Hey, OMG, the last 3 weeks has been crrrraaaazzzzyyy! I've been a student assistant to the K-2 and 3-5 summer shows which took up 8 hours of my day for 3 weeks and then one of those weeks was also spent doing Stage Crew for the high school show for 3 to 4 hours in the evening. And then Breaking Dawn! Eee, Anyway I digress. I'm back. Let's rejoin our heroes for more of the Narnia adventure.

Susan's Story Chapter 7

"Peter, you have to eat something." Susan tried to coax her brother who had been staring at the wall for the past hour. "Do you want to faint on your horse!?"

The tunnel had taken them back into the Lantern Waste and everyone knew they had to move fast at this point. They could only sleep in the cave for a little while to regain their strength. The entire time Peter had remained silent, his eyes contained a silent anger. The only action he'd done was to clean his sword before going right back to sitting against the cave wall and staring straight ahead.

'Planning his revenge, no doubt' thought Susan. She sat beside the fire, leaning against Caspian's shoulder. She was worried about Peter. The thought made her smile.

When wasn't she worried about him?

Peter was always the one protecting them, holding the weight in his shoulders and taking full responsibility. Secretly she had always waited for the day when it would be too much for him, not that he would have admitted it. It scared her. And now with Creon…her thoughts trailed off. She lowered her eyes as she thought of her lost friend. He had been able to console Peter when she hadn't, during their travels he had been a wise and useful advisor, and now he was another victim to the White Witch.

A single tear dropped down from her eye. Unconsciously, she thread her fingers through Caspian's and squeezed, silently asking him for comfort. Had it been anyone else, Susan would have felt embarrassed at showing such weakness. But Susan knew she didn't have to act that way around Caspian. He was her strength and he would want to know when she was in pain.

Caspian turned his head slightly and kissed her hair. Even without asking he knew she was upset from the recent events. No doubt she was worried sick over Peter and losing Creon was another blow to the party. Caspian hoped his presence and comfort was enough to console her. They were heading into another war and all he could do was pray they would both make it out alive; then they could focus on the future. His thoughts revolved around them for the time being.

Trumpkin rolled his eyes. The atmosphere in the room wasn't to his liking. The humans were being so melancholy. Creon had been a terrible loss it was true, but this wasn't the time for despair, it was the time for action. As an advisor to Caspian it was his responsibility to keep Caspian on track. A king didn't have the option of mourning during this time of war.

Firmly deciding to talk to his king he began to walk toward him until he saw Queen Susan's hand twine with the king's. Even from here he could feel the queen's need for Caspian. Sighing, the dwarf sat back down against the cave wall and lit his pipe. 'I'll tell him in the morning' he thought 'turning into a bloody ninny is what I'm doin'

Soon enough Susan, Caspian, Reepicheep and Trumpkin were fast asleep. All four lay near the fire for warmth. The trip home would be rough without the supplies they had originally brought along, but no one was complaining. Peter stood at the entrance of the cave waiting out his hour of sentry duty. He glanced at his comrades and frowned. Susan and Caspian were laying a bit too close together in his opinion. At least they have each other, he thought. For a fleeting moment, he wished he had someone he could turn to when things got bad.

So lost in his thoughts, Peter didn't hear the intruder till it stumbled into the cave. Unsheathing his sword, he quickly judged his opponent. The rider sat atop a horse….a familiar looking horse that, by the looks of it, had been riding hard for some time. Its breathing was deep and ragged and its legs shook.

A girl, was Peter's first thought as he looked at the rider. His second thought made him lower his sword.

A human girl. She was slumped against the horse's back, obviously exhausted. Both she and the horse were covered in mud and leaves.

Her hair was a light blonde. At least it looked blonde under all the leaves and dirt in her hair and her build was slight; it was obvious she hadn't been eating well for a while. The simple dress she wore was ragged and frayed at the edges.

Suddenly she moved to sit up and Peter stepped back at the action. He knew nothing of her and for all he knew it could be a trap from the White Witch.

