Here is the sequel to And Then There Were Five! I strongly recommend reading ATTWF before you read the sequel because otherwise you will not understand several things in this story.
Something I'm doing with this story is I'm pairing music with each of the chapters! I know everyone has a different reading pace, so maybe you want to play the music before or after you read the chapter, or you could play it while you're reading it. Hopefully this idea will pan out the way I'd like it to, so tell me what you think of it!
Music for Chapter 1: Danzon No. 1 by Arturo Marquez.
Chapter 1: Not Much Has Changed
"He's not coming here and that's final!"
I winced at Peter's reaction to the news that Prince Rabadash of Calormene would be visiting Narnia on a State visit. "Calm down," I began to say.
"Calm down? Calm down?" Peter practically shouted. "The man isn't coming on a state visit, Sophie!"
I sighed. "Then what is he coming for?" I asked, knowing fully what Peter's reaction to my statement would be.
Just as I had suspected, Peter gave me a look that was nothing short of murderous. "To be a potential suitor for Susan!" he bellowed, his voice ringing in every corner of the Great Hall.
"Peter, please," Susan said. "I've already given an answer to the Calormenes telling them that we would love for them to come visit."
Peter turned towards Susan. "You - what?" he shouted, his voice once again ringing throughout the Great Hall - and quite possibly the entire castle, as I strongly suspected.
"I told them they could come," Susan said calmly.
Three years after the Pevensies' coronation, little had changed. Peter was now nineteen, with his twentieth birthday just around the corner. He had grown taller and broader in the past three years, but his personality hadn't changed. He was still strong and brave, with a soft, sweet side that I liked to see, and was still very protective of his siblings. In fact, I believed he had become even more protective of them, as if that were at all possible.
Susan was eighteen and even more the beauty than she had been when we first arrived in Narnia. She had also arrived at the age of marriage, which meant all the unmarried princes and kings were vying for her hand in marriage - much to the chagrin of Peter and the amusal of Edmund, Lucy, and I.
"You know, Pete, we can't just go telling every country they can't come on a State visit just because you think that their prince wants to court Susan," Edmund spoke up as he lounged in his throne. Edmund was now sixteen, but in spite of his young age he was one of the finest diplomats that Narnia - and the surrounding countries - had ever seen. His wisdom and wit allowed him to get through every situation with ease, and I am convinced that Narnia would have gone to war several times over if wasn't for Edmund's diplomatic skills.
"I know that," Peter replied to Edmund testily. "But I'm sure Rabadash wants to court Susan."
"Susan's going to have to marry at some point, you do realize that?" I pointed out.
"Of course I realize that," Peter said. "Just not quite yet."
"Aslan's mane, Peter, I'm eighteen!" Susan exclaimed. "I'm going to have to marry, and most likely sooner rather than later."
"The council's going to get angry if you turn away anybody and everybody who might possibly be a potential suitor for Susan," I added.
"They're both quite right about that," Edmund agreed.
"Besides, it would be rude for us to tell them they can't come after all when I've just sent them a reply," Susan said.
"Once again, she's right," Edmund said. "This has got to be a first."
We all turned to look at Edmund in confusion. "What?" Susan asked, visibly perplexed.
"Susan's right - not just once but twice in a row," Edmund replied cheekily.
"Edmund!" Susan exclaimed, taking the pillow from her throne and throwing it at him.
"Hey!" Edmund said. "No pillow fights in the throne room!"
"Pillow fights? I like pillow fights!" Lucy's sweet voice floated across the Great Hall. At thirteen, Lucy was going through the transition from childhood to womanhood, and doing it rather clumsily, but otherwise doing it fairly well. She made friends wherever she went, from the smallest of the Pygmy babies to the largest of the centaurs, and from the sweetest of the Rabbit children to the crotchetiest of the Porcupines.
"We know you do," I laughed. Just the other night Lucy had started a marvelous one in Peter's rooms when the five of us had gathered in there during a thunderstorm after dinner.
"We're not having one right now; sorry, Lu," Edmund said. "Peter's a bit fussy right now. Susan told the Calormenes they could come on a State visit and - "
"Hang on, a bit fussy?" Peter interrupted. "You make me sound like a baby."
"Shut up, Pete, and let me finish," Edmund said a bit irritably. "Anyway, Susan told the Calormenes they could come on a State visit and now Peter's assuming Rabadash wants to court Susan."
"Assuming? That's precisely what he means to do!" Peter exclaimed.
"See what I mean?" Edmund said, raising his eyebrows.
"Yes, I do see what you mean," Lucy giggled. "Well, I hope he's nicer than the prince of Terebinthia was."
