“I knew there was something Narnian about you!” Lucy exclaimed.
I put a finger to my lips and checked for anyone that might have heard. “Let us go to the dormitory where we can speak freely,” I suggested, falling easily back into courtly speech.
“Yes, let us go,” Susan agreed, straightening as she spoke.
The three of us walked quickly to Saint Rose, and as we walked I could feel the excitement Susan and Lucy were feeling. We were stopped only once by two Sisters because they noticed our clothes and wondered what had happened. It took us a few seconds to respond, for we had been so focused on getting to our room and talking that we had momentarily forgotten the tussle we had gotten into earlier. After a quick explanation, Susan, Lucy, and I were back on our way to the dorm.
Lucy bounced onto Susan’s bed next to her sister, who gracefully sat down on it, while I shut and locked the door. It was amazing to see the differences in the two queens’ personalities.
“When did you go to Narnia, Swanwhite?” Lucy asked excitedly.
I beamed on the inside when she used my Narnian name. “The night of August twenty-ninth this year past,” I answered as I joined them on the bed. Both of their jaws dropped.
“You went two and a half weeks before we did,” Susan stated in awe. “What did you think of Narnia at first?”
I thought for a moment. “It was an odd place to me, with her Talking Animals and mythical Creatures. However, I adapted and became Princess of Narnia, and I loved our country ever since.”
“Princess?” Lucy asked. “Oh, that’s right. King Gabriel and Queen Atarah adopted you. They had no children of their own, correct?”
“Yes, though I had two of my own.”
“Bremton and Mezinda!” Lucy said happily.
“You certainly know your history!” I said with a smile.
“Lucy always was good at it,” Susan said with a smile of her own.
“What happened to them?” Lucy asked, though I was certain she knew.
“Mezinda married and became Queen of Archenland, and Bremton …” I trailed off as I remembered how he died.
My son had been stabbed through the belly by a Minotaur. I saw him fall and went to protect him. The Minotaur killed Petra before I reached them, and the foul creature was about to strike my son again when I ended his evil life. I dropped to the turf and lifted Bremton’s bloody torso onto my lap. He looked up into my eyes and said, “I’ll see you soon. I love you, Mother.” I was able to tell him I loved him, too, before his body went limp. Around me, battle had still raged while I sat in shock, seeing similarities between Bremton and Amesh’s deaths.
“Died in battle,” Susan said quietly.
Her voice brought me back to the present, and I smiled apologetically at them. “I am sorry.”
Lucy reached out and put her hand on mine. “It is alright. We understand. I should not have asked.”
I gave the young queen a watery smile. “It is alright,” I reassured her.
“Though none of us ever lost children next to us in battle, we do understand,” Susan added.
“I know, and I appreciate it,” I said, turning so I could get a clear view of both of them. “Did any of you get married?” I asked, changing the topic to a happier one.
“Only Susan,” Queen Lucy said with a smile.
“Really? Not you, Lucy?”
She shook her head. “I devoted my time in Narnia to Aslan.”
“Aaaah. You enjoyed it very much, did you not?”
“I adored it! It was amazing how happy I was, being Aslan’s.”
“Are you going to continue to do so here?”
“Oh, yes.”
“That is wonderful. Now Susan,” I said, turning to her. “Your husband.”
My fellow queen blushed as she smiled widely. “He was the son of a Galman farmer, and he came over with his father, who came to Narnia to offer his services to us. They were both fantastic. They tended the crop fields near Cair Paravel, the animals’ stables – even the Castle Gardens!”
“Oooh. That was how you became smitten with him, was it not? You came across him working in the Castle Gardens, didn’t you?”
Both queens nodded. “And how old were you at the time?” I questioned.
“Sixteen,” Susan answered.
My eyebrows sprang up in surprise. “And how old was he – oh please give me his name!”
We all giggled at the fact that Susan had yet to say her husband’s name. “His name is – was Karic. He was the same age as Peter, seventeen.”
“Aaah. So how long until the two of you married?”
“Oh, it took Karic a year to asked Peter and Edmund if he could court me.”
“I assume they said ‘yes’ since he became your husband,” I said with a warm smile.
“Of course!” Susan exclaimed, her voice cracking.
“When did you wed?”
“A month before I turned nineteen. By Peter’s request, we waited until I was at least eighteen.”
“Ah, how interesting!”
I looked to Lucy. Though she seemed enthusiastic about hearing Narnia tales, I could tell she wanted to join in. “How about my queens tell me of how they arrived in Narnia and how they left?” I suggested.
