CHAPTER 4- Just when you're getting used to it...
Sophie
After my little bout of elation, Peter escorted me to the banquet as I apologized over and over again.
"Don't worry about it, Sophie," he said, many times. "It's alright. We all felt the same thing when we came. We have arrived!"
And with a flourish, the double doors opened gracefully into the banquet hall, and I spotted Ben sitting in the window with Lucy. I smiled. If they ever get together, they're sure to last.
Peter led me to the High Table, the place where all royalty sat. I noticed the array of displayed weapons affixed a few feet above the table, purely for decoration. The food on the tables-roast beef, corn, carrots, it was like Thanksgiving here-was producing little tendrils of steam. It looked delectable. Peter pulled a chair out for me in between him and Susan. As we got situated, the rest of the assembled patrons-beavers, badgers, fauns, satyrs, you name it, they were there-sat down, and Pete remained standing to give a speech.
"Allow me to welcome all of you to our banquet honoring our visitors, Sophie and Benjamin Henderson. Throughout their visit, they shall be treated like royalty. They are here as our guests and friends, and I hope we will be able to get along with them. Now let the feast begin!"
There was a roar of assent and hunger as the guests began serving themselves food.
Some of the younger guests squealed with delight as the perfectly roasted meat hit their taste buds. I couldn't blame them-it was delicious. The entire feast was perfectly creamy or spicy or juicy, and all chatter was pleasant and energetic. After about an hour filled with "Taste this!" or "Amazing!" the plates were cleared away, bears and fauns helped move tables against the wall, and a band assembled. It was time for dancing.
The music played was a strange melody of upbeat and romantic, and everyone paired off with everyone else. I decided to sip my wine (non-alcoholic, the only kind they serve in Narnia) and watch the waves smooth out the sand on the beach. I knew no one would ask me to dance. As I let myself be carried away by the never-ending swells of the ocean, I heard a voice say behind me, "I always get lost in the sea."
I spun around in shock, dropping my glass and thus shattering it on the stones beneath my feet. I began to laugh when I saw Peter leaning against the stone arch, smirking. As he and I bent to clean up the shards, our hands brushed, and-forgive my excessive girliness- I felt a flutter in my stomach. I blushed. His hand remained on top of mine, and our eyes met at exactly the same time. After a minute, Peter cleared his throat and stood up, regretfully letting go of my hand. He helped me up, and said, "Would you like to dance with me?"
My eyes widened. "S-seriously?"
Pete rolled his eyes and said, "No, I asked you to dance with me because I wanted to make fun of you. Yes, seriously! So will you dance with me?"
I smiled. "Do you really think I'm going to say no?" He took me by the waist and led me into the room. I began to smile brightly. No one has ever asked me to dance! As we approached the middle of the dance floor, I swung around so my hand would meet his, and a new song began. With just us.
This song was a song that sort of lifted you up from the dance floor and made you feel as if you were dancing through the clouds. My dress and Peter's cape flowed around us like water, and everyone watched us in wonder. What an enchanting spectacle we must have made!
Suddenly, I heard more applauding. As we spun again, I caught sight of Ben's silver cape and Lucy's green dress flashing across the room and standing opposite us. I smiled. Who knew Ben had the guts to ask Lucy to dance?
As the whimsical music kept playing, I saw Edmund and Susan out of the corner of my eye. It looked like Sue had been asked to dance by a very handsome prince, but, as I passed her, I distinctly heard her say, "Not yet...let them finish their dance." I mouthed Thank you! to her, and she mischievously nodded. Ed was off in the corner, talking to a faun with a red scarf. I remembered that he was the one who had accidentally betrayed the faun- Mr. Tumnus- to Jadis, the White Witch. Mr. Tumnus, though, looked like he had forgiven Ed of his past.
I turned back to Peter and said, "You know, this is very extravagant for only a few hours' preparation. How did you pull it off?"
Pete adopted a look of tired terror. "Susan. You have no idea how immersed she'll get into party planning. She'll go crazy with it."
"Well, I like it. She would be a very good wedding planner, wouldn't she?"
"I imagine so. She would go all out with it!"
We shared a laugh. We lapsed back into silence, enjoying the dance. As we lightly sashayed around the floor, my mind wandered to the events of the past few days. It was really amazing. My mother was far gone, my brother was happy, and I was dancing to a lovely song with a handsome man who wanted to dance with me in the first place. That was the first time I felt beautiful.
And then all hell broke loose.
