Susan Was Always First

The Queen From Her Bed

There was silence in the palace. Not a soul dare speak, so in fear were they. Peter and Susan, both vanished without a trace...

Lucy paced, her soft steps echoing through the library. Caspian had arrived back yesterday, but Peter...

The youngest queen did not have any tears left to cry. She could barely comprehend just how much this was going to affect everything. Her two eldest siblings... Shaky hands crossing and uncrossing, thumbs twirling and running across her knuckles as she paced and paced, her heartbeat quickening each time she thought about them being hurt or- oh Aslan, she couldn't bring herself to imagine them gone. They had to live on...

Edmund was silently watching her, eyes void of expression, though he wore a frown on his face. His back was rigid, hand resting on the sword next to him as if he was expecting them to be subject to an attack at any moment. He feared that as each moment passed, the odds of happiness returning grew less and less. Would they find Susan and Peter alive? Would he get to welcome his future niece or nephew into the world? Moments passed with fear constantly clutching his heart, holding onto worry and sorrow. What would happen...

Caspian had locked himself in his room, clutching onto Susan's pillow as he buried his face and blamed himself for everything that had happened. How did he not wake to his love being taken? How was he foolish enough to let Peter go alone? Why couldn't he protect the family that was now his? And his child... he prayed Susan and the child she carried would live. Each second ate away at him, bringing out a primal fear and a stronger drive to find those missing and protect those who were still safe. They had to live...

---

"...Stole the queen from her bed..." Wrath sang a tune to herself as she prepared to give the Golden King his proper greeting. Seeing as the Gentle Queen was now untouchable, she would have to make sure the woman knew that her older brother was going to suffer extra because of it. And if her fingers stained red after this little warm-up welcome round, well, that wouldn't be so awful... Especially if the Gentle Queen had to watch her perform her little skill set.

The young teen smirked as she made her way down the hall to the narrow staircase. Many people doubted her skills due to her age, but she had known little but the blade and arts of torture. Extracting both pain and information had been her skills since she was not much older than little Jealousy, and it was all she knew, never getting to play or feel the love of a parent-not that she wanted to know what a normal childhood was like, though. She was quite content with the way she was raised, happy to be of assistance in the twisted art of causing pain. Did she draw a sense of pleasure from others pain? Perhaps, not that she would tell anyone that.

She remembered meeting Envy, the white-haired woman easily disarming those who Wrath had worked for. The woman had bent down to her height, asking if she would like to work for a higher purpose than just torturing poor souls for coin and secrets. She was only ten at the time, and once she learned of the goal, she was more than eager...

Kings and Queens had to learn their places too, after all...

---

Lust was a handsome man, with the vice of many other handsome men. He enjoyed the company of anyone willing to show him a good time, and found the appeal of beauties such as the two queens the most desirable. He had wanted the Gentle Queen, but her little sister would do nicely enough for their plans...

Ah, the chestnut-haired beauty who would be his charge! The bright-eyed favorite of Aslan himself! What a stunning pair they wold make! What gazes they would draw! She would certainly fall for him eventually, and then Oh! How wonderful things could be for them! No woman was truly immune to his gaze, and no man could deny his looks. He had seen the Gentle Queen even admiring him, and she was a married woman! Winning over the younger queen would be easy!

In his early twenties, he had been recruited by Envy only this last year. She had found him at a brothel, both selling and buying love. He had only needed to hear what his role would be to eagerly agree to come with her.

After all, seeing his future offspring rule next to Envy's daughter, and getting to hold a queen as his lover would be enough to draw any man's curiosity, no?

---

Susan shivered in the chill of the dark room. She and Peter were both silent, minds whirling as they tried to work out what this group of people had planned for them.

The little girl would not leave Susan's mind. Why drag a small child into all this? Did she hold a role, or was she simply a victim of her father's role in the group?

Softly, Susan called out to her brother, worrying for him and just wanting to hear another voice again. She didn't know how many hours they passed in silence, but knew that she needed to hear some voice lest her mind begin to go. "Are you cold?"

"I'm okay." Peter replied, though the clatter of his teeth gave away his lie.

Susan unwrapped the blanket from around her shoulders, the bitter air stinging her exposed skin, and tossed it towards her brother, eyes quite adjusted to the pitch black cell.

"You should have this, Susan." Peter threw it right back to his younger sister. "You can't risk getting sick."

"But Peter-"

"Susan, please." Peter pleaded. "For your sake and for my future niece or nephew, stay warm and stay healthy."

He paused only a moment, then changed the topic. "Do you think there are seven of them? Going off of the names they have given themselves, I can only assume they are a team of seven."

"I have seen five of them, if that's the case. Sloth, Lust, Wrath, Greed, and the man from yesterday who I think may be Pride."

"You said Greed could throw their voice... could they be the leader?" Peter was clearing setting up a ranking system in his head, trying to place their enemies and find weakness where he could. "And since Envy and Gluttony haven't been down here, assuming that man was Pride, perhaps they are the lower members of the group?"

"Perhaps." Susan replied. "What are you planning, Peter? I know that tone."

Peter replied in a whispered tone, hearing footsteps in the hall. "I'm thinking-"

The door unlocked then, the noise drowing out the last few words Peter spoke.

Wrath's smirking face greeted them. She shot a malice-filled look at Susan, then grinned wickedly at Peter, a small knife flashing in her hand. "Ready to have some fun, High King?"