A/N: Sorry this took so long. My computer had a virus and it took us a while to sort everything out. Anyway, here's chapter 10! And, as always, thanks to everyone who reviewed and followed this story!

Chapter 10: Battle of Faith

"I offer myself as a replacement for Queen Susan," Caspian proposed, never taking his fierce eyes off the warlock.

"Caspian, don't," Susan protested, but Godric held up his hand, silencing her.

"How precious; young love. I hate do disappoint you, your majesty, but I already have what I want."

At the warlock's sneer, Caspian moved forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword, and in response, the flames rose higher. The dark creatures surrounding them crowded in closer, all ready to take down the king, awaiting Godric's orders.

"You have me. Just let him go," Susan pleaded.

"He is here of his own accord. If he wishes to have a front row seat at your death, it is his decision."

"Don't touch her," Caspian yelled, the ring as his sword left its sheath filling the air.

"I'm sorry, but the ritual really must continue."

With a nod, the dark creatures no longer took the periphery and began moving in. The wolves came first, leaping upon Caspian with a swiftness. Caspian's sword took down the first one, but the second landed its powerful jaws in Caspian's shoulder. Susan flinched at his cry of pain and felt new tears flood her face.

"Call them off," she begged, as the bat swooped in only to meet the bloody edge of Caspian's sword, though the wolf still weighed him down.

"The time for the ritual is upon us," Godric bellowed, ignoring Susan's pleas. His eyes closed and he began the chant again and the creatures that were not tearing into the love of her life joined in.

"Aslan, please help him. Don't leave him alone," Susan called again.

At first, she worried they really had been abandoned, but the flash of gold appeared again, just inside the trees, and she heard the roar of a battle cry from several hundred soldiers. Before the others knew what hit them, arrows rained down from the sky and several large eagles swooped down, one carrying off the wolf that was still attacking Caspian.

She could see the army making its way down into the clearing, but before they made it to them, they seemed to come up against a wall, though there was nothing there.

"What the…," Susan pondered aloud as the creatures surrounding her gave chortles of laughter at the confused soldiers.

"I can't very well have them ruining this, now can I," Godric taunted, but with his focus on the shield, he'd allowed the flames to die down.

Susan recognized her chance and started making her way towards Caspian who was running to meet her. But just as he was close enough to touch, a gigantic ogre snatched him away and threw him into the hands of the hags.

"Restrain him, but do not kill him yet," Godric ordered.

In a second, the flames had risen to their previous height, but Susan noticed that it put quite a strain on him to keep both the flames and the shield going at once. She searched the ground quickly for some sort of weapon and found a rock. Taking advantage of Godric's weakened state, she slammed it into his temple, knocking him sideways.

The shield and the flames fell away all together and Narnia's soldiers swooped in. She caught a brief glance of Edmund on a horse before the chaos of the battle became too much to follow. She attempted to run but the warlock was impossibly fast, and his cold, clawed hand closed over her forearm.

"Anmarie, I'll need your help," Godric ordered and at his word, the cowering woman ran to him. "Stay outside the circle and assist me in the chant. I must focus on keeping the elements in place as well as the moon high in the sky. I can keep the shield around you, but only you."

Anmarie nodded and the flames were quickly back in place. But just as the two of them began their chant, the warlock suddenly ducked to the side, just in time to miss the swing of Caspian's sword. How he had made his way into the circle during all the mayhem, she had no idea.

"You will release her and leave my country," Caspian ordered, holding his sword poised to strike, but Susan noticed the blood trickling down his gleaming armor from the injury to his shoulder.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but a mere boy as yourself will never be a match for me."

Caspian sword sliced down through the air, but before he made contact, he was suddenly several feet off the ground, being hauled away by the injured bat.

"Caspian," Susan screamed, attempting to run after him, but coming up against the wall of flames.

Her gaze followed him as best they could, but his form was quickly lost to her as the smoke from the fire increased. She watched the fight surrounding her, realizing that there was no one left to help her. Everyone around her was fighting for their lives and no one could get to her. Searching the woods again, she silently called out to Aslan, only to find silence.

But Lucy had said he'd never abandon her. She'd believed that! In fact she'd banked all her fleeting hopes on it. So where was he?

The chanting filled the background again and she was soon pushed to her knees.

"Susan," Peter's voice rang out in the night, but she knew it was futile; there would be no saving her now. The warlock was raising the knife over his head as the foreign words left his lips and she braced herself for the killing blow.

"Susan," a voice called, and she knew instantly it was Aslan.

Where are you, she thought, her voice abandoning her.

"I am here. I have always been here."

At his words, time seemed to stop, and she was no longer in the fiery circle awaiting her death, but in the grassy fields on a mountain top, staring into the loving eyes of the Great Lion.

"Am I dead," she asked, surprised by the lack of fear the words brought. At least it hadn't been painful.

"No, my child. But I have much to discuss with you."

