Chapter Five

The next morning dawned with quiet. It was a sheer, serene calm that seemed to deny the very nature of the day. The sun rose shining and brought with it first the gray light and then the many colored hues of a sunrise. Susan had hardly gotten any sleep the previous night, knowing that her siblings were in mortal danger. Just a few days ago had she read something like this in a book she would have called it melodramatic and unbelievable. But now she was in the thick of it and suddenly it didn't seem melodramatic. It seemed reasonable to be furious and terrified - but mostly furious.

The moment she thought it wasn't unreasonably early she pulled on something in the wardrobe that looked like hunting garb. It was the most appropriate thing within for going to battle she supposed. Going to battle did seem to be what she was doing. But unlike the previous day her uncertainty had faded away because now certain things were solidly certain. Her siblings were in danger. Possibly mortal danger. She needed to rescue them. These things were her certainties and she clung to them. They were terrible certainties but they were certainties all the same.

For the first time since she could remember she merely pulled her hair back into a simple ponytail. She was beginning to remember the marvelous simplicity of certain things in Narnia and to welcome them. She could almost smile, but the boiling fury in the pit of her stomach kept her from it and what emerged on her face was a determined grimace.

When Susan arrived downstairs things were busy and bustling around the great entrance hall to the castle. Its stone floor was alive with motion and cries of, "More armor here!" and, "Arod's calling for a sword!" People scurried back and forth with packages of food, armor, weapons, maps, and all manner of other things. Susan smiled grimly. Things still moved fast when they needed to in Narnia it was clear, and they needed to now.

"Queen Susan!" Called a voice from down the stares. She glanced to see Elfred standing there, nodding to her. She made her way down the stairs toward him.

"I see you have made very hasty preparations for this..." Susan searched for the word.

"Battle party?" Elfred suggested, nodding slightly. "Yes indeed Your Majesty. Time is of the essence if Narnia is to be saved. Arod will be accompanying you on your journey, as well as several others. We've picked some of our best warriors to accompany you. Come and you shall meet them - or however many of them are hear. We may be quick in our preparations but it does not seem to mean we are particularly organized." His eyes twinkled.

"This is Arod." Elfred announced, and Susan saw the centaur who had been there to meet her along with Elfred.

The centaur nodded. "I do not believe we were every properly introduced Queen Susan. Good morrow."

Susan remembered the dignified way the centaurs spoke and attempted to return in kind. "Thank you master centaur. I look forward to your assistance during our venture." She managed, and the centaur smiled.

"You mastery of the language is returning." He observed. "You will excuse me - I must continue with preparations."

Susan did her best attempt at a gracious nod (a sort of lost art she supposed) and Arod turned back to his conversation with one of the palace servants.

"This," Elfred said, leading her off a little to one side, "is Namir." Susan looked and found, with a slight jolt, that she was being introduced to a large leopard. She recovered in time to graciously return his elegant nod (she was definitely going to have to work at that gracious nod). He was a great sleek cat with huge paws and large green eyes.

"My queen." He said with a low bow, then returned to his work.

"Namir is a great warrior." Elfred said quietly as she was led away again.

"I would suppose so." Susan admitted, letting out a breath. It had been a while since she had spoken to a large (and deadly) animal, no matter how good its intentions were. It took, she remembered, some getting used to.

"And this is Kort." Elfred said, leading her to a dwarf. He was sharpening an axe blade, intent on his grim work, but he looked up when he saw Susan and Elfred approaching.

"Your Majesty." He said in a bass voice, bowing low so that the end of his beard touched his toes.

"Master Dwarf." Susan replied, with another one of those gracious nods.

"A few others will accompany you." Elfred continued as he walked across the busy hall. "But I do not know where they are at the moment. And those are three of our most prominent warriors."

"We have been doing our best to plan this little..."

Susan filled in the word this time, her grim sense of humor supplying the word. "Excursion?"

"Excursion." Elfred repeated, smiling slightly. "If it is alright with Your Majesty...?"

"Absolutely." Susan said fervently. "Planning these things was never my specialty."

"Very good." Elfred said. "In that case, we have plotted the course that your siblings took on this map." He produced a piece of parchment, worn, wrinkled and yellowed with age. There was a line on it drawn from their present location up to a point not to far away across an open meadow and through a small grove of trees. Certainly not more than a day's journey. Then the line petered out, as though the cartographer had been uncertain as to where it would go after that.

"That is as far as we are certain your siblings went. After that we can only pray that there will be clues for you to follow Queen Susan."

Susan nodded and carefully folded the map into her pocket. It was pliable and she was almost afraid it would tear.

Just then a horn sounded from the front of the hall.

"Queen Susan, your party awaits." Elfred murmured, bowing and allowing her in front of him. She still felt a slight shudder pass through her as she realized what was being asked of her anew - she was to lead this 'hunting party' in search of her family. She was to fulfill a prophecy.

And she was to save her family she reminded herself. Her siblings. She was going to save them.

The thought reechoed and blossomed within her mind, ringing in her ears just as her fury once again grew to an unprecedented heights, soaring and rising above her caution and her uncertainty. Queens were not uncertain. And she was a queen.

When the 'hunting party' set out she and Arod were at the front, with Namir and Kort close behind. The rest of the party was a small assortment of talking animals and a few dryads, all with something to contribute to the excursion. Navigators, warriors, and even a cook for meals along the journey. Susan had somehow come to the front of this party, and she was unsure. But at least at first all she had to do was follow the map. And Arod would help her she knew.

But as the sun fully claimed the horizon for its own, spreading its light across the open meadow in front of them, Susan's certainty seemed to leak away with the gray pre-dawn light. Up 'til now she'd been getting by on her fury, but now other feelings slipped in - uncertainty, fear.

She had come through the night on sheer anger. But now there was more to deal with.

A/N: Some quick notes...

Namir: Means, "quick, catlike"

Kort: Means "short"

Arod: Is a Tolkien name. So yeah, not mine. CONSIDER IT DISCLAIMED.

Chapter Disclaimer: None of this is mine save the ideas.

Please tell me what you thought!