The boy blinked rapidly, the brightness of the light shocking his eyes. One second ago he had been in total darkness and now he stood in the middle of a field drenched in the bright morning sun. He looked down and saw that he was no longer wearing his Narnian clothing but instead was dressed the same as the was the day he had first entered the magical world. He saw a long pole on the ground and stared curiously at it. It took him several moments before he realized what it was; it was the fishing pole he had been carrying, dropped on the ground when he had walked through the shimmering air that had taken him to Narnia. Looking down at his left hand he saw the trinket he had grabbed in his hurry. A large gemstone glittered back at him, the sunlight glancing off the diamonds that surrounded it. It was a brooch, nearly as large as his palm. Hearing his name called, he looked up quickly and saw a boy, much younger than himself, running towards him. He shoved the broach in his pocket and leaned down to pick up his fishing pole.
"George! Aren't you coming?" the younger boy asked, stopping several feet from where his older brother stood.
"Sorry, kiddo. I'm coming," George said to his brother, jogging to where he stood. "Race you to the pond!" he called as he passed the younger boy.
"Hey, no fair!" the boy cried to George, dashing after him.
Five years had passed since that night Robert proposed to Susan. They had driven to Gretna Green that night, stopping only to refuel the car, and were married early the next morning in a simple ceremony, the only guests being the justice's secretary and his sister, who had been visiting him that day. While not the ceremony she had always imagined, Susan felt that her wedding, simple as it was, was better than any glittering affair fit for a queen.
The couple had moved into the Pevensies' old house, along with Edward, and created a home of their own. Robert's business continued to grow, expanding to several different cities throughout England as well as an office in France. Susan embraced her roles as a wife and a mother, creating a happy home for her family just as her own mother had done for hers. She also regularly consulted with Robert on the latest fashion trends, offering him advice on pieces of clothing and designers that he might be interested in shipping for. Edward grew from an adorable toddler into a precocious little boy. Every day he seemed more and more like his Uncle Edmund, never giving his mother and new father a dull moment. And although their marriage was hasty, Susan and Robert's relationship only strengthened, each day better than the next. Their lives seemed to be wonderful, perfect no matter the imperfections. Except for one imperfection in particular that continued to haunt Susan: her dreams.
She had thought the dreams that had filled her nights with terror for herself and her son had disappeared. During the first year of her marriage to Robert her nights were only consumed with the happiness that she shared with her husband. But soon after their first anniversary, she was haunted again by her memories, those of the storm that took them from Narnia, of her last interaction with Prince Rabadash that day in the garden. The White Witch still haunted her, whispering lies of her son. Each night she woke from her dreams, each seeming more real than before, she would lie in bed, her heart racing, as she tried to come to terms with what she had seen. There never seemed to be an answer to why they reoccurred; she felt more and more confused as to why she had to relive the scariest moments of her long past.
Susan covered her ears as she ran through the hall, trying to block out the sounds of screaming she heard as the battle raged on outside Cair Paravel. She had woken to find that she was alone, her siblings gone, and had hurried to find them. Turning the corner she saw her sister helping a faun who had fallen down, blood pooling around the hem of Lucy's dress.
"Lucy!" Susan cried, hurrying to her sister.
"I can't wake him!" Lucy wailed, tears running down her face as she continued to shake the faun.
"Lucy, he's dead. We have to go!" Susan said forcefully, grabbing her sister's arm and pulling her up. The two women ran, calling out for their brothers. When they reached the castle's gate, the scene they saw stopped them in their tracks. The ground was littered with bodies, both Narnian and Telmarine. From across the castle's grounds Susan spotted her brothers, back-to-back futilely fighting the soldiers who continued to attack. "Peter! Edmund!" Lucy screamed, leaving her sister as she dashed towards her brothers. Susan stood, frozen in place as she surveyed the warzone their peaceful castle had become.
"Why are we here?" she asked aloud. "We were never here when Cair Paravel was attacked. The Telemarines never came during our time. During any of our times here!" Padded steps sounded next to her, the cool air surrounding her quickly warming. Looking to her right she saw a great golden Lion standing next to her, his eyes filled with sadness as he watched the battle.
