Chapter Six

The dawn rose clear and bright. Arod strode forward with a calm confidence and Susan did her best to mold her attitude after his. Though she'd ruled Narnia war had never been her specialty -- Queen Susan the Gentle was not a name that lent itself to scenes of carnage. But she'd learned how to defend herself in case of what Peter had humorously classified as "little problems." She could use a sword fairly well, or she had been able to. And she'd always been able to use a bow.

At first their journey went on uneventfully and she could almost forget she was on a mission of war. She recalled strolls through Narnia on calm days such as this and smiled slightly to herself.

The meadow was a scene of all the innocence of Narnia she remembered from the Golden Age, its grasses swaying in the sweet breeze and the trees on its fringes clothed in green to herald spring.

She had let her guard down and she would look back on that moment and chastise herself for her foolishness. Even in the Golden Age there had been trouble. But at the time she was simply listening to the call of a bird when she felt Arod stiffen at her side.

"What is --" She began uncertainly.

"Shhh..." He cautioned her, his head swiveling to take in the peaceful field. It struck her then that it was almost abnormally peaceful -- the bird she'd been listening to was no longer singing out into the clear morning and all the warriors behind her were tensing and drawing weapons. Hesitantly she held her bow as best she could, though it felt clumsy and unwieldy in her hands, and scanned the meadow uneasily.

An arrow fell quivering into the ground next to her, an inch or so away from her foot and she jumped away from the spot, her heart thumping in her chest so loudly it was almost painful. Arod looked to her, but seeing her stunned expression he called out an order himself.

"Group together! Do not allow yourselves to be separated. Form a circle facing outward, and those with long range weapons protect those who carry swords or axes." He was clearly a battle hardened leader and Susan felt a stab of shame at her own inability to command her little band.

"Your Highness." Arod said and she found she'd been standing stock still. Blushing and shaking she followed him to join the little circle of her followers. Arrows continued to thud into the ground and she found herself very frightened.

Her fingers were trembling as she notched an arrow to her bow, and perhaps as a result or perhaps simply because she was no longer a queen but merely a girl, the arrow thudded miserably into the ground only a few feet from where she stood. Desperate she fitted another arrow to the bow and tried again. While this one flew a little further it did no more good than the first.

Susan fumbled desperately with the bow, her fingers feeling clumsy. Fingers which had once known their work now fell over the simplest of tasks. They felt as inept as fingers sometimes did in the mornings when they were cold and tired from a night of lying idle. She could not bring them to do the simplest of tasks on those mornings. Often she had to flex them a few times to bring a pencil under control, let alone fire a bow and arrow.

Dismayed, she scanned the surrounding meadow for whoever their enemies were, and found that once you knew they were there you could see them easily.

Wolves prowled around the fringes of their little group, looking for an opening. Their coats were black and silky, their muscles stood out in their shoulders. Their mouths were heavy with froth and their eyes yellow with rage and blood lust. She felt a shudder run through her at the sight. These were no kind, noble, wolves (for there were some of those, at least during her reign). These were wolves who rallied around a leader who could promise them fresh blood and the chance to induce fear.

The ones that were shooting at them were short, stocky dwarves, but none of them had the free, open air look that surrounded Kort. Instead their faces were drawn and pointed, their eyes greedy and fierce. They carried axes in their belts but at the moment they were busy firing off salvo after salvo of arrows.

Susan was forced to content herself with shouting warning whenever she saw an unaware target of these arrows, as she couldn't seem to make her arrows go far enough to hurt the enemy, or even frighten them.

She was halfway turned around shouting a warning to Namir, who turned just in time to snarl, his green eyes bright and alert, and wound a leaping wolf, when she was knocked to the ground.

Susan could feel hot, terrible breath on her face and knew that a wolf had leapt onto her. She flailed her fists and kicked her legs, desperately searching for some kind of weak spot. It was as though she had never been a queen as she desperately wriggled around, terrified. She heard a voice in her ear.

It was a low, angry growl, that seemed to speak of terrible places and despair. They were talking wolves that were attacking them she realized. This Empress Kali had power if nothing else.

"Queen Susan." The wolf muttered, one huge paw on her neck. She fought for breath and tried desperately once more to shove him off but he was far heavier than her and knew he had the advantage. "They say you're to overthrow the true queen here -- my mistress Kali. But then you know this I should say. You've no hope."

He bared his fangs in what looked to her (though she was terrified) like a cruel smile. She knew she ought to die with dignity but there wasn't much dignity to be found here, underneath a killer wolf who was about to rip her throat out.

Then there was a moment of utter confusion.

Noises and cries, and a strange thudding. Sitting up, and wondering why she could even still do so, she turned her aching head to see Arod standing there, rearing up onto his back hooves for an instant before plunging back to earth. Shakily, she stood.

"You must have -- I mean, did you --?" Susan didn't want to know the details, and the centaur seemed to sense it.

"Yes." He replied simply.

"How did we..." Susan tried her best to think of what Peter would say. "How did we do?"

The centaur turned to survey the field of battle, which seemed suddenly to be very silent again.

"Fairly well my queen." He replied, bowing his head. Susan laughed slightly.

"A lot of good I was to all of you." She said, shame returning full force. The centaur shook his head.