“Oh Lucy, you tell of how we went, for it is truly your story to tell,” Susan pleaded as she picked up on my intentions.
Lucy grinned widely. “Alright! But I may need your help, Susan.”
“I’m sure you will not, but I shall add to it if you wish.”
“Alright. It was a rainy day at Professor Kirke’s house when I guilt-tripped Peter into playing hide-and-seek…”
-x-x-x-x-x-
Lucy and Susan told me about their first entrance into and exit from Narnia, and about their most recent trip. I learned that they were called to help Prince Caspian, a Telmarine, regain his rightful throne, and that the road to getting him there was filled with bumps and potholes. The Gentle and Valiant recounted their tales to me through lunch and until about midafternoon – at which point Lucy decided that she wished to go back outside.
“I shall see the two of you later, perhaps at dinner,” Queen Lucy said as she walked towards the door. “Fare thee well, Su and Swan.”
“Fare thee well, Lu,” Queen Susan and I replied.
Lucy exited the dormitory, and we stood to stretch. Susan and I smiled brightly at each other, having enjoyed knowing someone else who had been to Narnia, and recounting our stories. I felt so happy that I wanted to sing. Susan had the same idea, and we thought of the same song.
“We are one in the Spir-it, we are one in As-lan,
We are one in the Spir-it, we are one in As-lan,
And we pray that all u-ni-ty may one day be re-stored.
“And they’ll know we are Nar-nians by our love, by our love,
Yes they’ll know we are Nar-nians by our love.
“We will walk with each oth-er, we will walk hand in hand,
We will walk with each oth-er, we will walk hand in hand,
And to-geth-er we’ll spread the news that He is in our land.
“And they’ll know we are Nar-nians by our love, by our love,
Yes they’ll know we are Nar-nians by our love.
“We will work with each oth-er, we will work side by side,
We will work with each oth-er, we will work side by side,
And we’ll guard each one’s dig-ni-ty and save each one’s pride.
“And they’ll know we are Nar-nians by our love, by our love,
Yes they’ll know we are Nar-nians by our love.
“All praise to the Emp-’r, from who all things come,
And all praise to As-lan, His on-ly Son,
And all praise to the Spir-it, who makes us one.
“And they’ll know we are Nar-nians by our love, by our love,
Yes they’ll know we are Nar-nians by our love.”
Together, we held the last note for a few seconds and ended with a perfect cutoff. The only thing that went wrong was that we began to laugh as soon as we finished.
“Great minds truly think alike,” Susan commented.
“Indeed,” I agreed. I looked out our window to see the sun shining down on the earth. It was a warm light, and I desperately wanted to be in it. “What do to you say we follow Lucy’s example and go outside?”
Susan looked out the window and nodded. “Sounds like a swell idea, but I think we should clean up first.”
I looked down at my clothes and laughed again.
-x-x-x-x-x-
“There you are!” Phebe yelled as we walked out of Saint Rose. She ran up to us and began talking to me, ignoring Susan.
“Everyone’s been wondering where you were,” she explained.
I smiled warmly at my friend. “I was talking with Susan,” I said with a gesture. “Susan, this is my friend Phebe. Phebe, this is my roommate Susan.”
Phebe turned slightly in the Gentle’s direction, stuck her hand out and said, “Nice to meet you.”
Susan, after a moment’s hesitation, reached out and shook my friend’s hand. “It is my pleasure.”
“So, what were you two talking so much about?” Phebe asked, her eyes going back and forth between me and Susan.
I hesitated for a split second before thinking up a cover story which wasn’t altogether a lie, but it would be on my list of sins for confession. “We discovered this morning that Susan and I both have great talents for storytelling. You should have heard some of Susan’s!”
My fellow queen’s body language told me that she was a bit worried even though she smiled as Phebe beamed and said, “Are yours as good as Annabelle’s?”
“I’d like to think so.”
“Would you mind then, coming and sharing a few with the girls?”
My fellow queen looked to me for reassurance, and I nodded. “Of course,” she replied. “I would be delighted.”
“Phebe, why don’t you go tell the rest of the girls that Susan is going to join us, and she’s going to tell us a story,” I suggested.
“Okay! We’ll meet beneath the tree.”
“Alright.” And with that, she ran off to find everyone.
We began walking towards the tree I had been sitting in earlier with my girls. “Do they know … where you’ve been?” Susan asked, concerned.
“Only Emma, though I want to tell them all. Right now, I tell them stories about what happened there and that’s all they think they are—stories. Eamon, my older brother, told me not to tell them in case they accidentally say something that would prevent my secret from staying secret.”