"Ugh," Susan shuddered. "I hated him. He was so rude and unfriendly. I don't know how he thought I would accept his proposal of marriage that he so rudely forced on me."
"His sister was rather nice, though," I reminisced, adding slyly. "Edmund seemed to think so as well; didn't you, Ed?"
Edmund turned rather scarlet around the ears. "I - ah - she was all right."
"Exactly," I said smugly, sharing knowing looks with Susan.
"In any case," Edmund said, obviously trying to take the attention off himself, "Susan's right about it being rude to tell the Calormenes they can't come after all. I hate to say it, but we should probably start getting ready for their arrival instead of bickering about the hypothetical possiblity that Rabadash might want to court Susan. Although I'm not quite sure why he would want to - hey!" Susan had thrown another pillow at him upon hearing that last bit.
"I'll tell Serena to begin preparations," Susan said, rolling her eyes at Edmund. After our coronation, the Pevensies had appointed the tigress Head Housekeeper of Cair Paravel.
"Wonderful," Peter grumbled.
I rolled my eyes. "Peter, I think you're hungry," I stated. "That's what's wrong with you."
"Why would you think I'm hungry, of all things?" Peter asked, mystified.
"You're always grumpy when you're hungry," I said with a toss of my long hair.
"I'm not!" Peter protested.
"You are," I replied. "C'mon. Let's go raid the kitchens?"
So it was that about twenty minutes later Peter and I were sitting in the castle kitchens, finishing off some leftover lemon cream cake from the night before. "I can't decide whether or not this cake or the chocolate mousse cake is my favorite," Peter said, stuffing the rest of his piece in his mouth.
"The chocolate one, hands down," I said promptly. "After all, chocolate is my favorite thing in all of Narnia - or the world, for that matter."
"We all know it," Peter said, laughing. "Especially after your eighteenth birthday gala."
I smiled, remembering how I had ordered all the desserts to be chocolate. "That was heaven," I declared, taking another bite of my cake.
"For you I suppose it was," Peter said.
"Well," I said, finishing off my cake, "I suppose I ought to go upstairs and dress for dinner." Dinner at Cair Paravel was a rather formal affair, and we as monarchs had to dress the part.
"Must you?" Peter asked. "We could be eating more cake instead."
"If I eat more cake I won't be able to fit in my corset," I laughed. "I'll see you at dinner, all right?"
"But of course," Peter said, grinning at me.
I walked up to my rooms, which was about a fifteen minute walk from the kitchens. I loved the beauty and expanse of Cair Paravel. Windows were everywhere, allowing light to shine through constantly. Even after living there for three years I could hardly believe the fact that I called such a beautiful place home.
Reaching my room, I pulled the doors open to my wardrobe and took several minutes in choosing a dress for dinner. After much deliberation, I ended up selecting an off-the-shoulder pale pink gown with cream trim. I put it on with the help of one of my ladies-in-waiting, a girl from Galma named Natalya. "Would you like me to do your hair, milady?" Natalya asked as she laced up the back of my dress.
"I think I'll leave it down for tonight," I said. "And please, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Sophie? I want to be friends with all my ladies-in-waiting, and with you all calling me milady I can't really do that nearly as well."
"I'm sorry, mil - I mean, Sophie," Natalya apologized. She was new to my ladies, for one of them had left to get married to a knight back in Archenland. All three of my other ladies-in-waiting had completely stopped calling me "milady" and were calling me by my name, but Natalya could not seem to get the hang of it.
"Quite all right," I said cheerily. "Just remember to do it next time."
"Of course, er, Sophie," Natalya said as she finished lacing up the dress.
I ran a brush through my hair and smiled at my reflection. Three years of living at Cair Paravel and advising the Pevensies hadn't changed me very much at all. I was now almost nineteen, and although my figure had rounded out and my face looked older, I was still the same girl who had entered the Narnia through the wardrobe with the Pevensies. Perhaps a bit more mature, however, I mused. All five of us had matured "in grace and wisdom" as Aslan had put it when he crowned the Pevensies as monarchs. Even Lucy, who was only thirteen, had matured, and probably the most visibly out of all of us.
With one final smile and a look at my reflection, I turned away. It was time I got down to dinner. Dinners at Cair Paravel were thoroughly enjoyable, as was the time the five of us spent together afterwards. I loved the life I lived at Cair Paravel, and I hoped it would always stay calm and peaceful the way it was right now.
Peace and calm were not to stay, for the near future at least. Little did I know that trouble was brewing and an adventure lay just around the corner.
Review please!
~ The authoress