A pack of wolves burst into the hall, their mad barks echoing off of the great stone walls. The room exploded into instantaneous screams and thundering feet. The music abruptly stopped as the musicians tried to save their own hides. Peter and I backed away quickly from the snapping jaws and flying saliva, so far that we hit the wall next to the High Table. Pete unsheathed his sword from his hip and made to defend me. I looked for some kind of weapon I could use to help, and I saw it.
Above the High Table, my chair even, was an elegant bow and a sheath positively filled with arrows. I lunged up the few steps and bounded back to my place setting. I climbed up onto the table and successfully retrieved the prized bow from the display and slung the arrows around my shoulder. On the nearest balcony, I saw Ben and Lucy getting cornered by a wolf, and in a mere breath I lodged an arrowhead into the monster's back. As it gave a pitiful wail and died, they looked up to me with grateful expressions. Ben struggled over, and I got him the only other weapons on the wall, consequently above where he was sitting: two long, twin swords. He tied the belt around his waist, shouted his thanks with some difficulty over the uproar, and disappeared into the fray.
I stayed atop the Table, shooting arrow after arrow into offender after offender, each giving a yelp of pain as they left this world. I could sometimes see the glint of metal where Ben, Ed, and Pete were doing damage, and I was careful not to hurt them. I could see Sue and Lu helping the wounded on our side, and getting them away from the action. Thank Aslan for them.
Suddenly, the tablecloth was ripped from beneath my feet, and in shock I lost my weapon. As I tumbled onto a pile of broken dishes, the side of my dress turning red, I hit my head on the floor. It seemed like I had rolled a few yards away from the table. I looked up into the demented, yellow eyes of a mad wolf. I tried to roll away, but the broken china was too painful. So I fumbled for something to defend myself, but my hands were too bloody and numb to hold anything for long. He growled in my face, and I let out a yell of terror. But just as the fiend lunged for my throat, there was a flash of metal, but I had lost so much blood that I passed out.
Peter
I was striking wolves left and right, trying to end this madness. Sometimes, I would look up to the High Table, and I would see Sophie standing regally as she swiftly took out legions of monsters. Suddenly, one very crafty animal ripped the tablecloth right out from under her, and even while she fell, she was graceful. When I heard her scream, I bolted to her and plunged my blade into the terrible mass of fur and teeth. The force of my sword actually pushed the wolf away, and she was safe. Thankfully, most of the wolves were either slain or gone, and now the primary focus was the injured. I left my sword where it was- I would clean it later, I had to help Sophie.
I gently picked up her unconscious, slim body off the sharp shards of plates and carried her to a clean bench. I was removing the last of the china lodged in her skin when Lu came over. She gasped, hands flying to her belt, which held her cordial. "Sophie! What happened to her?"
I said in a strained voice, "She was dragged from the table and fell onto the plates. Quick, Lu, give her some of the cordial!" Wordlessly, my favorite sister pulled the diamond bottle from her belt and deftly unscrewed the cork. She let three drops into Sophie's dry mouth, and at once her cuts healed. As we watched her patch herself up, Ben came running to her side.
"Soph!" He called. He fell to his knees and held her hand. He took in the ripped dress, the bloodstained plates, and her matted hair without a word. Lu came over and tried to comfort him, but he was resolute.
I wrenched my sword out of the body of the wolf who tried to murder Sophie and wiped it off on the tablecloth. After I sheathed it, I retrieved her bow and remaining arrows and brought it to Ben. He took them wordlessly, his eyes never tearing away from his beloved sister.
"Peter," he said, slipping out of his reverie, "you went so quickly to help Sophie, when you could have been helping your own sister. What made you come to her aid?"
Was he serious? "Well, your sister was about to be killed! That might've motivated me! Besides, Sue and Lu have weapons of their own, they can take care of themselves!"
"But," said Lu, "so did Soph. You saw how well she operated that bow. Sue probably was in more danger than her."
"Well," I retorted, "Sue wasn't about to get her throat ripped out! I had to help her!"
Sue and Ed came over. Ed sat down next to Ben, and Susan knelt next to me. "I had overheard your discussion," she said softly, as if Sophie was only sleeping, "and I thought I should say something. I was watching you, Pete. You had something in your eyes, a passion that, no matter what, you would make sure Sophie stayed alive. It was more than just mere instinct, or even trying to save Narnia, Peter. So what was it?"
I looked down uncomfortably. Why was Sue wording it so that it seemed like I was in love with her? I'm not, right? It's only been a few hours I've known her! I sat in a daze, wondering what I can answer to that. I mean, how do you come back from that? She spoke like she was Aphrodite herself!
Luckily, I was saved the burden of answering, because Sophie woke up.
