A slave led Peter and Laira to a bedchamber that had been prepared for the princess after their meeting with the Tisroc had ended. Laira had been silent since that meeting; Peter worried what was on her mind, but felt out of turn asking, thinking he might already know. When they reached the bedchamber, the slave opened the door and bowed deeply.
"Your room, O Princess," he said.
"Thank you. That will be all," Peter said, dismissing the slave. The slave bowed again and left, keeping his head bowed as he walked away.
"As many years as I've lived here, I've never gotten used to the slaves," Laira said quietly as she stepped towards the door. Peter placed a hand on her arm, stopping her.
"You'll be okay?" he asked. Laira looked up at him and nodded. An awkward moment of silence passed between them. Peter ran his hand through his hair nervously, knocking his crown off center. Inwardly rolling his eyes at his behavior, he reached up to straighten it. Laira kept a serene look on her face, never once changing as she watched him, but he swore her eyes laughed at him.
"Well, uh, I suppose then, goodnight," Peter stuttered, nodding to her.
"Goodnight, your majesty," Laira said, stepping through the door and shutting it behind her. Peter stared at the closed door for several seconds before turning to leave when a soft sound caught his attention. Turning back to the door, he listened closer. The sound he heard was crying. He quickly reached for the doorknob, ready to rush to ask Laira what was wrong and offer her comfort. Just as he turned the knob, he stopped, astonished at his rash behavior.
"What are you doing?" he muttered to himself.
"Yes, what are you doing?" a voice asked behind him. He let go of the handle and turned to see Lucy standing behind him, a bundle of clothes in her arms.
"I was just- I thought I heard..." Peter trailed off, not wanting to admit to his sister that he had wanted to go to Laira and hold her in his arms, comforting her as he knew only he could. Lucy turned an ear to the door, hearing the soft crying from behind it.
"Peter, there's nothing you can do. You're terrible at comforting others. You get either too angry or too protective or try to make jokes - which are terrible by the way; you really need to stop - and usually only make the situation worse. Remember when I got bitten by that dog? You tried to cheer me up by telling me that at least I didn't get a disease from it," Lucy said.
"Lu, I was ten. What do you expect?" Peter groaned, hating that his sister was right about his lack of comforting skills.
Whenever either of his sisters had gotten into a scrape or was upset, his first instinct was to either fix their situation instantly or rush to find whoever had hurt them with the sole intention of hurting that person in return. Or, as Lucy pointed out, he tried to make a joke out of it hoping it would cheer them. The last time he tried that was when Susan had received the letter from Caspian telling her that he was engaged; his joke about being glad Caspian wouldn't be his brother-in-law had only made Susan even more upset.
I really have never forgiven Caspian for that, either. I wish I had just punched him in the face, Peter thought, smiling slightly over the satisfaction it would have given him. Lucy snapped her fingers in front of Peter's face.
"Peter, focus. Let me handle Laira. You've done your part and gotten her out of being executed. You going in there and trying to make her feel better will most likely only make her feel worse," Lucy said as she turned the handle to the bedroom door. When she had closed the door behind her, Peter sighed and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes. What a mess, he thought.
Laira shut her bedroom door and leaned upon it. When Peter had declared that she would be returned to her home under his protection, a weight had lifted from her chest making her feel pounds lighter. After that initial relief had set in, however, other worries that she had not thought of for years came flooding back.
Her parents had only been blessed with one child, making Laira the sole heir to the Archenland throne. She had always relished the thought of being queen one day, working hard as a girl to make her parents proud so they would be happy to have her ascend the throne once they were gone. She had met Lord Brin when she was seventeen, nearly eighteen. He had been handsome and charming, the type of man any girl would want. Her friends had all been jealous that he had showed her preference, dancing with her as much as allowed at parties and balls.
