Peter entered the stateroom stone-faced, speaking without preamble, “Titanic is going down.”
“What?” Susan and Edmund jumped to their feet.
“The fools hit an iceberg.” the High King’s tone was edged with anger, “They had reports of ice nearby and they ignored it. They ignored the warning and continued at full speed. Outrageous!”
“I heard talk about getting the women and children into the lifeboats while they signal for help,” he continued, softening his tone with difficulty, “but, as we noted before, those idiots don’t have enough seats for everyone. Ed, I’m hoping the crew will let us help. Maybe a few more souls will survive if they have two extra pairs of hands.”
“I’m not getting into a boat without you guys,” Susan informed them, glaring at her brothers with regal authority, her arms folded across her chest, “neither will Lucy. No queen of Narnia would do such a thing. We can help you with the boats.”
“You think it would help if we mention that we’re not just a couple of first-class dandies?” Edmund muttered, taking his older sister’s declaration in stride as they threw on their coats, “No one around here exactly knows that we’ve had years and years of experience at sea.”
Peter snorted in reply, then suddenly looked alarmed, “I say, where is Lu anyways?”
“I last saw her at dinner.” Edmund turned gray, “Su?”
“She helped me mend a couple old dresses an hour or so ago,” Susan quickly stepped around them to check the hallway, “but she scooted out when we were done and I didn’t ask where she was going.”
“Well, we have to find her…,” Peter muttered.
“Let’s split up,” Edmund advised, “we’ll cover the ship faster.”
“Su,” the High King gave quick orders, “you take the first class rooms. Ed, you take second class. I’ll go down to third class.”
“If I know Lu,” Edmund muttered, as the kings jogged down the hall towards doors that would access the lower class rooms. “She knew the ship was going down before you did and she’s helping those poor souls who don’t stand a chance tonight.”
As her brothers disappeared to descend into the ship, Susan ducked back into their stateroom to retrieve her magical bow and arrows from under her bed. Fitting an arrow to the string, she stormed down the hallway and yanked open the door of a first-class dining saloon. Inside a number of people were listlessly sitting around waiting for directions; some were wearing life preservers and others were not.
“Have any of you seen my sister, Lucy?” She barked, commanding their attention like a wrathful queen.
Startled looks and negative responses made her face reddened with annoyance and she quickly began shooting, not stopping until everyone in the room had fallen. Then she whirled around with a huff, and headed for the next room.
Ignoring the stench of tobacco and swirling smoke in the men’s smoking lounge, she again fitted an arrow to her sting and posed the same question to the horrified occupants. She got the same response and had the same reaction.
But just as the last body toppled over a couch the door opened and her brothers appeared with the youngest Pevensie in tow.
“We found her.” Peter stated the obvious, not even lifting an eyebrow in response to his sister’s mass murder.
Susan’s face paled, suddenly realizing what she’d done.
“Oh, dear…,” she muttered, looking at all the carnage.