A/N: ️This chapter belongs to Peter and Susan.

Let me know your thoughts and reactions are everything.

All rights to the world and characters of Narnia belong to C.S. Lewis and his estate.

Chapter 19 - The Breaking Point

Peter's POV

The war council chamber was already tense when I stepped inside.

Erasmus stood near the war table, arms crossed, his expression tight with restrained frustration. Edmund was beside him, gripping a crumpled letter in his fist—the messenger's report. His knuckles were white, his jaw set in a grim line.

I didn't need to ask. I could see it in his face.

Something was wrong.

"The dwarves turned on them," Edmund said without preamble. His voice was level, but I caught the flicker of anger beneath it. "It was a trap. The company is caught in an ambush. We don't know how many made it out."

A cold knot formed in my stomach. The words felt distant, surreal, but the weight of them pressed down on my chest like stone.

Erasmus exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "The traitor knew. They had to. The dwarves wouldn't risk turning unless they were certain we were coming."

I barely registered the messenger still standing at attention near the door. My mind was already moving, breaking down strategies, planning contingencies. We needed scouts. More men. The surviving company had to be reinforced.

The hallway outside was dimly lit, torches flickering against the stone walls as I stalked down the corridor. The weight of the news sat heavily on my shoulders, my mind churning with next steps.

I needed time to think—away from the war table, away from the suffocating pressure of command.

I rounded a corner, nearly colliding with Susan.

She had been waiting for me.

I exhaled sharply, irritation sparking. "Not now, Susan."

"Peter, please," she said, stepping in my way. "I know you're furious. I know this is bad. But I need to talk to you."

I clenched my jaw. "Susan—"

"I know you think I don't care." Her voice was steady, but there was something raw beneath it. "I do. I never stopped."

I turned away, running a hand through my hair. "You left this behind, Susan. You walked away from it. While we held on to everything, you—" I cut myself off, shaking my head. "Why now? Why do you suddenly care now?"

Susan's hands curled into fists. "I never forgot. And I never stopped caring."

"Then where have you been, Susan?" I demanded, stepping closer. "While we held on to this? While we lived every single day wondering if we'd ever see Narnia again? While Lucy still dreamed about it and Edmund studied war and I—" I inhaled deeply. "Where were you?"

Susan's breath hitched. "Trying to survive."

I scoffed. "By pretending?"

She met my gaze, steel in her eyes. "By coping. By doing what I had to. Because I knew we'd never come back. I knew it was over, and I didn't know how to live with that."

For a moment, we just stood there, years of silence cracking open between us.

I wanted to say something—anything.

But before I could respond—

A voice, urgent and breathless, cut through the corridor.

"James is gone."

I turned sharply to see Queen Calantha standing at the end of the hallway.

I frowned. "What?"

Calantha stepped forward, her face composed, but her eyes filled with concern. "Eleanor came to me," she said. "She can't find James anywhere in the castle."

My frustration snapped into something colder. Sharper. "Are we sure he's not just—"

"She's sure," Calantha said firmly. "She searched. The guards haven't seen him. He's not in his chambers, not in the training grounds, not in the stables. He's gone."

The pieces clicked together in my head—too fast, too wrong.

"No, he did not," I said under my breath, as if saying it aloud would make it true.

Behind me, Erasmus' voice cut through the tension.

"Do you think he is out there?"

I didn't answer right away. My silence must have been confirmation enough because Erasmus inhaled deeply, his expression dark.

After a heavy pause, he spoke again.

"Then we must ask—who knew about the mission?"

I exhaled sharply, my chest tight with frustration, helplessness, and the unbearable weight of everything breaking apart.

I met Susan's eyes—and for the first time, I saw it.

She was just as terrified as I was.

Then, I looked at Calantha, and something in her expression made my resolve harden.

I straightened, my voice steady.

"Then let's find him."