"Aslan, why is this happening?" Susan asked frantically.
"This is the way it's meant to happen," the Lion replied sadly.
"Then why are we here? We were never here before. Were we meant to be?" she asked, watching in fear as her brothers worked to shield Lucy from an attacker.
"No, you were never meant to be. You are only here to see something," Aslan replied, looking at Susan.
"Will they be okay?" she asked.
"Your brothers and sister will be perfectly safe. They won't suffer a single scratch as they, too, are not really here," Aslan replied.
"Not really here? What do you mean?" Susan asked.
"You are only here in your dream, as are your brothers and sister. Though it may seem real, it is not," Aslan explained. "Now, hold onto my mane and I will show you what you need to see."
Susan did as the Lion said, allowing herself to be safely led through the battle. Ahead of them was a clearing in the woods that bordered the castle's grounds. Two men were fighting, their swords clanging against each other loudly. Susan could only see one of the men's faces as one of them, the lighter haired of the two facing away from her. Her eyes widened as she recognized features of the man who was facing her, his dark hair and eyes similar to Caspian's. That must be Caspian I! her mind cried. So then the other man… must be the Narnian leader Edmund told me about all those years ago.
The man's sword came down hard on Caspian's shoulder, knocking him aside as he struggled to dodge the next blow. The swing of his heavy sword caused him to spin around, facing where Susan and Aslan stood watching. Her eyes widened even further when she saw his face; his dark hair was plastered to his forehead from sweat, streaks of dirt and mud covered his cheeks and clothing he wore under his armor. From far away, Susan heard her name being called. She found her breathing becoming shallower as she gasped from recognizing the man. The world around her began to fade, her name being called louder and louder.
Susan's eyes popped open as she sat up straight in bed with a loud gasp. Robert was sitting next to her in bed, his arms on her shoulders. It had been he who had called her name; he now sat stunned, his eyes wide in shock at her sudden waking. Susan's heart raced, her palms felt clammy as she turned to look cautiously at Robert.
"Susan, I'm really getting worried about you," Robert stated one afternoon. He and Susan were at the park with Edward, taking a walk while the boy played on the small playground.
"Why?" she asked, confused by his concerns.
"This is the fifth night in a row that you've woken up in the middle of the night from a dream you claim you can't remember. I've lost count of how many nights you've woken me up with your talking and moaning and whimpering. Do you honestly not remember what your dreams are about? Is there something worrying you that you haven't told me?" he asked, his voice growing more insistent.
"No, there's nothing I'm worried about," Susan replied, dodging the real questions her husband was asking.
"Then what aren't you telling me?" Robert asked forcefully, stopping and grabbing her shoulders. Susan glared at him before shaking herself out of his grip.
"There's nothing," she stated again firmly, continuing to walk. Robert stared at her for a few seconds before following, catching up with her easily.
"You'll tell me when there is?" he asked quietly.
"I will," she replied, taking his hand in hers.
Edward put the final touches on his castle he had built; a flag he had made from a leaf and a stick now flew from the top most tower and a draw bridge made from a larger leaf was let down. To anyone else, his castle looked like a pile of rocks with a couple of leaves stuck out of them. But to the six year old, it was the best castle in the world, a stronghold that many tried to break through. His knights, tin toys that were his favorite, gallantly defended the castle from whatever foe threatened their home. Today it was a dragon, a long green monster that flew through the air roaring fire on all it saw below. Edward made the paper cut-out dragon that Robert had created for him fly and land in front of his knights. As they galloped out to battle the dragon, a shadow came over Edward's world, blocking the sunlight from him. Edward squinted up and saw a tall man standing in front of him.
"Hello, young man," the man said, squatting down next to him. Edward took in the stranger, his dark eyes and hair different than he had ever seen. His accent had sounded funny, too; not like the ones he was used to hearing at home.
"Hello," Edward said, wanting to be polite.
"What's your name?" the man asked.
"Edward St. James," he replied.
"St. James? Not Pevensie?" the man asked curiously, his voice sounding mildly surprised.
