Sorry for the slow update - I have school again after summer holidays, sadly. Thanks for the review. Here's chapter 6: In which Narnia starts to work it's magic on Celia. And maybe Edmund does too?
Edmund Pevensie banged his head against the wall repeatedly.
Darin was just such an annoying country.
Three days had passed since he'd started drawing up the contract and he was still nowhere. He'd barely begun it. He knew exactly what he wanted to write, but just couldn't figure out how to get it through without causing any opposition. He could not let Darin guess that they were worried about safety because of Calormen. Showing fear or anxiety was never a good idea.
As he sat in his usual spot in the library, ready to fling the heavy law book he was reading across the room he heard footsteps. Sitara rose but relaxed immediately, and he swiveled around to see Celia, dressed in Narnian clothing.
He blinked in surprise but caught himself immediately. She was wearing a very simple dress of lavender. She looked more feminine than he would've thought. She also looked slightly uncomfortable (as usual she was hiding it well)
"Hello," she greeted. Her eyes were scanning him thoughtfully and he felt as though he was an insect under a microscope.
"Hello," he returned. "And how do you find Narnian clothing?"
She bit her lip very slightly. Hesitation. What she would say would be different than what she was thinking.
"It's more comfortable than it looks." She said, smiling slightly.
"It is quite flattering on you." He said, and he was mentally berating himself a bit. His tone was cool and perfectly platonic but he knew that he needn't have said that at all, what if she took it the wrong way (he highly doubted that, though). There was just this constant need within him to say and do things just to see her react. It was just so interesting.
She looked a little startled (barely noticeable widening of the eyes, slight raise of the eyebrows.) "Thank you," she said graciously, yet she was looking at him intently like she was trying to figure out what game he was playing.
He contained a grin. Oh, let her try.
She was holding a familiar book in her hands.
"I've been meaning to tell you," she said, "I've finished the book you suggested. It's incredible! I enjoyed it thoroughly, it was totally fascinating."
Ah, that was a reaction then, wasn't it? Her hands were moving just a little, but he could tell that when she was really invigorated they would simply fly.
Strange use of the word 'totally' though. Hm.
"I'm glad you liked it so much," he said genuinely. "It was one of the first books I read upon entering Narnia and it remains one of the best."
She smiled. He wondered if she had read between the lines of his gesture. The chapter about the White Witch. What had she made of it? What did she think of him? Why did it matter?
"Yeah…" he said this too, but when she did it, it sounded so different. "It's great. Well, you look busy. I won't trouble you any longer…"
He almost missed the fleeting, intensely curious glance she gave the books and paperwork beside him. His first instinct was to ask her if she wanted to join him but that option was ruled out before it was even brought in.
"Oh, no, no trouble at all" he said hurriedly (on purpose, of course) "It's not like I was being productive anyway."
"Difficult clause?" she asked immediately and he felt a little startled. That was a fast deduction.
"Yes, you could say so." He replied carefully. He had to remind himself that he didn't know her and couldn't trust her because it felt so good to have someone who understood.
"It's hard trying to put my thoughts in words without phrasing them so as to cause a war." He said. Not too specific, not uninformative either. She nodded sympathetically.
"Yeah, it all comes down to stressing the importance of goodwill and peaceful alliance between the nations in a case like this, I guess."
Her tone was casual. He couldn't tell if she was feigning it or not. He could tell with almost everyone else. She was brilliant.
He thought about what she said. Had he stressed it enough? He hadn't thought of that. Somehow, he'd missed ever reasoning what he was saying. He could give it a go. It might work. How had he missed this before?
"Yes, I suppose it does," he nodded, as if he had not just found a way out of the metaphorical rut before she'd spoken. Was that a hint of a smile he saw on her face?
She was deciding whether to leave or stay, he could see it in the slightly outward direction in which her body was leaning and the glances she was discreetly making at the door.
"Where are Lucy and Caspian?" he asked, possibly because he didn't want her to go just yet.
"Lucy said she was busy with something and Caspian's helping her out. They were going to spend the day with me but I wanted to come to the library-"
"And that didn't go along so well with Caspian, did it?" he guessed, grinning.
"He put up an admirable effort, but I got the point." She grinned back, revealing evenly set teeth. He looked away from her mouth.
"You can sit down if you'd like," he said, gesturing at the couch. "That is, if you have absolutely nothing better to do."
She sat.
-x-x-x-
Celia had definitely been having an interesting day so far.
She woke up in the morning to see a lavender dress delivered to her room with a cheery note from Lucy attached. Deciding it would be rude not to wear it she did so. It fit well, to her surprise. Dressed were not her forte, however. She was more of a pantsuit sort of girl.
And then with Edmund Pevensie. My, wasn't he just full of surprises.
His compliment, for example. She could see it was mainly to see her reaction. She hadn't known how to react. That horrified her. She always knew how to react. And to her horror, she felt the beginnings of a blush heat up her cheeks.
