Soldier's Heart (a Narnia novella)

Chapter 5: Last Rites

Susan awoke sitting in a chair in the corner of Lucy's chambers. At some point in the night, after having soothed Lucy back to sleep after a particularly violent night terror, she had moved to the chair in hopes of avoiding Lucy's thrashing and perhaps getting some sleep. By some miracle, Lucy hadn't cried out the rest of the night, and Susan had slept soundly.

She glanced out the window. The sky was dark with clouds, and rain was thrashing, but it was morning. A bit too early to wake Lucy. In fact, the boys were likely still asleep.

Susan looked away from the window to the bed. Her heart stopped.

The bed was empty.

A thousand what-ifs began to tumble through her head, but the practical side of her motherly-nature told her brain to slow down. Don't jump to conclusions just yet. Perhaps she awoke and went to sit in the Solar. With haste Susan left the room, not bothering to close the door behind her.

She wasn't in the Solar. Or the Library. Or the Great Hall. Or the Observatory. Not in the Kitchen, or the Entrance Hall. Not in the Music Room or the Drawing Room or The Ballroom. Panic began to set in. She ran back up the stairs, screaming for the others. Peter rushed out of his room, sleep shirt half untucked, hair tousled on all sides.

"What is it?" He asked. "Is it Lucy?"

"She's gone!" Susan cried hysterically. "She's not there– I was asleep, and she's not there."

Edmund appeared behind Peter.

Peter held Susan's shoulders to steady her. "Slow down, take a deep breath. Have you looked in the Solar?"

"Yes! I've looked everywhere, in every room. She's not in the castle. She must have left when I was asleep. But why? And where would she have gone? And why didn't I wake up?"

"Shhh, try to calm down. Edmund," Peter said, turning to look at his brother. "Go wake Peridan. Tell him to set the guards looking around the castle grounds."

Edmund nodded.

Peter turned back to Susan. "We'll find her. I promise."

"Sire," Peridan walked up, sword already hanging at his side.

"Peridan," Peter dropped his hands from Susan's shoulders and moved towards the lord. "I need you to send the guards to search the grounds." He hesitated, not wanting to say what he was thinking. "Tell them to pay special attention to the sea-side. If they don't find her, I need you to come with Edmund and me. We'll search the surrounding areas."

"Do you think she could have gotten that far?" Peridan asked.

Peter shrugged. "We've no idea what happened. We should cover as much ground as we can."

The search of the castle grounds didn't last long.

"My Lord, the queen isn't on the premises," a young knight reported.

"Thank you, Griflet." Peter squeezed the knight's shoulder. "Peridan, put together 2 groups of knights, and assign them to the North and South. We'll go West. If Lucy isn't found by sunset tonight, tell them to come back to the Cair, and we will regroup."

"I'm coming with you." Susan stepped up.

"Su, are you sure you're emotionally ready for this?"

She wiped a tear from her face, as if trying to hide that she was just crying. "I am not staying here."

Peter nodded. There was no time to argue.

~~~

The rain was whipping so hard they had to yell to hear each other over the storm. Peter led the way, squinting through the mist. He had thought it made most sense for Lucy to head West. After all, Mr. Tumnus lived in the North-West. It was the area she knew best. If she was wandering in some confused state wouldn't she go back to memories that seemed familiar?