Her attempts to sit up were failing. For a few moments she sat there taking in gasps of air looking down at the floor, her long hair obscuring her face.

Peter took a step toward her. So far she hadn't attacked him, and she seemed unarmed.

Then she looked up at Peter; it took a moment for her eyes to focus on his face. When she finally realized who was standing before her, she smiled. "King Peter" her voice was raspy and light. It was all she said before her eyes closed and she started to slide off her mount.

Peter managed to catch her before she hit the ground. His mind was having a tough time processing what had just happened. But being the gentleman he was, he carried her near the fire and laid her down with the others before covering her with a blanket.

He then walked back over to the horse to give it a proper rub down. This wasn't enough to distract his thoughts though.

Where did she come from? Is she a Telmarine….no their hair is brown or black. In Peter's time in Narnia, he had never seen another fair haired human being. How did she know him…? Strangely enough he felt a small light of pride in his chest when he remembered that she had called him King Peter and somehow had known he could help her.

He had finally gotten the worst of the mud off the poor beast when he realized why the horse had looked familiar to him. It was Caspian's horse Desiree standing before him. But the White Witch had taken her when they had been captured. How did she acquire her?

Taking long strides, he walked over to her slumbering form. He was going to get some answers. Taking her by the shoulders he hauled her up.

She opened her eyes, and looked around in confusion. She was obviously terrified, until she looked at Peter again. For a moment she looked ecstatic, but then she took in Peter's expression and the terror crept back into her eyes. "King Peter, please….."

"Who are you?" he demanded. "Are you in league with the White Witch?"

She shook her head quickly. Her blonde bangs fell into her eyes. "No, I didn't mean to."

"Peter, what are you doing!?" Susan said. All the yelling had woken Susan up, who in turn had woken Caspian up. Together they managed to grab the girl away from Peter. "I'll talk to her." Susan said to Caspian. He nodded and walked over to Peter, who was beginning to argue with Susan over taking away his captive.

"No, she works for her!"

Susan instantly flinched away from her and moved to stand with her brother. "The Witch?"

Peter nodded. "How else would she have Desiree? She's a spy."

"Peter, Susan, please." Caspian implored. "She isn't the Witch; don't take this out on her." Caspian realized the odds were against him, but knew that she still had a chance of innocence. As a King who had seen and lived through injustice, he couldn't let Susan and Peter have the girl who was now hiding behind him.

Peter glared at Caspian. Every part of him wanted to whip out and punch the man in front of him, but another part of him, a smaller part, getting bigger, argued that Caspian was right. He knew nothing of the girl, or how she had come to stubble into their camp.

"Please," begged the small voice. "I know I've done wrong, I just want to help you. Please," she turned her eyes toward Peter. "King Peter, Queen Susan, I've heard much of your greatness and your compassion. Please have mercy on me." With that she looked back to the ground, her hair hiding her face once more.

Caspian glared back to the siblings as if scolding them. Susan felt a drop of guilt fall into her heart as she looked over the poor girl. Her sensible side was still saying there was something suspicious about her, but something else inside her said this girl was no danger to them. Silently she put her hand on Peter's arm and looked into his eyes.

He looked back at her with a mix of surprise, hurt and anger. After many years of living with and ruling alongside Susan, he could almost read her mind. Peter knew that she was siding with Caspian and would protect the girl. Wordlessly he watched as Susan walked over to her and gently took her aside to talk with her. Caspian followed along beside them; occasionally throwing a look back to Peter, asking him to follow.

But Peter only stood there; silently fuming at the sight of the two people he trusted the most betraying him.

Meanwhile Susan was trying to calm the girl down. The poor girl was in tears from the fright. Susan could barely make out what she was saying.

"I didn't…………to happen……….so fast………please help." was the last thing she said before falling into Susan and sobbing on her shoulder.

Susan awkwardly patted her on the back, trying to comfort her. "Shhh, shhh, it's alright. Everything's okay now. You're alright."

"What's going on here?" Reepicheep voiced. "Who is she? Where did she come from?"

