Important author's note at the end of this chapter! Don't miss it!
Mr. Tumnus' POV- Aslan's Sacrifice
Before I searched out Susan I decided to grab myself some dinner; just my luck that Susan would be the one serving the dinner.
"No, Clio, I'm sure. You can go help Erato with her pups. I'll do fine right here, stirring the soup and filling everyone's bowls. Honest. In fact, you'd be doing me a favor to let me help. I'd feel quite useless otherwise."
A she-dwarf gave a short, exasperated mumble under her breath before stalking away, hints of a smile threatening to overwhelm her face. She shoved past me, still muttering. I couldn't help but smile as I walked up to Susan, stoking the fire and swirling a large spoon through the mixture at the same time. She looked up when I cleared my throat and gave me a soft smile. "What can I do for you, Mr. Tumnus?"
I took a bowl and spoon off the table nearby and held it up for her to fill. She gave me another smile and gave me a generous helping of soup, turning back to give it a good stir before she sat down and patted the table next to her. "What's on your mind?"
Startled, I could only plop down on the wooden bench and stutter out, "What do you mean? Who says I've got something to talk about?"
A quiet, musical laugh rose above everything else. "If you had to take care of Edmund and Lucy and Peter, you'd quickly learn what different faces meant for different people. You're wearing the one Peter usually wears when he desperately needs to tell me something but doesn't know if it would bother me or if he really should tell."
I shook my head in wonder before nodding. "I suppose I do have something I'd like to ask you, Susan."
"Wait," Susan said, standing up to give the soup another mix. "OK, I'm all ears."
I took a cautious spoonful of the soup, hoping not to burn my tongue. "Whoa, you sure know how to cook a pot of soup! This is the perfect temperature, and tastes great."
"Thank you," Susan smiled. I was beginning to think I could get used to Susan's bright personality, however quiet she was. Susan was just one of those people who made you feel at home with only a smile.
"Anyway," I began, taking another bite. "I was speaking to your brother, Peter. We were talking about the battle with the White Witch. He mentioned me asking you about the Stone Table; about what happened there last night."
Susan gave me an evaluating look before starting. "You have to know exactly what happened before last night in order to understand what Aslan did while everyone else was sleeping. You've been told of our adventures when we arrived here, to the camp, right?"
"Some of it, yes, but maybe you should start at the moment you arrived here, just in case."
Susan nodded. "Peter, Lucy and I had just met Aslan, and Peter and Aslan went up to the cliffs to talk. Lucy and I decided to go clean up in the stream, and when I went to grab a towel a pair of wolves attacked, and Lucy and I had to climb a tree to escape. I blew my horn, and Peter came to the rescue; he killed one of the Wolves. Aslan sent some creatures after the second one, and they were able to rescue Edmund."
I nodded, remembering what Oreius had told me. "Edmund must've been pretty banged up," I commented.
Susan gave me a sharp look, then nodded slowly. "You were her prisoner, too. Edmund hasn't told us exactly what happened when he was her captive. What could you tell me that could help me understand what happened to him and comfort him?"
Making a mental note to ask her to tell me more on the 'comfort him' line, I nodded. "I wasn't with Edmund most of the time we were prisoners. We couldn't have been in the same cell for more than a couple hours before the Witch turned me into stone, but what I saw wasn't good. I'm willing to talk to you more about it, but not at the moment, if you don't mind."
"You're right, I should finish answering your question, first," Susan decided, then continued her story. "The next afternoon, after Edmund had somewhat healed, we were all practicing for the war. I was doing archery, while Peter and Edmund practiced their sword fighting. Beaver came and told us that the Witch had arrived and wished to talk with Aslan. We all hurried back to camp to figure out what the meeting was about."
"What was it about?" I asked.
Taking a deep breath, Susan continued. "She exercised her right to stake claim on traitors in order to kill them on the Stone Table."
I frowned. "Who was that?"
Susan gave me a sad, tired look. "Surely you know that, Mr. Tumnus."
It suddenly came to me.
Edmund.
"B-but she didn't kill him, because he's sitting in another tent right now, so what happened?" I stumbled through the words in confusion.
