GOLDEN SUN - P. PEVENSIE

I. ii. DISREMEMBER

ACT I SCENE ii: DISREMEMBER
PETER

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Peter had never had issues ignoring Susan's maid. She was never doing anything of note when he saw his sister, just trailing after her and making her smile. Something had just...clicked. Suddenly she was everywhere he looked. Her red hair followed another maid, probably fetching something for his sister. Her blue eyes followed him as he traversed the courtyard. Her scent, that sweet mix of strawberries and sugar, wafted into his face every time he took a deep breath. There was no reason for this attraction - if you could even call it that. He wasn't sure what this was. He had been attracted to girls, sure. There were plenty of beautiful princesses vying for his hand now that he had grown up a bit. But he had never felt a magnetic pull like he had with her. This girl he had forgotten existed on many occasions suddenly consumed all of his distracted moments.

"You look like something's bothering you."

He was snapped from his thoughts by his brother's voice. Edmund was watching him amusedly, grinning from ear to ear at the face Peter had been making before. He still took pleasure in bothering his siblings after years of being the most fair ruler of the four of them. "Well, something is bothering me now."

"What?"

"You."

Edmund rolled his eyes, "Ha. But seriously, is there something wrong? Is it the stag?"

"The mythical stag that no one has seen and no one has caught? No, Edmund, it is not the pretend stag."

"I'm sure it is just real and has evaded us this once. Not being able to do something on your first try was never a skill you mastered."

"I do not need to. I tend to do things well initially - it helps if these tasks are more than mere folklore."

"What is bothering you? One more moment in this room and I think I will have to paint a stag head white and hang it on the wall so you will be quiet."

Peter groaned and leaned his head back, swallowing the lump in his throat when he thought about the girl again. "Susan's maid. Has she gotten more beautiful recently?"

At Edmund's silence, Peter turned to make sure he was still alive. His brother's face had turned bright red, filled with withheld laughter. Peter was sure it was for his own sake, but his brow still furrowed as he glared at his brother.

"You do not jest? This is an honest question?" Edmund asked after a moment, clutching his chest as his smile lingered on his face.

"I do not jest. Why would I ask you such a question if not in full seriousness?"

"Because you enjoy torturing me with trick questions and poking fun at my answers. I had not noticed her, to tell the truth. What is her name again? Something with an A...or perhaps Ella?"

"Aelia."

Edmund glanced at Peter sharply. "That was quick."

"As is obvious, I've been tormented by thoughts of her today. Is there something utterly wrong with me? Did we drink some water we weren't supposed to on the hunt? Has Lucy slipped hallucinogens into my food again?"

"You aren't hallucinating, brother. She's always been an attractive girl. Attractive enough to be tormenting your thoughts, I'm not sure."

Peter shook his head and hung it in his hands, rubbing the heels into his eyes. "And yet, she still is. She is all I can see every time I close my eyes, and her scent- Christ, it follows me everywhere."