Like right now, when they were sitting side-by-side on the plush couch, him leaning back comfortably with his legs crossed, holding his contract to his face.
She'd been to intrigued to leave.
After a few moments, he put the contract down.
"Oh. Sod it." He said. So Kings got exasperated too. She stored this moment away for later "I'm too bored for this." He turned so he was facing her completely and she so she faced him. She observed his slightly pale face, high cheekbones, full lips and dark eyes, wondering how many women had wanted his hand in marriage. It was just an interesting thought, of course.
"So what was your life like back in your world?" he asked curiously.
"I've already told you…"
"Those were simply facts. I'm talking about at the time when you…arrived, here. What was that period in time like?" he asked. She gazed at him, trying to find anything suspicious. She only saw curiosity.
"It was…fun, I guess." She knew he was watching her very carefully. Seeing if she would break upon mentioning things that far from her. Seeing how she felt. She had to be cautious.
"I got to travel the world, meet interesting people and see interesting things. College was good, too. Except the food. That was terrible." He grinned. "I was…am pretty satisfied. It was quite stimulating."
"What about you? How's life for you right now?" she added. She was adamant he does his bit of sharing.
"Hectic, of course," he said thoughtfully. "But fascinating, indeed. Being a King includes many things, but we have had peace for a long time, mostly. It has been an enjoyable reign and it feels good to be in Narnia."
He was thinking of somewhere else. His eyes had flitted away from her for a second – highly unusual.
"You must be really glad to have Lucy and Caspian by you," she said. She was implying that he was required now to make a statement about how he felt about his other two siblings left behind. A valuable nugget of information for her, definitely.
He got the point and she felt a little triumphant. "Yes, they are the best companions anyone could ever ask for." And she felt admiration for the love and faith so clearly expressed in his voice. "Apart from my sister Susan and brother Peter."
"You must miss them very much," she said softly. (Masking the burning curiosity inside her)
"I have faith that we will meet again." He said. Interesting. Was he an optimist? That didn't make sense, it didn't fit the character she'd built up around him. Realist, probably. It was likely he had weighed out the options and practically worked out the possibility of his siblings returning. Either that or he was a hopeless romantic. Appearances were deceiving, but she still highly doubted it.
"That's great," she said. Same soft tone. She didn't know how, but the conversation went from there to places she'd never imagined. Some things were the same. Same scrutiny, careful, diplomatic answers and posture, artfully framed questions. But it seemed to her that their mutual curiosity for each other had overpowered their respective vary natures.
"Would you consider putting more than seven clauses per section into an agreement that would end in a span of 60 days?"
"Depends on who we're dealing with. I think the more I want acceptance the fewer clauses I'd put instead I'd put in-"
"Sub clauses?"
"Yes," she said, a little delighted. "Absolutely. Who ever invented those is a genius. I'd put several, very short sub clauses and the most agreeable ones in the beginning."
"Ah, of course. The well-worn yet highly effective method of putting the good news first."
"Exactly!"
The conversations went on.
"Do you believe that it is possible for a human being to control his own fate, as you'd call it or do you simply believe that fate controls humans?"
"I think it's a little of both." Edmund answered thoughtfully. "You definitely control you own fate but there is a variable that is nature, or God, or Aslan, for us. One thing about what happens to us that we cannot control at all."
"That makes sense. However, what if we control everything with our actions? What if this very moment I', controlling my future by speaking to you?"
"You definitely are," Edmund said. "Then…well, I digress to that point. But I firmly believe that the things that are not controlled by you in your life largely shape it too."
"Well…"
And so it went on. And that's when Lucy found them, a full three hours later. He, leaning back, completely relaxed (on purpose?) with his hands crossed behind his head, eyes glinting almost playfully. She sitting bolt upright, her hands moving and gesturing widely as she spoke, one hand raking through her mass of short curls occasionally.
"It's time for supper!" Lucy announced, none too quietly. "And you two look like you're having fun," she grinned cheekily and looked from her brother to Celia. "How long have you been in here?"
"Er…since I left your room." Celia admitted. Lucy looked astonished and looked at her brother thoughtfully.
It seemed then that one of those sibling-telepathy things were happening that she could just not get, no matter how well trained she was.
"Let's go," she said after a minute and they met Caspian on the way out, who exchanged a few words with Edmund and greeted her enthusiastically.
As they joked around the supper table, Celia felt weird. She hadn't thought of or missed her home at all. She felt at peace, almost comfortable, with these total strangers. What was happening to her? Was she losing her grip on reality? What was reality?
But at that moment, when she smiled at Lucy and laughed at Caspian and felt Edmund's searing gaze on her (which she returned with one of her own which turned into a staring match) she was shocked to find that at that very second, and for a few afterwards, she really couldn't bring herself to care.
-x-x-x-