ignite me / p. pevensie

chapter sixteen

 "Susan, I cannot wear that!" Rowyn said as Susan held out a dress for her to wear. "I could ruin it, you know how clumsy I can be when I'm nervous and I am extremely nervous!"

Susan rolled her eyes and shoved the dress into Rowyn's arms. "Just put it on before you have a stroke." She said as she pushed her gently towards the bathroom.

Rowyn huffed and shut up the door. "Oh my God, there's a corset?" She said as she began to strip off her current purple dress.

Susan's laugh sounded from behind the door. "Yes, don't worry, I'll help you with it once you have it on." Rowyn glared at the door. "I can feel you glaring at me!" Susan shouted.

Rowyn huffed in amusement and turned away from the door and continued to slip the dress on. The tulle material tickling her skin as she stepped into it and pulled it on.

Holding the material to her chest, she walked out of the bathroom and to Susan. "Help." She said and turned around. Susan chuckled softly and came up to lace up the corset. Rowyn glared back at Susan when she pulled so tightly that she had to hold onto the bed-post.

Once she was done, Rowyn walked up to the mirror. "What the fu-"

"You look beautiful!" Susan clapped lightly and smiled.

Rowyn was staring at herself in shock. The royal blue tulle held her figure beautifully, accentuating her waist before falling straight down to her feet. The sleeves were loose against her arms but tightened around the wrists and the bodice held breathtaking silver lace.

"Susan, I can't-" Rowyn began to protest, turning away from the mirror but Susan held her shoulders and kept her in place.

"You look amazing, Ro." Susan told her and began to mess with her hair. "And your boobs have never looked lovelier." Rowyn scoffed and then observed them. The tulle was slightly see-through at the bodice so if you were looking, you could see her breasts perky and full resting there pressed up against the material of the corset.

Rowyn gave Susan an impressed look through the mirror. "Damn, I think you're right." The girls shared a laugh as Susan helped Rowyn tame her hair into a beautiful bun on the back of her head. Susan braided a few pieces here and there to add a 'little flare' as she had said. "Good lord." Rowyn muttered when she looked at the mirror again once Susan was finished.

"You look hot." Susan smiled at Rowyn through the mirror. "Too bad Peter already has his sights on you." She joked.

Rowyn scoffed and turned around to face her. "Well if things don't work out for him and I, you best have your arms open and ready for me."

"As well as my legs?" Rowyn instantly choked on her own tongue.

Susan laughed heavily as Rowyn grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the door. "I think that's our cue that we need to head down there already." She laughed and the girls walked down to the Great Hall arm in arm.

The girls smiled at everyone they passed and were greeted with many bows when they entered the Great Hall. "Queen Susan and High Queen Rowyn!" Oreius introduced them to the room. Rowyn would have cringed at the attention years back but now she enjoyed it as much as she refused to admit it.

The girls instantly were greeted by Lucy coming up to hug them. "You look incredible, Lu!" Rowyn said. Lucy stood clad in a beautiful soft pink dress that fell elegantly to her feet. It was covered in gorgeous lace that sparkled silver in the light.

Lucy's smiled lit up the entire room. "You both look incredible as well. Thank you for coming, Rowyn."

Rowyn smiled at her and bowed playfully. "I can't miss the birthday girl's party." Lucy smiled more and then rushed to greet more people, her long brown hair flowing behind her as she left. "She's really turning into a beautiful woman." She told Susan who was smiling back at her sister.

"We get it from our mum." She smiled and the girl headed towards her brothers.

Peter gave Rowyn an impressed look. "Blue is your color." He told her.

She smiled at him and ran a hand over the material. "Yes, but I find that red is much more intimidating, don't you?" Peter just chuckled as a response along with Susan.

Rowyn turned towards Edmund and opened her mouth to greet him but Oreius came up to the Kings and Queens and smiled. "Everything is ready for tomorrow morning, we should leave at dawn to make it before nightfall." He told Susan and Edmund.

They both spoke out in response and the centaur bowed and left them. "You're really gonna do this?" Rowyn questioned, ignoring the way her palms dampened at the thought of them possibly being in danger.

"You shouldn't worry, Susan will have the best swordsman in Narnia by her side." Peter said, nudging Edmund with his elbow.

"Oh yeah, don't worry." He said finally. Rowyn turned to him. "We'll be fine—and I'll have Oreius by my side, don't worry, Ro." Edmund told her as if he already knew what she was going to ask him next.

She took a deep breath and smiled. "I know, I just . . . I'm nervous that's all." She confessed to the siblings. Susan rubbed her arm lovingly and reassured her that she knew her way around a bow. "Right, sorry, I keep to forgetting about the enchanted bow." She laughed quietly.

Susan turned to her brothers. "Now, if you boys will excuse us, I am going to force Ms. Galathynius to dance with me." And before she could protest, Susan was already dragging her to the middle of the room, where everyone moved with the up-pace music that the small symphony played.

"I thought you wanted me to dance with Pete?" Rowyn asked over the music as Susan held her hands as she moved with the music.

"He was too busy staring at you to ask anything just yet," Susan told her. "And besides, you got to make him wait a bit . . . make him more eager." She winked.

Rowyn cringed. "Please stop." She chuckled and Susan rolled her eyes playfully. The pair danced around for a while, until Susan went to speak with Oreius about tomorrow and Tumnus and Lucy came to dance with Rowyn.

When the music moved to a soft piano and Lucy danced happily with Tumnus, Rowyn felt a hand grab hers. "I believe you owe me a dance." Peter said.

Rowyn smiled up at him and nodded, grabbing his right hand with her left and putting the other on his shoulder. "I believe I do." Peter chuckled softly and placed his other hand on her waist. "You wore blue." She smiled at the blue tunic encrusted with silver detail. It matched her dress perfectly.

"Susan work that out." He said when he noticed Rowyn begin to connect the dots. "I swear I only helped her a little bit."

Rowyn's shoulder shook with amusement. "Is 'a little bit' the new word for completely?"

Peter smiled and swung them around gently, letting the music control their movements. "Okay, okay . . . maybe I helped her a bit—I just wanted to make sure that the other men here would realize that you're my date and back off from flirting with you."

Rowyn rolled her eyes. "Territorial bastard." She said under her breath, just loud enough for Peter to hear.

"I'm sorry that I don't want you courted by some random man who only wants you for your immense beauty." He responded with amusement in his tone.

Rowyn shook her head and smiled. "Thank you . . . it would probably ruin my night if I had to deal with men trying to wow me with their toxic masculinity."

Peter smiled proudly. "You are welcome, my Queen." The pair fell into a deep silence as they both just stared at the other's eyes in awe. Peter observed the amethyst eyes with flakes of silver that stared at him while Rowyn observed the bright ocean eyes that bore into hers.

As they danced with the music and people around them—at one point all of them moving into groups and dancing as one—Rowyn couldn't ignore the tug that pulled her to look at Peter the whole time.

As everyone danced around each other, their hands resting in front of each other as they weaved through one another, the tug always led her back to him. It was always Peter. Never the other men who stared at her as they danced.

Rowyn couldn't help but wonder if he felt it too.

If his heart also held that string that connected their hearts. Or if she was alone in that matter. If her heart held a string with a destination that was unrequited.

That idea frightened her more than she would've liked.