The two kings strode silently down the hall to where their sisters were, too weary from the toll of the past hours to hold a conversation. They had been in situations that required them to think beyond their fatigue before on the battlefield and in a way this was no different. Yet the strain of fighting an enemy that they could not see was taking its toll on their communication skills.
Edmund glanced at his brother and could not help but notice the bloodshot eyes and bags hewn into Peter's stone like face. Now would definitely not be the best time for Edmund to tell Peter about what he was keeping secret. Yet, what good would it be to tell the captain how the ship got a hole in it as its sinking? Oreius all but told Edmund that it would make no difference whether or not Edmund told Peter about it. Edmund opened his mouth to speak but before he could, the sound of hurried footsteps filled the hall.
At the sight of Lucy sprinting down the corridor, Edmund called over his shoulder for the guard who trailed behind them, assigned to stand watch over the queens after it was sure they were alright.
"Peter! Edmund!" Lucy called, halting to a stop in front of them and all but colliding with them as well. Tears stained her white cheeks as she choked out fragments of sentences. It took only the words 'Su', 'wrong' and 'blood' to send the group sprinting down where Lucy came from.
Vitus swiftly wound up the spiral staircase leading to the tower where the griffins stayed. Eadwig was another Narnian who had been with the Four from the day that Peter, Susan and Lucy entered Aslan's camp hoping He could help their brother. The griffin was young and within the five years after the Long Winter, Eadwig was ever still the daredevil. If anyone could get to the Great Library in this storm, it was Eadwig.
The stair was twisting and despite the renovations, required the griot to keep one hand on the jagged wall lest he loose his balance. As he turned the corner, his hand brushed against something that was most certainly not stone. Upon contact, Vitus felt slender, slippery fingers entwine around his hand.
"Such haste, giot." The voice sent a chill down his spine for he heard it before. He knew there was no way Queen Susan could have slipped out of the sitting room to meet him on the stairs when Vitus had passed the room with both Queens in it on his way to the tower. "Stay just a while longer." Lihi finished, using Susan's hand to pull him up the darkened stair. The hand was cold yet the liquid that it was covered in and stained Vitus' hand was warm. The griot realized with a shudder that it was blood, although he could not discern whether it was Susan's or another's.
Lihi pulled Vitus close to her again and up close, Vitus noticed that while the body was that of the queen's, the eyes-which were as black and as empty as the abyss- belonged to Lihi.
"Were you planning on scurrying away?" Lihi chuckled while running her fingers over Vitus' chest as if longing to grasp his beating heart.
"Release the body of the Queen." Vitus replied with false bravery, as the demon housed in the Gentle scratched thin lines of blood on his chest.
A cold laugh shook Vitus to his core. "On whose authority? The Lion's? I assure you, Griot, the Lion has no authority here."
By the time the three made it to the chamber, several faun guards had followed in their wake. Lucy had run to them, with the news that Susan was injured or had been attacked but as they rounded the corner into the chamber, they saw Susan standing by the mirror, mumbling to herself but in no obvious peril.
Lucy looked up at her eldest brother with a mix of relief and concern, "But I saw her slash her forearms! There was blood everywhere, Peter! It-"
The High King placed a tired hand on Lucy's shoulder and that silenced her. The anger that should have been there was bypassed by another thought, "Another one of the castle's tricks. How I grow weary of these."
"I'm sorry to have worried you so." Lucy admitted, sheepishly to which Edmund shrugged.
"We were heading here anyw-" He paused midword, realizing that something was amiss after all. He gestured for the faun guards to stay as the Just took tentative steps further into the room.
"Ed?" Peter began but then he realized it as well. Susan hadn't acknowledged their presence yet. With as much noise as they made when they entered the room, one would think she would notice them, startle or even pause in her quiet monologue. But Susan hadn't twitched or even blinked since they barged into the room.
Peter gently pushed Lucy back as he and Edmund began to advance. The faun guards stayed rooted in their spots, though, refusing to follow their kings. As they began to get closer, it became apparent that she was speaking in another tongue. With years of studying the languages of the neighboring countries, Edmund, Peter and Lucy could not distinguish the language their sister spoke in, but it sounded similar to Calmorene tongue.
Lucy reached out for her brothers' arms to stay them. "No! Something isn't right here."
The Magnificent and the Just paused and turned to Lucy with tired looks. Had it have been a different circumstance, Edmund might have replied sarcastically. The reality of the situation though, held his tongue. Indeed, it wasn't the fact that something was wrong but more of the why of it.
In the split second that Peter and Edmund took their attention away from Susan, her head snapped to face them with such ferocity that it was a wonder that Susan didn't break her neck.
