Peter woke up early the next morning. He rolled over in his bed, feeling the silky fabric surrounding his body, momentarily forgetting where he was. As he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he thought "How could I possibly forget where I am? I was cheated out of night with one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met," growling slightly, recalling his memories from the night before. He couldn't help but laugh a little to himself, remembering Caspian laying flat back on the ground, covered in wine and food.

The sun was shining into the room that Caspian had graciously given to him during his stay. The light from the sun glistened off the marble floor, reflecting light throughout Peter's room. He stood on the floor, which was also slightly warm from the sun's light. He guessed the time to be about 8 o'clock in the morning. He quickly dressed with clothes that had been assembled in the closet in his room, and headed down to the courtyard, appreciating the feel of his favorite fabric against his skin again.

As he had expected, Aslan and Caspian were speaking quietly to each other, as if they were discussing a great secret. Their backs were to the entrance that Peter had entered the brightly lit courtyard. Peter cleared his throat, just loud enough to announce his presence to the two figures in front of him.

Aslan and Caspian both turned around in a matter as if they expected Peter to be standing behind them.

"Good morning, your majesty. I hope you slept well?" Aslan asked, sitting back on his powerful hind legs. Caspian put his hands behind his back and rocked on his feet, deep in thought about what he and the great lion had just discussed.

"Of course, Aslan. I always sleep better in Narnia. Must be because I'm more comfortable here," Peter said, smiling. Although he did miss out on an important moment that he had been waiting a long time for, he WAS glad to be back in his rightful home. He didn't realize until that moment how much he did miss everything about this great land, the smell of the breeze, the way the light hit the ground, and all the creatures and spirits in the great country.

"Excellent, Peter. I'm glad you had a good night of sleep, because we have some things that we need to discuss quickly," Aslan said, standing back up and leading the gentleman out of the courtyard.

The great lion and two kings walked from the courtyard into the council hall. Since Caspian and the Pevensies defeated his dictating uncle, Miraz, Caspian decided to change many things about the old castle. The new council hall was a large, round room, one of the sides of its wall tall, arching windows looking over the Telmar land. The room was made of large, grey stones, and the floor was dark marble. The stone walls were covered in tapestries depicting the history of Narnia, including one, brightly colored, with murals of the Kings and Queens of Old. Caspian had arranged the room this way after the kings and queen had left again.

In the middle of the room was a very large, oval table, made of a wood that looked like a mix of deep cherry wood and oak. At the tip of the oval sat a larger chair than the rest, indicating that was the seat for the king during the council meetings. In this room, the men and lion knew they would have complete privacy. Aslan decided this was the best place and time to tell Peter and Caspian exactly what he saw happening in Narnia.

"Peter, Caspian, please sit. We have a lot to discuss at the moment," Aslan said. The two kings took his advice, and sat at the table, Caspian in his normal seat at the end of the oval table, and Peter in the seat to his right.

"I expect whatever this dark force is to arrive here by the end of the day. I do not know how to stop it, and I do not know what exactly to expect when it arrives. Last night, after feeling the dark force on the edges of Narnia, I felt a strong light coming from this castle. I could tell it was you Peter. I do believe that the reason you are here is because of this new force traveling along the country, and when it arrives, we will have more answers about everything in question," Aslan finished. Looking from one king to the other.

Peter leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. His brow was pushed together, his eyes looking deep in thought. Caspian leaned back against his chair, resting his chin on his fist, looking straight at the lion, debating in his mind what to say.

"This force, Aslan, is it dangerous? How can we be so certain it is not here to destroy Narnia and Telmar?" Caspian said, his accent still heavy in his voice.

"I do not know your highness. But in my honest opinion, I do believe that if this force was dangerous, we would already be aware of its effects in the land," Aslan replied, circling the table. Peter looked at the lion.

"Well then we will just have to wait and see what will happen. Obviously, it is not a coincidence that we are both here at the same time. I'm sure this force or whatever it is has something to do with me. When it arrives, I will face it myself, and then we will know what we are dealing with," Peter said, his voice reverberating with the regalness that he was accustomed to when making decisions as a King of Narnia. He loved the feeling of having some sort of power again, and not being just another college student in England.

"I cannot allow that," Caspian piped up from his seat, lifting his head from his fist, looking over at Peter. Peter gave Caspian a confused look. He found himself without words to say, he did not expect either Aslan or Caspian to disagree with him.

"Aslan said he was not completely positive that this thing is not evil. We will accompany you, along with soldiers, and we will wait for this for to arrive at the castle, where it is much safer," Caspian explained himself. Aslan nodded his head.