King Sol, her father, had disregarded the man, claiming him to be just another suitor who he'd never approve of. He had pressed Laira to consider the High King of Narnia, stating that the match would not only give her a proper husband but bind the two countries together. Laira had met King Peter years before and had instantly disliked him. She thought him arrogant and rude and avoided him throughout the entire visit from Narnia's monarchs, hoping he would dislike her just as much.
Laira continued to allow Lord Brin to court her secretly, sneaking out of her room at night to meet him in the gardens or woods. He would read her poetry and talk of her beauty, charming her like no man ever had before. She fell in love with him, or what had felt like love, knowing that she would follow him anywhere. He had proposed to her one night, much to her happiness, and they snuck off together several nights later and were married in secret.
It wasn't until months later when they finally shared their wedding night in Calormen that Laira saw Brin's true form, a selfish, cruel man who cared little for her happiness. She had continued to love him though, hoping that she could make herself into the woman he wanted. As the years had passed he became increasingly distant, coming home at odd hours of the night, smelling of a different perfume nearly every night. She finally shut down, accepting that her husband did not care for her and realizing that she no longer cared for him.
Tears began rolling down her face as she thought about how much of a disappointment she had become. Her people, the Archenlanders, would never accept such a foolish woman for their queen; her parents would certainly disown her, claiming her to not be worthy enough to be their daughter. I can hardly blame any of them, she thought sadly.
Her whole life had been spent preparing herself for a role she wanted more than anything in life, and with both hands she had thrown it away for a man who cared nothing for her. Pushing herself away from the door, she walked to sit on her large bed, her crying becoming nearly uncontrollable now. Brin had hated when she cried, of flying into a fit of rage if he caught her. She had soon learned to hide her tears and eventually she stopped crying at all. Her tears that fell now were five years of pent up anger, grief and despair, overwhelming her as she struggled to catch her breath.
From outside her bedroom door, she heard muted voices over the sounds of her crying. Laira fought to compose herself when she saw the knob on her door turn, wiping her face quickly with the back of her hand. Lucy walked through, a bright smile on her face and carrying a bundle of clothing.
"I thought you might want these. We'll be here for several days and you can hardly go around wearing the same thing each day!" Lucy said cheerily. Laira noticed a small edge to the young queen's voice, as though she was trying hard to cover up her worry.
"Thank you, your majesty," she said softly, sniffling as she finished her tears.
"Of course. Anything you need I'll make sure you get. You're part of the Narnian guests now and under the protection of my brother. We'll take care of you," Lucy assured her. Laira gave Lucy a small smile; such kindness was foreign to her now, having spent several years in Calormen where people only had sympathy for themselves.
"I'll just let you get some rest now. I'm sure you must be exhausted," Lucy said as she walked back to the door.
"Thank you again, your majesty. I can't tell you how grateful I am to you and your brothers and King Caspian," Laira said.
"Think nothing of it. We're all happy to help you. And please," Lucy added, smiling warmly at Laira. "Please call me Lucy. It's what I like all my friends to call me. Goodnight, Laira." Laira returned her smile and said, "Goodnight, Lucy."
Moments later Lucy reappeared from the door. Peter looked up and asked, "Is everything alright?" Lucy nodded.
"She's just really upset now. I think she's overwhelmed with everything that's happened and hasn't yet had a good cry about it. She'll be fine once she's slept," she explained.
"I think that could go for all of us. I'm exhausted," Peter said as he pushed off the wall.
"That makes two of us," Lucy agreed.
"Come on, then. I'll walk you back to your room," Peter said.
"I don't need you-" Lucy started, cutting herself off when she caught Peter's dark stare. He had warned her several times that she shouldn't wander the Tisroc's palace alone, especially at night. Sighing, she said, "Alright, alright. Let's go." Peter glanced back at Laira's room.
"Are you sure she's going to be alright?" he asked worriedly. Lucy shot him a curious look.
"What's with you? Not five hours ago you acted like you grossly disliked her and now, all of a sudden, you're her white knight? Did something happen and I missed it?" Lucy asked.