“Your brother is very much like my brothers; they said the same thing.”
I smiled. “I think they’d like each other, but I don’t think Narnia should really be kept too tight a secret. It was such a wonderful place – so loving, fun, and adventurous – that I think people should know.”
The Gentle nodded. “I agree, but I think we should also be careful as to who we tell about Narnia.”
“I agree. So what story are you going to tell?” I asked to change the topic.
The Gentle Queen gave a teasing smile. “You will have to wait and see.”
I feigned offense, and we laughed up until we arrived at the tree. All my girls were sitting in a circle with space for me and Susan to sit. The two of us sat down, and I started the introductions.
“I shall go around the circle. Susan, this is Phebe, as you know already, Maggie, Sara, Heather, Heidi, and Emma. Girls, this is Susan, my roommate and fellow storyteller.”
Susan dipped her head. “Hello.”
The girls all smiled welcomingly. “Hello!”
“You are going to tell us a story?” Heather and Heidi asked together.
The two of them asking at the same time didn’t faze Susan. “Yes. I am going to tell you the story of a queen who was invited to a foreign country and fell into a trap laid by the man who asked her to come…”
-x-x-x-x-x-
As Queen Susan and I got ready to retire for the night, I noticed she seemed downhearted. Ever since she finished telling her story, she did not act like the Gentle Queen I had come to know that afternoon.
“Susan, are you feeling well?” I asked after I said my prayers.
She gave me a sad smile from where she sat on her bed. “Physically, yes, mentally, no.”
I rose from the floor and joined Susan on her bed. “Why are you not feeling mentally well?”
She drew in a shaky breath. “I want to go home.”
I knew by “home” that my fellow queen meant Narnia. She had not mentioned when she and Lucy spoke of their recent trip to Narnia that it was her last, but I surmised from her behaviour at the beginning of school and the way she said she wanted to go home, that she could no longer visit Narnia. It was a hard thing to deal with, not being able to go back to a place you worked so hard for, and you loved so much. I even had a hard time dealing with the homesickness my first few months away, but I accepted what Aslan told me and decided to prepare for my mission here.
“Aslan told you that you and Peter were never to return, did He not?” I asked softly.
Susan nodded. Tears welled in her eyes. “He said that we knew Him in Narnia and must learn to know Him by His name here in this world, and that we would not be able to do so if we continued to come back. He also said that we had learned all that we could from Narnia and must apply what we learned here.”
“Sounds like a solid explanation. Did Aslan give you and your royal brother other missions as well?”
“Yes, but Aslan said that it would be best if we did not discuss them.”
Nodding, I said, “I understand. I must say though, Susan, you and Peter were lucky to have left Narnia the first time at such a young age.”
“Young age? You call twenty-seven a young age?”
“Since I left at the age of seventy-two and was almost dead, yes, I call twenty-seven a young age.”
Susan gave a wet laugh. “I’m sorry. I forgot about that.”
“It’s alright. Besides Su, you have your memories, and they will never fade.”
“Truly?”
“Truly, Aslan told me so. And I shall be able to tell you how Narnia’s doing.”
The Gentle Queen tilted her head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“Aslan gives me dreams about what happens in Narnia. I saw the four of you go to Narnia twice, though I didn’t know all of what went on. I’ve seen what Jadis did to my people, and I saw what the Telmarines did to our people. And in the dreams that have been ‘in-betweens,’ I’ve always seen a Wolf. The second one looked to be a descendent of Mesha, one of Famina and Shream’s pups that joined Narnia’s Army, but I thought she and her brother Mintier died when Jadis finally conquered Narnia.”
“Mintier … Mesha …” Susan said to herself. “I know those names.” My brow furrowed in confusion. “Of course!” she exclaimed. “They were mine and Peter’s guards during our time there!”
“What?” I asked, even more confused.
“Mintier and Mesha were turned to stone by Jadis because they were loyal to you and Aslan. When Lucy, Aslan, and I stormed her castle, they were two of the Wolves in her courtyard. Once they learned what had happened, they insisted they be guards for me and Peter and that any of their living relatives be guards for Edmund and Lu. They both eventually found mates and had pups. That’s why that Wolf looked like Mesha.”
I smiled with tears in my eyes. “I’m glad they had a good long life with wonderful people. However, why did they decided to be guards when they enjoyed being in the army?”
“They said that they felt they should carry on the family tradition of guarding the royal family. Mintier and Mesha’s children, and the descendents of Riker even carried on the tradition. I have no doubt that Caspian is being guarded by at least two of them!”
“Bless them! They are loyal Wolves to the end.”
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