High King Peter looked down at the royal guard who had notified him of a newly-caught prisoner's arrival. Turning to his siblings, he muttered. "It will be good to get this over with. This debacle should have been resolved years ago. The door at the end of the hall opened, and a rugged-looking humanoid figure staggered in, flanked by two heavily armed guards. As he approached the thrones, the man kneeled.
"My lieges, please forgive me for not being able to see you ascend these thrones. I'm sure it was magnificent." The man's accent was all too familiar to the Narnian monarchs.
Turning to the guards, Peter commanded, "Leave us." The soldiers bowed and exited the hall. Once the door was securely shut, Peter stood. "Rise, Scott Castillo, Forest Ranger, renegade general of the Narnian Liberation Movement."
As he stood up, Scott glared at Peter. "Long title for such a lowborn general. Want to throw in that I was the one to teach you how to fight, thus indirectly saving your life?"
"Silence," ordered Peter forcefully. "You didn't have to leave. You would have been entitled to a fair trial by tribunal. If you were innocent, as you still claim, you would have nothing to fear."
"You've got a good few years on the throne and you still don't know your own people." Scott shook his head sympathetically. "They despised me in that camp, everyone but my own rangers. I'm a human, not Narnian born, yet I still rose to a general's rank due to my own natural, most likely demon-given, combat skills and tactical mind. You were chosen to save and rule Narnia. Not me. Only four humans were mentioned in the prophesy. Not five. I'm hated by all true Narnians. The only ones who would support me are fellow humans and blood traitors!" Scott paused, breathing heavily. "To appease the masses you would have to find me guilty of seducing Lady Susan, the punishment for which would be death. Some fair trial. I ask you, Your Grace, what would you have done if you were me? Certain death if you stayed, a life as an outcast-but still life-if you left."
Peter shook his head, faintly smiling. "Your tongue is as silver as your blades, Scott. Fortunately for you, that wonderful speech tipped the scales just slightly in your favor. Due to the fact that testimonies from both your rangers and my sister were unopposed other than by prisoners hoping for release, you have been cleared of all charges concerning the seduction of Susan. In addition, your recent argument has justified your desertion. Reaching behind his throne, Peter withdrew two silver scimitars, a yew longbow, and a full quiver. Handing them to Susan, who had stood, he said, "Welcome back to the army, General Castillo."
Susan approached Scott slowly, weapons in hand and a relieved smile on her face. As she reached him, she held out her hands with the weapons. Scott, smiling back, took the scimitars and fastened them onto his belt, strapped the quiver onto his back, and kept the bow in his hand. "Thank you, Your Grace." Peter nodded, and Scott turned to leave.
He was almost at the doors when he heard a voice behind him. "General Castillo, I would ask a favor of you." Susan stood at the foot of the thrones, a pleading look on her face. "I know that as of now, we have no immediate enemies, but, if it please you, I would have you be my Shadow."
Scott contemplated the request. Susan was asking him to be her closest bodyguard, a guard not always seen, more often felt. He would be with her at every waking moment of his life, not eating or sleeping until she did, never letting her out of his sight. He would be close to her, giving him the opportunity to apologize for any trouble his departure might have caused her. On the other hand, the closeness could tempt him to actually do what he was, until recently, accused of. Looking her in the eye, he said, "Your Grace, you don't ask a general to do anything. You order him." The two grinned. "My life is yours, Your Grace."
Susan smiled broadly. "Milady. Call me milady," she whispered. With that, the day's royal audiences ended. The siblings began to leave for each of their respective chambers when Edmund's voice rang out.
"Wait, there is one more matter I must attend to." Grumbling, the monarchs returned to their thrones. "Peter, please give me your sword." Confused, but not feeling argumentative, Peter complied. "General Castillo, kneel." Realizing what was going on, Scott tried to protest, but Edmund reminded him that he was king now. Scott grudgingly obeyed his king. "For unparalleled duty leading up to the battle for Narnia's liberation, and for valor and combat prowess beyond compare in the aforementioned battle, I hereby name General Scott Castillo Lord of Owlwood and the Northlands in the name of the royal crown of Narnia. Rise, Lord Castillo."
Scott rose, scowling at Edmund. I'll get you back for that one day, kid. Just wait. Peter retrieved his weapon from Edmund. "Anything else, Ed?" he asked, almost sarcastically. His brother shook his head and turned to leave.
Scott followed Susan to her chambers. She stopped in front of the two centaurs guarding her door. "This is my new Shadow. He will now relieve you of your post. You're dismissed." Bowing, the guards left. Scott took up their former position next to the door. "Lord Castillo, if you wouldn't mind, would you come with me? We could…talk, catch up."
