The Lion's Daughter

[02 - Dinner to the Night]

[CASSANDRA POV]

Dinner was a completely silent affair, except for the occasional ask to pass some food around to a different person for another helping, but other than that it was completely silent, not that I completely minded. I was still needing time to adjust myself, my silent abode now had four other kids, which meant four fellow Macready proclaimed troublemakers, which could take some getting used to.

The four Pevensie children also just separated with their mother and their father was away at war, they needed to adjust to that detail as well now that they live in a complete strangers household. I would occasionally catch both Peter and Edmund staring at me, each at different times and then just barely catch them glaring at each other as if challenging the other. The act just confused me but I didn't bother to mention it, as I continued to just focus on the meal just like Susan and Lucy did.

After the whole episode called dinner, I was holding a basket full of blankets in my hands that Macready had unceremoniously shoved into them after I helped wash the dishes at the end of supper. I was then headed towards the rooms that held the Pevensies, hoping that they were awake so that I wouldn't be making them even more uncomfortable within their temporary home.

"The sheets are scratchy." I hear Lucy complain cutely, and I see scratching her neck as I turn a corner, offering a quick word of encouragement, "Wars don't last forever." Susan looks over at me as I take some of the blankets from the basket and place them on the chest at the foot of the bed before she finishes off with, "We'll be home before you know it," and sends me a grateful smile. "If there's any home left." I hear Edmund from the doorframe, making myself and Susan to look at him, his words startlingly negative to me.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Susan asks, annoyance and scolding clear in her voice as I move back towards the basket of blankets, unaware of the gaze that got latched to my back. "Yes, Mum." Edmund says sarcastically. "Ed!" Peter scolds him from his perch in the room, glancing from me swiftly back to Edmund, before he says to Lucy, "You saw the outside. This place is huge. We'll be able to do whatever we want. Tomorrow's going to be great. Really."

I nod enthusiastically, turning around and clasping my hands together, with a smile before saying, "I could teach you how to ride too if you don't know how as well. If you want, anyways." My eyes scan the expressions of the members of the Pevensie family, Lucy's one of pure excitement, Edmund's of confusion, Susan's of gratitude, and Peter's of slight admiration. "That'd be lovely." Susan responds, giving a smile, "Thank you."

The silence that follows begins to make me feel awkward and I can only give a small, airy chuckle as I grab the basket of blankets and pass them over to Peter, "Here, extra blankets for in case you get too cold." I tell him, his hands slightly brushing mine as he grabs the basket with a smile. "Thank you." He says, and I let out another nervous chuckle in response, before gesturing to the chest at the foot of the girls bed. "You also have extra blankets." I tell Susan and Lucy, who smile in response.

"I'm off to bed, please have a goodnights sleep. I'll see you in the morning, and if you need anything just come knock on my door, I'll be happy to help." Susan, Peter, and Lucy smile at me and bade me a goodnight as I begin to exit the room and head towards mine, passing by Edmund at the doorframe who makes brief eye contact with me to which I offer a shy smile in return and whisper a goodnight to him, which he returns with a pink tinted cheek glare.

I decidedly ignore that exchange as I prepare myself for bed.

[POV CHANGE | THIRD PERSON]

The four Pevensie children sit, or stand in Edmund's case, in the girls room, after Cassandra had left all silent after the Kirke girl had bid her goodnight to the family. "She seems really nice, I like her." Lucy finally pipes, a smile on her face as she thinks of the blankets the girl brought for her and her siblings, that wasn't really a necessity but was still a very kind act.

"Me too, Lu, she's been trying to make us feel welcome. Someone could be more appreciative of that." The words were accusatory from Peter towards Edmund and Susan could only shake her head and roll her eyes at the two arguing boys. "You two have been at it even more since you found out there's a girl our age staying here, you both better behave yourselves."

"It's not my fault! I just need time to adjust without someone I don't know sticking their nose into my business!" Edmund jumped onto the defense, the flush from the brief interaction with the girl from before gone now and instead anger somewhat being fueled. He didn't know why his eyes were automatically drawn to the brown haired girl, but he also got immensely irritated when he realized that, yet again, Peter got all the attention from someone again.

Everytime he tries at anything it just wasn't good enough so what was the point at trying now, but the thought just made him angrier, moreso at himself and Peter than at Cassandra, but it's not like he could take it out on himself, or on Peter without the retaliation being tenfold, oh to be brothers. The girl was pretty, he could admit that, but he didn't know why he felt his attention was stuck to her like glue even if his eyes weren't. He even liked the fact that she tried to make Lucy feel better, but then he had to make her look at him like Susan did when he made his stupid comment, no way will she look at him differently now.

Peter shook his head, deciding not to argue anymore for the night. "You're right, Susan, we both should behave ourselves better. We're guests in her home, we shouldn't make her uncomfortable." Lucy was silent through this, confused at the topic but in agreement to not make her potential new friend uncomfortable. "Well, off to bed then. We have a long, new day ahead of us tomorrow." Peter tried to act like a mature adult once more, putting on a front despite himself being just a teenage kid, ushering himself and his siblings all off to bed.

"Goodnight." Was the chorus that was then sung to each other, except from Edmund who just bit down sharp words toward the eldest brother for once again trying to act like their parent.

{A/N:

I really hope this is going well....}