Susan woke as the sun rose, she'd had a particularly terrible sleep that night. Getting dressed, she decided to start the day off early. None of the monarchs had seen Phillis after dinner the previous night, but they'd assumed she'd gone straight to bed.
Susan walked onto her balcony to tend to her flowers, only to notice Phillis' horse, Garnet, gallop into the courtyard. But Garnet was alone, fully tacked up. The Pevensie girl gasped, running to the courtyard. Once she faced the tall horse, she screamed. It set in that Phillis wasn't there. The scream had woken Peter and Lucy, who came to see what all the fuss was about. "Susan, the sun's barely rising, what's going on?" Lucy asked, rubbing her eyes.
"It's Garnet. Where's Phillis?" Peter asked, his eyes widening.
Garnet continued to rear and whine at the Pevensies. People had begun to wake at the sudden commotion. Edmund came out, shortly followed by Elmer, who was tugging Dariyah along - obviously the two had spent the night together. Elmer furrowed his brows at the sight of his sister's horse but no sister. "Where's Phillis?" he asked.
"I don't know. Garnet returned this morning but Phillis wasn't with him," Susan sobbed. "We have to find her. She must of left after dinner."
"She's been out all night!" Edmund exclaimed, panic sketched into his features.
Within ten minutes, the monarchs were following Garnet through the woods. They all called Phillis' name but there was never an answer. After two hours of searching, Lucy spotted Phillis. She was leaning on a log, coughing and sputtering. It reminded Edmund of the time she'd nearly died for him. The group ran over to her. Elmer fell to her side, touching her cheek. It was cold and red. Her lips were blue and she was barely breathing. "Why do you always do this?" Elmer whispered, picking his sister up.
She was only eighteen, and she'd almost died in Narnia on multiple occasions.
On their return to the castle, Mrs. Beaver rushed them to Phillis' sleeping quarters. Once she'd been carefully laid down in bed and wrapped up warm. Mrs. Beaver and Mr. Tumnus stayed by her side, dabbing her forehead with a cloth drenched in hot water.
In the dining room, Peter was informing the royalty of Archenland of the recent incident. Coming to the conclusion that it was best if they left, Dariyah and her father were gone within the hour.
Phillis soon came around, much to the delight of Mrs. Beaver and Mr. Tumnus. Cobalt and Mr. Beaver went to inform the other Kings and Queens of Phillis' state. The five monarchs were sat anxiously in the dining hall. On the animals' arrival, Elmer stood up, ready to see his sister. "How is she?" Lucy asked, her cheeks stained with dry tears.
"She's awake," Cobalt said.
They all clambered up, ready to visit her.
"Don't," Mr. Beaver said, holding a paw up at the children, who weren't really children anymore.
"What?" Susan asked, her voice cracking.
"With all due respect," Cobalt began, "Queen Phillis is only in such a state because of you."
"What did we do?" Elmer asked.
"She heard what you said last night," Mr. Beaver said. "Mr. Tumnus and Mrs. Beaver are tending to her now. The last thing she needs is to see you lot."
When Cobalt and Mr. Beaver left, Edmund felt his heart break. It was his fault she got into such a terrible condition. Susan rolled her eyes at Edmund and Elmer. "You two need to learn to watch your tongue," she snapped. "Now look what you've done!"
And for once, neither of them argued back. Edmund felt guilty as what he said wasn't even true. He thought Phillis Clementine Opal was the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on. If he'd just kept his mouth shut...