Tranquility (Chronicles of Narnia fan fiction)

Chapter 12

Edmund and Natalie spent the rest of the afternoon, and part of the evening, trying to make it up to Caspian and Lucy, who both felt a bit left out after neither of them went out of their way to visit them. They stopped paying so much attention to Caspian though, as said King was being suspiciously childish, acting offended on purpose, being that none of them could really interrupt Caspian in his duties that day. In the end, they had noticed the mischievous glint in his eyes anyways, so that didn't help him much. Lucy, however, scolded them for not at least checking up on her, but forgave them when they genuinely looked shameful and stricken by that. Fortunately, by the next day, Lucy had gotten over her cold, just on time for the ball.

As the women prepared for the events of the day, including Edmund,- Caspian chuckled out loud at his immature joke,- the "youngest" King of Narnia, in terms of servitude of course, spent the rest morning after breakfast sitting at his throne, lost in thought. Ever since they returned from their day out, Caspian kept a close eye on his two friends. It was plain to see that Edmund cared for Natalie far more than a good friend should, and it was also pretty easy to see that Natalie could sense this from Edmund but wasn't exactly open to it, though there were also times where she seemed to openly accept and even welcome Edmund's affections.

Caspian wasn't a blind or foolish man. He had been attracted to Natalie the moment he saw her, probably at around the same time Edmund had noticed her. That darn dress! But over the weeks, he had come to see the young girl as more of a sister than a love interest. She was still beautiful in his eyes, of course, but one could look at their sibling and also judge them to be good looking, could they not? In any case, he had felt some resentment toward Edmund at first, stealing all of Natalie's attention away from him, but now he couldn't be happier for them. He only wished Natalie would open herself a bit more to him, tear down some of her obvious defenses she put up to keep him away.

It saddened him that Natalie was not quite as open with him as she was with the Pevensies, but perhaps she just needed time to become accustomed to more people. Yes, he had noticed her reluctance with people as well. A King had to be observant, after all! Something he had learned the hard way. Throughout the rest of the day, there was no time for a formal lunch, the meals being taken to the rooms of the girls while the men played chess. By the time the evening rolled on in, everything was prepared and the two Kings stood at the ballroom, awaiting the entrance of their guests. Slowly but surely, Ambassadors, Dukes, and nobles were announced, and Caspian and Edmund greeted them. It was a spectacle to see to be sure, two rightful Kings of Narnia standing side by side, greeting the nobility. It amused them both to see the nobles struggling to figure out who to suck up to first.

And then, just as the music began to play, and the Lords and Ladies took to the dance floor, Basil announced the arrival of Queen Lucy and Lady Valentine. 'Ah yes, her last name was Valentine,' Caspian mused and looked over to the entrance, as soon as he did, he nudged Edmund, but said bored looking King didn't stir.

Caspian, still gawking, then smacked Edmund's arm harder. "What?" Edmund demanded with a frown. Caspian pointed, so Edmund then looked over to what had caught his older friend's attention. His own eyes widened. "Oh..." he muttered. Lucy walked into the room, with Natalie in tow, wearing a very familiar dress, but this time, unlike the first day they met her, Natalie worked the dress like she knew how to used it. She looked spectacular. Her dress was a pale blue with subtle flares on the ends, silver crisscrossing with the fabric into patterns of leaves. Her neck was exposed and her necklace shown brightly, the silver glinting with the lights. Her hair was up in tresses, a few strands falling on either side, and she wore only enough make-up to make her piercing jade green eyes pop out beautifully. The girls might have been gone most of the day, preparing for the parties, but now that the men saw the results, they had no room to complain.