"No one expects you to recall the use of your bow during your first battle. No one knows what the prophecy means. Our respect for you has not lessened Queen Susan."

"Is anyone..." Susan fumbled for a tactful word and couldn't find one. "Is anyone dead?" She asked, feeling like a little girl again.

"No."

He stepped aside and Susan felt as though she was being prodded forward even though he wasn't touching her.

"You still have our respect..." She heard in her head. But I could lose it, she thought. I have to...what would Peter say? Inspect the troops.

So she stepped forward and onward.

She was still shaking slightly and forced herself to take deep breaths and regain her composure, if only on the outside. Her chest and shoulders ached from the wolf's heavy paws and she could still feel his hot breath, a harbinger of his jaws. But she shook her head and reminded herself that she was one, and her followers were more, and a queen always tended to her people before she tended to herself.

The next hour or so was a rush of bandaging small wounds, hearing grievances, and taking stock of what had happened.

A pack of provisions had been ripped open, and some water spilled but over all no heavy damage had been taken. She tended to a few more scrapes and cuts and then managed to extricate herself from the confusion and go somewhere she could think.

Susan seated herself on a hilltop, the soft grass accepting her intrusion as she sank onto it gratefully. The evening wind toyed with the tops of flowers and whistled away the warmth of the day to spirit it off to the skies.

Her first battle and she'd failed miserably. She'd done no good to her "troops." She hadn't been able to fire her bow and arrows more than five or six feet, and she'd gotten herself knocked down by a killer wolf.

What did these people expect her to do?

She stared down at the beautiful wood of the bow in her hands. There was irony there. It was mocking her, its sleek polished wood laughing silently at its wielder, who could not make it sing like it deserved to sing.

Narnia was a beautiful country, worthy of a queen who was more than a pretty face.

No one had any idea what the prophecy meant. It could have meant anyone else. Prophecies were tricky creatures, and the few of them she'd come across while ruling in during the Golden Age had been anything but straightforward.

Susan looked down at the small camp of her followers, so loyal and trusting. They were building cooking fires and she could hear their cheery calls to each other. They laughed and joked, seeing their latest battle as a victory. And it had been a victory -- for everyone but their leader, everyone but their "queen."

She was a failure.

Miserable she looked once again down at the camp, thinking that maybe she should strike out back for the castle. She was a liability to her little band now, not an asset.

The flames of the nearest fire danced and flickered before her eyes and then seemed to shimmer and swim. Susan squinted at it, but it was only out of the corner of her eye that she could see the shape in the flames. A great lion head, orange and yellow and gold, looking at her reproachfully and yet understandingly. Solemn and great and --

"Queen Susan?" Asked a deep, rasping voice, and she turned, surprised and feeling at once very sleepy and wide awake. It was Kort. "Dinner." He told her gruffly.

She nodded and tried to be queenly. It didn't work very well, because she was cold and stiff and bewildered. But she hoped the attempt was appreciated.

"We do not regret your presence Your Majesty." The dwarf said. And though he was no Aslan Susan appreciated it immensely. She smiled gratefully and followed Kort down to the small camp.

Dinner that night was loud and happy, and Susan did her best to join in, only to find that her heart was not in it.

Though she would certainly not turn back (she felt ashamed now that the very thought had crossed her mind) she could not feel any confidence in her mission.

Until now she had been able to hope that when the time arose she would be able to use her bow again, just as she had in old times. But she could not. And if she could not, how was she to fulfill the prophecy?

"There was a prophecy made that a Daughter of Eve would make her return and pick up her bow again."

Susan could still hear Elfred's voice and it made her confidence wilt away like a child's chocolate bar left in the sun. Pick up her bow again? Picking it up was about all she could do. She certainly could not use it.

As she ate the thick stew that one of the dwarves had made, she silently surveyed this war party and wondered if it would not be better for them if they had failed to call her. Then they would not have to suffer the disappointment of a failed prophecy and a defeated queen.

And though the flames danced and quavered she saw no more lions that night.

The next morning found them on the edge of the small wood that had been marked on the map. Though supposedly they had been only a day's journey from it when they left the castle Susan knew that the battle had taken up a fair amount of their time the previous day.

The weather seemed uncertain -- gray and cloudy, with patches of white. There were moments of rain that were followed by brief bursts of sunshine, all accompanied by a cold, sharp wind. Susan shivered slightly and wrapped her arms around herself. She glanced at those friendly little woods of yesterday morning and saw them now as a frightening, dim obstacle, an unknown shadow land where anything could happen.

The difference a day could make in your perspective was startling.

A/N: Yes, here it is, finally. It has not appeared before now for two reasons: one, it was lost in my computer for a while, and two, I am a bad, bad author who deserves to have her wrist slapped several times.

I am sorry about the time since my last update. I hope the length of this one at least partly makes up for it. Please tell me what you thought of it! I would love to hear from all of you.

I also really want to thank anyone and everyone who's reviewed so far with constructive crit of suggestions, as well as positive comments. I'm very grateful to hear how this story is being received.

Thanks again!

Oh hang on...

People have asked where my names come from. I get all my names from It will tell you the orgin of a name, as well as its meaning. You can search for names, or meanings, as well as look for names by first letter. It's very helpful when finding names. :)