I spent that night underneath a small lean-to of birch saplings and bracken, snug wrapped in my blankets deep in the forest. I had slept well; nothing could've disturbed me from my slumber.
I had tethered Typhon to a nearby tree outside the shelter. As I scrambled out of the narrow entrance to the lean-to, he whinnied at me, impatient for his breakfast. I ignored him. My interests lay with my own breakfast.
Stumbling off into the forest, I quickly grubbed up some wild blackberries and strawberries and swallowed them down with a crust of bread from my saddlebags. I washed them down with slightly warm water from my waterskin, and wiped my mouth with my sleeve. I mashed some more berries for Typhon and mixed them with oats. He ate them with relish and looked greedily for more; whilst I sat down to think.
Where could I go?
To the inhabited West; to the cruel South; to the wild North. These were my choices.
East was obviously impossible, because Cair Paravel and Susan lay to the East.
West was too far, and too risky. Too many people that could give information away, not knowing that they had betrayed their High King.
South was unlikely, because relations between Narnia and Calormen were still uneasy at the best of times. I didn't know if Archenland could hide me, but I would hate to beg King Lune for help.
That left one option: North.
North would hide me.
Ettinsmoor was so vast, so desolately uninhabited that I could hide out there for as long as I choose. It would be dangerous, but what wasn't?
Anyway, I rather liked the idea of the wild, untamed North. It was far more exciting than Cair Paravel.
"Susan...Susan, come hither to me...Come..."
Susan the Gentle stirred from her sleep as her name was whispered softly by an unseen voice. She slowly sat up in her luxurious canopied bed, trying to concentrate on the warm welcoming voice that was calling her name.
"Queen Susan, come to me...Susan, my dear...Come..."
As if one hypnotised, she slid out of bed, and letting the bed covers fall from her linen clad form, she drifted over to the door. Her mind was filled with a sort of pink, cloying fog that blotted out all normalities, all common sense. All she could think of was the voice, the voice that was leading her outside to the gardens that overlooked Castle Town.
"Susan...Come to me, child..."
Soon, Susan's sleepy feet had taken her out from the many winding corridors through the Great Hall and into the gardens.
She stopped. Her head cleared.
A chill breeze filled the previously warm night. The dryads in their trees moaned and shivered. The darkness of the sky clouded over, hiding the moon and the stars. It dropped to freezing.
Susan clutched her thin nightgown around her body, her teeth chattering. What was happening?
Cliff hangerrrrrr!
So, so sorry it took so long to update.
Sorry it's a bit short, too ;D
I seem to be apologising a lot in this A/N :')
Anyway, next chapter coming soon. I mean it.
~pearlsofweird 3