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Chapter 35

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We all sat at the dining room table. My parents sat the heads, Will and Alyssa on one side, leaving me and Ed on the other. There was only one thing on the shiny wooden top of the table: a laptop. Mom had wisely suggested that we film everything. She wanted records of anything that had to do with Narnia. Everyone was looking at Edmund, waiting for him to explain.

My dad had stopped being so cold towards Edmund when he realized that this was not a prank. Both my mother and father had nearly passed out when they realized the gravity of the situation. A boy from 70 years in the past had traveled into our world from a magical land. These sort of things would make anyone pass out.

Thank goodness having a daughter world-travel had prepared them for anything. No matter how crazy it seemed.

"It was about an hour after you and Susan went to bed," Edmund began. He looked at me, but then politely glanced his eyes at the rest of his audience. "Peter was dancing with another Telmarine jewel." He paused, "She seemed friendly enough, but obviously the fact that her dance partner meant nothing because she kept rubbing her fingers up and down his-"

I cleared my throat. My fingers rolled in to make a fist under the table.

"Sorry," My friend amended. "Anyways, Peter had enough. He politely excused himself, leaving that woman very offended. I had been dancing with a nymph when he appeared and said he was going to check on you and Susan. Honestly, I think he just wanted to go apologize or maybe just watch you sleep-"

It was Dad who cleared his throat this time. He didn't look very happy.

Ed raised his eyebrow at that, surprised by my dad's less-than-pleased reaction to this. But, he went on with his tale, "I don't know how long it was, maybe a few minutes, when Peter came running into the Great Hall. He didn't want to alert anyone so he gathered up me, Caspian, Vicern, some of the centaurs, and a few other trusted men. Peter alerted us that Susan's door had been smashed open. Her room was a mess and some of the furniture had been overturned and broken. We knew that Susan would have defended herself, she put up a good struggle... Which tells us that it was either someone of great fighting skills or a large number of kidnappers.

Caspian was going to go after her with some of the Telmarine army, but Vicern wouldn't allow it. He pointed out that the kidnappers were probably bitter Telmarines and therefore could be anyone in the army. Only the Narnians could be trusted in getting their Queen back. But Vicern wouldn't even take any of the elves- we all knew that Lady Niomee had friends throughout the Elvin population. It was too risky to trust them. So, Peter and Vicern led a large group of Narnians throughout the country. They split up and spread word, with the help of the nymphs and birds, to all in Narnia. But even with the whole country looking, it's almost as if they've disappeared."

"Have you checked the mountains?" I wiped my eyes. They were burning, wanting to let loose tears... But I was sick and tired of crying. Tears did absolutely nothing! Susan needed courage, not tears.

"Yes, Vicern checked the entire Elvin city and its tunnels. They're not there."

"The Western Woods?"

"Yes."

"The Shuddering Wood?"

"Yes, and Owl Wood."

"What about Aslan's How? She might think you would not check there."

"Peter thought that too," Ed sighed. "But those tunnels are empty and partly collapsed because of the battle."

Suddenly, the front door of the house opened. Nobody got up though, we all knew it was Duke. He was the only other person besides Alyssa who had a spare key to the house. Sure enough, a moment later Duke walked into the room. He was wearing his usual jeans, shirt, and leather jacket. But his hair was soaking wet, covered by a beanie.

"What's the big emergency... Holy shit!" Duke gaped at Edmund. He stood there, flabbergasted, unable to speak.

Ed stood up and pushed his seat back. Slowly, he walked over to Duke and extended his hand out, "Nice to see you again Duke."

I guess that Edmund speaking convinced Duke that this was reality, not a dream. Without warning, he ignored Ed's hand and went for a manly hug, slapping Edmund's back with his hand. "How are you man? How the hell are you here?"

They started to laugh, Ed returning the embrace. "I haven't gotten there yet in my story."

"Oh," Duke went over to the kitchen and got a stool from our breakfast bar. He placed it besides me at the table, "What have I missed?"

"Peter was dancing with some slut and then goes to check on Susan and Kay," Will piped up. "Comes back all freaked out because Susan's been kidnapped. Peter and Vicern lead a mini army of Narnians to find her."

Duke's face went from happy to bewildered. "What the fuc-"

"Language!" Mom snapped.

"-Fudge," Duke finished lamely. "Kidnapped? How the hell did she kidnapped? I thought you said her door was locked Kayla-"

"It was, the door was bashed open," I said softly. "I should have told her about the threat and slept in the room with her, just to be on the safe side. I was so stupid. I left her all alone, thinking that I would have heard if she was in trouble-"

"You were having a nightmare," Mom interrupted me. Her voice was quiet and gentle, obviously trying to soothe me. "I know better than most, you will sleep through anything when you're having a nightmare. I have to shake you so hard to get you to wake up. There's no way you would have heard through a castle's stone walls."

"She's right," Alyssa nodded. "So don't you start!"

"Start what?" I mumbled.

"Saying that it's your fault. Because it's not."

"But-" I protested.

"Kayla," Duke put his hand on my shoulder. "Look at me."

I did.

His eyes were just as beautiful, but they weren't shining. Instead, a dull sort of pain had come into them, but they were still kind. "It's not your fault."

I didn't agree, but I nodded anyways so we could move on with conversation. Duke didn't believe my nod for a second, but let it slide.

