"Please welcome, High King Peter and Yuki, the Guardian of Narnia!" announces the herald. Claps are heard throughout the room as Yuki and Peter enter. Peter quietly clears his throat and gestures at the announcing faun, who lets out a startled "Ooh! And welcome the royal rabbits, Wit, Happy, Carrot, and Kokoro!" Letting out a giggle, Yuki lets Kokoro and Carrot down to have some fun. Peter does the same and the four bunnies dash straight for Edmund at the food, knocking him over.
"How they attack Edmund never gets old," giggles Yuki as Peter chuckles, agreeing.
"Yuki, you look absolutely lovely!" Lucy compliments, hugging her with Susan following behind.
"And so do you two!" Yuki returns.
"I shall check on Edmund," Peter informs them. "I expect a dance with each of you later tonight."
"Good bye, Peter!" the three laugh in unison before Yuki boots him away from their group. The three girls seem to have their own colors in the trio. Yuki is often in white or blue(The girls forced this color upon her to match Peter), Susan is often in green or purple, and Lucy is usually in red. Tonight, Lucy has on her red, double-sleeve dress with gold trimmings on them. And Susan's dress has three tones of green, altering every time her skirt has a new layer. Of course Lucy looked adorable and Susan is the bell of the ball. beautiful Gentle Queen Susan catches the eye of every male once again. Usually Yuki stayed close to her to make sure no one would kidnap Susan during these events, requested by Peter.
"So, how have you taken to the guests?" asks Yuki. "What do you think of them?"
"Well all of the girls seemed monstrous!" complains Lucy, making a face. "All they did was complain about the servants and how in Archenland they would be punished..." Yuki nods, knowing exactly who Lucy is probably talking about.
"Actually, one of them is quite pleasant," Susan defends. "I think her name was Anabella?"
"Anabelle," corrects Yuki, remembering the beautiful lady from before. "And I remember her, she was the only one during the carriage ride that I did not have a row with."
"Oh there she is!" Lucy points out. Yuki looks to see Anabelle sitting alone and observing others. "She looks quite lonely, we should go talk to her!"
"It would be nice to become friends with her," Susan agrees, and no doubt Yuki agrees too. The three walk over to her, giggling at how sweet she seems. Anabelle finally notices the three approaching her and stands up to curtsy.
"Oh your highnesses!" she greets, completely nervous.
"Anabelle, please forget the formalities," Susan pleads. "We are trying to become friends."
"Oh I'm sorry," she apologizes, looking down.
"And friends don't need to apologize to each other," Yuki jokes. Anabelle smiles sadly at her.
"You look beautiful tonight," Lucy says to her, but then frowns. "I mean, I'm not saying you don't normally look beautiful, because you do and I-I..." Lucy lets out a loud sigh, causing the older girls to laugh. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you, your majesty, and you as well," Anabelle returns, scanning all three of them.
"Please, just call us by our names," Lucy requests, and Anabelle nods.
"Lucy, will you grace me with a dance?" Peter asks, interrupting the girls. Giggling, the girls wave to Lucy as Peter leads her away to the dance floor.
"Your King Peter is quite handsome," Anabelle whispers, blushing.
"Well the Narnian court wishes for him to be married in a few years," Susan tells her. "Maybe you should try to be that lucky someone. Logically, Peter would want a lovely lady such as yourself." Yuki's heart tightens at that statement. Anabelle is so much more beautiful than her. If she ever so bats an eye at Peter, he would fall for her. But what about her moment with Peter earlier? It had to have meant something right?
"Hello, ladies, how are you doing this fine night?" asks Edmund, entering the group. Noting Yuki's pained expression, he sends her a look asking 'Are you okay?' She nods subtly at him before faking a smile.
"It was fine until you got here," Yuki jokes, causing Susan and Anabelle to laugh while Edmund mocks a hurt look. "We are just talking."
"Yes, and Anabelle is just mentioning how handsome our brother is," adds Susan, teasing the girl more. Despite knowing who she means, Edmund decides to play the joke, hoping it would lighten the mood for Yuki.
"Why I think you are quite beautiful yourself," Edmund says, bowing to her. However Anabelle stands there, stiff and stunned about what to do. "I am simply teasing my lady, I know you mean my brother. You see, I now know two girls who fancy him." He glances at Yuki a bit, only to receive a glare from her. Susan, feeling awkward, decides to leave the group to mingle with other guests.
"Really? And who might that be?" asks Anabelle, interested in the subject.
"Edmund!" Yuki hisses, trying to shut him up.
