Chapter Six
Amber POV
Over the next month, Amber completely lost herself amidst the Pevensie siblings.
She truly couldn't help herself. The whole family had been nothing but welcoming, and thoroughly entertaining.
Amber found herself genuinely taking a liking Queen Lucy. Despite initially disliking her interminable happiness, Amber had come to love exactly this about her. Lucy had a constant positive outlook on life, always smiling, always laughing. She took immense pleasure in showing Amber around the castle, presenting to her every miniscule nook and cranny, high and low. She brought Amber to the library, and together they read through books which told old stories of great warriors and royalty, and the fierce battles that they had fought in. She brought Amber to the castle's dressmaker, having her measured and fitted for new dresses which arrived practically every day. In the kitchens, Lucy made sure the chef knew all of Amber's likes and dislikes, cooking all of her dishes to absolute perfection. At home, it had been the same, but yet so different. Here, Amber felt she wasn't under pressure. It was free, it was fun.
Peter was no different. He was always interested in conversing with her about The Lone Islands. Amber always had a made-up story that would please him. He questioned how it was ruled, what were the laws, how was the violence? He told her of how he planned to pay a visit there soon, and how he had planned to before, but something was always coming up, and preventing him. Wars, political affairs, managing his country - it was clear that Peter genuinely loved what he did, and took great pride the work he did. He included his family wholly in all of these matters, and the interest of his people. Peter even visited them regularly, the citizens of Cair Paravel. Amber was shocked by this, and found herself respecting Peter for his compassion with his people. Back home, her mother had managed all the affairs her way. She didn't visit them. The only times she saw them was when she was giving a public speech, or publicly persecuting the people, for discipline reasons. Amber marvelled at the incredible difference between the leaders.
Susan, had too suprised Amber. Amber had thought that after the incident that passed between them, there would be an angry rivalry between them. That was what Amber expected; it was the way it would have been, if the same thing had happened between her and another person back home.
But no, Susan had graciously come forward to Amber to apologise profusely for her 'absolutely unforgivably' behaviour in the training yard, deeming it as completely unacceptable, and extremely unlike her. Susan had even complimented Amber on her skills, whilst Amber had stood there in shock, trying to stop her jaw from hitting the ground. Of all things Amber had expected, an apology would have been the very last thing on the list, if it had been on the list at all...
All in all, Amber was, surprisingly, genuinely enjoying her stay at Cair Paravel. Even though she hated to admit it, she felt more at ease here. And having seen how utterly different life was, from the life that she had taken for granted at home was, Amber found that somewhere inside, she was beginning to question a lot of deep-rooted assumptions that her mother had pushed upon her from a young age.
And even though she didn't want to admit it yet, as it wasn't something Amber felt good about, she had begun to feel the teeniest bit of guilt whenever she innocently questioned Peter on the Narnian army, which he managed along with others. Amber managed to find out about the armies tactics, its numbers, its strengths, its weaknesses, all in an effort to get the information that her mother had requested.
And, another worrying thing that Amber couldn't ignore was the way she grew quite nervous, whenever Aetak reminded her of the issue of having yet to deal with Edmund. Amber couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable she felt, whenever the issue was raised. It most definetly was not a good thing, something she was painfully aware of.
Aetak reminded Amber of her task on a regular basis, much to Amber's slight dismay. She knew that Aetak only wanted the best for her. Aetak knew, just as well as Amber knew, that she would receive severe punishment if she failed to carry out what her mother had demanded of her.
But Amber had become rather good friends with the idiot. Unintentionally, but nevertheless, she had.
She hadn't meant to, it had just...happened. Edmund's character enthralled her to no end, constantly catching her by suprise.
One thing that had suprised Amber about Edmund was...well, everything, really. She didn't even know where to start! Everything, and everyone, was so incredibly different from everything Amber been used to.
Her mother had always raised Amber to be passively detached in all circumstances, telling her that it was required of royalty. She told her it showed power, authority, and that it was an act of maturity. She said that Amber was a woman of eighteen now, and she should act like it. Or, in other words, act just like her mother.
And Amber had always acted as she had been instructed. Back in the Northlands, that was the way everyone was. All the members of the royal circle were the same. They had to be. Cold, indifferent, unfeeling...and not knowing any different, Amber had unwittingly assumed that that was just the way it was. She didn't think it could be different.
Yet it was incredibly different here; more so than she could have ever imagined. Edmund, for example, certainly acted like a king, much like Amber expected. But with that said, Edmund only played the part of king when he needed to.
Before his guests, his soldiers, his fellow members of royalty, or just about anyone that Edmund held some form of authority over, he maintained an air of indifferent interest. Yet, there was never any question of his control. He was always reserved, polite, and could hold the attention of the entire room, including Amber, without any difficulty. On the battlefield, he was fierce, terrifying, and utterly ferocious, always holding the upper hand. Edmund had this air of power about him, which everyone obviously respected. Yet, unlike her mother, he didn't earn this reputation through fear and terror.
