"Are you sure?" Edmund asked. Lucy nodded, tears streaming down her face. Edmund sat on the edge of his bed, stunned. "I knew that she took it pretty hard when she couldn't go back, but I didn't think it would be this extreme."

Lucy wiped her nose. "What do you think we should do?"

Edmund shrugged. "What can we do? Susan only thinks of us as little kids now. I think we should wait until Peter comes back from his visit with Professor Kirke. Maybe she'll actually listen to him."

Lucy agreed, and they spent several agonizing weeks waiting for Peter to return. Needless to say, they did not mention Narnia when Susan was around. Susan still greeted them cheerfully, but Edmund and Lucy sensed the difference in Susan's personality. They noticed how she talked to them and treated them as if they were inferior to her. They wondered if things would ever be the same again.

They were relieved when Peter came back. Peter hugged everybody excitedly and everybody eagerly asked him about his visit with the dear old professor. Edmund and Lucy acted as though they were happy, but in truth, they were impatient to speak with Peter alone, and the presence of Susan and their mother increasingly irritated them.

That night, when they were supposed to be asleep, Edmund and Lucy joined Peter in his room. Peter listened, stunned, as Lucy told him of her conversation with Susan and her honest belief that Narnia was only a game. When she was finished, Peter simply sat, hands folded, thoughtulness written on his face. Lucy was reminded of his rule as king of Narnia; he often assumed this expression when he had a difficult situation before him.

Peter finally spoke. "If Susan is really a dumb beast again, I don't know if there is anything we can do."

Edmund and Lucy sadly looked at him. Edmund asked, "Isn't there something we can say to her that would bring her to her senses?"

Peter responded, "In our years as rulers of Narnia, I cannot remember a single instance of a talking beast becoming a dumb beast again. However, I do know that the talking beasts could not speak with the dumb beasts because they could not understand. I think this is the case with Susan. Nothing we say to her will make her see the light."

Tears were in Lucy's eyes. "Then, can nothing be done?"

Edmund thought for a moment. "But, I suppose Aslan could do something? After all, wasn't it he who gave the beasts their ability to talk?"

Lucy agreed. "And remember when the mice freed Aslan from the cords that bound him to the Stone Table? Those were the ancestors of Reepicheep and the other talking mice. That certainly proves that he can make dumb beasts wise if they prove their nobility."

Peter nodded. "Yes, if they were never talking beasts before. But how do we know how he treats beasts that have turned away from him? Even the White Witch's wolves still had the ability to talk. How much more evil must a beast become before he has crossed the line? Aslan does promote justice, after all; remember when he killed the White Witch at the Battle of Beruna?"

Lucy spoke. "Yes, and he did acknowledge that the Deep Magic had to be followed, and by the law, Edmund should have been killed as a traitor. But Aslan is also very merciful; who can forget when he sacrificed himself in Edmund's place?"

Edmund also pointed out the difference between himself and the White Witch. "I actually wanted Aslan's forgiveness, but she never did."

Lucy pondered this for a moment. "He also doesn't force anybody to be loyal to him. He inspires and encourages, but he doesn't force."

Peter agreed. "So, he can influence Susan back to him, but the ultimate decision will be hers to make."

They all looked at each other sadly. Lucy stood. "Then there is nothing we can do."

Peter shook his head. "No. There isn't."

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Author's note: Sorry for the long wait; scholarship applications are killers. Read and review, and be nice, please!