"Oh just someone that I know he likes back," he says. "Or will like back." For now, Edmund's statements are what he calls nice warnings, with no punch in them yet.
"Ed!" Yuki tries again, but fails miserably when he places a hand on her shoulder, signalling her to let him continue.
"Well if he is not courting anyone, then it is completely fine for me to try to win his heart, right?" she challenges, and Yuki looks at her shocked. The shy girl from before is now gone and in her place is someone completely confident and authoritative.
"Maybe, but if he has his eyes on someone, I suggest you back off and let fate play things out," Edmund calmly states back. Yuki swears she can see lightening exchanged between their eyes. Luckily Peter calls her before things get worse.
"Yuki, I need you," Peter calls to her. "It's time for our dance." Letting out a sigh of relief, Yuki flees from the two before they can throw any more fire at each other. "Whoa! What's gotten you riled up?" As she nears, Peter spins her to him as they begin dancing.
"Edmund and Anabelle were talking about you," groans Yuki. "Thank you for calling me out, you really saved me from an awkward conversation."
"You're very welcome. But this Anabelle...Is she the one from this morning?" asks Peter, glancing at her. "She's quite beautiful." A fire ignites in her chest as Peter tries to look at her, but Yuki pushes it to the back of her mind.
"Yes, her," she grumbles, looking to the side.
"Are you jealous, love?" Peter asks, a smirk making its way onto his face. Blushing, she frantically shakes her head.
"No of course not!" Yuki denies forcefully. Peter just chuckles at her.
"Then why are your cheeks puffed up?" he asks, poking the air out of them.
"No reason!" growls Yuki, turning her head away.
"Well don't worry, because," Peter spins her around again, "you," twirl, "are" swings back "also" pull back together beautiful", Peter takes this moment to leave a kiss on her hand, "love." The two stare into each others' eyes for a few seconds before both of them blush and look away.
'Edmund says one of my good points is that I challenge him, maybe a competition will break the ice,' thinks Yuki, "Well, have you been attending dancing lessons lately?" Peter quirks an eyebrow at her.
"Why? What do you have in mind?" he asks, smirking.
"Let's try that fast version of the Narnian waltz," Yuki suggests. "Unless, the high king is too scared to dance it. " Yuki makes a mocking expression, but bursts into laughter when Peter signals to the orchestra to play their faster songs and twirls her.
"So how do we do this?" asks Peter, moving behind her.
"Until one of us messes up," replies Yuki, setting the rules. "We both dance, no sabotaging the other and no distractions."
"What do you say we make this more interesting?" Peter asks. "If I win, you have to accompany me on my tour with King Lune and his men tomorrow evening."
"And if I win, you owe me a morning of horse riding tomorrow," bets Yuki. Peter nods, agreeing to her terms. At his nod, the two dance even faster. They twirl their way around the other dancers on the floor. As they dance, Yuki can hear Lady Cassandra and the others gossiping.
"Who does she think she is?"
"Really! How dare she dance with the High King more than once? Even the queens only got one dance with him!"
"That wench better move so I can dance with him next!"
"Well let her dance with him, the High King is probably only pitying her. He may be dancing with that girl a lot, but wait until he dances with a woman." No doubt that last comment had to come from Cassandra. However the next thing Lady Fiora says causing Yuki to nearly lose it.
"Don't you think King Peter's cerulean eyes are just to die for?"
'His eyes are blue!' Yuki bellows mentally. How can you mistake Peter's eyes?! They're the most beautiful things ever! If these girls fancy Peter so much, how can they mix up his eye color completely?! Yuki is so involved in her mental argument that she does not even hear Peter talking to her. In fact, she is surprised that mental scream fest didn't cause her to make a mistake in their dance.
"Yuki!" Peter calls again, worried for her, pulling her to the side.
"What?" gasps Yuki, snapping out of it. "Sorry, did you say something?"
"If it's what those girls said about you, love, don't worry," assures Peter, smiling kindly at her. "They are just jealous that I show them no more than a simple glance." Yuki lets out another sigh of relief. Thank goodness he didn't know why she was truly mad. Then again, why did she get so offended about Fiora's comment rather than their insults?
'How do I even know Peter's eye colors? Of course it's easy to tell they are blue, but how did I know they aren't cerulean?' she wonders. 'Maybe I've been paying more attention to Peter than I thought.' Then she realizes Peter is still waiting for her to reply. "Oh! No, don't worry, thank you Peter."
"Pray to Aslan I never have to dance with any of those disturbing girls," Peter mutters under his breath, causing Yuki to giggle.
"Well, I hope you're at least in the mood for horse riding," Yuki points out. "Because you stopped our dance, so you lost." She grins at him, causing him to roll his eyes but return a smile nonetheless.