"The Aslan took the Witch into his tent to talk alone, and when they came back out he announced that she had renounced her claim. Everyone was so relieved that we didn't think of what that meant. The Witch wouldn't let Edmund go so easily, she would've asked for something in return."
I nodded thoughtfully. "So what was it that she asked for?"
"Like I said, no one knew, and no one thought to ask him. Everything seemed well."
"But it wasn't," I said.
"No, it wasn't," Susan agreed quietly, waiting a minute before continuing. "Late that night Lucy woke me up and pointed out Aslan's shadow traveling past the tent. We decided to follow him and see what was going on. He allowed us to walk with him on the condition that we would return to camp when he told us to.
"We arrived at the Stone Table, and right before we were in view of it Aslan told us to go back to camp. Then he walked away. Lucy and I wanted to know what was going on, so we hid in some bushes where we could see everything."
Taking another shuddering breath, Susan closed her eyes. "Mr. Tumnus, it was just horrible! The Witch's creatures surrounded the Table, and Aslan didn't do anything to stop their taunts and jeers. Anything! He just let them tie him up and cut off his mane and drag him onto the Stone Table. He never said a word, never attacked any of them. And then she…" Susan looked like she was going to cry.
"She what?" I asked gently, needing to know what happened next.
"The Witch stabbed him. Aslan died on that Stone Table, and he did it all for Edmund. He died for Edmund!"
"He must've known what he was doing," I said, remembering that he was alive and well, that I would still be a stone statue in the Witch's courtyard if he wasn't.
Susan gave me a teary smile. "That's what I told Lucy when we walked up to his body."
I blinked in surprise before smiling back.
"We sent a message through a dryad that Aslan was dead. Some mice helped us untie the ropes binding him, and we sat next to him all night long. When morning came we started to leave when we heard a great crack behind us. We turned around and saw the Stone Table had cracked. We wondered what had happened when Aslan walked up to us. We were so happy and excited! I suppose you know the rest from there."
"You three came to the castle, rescued us, and we all went to the battle," I finished.
"Mr. Tumnus," Susan began, completely serious. "I don't know how much you trust Edmund, or what you think about him, but he's my brother. I love him despite the mistakes he's made, and not any less than before. He's made mistakes, but he's seen what happened because of them. I know he'll learn from them, but there's just one thing I need you to promise me."
"What is that, Susan?"
"Don't tell Edmund about what happened on the Stone Table."
"Why shouldn't he know what happened? Because of him, Aslan died!"
"That's why he shouldn't know. At least, not yet, anyway."
I shook my head. "That doesn't make any sense."
Susan winced. "Trust me, if we tell Edmund what really happened, things won't be that good. Not that Edmund will do anything to harm anyone- no, I don't think I can truthfully say that. He won't try to harm anyone except himself. He'll feel so guilty he'll probably do something drastic, something he thinks will either punish him for his crimes or something to help Narnia despite the consequences to himself. I'll tell him what happened sometime when he's ready, but not now. He needs time to recover from the Witch."
"But…" Susan gave me a pleading look. "OK, for now."
Susan smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Tumnus. I really appreciate it."
"You're welcome."
Lucy, Edmund and Peter came in to join us for dinner. I proceeded to watch the four humans, gathering myself for the talk that I was about to have.
It was time to get the final answers my questions.
:) Hi there. I'm back. I'm sooo sorry! It's been like, 3 weeks since I last updated, and all I had to do with this chapter was edit and post it! I have good excuses, I really do. But I don't think you want to hear them, and I sure as the blue sky above don't want to list them all. If you're still reading this, thank you for not giving up. We have *checks newly-found USB* 2 chapters left! Yay!
I need to say something to you all. This is the important part.
Wait. Put the pitchforks and rotten tomatoes in that closet over there, lock it, and give me the keys. Thank you.
Go to my profile. I've posted little summaries about each story I've written. Read my summary for Finding: Answers.
Why am I telling you to do this? Think of it this way. The last two chapters of this story will be pretty, er, surprising to my readers. I don't think the conclussion will be what you all are expecting. Which leads me to one of the reason I haven't updated. Try to guess what's going to happen!
And I'll take this key with me, thank you! Please review!