"How long has it been in Narnia since we left?" Duke asked, curious. "It couldn't be more than a year! You look exactly the same age!"

"It's been a month."

Silence followed after this statement. Part of me was relieved, because it hadn't been years which meant Peter didn't have to go through life again with a broken heart. But part of me was horrified to know that Susan had been missing for that long.

"How long has it been here?" Ed peered at me.

"A little over a week," I answered.

"Strange... Time flow seems different every time. I wonder how long its been in Narnia since I've arrived..." Ed paused to think about it, but shuddered. He didn't want to know. "Anyways, I'll get back to the story. The search party left while everyone remained oblivious to the tragic turn of the night-"

"If Kay was sleeping when this was all happening, where was I?" Duke broke in.

Ed sighed, "I was talking with Caspian at the head table, we were remarking how well you mixed in with the Telmarines and Narnians. It was almost as if he had lived amongst us for years. We were trying to act and talk normally, so we wouldn't alert the others about what was happening. We needed to keep everyone calm. You were dancing with a very pretty Telmarine," Ed smiled softly. "But Caspian said that she had quite the reputation with the men of the castle. Then it happened."

"What happened?" Will asked, impatiently.

"A woman screamed hysterically in the middle of the dance floor. The entire feast stopped in an instant. People stopped speaking, the orchestra ceased playing, and all dancers froze in place. Everyone looked at the terrified woman and she began to scream 'He's gone! Lord Duke vanished!' over and over again." Edmund rubbed his temples, "She caused chaos. People started shouting in amazement or fright. Some even thought we were under attack. But all I thought about was you, Kay."

I blinked, not very surprised. Leave it Edmund to remember me...

"I ran to your room, Caspian following, yelling for me to explain what was happening. We came to your room, which was locked, but Caspian had a master key of course and we opened it..." Ed took a deep breath, "And you were gone. Poof. Just like that."

"Oh Ed," I reached out under the table and held his hand. "I'm so sorry."

"You know," Ed gave a lifeless laugh. "Your bed was still warm... I think I was just a few seconds too late. I had missed my chance to say goodbye. I thought I would never see you again..."

I gave his hand a squeeze.

Dad cleared his throat, "Excuse me, but am I missing something here? Between you two?"

A very awkward silence followed before Duke chuckled, "You're not missing anything, sir. You should be grateful to Ed, he's saved Kayla's life loads of times."

"Honey," Mom hissed. "He saved our daughter's life! Remember when she was shot by the arrow and-"

"Yes," Dad cut her off, uncomfortable with that topic. He hated mentioning any of those memories, they made him want to break a window. "But look at them! They're so-"

"Comfortable?" Mom said dryly. "She's never had a brother. And now she has two. Duke and this Edmund, are you really going to protest against that? They're going to take care of her when we can't."

"Why are you all talking as if I'm not here?" I cried.

"Oh be quiet Dolphin," Dad dismissed me.

"Please, continue," Mom told Edmund, also ignoring me.

"Well... Obviously, the night's festivities came to an end. Caspian and I returned to the Great Hall, where everyone had gathered nervously. We explained that Queen Susan had gone missing and that a search party had been sent out. People asked questions, but refused to give out details, thinking that secrecy was best. And then we announced that the two of you had been sent back into your world, but for what reason we did not know." Ed caught his breath. He was talking quickly now, trying to get to the end of the tale and explain how he had come to enter our world. "The whole capitol turned upside down of course, gossip spread faster than fire. We set up a perimeter around the city and guards questioned anyone that entered or exited. We knew that any conspirators would try to flee as soon as we announced Susan's disappearance. But no one seemed suspicious, so we're assuming that Lady Niomee has directed her assistants to stay inside the city and act normally.

By the time I had left directions with the Narnian captains and advised Caspian on how to handle the situation, it was dawn the next morning. I was exhausted, but I knew that I had to tell Peter about you, Kay. He just had to know. So I rode out, following the searching party's tracks and eventually caught up to him several hours later. He was devastated, naturally, but I think that after the initial shock wore off... It made him more determined.

I think that Peter somehow thought that by finding Susan, he would get you back. Maybe he made some sort of plea or agreement with Aslan in his head... That he could get you back if he rescued Susan and brought the kidnappers to Susan. I don't know, but this insanity has overtaken him. He's acted as if you aren't gone, as if you'll be waiting for him at the castle when he returns. He refuses to come back to the castle until he brings Susan with him. Vicern hasn't come back either, he won't rest or stop with his search.

Peter's lost his sanity," Edmund groaned. "He's obsessed with this pretend reality that he's invented. He firmly believes that you're simply waiting for him to bring Susan back in the castle, just spending your days with me and Lucy."

I had lowered my head onto the table, closing my eyes. I didn't want to hear any of this, but I had to. I needed to know how Peter was... Even if he was coping poorly.

"He writes letters to Lucy daily and he always ask how you are, what you think of the castle, if you've made any friends with the Telmarines, and so on. I swear, he's lost his marbles. And I've been on my own search for the past two weeks, unable to bear watching my brother writher away in his pretend world. For two weeks I have scoured the country for Aslan, praying that I would find him... And eventually, I did find him."

"Where?" Duke's voice was no longer light or easy, it sounded heavy and hoarse.

"He was laying in the middle of the ruins of Jadis' castle," Edmund stated. "He was bleeding."