Chapter 11: Hindsight
It was like a nightmare, the sight of one of the oldest and best forces of the army lying dead and defenseless on the ground before him, a large linen cloth halfway up his lifeless body. Yet it was real, against Aslan's will it was real, and he had to be told three or four times to follow Oreius into the Southern courtyard before he could fully process what had just happened. And now he stood, with Edmund and Oreius and at least five other satyrs, silent and unmoving under the dusky sky.
"What happened?" He finally found his voice to speak, and it was a question he had tried to stifle underneath all the shock but he couldn't help it. "Who did it?"
Edmund was the first to speak, and did so informally. "Isn't it obvious? Whoever tried to kill Susan."
Oreius cleared his throat. "A scream was heard midday. One of the dryads had found him, with this –" he pulled out a dagger from a sack[, one reminiscent of Lucy's that looked about two or three inches longer – "lodged into his side, too far in." Oreius paused, and then continued on. "I am unable to reach Myros. But a reward will be sent to him and his siblings, that I am sure of."
"No amount of gold can ever stand in the place of a father," Peter said, his eyes still glued to Titus' body, as if he was expecting the fox to suddenly move.
"And we have not even a single shred of evidence as to who did it?" Edmund asked after a while.
"My Kings," Oreius said, his head forced down, his gaze, for once, averted. "We are investigating every living soul that has come in and out of the Cair within the last twenty-four hours. You needn't worry. We will catch the culprit and we will make sure he harms nobody else."
"Until then, double the guards. I want at least two satyrs posted on the girls' doors, and two more by the balconies. People are getting creative," he added at Edmund's incredulous look. He turned back to Titus' frail body, and heaved a large, broken sigh. "What connection does poor old Titus have to Susan's attack, in any way?"
"My High King, in a way we are all connected," Oreius said. "My suspicion is that Titus' murder, and the Queen Susan's miraculous survival are only warnings. The first unsuccessful. The second," he indicated Titus, "a message. A message that they will not back down. A message that they will go to great lengths – even killing innocent bystanders – to reach their goal. A goal, however, that still remains uncertain."
After a few minutes of silence, Edmund averted his gaze to Titus again and bent down on one knee, taking hold of the linen cloth halfway up Titus' still body. Slowly, he pulled it up so that it covered the old fox completely. "Whatever the case, whoever the culprit, he is in Aslan's hands now."
o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o
"I know it's repulsive, Su, but just one more, please!" Lucy had spent the remainder of her evening by Susan's side, tucking her in, telling her stories, adjusting her bandages, singing her songs and feeding her the very same concoction she fed Edmund when he had returned to Cair from hunting after receiving a bad serpent's bite. The concoction was assigned by Tyr to be digested every two hours; a great inconvenience for Susan, who had eating almost nothing the entire day.
Susan sighed and held her nose ever so tightly; in almost one gulp, she drained the bottle, shuddered, and handed it back to Lucy. "And I thought what they prescribed in Finchley was the very worst," she said, wiping her full lips.
Lucy laughed, but immediately silenced herself when Susan began coughing. She grabbed a nearby handkerchief, dipped it in a wet solution and rested it on Susan's forehead. "You are feeling better, though, aren't you Su?"
Susan sighed. "That foul poison's ridded itself of my body, that's for sure. For now I suppose it's the shock that's sinking in." After a while of Lucy reapplying the solution to the cloth, Susan said, "I know Peter's working ever so hard to find whoever did this…and Ed and Oreius too…Lucy, you don't have to stay with me all the time. I can care for myself. And in the unlikely event that I can't, I've always got Cedany."
"I know, Su," Lucy said, taking her hair in her hands and bundling it into a bun behind her head. "But I want to help in any way I can. That might not be going around and demanding where everybody was the night you were stabbed, but making sure you're alright amounts to it for me."
"Oh, Lu," Susan said, and pulled her younger sister into an embrace. Three firm knocks sounded from the door, and Susan pulled away. "Oh, that must be Peter."
Lucy rushed to the door, lifting her dress above her ankles in the process, and opened it to the sight of Peter and Edmund, their expressions somber. "Pete!" she said, and threw herself into her older brother's arm, burying her small head into his broad chest, pulling away only when she found his arms were not around her dainty shoulders. "Pete?" she turned to Edmund. "Ed? Everything alright?"
"Is Susan awake?" Peter asked, searching around the room and then stepping in.
"What's happened, Peter?" Lucy said, placing herself between him and Susan's bed. "I've just spoken to Tyr. She's in shock."
"Trust us, Lu, this will come more as a tragedy than a shock." Edmund said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Peter sighed as Lucy allowed him to walk past. Susan held out her hands for him to reach, and he gripped them tightly, pulling her into an embrace. "Oh, Susan. You're alright."
"I'm here," Susan said into his tawny hair. "I'm here, Peter, I'm here."
Peter pulled away, Susan's hands still in his. Lucy and Edmund stood by the bed, Edmund's arms around Lucy's shoulders. "Despite how glad Ed and I are to see you, I'm afraid we come baring bad news."
Edmund's hold on Lucy was tighter, and Susan's expression hardened. "What's happened?"
Peter heaved a sigh. "Titus has been found dead in the Southern courtyard."
Lucy gasped, and Susan did too, withdrawing from Peter's hands to clutch her face. "What – How - ?"
"We're investigating," Edmund continued, and Lucy cried into his shoulder. He looked at Peter. "Peter, Oreius and I. And we won't stop until we find out who or what did it."
Susan's eyes were now teary and her gaze averted. Peter gently placed his hand to her chin and lifted. "But that's why I'm here, Su. Edmund and I. We can't let this happened again. Enough tears have been shed, a life lost...we can't."
For a moment, the only sound was Lucy's sobbing and Edmund's incoherent reassuring. And then Peter continued on: "Is there anything you can remember about that night, Su? I know it's hard, but anything. Anything at all?"
Susan shook her head silently, her knees now leveled with her chest. "Oh, Titus."
Peter dropped his head, and for another moment, there was silence. Then he lifted himself off the bed and dropped a kiss on Susan's forehead. "Sleep tight, Su. Call me or Ed if you need anything."
He gestured to Edmund, who still had Lucy tight in his arms. Edmund lowered his head. "You need me to walk you?" He asked, giving her shoulder a firm squeeze.
Lucy drew back. "No, that's quite alright. I'll stay with Susan." She pulled away and planted a cheek on Edmund's forehead just as Peter did to Susan, and gestured Peter goodbye, making her way to Susan's side to hold her hand. "She needs me."
"Sleep well, the both of you," Edmund said over his shoulder as the two made their way towards the door.
"There was someone else," Susan suddenly blurted as Peter turned on the knob.
"What was that, sis?" Edmund said.
Susan dropped her knees and cleared her throat. "Whoever he was. He didn't attack alone. There was someone else."
And then one more bout of silence rocked the room.
As always, thanks very much for the reviews and for your ability to stick with me through my horrible updating. Prince Caspian was on TV tonight and that's actually what inspired me to write!
And all of your questions will be answered in the coming chapters. Until then…
xx Izzy
