Susan Was Always First

Seven Devils

Susan's heart was racing, lip bit so her voice did not sound. She would not cry out, would not scream. The woman before her seemed to be waiting for it, pressing deeply into Susan's shoulder joint, fingers digging into her flesh and leaving crescent moon shaped cuts from her nails.

"You are no fun... looks like I'll have to try something else." Wrath narrowed her eyes, wiping the gentle queen's blood off her nails by ripping a piece of Susan's dress off, a ribbon that helped hold her dress in place.

A part of Susan told her to speak out, plead for the woman to let her be and spare her pain, in hopes of saving her child. She feared the woman's cruelty would make her child suffer far worse than she and ultimately die before its first breath was taken. Yet another part of her feared the reaction of her captors if they knew they held not only a queen of Narnia but also the heir to the throne in their grasps. She feared what plans they would have for her child, what they would do to her. She feared them causing her to lose the baby, and with that thought she remained quiet for the moment.

Wrath grabbed her face, holding her head so her eyes were locked with the villian's. "You know, the stories really exaggerated your beauty... I thought you'd be stunning enough that I'd swoon right along with the the men that seem to fall at your feet, but you're nothing special. You hear me? Nothing. Just some woman who fancies herself a queen. You and your pathetic little family need to learn your place."

Her grip was tight on Susan's face. The urge to whimper in pain grew as Wrath tightened her graps, eyes shining with the cruelest form of malice.

"I should just end you here... free the world of another pathetic and pampered queen, but the boss wouldn't like that, so it looks like I'll just have to make your death look like an accident one of these days..."

With those words, Wrath released Susan's face and spun away from her.

"Until later, gentle queen."

The door slammed shut, and Susan was left alone with her thoughts, and the tears that now trickled down her face from the awful words the woman spoke and the pain of her wounds. She could tell bruises would form in both spots the woman had touched.

Was the woman always going to speak such cruelties to her to try and get a rise out of her? Had she turned to emotional torture rather than physical? The words stung nearly as bad as the physical pain.

"Please hurry." Susan whispered to herself, words she wished to say to her husband and family said in hopes that somehow they would know she wanted them to save her, that she was alive and needed to be found. "Please..."

---

"The gentle queen didn't even let out a squeal." Wrath crinkled her nose in anger, arms crossed. "I damn near broke her arm and nothing. This woman must have nerves of steel."

Gathered with her comrades in the dining hall, the orange-haired girl related her time spent with the gentle queen.

"The boss won't like that you marked her lovely face up. He wanted her pretty for bargaining." Lust replied with a small smirk on his face, a look quite unsettling.

"I still don't get how a young little gal like you got caught up in all this, Wrath... I know you look older but you're what, fifteen?" A man spoke, hair grey and blue eyes sunk back. He was heavier set, with a large drink and portion of food before him, and he was eyeing up the other's food.

Wrath snorted. "Why does it matter to you how old I am, old man? I swear, Gluttony, you are the slowest most idiotic-"

"Hey, at least you get noticed, Wrath! I wish I was noticed as much as you..." Tears threatened to creep out of green eyes, a young child speaking. Her blond hair flowed softly down her back.

"Hey! You two made my precious little daughter cry!" The last male in the room slammed his hand on the table, jarring Sloth awake. He stared down everyone at the table until they quieted, then scooped his daughter into his arms, her blond hair matching his. "Just look at my precious little girl and tell me you deserve the attention more than she!"

"Are you all idiots?!" Wrath stood suddenly. "Pride, put your daughter down and shut up or I'll tell your wife how much of a fool you've been, boasting about your brat all day."

"I hope you aren't threatening my husband, Wrath." A cool voice floated into the room as Envy entered. The woman's white hair curled around her face, her green eyes shining. "I do employ you on behalf of Greed, after all."

Wrath tried to hide a scowl as she replied. "Of course not, Miss Second-in-Command. And speaking of the boss..."

"Greed is paying a visit to our captive, and bringing her a friend..." Envy laughed, and her sinister laughter was soon taken up by all those gathered.

----

Susan had fallen into an uneasy and light sleep, which she was startled out of quickly.

Footsteps echoed in the hall and stopped outside her door. Metal locks opened, and soon a stream of light fell into the pitch black room.

"Hello there, Queen Susan. I've brought you a little gift."

Susan was thrown off by the voice. It seemed as if it was not of this world, a chilling voice. However, she could not dwell on this long, as a hooded figure entered the room, holding something in its arms.

Eyes widening, Susan realized with fear that the hooded figure held her elder brother, and that Peter's face was bruised and bloody.

"Is he-"

"He lives." The unnatural voice shifted, and Susan gasped as it perfectly matched Peter's voice.

"Where is my sister? What have you done with her? I won't go down so easily!" The voice shifted back to the cold one it used originally. "I think you get the picture. But even he, the High King, could not best me..."

Dropping the unconscious king on the ground, the strange hooded figure with the changing voice spoke once again, this time in her own voice.

"Please hurry. Please..."

Shuddering, Susan realized those were the words she had spoken just a little while ago, after Wrath had left the room.

"Who are you?" She demanded, her heart beating so loudly she could barely hear anything but it.

"I am called Greed... and you and I will become very good acquaintances, Susan Pevensie of Finchley."

The cloak swirled around the figure as the door shut, once again leaving Susan in the pitch black darkness with only her fear, worries, and the sound of Peter's shallow breath.

The sound of scraping metal locks reverberated through the hall as Greed went to speak with all those gathered.