Author's note: Much, much heartfelt gratitude for the reviews that this story's gotten. It's good to know that there are some who still care for Mallory. :D you know who you are!

Chapter 4: The Greater Good

Mallory joined Rum, Rumil and Rumilia about two hours later in Rum's room, having being called upon by one of Rumilia's handmaidens. She apologised to Rumilia as humbly as she could, and indeed, she was very sorry.

Rumilia was a good sport. "It's quite all right, Mallory. It's your choice. I don't have any right to influence your decisions." Mallory smiled. "I'm glad you understand." And so the friendship between the two was mended. But Mallory didn't dare even to meet Rum's eyes. Suddenly, she became acutely aware of everything about him. She noticed the way he walked: straight, confident and unwavering. When he laughed or smile, the corners of his eyes would crinkle up. Then she realised that he was a man now, not the boy that she had been familiar with, not the mischievous, playful child that she had grew up with. But that night, his smiles and laughter were constrained whenever she came too near. If her gaze ever slipped in his direction, he would avert his eyes. Mallory wanted badly to apologise to him; do whatever required to restore their relationship, but the hectic schedule of the dinner allowed her no chance.

They descended with other royals to the banqueting hall, and while they were lounging in the entrance hall before dinner was ready to be served, many of the honoured guests came and made acquaintances with all of them. Mallory found the Duke of Terebinthia rather fierce, but Rumil insisted that he was really a jocular figure. She was arguing with him over this when they were interrupted by a familiar, slithery voice.

"Ah, how pleasant is all this. We meet again, my dear nemesis."

Rum's face hardened. "Greetings to you too, Prince Rabadash."

"Yes, yes, Prince Rum, that's right now; never charge before your opponent with teeth bared when in the face of diplomacy. I must say, though, that I am most surprised at finding all of you here, for I understand that, royals as you are, you are unaccustomed to such a level of grandeur as this. But then again, you are all related to the Narnian rulers are you not?" he smiled slyly, "white-skinned barbarians the lot of you."

"We're not related in any way," said Mallory. "Now why don't you shut up and go pick on someone who's never defeated you in battle before."

Prince Rabadash laughed, but there was no humour in it. "I, like you, Lady Mallory, have never forgotten the defeats of Calormen in the hands of you Archenlanders, but mark my words," his mirth was gone at once, "we will have our revenge."

"Yes, whatever," said Rumil. "Piss off, will you?"

Rabadash snarled at them, a snarl that frightened Rumilia, but failed to move either Mallory, Rum or Rumil, who had all met him in battle many times and had seen enough to know that his threats were hollow ones.

"Do you think he really means . . ." said Rumilia faintly.

"Of course not," said Mallory. "Don't you go believing him; he's a right old git." Rumilia giggled.

"Greetings, my dear guests," said a lovely, silky voice. An extremely beautiful lady, dressed in rich clothes and had a silver circlet on her head, had made that greeting. Her eyes danced with a jolly light. Mallory felt as if she had seen her somewhere before, but she could not put her finger on who she was.

"A good evening to you, Your Majesty Queen Susan," said Rum, and he bowed and kissed her hand, followed by Rumil, who grinned a little idiotically before doing so and earned her merry laugh.

"Susan!" exclaimed Mallory. Now she knew why she had looked familiar. It was Susan!

The Queen's eyes widened. "M – Mallory?"

Mallory couldn't stop a wide grin spreading across her face. "Oh, Susan! Just look at you! It's been too long!"

"It is you!" Susan pulled her into a warm hug as she laughed. "My goodness, you're here! You're finally here! Why didn't you write back? Don't you know that it's rude not to reply to letters?"

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, Su. I truly am."

"It's all right." They released each other. "Come on, Mallory, the others would certainly love to see you. Is it all right, Prince Rum, if I borrow Mallory for a moment?"

Rum laughed nervously. "Of course it is, Your Majesty."

"See you later!" whispered Mallory to Rumilia just before Susan had took her hand and led her away from the group, weaving their way in and out of the people that crowded the hall.

"How you've changed, Mallory! I almost didn't recognise you!" said Susan.

"Me too, but then, it's been ten years after all," smiled Mallory, "how can anyone not change? And you look absolutely beautiful. I bet you've got suitors all over the place."

Susan gave a nervous laugh. "Yes, I do, but I'm not proud of it. To be completely honest, I haven't got anyone in sights just yet. But Prince Rabadash seems nice enough."

Mallory shot her a horrified look. "Oh, Susan! How can you say that? He's a perfect devil! Whatever you do, don't you choose him for a husband. You'll suffer. Positively."

Susan looked incredulous. "What are you talking about? He's a gentleman. During his stay here, he's been very courteous and he's never even raised his voice towards his own servants."

"You don't know what he's done to Archenland," said Mallory bitterly. "Always springing surprise attacks on us whenever King Lune leaves Anvard. And the worst part of it all is he's always at the back line. I've never seen him take the leading position before. He's a terrible coward."

