THE LAST TEMPTATION OF SUSAN
Chapter Twelve: Hour Of Vengeance
"It's time, Rozalina."
"I hear and obey, my father." The girl sighed as she put away her childish things. She had been drawing a picture of Prince Rabadash and her brother Reza Tarkhaan locked in mortal combat with Aslan, the foul fiend of Narnia. In the picture her brother was gravely wounded, trapped beneath the lion's paws. But Rabadash was about to kill the beast with his long curved sword. Underneath the picture Rozalina had written, "Hour of vengeance – the bolt of Tash falls from above!"
But in the real world vengeance wasn't always a matter of swords and lightning bolts. And sometimes the evil enemy was not so easy to hate and destroy.
"There she is." Benruz Tarkhaan pointed to where the Queen of Narnia lay sleeping by the outdoor swimming pool. It would be easy to creep up on Susan and kill her in her sleep. Wasn't that what her brother and Tash would want? Yet deep down Rozalina felt ashamed at the idea of killing a helpless enemy. She could almost hear the gentle voice of the queen, saying, "I've often heard that the Calormenes are a cruel people. But I've never heard of a Calormen coward."
"Go to her," Benruz Tarkhaan commanded. "Wake her up. It is time, girl. Time to prove you truly loved your brother Reza. You know what you must do."
"Yes, my father." Rozalina moved forward with a smile on her face.
"Susan, Queen Susan, wake up! Rabadash is in trouble."
"What? Dash in trouble? Where is he – oh, my head!" Susan woke up feeling as though she had to rush to the prince's rescue. But she sat up too quickly. It seemed the iced tea she'd been drinking all afternoon really packed a wallop. Her head was pounding and everything kept spinning. She remembered chatting with Benruz Tarkhaan, something about modeling and making lots of money. But then everything went black. How long had she been out?
"Come on, come on, we've got to get going!" Rozalina kept poking and prodding as Susan stood up stretching and shivering. The night air was chilly and she'd slept in nothing but a swim suit.
"Where are we going?" she asked, blinking her brown eyes.
The dark, lively little Calormen girl let out an impatient hiss. "Rabadash went off to the mountains early this morning, remember? He hasn't come back yet and it's past dinner. But my father found this floating in the river."
"That's the turban Rabadash wore over his helmet!" Susan's memory flew back to Cair Paravel, to the exciting day Prince Rabadash challenged all comers at the tournament – and the exciting night that followed. The long-ago memory of his lips on hers made Queen Susan frantic to find him at once. "Dash may be hurt – we have to find that mountain trail!"
"No, no!" Rozalina tugged her arm. "Benruz Tarkhaan has a boat. We can go up river and reach the mountains by water. If Rabadash lost his turban he was probably drinking by a mountain stream – we'll most likely find him near the water."
"Right!" All Susan's doubts and fears were instantly extinguished by her deep desire to rescue Prince Rabadash.
"Welcome aboard La Paloma, O royal queen!" Benruz Tarkhaan bowed low, his formal courtesy seeming a bit out of place on such a sleek modern craft. The Dove, Susan realized, was a yacht like the ones millionaires had at home. But this luxurious yacht had modern devices of every kind, even a microwave oven to heat hot chocolate in the galley.
"Isn't it a bit dangerous to be traveling the river at night?" she asked some time later, holding a steaming mug in her cold hands as she sat on a high stool in the stainless-steel galley. The two Calormene females, Rozalina and Zuleika, had gone below to sleep after helping her change out of her revealing bikini and into jeans and a warm pullover sweater. Only Benruz Tarkhaan remained to keep her company, his white teeth gleaming in the dim light from the microwave.
"Do not worry about the thunder lizards," the older man told Susan, smiling at the nervous look on her flawless pale face. "The weeds which grow by the river have a scent which seems to scare them off. Of course, there are other plants which attract them. Take these blossoms, for example."
"Mm, what a lovely scent." Susan closed her eyes, inhaling the fresh scent of the tiny white flowers with pleasure. Then she frowned. "Isn't this the plant you've been cultivating in the fields behind your house?"
The older man nodded. "The coca plant is a useful cash crop. Good for trading in my own world, too."
"But if the scent attracts dinosaurs . . ." Susan was suddenly very dizzy. She stood up, meaning to go to her cabin. Instead she fell into the arms of Benruz Tarkhaan. And then everything went black.
When Susan regained consciousness she was standing knee-deep in a carpet of small white flowers. She struggled, but it was no use. Her hands were tied behind her back. She was fastened to a stake that had been driven deep into the soft mud of the river bank.
"What is the meaning of this?" The Queen of Narnia saw three shadowy figures standing on a nearby hill. She tried to sound stern and bold instead of helpless and frightened.
"This is the hour of vengeance," said the smallest figure. "When the sun rises, the dinosaurs will come out of the jungle. They will smell the weeds, and they will come to you. Hopefully it will be a quick death. You are a very kind lady."
"But we're friends! Rozalina, why are you doing this to me?"
"It is the will of Tash." Rozalina spoke as though in a trance. "Prince Rabadash told me how your sister killed my brother. Now I'm going to kill you. It is right for me to do this."
"No, it is not right for you to do this! You've been dishonest with me and you're using trickery to do something evil! And besides. . ." Susan was certain she remembered something about vengeance belonging to someone wiser than the person who was angry. But all she could think of was Rabadash finding her dead and blaming himself, or worse, blaming Aslan. Cursing Aslan. That started her crying, for she knew he would be lost then. And the truth was that, though she loved Aslan most of all, Susan cared much more about her handsome dark prince than she did about herself.
"Don't take it so hard, cupcake," laughed evil Benruz Tarkhaan. "The dinosaurs will make it quick. And they'll take care of Prince Rabadash, too. That way the gateway between worlds can stay open, and I can make billions of dollars trading with the drug cartels. The coca plant is native to South America, but it grows even better here."
"But what about the people of this world?" Susan sobbed. "Don't you care what happens to them?"
"Of course I do," the Tarkhaan said. "Even though my name is really Ben Ruiz, I'm still loyal to the Tisroc, may he live forever. He's happy that I'm getting rid of his eldest son. Rabadash always was too stupid and reckless for him. And not only that, but with a few modern weapons we can conquer Narnia and Archenland in no time. Just think what Rabadash could have done with a few machine guns!"
"Zuleika, Rozalina, how can you allow this to happen?" Susan sniffled loudly. She was more hurt than afraid.
"I must obey my husband," said the Calormen lady.
"I must avenge my brother," said the Calormen girl.
Neither of them looked very happy. When Benruz Tarkhaan whistled for some extra help they didn't even look up. And then the men with the machine guns started binding them to stakes as well.