Chapter Four
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the 'Chronicles of Narnia' characters.
Here I must remind you, that Ramandu's Daughter the star had become the wife of King Caspian X. However as fate would have it, she could not stay in her human form too long. She parted from him, though unwillingly. Yet he was not unhappy (for no-one in Real Narnia knows about it). Instead, he felt a sense of anticipation, as though something important were to happen.
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Now, after her return to Finchley, Susan was off to her 'college'. She was in fact against the idea, as it depressed her greatly, but Uncle Diggory firmly told her that she must do so, and said, 'You never know what may happen, eh?', and Susan glanced up and saw a twinkle in his eyes.
So, she was bundled off to college with her old 'friends' for whom she had developed a disliking, and seemed to hate more every day.
After arriving, and when night had fallen, she lay on her bed, thinking. 'What if I could just go again, to Home? If I could but see a glance of those I lost!' and tears flowed down her eyes, and she fell into yet another dream.
She dreamed on for what felt like hours and hours, and eventually woke in a place she first thought to be the exurbent land of beauty which she had visited before. But as her mind cleared, she saw how very wrong she was.
It was a ruined, desolate land, yet it was horribly familiar. There was no trace of vegetation; instead there was charred land all about her, even reaching out to the very top of the hills, where there should have been snow. Needless to say, there was darkness, black as pitch and as deep as the roots of evil. Yet the young woman could see, as if being mysteriously guided to a certain destination. She proceeded.
Susan stopped short as she heard a sickly crunch under her feet. Praying it not to be a skull, she looked down.
A giant, snake type-skeleton lay under her feet. She was walking on its spine; which evidently had a fault and had cracked under the strain of her weight, light as it was. Looking around, she saw many such skeletons. Though mortally afraid, she mustered up the courage to pass on.
And then she came to a hillock which was remarkably like Aslan's How. Only it could not be.
But it was, as she discovered to her horror. And then, she remembered the Second Battle of Beruna, and felt a pang in her heart as she thought of Prince Caspian, as he was called in that day. She of course had not the slightest idea about his marriage, as Lucy, Edmund and Eustace were careful not to mention her in front of her.
Susan put away the thought that this possibly could be Narnia. Of course to her the idea seemed ridiculous (For I am sorry to say that she was still practical, if not fanatically so). And she walked on, not knowing what awaited her.
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Queen Lucy the Valiant was feeling happy once again. She set out at a pace faster than usual, eager that something would happen (and something always did happen). The very first personality she saw was none other than Aslan, The Son of The-Emperor-Beyond-The-Sea. Lucy rushed to him, and hugged him, and he let out a sound that sounded exactly like a chuckle.
There was no need for words, and Lucy understood him-she always did, better than most people.
And now we will let Lucy alone, for she does not come into this story often.
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It so happened, that Susan came across a very large Hill; only it could not have been a single hill-no, it must have been ranges of mountains with two very high peaks and two more further up and a-a silver wood far, far up, flowing in waves-impossible-
It was a man.
Of course he was Father Time, but Susan had not paid any attention to Eustace and Jill Pole's tales, she did not know about him. But she could faintly recall some of the legends told by and other Bards when she was Queen Susan, and guessed him to be exactly who he was. However she climbed over him, as there was no other way to the East End-for that was where she was heading to.
She often slipped and fell, particularly when she was at the stomach, and ruined her looks while fighting her way through 'the silvery wood' or rather, the Beard of Father Time. However, she could be praised for getting out without being harmed (or tangled). But then she fell into a new peril. Father Time's head was at least twenty feet above the ground!
It was truly difficult and high to jump, but Susan's practicality came in handy, and she clambered down hanging onto the hair.
On and on she went, and after getting through a thicket, she came to the last hurdle, which was a very dense copse of trees. Trees they could not be called, for there was not a single leaf that was living or dead upon their branches, and their roots were gnarled, and parched was the soil in which they were anchored. There ran a little, dry and rutted track, made for evidently a small or lithe person, who wore sturdy boots.
Finally Susan came to a place, but all that was, was a ruin. Windows with shattered glass stood there. There was one side of the main entrance door still standing, and the other lay rotting upon the ground. A vast hall was inside, with Four Thrones, which were surprisingly undamaged. Indeed the place would have been unrecognizable without them. Susan would have fain cried, if a Voice had not come saying, 'Welcome home, dear one.' The silhouette that had been guarding and guiding her came into view, and it was none other than Aslan.
Susan hugged him, asking questions about what happened and what would. And then Aslan blew on her, she found courage and understanding, and so stilled her questions, for she remembered that no-one is told what will happen.
And then Aslan led her to a chamber, which was illuminated as the sky is above us; and gave her the trustworthy Bow and Arrows, and then at his nod two Sih^uns came forth and presented her with Rhindon, King Peter's sword, Queen Lucy's Dagger and Cordial; and then they bound upon her brow The Diadem of Imna, once the Queen of the Realm of the Sih^uns, and then they clad her in an armor of a substance she knew not, but which was sparkling as the brightest diamonds of any worthwhile realm, and it gave her protection from malice and hurt of all kind. Even so, it weighed nothing to her, and only she could remove it.
And then Aslan stepped forth and spoke, 'Now is the time when the races meet;' and Susan knelt, as a knight would have done. He smiled, and continued, 'Rise, Queen Susan the Forthcoming and the Gentle. You must now embark on a quest of the Maiden, and now listen to me.'
Author's note: Well, here we are, as promised, with a longer chapter. Please review! What's the use of writing a story if you do not know what your readers think?
P.S: Change of plan. Updates will come every week, instead of what I mentioned earlier. Stay tuned!