Author's Note: Finally, another chapter! :) Been working on this all day, just for y'all! Hope y'all enjoy it. Leave me some feedback, please!
Disclaimer: If you know anything about Narnia, you should know which characters are mine.
Chapter 8- Taken
When Peter passed through the gates of his palace, his heart soared and he could see that it had the same effect on the rest of his company. Each face lit up as they passed numerous subjects who were glad for the chance to show respect to the monarchs they'd come to love.
The horses rode slowly, almost painfully so, through the streets toward their home. If it weren't for the beautiful scenery, such a pleasant change from the foreign cities he and his family had been enduring for the past month or so, he might have gone insane for the waiting. It was all he could do to keep from galloping the moment they reached the outer gardens.
"I swear, I will lay on my bed for the next three days. The only exceptions are meals." Edmund declared. No witty remark countered him because all, with the probable exception of Lucy, were feeling his sentiments exactly.
Peter dismounted his horse and moved sluggishly toward the door. The trip in itself wasn't what exhausted him; it was merely the fact that it had been over a month since he'd been home, slept in his own room, or smelled a superbly cooked Narnian meal.
"Your Majesty?" the voice of one of his generals, a faun named Arden, pulled him aside as his siblings scattered to their respective rooms. Edmund only stopped long enough to be waved away by his older brother. "Reports have come in of raids on the villages around Lantern Waste. At least, it started there. I have those reports here for your inspection. Would you like me to summon your royal counterparts for you?"
"No, General Arden, though I appreciate your thoughtfulness. There is no need to disturb them. They need their rest. However, I'll see these reports in my private chamber and send word when I have a solution as to our course of action."
The general placed a stack of papers in his king's hand before bowing and leaving. Peter took a long look at the stack, giving an involuntary sigh, and moved toward his chambers. So much for taking his much-needed rest. His kingdom was his priority, even over himself, and it had to be taken care of.
A few hours later, the High King had finished the hefty report (not without dozing off once or twice) and was now poring back over the details as a sense of dread settled in the pit of his stomach. He felt a foreboding in his heart that went beyond the knowledge of what was going on outside the palace walls and that alone scared him.
As much as he didn't want to, he called upon a servant to gather his siblings and the princess and bring them to him.
Edmund was the first to reach his study, and probably the most perturbed. His hair was ruffled and eyes still partially closed from sleep, making Peter regret waking the boy once again.
"What is it, Pete?" The boy growled, dropping himself like dead weight upon one of the many chairs inside the room. "I was rather enjoying my nap."
"As was I." Lucy mumbled, looking the spitting image of the Just King as she and Aaryn entered the room. They seated themselves on the couch, the former laying her head in the latter's lap while the princess stroked her hair. Susan arrived last and seated herself beside Aaryn. Peter was thankful that the two older women looked like he hadn't interrupted their slumber. His guilt level would've risen a few notches higher if they had.
"Get on with it, Peter." Edmund said, looking much younger than his twenty years as he snuggled against the chair, knees up to his chest and head laying on his elbow.
"There have been reports of well-organized raids by Fell Beasts starting at Lantern Waste and travelling east along the Great River. It appears that they are advancing on Cair Paravel, but nothing has been found as to the extent of their plans. There has been a total of twelve deaths so far and numerous injuries."
"We need to send out spies immediately." Lucy said, before Peter could so much as hint at it. "We need an estimate as to their numbers and discover any possible reasons behind these raids, whether there's a purpose or if it's merely the usuall pillaging."
"We have one guess in regard to intentions, but it's not going to be pleasant for any of us." Peter responded, eyes settling on Aaryn in a protective nature.
"What is it?" Edmund's voice was tense and he saw the younger boy shift into a more kingly stature.
"Their leader is a white minotaur and some men who were in the Battle of Beruna said they believed he bore a striking resemblance to General Otmin's second in command."
"Forian." Aaryn hissed, teeth grinding together. "How dare that pig show his face in Narnia again?"
Peter studied each face in the room as each grew tense with the idea of this returning threat. "We will make sure our spies find out whether this is actually Forian or not, Aaryn. Don't be afraid, you will be safe if I have anything to say about it." Peter reassured his friend.
"I'm not scared. I'm bloody furious." Aaryn responded, jaw still tightly clenched.
Peter watched Edmund clench and unclench his fists as they made their way through the castle and toward Oreius. His brother was mumbling unintelligible words under his breath.