"Back from looking for those young ones?" The voice was Susan's but the tone was off. She wasn't inquiring about the search; it sounded more like a taunt or challenge. "Did they find their entrails yet? I left them near the grand staircase among the garlands." She took a step towards her siblings and gave a cold, harsh smile. It wasn't her usual smile from the person who laughed and grinned with her countenance. Something dark in her unwavering eyes flashed as she continued, "I skinned them, you know, whilst they were alive… I soaked my hands in their blood until it went cold…" In the middle of her soliloquy, Susan fell silent and soon began to speak in another tongue quietly.
"-And you mean to do the same to us before the end." Vitus tearsly finished, wondering how Eadwig could not hear this exchange in words.
Lihi smiled as Vitus struggled against her grip. A chill ran down the griot's spine for the smile was that of the Gentle's, only warped with the evil that now possessed her. "My, but aren't you the handsome lad." She observed, "I believe I shall make your death slow in repayment. Such features seldom do good to the dead. Perhaps you shall be one of those who are meant to be seen."
As she spoke, Vitus' right hand enclosed on a loose stone in the wall. Although he wasn't sure what he could do with it if he did not want to damage Susan's body, he gripped the stone. "Is there no other body for you to inhabit, demon? Why Queen Susan's?" Vitus wondered, hoping to gain himself time for Eadwig to notice the commotion or for the stone to be discretely wiggled out of it's place.
"You are better served to ask the wolf why he takes the lambs. What predator does not take the weakest prey?"
She was inches away from Vitus' face, so close that he could smell death on her breath. Pointed teeth were so close to his face. Vitus could scarcely quell the urge to vomit as her lips enclosed around his. Several times during his stay in Narnia did he wonder what it would have been like to have the Gentle press her lips to his, to have her arms wrap around him…but never like this. The very thought of Lihi, using Susan's body as though it were a puppet…the evil that was so contrary to the eldest queen made Vitus both nauseated and furious.
Lihi pressed Vitus against the wall of the stairwell, knocking his breath from his lungs. "Why resist, Griot? Is this not what you longed for?" Lihi questioned, raking the back of her hand across his left cheek, leaving three searing scratches trailing from his cheekbone to his chin.
Vitus' hand enclosed tighter around the loose stone and it gave way a little. He knew that if he had to, he could use it. "Not like this, I'm afraid." He returned, allowing his voice to echo, hoping that the griffon heard it. The griot did not want to think of what it would mean if Eadwig didn't.
"It is useless to shout." The demon reprimanded, licking the blood from Vitus cheeks. His skin crawled in repulsion and fear as it continued to speak, "I made sure we would not be heard…"
Oreius cantered towards the small clump of guards crowding their Majesties near the sitting room Queen Susan and Queen Lucy occupied. He did not wish to relay the grisly news that the remains of the missing pups and chick were found scattered in the great hall. Nor did he want to repeat that these macabre remains were discovered through flashes of lightning while the court took shelter from the raging storm. Pandemonium and panic was ensuing in the Great Hall. The Elderly Gentleman was employing the best of his skills to keep order yet what the Narnians in the hall needed was their monarchs.
Something was amiss though. It became clear as the centaur drew closer. The guards were backing away from the threshold as Edmund strode hesitantly into the room. King Peter followed hastily and Queen Lucy grabbed her eldest brother's arm, begging him for something.
"Queen Lucy," Oreius quietly greeted with apprehension on his voice.
The young queen turned to him then back to her brothers several times. Her hands clutched the High King's wrist in an attempt to stay him. Peter had followed Edmund, who was halfway into the room, several feet and a chaise away from Susan who was staring blankly into the mirror.
"Ed," the High King said in warning, his back to Lucy. The youngest Pevensie shook her brother's arm, looking terrified.
"Peter!" She pleaded urgently, "Ed! Are you daft? Stay away from her!"
"My lady," Oreius said, helplessly trying to soothe the young queen who only tugged at Peter's arm imploringly. "My king, I must speak with you."
This caught the siblings' attention. Swiftly Edmund walked towards the centaur and Lucy managed to pull Peter out of the room. Only Susan remained, staring blankly and muttering.
"Oreius, what news?" The Magnificent wondered quietly as if he did not want to be overheard.
"It's the Bristlesplat pups and Galewe chick, m'lord." Oreius began but was cut off by the Valiant.
"They're dead." She breathed and closed her eyes as if to banish the thought and image. "Susan told us."
The grim looks from the kings confirmed Lucy's statements and with time of the essence, Oreius did not question how. "The court fled to the great hall for shelter from the worsening storm and-hold! Di-did you say Queen Susan told you?"
The High King made an impatient gesture in reply. "The court took shelter and…?" He prompted.
Oreius opened his mouth to reply but another voice rang out before he could make a sound.
"General Oreius," Whatever held Susan's body greeted from within the room. "Please, do sit down." She gestured to one of the chairs within the room. The tone was pleasant enough and Edmund would have suspected that Susan had woken from her present state save for the way her unblinking eyes stared at everything and nothing all at once.