The girl gave a small "Epp" at the sight of the knight. She opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off with a paw.

"Don't say it! Yes, we know, I'm a mouse. Can we discuss what's important?"

Susan gave a small laugh. "Don't mind Reepicheep. Everybody says that to him, so he's a bit sensitive."

She just looked back to Susan. "I was only going to say how adorable he—"

"I am not adorable!!" Reepicheep ranted jumping up and down. "I'm a brave, fierce, terrifying knight of Narnia; sworn to protect the Kings and Queens of the land."

The girl laughed at that point and finally when she was finished she gracefully curtsied to the mouse. "Forgive me, good sir knight."

Reepicheep bowed his head in acknowledgement to thank her.

Finally Susan felt comfortable to start asking questions. "What's your name?"

She gave a sniffle. "Holly," she said quietly. "Holly Michelet." (A/N: Pronounced – Mish-eh-lay)

Susan's brows drew together in confusion. "French?"

Holly shook her head with a wet laugh."No, but everyone thinks that." She took a breath before speaking again. "My grandfather, who was French, fell in love and married my grandmother who was an English-woman and moved to England, so technically I'm British, with French ancestry.

Susan nodded in understanding. "So you're from England?"

"Yes," she nodded, then her eyes came alive "Oh, but then something happened a few weeks ago, I was in the park when this warm wind came up and ripped the scarf from my neck." Her eyes took on an adoring light for a few seconds. "Even though I had to chase after my scarf, all I could think was the wind smelled like summertime and sunlight.

"Anyway I finally caught up to it near this archway. I was wrought iron and beautifully designed with trees, animals, fairy-tale creatures and people all designed into it. I thought about how I'd like to be married under it someday, then the moment I walked through it, I was here. Well not here, here, but in a forest. And the archway was gone when I turned around to go back." She paused. "I was so frightened. I didn't know what to do."

Susan hugged her closer. She remembered those first few days in Narnia and how terrifying they had been; being chased by wolves and under a death warrant from the White Witch. She was thankful she had Peter, Edmund and Lucy to lean on back then. Her heart broke for this girl who had no one in this strange land.

"How do you know of us?" Susan gestured to Peter, Caspian and herself.

"Well I was wandering around through the forest when I finally made it to a town. I think I scared them a bit. They were fascinated with my hair, said they'd never seen anything like it, cept on his majesty King Peter. I asked about him and where he lived. I thought perhaps he could get me home. But they said he had left almost a year ago. 'Your king just left?' I asked.

They reassured me he wasn't their king. Then they told me about King Caspian and the Narnian Revolution, they were even nice enough to take me to the battle ground where you had fought. I asked if I could go into the caves and they told me the legend of Aslan." Holly's eyes sparkled as she said his name. "I knew if I could just meet him he'd get me home. So I kinda snuck in…." her expression became guilty. But when I got to the table, it all went wrong."

Susan sat there confused for a moment; she looked up at Caspian to see a strange look in his eyes. She tilted her head in question.

"You set the White Witch free." He said it as a statement. There was no argument to his voice.

Holly snapped her head up to his eyes. Her expression said enough. The Witch had appeared to her, probably promising that Holly could return home if she took her hand. Holly without knowing it had set free one of Narnia's greatest foes back into the living.

Tears began to stream down Holly's cheeks again. "I had no idea, suddenly I was being held captive by her. She said she wouldn't be so merciful this time. I was scared for my life. Then she showed me terrible creatures, some were nice to me, but others…" she paused and looked away; not wanting to remember the things they had done to her. "Some time passed, I don't how many days. I was becoming weak. But I still waited for the nightmare to end; I waited for someone to save me. She kept me in the same tent as hers."

"Then I overheard a guard saying that they had captured the King and his friends. At that time I thought all hope was lost if the great King Caspian had been captured. I was crying in my tent-cell when all of a sudden there was a big commotion, all the soldiers were yelling, some in anger and some in fear. When she left to see what it was about, I asked a guard who was passing by what was going on. She was one of the ones that was always nice to me, a centaur-ette named Tarlina. She set me free and told me to get as far away from there as possible. I didn't know where to go at first, I ran to the edge of the camp.