"I saw Aslan the other night." Edmund finally spoke aloud, so quietly that Peter nearly missed it.
"What? Why didn't you tell me sooner? What did he say?"
Edmund let out a heavy sigh. "I wasn't sure if I was supposed to." he responded quietly. "But now I'm even more anxious than before and can't keep it to myself."
Peter nodded, waiting for his younger brother to continue.
"He told me a time of pain and hardship is coming very soon. He instructed me to keep you all close and listen to his leading, and that I'd need to be strong- particularly for Aaryn. He said 'especially for Aaryn', as if she were the one in the most danger and I think we've just found where the danger's coming from." Edmund's chocolate brown eyes met with his older brother's and Peter couldn't help picturing him as a lost child, rather than the twenty year-old king he'd grown to be. He stopped in his tracks and wrapped an arm around his brother, holding him close to himself in a comforting embrace. "I have to keep her safe."
"I know." Peter breathed, squeezing his only brother closer to himself. "We will protect her. We've faced danger and death more times that I can count and we're still little more than kids." he chuckled. "Aslan will help us overcome this."
Edmund merely nodded against his tunic and pulled away after a few seconds. "Thanks, Pete."
Aaryn stood at her balcony, elbows leaning on the cool stone ledge and her chin in her hands as she looked out over the Eastern Ocean. Her eyelids felt heavy, but she refused to sleep, knowing that would only result in a barrage of nightmares. She didn't have nearly as many as she used to just after her first war, the Battle of Beruna, but she knew this new threat would torment her unconscious mind.
With a growl of displeasure, she turned from the beautiful scene before her and into her chamber, skirts rustling below her as she moved about quickly. She needed something to keep her awake and sufficiently distracted. Reading was out of the question, she'd merely doze off; and sewing would give her too much room to think.
A knock sounded at the door and Susan entered before the princess could respond to it.
"How are you doing, Aar?" Susan asked, studying her friend intently. Aaryn knew that while she wasn't as good at seeing through people as Ed and Lu were, a lie would never get past her maternally proficient friend.
"As good as can be expected." Aaryn said, placing one hand on her hip and the other on her forehead. "I need something to do, though, something to get my mind off of this. I was actually thinking of getting one of the boys to spar with me."
"That's the reason I came." Susan responded with a laugh. "I figured a good ride would help relieve some of our tension, just the two of us." she smiled.
Aaryn smiled brightly in response. "You know me far too well, Su."
Hooves beat heavily on the soft ground, the pounding drowned out any lingering fears that would try to torment her and Aaryn smiled brightly at her close friend, chest heaving in deep breaths as they pullled their mounts to a stop.
"Have I told you what a treasured friend you are, lately?" Aaryn laughed.
"You could stand to tell me more often." Susan responded. "And the same goes for you. If it hadn't been for your comforting me during and after that episode with Rabadash, I might've gone mad with guilt."
The two slid off their saddles and let the horses roam nearby while they lay themselves in the grass. The two guards Peter had assigned them were on the other side of the rather spacious clearing, a faun and a centaur their brothers had helped Oreius train, giving them plenty of space to talk with one another.
Susan turned on her side, using her left arm to prop her head up as she looked at her young friend. "Does it scare you now? Now that you've had time to think about it and process it properly?"
"Yes." Aaryn heaved a sigh as she kept her eyes pointed at the sky. "I mean, Forian's given me almost as many nightmares as Jadis has. And honestly, his being back makes me feel like a child again- a defenseless child who's scared out of her wits." Aaryn closed her eyes for a few moments. "That's what infuriates me most about this. I shouldn't be scared of one particularly rogueish Fell Beast, espiecially when I've fought and conquered far more than I'd care to remember. I'm not that little girl I was and I don't want to feel like I am."
Aaryn let the silence linger, wondering if her friend would have anything to say to her admission- wondering if it was wrong for her to be afraid. She didn't doubt Aslan. In fact, she knew that no matter what happened, he'd have his hand on it and be there for her. However, the sense of foreboding that weighed so heavily on her chest brought a chill to her heart that scared her.
"It's perfectly normal to be afraid. Being afraid of danger is a healthy fear. It's the way Aslan made us." Susan said simply, laying up on her back so she could watch the clouds move lazily across the sky once again.
Aaryn let that sink in, smiling with gratitude at the fact that Susan always knew exactly what to say. Sometimes she wondered what she would do without this girl who had become so much of a mother to her and whom she considered her big sister. She and Peter had practically raised the other three and their wisdom was such a blessing to them. Even now, she could feel herself relaxing and allowed herself to be comforted by those words of assurance.
