"Oh, dear," Silvana said putting her hand on Susan's shoulder. "Whatever is wrong?"

Susan could only sob. Here she was, a grown woman, twenty-one years old, and crying like a child! But she couldn't seem to the stop. The shock of it all had finally caught up with her.

Silvana put her arm around her shoulders and gently herded her out of the gallery and up some stairs. Speaking soothingly to her young guest, she took her into her own chamber and bade her sit down on the bed. Crossing back to the door, she peeked out into the hall. A dulled clip-clopping noise alerted her that a faun was coming, and sure enough, a handsome little curly-haired faun turned the corner.

"Aeolus," Silvana said, "would you please bring me a cup of hot chocolate?"

"Certainly, Your Majesty," Aeolus answered quickly, and trotted off to do her bidding.

Silvana turned back to Lady Susan, who was sitting on the edge of the bed and trying to wipe her cheeks. Silvana handed her a handkerchief.

"Thank you," Susan managed to sob, and plied it diligently.

In a few minutes, a knock was heard on the door. Silvana opened it.

"Your chocolate, Majesty," Aeolus said cheerfully.

Silvana thanked him and shut the door again. Sitting down next to Susan, she handed her the mug.

Susan stared at her. "Go on, drink it. You will feel better," Silvana said kindly. Susan took the mug and wrapped her hands around it, but did not drink it. "What is the matter?" Silvana asked. "It can't be anything all that terrible."

"I didn't tell you the truth," Susan hiccupped. "I'm not from the southern border. I'm not from Narnia—nor Archenland," she quickly added when Silvana seemed about to speak. "I don't come from this world." She dropped her eyes to the steaming mug in her hands.

"Ah—that explains your confusion," Silvana said quietly. "And your discomfort around some of our royal subjects," she continued with a tiny chuckle.

Susan looked up to see that the Queen, so far from being angry with her, was actually smiling. "Why did you not tell me sooner?"

"I… I thought I was dreaming, or going mad at first," Susan tried to explain, "and then I feared you wouldn't believe me."

"I have no reason not to believe you," the Queen said gently. "The very advent of Narnia included the arrival of six persons from other worlds, two of them my own ancestors. I see no reason why they could never enter again. Go on, drink up, and tell me everything."

Susan lifted the mug to her lips and tried to set her thoughts in order. Silvana waited patiently, and in fact, kicked off her slippers and pulled her feet up on the bed, getting comfortable. With a watery smile, Susan followed suit.

Finally, after a few sips of the thick, rich chocolate, she rested the mug on her knee. "Well, this is not the first time I've been to Narnia," she said slowly. "My siblings and I came here almost ten years ago. But things are… different. They have changed with time." She didn't want to go into the entire complicated subject—what Peter referred to as "the usual muddle with time". So she simplified it, but still gave the basic truth. "It's been eight years since I'd been in Narnia last, and it seemed so far away, that it seems I'd… forgotten it."

Silvana shook her head. "How could you forget something as momentous as a trip to another world?" she asked in wonder. "If I had the opportunity to experience that, I think I should remember it for the rest of my life, and look back on it often."

Susan shook her head. "I—I didn't want to remember it, I think," she said quietly. "For many different reasons, none of which I think I can state clearly now. But I did forget. And then, just yesterday morning, I went down into the cellar to get a jar of peaches," (Silvana smiled) "and there was a door I had never seen before, leading to a passage, and I went through. And when I came out on the other side, I was standing in a pile of ruins and your brother was walking across the grass toward me, and well, you know the rest."

Silvana leaned back and frowned thoughtfully. Susan sipped her chocolate in the silence—it really was very good, and it did make her feel more comfortable. Cozy—as if she were having a chat with a girlfriend back home.

Finally, Silvana spoke. "The only time I have ever heard of people from another world coming to Narnia was at the creation of our world. As I recall, they were the Northern Witch, the Lord Diggory and the Lady Polly, King Frank and Queen Helen, and a very silly man that Lord Diggory called Uncle Andrew. I have never heard of you or your siblings."

"No, I think we managed to evade the notice of your historians," Susan said evasively. "I am sorry, Your Majesty, but there are things I cannot explain about my visits to Narnia—indeed, I don't think I should explain them. But… I worry about this—my arrival. In every story I know of people from my world coming to Narnia, it was because Narnia was in trouble. And it doesn't seem to be at the moment. Either something bad is about to happen, or it was all a mistake—"

Silvana was shaking her head. "It was no mistake. Aslan would never bring someone to Narnia by mistake. And I do not believe something bad will happen. Think about it. Lord Diggory came to Narnia and he and Lady Polly planted the great Tree which has guarded our land these many years. Uncle Andrew had a bit of a bad time of it, but I believe no harm came to him, and Frank and Helen became rulers of Narnia. It was not because Narnia was in trouble that they came—for it certainly was not before they arrived, not even having been created yet!—but to fulfill some purpose they had here, or in Uncle Andrew's case, to hopefully learn some lesson from the adventure. Do not worry yourself about that."

Susan nodded. Silvana was right. Lucy and Edmund had told her at length about their voyage on the Dawn Treader, and it seemed that had not been in a time of trouble for Narnia. So perhaps she needn't worry about that after all.

"There's something else that's bothering me," she admitted. "You see, when I left Narnia last time, Aslan told me I could never come back. But here I am."

Silvana tilted her head to one side. "And you're afraid he might have lied?"

Susan smiled sheepishly. "A little."

Silvana smiled confidently and shook her head. "Aslan cannot lie. Perhaps you simply misinterpreted what he said. Can you remember his exact words?"

