It was the fourth day since they'd left, and I couldn't spend the rest of the day waiting until Caspian returned. I'd done nothing but lounge around the sweltering palace since they'd left, and I was going insane with boredom. Deciding that I needed to escape from the stifling heat of mid August, I changed into a summer dress and readied my horse and pack.
Within thirty minutes, I was off to the clearing that Caspian and I so loved to escape to. I relished in the cool breeze wafting through my thick hair as I urged my horse from a canter to a full gallop.
A plea of laughter escapes my lips as the horse heeds my wishes and breaks into the fastest gallop I'd ever ridden before. Directing the horse into the woods, I quickly found the seldom-used path and within fifteen minutes we were to the clearing. I tied my horse to a tree and found a cool, shaded spot to sit down at and enjoy a small snack.
I fed the apple to the horse, and left the orange and grapes to myself. Deciding that I'd had enough of a snack, I shed my summer dress down to my swimsuit and dove into the crystal clear pool. I gasped as my face emerged from the water, my body not yet adjusted to its cool temperature. Within moments, it was fine, and I began to simply float around.
It must have been hours later when I finally climbed out of the pool, my skin pruney and my stomach growling. Deciding I'd rather head straight back, they might be back by now, I quickly dried myself of with a towel and changed out of my wet swimsuit and into my dress. I put the towel and swimsuit into the pack and then placed the pack into a saddlebag before untying the horse and mounting her.
We had only just left the clearing when I saw them. There were at least seven of them, and I was unarmed. I urged my horse faster as arrows began flying at us. If I could only get out of the forest! I thought desperately.
However, fate had other plans as I felt an arrow pierce my shoulder. The pain erupted so suddenly I wasn't expecting it. The sudden shock threw me forward and I tumbled over the horse, my bleeding shoulder hitting the horse's side painfully and my head cracking on something hard before I lost all consciousness.
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"Your Highnesses!" A voice called as Peter, Edmund, Lucy, and I finally made it back to Cair Paravel.
"Hello Bandar." Peter said as he dismounted his horse and handed the reigns over to a stable boy. "Have you seen my sister? I believe she should be there for our report." He spoke diplomatically as the rest of us handed our horses over to other workers.
"High Queen Susan? She took off this morning for 'the spot' I think she called it. She said she'd be back around now, but if she wasn't she said you'd know what that meant King Caspian."
"Yes, I know exactly where that is. I suppose I should go find her then?" I asked as I went to retrieve my horse once more.
"Oh God!" Bandar's voice interrupted my actions as I spun to see what had happened. "That's the horse Queen Susan took!" He said, as my heart clenched painfully at the sight of a white horse galloping into the stables, my Susan nowhere in sight. I ran to it as it came into the stables, fear painfully clenching at my chest at the sight of it's bloodstained side.
"Alright, let's think." Edmund began white faced and voice shaking. "What could have happened?"
"It's the White Witch." Peter stated simply, tears still streaming down my face. "We need to come up with a plan to rescue her. She might not-"
"She's pregnant." I choke out.
"What?" Came the voices of Susan's three siblings.
"She's pregnant. We only just found out the night before we'd left. We stayed up half the night thinking of names. Hector or Juliet... We were going to wait to tell everyone until after we'd gotten back." I finished, wiping the tears from my eyes and beginning to formulate a plan in my head.