"Excuse me, King Peter, I hope I am not disturbing," King Lune interrupts, nearing them. From behind him, Yuki can see Corin and a familiar figure trailing behind.
"Colin!" Yuki gasps, pointing at him in surprise. "You really are one of the visitors." If one thought he looked handsome earlier, Colin is drop dead gorgeous now. Seeing him in a formal attire for the ball made him look like one of the typical prince girls would wish for. Yuki hated to admit it, but Colin may even look better than Peter.
"Yes I am," Colin chuckles, smirking slightly at her. "It's a pleasure, High King Peter, and my beautiful Lady Yuki." He bows slightly and Yuki feels something tightening on her hand. Looking down, she sees Peter's hand firmly gripping her hand, intertwining their fingers, causing her to send him a confused glance.
"Good evening, King Lune, Prince Corin, and Colin," Yuki greets. Peter bows respectfully at King Lune and his son, but forces a grin when bowing to Colin. Said boy then attempts to hide a smirk when Peter possessively snakes his arm around Yuki's waist. Instead of suspecting anything, Yuki can only blush when she feels Peter's arm pulling her in closer.
"I'm sorry, have you two met?" asks Peter, trying to remain calm. Unfortunately for him, a strange tone made its way into his voice.
"Yes, Edmund and I met him earlier this afternoon when we were sparring," Yuki introduces.
"Ah yes, you see, I heard about Guardian Yuki receiving the wand of the White Witch," starts King Lune. "And I believe Narnia does not have many with expertise on magic. Archenland does not either, but one of my noble men gave birth to a son with extraordinary magic, Colin." He pauses to glance at Colin, looking at him with pride as if Colin is his own son. "I took him along my trip to Narnia because I believe he will be of great help to the Guardian in controlling the wand and its powers."
"Then we have already completed half of that," Colin announces to him. "You see, Lady Yuki has already asked me to be her teacher." At this, Peter sends Yuki a startled look. "And being a man who cannot turn down a request from such a lovely lady, I have also already agreed."
"That's perfect then!" King Lune booms, letting out a joyful roar of laughter. He claps Yuki on the back, separating her from Peter and into Colin, shocking all three of the teenagers and for Yuki to blush madly. "Well King Peter, do you not think these two make a beautiful couple?" Corin shakes his head as his oblivious father continues causing the High King to fume while Yuki could do nothing but stand there. Colin on the other hand, was quite amused by the reactions of the Narnian humans and pushes Peter by placing a kiss on Yuki's hand.
"To have such a strong fighter as my wife would be an honor," he says, peering into Yuki's eyes. Scared out of her wits, Yuki shoots a pleading glance at Peter, unsure of what he would say.
"If you'd like, I can introduce you to many other female centaurs of my army," Peter hisses through clenched teeth and a fake smile. Colin smirks.
"No need, Lady Yuki is a very special girl," replies Colin. "She has fire and innocence, quite rare to have together."
"High King Peter, with these two marrying, our lands would have a strong alliance!" King Lune chuckles, still not seeing the problem. Yuki glances at Corin for help.
"Father, perhaps you should let them decide on their own," he tells his father, taking pity on her.
"Brother! Where have you been?" screeches a voice, getting the attention of the five. They look to see Lady Cassandra stalking over, glaring at Colin. For some reason, Corin's eyes widen at the woman approaching them and lets out a quick "I'm going to look for Queen Lucy" before disappearing in a cloud of dust.
"You're her brother?" asks Peter, shocked.
"Unfortunately," Colin hisses. "But trust me, we're quite different."
"Either way, it's another reason to not marry you," Yuki lets out unconsciously, causing Peter to smirk while Colin to blush in embarrassment. Lady Cassandra's demeanor changes immediately when she notices Peter and King Lune.
"Oh, your highnesses!" she gasps in an exaggerated manner. "King Lune, you look golden tonight! And King Peter is quite handsome as well!" Yuki glares at her as Cassandra wraps herself around Peter's arm, trying to press his arm against her chest. "Oh my, and your muscles!" At this point, Yuki is torn between laughing at Peter's face or jumping on Cassandra to rip her away from him. Rolling his eyes, Colin begins dragging Yuki away, who throws another panicked look at Peter. Catching her look of despair, Peter runs for her, but is blocked by Cassandra.
"Dance with me," Colin states, pulling her waist into him. The action makes Yuki feel butterflies again, surprising her. Since when had another boy besides Peter had this effect on her? She likes Peter's gentleness, but Colin's confidence is quite attractive. "So you and King Peter?" The question shocks her.