"I have to agree with Caspian, Peter. It is too dangerous for you to meet this being by yourself. We will wait here, and hope to arrange a meeting with it where we can control the situation if needed," Aslan said, looking at Peter, knowing the young man was not about to disagree with him. Peter nodded. Deep down he knew he did not want to go alone, but then again he did not want to put anyone else in danger. It was always in his nature to put other people's wellbeing before his own, but he was not about to disagree with the great Aslan.

"Alright. I guess you make a good point. We will wait here for this force to come. But I want to be prepared. Aslan, you don't happen to know, by chance, if my armor is still available, do you?" Peter asked, hoping his Narnian armor was still well in tact and he was able to use it. Aslan smiled.

"Of course it is, High King Peter. It is in the royal safe, I will have someone fetch it for you and put it, along with your sword, in your chambers. I expect the force to be here at dusk. We will wait at the gates," Aslan stated, heading out of the council chambers, leaving Caspian and Peter alone for the first time since Peter's unexpected arrival.

The two men remained seated at the table, both deep in thought. Peter looked up and smiled.

"I wish my brother and sisters were here. They would be useful right about now," Peter laughed, wondering if they knew yet that he was gone. Caspian shook himself out of his thoughts when he heard Peter mention his siblings.

"I wish they were here too. I've missed you all greatly. How are they? How is Susan?" Caspian asked, leaning towards Peter, emphasizing Susan's name. He was most interested in how she was doing.

"They're all fine. Susan is going to a university now. She's learning to be doctor. She feels that there is a future with medicine, even though where we come from, women are usually only nurses. She has a challenge ahead of her, but I have a feeling she'll do just fine," Peter paused, "It's only been about a year since we've left. How long has it been here? Everything looks the same as when we left," Peter answered, figuring Caspian would ask more about Susan in a matter of moments.

"It has been also about a year here since you four left. Lucy and Edmund returned only about two months after you all left. Susan is going to be a doctor? That's good," Caspian paused, looking at his hands. He wanted to ask Peter all about her. He missed her more than any of them, and he wanted to know if she felt the same, "Does she ever speak of me?" he asked timidly. Peter smiled. Although he was the big brother, and his job was to be protective of his little sisters, he always liked Caspian, and knew the day they left that no one would have been a better match for his sister.

"As a matter of fact, Caspian, she does. She doesn't like to though, I think it hurts her too much to think she'll never see you again," Peter answered as honestly as he could. Caspian's face dropped. He did not want Susan to be in pain. Peter saw this look on his face, and decided that he was going to tell Caspian the whole truth, "But, look at me. I didn't think I would ever return to Narnia, and here I am. Although the memories pain her, I can see her face light up when she thinks or speaks about you, Caspian."

Peter stood up, clapping Caspian on the shoulder, and silently left the chambers to search for his armor. He hoped that had made Caspian feel a bit better. Caspian smiled to himself. Susan liked thinking about him? Was it possible that a perfect being, Queen Susan, thought about him as much as he thought about her? At that moment, the hope that had been building in the pit of his stomach almost ached with anticipation of Susan coming back. He wanted to hold back his feelings, because he did not know if she ever would come back, even though he wished for it every night in his thoughts and dreams.


Susan loved Sarah Lawrence University. She loved New York City. She loved being in America. It was a brilliant change from the countryside of England. Susan loved the challenges her professors gave her, and the class assignments kept her mind busy all the time. Susan wanted to be a doctor, seeing as how her younger sister, Lucy, inspired her to heal all those who needed it around her. Her class consisted on only twenty-three students, considering women in medicine was not widely common, and only the brightest of young women were able to conquer the difficult courses that the university presented to its students.

Susan, unlike most of the other girls in her class, found the lessons to be pleasantly difficult instead of nearly impossible. She was beginning to realize that her lifetime in Narnia gave her a great advantage over the other students in her classes. She was able to finish her work ahead of time, and was then able to enjoy her weekends, since school nights mainly consisted of just school work. She looked forward to her weekends. She would mostly go to Manhattan, or Times Square, or anywhere that she fancied investigating. She loved to go to Long Island with her roommate, Amanda. They would visit Amanda's family on the island. Amanda had three younger sisters, all under the age of four.

Susan loved Amanda's family almost as much as she had loved her own brothers and sister. Every time Amanda and Susan would arrive at the house, all three little girls would beg for Susan to tell them stories about Narnia. Amanda and her parents thought that Susan was just very imaginative and a spectacular story teller, and enjoyed listening to what they thought were just fairy tales. Susan used this as an outlet to tell her stories of her home. She told them about the centaurs, the dwarves, all the warriors of Narnia, Aslan, and of course, her knight in shining armor, Caspian.

