Disclaimer: I do not own anything! :0
Author's Note: Thanks to my one reviewer :D LilaGirl, this is for you! I hope you enjoy it. :)
"In retrospect, I bet you wish you hadn't done that." The bishop was quickly whisked away by a passing knight.
"Retrospect? Big words for a small person."
"I'm not small! I'm eleven!"
"Age has nothing to do with it, you're still small," the boy teased his little sister, his dark brown eyes sparkling with mirth. She scowled at him and then stuck her pink tongue out. "Ooh, I'm so offended."
"Just play the game, Edmund," a voice called from the other side of the room where a young woman was sitting on a low-slung velvet couch reading a book. She offered him a raised eyebrow when he glanced over at her with an annoyed expression.
"I will if you don't interfere and go back to your book," Edmund stated.
"It's difficult to concentrate with you two squabbling all the time. I thought you'd grown out of taunting Lucy," Susan sighed, brushing a mahogany curl from her face and closing her book.
"I could never grow out of that!" The boy grinned at his sister. "It's what big brothers are for."
"Yeah," Lucy piped up, "What use is he otherwise?"
"Very little," Susan agreed.
"Hey!" Edmund yelped indignantly, rising to his feet from where he had been sitting playing chess with his sibling. As he moved, his knee knocked the board and sent several gold pieces flying. For a moment he stared at the fallen knight who had landed head down on the tiled floor and then, seemingly coming to the decision that he'd had enough of playing chess and being mocked by his sisters, he left.
"Aw, Ed, come back, we didn't mean it!" Lucy ran quickly after her older brother, her young voice tinged with worry, she didn't like upsetting people. It wasn't in her nature. She had thought he would take it as a joke. What with his constant jibing of her wasn't it fair that she got to rib him back?
As the chestnut haired child rounded the corner of one of the many corridors which created the maze that was Cair Paravel, she found her feet leaving the ground with frightening speed and she let out a shriek of surprise, closing her eyes in fear. When she cracked them open again she found she was in the strong arms of her brother. He grinned at her cheekily, the smile he seemed to reserve for only his siblings.
"Edmund!" Lucy began in an overly bossy voice, pointing her finger – ready to tell him off – but then she felt a rumble of a laugh mount in Edmund's chest which travelled up and out of his mouth with such violence she felt herself shake in his grip.
"You're face," he spluttered. Then Lucy found herself begin to giggle too. Her brother could be severely irritating at times but he was very funny and she loved him for it.
Their laughter tailed off and Edmund placed his younger sister on the ground with a flourish.
"There you go, your little majesty," he smirked and received a good natured smack on the arm for his words.
Just at that moment someone strode down the corridor, their tough leather boots thudding on the stone floor.
"Peter," Lucy smiled at her eldest brother, "Tell Edmund that he's just….very annoying." She finished lamely and frowned, her usually smooth forehead crinkling with the expression.
High King Peter let out a bark of a laugh, his eyes glancing from his brother to his sister who were both staring at him: Lucy with irritation and Edmund with amusement. They were never going to co-operate, he could tell. It was the curse that came with being the two youngest in the family. He was just glad their bickering wasn't serious – it was light-hearted and friendly – borne of years of the same company.
"Yeah, Pete, tell me I'm 'just very annoying'," Edmund echoed Lucy's words with uncanny accuracy.
"I'm sorry, but I don't I should get involved," the man replied, running a hand through his blonde-brown locks.
"Yeah, don't want to show bias to your subjects, right?" Edmund smirked at his sister who shrugged.
"He likes me better than you, anyway."
"You wish," the dark haired boy suddenly lunged forwards and once again grabbed the girl, tickling her mercilessly. Lucy spluttered with a mixture of indignation and shock as she tried to wriggle free unsuccessfully.
Peter watched his siblings play fight and sighed, sometimes he wished to be just as carefree again. Yes, they were all Kings and Queen's of Narnia, bound to the country not only by a prophecy but by love of it and all their subjects; however, he was the eldest and bore the brunt of all the responsibility. As High King he was expected to govern the land, please the people and make alliances with other nations. It was as easy as it sounded.