"Well, actually… That's my Aunt Lucy's name. My mummy's sister," the boy replied, explaining the way children do.
"What's your mother's name?" the man asked.
"Susan St. James," Edward replied, becoming wary of the man.
"Ah, that only figures," the man muttered.
"What's your name?" Edward asked.
"It's Philip," the man said softly, giving the boy a small smile. The two stared at each other for several moments. "You have your mother's eyes," Philip said.
"No, they're like my Uncle Peter's. My mummy tells me all the time," Edward said defensively.
"Your mother's temper too, I wager," Philip muttered.
"Edward!" a woman cried. Philip stood quickly, staring at Susan who hurried towards her son. "What are you doing here?" she spat angrily at Philip, grabbing Edward's hand and pulling him up.
"Ouch, Mummy!" the boy cried.
"I'm sorry darling," she said gentler, her eyes remaining on Philip. Robert came up behind them and demanded, "What are you doing here?"
"Your wife just asked me the same question," Philip said, sneering. "
Then I suggest you answer her," Robert said low.
"Darling, why don't you go over to our things and get a biscuit. Aunt Alberta made some for us to eat," Susan suggested as she bent down next to her son, picking up his toys as she talked to him. Edward took them from her and put them in his pockets, making a face over the mention of the biscuits.
"They taste like they're made from grass," he complained.
Susan snorted and said, "Knowing your aunt, they probably are. Be a good boy for mummy and do as I say." Edward nodded and ran off towards a blanket that was spread in the grass, their belongings sitting on it. Susan stood and narrowed her eyes at Philip.
"Why are you here? What were you doing talking to my son?" she demanded.
"Your son? Don't you mean our son?" Philip asked.
"That's irrelevant. You gave him up before he was born," Susan snapped.
"Well maybe I've changed my mind. Maybe I want him now," Philip said angrily. Susan's eyes widened.
"You can't have him! He's mine!" she yelled, her fists clenching.
"Susan," Robert said quietly, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"He can't have him!" Susan insisted, turning pleading eyes to Robert.
"Don't worry, love. I'm not going to let anything happen," Robert said soothingly. Looking back at Philip, his eyes deadly, Robert said, "You need to leave and stay away from my son."
"Your son? All you did was marry his loose mother You think that makes him yours?" Philip sneered. Susan gasped loudly, her eyes widening in anger.
"How dare you!" she cried, shaking out of Robert's grasp as she stepped towards Philip.
"I'll dare whatever I like. It seems to me that I paid quite a lot for that kid, if I remember correctly," Philip snorted cruelly. Robert's fist soared through the air, coming into contact with Philip's face. The force of it caused Philip to fall backwards onto the ground. He grunted as he grabbed his nose, blood beginning to drip from it.
"You son of a-" he started but was cut off my Susan.
"If you ever come near my son again, I'll personally see to it that you never have children again in your life!" she said, her voice filled with venom. With a final angry glance at Philip, still sprawled on the ground, she spun and stormed back to where her son was sitting. Robert watched as she walked away before turning to Philip who was beginning to stand up. He leaned down and helped the man up; once he was standing, Robert grabbed his neck tightly. Saying as softly as he could, his voice deadly and low, he said, "I'll go a step further than Susan: if you ever come near my wife or my son again, I'll kill you."
Later that evening when the St. Jameses had sat down for dinner, Edward piped up with a question.
"Who was that man today?" he asked as he pushed his peas to the side with his fork.
"Ed, don't play with your peas," Susan said firmly, her eyes darting to Robert's. He raised his eyebrows at her, silently conveying his confusion about how to answer. "Well, darling, you see..." Susan began nervously. Edward looked up at his mother and frowned.
"He talked differently than us. Is he not from London?" he asked.
"No, he's not," Susan answered.
"But who was he?" Edward asked again. He filled his fork with peas and put them in his mouth, making a face as he chewed.
"He's no one important. Just someone your mother and I used to know a long time ago," Robert interjected, hoping to save Susan from her nervousness.
"Yes, that's all he was. Are you finished with your supper?" Susan asked, leaning over to wipe Edward's mouth with her napkin.
