Author's Note: This was written for the weekly drabble challenge #22: compassion for susancaspianlivejournal. Only Susan/Caspian if you squint really hard.
Disclaimer: All rights belong to CS Lewis & Walden Media.
.allies, enemies, and traitors.
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"Don't move," she tugged at the soldier's collar. "Stop." She insisted but to no avail. The Telmarine continued to struggle to get away from her, grasping anywhere for a weapon but laid no hand on her. "Oh, this isn't getting anywhere."
The man tried to protest, "Y-y-…"
"I'm trying to take care of you," she hushed him. "If it were up to my brothers, you'd be hanging upside down from the one of the cliffs outside. Now stop it."
Whether he fully submitted to her she didn't know, but he stilled. It wasn't as if he could get far as it was. Susan was certain the man had one of his legs broken, and the other foot didn't fair too well by the looks of it. She knew that her sewing kit would come in handy, but she did not predict that this would be its use. Carefully tugging the needle through the gash above his collarbone, she concentrated on keeping him focused and his attention away from the impossible amount of blood he'd already lost.
It was an ambush.
The group of them that survived the raid on the castle had almost reached the How after a day's journey with little rest. They were close to their base so their guard was down. In any case, Susan thought logically, it was foolish on the Telmarines' part to attack so close to their main base, but she had seen what the temptations of glory and heroism did to many. How would their unit be hailed and worshiped upon their arrival back home with the heads of the leaders of the rebellious Narnians on silver platters?
The attack surprised them, but the quickness of the fauns and the centaurs were not to be underestimated in any circumstance. She remembers dodging flurries of arrows. Peter had led a counterattack to drive back the Telmarines as much as they could. She remembered preparing to set her bow but was pulled behind Caspian, obscuring her line of targets. It wasn't something she appreciated at all.
There was a sharp gasp. "Sorry," Susan mumbled.
Peter brought back the troops after the battle was done and announced that they should look for any survivors and bring them back to the How as prisoners to be questioned. He was being a strategist, she knew. After losing so many Narnians in the raid, he wanted to get some sort of leg up on Miraz. So, they found this soldier under the fallen body of his fellow Telmarine, helpless and gasping for air.
"He's injured pretty badly," Caspian noted. "It'll be miracle for him to survive the rest of the journey."
"He'll make it." Peter reassured. "He's going to have to." He gave Susan a pointed look and she knew what it meant. Peter helped her mount one of the Centaurs after much delegation. The half-conscious soldier settled in front of her and she braced herself well enough for the ride, as riding a Centaur was not a common practice even for a Queen such as herself.
They arrived quickly to the How, only giving Lucy a brief explanation before getting the Telmarine inside and under the magical hands of a healer. Many of the fauns helped her set a splint for his broken leg and foot although most were hesitant until Susan gave an exact order.
"Why are you doing this?" Gasped the Telmarine, seeming to be much calmer than before. Susan had a good look at him while he was mostly unconscious. He was young. She imagined he wasn't much older than Peter. He might even look as though he had a wife.
"Well, if we don't close the wound, it might get infected you see," Susan started explaining, tugging the needle once more. "Edmund hates seeing things infected. He'd never admit it, but he has a terrible time keeping a straight face when something is oozing at him. As a matter of fact, so does Peter."
The young man didn't seem fazed, but even more so confused. "Why are you helping me?" His nose flared from obvious discomfort. "Should y-you not put me to d-death? Decapitate me and send my head to Miraz?"
Susan paused in her suturing. "We hadn't thought of that. It sounds like a capital idea though." She smiled a bit at the slight widening of his eyes. "We're not that sort of people, don't worry. Too many people have died in this war and there's no use recklessly killing one more."
"Y-y-you want information then?" He stuttered, acting as though it was far worse a punishment than decapitation.
She sighed and began to tie off the suture. "I don't, but that's not to say what my brothers will do." She padded her stitching with a clean cloth. "You're hurt and I just happen to know how to tend to your injuries. That's that."
Her answer was simple and logical. But however simple or logical it may be, the soldier could not seem to comprehend it. Slowly, after a few minutes, he mumbled, "Thank you."
Susan gave a small smile. "Don't thank me yet."
.
.
"I saw what you did," Caspian said to her quietly as they were in a corner of the How together.
She was going through some of the piled up weapons to find a few extra arrows to add to her quiver. "And what did I do, Caspian?"
He fidgeted slightly, hand resting heavily on his sword at his side. "You treated the Telmarine soldier like he was your own, like he had fought for you."
"No one fights for me," she said slowly. "They only fight for their country and what they believe is right."
"But he's not fighting for what's right!" Caspian pressed. "What if he holds the key to this war? What if he sells out his own country? Does that make it right? To betray his side for his own selfish gains?"
"Is that so bad?" Susan turned to glance at him over her shoulder. "You want to win this war."
Caspian paused and sighed, "Not like this."
"War doesn't go as you plan it, Caspian." Susan said through thin lips. "You saw what happened to those Narnians because of your run-in with your uncle. War is dirty and unpredictable. We were once in a war with many traitors, and still it did not come out as you would think. But there was one thing I learned and I saw it first hand upon the Stone Table which holds this How upright. Compassion does not end in war. Not for the enemy and not for the traitors."
The young prince said nothing to this and refused to meet her eyes. She gave up on her search and walked over to him. He glanced up at her as she placed a hand on his arm.
With a comforting look, she spoke. "He may yet betray his country and this could be the turning point of the war." She paused, "… May Aslan forgive him for it."
Fin.