At the age of nineteen, Peter still felt like he was a child, dumped with all this unwanted attention and duty for which he had no desire. Well, that wasn't quite true; there were some advantages and pleasures of being High King of Narnia. He got to solve people's problems – resolve feuds and bring peace to quarrellers – he got to meet animals and men alike that loved and revered him. That was quite an honour. Also, he had the luxury of living in a palace, that couldn't be a bad thing. Though, he remembered their tiny family home in Finchley and felt a twinge of homesickness.
There seemed to be an awful lot of downsides to being ruler though, for one there was the endless meetings that ate into all his spare time. Then there were the laws to set and uphold – giving out punishment was something he loathed. He had to liaise with other Kings from other Lands as said before and they weren't the nicest of people to talk to. Still, allies had to be made for the future, just in case this 'Golden Age', as it had been named, was destroyed.
"Peter." A hand waved in his face. "Wake up, dolly-daydream. There's someone here to see you." Edmund, who had drawn him out of his thoughts, gestured to a small sparrow that was perched on a windowsill.
"Your majesty," somehow the sparrow managed to bow, "I bring an urgent message from Foresight the Fawn. He wishes to meet with you, at once, in your chambers for he has some worrying news."
"I will be there as soon as I can," the young King nodded hurriedly and marched off down the corridor. His siblings stared after him sadly, they understood Peter's duty as High King was to attend to all affairs but it had made him grow up too quickly and they wanted their brother back.
As he swept into the room, Peter caught sight of Foresight, pacing back and forth across the floor, muttering garbled ramblings to himself. His small hooves clip-clopped noisily on the wooden floorboards. When he heard the door shut, however, his head shot up and he stared at his King with worried eyes.
"My lord," he greeted quickly.
"Foresight," Peter nodded back, "The Sparrow said you wished to seem me immediately."
"Yes, sire, I have recently discovered something of great important to you, your siblings and Narnia." Instantly he had the young man's undivided attention for he had just mentioned the two things Peter held closest to his heart: his family and his kingdom.
"Tell me," he said as he sat down on a well cushioned chair, gesturing for the fawn to do the same. The creature declined. Obviously he was too flustered to stay calm in one place.
"There is a Prophesy."
"Another one?" Peter questioned sharply, his mind awhirl with apprehension.
"I'm afraid so, your majesty, and this one does not bode so well for you." The fawn looked terribly frightened of breaking the news to his sovereign for his eyes were as wide as saucers.
Foresight was the….there wasn't really a word for all the jobs he did, but in essence he was a seer, a book keeper and a citer of laws, myths and prophesies. In other words he was almost the Palace Wise-Man. Peter trusted him implicitly and believed everything he was told by the fawn. However, the creature had little faith in himself and often was reluctant to impart wisdom for fear it would be wrong or taken badly. He didn't like being the bearer of awful news. Usually, though, with a bit of coaxing, he would yield.
"I don't care how bad it is, Foresight, just tell me." The King tried to keep an encouraging tone to his voice but was battling with the need to know.
"This Prophesy came to me two days ago, I was out with Waffle-Tail, you know the fellow? Anyway, I suddenly came over all strange – as I do when I have my visions – and I began reciting this prophesy. I think I scared poor Waffle-Tail half to death but fortunately the good squirrel had the sense to grab a quill and write it all down for I had forgotten it by the time I said it."
"Clever squirrel," Peter agreed distractedly.
"Here, I have it all written down on this parchment, I will read it to you." The hoofed man pulled a slip of paper from god-knows-where and held it up in front of him. Then he began to read.
"On the Eleventh Night of Winter, a boy will be born into Narnia. He will be the bringer of bad luck and terrible chaos to all those living here should he not be stopped and sent back from whence he came. Left unchallenged, he will cause to downfall of the Great Kings and Queens of Narnia and the country will once again fall under Dark Magic."
"And that's it?" Peter breathed.
"That's it," Foresight repeated.
"But the Eleventh Night, that was yesterday."
Ooh, please review! If you do I will give you a biscuit! Do you think I had the Pevesies in character?