"Oh dear," said Susan, "That's bad news indeed. What was your offense against him? Surely – surely you've done something to provoke him."

"Provoke him? We didn't do anything! King Lune, Prince Dar and Prince Darrin have gone to Tashbaan once for a friendly visit, but I'm afraid that's the furthest Archenland had ever done to strike up an excuse for angering him. It's unreasonable. Senseless!"

"Have you tried bringing this matter to the Tisroc himself?"

"The Tisroc?" laughed Mallory. "I can't remember the number of times we've written to him."

The two fell silent. Then, Mallory said, "Now here, Susan, I've got a few questions to ask you. We: Prince Rum, Rumil, Rumilia and I; got wind of the Giants' attack on Lantern Waste on our way here, and news is several Talking Animals were killed. What surprises me is the tournament is still on. What's going on, Su?"

Susan heaved a heavy sigh. "I honestly have no idea, Mallory. Trust me: if we had all had our way, we would have cancelled this event."

"We?"

"Edmund, Lucy and I."

"What about Peter?"

"He's adamant that we go on with this." Suddenly Susan had a very distant look in her eyes. They halted while Mallory waited for her to finish her brooding. A few seconds later, she sighed again and shook her head. "Speaking of Peter," she looked directly at Mallory, "I've got something to tell you, but I don't think it's appropriate to be discussed here."

"Why? What ever could be the matter?"

"Come on." Mallory followed her out of the entrance hall and down a dimly-lit corridor. Susan opened the door to a small chamber that appeared not to have any real purpose, and they entered while Susan shut the door behind them. Mallory chose a three-legged stool and got to business at once, "What's up with Peter, Susan?"

Susan took another stool and sat opposite Mallory. "I think – and Mr. Tumnus and I have been seriously debating this – that he's ill."

"Ill?" repeated Mallory.

Susan nodded. "It's not too obvious of course, but we noticed that he's a little off-colour lately; not to mention that he's been skipping meals, and skipping sleep too. Ed, Lucy, Mr. Tumnus and I are all worried for him, but he keeps saying he's all right." She smiled a little. "That's just Peter: always putting up a brave face."

Mallory laughed. "How long has this been going on?"

"Ever since the first Giant came and destroyed Mr. and Mrs. Beaver's dam," said Susan sorrowfully. "It was a real pity; but thankfully they were all right. They only just managed to escape in time. They rushed all the way here to inform us and it got to Peter's ears first. As usual, he wasted no time at all getting there with Ed and Oreius and the Centaurs. But it was too late: there was nothing but the wreck of the dam and the felling of so many trees. Ever since then, he hasn't been the same. His spirit's left him."

"Maybe it's because he felt he failed to protect his people," said Mallory, remembering. She was no stranger to guilt. How many times had she led men to the face of battle, promising them that they will be victorious, all of them; but after the worst was over, the bodies piled up. The first time that had happened, she had lost all heart to live. She could not even bear to face anyone other than Rum, Rumil, or Rumilia. It was Rum that had brought her back to her senses.

"A good possibility," agreed Susan. "He's an honourable person, a man of his word. But do let's go meet him now, Mallory; perhaps your presence will do him some good."

"I'll try my best to cheer him up," said Mallory, standing up.

Susan laughed. "Goodness knows, he needs it."


Mallory certainly did not know why, but as Susan brought her to meet Peter, her heart was pounding furiously at a frantic pace. Not only that, but her palms were slippery from cold sweat too, despite the stuffiness caused by the crowd of dignitaries in the entrance hall. Nothing, not even the prospect of war, had made her feel so anxious, yet so eager, before.

Abruptly Susan said: "Peter! Lucy! Ed! Look who's here!"

They approached a group of three people: a young and very pretty lady with sparkling eyes and a hint of mischief about her; a man, young also, with dark hair and freckles all over his sharp nose, who had a serious face; and the tallest of them all was a deep-chested man with a stern but kind face, a face that could easily frown and smile at once, and whose eyes Mallory knew at once. Upon hearing Susan's words, they looked up and grinned at her.

"Mallory!" said Lucy first, and she left her brothers to wrap her arms tightly about her. Mallory laughed and hugged her back. "Lucy! You're almost as tall as I am now!"

Lucy pulled herself away from her and smiled, "But you're still taller! Honestly, Mallory, you look amazing tonight. Looks like Archenland had definitely done you a lot of good."

"Of course it did, Lucy. I lived there for ten years. How could I possibly not glean any benefit from it?" But Mallory was grinning.

"Hullo there, Mallory!" said Edmund. "Long time no see! I'd almost forgotten how you looked like. Is everything all right in Archenland? I've heard that there were Calormene attacks on the southern border."

"Nothing more than little clashes, really," said Mallory. "But still, it's not healthy. People get killed in those little fights." She sobered up and her heart wrenched as she thought of the men who had died in the hands of Calormenes.