"Lu, stop imagining things; I never disliked her and I'm not acting like a white knight. She's the daughter of one of our family's closest friends and ally and she is a woman who is in need of our help. Yes, I like her a little more than I did when she first appeared, but that's only because I've found she hasn't annoyed me as much now as she did when I first met her," Peter said firmly.
"Right. She annoys you less. That makes sense," Lucy said, a tiny bit of sarcasm in her voice.
"Lucy, when exactly did you become this annoyingly perceptive?" Peter asked, irritated that his sister saw straight through his reasoning.
"Probably around the time you started to develop feelings for Laira," Lucy sweetly replied, skipping towards her room. Peter stood in the middle of the hall, a mask of shock on his face as he stared after his sister.
"I don't have feelings for her!" he called after his sister, who turned around when she reached her door.
"Right. No feelings. Goodnight!" she called back, smirking at her brother as she disappeared behind the door.
Laira woke with a start from a tapping on her door. After taking a second to realize where she was, she jumped out of her bed and hurried to the door, opening it to reveal Georgie.
"Good evening, Princess Laira," she said warmly. "I don't mean to wake you, but we're getting ready to go to dinner and thought you might want to join us. If you're not ready to get up, though, I can have a plate of food sent up here."
"No, I'd like to come down. I'll just be a moment," Laira said brightly.
"Wonderful! Edmund and I will wait for you just out here. Take as long as you need," Georgie said.
"Thank you. And Princess Georgiana, I apologize for how I spoke to you earlier today and for how I treated you all those years ago," Laira said. Georgie shook her head.
"Please, don't worry about it. It's all water under the bridge," Georgie said, giving Laira a friendly smile as she stepped out of her room.
Laira quickly changed into one of the dresses Lucy had brought her and washed her face. Deciding there wasn't enough time to do anything particularly fancy with her hair she pulled it back from her face and tied it with a ribbon. As she stared at her reflection she sighed over her appearance.
While she had been grateful for time helping her features – her once pointy nose had always been the bane of her existence – she hated what Calormen had done to her. Her skin, which had always been rosy and pale, was now weather-worn and tan, making her nearly as dark as the Calormenes. Her biggest annoyance was her hair; she loved that it had darkened over the years, but hated that she had cut it short in an attempt to style it like the Tarkheenas did. It now hung limp and style-less, unable to hold up to the steamy heat.
"As always, this is as good as it's going to get," she muttered to herself as she tucked a stray lock behind her ear and headed out of her room.
As the three walked to the large dining hall, Laira found that Georgie and Edmund were easy to talk to and instantly liked them both. Edmund turned out to be much more friendly than she had first thought, his joking and teasing making her laugh easily. Georgie warmed up to Laira quickly and they both chatted like old friends.
Laira noticed how well the couple interacted with each other, as if their relationship was a carefully choreographed dance; they seemed to be perfect halves of a whole, complimenting each other wonderfully. Laira was instantly caught up in their magic, all doubts she had of love vanishing completely.
"What do you think?" Georgie asked.
"I'm sorry, what?" Laira asked, the question pulling her out of her thoughts.
"What do you think about going exploring tomorrow? We haven't seen much of Tashbaan since we've been here; I'd love to see it before we go," Georgie said.
"G, the princess has lived here for years. I'm sure she doesn't want to explore a city she already knows," Edmund teased.
"No, I think that sounds wonderful, your majesty. I have lived in Calormen for years, but not in Tashbaan. I think I would like to see it as well," Laira said.
"Wonderful! I told you she would want to," Georgie said, smirking at Edmund.
"Yes, you were right. I'll have to buy you a prize for your astonishing triumph," Edmund said sarcastically, earning him an elbow in the side from Georgie. Laira laughed at the couple; she felt she had laughed more in the few minutes of their walk than she had since she was younger.