"Mummy! I can do it myself!" Edward complained, trying to push his mother's hands away. Robert suppressed a grin as he struggled to keep a straight face.
"Son, don't talk to your mother that way. If you're finished, go along upstairs and get ready for bed," he said firmly.
"Alright," Edward said grudgingly as he pushed his chair back and hopped off it. When he'd reached the dining room door he turned back and asked, "You're coming up too, Mummy? To tell me a story?" Susan smiled widely and nodded.
"I'll be up soon, darling. Go along now while I clean up," she replied. When she heard him climbing the stairs her smile faded. Sighing, she asked, "What am I going to tell him about Philip?"
"Did you never think about this moment, Susan? I know I've raised him as my son, but he was bound to ask about his real father one day ," Robert said standing and walking around the table to pull Susan into his arms.
"I don't know. I guess I had hoped he'd never find out and he would always think of you as his father," Susan sighed, leaning her head agaainst Robert's chest.
"Susan, look at me," Robert said softly. Susan raised her head and caught the seriousness in his eyes. "I'll always be Edward's father, no matter what. I love that little boy more than anything." Grinning slightly, he added, "Except you that is."
"I guess I should tell him the truth," Susan finally said after several moments of silence.
"Do you want me to come with you? Help if I can?" Robert asked. Susan shook her head.
"No, I think this is something he and I need to discuss. It's my fault all of this happened; I need to be the one to set it straight," she said determinedly.
"I'll be down here if you need me," Robert said, kissing her gently on the forehead.
"So he's my dad?" Edward asked confusedly. Susan sat beside him on his bed, smoothing the nonexistent wrinkles from his covers.
"Yes, he is," she replied.
"But I thought Dad was my… dad," Edward said. "How can they both be?"
"Darling, I know it's hard to understand right now, but one day you will. Your father, Robert, loves you more than anything in this world and he always will. Philip never did. He wasn't brave enough to be your father and, therefore, never deserved to be," Susan explained, running her fingers through Edward's messy brown hair.
"So should I still call Dad "Dad"?" Edward asked. Susan smiled gently.
"I think he would like that very, very much," she replied. "Now, shall I tell you a story?" Edward nodded eagerly and scooted down under his covers. Susan picked up the stuffed lion that sat on his bedside table and placed it next to him, which Edward quickly shoved under his arm. "How about one you've never heard before?" Susan asked mysteriously.
"Yes!" Edward exclaimed excitedly. Susan laughed lightly before beginning, "Once, there were four children, two boys and two girls. They were brothers and sisters and loved each other very much. One summer they went to stay with a friend of their family's in a large, beautiful house in the country, with lots of rooms to explore and discover. There also was a mean old housekeeper who didn't like children and one day they found themselves hiding from her. Now, the youngest of them, a little girl not much older than you, had found a secret world hidden inside a wardrobe and urged them to hide there while they were hiding from the mean housekeeper. The others didn't believe her, except for the next youngest, a boy, who had actually been to the secret world with his younger sister one time before.
The children hid in the wardrobe and soon found that the little girl had been right: there was a secret world hidden inside the wardrobe. The world was called Narnia and they began to explore. Now, the little girl had made a friend while she had first visited, a faun, which is a creature that has the body of a man but the legs of a goat, named Mr. Tumnus. When they went to his house, they discovered he had been captured! So they set off to find him and rescue him, along the way making friends with two Beavers, who could actually talk.
During their quest to find Mr. Tumnus, the younger brother snuck away to find the evil queen, or the White Witch as she was more commonly known, because she had promised to make him a prince. But she had really wanted to kill him and his two sisters and brother. When the children discovered what their brother had done, they went to find someone named Aslan, who would help them. Aslan turned out to be a great Lion and told them that they would one day be kings and queens of Narnia. Aslan helped the children get their brother back, who was very sorry for what he had done after he realized the evil queen was not good, but Aslan had to give himself to the White Witch in return for the boy. The White Witch took Aslan and killed him on top of a stone table, but the next morning, he came back to life!