"I thought you would help us. Why didn't you come sooner?"

"Everything has to happen in its own time. Do you know why I brought you back to Narnia?"

"N-no. Peter said I d-died," she stuttered.

"In your world, you did. Your siblings have such a bright future there, the chance to enforce real change. But you do not. Your future lies here."

"But… why did you send me back to… wherever that is?"

"Because it was not yet your time. Caspian loved you, even then. He would have asked you to be his queen. But first he needed to know what it was to be a great ruler, and that was better learned on his own. He needed to stand on his own two feet before having someone at his side he could rely on."

Susan pondered his words. If the plan was to make Caspian the best king he could be, he'd done it. Everyone agreed he was amazing. But what good would her return do if she was killed? And why did her siblings think she'd died.

"Peter said I died in that world. But that can't be possible."

"Death is merely the loss of the body. Your soul lives on. Your life came to an end in that world, and it gave your parents one last time to say goodbye to you and move on. They will grieve for a while, but after a time, they will be at peace. Now, you can begin your life anew in this world, where you belong."

"But… how do we stop the warlock? If he doesn't kill me, he'll just take Peter, or Edmund, or...," but she couldn't even voice the names Caspian and Lucy.

"Trust in me; I will show you the way."

She contemplated this, staring down at her feet for several seconds, and when she looked up, he was gone.

"Aslan?"

And then it hit her… a vision. It was a memory of a house, her house. Her mother and father sat at the dinner table with her siblings, all considerably younger than they are now. Lucy bounced on their father's knee as he attempted to finish his dinner. Peter and Edmund were bickering and their mother was trying to intervene.

Just as quickly, she was hit with image after image until her entire life lay before her. It all came back; growing up in Finchley, their first visit to Narnia, chasing a white stag, adjusting to English life again, and Caspian…

The memories of Caspian lingered before her longer than the others, but soon every piece of the puzzle was returned to her and she was overcome with such awe. She was disoriented for a moment, but then she heard voices filling the background of her peaceful meadow.

And then screams and the sound of metal tearing flesh.

This was not the meadow on the mountain top, she realized with a start. The voice closest to her was that of the warlock and she heard Anmarie's voice from behind. Susan's eyes flashed open with a start, only to see the knife still poised above the warlock's head as he prepared to drive it into her.

Trust in me, Susan, Aslan reminded her and she bowed her head to ask for instruction, for she was running out of time. And that's when she saw it.

There, lying at her knees, was a stone knife; the very one driven into Aslan on the day he'd given his life to pardon Edmund's.

A gift of my love.

The warlock was so lost in his chant and the excitement of what he was about to do that he didn't see Susan grip the knife. Just as his hand descended, she plunged upwards, away from his knife, but driving her own stone knife directly into the warlock's neck. With a twist, she opened the already gaping wound and Godric fell to the ground, a gurgling sound issuing from his throat.

"No," Anmarie screamed from behind her, and in a moment of pure rage, she rushed Susan. But just before she reached her, a sword plunged through her gut, and Edmund stood behind her, his breath coming in heaves.

"Ed," Susan choked out, and she rushed into his arms as soon as he'd pulled his sword from Anmarie.

"Susan! How'd you do it," he asked, but didn't release her from his hold.

"Aslan, of course. He gave me the stone knife."

"Really?" But when they turned, the knife was gone. "Well, I guess it wasn't something you could keep."

"Susan," Peter yelled, running up to them and embracing both of them. Susan returned the hug, but glanced around quickly, fearing the battle. But everything was quiet.

They had won!

But before the thrill of victory could take over, the image of Caspian being carried away by the bat was fresh in her mind.

"Caspian! We have to find him," she exclaimed, pulling free of her brothers and starting for the direction she saw them take off in.

"He's fine," Peter assured her, stopping her advance. "He managed to get his sword into the bat's wing and it dropped him. He has a broken leg… and several injuries… but he's fine."

"Take me too him!"

Peter nodded and started to steer her away, but she couldn't help throwing one last fearful glance at the dead body of the warlock. Somehow, even in death his face was twisted in an evil manner. His cold, dark eyes were still wide open, staring at the sky that was growing lighter by the minute.

The red tinges were completely gone now, and the sun – the real yellow sun – was beginning to peak through the clouds for the first time in days.

"Susan," called a raspy voice, and when Susan turned her gaze from the sky, she saw Caspian laid up under a tree.

"Caspian!"

She rushed to his side and threw her arms around his neck, only to pull back a second later at his hiss of pain.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, looking him over. He had scrapes and cuts all over his face and he held his middle as if several ribs were broken. His foot was lying at the oddest angle and she remembered what Peter had said about the broken leg.

"It's… not that bad," Caspian wheezed out.

"I really hope you don't expect me to believe that. After all, I remember how you always tried to shrug off your wounds after a battle and you won't get away with it this time."

