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Prompt from guest: a fic where Susan takes Caspian' place in a duel to save him.

As always, please leave comments/prompts/ideas :)

No one knew who the mysterious yellow knight was. By his armor, Susan assumed him to be Terebinthian, but his fighting style almost seemed more Galman. Nevertheless, when he threw his gauntlet down to challenge her husband, Susan couldn't help being terrified. Caspian of course accepted the challenge readily, unable to show cowardice in public, particularly as a newly crowned King in a rather unconventional way.

"Susan, please talk with me. You've seemed preoccupied all evening," Caspian said.

"What did you expect? My husband is about to face what appear to be an incredibly formidable enemy, and we do not even know what grudge he holds against you," Susan exclaimed.

"I've fought before," Caspian protested.

"Not like this. And you wouldn't have even won Telmar if I had not convinced my brother to fight your uncle on your behalf," Susan pointed out.

Caspian knew she had him beat there, so he merely said, "Susan, love, I promise I'll be fine."

"We have no clue what he wants from you. What if he means to kill you?" Susan protested.

"Shh," Caspian said, trying to distract Susan with a kiss.

"I can tell what you're trying to do," Susan protested, pushing him off. He switched to kissing her neck, knowing how it drove her crazy.

"Caspian! Ohhh…By the Mane," Susan cursed. He laughed, holding his arms around her more tightly as he kissed her hair.

"Come to bed with me?" he begged.

"I ...Only because you do need your sleep if you are going to insist upon fighting," Susan sighed.

The next morning, the reality of it hit Caspian much more than it had last night. The yellow knight was handling his sword like an expert. In comparison, Caspian had been sheltered most of his life, kept to the side by his uncle who would have preferred to keep him incapable of fighting him.

"You ready?" Susan asked softly, handing him his newly polished sword.

"As ready as I'll ever be I suppose," he said, kissing her temple. But it didn't take long for it to be clear that he was not ready to face such a formidable foe. Caspian fought his best, but the subpar training his uncle had arranged for him wasn't nearly enough to face a well-trained thug who was clearly out to murder Caspian.

And yet for the first five minutes or so, Caspian held his own. But then with the yellow knight had cornered him, Caspian could merely block the vicious blows as Susan watched on fearfully. She wanted to cry out his name, but knew better than to possibly distract him.

"Is he going to make it?" a young pageboy named Rynelf asked her.

"I…hope so," she prayed quietly. But even after she said that, the yellow knight made one vicious, hard blow, knocking Caspian to the ground.

"Caspian!" Susan couldn't help screaming. Before she had even realized that she had moved, she was at his side, even though it was against all rules. She placed her hands on him, realizing quickly that he was knocked unconscious. She turned to the yellow knight, pleading, "You simply must stop! You've won already. What in the world are you trying to accomplish here?"

"Revenge," the knight sneered. "I win, so his life is mine now."

"What quarrel have you against my husband?" she demanded angrily.

"Oh, wouldn't you just know it?" he sneered. "You and your barbaric animal god are the curse this foolish boy has brought upon Telmar."

"Then your quarrel is with me, not the king. So fight me," she insisted, desperate to keep Caspian safe.

"Fight you?" he sneered. "Fight your barbaric, evil magic, witch."

"I have no magic. Merely my husband's sword. So fight me," Susan snarled, grabbing Caspian's sword and pointing it at the villain.

"Your Majesty, you can't!" Lord Montoya gasped.

"Take care of the king," she commanded, turning back to the knight.

"I must insist that this doesn't continue. Queen Susan, say the word and my knights will apprehend this criminal," General Glozellle promised.

"Telmar has so little honor that they would arrest a man who fought in fair combat?" the yellow knight sneered.

"Of course not," Susan said. "Raise your sword and fight me!"

She charged. The knight raised his sword, snickering at her small body coming towards him, barely half his body size, but Susan used her size to her advantage, easily ducking under his sword to attack his ankles. As the man howled in shock at the unexpected pain, she snuck around him, almost jumping on his back to attack his neck, but the man recovered in time, throwing her off.

