with such purpose, that you could almost feel the great Lion accompanying their steps.
Lucy threw the door open, startling everyone inside the room. The envoys from Archenland and the Narnian council jumped to their feet to bow to the queens.
"Arise gentlemen," Susan ordered, "We have much to discuss."
"Indeed we do, my Queen," a very old crow said, "The envoys from Archenland seem to insist on your marriage to their oldest prince."
"I've heard." Susan sat down at the large table in the middle of the room. Lucy sat down next to her.
"I may be rather young," Lucy said, eyes scanning the room, "but I do think that any talk of Queen Susan marrying anyone should include her and respect her opinion. Don't you agree?"
Murmurs of begrudging agreement ran around the room. The council and envoys did not look pleased. Lucy and Susan exchanged a look. It was time to deal with the old fashioned opinions again.