"W-what are you talking about?" Yuki stutters. Is she really as obvious as Edmund says she is?
"Your face reveals everything about you," he answers. "It's easy to see you fancy King Peter." Seeing as Yuki doesn't answer, Colin smirks. Oh how she wish she can wipe it off his face. "I'd give up if I were you."
"And why's that?" she challenges. What is with everyone not supporting her crush for Peter? "What is your business about who I like?"
"Oh but I do, sweetheart," Colin retorts playfully, spinning her. "You think I haven't seen kings and their subjects falling in love before? All of them end the same way or another. Either the king forgets her after marrying another descendant of royalty because of pressure or their love is not enough to defeat insecurities."
"Well Narnia is different," Yuki rebuts. "Some actually want us together."
"Yes, but many do not," he returns. Colin gestures to a couple at the center, which Yuki manages to make out is Peter and Cassandra. "At some point you'll become insecure with the women throwing themselves at him and from there it will fall apart. Look around you, there are only about six noble Archenland women here and you already wanted to tear them in half for talking to King Peter." He had a point. Even if Peter likes her back, other women would look down on her and attempt to seduce him. "And the other reason I don't want you together is because I've taken a liking to you." Hearing this, Yuki snaps out of her thoughts and pushes him away, letting out a cold laugh. "What?"
"You think I'd believe that?" she hisses angrily. "I know exactly what you're doing! You're trying to split up Peter and me so your sister can get to him."
"No! That's not what I'm doing at all!" Colin pleads, taking her hand. "I already know Cassandra's personality will fail her." Yuki finally stops fighting. "I really do like you." Looking in his eyes, Yuki sees nothing but honesty in them, so she knew he was telling the truth.
"Fine, I believe you, but we wouldn't work out," she says. "The Pevensies and I come from another world, and we do not know when we will return. It is an impossible relationship."
"I don't care," Colin pushes. "I rather have you become my wife for a day and lose you the next than know you were never mine." The sweetness of his words renders Yuki shocked as she just stares at him.
"I'm sorry but no," apologizes Yuki, tearing up. "I don't know you, we've just met. I don't know how marriages here work, but from where I come from, I'm not ready and I do not want to marry you. Whatever King Lune expects of us will be nothing but hopes. Besides, Peter is the one I like." With those cold words, Yuki leaves Colin standing alone in a corner as she rushes to Susan and Edmund.
"Who was that dashing bloke?" Susan asks, grinning. She glances at him slightly before turning back to Yuki. "Oh, he's so handsome, even 'handsome' can't describe him!"
"Please, he's nothing compared to Peter to her, right Yuki?" asks Edmund, smirking. However their smiles drop when Yuki remains there with an emotionless face. "Did he do something to you?" Slowly, Yuki summarizes everything that happened between her and Colin. By the time she finished, the looks on Edmund and Susan contrasted. Susan seems flabbergasted that Yuki had rejected the marriage proposal while Edmund seems quite amused.
"She belongs with Peter, of course she has to break a couple hearts!" Edmund agrees.
"But they're incompatible!" Susan retorts. "She would be happier with Colin."
"But she likes Peter," her brother returns. "They are of the same world, so they will always be together if we get sent back."
"Ugh!" groans Susan. "You are impossible! I would love having Yuki in our family, but their personalities would not match up, as friends maybe, but as a couple that would be impossible." Susan walks off, leaving Yuki with Edmund to comfort her.
"You made the right choice," Edmund reminds her. "But if you decide to give up on our failure of a brother, I'll support your choice."
"Thanks Ed," smiles Yuki, but she can tell he would be extremely disappointed if she did.
"I said I would help get you two together, so here's a good chance," Edmund states, pointing to Peter, who looks uncomfortable as he tries to get out of Cassandra's grip. "Go dance with him."
"Can I wait a bit more?" Yuki asks, snickering. "I kinda want to see him suffer a little more."
"Good call," agrees Edmund. They two stand watching and laughing as Peter glares at them. The music slows down, signaling the end of the song and Yuki begins walking to Peter to save him. However, she freezes when another girl approaches Peter and Cassandra, Anabelle.
~Peter's POV~
Peter just stands there glaring as Colin walks off with Yuki, who has a huge blush on her face. How could King Lune even suggest a marriage between her and Colin? And how dare Colin hold Yuki's hand in such an intimate manner? Sure Peter does it too, but that's because Yuki is the mother of his rabbits! If Edmund can read his mind, he would think Peter is being jealous of possessive, but he isn't. Yuki is the Guardian of Narnia, who does this random Archenlander think he is? They've been doing things like this, Yuki is supposed to be Peter's friend! She's practically his wife/friend! Without realizing how deep he is into his thoughts, Peter finally snaps out of it when Cassandra is standing in front of him with a seductive pout.
