A/N: As always, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. You guys are awesome! And just so you know, this chapter might get a tad bit angst-y, but it will also answer a heck of a lot of questions that I know that you all have. In the words of a dear friend, "Subsequently, angsting follows."
xoxo
I quickly darted behind a nearby cluster of bushes, and peered out from my hiding place. Counting the uniformed men, I soon realized that my first guess of sixteen wasn't even close. There were thirty. All were standing stiffly, all were scanning the nearby land for enemies, and all were armed. Since when were this many men needed to simply guard the castle? Last time I had been here, there were maybe two. My breathes started to come in gasps. This would be very, very difficult. I couldn't risk being seen, or I would no doubt be recognized, and in turn, questioned thoroughly as to why I was back. Maybe if I snuck around back, there would be an unguarded entrance…
Hardly daring to breathe, I dropped to my hands and knees and crawled slowly behind the bushes. Peeking out the other side, I sighed in relief. Small groups of bushes were scattered around the perimeter of Caspian's castle, most likely so guards and the like could hide in them and keep watch without being noticed. Little did they know that they also could hide, and assist, their enemies. I glanced towards the guards, and they were thankfully all looking somewhere else. Trying to make myself as small as possible, I darted across the grass to the next group of bushes about ten feet away. Once safely hidden, I checked to make sure I wasn't being watched. I wasn't. With my heart hammering in my chest, I continued on around the castle.
About fifteen minutes after putting my not-so-elaborate plan into action, I spotted a back entrance around back was that guard-free. Thanking Aslan, I sprinted towards it, yanked it open, and entered. The castle smelled musty and damp, which I thought was only to be expected with a castle of its age and size. From what I remembered, I was at the staff entrance (which was not to be used for guests or royalty of any kind), and if I simple went up the nearby stairs to the third floor, turned left, right, and then left again, I would be at Caspian's bedchamber. I only knew because Lucy had dragged me into exploring with her the first time we visited here, and we had bumped into Caspian leaving.
Glancing all around me, I quickly confirmed that no one was in the immediate vicinity. All the same, I took extra cautions to make no noise as I ascended the old marble staircase. I picked my skirt up so it danced around my ankles, and tip-toed up the many stairs. After reaching the third floor landing, I turned towards the left, continued for some time, turned right, went through a door, and turned left. His was the third door on the left. I approached the thick cherry door cautiously. Knowing better than to just enter unannounced, seeing as I had no idea what the time was, I rapped on the door three times with a trembling hand.
I felt like I was going to be sick. What if he was a lot older? What if he'd forgotten me? What if he didn't care? What if…
I didn't get a chance to think of another "What if", because the door opened. And there he stood. Caspian was perhaps a few years older, but still looked as regal and perfect as ever. Upon seeing me, his eyes widened and his mouth formed a perfect little O.
My reaction to finally seeing his face, his wonderful, glorious face, was not much different. I had hoped and planned for this moment for so long, never knowing what finally seeing him would do to me. My mouth grew dry and my knees weak, and my heart was pounding so loudly I was almost certain he could hear it. I lost all sense of time and space, all that mattered was that he was here, with me. Until she broke it.
"Caspian, darling, who is it?" A soft voice asked. The spell was broken, and my head snapped up to find the owner of the voice.
The woman I found by Caspian's side could only be described in one word: beautiful. The word may have been overrated, but she deserved it. She was a tiny thing, and came only to his shoulder. Her face was open and heart-shaped, and framed by rich black curls. Her skin was so pale it seemed almost translucent, and her eyes were a light blue. But there was something about those eyes that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up on end, though I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was. And then, fighting my conscience, which was saying 'You really don't want to do this…", I looked at her hands. And there, on her left, was a ring. It was white gold, and tiny sapphires surrounded the large diamond. Light bounced off the tiny facets, making it almost glow. At first, upon seeing the ring, I had only felt curious.
But then came the despair. It grasped at me until I couldn't breathe, until living felt like a burden. I gasped as I felt all the life drain from my body, and as I hit the floor, only one thought remained in my mind. No.
How could this be happening? To me; to him? To us? Is this what Aslan had meant when I had spoken to him upon my return? I would have thought that he would have given me more warning than this. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was that Caspian was here, he was alive, he was young, he was perfect, and he was married. I felt nauseous as I thought the word. I never would have thought that he could have forgotten me so quickly, but then again, he never had told me how he felt about me. Not once. Even after I had taken a leap of faith and kissed him, not one word about his feeling for me had passed his lips.
Finally, Caspian awoke from his stupor. "Susan!" He exclaimed, dropping down on his knees beside me.
At the sound of my name, armed men flooded the hall.
"Oh your feet, filth." One proclaimed, thrusting his sword under my throat.
My stomach dropped to the floor at the absolute loathing in his voice. I was Queen Susan, wasn't I? How could they hate a Queen of Old so much? I nodded numbly, and stood on shaking limbs.
"How dare you return to the land of the Telmarines?" He spat. "I never would have thought you to be so utterly stupid. Have you a death wish?"
Me? A death wish? These people had once loved me. What had happened ever we left Narnia?