When they reached the dining hall, Laira saw that Peter and Lucy were already seated, whispering to each other. The Tisroc and his many sons and daughters were also seated at their long table, Prince Rishdamar sitting closest to his father. Laira caught his sneer as she walked in and quickly looked away. Glancing towards Peter and Lucy, she saw they had both looked up, Lucy smiling at her and Peter scowling towards Rishdamar.
"Is something wrong with King Peter?" Laira whispered to Georgie. She looked at Peter and snorted.
"Who knows? Peter's always angry about something," Georgie replied.
"He's probably calculating how much trouble we would be in if he went over and skewered Rishdamar. I'm actually calculating if I can beat him to it," Edmund whispered, leaning down towards the women.
"Why?" Laira gasped. Edmund shrugged.
"He's giving you a look I don't like. I imagine Peter feels the same," he simply said. Laira saw Georgie roll her eyes. Edmund led the two to the table, helping them into their seats before taking his own on the other side of Peter.
Peter sat in one of the Tisroc's palace's gardens on an ornately carved stone bench. A bubbling fountain happily gurgled in the center of it as the warm wind blew against his face. He had tried coming outside to read one of the books he had found in the large library, but the heat had made it hard for him to concentrate and it now sat opened in his lap.
His mind wandered to the sleeping princess who was several stories above him. He wondered how her parents would react when they brought her home and whether her country would accept such a foolish woman as their future queen. I know I wouldn't, he thought gravely. Although, with that face, I might be tempted to.
Peter smirked to himself. In the little time he had spent with Laira, he had found her intriguing, as though there was an aura of mystery surrounding her, one he longed to solve. Rolling his eyes at himself and his ridiculous thoughts, he slammed his book shut and stood. Squinting against the bright setting sun, he saw a woman running towards him.
"Peter!" Lucy called.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked when his sister reached him.
"I need a favor. I want to go shopping," she said excitedly. Peter rolled his eyes and muttered, "Of course you do."
"I need money," she said. Peter sighed exasperatedly.
"Don't you have any of your own?" he asked.
"Well… I already spent what I brought," Lucy said slowly, giving her brother an angelic face. Sighing again, he shook his head and said, "Aslan help whoever you marry."
"So I can have some?" Lucy asked hopefully.
"No," Peter said. Lucy gave him a noise of frustration and sighed.
"What were you doing out here? Reading?" she asked, noticing the large book he carried. Peter shrugged sheepishly.
"I was trying, but it's just so hot! I couldn't concentrate," he said.
"Could it be that a certain princess is also on your mind?" Lucy asked teasingly.
"If she is, it's only because I don't know what to do with her. I don't like the idea of just tossing her back to Archenland; her parents will be forgiving, but I'm worried about how the rest of the country will treat her," Peter said.
"Why don't we invite her to come with us to Narnia for a visit? If others think we've forgiven her and accept her, they'll easily do the same," Lucy suggested.
"Lucy, we have forgiven her and accepted her," Peter said quietly.
"Oh, I know that. But if we show everyone that we have, they'll know she's not bad," Lucy said, brushing Peter's comment aside.
"That might work," Peter said slowly.
"Of course it will. You should write to King Sol today and let him know. By the time he gets your letter and has time to reply, we'll already be back at Cair Paravel," Lucy said cheerfully.
"You've already thought all this out, haven't you?" Peter asked curiously.
"I believe it's nearly time for dinner. Shall we go inside?" Lucy asked lightly, ignoring her brother's question.
"Yes, I suppose we will," Peter said, annoyed with his sister's antics. They had increasingly gotten out of hand lately and it bothered him even more that he no longer could do anything about it as he could when she was younger.
After changing from his sweaty clothes and dropping off his book in his room he and Lucy made their way to the large dining room for dinner. The Tisroc, in an attempt to impress the Narnians, insisted on holding a large feast each night, complete with entertainment and an impressive amount of food. The two siblings walked into the room and took their seats at the far right side of the tables.