Scott nodded. "Of course, milady." He followed her into the room, remaining by door while she sat on the edge of her bed. For a moment, he felt awkward, shifting his feet slightly.
Susan noticed. "Scott, what's wrong?"
Looking over at her, he muttered, "It's…just this new title. Lordship doesn't really fit me." He glanced at the hilts of his scimitars.
Susan frowned slightly. "No, that's not it. You seem nervous-uncomfortable-about being with me." Looking inside him with big, imploring eyes, she pleaded, "Please, tell me that what we shared all that time ago wasn't just a simple fling, a need for physical intimacy that we could fulfill in each other. Tell me that our love was true." Silent tears began inching down her face.
Scott wiped away the tears, then smiled warmly as he took her hand. "I'll tell you everything you need to hear, but you have to stop crying, milady. Your tears seem to signal ill luck for us." Susan laughed shakily. "Everything that we had was, and hopefully still is, true. It's just that I didn't know how to treat you now that you've been crowned. As for the need for physical intimacy, our relationship was so much more than that." He grinned wickedly. "But I won't deny that your lips felt better than anything I've known in my life, and I've been around for a long twenty-one years. Well, combined real world and Narnia years." They both laughed until Susan bent forward and gave Scott a sweet, chaste kiss.
She grinned shyly. "It's seemed like forever since we did that, so I thought you might have forgotten." Before he could protest, she continued. "And it's not against the rules for me to kiss you. Actually, now that Edmund has granted you peerage, you can kiss me as long as I consent, and you know I do."
Searching her face for a moment, he finally realized something. "You! You forced your little brother to grant me peerage so we could continue our relationship!"
Susan feigned a bewildered expression. "Whatever are you talking about? I would never stoop so low! Now I might have suggested to Lucy to tell Edmund…but I would never tell Edmund myself." Scott roared with laughter. Once he calmed down, she lay back on her bed while licking her lips and running a hand down her throat. "So, are you going to thank me for helping you gain a royal pardon and lordship?"
Tracing her jaw with his lips, he murmured, "For the pardon, yes, but not the lordship. For that, you'll be repaid with punishment. Severe punishment." Susan closed her eyes in her pleasure, and he softly kissed her eyelids. Susan giggled at the sensation
"Mmm…I'm shaking where I stand, Lord Scott Castillo Owlwood." She reached up, running her hand through his rough, black hair.
"Lie. You're shaking where you lie, Queen Susan Pevensie Narnia." Scott brushed a gentle hand across her smooth cheek. "Well, since this is only possible through my lordship, I suppose I should thank you for helping me obtain it." He kissed her softly, then increasingly more passionately.
As the kisses deepened, he found his arms slipping around her and his nimble fingers unlacing her bodice. At the same time, he felt the laces of his pants being undone. Grinning deviously, Susan began to shrug out of her rich green dress. "And so falls the maiden's cloak," she whispered seductively as their now-useless clothes dropped to the floor...
A guard on patrol duty in the hall outside Susan's chambers heard a series of moans and shrieks. Fearing the worst, he rushed to the door. The centaur was on the verge of kicking in the door when he heard the distinctive voice of Queen Susan gasping, "Oh, don't stop, Scott! Keep going! Oh, Scott, you're home, you're home, YOU'RE HOME!" Shrugging, the guard withdrew from the door. Oh well, the realm does need heirs. I'll let them have their fun.
A few weeks later, Scott appeared before Peter in a solo audience. As he approached the throne, he kneeled. A few moments passed before Peter said, "Rise, Lord Castillo." As Scott did so, Peter looked at the paper that had been presented to him as part of the request for the audience. "I believe you come to me with a 'matter upon which hangs the future of stability in the Narnian monarchy.' Is this correct?"
Scott nodded. "I'll be blunt, Your Grace. Are you immortal? In fact, is anyone in your family immortal?"
Peter shook his head hesitantly. "No…I'm not sure where this is going Scott."
"Don't worry, you will, Peter. I can just call you Peter, right?" Before Peter could respond, Scott rolled on. "In order for a royal bloodline to continue, one of the ruling family must marry a person of the nobility, be they another royal or a minor noble. So then, I ask you, Your Grace, have you made any plans for a union or unions with a noble house or houses?"
Peter frowned. "No, not yet. But surely we have more time. Even the oldest, myself and Susan, are only 21 and 20."
Clucking his tongue, sympathetically, Scott explained. "Peter, had you four not been the royal family, it wouldn't matter. But, as the rulers of Narnia, you must take alliances into account. Some are forged with gold. Others with promises. However, some are sealed only by the union of two members of families. A union of matrimony."