Susan would describe him as the brave, beautiful, brilliant, loving, and loyal hero to her stories. Amanda knew Susan very well by the time she had listened to all of her stories. She could tell that Susan was "basing" Caspian on a real man, and she wanted to know the details.

One Wednesday night, when the snow was falling outside their dorm windows, both Amanda and Susan, medical students, were working on an assignment for their Anatomy class. It was about 8 o'clock, so the sun had set, and a light frost of snow was lying on the ground outside, where the only light that shined came from the streetlights. Susan sat on her bed, leaning her head against the class of her window, watching the snow fall. She was daydreaming again.

Caspian was in front of her again, and she could smell his scent. A musky, strong smell, but soft and clean, like fresh soap. She never loved anything as much as his scent. It tickled her nose whenever she would even remember what it smelled like. He walked up to her, and wrapped his arms around her again, and kissed her shoulder. She closed her eyes as she imagined him whispering in her ear, "I will love you forever." She could feel the cold from the window seeping through her forehead, and she smiled, enjoying the cool feeling on her skin.

From across the room, Amanda looked up from her paperwork when she heard Susan sigh quite loudly from her bed. Amanda gave her a quizzical look.

"Susan, are you alright?" Amanda asked, putting her pen down. Susan looked up from the window.

"Of course, why do you ask?" Susan replied, looking back down to her schoolwork, Caspian's image never leaving her mind.

"It's just that, whenever you tell my sisters stories about Caspian and Narnia, I can tell there's more behind it," Amanda said, looking down, not knowing how to explain herself. Susan quickly looked at her roommate.

"What do you mean? It's just stories of course…" Susan trailed off, hoping she didn't come off as defensive. She did not want to try to convince Amanda that Narnia is a real place, and Caspian was a real man. She thought that Amanda might have her committed.

"Who is Caspian about? You describe him with such passion, that there is no way it is not about a man you know," Amanda said, rather quickly. She wanted the details, and she would get them out of Susan no matter what it took. Susan couldn't help but smile. She thought the least she could tell her roommate, and dear friend, was part of the truth.

"Caspian was my knight in shining armor," Susan said, looking up at Amanda. Amanda's face still had the quizzical look on it, searching for more answers.

"He was a boy, no, a man, I met about a year ago. I only had a short time with him, but he was everything I could ever hope for or want. He was perfect," Susan said, remembering how she felt the very first time she saw him in the forests of Narnia.

Susan paused for a minute, relishing in her memories of the man she loved after only knowing him for only a month. Susan did not understand why her feelings felt that way. She was the logical, facts only, to the point sister. She never thought she would fall for someone that quickly, and knew it was dangerous, especially now, when she knew she would never see him again.

Amanda watched Susan, waiting for her to answer. She could see Susan lost in her own memories, "Well?! What happened?!" Amanda practically shouted, begging for more of the story. Susan jumped a little, not realizing how deep in her own mind she was. She smiled at Amanda.

"I had to leave. And he had to stay. Simple as that," she answered, looking down at her hands that were in her lap. She had wished it was really as simple as that. She hated thinking about the fact that they would never be together again, and no other man would be able to match Caspian's level. To Susan, he was perfect.

"Well," Amanda snorted, "That's just ridiculous. Why did you leave?" she asked. Susan looked up quickly, then back down, thinking about how to answer the question.

"It's complicated," she answered, hoping that would be enough for her questioning friend. Amanda just shook her head.

"Susan, dear, I know I've never met this man, but from just the way you tell your stories, it was, and still is love," Amanda said. Susan stared at her friend. How could she possibly know? Susan didn't know why, but she could feel tears coming to her eyes, and a lump growing in her throat.

Amanda walked over to Susan's bed, sat down, and wrapped her arms around her friend.

"You can handle becoming one of the only female doctors in the world, and you're worrying you won't be able to get to see this man again? If I know you at all, I know you're going to be just fine. Plus, something good is bound to happen with a story like this," Amanda smiled, looking down at her friend. Susan was beyond grateful that Amanda was there. For the first time in a while, she could feel something in the pit of her stomach again…hope.


Alright readers! Hope you liked this new chapter. Next chapter should be more tense with more action. But please, read and review, I love hearing everything you guys have to say!

And of course thanks to Esyla, whom without, this story would not be as good. :D

Sam