While all this was happening, though, a great battle was happening, between Aslan's followers and the four children and the White Witch's army. When Aslan had come back to life, he came and defeated the White Witch and her army. After the battle, the four children were made kings and queens of Narnia and ruled peacefully for many years until one day they were in the woods hunting a magical white stag. All of a sudden they disappeared, never to be seen again. But what had actually happened to them, although the people of Narnia never knew, was they had gone through the woods and reentered the wardrobe that had first brought them into Narnia and were finally home again."
Edward's eyes grew wide as the story went on, here and there interjecting with questions which Susan patiently answered. When the story was finished he breathed in awe of the tale of the four children and their adventures. Susan smiled widely at her son, happy that she finally shared the tale of her first adventures in Narnia with him, even if she hadn't told him who the story was exactly about. Smoothing his hair again, she leaned down and kissed his forehead.
"Now, darling, it's time for you to go to sleep," she said, tucking him in tightly.
"Mummy, what were the four children's names?" Edward asked, pulling his arms out of the covers. Susan hesitated before asking, "What would you like their names to be?"
"Well…" Edward thought for a moment. "I think their names should be Peter, Edmund, Lucy and Susan. There were four of them and there were four of you!" he said proudly.
Susan smiled again and said, "I think those are very good names for the kings and queens of Narnia." She stood to leave but stopped again when Edward asked another question.
"Do you think I'll ever get to go to Narnia? Do you think Aslan would make me a king?" he asked wistfully. Susan placed her hand over her son's and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"I don't doubt it for a second, darling. You're already a prince, did you know that?" she asked.
Turning to walk out of the room, she was startled by Robert, who was leaning against the doorframe, an odd look on his face.
"What is it?" she asked as she walked past him. He was silent as he looked into the room at Edward.
"Goodnight son," he called, closing the door behind him. When he and Susan were alone in the hallway, he turned to look at her again, the odd look on his face even stronger.
"What?" Susan asked again, her nervousness growing.
"Where did you hear that story?" Robert asked in a steady voice.
"I, well… it was…" Susan stammered, unsure of how to answer his question. She felt her face begin to flush, the slow heat building as she realized she had no explanation for him.
"Oh my God," Robert whispered, his eyes growing wider.
"What?" Susan whispered as her heart began to speed up, thudding forcefully against her chest.
Robert grabbed her arm gently and said, "You're that Susan. You're Queen Susan of Narnia."
AN: First of all, we went to the midnight premiere of Eclipse and the very first trailer was for Voyage of the Dawn Treader! Followed by the trailer for Harry Potter! Needless to say, it was a very good night. I thought I would share that with you all. Secondly, thought I would address a few concerns I had with the last chapter and some concerns I have in general:
1) It was mentioned that the chapter was a bit rushed... yeah, it might have been... I think that's because several of the scenes "jumped" from one to the next with very little transition. I may go back and look at changing that, haven't decided yet.
2) There were a couple of comments regarding Susan's feistier side and that she and Robert might be getting a little too physical. Yeah, Susan is kind of feisty... I think I explained this side of her a few chapters ago. As for the physical stuff, really all they did was kiss. Nothing physical... Yes, Susan did put herself in that position once before, but look at where it left her! Susan's kind of a prude (again, explained a few chapters ago) and I think with Robert he's a lot more respectable than that to try to get very far with her before they're married (it IS the 50s... and they are British). Also, Susan and Robert are in their mid- and late-twenties... gotta keep that in mind as well. Finally, no physical stuff happened because, quite honestly, I feel silly just writing kissing scenes and get all flustery over them. There's no WAY I could write a sex scene!
3) I know I've said all along to not hate Philip... but eh, go ahead and hate the jerk! I really wanted Robert to threaten to kill someone... don't ask me why. Just did! Philip seemed like a good target.
4) Finally (yes, I know, FINALLY!) several of you have mentioned adding scenes that show the others in Aslan's country... As much as I value your input and judgment and really do use some of your suggestions, it just isn't going to happen in this story. I like bringing her siblings and other characters back in the flashbacks, dreams and memories, but this is Susan's story and everyone else is dead.
But... they're coming!