Frowning again, Peter muttered. "Hmm…well, hadn't thought of that."
Scott pressed his advantage. "Another thing to think about, Peter, is the continuation of the line. Any noble is eligible to marry into the royal family, but a very limited number of species are capable of breeding with humans. There are…well, humans of course, and…I'm sure there are others…let's see…maybe-no, that won't work…um…"
This little show helped the mighty Sir Peter Wolfsbane, the Magnificent High King of Narnia see the thing that any moron could have picked up. Mentally slapping himself, Peter cut into Scott's not-so-mindless babbling. "Yes, Scott, I give you permission to court, wed, and…er…bed Susan if she will have you." Obviously shaken by the last item, Peter ended the audience, barely acknowledging Scott's thanks.
For several weeks, Lord Owlwood openly courted Queen Narnia, and few could find fault with the couple. Scott gave Susan the excitement she craved but would not take herself, while Susan helped give Scott the stability and self-control he needed to keep himself in line. Announcing that he would be staying at Cair Paravel for a while longer, Scott appointed Tibarn, the hawk ranger, to the position of steward of Owlwood and the Northlands. He also resigned as Susan's Shadow, preferring to take a more open role in her life. Susan could never get him back to his old position, but to be fair, she never tried very hard.
The relationship progressed well, with Scott sending poetry with the servants who brought her morning meals among other things. The two would often spend the whole day together, walking in the vast gardens, talking, joking, and, whenever Susan's siblings were out of sight, exchanging sweet, chaste kisses.
When Scott finally made a formal proposal of marriage to Susan, Remus, a faun, won the pool Scott's rangers had taken. Scott threatened to tie the faun to the underbelly of a horse while the horse ran from one end of Narnia to the other, but being Scott, he procrastinated so long that he forgot his threat.
The wedding itself was incredible. Among the guests was the royal family, the nobles of Narnia, important military figures including Oreius, elder statesmen, and of course, the rangers of the former Narnian Liberation Movement, now the elite Riders of the Lion. Susan, dressed in a white samite gown and a full crimson cloak bearing the golden lion of Narnia, moved down the aisle toward Scott, not rugged for once and dressed in a semi-military uniform, bearing a multitude of badges from ranger to lord. After the exchange of vows and rings (ironically, Susan had gone to Alfrigg, the former master-at-arms to forge Scott's ring) Scott reached up with gentle hands to Susan's throat. Delicately unfastening the clasp that held her cloak in place, he removed the cloak, carefully folded it, and handed it off to a lesser priest. From another, he accepted a blue and gold bundle. He unfurled it to reveal a royal blue cloak emblazoned with a golden hawk, the new emblem of the province of Owlwood and the Northlands. As gently as he'd removed the Narnian cloak, he fastened the Owlwood cloak around Susan's neck. Once it was completed, the newlyweds turned to the face the cheers of the attendance.
The couple spent a three-week honeymoon at what was formerly Jadis' castle. The halls were designed for a single person's pleasure, but even though there were two main guests, they became one entity at night, so it wasn't too much trouble.
Before anyone had time to fully get used to the marriage, Susan found herself pregnant with Narnia's first heir. Though Scott was only lord of Owlwood, Susan was still a queen of Narnia in addition to Lady of Owlwood, and since she was the only married royal, her child became first in the line of succession. Nine months after the impregnation, Susan gave birth to a healthy girl named Nymestria.
Following her ordeal, Susan decided to join her siblings on a hunt for the White Stag. Scott, consumed by his daughter, agreed, even when Peter asked him to act as steward of Cair Paravel while they were away. When the royal party didn't return after two weeks, Scott began to worry. He left little Nymestria in the hands of his rangers, who his daughter had known almost from birth, armed himself, and rode in the direction his spiders had told him the monarchs had gone. He found their mounts deep in the Western Wood. Going to Phillip, he asked where his wife and her siblings had gone. Grudgingly, the horse told him they had returned to the other side of the door.
No. She wouldn't have left me. Not without her daughter. Something must have happened. If they are gone, it must mean it's time for me to go. Once a king or queen…or father or mother…in Narnia, always a king, queen, father, or mother.
He wrote a note to his rangers explaining everything that had happened. He also left instructions for his daughter's upbringing. Giving the note to Phillip, he instructed the horse to lead the other four back to Cair Paravel. That done, he turned north, toward the portal from which he'd entered Narnia. As he entered the grove of trees, he looked back at Narnia one last time. I'll be back; it's just a matter of time. With that, he turned back to the trees and plunged into them.