She considered telling Susan these things, but her comfort was cut short as a swirling chill swept across her body. She recognized it immediately and shot up to her feet, Susan quickly following suit, though not knowing what was happening.
"Guards! Be caref-" her sentence was cut short when two swift arrows shot out of the forest and embedded themselves in the two guards' hearts before they could even react. They fell hard.
"Fell Beasts." Aaryn hissed as she swung her quiver, which had been beside her, over her shoulder and pulled out her bow in one swift motion. Susan did the same and they were back to back in an instant. Both of their horses were dumb, but both could sense the danger and were looking around in the same wild-eyed fashion that their riders sported.
"My dear prize, it appears the stories are true. You can sense us. What a valuable gift the Narnians have aquired." Forian's unmistakeably malicious voice echoed through the silent plain. "Too bad I've come to take it from them."
Aaryn moved swiftly so her arrow was pointing at least somewhat in the direction she believed the voice was coming from, Susan adjusting her stance effortlessly.
"Forian," she called back, not bothering to hold the bite back from her words. "What business have you with us?"
"Are you not happy to see me, Princess?" the voice mocked her. "I told you I would be back, did I not?"
"You are on Narnian soil, fool. You would do well to leave now." Susan yelled over her shoulder, causing Aaryn to smile. Honestly, it was times like these when she was reminded how much she and Peter were alike. Her maternal instincts were clearly kicking into high gear.
"Quiet, whore." he barked. "The two of you are outnumbered. You would do very well for yourselves if you merely surrendered here. Otherwise, we shall have to use force. People will get hurt."
"Never!" Susan responded before Aaryn's mouth could so much as open.
"Princess?"
"Go to Hell." Aaryn spat.
"Very well, then."
At that, a company of about thirty creatures made up of minotaurs, black dwarves, wolves, and even a man or two, burst from the treeline. The pair managed to take down about three each before they were upon them. Susan was whacking at them with her bow in one hand and an arrow in the other, skillfully executing the training she'd been given by Oreius. Aaryn had barely had enough time to put up her bow and unsheath her sword, but managed to do it. She held it in her right hand while fighting with an arrow in her left.
They only lasted a few moments before they were overwhelmed. There was nothing more they could do. One of the men managed to slash Susan's right thigh, causing her to bend a bit as she clutched it and they grabbed her hair, pulling her away from her back up.
Using this opening, one of the men slammed the broad side of his sword across Aaryn's upper back, dropping her to her knees. She gave a wheezing cry and those who had been fighting her stepped away.
"We have the queen now, Princess. Will you surrender?" Forian laughed, finally showing himself as he stepped out from the foliage and made his way to where the men had stopped fighting. Susan was brought forward by another minotaur, who was holding her upper arms so roughly to her body that it caused her pain, that much was evident on her face. That, and the deep slice that was slowly staining that part of her dress red.
He moved to stand beside her and gripped the hair at the top of her scalp, pulling her up by it so she could see both himself and Susan.
"Yes. Yes, just don't hurt her." Aaryn said through clenched teeth, refusing to give this beast the satisfaction of hearing her cry out in the pain that radiated across ther scalp.
"Aar, no." Susan's voice broke as she struggled to hold back tears. "Don't."
"I love you, Susan. You mean so much to me. You know I won't let them hurt you."
"Smart girl." Forian laughed as his men took Aaryn's weapons and he pushed her toward a man who began tying her arms behind her back.
"Let's go. I have my prize." Forian exclaimed, watching the Gentle queen as she glared daggers at him. "Leave her."
"Yes, sir." The other minotaur nodded and shoved the twenty-two year old into the grass, sending two swift kicks to her stomach that caused her to cry out in pain, curling up into a ball on the ground before losing consciousness. He gave a third kick to her head before Forian motioned for him to stop.
"You said you wouldn't hurt her." Aaryn screamed, trying to wrestle out of her bonds and help her dear friend.
"I did no such thing. And this way, she won't be sticking us with arrows on our way back." he signalled for his men to start moving as he grabbed her chin with painful strength. "You'd do best to be quiet, girl. You're my property, now."
And with that, they turned and moved away from the scene. As Forian's massive hand pushed her forward with a tight grip on the back of her neck, she couldn't help but feel like that defenseless child again. Her heart hammered in her chest as she prayed silently to Aslan for this to be over just as quickly as it had begun.