The tables had been arranged to surround the center of the floor, allowing for the entertainment to perform for the Tisroc and his family and guests. The Narnians' table was to the right hand side of the Tisroc, who sat in the very center. Peter, as High King, sat in the tallest of the six chairs that were set at their table, his siblings, Caspian and Georgie sitting on either side of him. After nodding to the Tisroc, Lucy and Peter both sat and waited for Edmund, Georgie and Caspian to arrive.
"I think Edmund may finally ask Georgiana to marry him," Lucy stated.
"I agree, but we've all known that for a while. What makes you bring it up now?" Peter asked. Lucy shrugged.
"I'm just making conversation. Do you realize that if Edmund gets married, there will be four queens? Isn't that something?" she asked. Peter glared suspiciously at his sister.
"What's your point, Lu?" he asked.
"I don't know," she said innocently. Seconds passed before she asked, "Did you ever imagine all of us getting married?"
"Well, I suppose I imagined Susan getting married since she was practically engaged once. I tried to ignore the idea of you getting married, even though I knew you were as highly sought after as Susan. I still try to ignore that fact. What exactly are you getting at Lucy? Are you trying to ask me if you can get married?" Peter asked irritably.
"No, no! I'm just curious. I had always pictured you married first and now Edmund will be the first of us married. Doesn't seem quite right, don't you think?" she asked, a grin tugging on her lips.
"Lucy, you're being ridiculous," he muttered.
"No, I'm not. I just think maybe you should start considering it. You're only getting older; people may begin to talk about why your brother and Caspian are both married and you're not," she said.
"Lucy, let me make this perfectly clear: I will get married when I find someone to marry. As of right now, there are very few available women who are suitable. As High King, I can hardly go marry some girl I met for a couple hours on an island or luck out and meet a woman Aslan turned into a princess. So until someone comes along, leave it alone!" he said low, his voice becoming firmer as he spoke.
"Maybe someone has," Lucy hissed back, turning her attention to the door. Edmund, Georgie and Laira walked into the room. Peter glanced up as well, smiling slightly as when he saw Laira was laughing. His smile disappeared quickly though when he saw a look of uncertainty cross Laira's and followed her gaze across the room. He saw the sneering look Prince Rishdamar was giving her, his own face darkening into a scowl. Lucy, who had given Laira a smile, said through her teeth, "Peter, stop that. Now is not the time."
Peter looked towards his sister and forced himself to relax, silently wishing he could gut the prince, something he'd longed to do since the first time they had met. Edmund helped Georgie and Laira into their own chairs before sitting next to his brother. Leaning over he whispered,
"You can't kill him before we've had dessert." Peter glanced at his brother, an incredulous look on his face before he cracked into a smile, chuckling at how well his brother knew him. "I know the feeling, Pete. I, for one, can't wait until we get out of Tashbaan and as far away as possible from him. Every time he looks at G I want to run him through," Edmund said in a low voice.
"Maybe if you would hurry up and marry that woman other men would stop looking at her," Peter muttered back.
"Maybe if you would mind your own business, you might make it out of dinner without me knocking you to the floor," Edmund shot back. Peter chuckled again, straightening up as dinner began.
The next morning Laira walked with Georgie and Lucy towards the gates of the palace when they ran into Peter, who had come in from walking the gardens.
"Good morning, ladies," he said, smiling at the three women. "Where are you off to?"
"We wanted to go explore the city and see it before we left. Princess Laira hasn't seen much of Tashbaan either, so we thought today would be as good as any," Georgie explained.
"Who's going with you?" Peter asked, his voice growing serious. "We won't be gone long," Lucy said.
"That doesn't answer my question, Lu. You know you shouldn't go out there without some type of escort. It isn't safe," Peter said.
"But Peter…" Lucy argued.