"Cheer up, Mallory. This isn't a time to discuss such heavy matters," said Edmund with an encouraging smile. "We'll talk about it tomorrow; how's that?"

"Perfect. However, there is something that has been plaguing Prince Rum, Rumil and me. And I'm afraid it concerns Narnia."

Edmund furrowed his brows. "What is it?"

"Isn't tomorrow the time for heavy talking?"

"All right, all right," laughed Edmund.

Finally came Peter. He smiled at her and they shook hands a little too politely. Mallory was just bursting with all sorts of questions to throw at him, but once their hands had touched, they went poof! out of her memory. There was some seconds of silence when neither of them had anything good to say, a silence that was observed by Susan, Lucy and Edmund. Susan took it as a cue to leave them alone and, giggling, she and Lucy went off to find the Princes and Princess of Archenland. Edmund cleared his throat and said something about catching up with the Duke of the Enchanted Isles and wandered off.

Even after Edmund had left, the words still refused to form on her lips. She watched as Peter struggled with something intangible, and then: "It's awfully nice to see you again.", to which Mallory laughed softly and said, "It's good to see you too."

Silence again. Then: "You're – you're quite a lady now, Mallory." from Peter.

Despite her viewpoint that that comment was utterly ridiculous, she could not refrain from blushing. She tried to find something nice to answer him, but instead these came out: "And you're – quite a King. A man, actually. Or King. Or - "

"It's all right," said Peter, smiling. Mallory could see now the extra paleness in his fair skin, the bags hanging below his eyes, the lack of zest in his eyes, and the constantly worried look.

"Peter – are you all right? You don't look so well."

"Do I?" he shut his eyes once for a few seconds then opened them again. "It's been a tiring week."

"Yes, and what with all the Giants – "

"You knew about them?"

"Of course I did. We're neighbours, aren't we? Whatever happens in Narnia will reach the ears of Archenland also." She paused. "Peter, if there's anything we can do to help you – "

"Mallory . . ."

"Peter . . ." She sighed. "You can't do all this alone. Those are Giants; even though I've never had the fortune to see one, I know that they're about a hundred times taller than any of us and they can crush a Centaur as easily as a groundnut."

"But – "

"And haven't you heard of our famous catapults?"

Peter grinned. "Who hasn't?" he said. "Three-mile shooting range, fireproof, able to propel as many as two boulders at one time; really, Mallory, you'd think I've been living in a cave if I didn't know all about their prowess."

She smiled. "Our army isn't much to shout about, but I promise you our catapults are phenomenal. Only trouble is," her smile disappeared, "they're all resting safely in Anvard. If we had known about the Giant attack sooner, we could have brought them along."

"Well, it's no use then, is it now?"

"Of course not, Peter, you silly goat: we can build them."

"But how?" Peter stared at her as if she had suggested that they throw themselves into the Sea. "I don't suppose you know how to do it?"

"Of course I do!" she huffed. "Why, really: the catapults were my idea."

Peter's eyes widened and he was about to say something but he was interrupted by the sound of a gong. He smiled at her. "Looks like dinner's ready." He lifted his arm. "Shall we, Mallory?"

Her first thought was to, of course, accept his invitation, but suddenly, the promise she had made to King Lune returned to plague her. And to aid her evasion: "Peter!" came Lucy's voice as she approached them. Behind her were Rum, Rumil, and an ecstatic Rumilia. Mallory almost sighed with relief.

"Peter, are you listening? You haven't forgotten Rumilia, have you?" asked Lucy brightly as Rumilia blushed and curtsied. "A pleasure to meet you again, Your Majesty."

Peter laughed nervously and let his arm drop. "Of course I remember you, Princess. And please, no curtsies. We're friends." To Rum and Rumil, he shook their hands and said in a mature tone, "I am glad that you have all come."

"Do drop the formalities, Peter," said Rumil, grinning. "You're getting too stiff for my liking." The men laughed heartily.

"We should all go in now," said Lucy.

"Shall we, my Queen?" said Rumil, holding his hand out for Lucy. She blushed and took it and they went into the banqueting hall; halfway before entering it, she turned around and smiled at them excitably.

Before anyone had a chance to make any move at all, Mallory did something that she knew she would regret, but was fully aware that this was a good chance for Rumilia to be with Peter. She turned to Rum hurriedly and grasped his hand as she attempted a genuine smile. "Let's go in now."

Rum gave her a surprised look, but he acquiesced. "Let's, Mallory." As she walked past Peter and Rumilia, she tried not to look at the High King. She did not think that her writhing insides could take the expression on his face.

All for Archenland, she told herself sternly. You're just a Lady; nowhere near a Princess. Besides, think of the good that will come of Peter's marriage with Rumilia. The ancient alliance between Narnia and Archenland will be further strengthened. It is for the greater good. I have no regrets.

Then why was she itching to give herself a good smack on the head?