Chapter Nine
"Ru?" I looked around, searching frantically for her, but she was gone. "Ru!"
"I'm here, Peter." I turned at the sound of her voice. She was there, standing on the path, mist making the edges of her dress fade and shimmer. I sighed, drooping with relief. Something was different, though. She was taller, almost my height, and when she walked it was no longer with the small, careful steps of a lady, but with the long confident stride of a man. She moved forward, smiling a new smile, almost predatory. "Oh, Peter, you silly, silly king. How could you not understand?"
"Understand what?" I asked as she moved closer. She laughed and shook her head. She put a hand to the side of my face and my breathing grew labored. Ru leaned up and kissed me. My mind went blank for a moment and then I leaned into the kiss, wanting more, but she pulled away, only to come back again. I put my hands on her waist, pulling her closer. She kissed me again, her hand slipping back into my hair, and I felt the weight of the sword on my hip lessen, and then disappear. We broke apart, and I looked down, to see her holding it, with the grip of an expertly trained swordswoman. Her stance had changed, feet spreading farther apart, and she held the sword up, smiling that small, mocking smile.
I looked at her questioningly, not getting it. "Ru, what are you doing? Give me the sword back." She shook her head again, and laughed at me. I was so confused, my head muddled.
"Oh, Peter, don't you see? I am not the woman you thought I was." Her dress was starting to grow fainter, revealing men's clothes underneath, until it faded into the mist that it was made of. "I am the heir of Jadis. I am the real High Queen of Narnia."
"There is no High Queen," I said, scared of what she meant. "Ru, are you saying that you're – "
"Yes! Finally, you understand. Peter, I'm here to get the throne, the throne that is rightfully mine. You were just an obstacle."
"My siblings would never allow it," I said, hating how weak I sounded, hating how easily she got to me.
"But they are going to die too. You see, Peter, I have siblings as well." Oh, sweet Lion, my family! No. No, no, no, no, no, no.
"Do you know this sword's name?" she asked, changing topics. I shook my head. She examined the blade, running a finger along it, tracing those strange runes. "This is my sword, Peter. I gave it to you, when you were passed out, lying on the ground, limp and unresponsive to my family's taunting. You looked so ridiculous, sprawled out, unconscious. You were so easy to capture too. The sword was purely to mess with you, and it did. Do you remember how unbalanced it was? It was made for me. Its name isLionslayer." She twirled it dexterously. "You were once described to me as the young lion of Narnia. I think the name is fitting." She paused, walking towards me again, only this time, I was moving backwards, still facing her, unable to look away. "Don't you?"
She started walking faster, and I quickened my pace as well, almost stumbling. She continued to tell me the things that I should have known, but had refused to acknowledge. "I had the pleasure of meeting you without your crown, without your sword, without your power, without your mane, Peter.
"This sword was created for the sole purpose of killing you, my lion. It was made to penetrate Dwarfish armor and mail, though it won't have to. You are weaponless, and don't even look to your knives. They were easy to steal while you were asleep, just as easy as it was to reclaim my sword when I kissed you."
She smiled sweetly, mocking me in my unknowing state, a cold, hard shadow of the girl I had thought I knew. "You were so easy to fool, Peter, so easy to trick. And kissing you!" She laughed, a harsh, cruel laugh, making the betrayal sink farther down, driving it in deep. "Kissing you just made it perfect. You should have seen your face when I pulled away. It was ecstatic and broken at the same time.
"Oh, but the look on your face now, Peter. That handsome face, so sad, so betrayed, so hurt, so scared. It's perfect. I hope I remember it for the rest of my life, which, coincidentally, will be much longer than yours." I ran into something: the fountain. I could go no further.
"I'm here, my lion, to kill you. It is time for the ruler to become ruled, for the fallen to rise, and for the lion to become just a cat." The sword was still in other hand, its edge very close to me. Blunt metal brushed my neck, cold against my skin.
"Peter, are you ready to die?"