"Queen Susan!" General Glozelle yelled, running to her side.

"Stay away," she insisted, already back on her feet. "See to Caspian!"

Glozelle looked as though he was going to argue, but backed off when Susan glared at him. The yellow knight was still stalking towards her, but had refrained from attacking until the general had left. But the moment Glozelle was out of arena, the knight raised his sword, taking Susan much more seriously this time. He attacked her, forcing all of her concentration on defense. She allowed him to push her back into the corner, making him let his guard down, thinking she had only managed to get a lucky hit on him before.

Once backed into the corner, Susan used a trick spin to knock the knight's sword far, far away from him as she shifted around so that he was in the corner he had been backing her into.
He lifted his sword to block her blows, but she was quicker than him. Whenever she had sparred with Peter, she had always relied on speed and deftness to combat his larger frame and greater strength, and this man was no different. She feigned a swipe to the left, but instead jammed the hilt of her sword into his right side hard enough to make him stumble. Before he could recover, she crashed his sword onto his neck, drawing a deep line of blood across his pale skin. He fell to the ground. She jumped to use her entire weight to damage his shield arm so he had no chance of recovering and pointed her sword at his face.

"Now it is your life that is forfeit to me, by fair combat," she snarled.

The man merely closed his eyes. "Then get on with it."

"And yet even though you showed no mercy to my husband, even now I shall let you have your life. You think Narnia barbaric? You think Aslan a demon? Nay, it is he who says we should be merciful, even to those who would see us dead," she said. "And thus, in his name, I will allow you to leave here alive."

Susan turned and left the man, her mind focused solely on checking on her husband. From behind her, she suddenly heard shouting and fighting. She whirled about to see Glozelle and his men apprehending the yellow knight. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"He was trying to attack you when your back was turned," Glozelle informed, shoving the yellow knight to his knees.

Fire in her eyes, Susan commanded, "I gave you a second chance, more than you would have given my husband, your King. You have squandered it and will be shown no mercy. General Glozelle, take this villain to our prisons. He will stand trial in the morning."

She whirled about, all eyes staring at her. While she might be well-established as a ruling sovereign in Narnia, here in Telmar she was still viewed as little more than a Queen Consort, married merely for looks and an alliance with her brother the Narnian High King. They had yet to see this side of her. But she didn't have time to dwell on their shocked stares and confused gazes. She saw Caspian was somehow back, watching her with a gaze she couldn't interpret. She hurried to his side, seeing how badly he was bandaged.

"How are you?" she said, kissing his temple gently.

"I'm…I'm fine. Thank you. I…you didn't have to do that," he said.

"No, you shouldn't have had to go through that. His quarrel was with Narnia. His only quarrel with you was our marriage," she said, taking the wet towel a manservant was tending to him with and gently wiped off some crusted blood under his ear.

"Susan," he began.

"Caspian…I know he is not the first and most likely will not be the last to believe this. I...Our marriage weakens your hold on Telmar. I would understand if you felt it more prudent for me to return to Narnia until the dust has settled…or…however long you may need," she offered quietly.

"Susan!" he protested. "Do…do you not love me anymore?"

"There's a Narnian saying. If you love something, let it go. Caspian, I love you too much to have you risk your life and claim to the throne of Telmar. Particularly when it risks your life so in this case," Susan said soothingly.

Caspian caught her hand, saying, "And there is a saying in Telmar, don't ever give up a woman so amazing that she would – without even a second thought – face down a proven to be dangerously adept criminal to save you."

While Susan momentarily considered arguing back, she couldn't help laughing a little. "I highly doubt that's an actual saying."

Caspian cupped his hand around her cheek. "It should be. Susan…you're amazing. I love you so, so much. And if you hadn't been here, I'd be dead. So no, please do not ever lead my side."

"I won't," Susan promised, kissing his forehead as gently as possibly.