Here is the second part as promised. Thank you to everyone who is continuing to read, I hope that you stick it out until the end to see what I have planned. Who knows? You might enjoy the ending. I do not own Narnia or it's characters.

The traveling party was a solemn affair. The group that left for Carlomen had rung with laughter. Brightly coloured banners had waved proudly in the sweet breeze. The gentle queen lovely as ever had sat atop her gray mare beside her younger brother who rode Philip. The young king strong and tall, had overlooked his company with sharp but kind eyes.

It was a strong contrast to the group that was now returning to the Narnian boarder. The banners were lowered, the faces long with sorrow and most of all the figure of the king no longer sat in his saddle.

Instead the body of King Edmund lay upon a wooden wagon, the best means that the Carlomenes were able to give the Narnians on such short notice. Yet Susan had accepted the meager gesture and said that it was more important for her to return her brother's body home, then to worry about propriety.

Now, she walked along side the wagon, her face covered with a dark veil.

The reason for the veil was two fold, one it was an outward sign on mourning and two it hid her expression from the Carlomenes.

The last weeks had been taxing on the usually gentle queen and having to beg Prince Rabadash's assistance in transporting Edmund had made her quite cross. She could not show the cowardly prince that she knew of his crime. The fact that he still believed himself to be a potential suitor was ridiculous.

Especially considering it's his fault, she thought bitterly.

At their arrival in Carlomen, the Narnians had been greeted with a celebration. The food had been rich and the spices had dazzled the senses. They had eaten their fill and had found it a rather enjoyable time, but all that had changed that evening.

Edmund had retired to bed earlier than was his usual custom on the account of a headache. Susan knew her brother was not one to complain when in pain and had on many occasions ignored serious injury rather than ask for help. She had fretted over him but stopped when he had promised her that he would seek her help if necessary.

Over the next few days, the Carlomenes had continued to care for their every need, but the Just King had worsened and worsened. His headache spread until his whole body aches into his bones. He could do nothing but remain on the hard mattress. Soon the pain increased until he could no longer keep food down and the Narnians began to fear the worst.

A dryad healer named Althea who was one of Susan's lady's maid on this journey, had determined that the cause of the illness was a poison from a golden yellow flower Lamortdor, that only grew in the southern climates. Any cure was still unknown and the treatments had only ever prolonged life.

"How is one infected by this poison?" The Gentle had asked squeezing her brothers hand for strength.

Althea looked frightened. "Well Your Majesties, one must ingest it."

The siblings had exchanged a look, Susan's eyes full of fear and Edmund's full of a grim knowing, as if this was the news he was awaiting.

Susan was frantic but she somehow knew in her heart that returning Edmund home would solve everything. Even though she was beside herself with addressing the man who most likely had ordered the poisoning of her brother, at her next meeting with Prince Rabdash, she asked for him to allow their company to leave for home.

"As you can see, it is of up most importance that we depart as soon as possible." Susan stated her voice making it clear that she was not asking him permission.

Rabadash leaned back in his chair and stroked his beard absently. "I understand your view, Queen Susan, but should we not bend to the will of Tash."

Susan straighten her back even more and shoot the prince with a glare that often had even Peter scrambling. "I am not a follower of Tash but of Aslan. Are you insinuating that my brother, Aslan's chosen is meant to die? I would take care on how you speak about the rulers of Narnia" Her voice was low but the threat was clear.

"And I would take care how you address me." Rabadash replied as he sat up, the anger of the queen fueling his own. "For you are currently in my country."

Susan had returned to their chambers instructing the Narnians to prepare for the journey. Rabadash would not be able to separate Edmund from the help that he would find at home, not if Susan had any say.

That evening the Narnians noticed a group of guards attempting to hide outside their lodging. A scout returned to say that the Carlomenes surrounding them out numbered the Narnians three to one and that with the king so sick, escape seemed unlikely.

"Oh Edmund, I do not know what to do." Susan cried as she bathed his brow with a cool cloth.

His eyes were only slits but Susan knew that he was attempting to give her his full attention. "Aslan." He rasped. "Aslan."

Unsure if he was speaking to her or calling for the lion, Susan nodded her head and tears sprang to her eyes. She reached for her brother's cold hand and held it tight. "You are right. I have asked him for his help already, help will come."

Edmund's eye slide closed again and his body began to shake and shutter. Susan called for help and the dryad healer rushed into the room. All that that two could do for the ailing man was to build up the fire and wait for it to pass.

Susan stared at her younger brother, wishing she could just will him back to health. She also wanted Peter and Lucy terribly, somehow Peter's strength always calmed her fear and Lucy's joy could lighten any blackness.

There is also her cordial, which could perhaps heal him, Susan mused, trying to decipher a way to get the pressure liquid to Edmund.

"Your majesty," Althea's soft voice interrupted Susan's thoughts. "I have found something that might be useful."

"You discovered a cure?" Susan asked unable to disguise the growing panic in her voice.

"No, but I believe that it is the only way to save the Just King."

Five days later and Susan was escorting her brother's still form to Cair Paravel. Once they were within miles of the castle, Susan had decided to walk alongside the wagon, in order to brush her fingers through Edmund's hair and to grip his fingers. Somehow being beside him still gave her strength and courage that she felt she lacked.

Absently, she thought of how she had held his hand and brush the hair that was plastered to his face away as he had slipped into sleep. He had given her a small smile and for a moment she had felt the pressure of his fingers in return.

"I love you, Lucy and Peter. Tell them that, if..." Susan had shushed him, not wishing to hear a goodbye. Edmund's eyes had been surprisingly clear in those moments before sleep. "Trust in Aslan Su." He had whispered.

Even now, Susan held onto those words. Aslan was with them. They were all safe between his paws.

As the turrets of Cair Paravel appeared on the horizon, a lightness crept into her heart. Home. Soon they would be home and all would be well.

Althea's plan must work, she thought forcefully, it was their last hope.

Thank you again for reading. All the best

-jem