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When Susan was twelve, she followed her sister through a wardrobe and into a magical kingdom. Together with her siblings, she led a revolution to depose a wicked witch, and had in victory been crowned. She reigned for fifteen years and grew to adulthood as a queen, only to be returned home as if no time had passed, a child again.
When Susan was thirteen, she’d been transported to that magical world again. That second visit lasted only long enough to reclaim the throne for its rightful heir, and then she’d been returned to childhood once more with the bitter knowledge that she would see no more of Narnia.
When Susan was twenty-three, two years after her world was shattered by the loss of her family, she’d stepped through a door into another world entirely, a world at once foreign and familiar to her senses. Animals did not talk here, but some of the trees did; there were no centaurs or fauns but there were noble elves.
She found herself in another royal court, another war-torn country, and thought, “I can be useful here.” This wasn’t her kingdom, but she had forgotten none of her knowledge of statecraft nor her skill with a bow.
She met an ailing king afflicted by dark sorcery. She met the king’s heirs: son and sister-son both courageous young captains whose valor made her ache with the memory of her brothers but could not hope to stem an unceasing onslaught of foes.
She met the king’s sister-daughter: a shieldmaiden, a young woman with a core of steel who was slowly drowning in despair. In Éowyn’s eyes she saw the reflection of herself, and thought she understood why she had been brought there.
Susan was a queen once, and she wished she could have met Éowyn as she was in the Golden Age - a wish borne not of vanity but practical understanding of what was needful. Queen Susan of Narnia could have offered a powerful alliance, could have brought with her armies, and magic, and a horn that never failed to summon aid: all the things that could save a nation besieged. Today, she could offer only herself, and her bow, and a heart that was gentle but unyielding in its will to protect.
Susan could only hope it was enough.