"King Peter, what are you thinking about that's gotten your face so red?" she asks, subtly glazing his hand with her hip, causing him to freeze due to the discomfort.
"Oh, nothing," Peter quickly answers, looking at Cassandra's face. Peter had to admit Cassandra is quite beautiful, if one looked at only her outer appearance, but her personality completely throws it off. She was too flirty for Peter's liking. Yuki's flirty too, but she only played the flirty card with him, so Peter likes how she is more of a shy flirt. 'Why am I even comparing the two? They are completely different. I basically just offended Yuki be even comparing her to some like Lady Cassandra.'
"You know, your ballroom is quite grand, I would love to dance right now," Cassandra hints, but more like demands in a sickly sweet voice.
Peter nearly says, 'So go dance', but then decides against it when he realizes what she is trying to do. Grimacing mentally, Peter swallows hard and asks, "Would you like to dance, Lady Cassandra?" He immediately regrets it when Cassandra grabs his hand and drags him to the middle of the floor. Luckily for him, his spots brings him closer to Yuki and Colin. He attempts to eavesdrop on them, but frowns when Cassandra continues talking, for her voice completely drowns out the voices of Yuki and that monkey she is dancing with. The only part he can hear is the word "marriage". Is he proposing to her already?
"-ed in my hair," Cassandra vents. "King Peter, are you listening?" Peter jumps again at her accusation and begins feeling guilty. Just because he doesn't like her doesn't mean he should ignore her like this. It's just cruel and rude, not friendly at all.
"I apologize for my actions, but I am a bit distracted," Peter confesses, causing Cassandra to scowl.
"Do you like Guardian Yuki?" Cassandra asks, jealousy seething in her voice.
"Yes, but not in the way you think," Peter answers, but really he is uncertain himself. "She is a great friend and she makes my time enjoyable every time she is around. I just worry about her getting hurt is all."
"Don't worry," Cassandra comforts in a prissy manner. "Throughout all my years with Colin, I've never once seen him look at a girl like he is with Lady Yuki. Actually I've never even seen him with a girl. He won't hurt her, he's always had this silly idea of a true love and loving no one but that one girl. And from the look on his face, he seems to have found her." Even though Peter is worried about Yuki getting hurt and Cassandra's words confirms Colin's feelings for Yuki are pure, something causes Peter's heart to fall and tighten even more. Shouldn't he be relieved? Why are his worries increasing?
"And you, find the idea of true love to be silly?" asks Peter.
"Of course, it is but a silly story the poor tell themselves to feel better about their miserable lives," answers Cassandra. Is it true? Love here seems to be more of a transaction. Does true love really exist? Colin believes it in, does Yuki?
Peter snaps out of his thoughts when he feels something pushing against his chest. Peter looks down before quickly looking up again. Cassandra had pressed her chest against his, so when he looked down, he got a clear view of something his mother and sisters would cut his head off for looking at, even if it was an accident. Never had he been so close to a girl, and he is sure glad he never did, because this is very uncomfortable. The dance seem to be going on for so long, but possible because of the discomfort. Colin and Yuki had separated a while back, relieving Peter some of his worries, but instead he finds her and Ed laughing at him. Peter sends a pleading looking to Yuki, but she seems to not see them while dying of laughter. The song slows down to a stop and Peter thanks Aslan mentally for ending his misery.
"Excuse me?" a sweet voice asks, interrupting Cassandra and Peter. They look to see darling Anabelle looking at them shyly. Peter's breath nearly stops, how can someone look so beautiful? "Would you like to dance, King Peter?" Ignoring Cassandra's glare, Peter quickly takes Anabelle's hand and leads her away. As the next song starts, Peter grins at her.
"My lady, you just saved the King of Narnia, I believe a reward is expected," jokes Peter, causing Anabelle to giggle. His heart skips a beat at the sound of her cute laugh. "So what made you ask me to dance?"
"I saw how uncomfortable you were and well," her voice trails off as Peter peers into her eyes. "If I didn't, I'm sure you wouldn't ask me yourself. Who would notice the plain, quiet girl?" Realizing what she said, Anabelle quickly apologizes for ruining the mood.
"Don't worry," assures Peter. "I'm glad you asked. And for what it's worth, I think you're one of the most beautiful girls in this room." At this, Anabelle smiles brightly. Unknowing to him, two girls were watching this little moment, either heartbroken or angry.