A faun guard beside Edmund muttered an oath to Aslan in fear. The Just recognized that faun as the one from the parapets earlier.
The centaur general found himself walking into the room, though his very fiber warned him not to. Tentatively Oreius replied, "My Queen?"
"Your children are here." She said quietly with a chilling smile spreading across her face. "Baldo and Ebele, I believe. They are very obedient children, I find. Your son is the spitting image of your wife."
Peter cast his brother a confused look for Oreius never mentioned a family to them. Edmund shook his head a little to dismiss the silent question. What caused the fear to rise in him was not that he knew the declaration to be true, but the fact that Susan had no way of naturally knowing of Oreius' children nor of their fate.
The Just pointedly rolled his eyes towards the room, silently communicating a plan to his brother. While Susan was occupied with her conversation, he and Peter would attempt to get to her. There had to be a way to snap her out of this state. The High King nodded, pointing in the directions that they should take. This sort of nonverbal communication was essential to the brothers on the battlefield and both Peter and Edmund were well versed in it. Lucy, however, did not need any training to pick up on their plan and she silently protested as best she could.
From inside the room Susan continued speaking to an almost mesmerized Oreius, "Ebele is not. It's not that she doesn't hold any resemblance to her mother. She has her nose..." Her hand absentmindedly graced the bridge of her nose before continuing. "Yet she has your eyes. I'd venture to say she holds the best of both features. Am I right in saying that?" Another smile flittered briefly across her features.
The centaur frowned. He had not spoken of his family until that night when he spoke to King Edmund. Even a fool could have seen that it was no coincidence that this was spoken of in the place where he had lost his children. And even a fool knew that Queen Susan was possessed perhaps even by Lihi. She knew, even when he had come to the castle over a hundred years ago, that he would bring Lihi her revenge. That creature was not going to get away with it, though, Oreius decided…
Susan met Oreius halfway across the room and was within an arm's reach from him. She did not notice Peter and Edmund slink inside the room. Oreius opened his mouth to question how the Gentle knew these details but before he could voice them, she answered her question for him.
"Of course I am." Her smile faltered and her voice became dangerous and flat. "That's why I ripped out her eyes. After all who doesn't want their little girl to have her mother's eyes?"
"Tell me something, Lihi." Vitus demanded as fingers cold as ice snaked about his chest. It was quickly becoming clear that Eadwig was unable to hear the exchange in some capacity. Vitus knew that he was going to have to get himself out of this by his own sheer will. His hand clamped tightly around the loose stone in the wall. He only prayed that it would come loose for he only had one chance at this. "Why the Pevensies? They aren't the blood of Queen Helen."
"No, I don't suppose they are, are they?" Lihi whispered into his left ear. "Jadis took care of that, didn't she? Denied me of my vengeance you would think? This is not so. For anyone who sits in Cair Paravel on throne connects themselves to the very first who ruled as if they were born from the flesh of Helen. I shan't be denied my vengeance."
Her rank breath felt stale on his skin. Vitus had but one chance and he had to take it.
A very un-Susan-like cackle escaped the queen's lips as Oreius trembled in fear and rage. He knew not what greater, fear was for him and his monarch or rage for the thing that resided in her.
"Silence, creature." The centaur growled for he knew he was not speaking to his queen.
The demon possessing Susan only smiled, grimly amused. A pout formed on her lips as she taunted. "Your boy is so unlike you. You trained your foals, as is custom, to be warriors yet..." She scrunched her brow thoughtfully before she continued. "Yet he sobbed and pleaded for his life at the first cut. 'Twas merely cutting off his eyelids so he wouldn't look away while I peeled off the flesh of –"
Before she could finish and before Peter and Edmund could stop him, Oreius lunged at Susan with an anguished cry. The kings rushed forward to keep their general at bay. Despite what was using their sister, everyone knew that it was still the Queen's body. Yet they had not taken one step when the centaur flew across the room, slamming into a bookshelf. Lucy's screams filled the air and mingled with the obliging crack of thunder.
A raspy voice issued from Susan's body, as dry as husk. "You shall be compliant while I speak, creature!" Vehemence dripped from the voice as Oreius writhed in pain.
Lightning flashed, briefly lighting up the room in a blinding light. When it subsided, Susan's form lay on the floor, crumpled like a forgotten rag doll. Blood oozed slowly from the back of her head and when the thunder clapped again, Lucy's screams drowned it out.
A/N: CLIFFHANGER! My goodness this was a very hard chapter to write and even now I'm not thrilled about it. I apologize for the time it took to get this out. Well, I hope you sleep after reading this. I might not. As always, I really do appreciate people favoriting, alerting and reading but I just wanted to especially thank those who took the time to review. Reviewers, your feedback and prodding helped me get this chapter out so… a very special thanks to you! Please review and tell me what you think.