Daughter of Eve, Niece of Thomas
By JalendaviLady
Timeline: A few days post-The Last Battle and beyond.
Disclaimer: The movies belong to Walden Media and the books belong to the current holders of the C. S. Lewis's estate.
Note: I am going to try to do pairs of one current Susan and one flashback chapter released fairly back to back. I am a couple of chapters ahead right now but may be slow posting them simply to not end up with a giant time gap again thanks to Real Life.
Chapter 4: Horns
It was night, a day after the battle, a few days before their coronations.
Edmund was sitting outside his tent, watching the moon.
Susan saw his shadow on the wall of hers and Lucy's, and went outside. "Can't sleep?"
He shook his head and lowered it into his hands. "Do you think they know what the deal he made really was?"
"Lucy and I haven't said anything about it to anyone. I don't think Aslan's going to say anything, or he already would have. I'd say the secret's safe between us and the beech tree, except all the beech trees I've met so far are gossips."
He laughed weakly.
"Ed, if it was going to be a problem it already would be."
She sat beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
"Su..."
"Even if you're about to be a king, you're still going to be my little brother."
They sat there for a while like that.
"What's this I've heard about you asking for a little extra favor from the dwarves before the coronation?" she asked.
"It's just a little something I have planned for someone. I asked Aslan about it, and he didn't say there was anything wrong with it."
"Oh?"
He smiled, like he used to sometimes. "You'll see."
Coronation Day, early, and Mr. Tumnus was driving both girls slightly mental.
"You look fine!" Susan said.
He wavered on his little goat feet, hooves clicking on the stone.
"You're a good faun."
"No one's going to notice. And everyone already knows."
He fingered the broken tips of his horns again.
Edmund walked in, one hand fisted around something.
"Ed, this isn't a good time..." Susan warned him.
"Yes it is." He took a deep breath. "Mr. Tumnus, I..." He shook his head, took another breath, squared his shoulders, and started over. "Faun Tumnus, when I came to Narnia for the first time, yours was the only name I knew of someone who belonged here. I didn't mean any of this to happen. I was just a scared child and that doesn't excuse anything but it is the truth."
Tumnus nodded solemnly. "You are not the first innocent she ever used."
Ed held out his hand. "These are for you."
Tumnus held out an open palm and Edmund dropped something shiny into it. The faun was blinking away tears a moment later.
"I can't undo what happened, but I can at least give you your dignity back." Ed wiped at his own eyes with one hand.
Susan put a hand on her sister's elbow. "Come on, Lu. We've got to get ready ourselves."
They were all nearly ready. The centaurs inside were noisily arranging themselves, and Susan could hear the clanging of their armor through the barely opened thick throne room door.
Mr. and Mrs. Beaver dashed through with smiles, among the last to enter.
The fox followed, giving them all a low tail-swishing bow before he too slipped through the door.
Mr. Tumnus slipped back into the hallway. He helped them all check that their royal cloaks were still hanging correctly, and that all else was arranged as it ought to be.
He had just knelt to adjust one of Lucy's sleeves where it had twisted when she asked him, "What's that on your horns?"
He blushed.
Peter and Susan both looked at Edmund. "So that's what you've been up to the past few days," Peter said. "Trying to buy forgiveness out of the royal treasury." There was disappointment in his voice, as if he'd thought their brother had really changed and now doubted it.
"It's not like that," Susan replied. "He was just trying..."
Peter glared at her for all of two seconds before Edmund found his voice. "I asked Aslan about it, before I talked to the dwarves. To make sure it was appropriate."
Mr. Tumnus looked straight into Peter's eyes for a moment. "A faun's horns are a part of his dignity, your majesty."
"And it's not like he isn't going to be right at the focal point of the room shortly, Peter." Susan watched as he calmed down. "Considering what Mr. Tumnus went through for all of us, we ought to have done it together."
A trumpet rang a single note. "Oh!" Mr. Tumnus ran back through the door as Aslan bounded up the entryway stairs, took the turn in a single step, and came to a stop among them.
"It's time, Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve."
They arranged themselves to either side of him, Susan sneaking a hand into the outer hairs of his mane for reassurance, and a moment later the full fanfare erupted as the door swung open.