"No, I'm not going to have my little sister and friends alone in the streets of Tashbaan being targets for who knows what! Furthermore, Georgiana, I'm a little surprised at you; I know Edmund would never approve of this," Peter said firmly.
"I don't need Edmund's approval or permission, Peter," Georgie said.
"Need my permission for what?" Edmund asked as he walked up behind the women, placing his arm around Georgie.
"They want to go out and explore the city by themselves," Peter said casually to his brother. Edmund turned to Georgie, narrowing his eyes at her.
"No," he said firmly.
"Edmund, I'm an adult just as you are. I don't need your permission," she argued, returning his dark look.
"Actually, you do. If I need to put my foot down as king, I will," Edmund said.
"Edmund!" Georgie gasped, her anger rising.
"Well I'm a queen, so that won't work on me!" Lucy cried.
"This argument is ridiculous! Are we really arguing over whose station is higher?" Peter asked, sighing in frustration.
"Your majesty," Laira spoke up. Peter raised an eyebrow at her. "I think you're absolutely right. Tashbaan is very dangerous for three women walking around alone, especially when none of us are Calormene," she said, struggling to stifle a grin.
"Well, I'm glad one of you has a level head today," Peter muttered.
"I think what we need is someone who can watch out for us but also join in our tour of the city. Perhaps you and King Edmund would care to join us?" she asked.
"Oh, well, I suppose… Yes, I suppose we could," Peter stuttered, surprised by Laira's suggestion. Edmund groaned loudly, but was suddenly stopped by Georgie's elbow.
"Ow, G! Stop elbowing me so much!" he complained as he rubbed his side.
"Well great! Let's go!" Lucy exclaimed, happy that her brothers had agreed to come with them. My plan is working perfectly, she thought to herself, smiling widely at Peter.
AN: This chapter was a toughie... But thanks to everyone's really nice comments, I soldiered on! I had all intentions of putting something about Laira in this note (since everyone said they didn't mind them and some actually said you liked them!), but as I'm leaving work in 3 minutes, there's really not enough time to write what I'd hoped to say... no matter how mad fast my typing skills are!
Updated AN: I got a little extra time so I thought I'd finish up my note. Laira, as most of you know, was introduced in Choosing Grace. I actually never meant for her to be anything big, but after a while I figured I could use her to spice up the plot by having her secretly marry the man who was trying to kill Peter and Susan. I don't really know when I actually decided that she would end up with Peter... because really she had no personality whatsoever originally. It's been kind of fun developing her over the past few chapters. Hm... that wasn't really as much as I had hoped to write, but there's really nothing else to say about her.
Something else I wanted to mention was how this story is going to be mapped out... I started the first chapter/prologue out right before the point where Receiving Grace ends. My main reasons for that is to 1) introduce all the main characters and tell new readers kind of what's going on (with Susan coming to Aslan's Country), 2) foreshadow some of the things that will be happening later in the story, and 3) have a Georgie and Edmund moment (because I have MISSED them!). The second chapter started out overlapping a chapter from Choosing Grace and filling in the holes from it, namely showing their visit from different points of view. In that particular chapter (in CG), Peter's quick to jump to Laira's aid, but it's never exactly explained why. So... the past few chapters have answered that "why?". Since this story is going to deal with both Peter and Lucy, I thought that it only made sense to focus on Peter first and then Lucy, because Peter had found Laira in the past and Lucy's left to the future.
Which brings me to Lucy... I feel like I've made my feelings known about Lucy at least once in both CG and RG... I really am not a Lucy fan. In fact, out of all the Pevensies, I don't like her at all. I blame the BBC for that and that poor girl they cast as her. So maybe, because of this, I've kind of elaborated on Lucy's actual character, but I hope not too much. I think, as with most youngest children, she provides the comic relief to the group, so that's been fun to write. But enough of my chattering on... If I haven't mentioned it before, you all are fantastic!