Then I heard her voice again, so I hide behind a tent. After a moment I realized she hadn't seen me. So I peeked around the corner of the tent. She was talking to another centaur, I remember because I thought it was Tarlina for a moment and was afraid.

"Was he black haired!?" Peter shouted. His sudden question made the group jump in surprise. He composed himself, barely.

Holly nodded. "Yes, he had black hair. The Witch laughed, talked to him….I couldn't understand her from the distance" she explained. "And then she turned him into stone." Holly gave a shudder while Susan hugged her closer. Susan wanted to cry for her. Such a nightmare should have only been that, a dream, but it wasn't a dream. Those faded from memory in time. This was reality and Holly would be forced to cope with those feeling for a long time.

"Do you know what this means?" Peter said.

Susan turned toward him. A broad grin was on his face and as much as it warmed her heart to see him with a moment of happiness. She saw where his thoughts were going and felt her heart drop with sadness and what she had to say. "Peter," she hesitated. "We don't know that Aslan will come. We don't even know that she kept him…whole."

"No, he's alive, we can still save him; or Aslan can."

Susan looked at her brother and then looked back at Holly; she knew who needed more help. "Never mind," she said to Peter. "We'll discuss this later."

"But Susan-"he began to argue. But a swift glare from Susan cut him off and told him the subject was closed for now.

It was still dark outside the cave entrance. But a sliver of light told Susan it would be dawn soon. For a moment she leaned against the side of the cave wall, wishing she could just sink into it. Her sleep had been restless and now she had a long walk to look forward too.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her shoulders to embrace her. I love these arms. She thought. After voicing her opinion to Caspian, she felt him chuckle behind her. His chest flushed against her back.

"Not as much as I do." He kissed her temple and hummed a tune. "Susan, I suppose now isn't the best time to talk about after the war."

Susan swiftly turned so she could cover his mouth with her hand. A smaller part of her wanted to cover his lips with her own, she shoved it away. That wasn't the rational Susan talking, it was Caspian's Susan. Lately that was all she'd been. And in a lot of ways it made her happy; they'd been happy. She had opened her heart when it had been closed for so long. But it was time for war again, and now her heart felt like it was closing up again. It was the rational thing to do, what if Caspian was hurt or worse during a battle. She couldn't even bear thinking about it.

Another half of her wanted to throw away rationality. Be with Caspian, be with the one you love it said. It seemed her heart was always at battle with itself, two halves fighting for control.

She looked into Caspian's eyes; full of care and confusion, of love and fear. "No, this isn't the time. I don't want to think what might or what could. If I do, I...I" she stopped, unable to go on. Her hand came away from his mouth to cup his cheek.

Caspian watched as her eyes filled with pain and tears, swiftly he took her up in a fierce hug. "I won't let go of you." He whispered in her ear.

Holly watched them from a far before looking away. Tip-toeing she walked over to Peter who was sitting by the dead fire attempting to revive it. "Umm King Peter?" she asked shyly.

"Peter is fine," he grunted. "What's up?"

"Umm, are Caspian and Susan, like an item?"

Peter laughed. "I guess you could say that."

She tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"

Peter looked up at her. "Let's just say 'complicated' doesn't even begin to cover it."

End of Chapter 7

"Phew" wipes forehead. Done with that chapter. Yeah, sorry, no cliffy. I'll try to fit in one later. But for now I thought I'd go back to emotional stuff. Which I love writing by the way. Oh I wanted to tell whoever it was that coined the phrase 'Suspian'; congrats on coining the phrase that stuck. I myself have spread it to all my friends, I just typed it in on google and all this Caspian/Susan stuff came up. I was happy.

Please review. It also makes me happy to hear feedback, or just to know that you're reading the story. The reader counter thing can only tell me so much.

Moon Power Out!