"This time," Caspian inquired, staring into her eyes for one long minute before he recognized the change there. "You remember?"

"Yes; all of it."

~CoN~

Caspian was still sore as he walked into the great hall, where the dancers were already in full swing. Every citizen of Narnia was celebrating and the laughter and calls of victory rang in the air. He nodded graciously to the few courtiers that stopped him, congratulating him on his victory, but his eyes were for one woman only and he finally spotted her talking with King Gavin on the far end of the hall.

His blood boiled to see them talking so closely but he kept the anger out of his stride as he made his way to them.

"My Queen is ravishing, as always," he gushed, taking her hand and laying a soft kiss to her knuckles.

"Thank you, your Majesty," she replied coyly.

"Forgive me, your Majesty, but I had a rather pressing question to ask the Queen," King Gavin explained, the irritation clear on his face.

"I know you question, King Gavin, but I'm afraid–," Susan began, but Gavin raised his hand in askance.

"Please, I only wish the pleasure of you company to Archenland. I feel that I could really make it a home for you. And maybe… if it is to your liking, we could come to a more formal arrangement."

"That's very kind of you, but I'm afraid I cannot accept. Narnia is my home, my future," Susan explained gracefully.

"In that case, I will respectfully bow out," King Gavin allowed, bringing her hand up to his lips for a kiss before turning away. He looked back only once to give her a disappointed look. Susan let out a deep sigh as she watched his retreating form; he'd been so kind to her.

"Do you regret not leaving with him," Caspian asked, studying her face.

"No, it's not that. I just hate upsetting him."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, at least, in light of the question I've just asked your brother."

This peaked her curiosity, but he gave nothing away as he extended his hand and motioned to the dance floor.

"If I remember correctly, you weren't the best dancer," Susan reminded him, a cheeky smirk alight on her beautiful face.

"I've improved over the years."

"A lot?"

Caspian rolled his eyes at her joking, and closed the distance between them until he was only a hairbreadth away from her face. Now it was his turn to smirk as her breathing reacted to his closeness.

"My Queen, you will never know unless you grace me with a dance."

Instead of speaking, she just nodded and dropped her head to cover her blush. He led her proudly out onto the dance floor and they fell in with the others, swaying and twirling to the music.

"You have improved, I'll give you that. My feet thank you," she quipped.

"How do you feel, now that you remember everything?"

Susan pondered this, allowing the beat of the music to thump inside her as she worked through her now cramped head.

"A little like two different people. I still remember what it was like to not know anything. You never knew who could really be trusted or how people expected you to act. Sometimes, I still catch myself feeling that way, but then my life comes back to me. It's been a little confusing."

"It will take time," Caspian assured her, pulling her closer than was appropriate for the public setting.

"At least that's one thing we have plenty of."

"You mean… you get to stay?" The hope was there in Caspian's voice and she could tell it was a question he'd been dying to ask since the battle in the clearing was over.

"Aslan said my future was here with you. Honestly, it's what I've felt all along."

Caspian raised a hand to caress her face, completely entranced by the fire in her eyes; fire that hadn't been there just yesterday. He'd loved her without her memory, but this was the Susan that had captured his heart. He was so wrapped up in every little expression that crossed her face that he nearly forgot the news he had for her.

He threw a tentative glance across the room to Peter, who gave him a smile in support.

"Would you take a walk with me, my Queen?"

"Sure," she answered, a little unsure of his suddenly nervous demeanor.

Caspian led her through the grand doors, down several corridors, until they made it to the palace gardens.

"I believe you planted these in the same place as the old ones," she commented as they walked beneath the starlight.

"We wanted the recreation of Cair Paravel to be as accurate as possible."

"You succeeded."

She waited for him to speak, but he was now so nervous he was barely walking. His eyes were fixed on his boots and finally, she bent down to see into his loving brown eyes.

"Caspian, what is it?"

"I… I never really perfected the words. Um… usually they come so easily, but… uh…"

"I don't believe I've ever seen you this tongue-tied before."

That made him smile and he finally lifted his head to look her in the eye. Whatever he saw in her face seemed to give him the resolve he needed and in a move that took her breath away, he dropped down on one knee.

"Forgive me, but Peter told me this is how it is done in your world." Susan blushed and couldn't seem to suck enough air into her lungs.

"Queen Susan, I have loved you since the first day I set eyes on you. I have missed you every second that you were gone and I know I could never live without you again. Would you do me the extraordinary honor of becoming my wife?"

Susan's lips curved up in a smile and tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. She didn't trust her voice, but opened her mouth regardless to give him her answer.

"Yes!"

He leapt up and immediately claimed her lips, kissing her with such excitement and intensity that it took her breath away.

A/N: Only one more chapter to go. I have to admit, the next one might be a little fluffy, but after all this doom and gloom, our characters deserve a little joy, right? I'd love to hear your thoughts!