Susan shook her head. "I can hardly recall the conversation at all," she admitted regretfully. "Some parts of my memory are still rather fuzzy." Mostly the parts that include Aslan, she confessed mentally.

Silvana gave a decisive nod. "I'm sure that when you really want to remember them, you will," she said firmly. "In the meanwhile: what are we to do with you?"

Susan smiled. "I was rather hoping you would know," she confided.

"Well, I could let everyone know who you are and where you are from," Silvana said slowly. "You would be much honored by our people—feasted, dances given in your honor—"

"Is there another way?" Susan asked, a little uncomfortably.

"Do you not wish for feasts?" Silvana asked, with (Susan almost thought) a bit of knowing amusement in her voice.

"Well… yes, but… But I would be so embarrassed," she admitted.

Silvana smiled. "Well then, how about we keep this a secret between the two of us? No one else need know you are not Narnian-born—the daughter of immigrants from the Lone Islands, no doubt," she fabricated, "who grew up near the border of Archenland. You and some companions came here on a visit to see some ruins, you were separated from your party and brought here to Cair Paravel, and we have sent word to your people that you will be staying with us for awhile. How does that sound?"

"Wonderful. Thank you, Your Majesty," Susan said gratefully, setting down her empty mug.

"Excellent. Well, our guests will be wondering what is keeping us so long; we should go down to them," Silvana said, standing. Susan nodded and followed her out the door. It was good to have it sorted out, and a huge relief to have told someone the truth.

000

They went down to the gardens, where some of the dwarfs and nymphs were entertaining the guests with music. Queen Silvana took a place by Prince Everon, and Susan found an empty spot between the naiad and a rather large hedgehog. She realized that the naiad had on much more revealing clothing than she had worn when she arrived and so shocked Prince Belarion. But looking at the nymphs, she realized that they all wore Greek costume while the humans wore something a bit more medieval—though much more beautiful and comfortable, Susan was sure. Perhaps their two subcultures came with two different standards of modesty.

Susan jumped as she felt a slight prick in her arm. The hedgehog had leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"Prince Belarion has gone off to meet the nobles; they have been touring Lantern Waste," she said excitedly in her snuffly voice. "They were held up, or they would have been here yesterday to welcome the guests. Cair Paravel will be a lively place when everyone is back in residence!"

"Yes indeed," the naiad on her other side agreed. "We shall have feasts and a tourney…" She smiled knowingly at Lady Susan. "And handsome young men as well," she added slyly.

Susan smiled at the goodwill inthe naiad'sface and settled back in her seat to enjoy the music. Maybe this stay in Narnia wouldn't be so bad after all!

TBC

I found the Susan fic I mentioned before; it's called "The Subway" by DJ Caligula. I'm not wild about the theme (I found the ending pretty unsatisfactory), but the writing style is fabulous, and I love the depiction of Aslan!

trecebo: It's the absolute truth! I bet if people think the guy who plays Peter is really handsome in the upcoming movie, we may be seeing a Mary Sue invasion… More dangerous than the White Witch and much less attractive!

fledge: Thank you for putting in that list! I used it to address the issues in this chapter. And the third question is finally answered!

Ravens Destiny: Yeah, I used to think Sam West was really good-looking, too. I love how there are so few British actors around, you keep seeing the same ones show up in different shows. I just about had a heart attack when I saw Prince Caspian in "As Time Goes By"! As I'm sure you know, he also played Dr. Frankenstein in "Van Helsing".

Gods-girl2004: That's a great idea, but I'm unfortunately not going to use it. I want to concentrate a lot on the character of Susan herself, so the wild action will probably be kept to a minimum, and if Susan met up with the White Witch we would have more action than we could deal with!

Amme Moto: I liked "A Series of Unfortunate Events", but then again, I've never read the books. Yeah, I hope they don't mess LWW up, too.

Kurosh Hormozian: Yep, grew up on Narnia books. The nice thing about not having read them for years is that they're a very short read! Shouldn't take you too much time at all should you decide to pick them back up again.

csi-ds9: At your suggestion, borrowed "The Companion to Narnia" from the library. It looks like a fascinating and well-written book! Unfortunately, didn't get around to reading it and ended up paying a $1 overdue fine on it… lol

Yyunesprith: I've already got in mind the way we get around Aslan's restriction. Anybody who would like a hint should read the end of Prince Caspian where he actually tells Peter and Susan they can't return. That's all the clues I'm giving. :) Thanks for taking me up in such an in-depth way!

Linny loo: lol Ouch indeed! —shudders at the thought of Narnian Mary-Sues— The thing is, there are so many things in Narnia for a fanfiction writer to pick up and run with! You really don't need Mary-Sues! Things like, stories set in Calormen, what happened to the first Telmarines (who "behaved very wickedly and Aslan turned them into dumb beasts"), King Gale slaying the dragon, Olvin of Archenland killing the two-headed Giant Pire and winning the lovely Lady Liln, Peter's raid on the Northern Giants, Ram the Great, Queen Swanwhite, Moonwood the Hare, the pirate Telmarines, Caspian X's defeat of the Northern Giants at the age of 14, Caspian's wedding to Ramandu's daughter, her death, outbreak of outlaws in lantern waste… The list goes on and on! (And if anyone uses any of those ideas to write a story, do let me know, because I'd love to read it!)

Thanks also to yoo-hoo luver w/legs, Autumn Willow, Jaina Kenobi, Herald Jacquelle, Cats Rule4, gwen, Stargazing Maiden, Jeune lune, Thalion and Little Lotte's Evil Twin!

Please review!