A/N: Hey all! This is my first one-shot and Suspian story! It was in response to a weekly challenge with the word "feast". I hope you all enjoy! Constructive criticism is very welcome. Thanks!
Summary: During a feast intended to find them spouses, Susan and Caspian realize something!
Of Feasts and Suitors
Queen Susan the Gentle was sure that she had had quite enough. She was at yet another feast to be followed by yet another ball. It felt like the twentieth such gathering in the last three months! She had stopped counting after the tenth.
Susan and her siblings had been back in Narnia for nearly a year. They were all ruling Narnia together, along with Caspian. It had taken them almost 6 months to get everything back in order and to sort out how to keep the Narnians and Telmarines to live in peace.
Then, to her surprise, three months ago, their advisors informed Peter, Caspian, and her that they were of marriageable age and that they needed to start looking for suitable potential spouses. A spouse preferably from a neighboring kingdom that would help Narnia.
A marriage of convenience? Susan wasn't at all sure that she liked the sound of that. She had always thought that she was going to marry for love, but she was willing to do whatever it took to help Narnia.
So, their advisors began inviting nobles to the castle to join the Kings and Queens in a feast and ball, in hopes of finding the perfect match for Peter, Caspian, and Susan. To Susan's great relief, no one had yet been acceptable for herself and the Kings.
So that's were Susan found herself, attending another boring feast while pretending to enjoy herself. She was seated at the high table with her siblings and Caspian, trying to avoid eye contact with all the "potentials", as she had come to call them. Every once in a while, she would look up and see at least fifteen pairs of eyes staring intently at her.
All too soon, the feast was over and it was time for the ball. Susan grimaced at the idea of dancing all night with men that she didn't know. Men with bad breath and sweaty hands. Men that would get a little too tipsy, and thus frisky, from too much wine. Susan really didn't think she could take it. But, she knew she had to. For Narnia.
So she danced for two straight hours. Two hours of being groped was more than she could handle. So Susan politely declined the next suitor who asked for a dance with the excuse of needing a break. Susan made her way to the refreshment table while scanning the hall for her siblings.
There was Edmund, talking politics with some advisors. And Lucy dancing jovially with Trumpkin. And there was Peter. Susan was slightly annoyed to see how much he was enjoying all the attention he was getting. She really didn't get him sometimes.
Susan got to the table a poured herself a glass of cool punch. Now came her least favorite part of these nights, looking for Caspian. She always dreaded what she would find. Would he be enjoying dancing with his suitors? She didn't think she could bare it if he was.
The truth was, Susan was fairly sure that she was in love with Caspian. She didn't know how or when it started, just that she was. Maybe it was when he showed such concern for his professor. Or maybe it was when he saved her from the Telmarine. Or perhaps it was all those times they had spent together discussing ways to make Narnia a better place for everyone. She couldn't be sure.
Once she realized that she was in love with Caspian, Susan began to feel a little awkward around him. She got butterflies in her stomach. She could feel herself blushing at any little thing he said. She was even finding that she could hardly stand to look at him. She feared that if she did, she would do something silly, like stare into his chocolate eyes and never look away. Or she would do something embarrassing, like run her fingers through his silky looking hair. Or something that she was sure she would regret, like kiss his adorable lips. Susan didn't know what to do.
Susan shook her head to clear her mind and turned her attention back to the task at hand: locating Caspian. She scanned the hall and all the dancing couples, but didn't see him. Had he left with some maiden to take a stroll in the garden? She sincerely hoped not. So she scanned again. Just when she had about given up finding him, she saw a booted foot sticking out of an alcove.
Susan went to investigate and found Caspian sitting on a bench, mostly hidden from view. He was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Not wanting to bother him, or get herself into one of those silly/embarrassing/regretful situations, Susan turned to leave but stopped when she heard his voice.
"Queen Susan?" he said in a gentle voice.
"King Caspian, I didn't mean to bother you," she said apologetically as she turned around.
"You are never a bother, Queen Susan. Won't you join me?" Caspian replied.
"Of course." Susan said as she sat down next to him. She sat as close as she dared to. She couldn't help but notice how incredibly good looking he was, especially with his hair rather messy from leaning against the wall.
"Would like to know what is a bother?" Caspian suddenly asked. He continued before she had a chance to reply. "Having to dance with one silly girl after another. Really. None of them seem to have any substance. They only want to be with me because I am a king and they could possibly have a future as a queen."
Susan found herself replying before she could stop herself. "I know what you mean. None of these men care about me as a person. They only see me as a prize to be had, a means to secure a crown. And do you know what is worse than that? Having to pretend I care about them when I'm already in love with someone!"
Susan immediately wished she hadn't said that. She started blushing furiously. She hadn't meant to say so much. It just sort of slipped out. She was absolutely mortified.
Caspian, on the other hand, seemed rather intrigued. "You're in love?" he asked.
"Yes, I believe I am," Susan replied, blushing still more.
"Well, I think that's wonderful! I believe that as kings and queens, we should be allowed to love whomever we wish. In fact, I believe that I am in love as well." Now it was Caspian's turn to blush.
Susan was rather surprised that Caspian was also in love. She was also worried that now she would never have a chance to be with him. Still, she was very curious to find out who it was that had captured Caspian's heart.
So, in a bold move, Susan said, "You know what? You are absolutely right! We should be able to love who we want. I think that we should both forget this suitor business and tell the person we love how we feel. What do you think?"
Caspian surprised her by standing up and saying, "I think that's a great idea. We could go on the count of three."
Shocked, Susan stood up as well. "You mean, you want to tell right now?" She didn't think she was quite ready to tell the man before her that she loved him.
"Of course right now! When could be a better time?" Caspian replied.
"Oh, alright. I guess now is fine," Susan said. She was really regretting that she had said anything at all.
"Alright," Caspian said and he started counting. "One… two…three!"
With butterflies in her stomach, Susan turned to Caspian fully expecting to see him walking away toward some pretty maiden in the crowd. However, she wasn't prepared at all to see that he had turned to face her, just as she had turned to face him. Susan was fairly certain that she had the same shocked look on her face that Caspian had on his.
With even more butterflies than before, Susan opened her mouth at the same time Caspian did and said, "I love you!"
Susan was blushing madly again and Caspian's normally tan face had taken on a pink hue of its own.
"Well, I was not expecting that," Caspian said with a shy grin.
"Neither was I," Susan responded while placing a hand over her flaming cheek.
Caspian slowly placed his hand on Susan's other cheek. Without really thinking about it, Susan dropped her hand from her face, closed her eyes and leaned into Caspian's hand. Caspian gently stroked her cheek with his thumb. When Susan finally opened her eyes, it was to see Caspian gazing intently at her. She saw something flash across his eyes, but she couldn't be sure what it was.
"You are so very lovely," Caspian said in a soft voice as he lowered his hand.
This caused Susan's face to flush with pleasure as she looked down. She felt Caspian's fingers under her chin. He lifted her face so she could meet his gaze once more. Susan's heart began to beat wildly as Caspian slowly lowered his head to hers. Susan closed her eyes just as Caspian's lips touched hers.
Susan felt Caspian's arms wrap around her waist as she put her arms around his neck. As she melted into his embrace, Susan could not help but think that feasts weren't so bad after all.