He fascinated Amber to no end. He was so unpredictable; amusing her incessantly. Some days, he would constantly roll his eyes, and keep the sarcastic comments coming, one after the other. They always seemed ready at the tip of his tongue. Other days, he would resemble Lucy, smiling and laughing widely, causing everyone around him to inevitably follow suit. No one seemed to be able to resist Edmund's charming and infectious smile. Amber learned that on his good days, Edmund was brighter than the Narnian sun. And on his rare bad days, when he had gotten little or no sleep the night before, he was darker than the Narnian night sky.
After their mock fight in the training yard, Amber and Edmund had befriended each other, becoming fast friends. Much like Lucy, Edmund took it upon himself to show Amber all of the beautiful features of the Narnian landscape. He brought her just about everywhere, showing her every little detail, always presenting something completely different to the last. Amber was astonished at the differences in his character, marvelling at the change from him when he was in command, and then him, when it was all just normal. She felt drawn to him, and found herself rather addicted to his company, enjoying it more than anyone else's company, in all of Cair Paravel. She found him to be riveting, so unlike herself. Under the parental guidance of her mother, Amber had never experienced 'fun' before, and Edmund seemed to be the very definition of it.
XXX
"Amber, come into the water!" Edmund called.
Amber shook her head defiantly. She was standing at the water's edge, on the beach just below the castle. Edmund had insisted on bringing her down here, convincing her that she'd love it. She hadn't known he'd insist on her entering the water also, otherwise, she never would have agreed.
"Oh, come on! Little Miss Attitude can take on 'anyone'," he made quotation marks in the air, smirking at her. "But she's afraid of getting wet?" he mocked.
Amber frowned irritably at him He seemed to find a lot of amusement in pushing her buttons. The idiot...
He was standing just about waste deep in the clear, blue, sparkling water, topless. The sun shone brightly on his pale skin, emphasising his exposed and rather defined chest. Not that Amber was looking or anything. She quickly averted her eyes to the golden sand, digging her feet in.
"I'll ruin my dress." She said pathetically.
He laughed, shaking his head. His wet hair hung in strands around his deep brown eyes, which were alight with laughter. Amber quickly looked away again, shaking her head.
"Lucy has plenty more where they came from, I'm sure."
She scowled, kicking at the sand with her feet. She'd never seen sand before. Back home, it had always just been ice.
"I'll...catch a cold." She offered.
Edmund rolled his eyes, looking impatient. "Amber, the waters warm. You'll be fine."
Amber looked up in suprise upon hearing this.
The water was warm?
Her face thoughtful, Amber crouched down, leaning forward to tentatively run her fingers through the blue water.
He was right!
It was warm! Amber's mouth opened as she out her other hand in the water, revelling at the warmth of it. The water back home in the Northlands had always been ice cold to touch and chilling to the bone. So much so that if an amputation ever needed to be carried out, one could just dip the required body part into the lake, and within a few hours, it would fall off. Easy.
Amber continued playing with the water, enjoying the feel of it, her face alight wonder. That was, until she suddenly received a spray of water to her face.
She shrieked, instantly standing up, while wiping her wet face with her sleeve. She glared at Edmund, who was still standing in the water, clearly fighting back a laugh.
"Whoops." He said innocently, stifling a laugh at her incredulous expression.
Amber tugged up the skirts of her dress, kicking off her shoes. Without hesitation, she dashed straight into the warm water, chasing after a laughing Edmund with cries of "you idiot!"
XXX
Amber had grown to know Edmund quite well; his likes, dislikes, and so on. She also knew that being called an idiot irritated him extremely, much to her delight.
Somehow, he seemed to bring out a different side of Amber, as he presented life in a different light. Amber couldn't remember when she had actually genuinely laughed at something back at home. Yet here, in the company of Edmund, he had her constantly laughing and smiling at nothing in particular.
XXX
"You don't know what hide and seek is?" Edmund exclaimed in disbelief. "And you think I'm an idiot?"
"No, I know you're an idiot." Amber smiled, and then her face took on a confused expression again "And no, what is hide and seek?" she asked curiously. It sounded ridiculous, whatever it was.
Edmund looked at her sceptically, not really believing her. "It's a game. One counts, the other hides. Then you try to find the person whose hiding." He looked at her with intrigue, frowning in confusion."You've really never heard of it before?" He said incredulously.
Amber shook her head. "No. Never." She felt her interest rise. She had never played any games as a child, spending her days training endlessly, in hope of winning her mother's attention. It never seemed to work though. Yet this had only pushed Amber to work harder, but to no avail.
All of this was pointing out to Amber all that she had missed in her childhood.
"Well...do you want to...play?" Edmund sounded uncertain, his voice bearing laughter. His eyebrows were raised, with a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth, his eyes alight with amusement.
Ambers face broke out in a smile, and she pulled Edmund into a brief hug, smiling excitedly. Letting go, she dashed off quickly to find a hiding space, leaving Edmund behind her shaking his head in wonder, whilst laughing softly.
XXX
Smiling slightly to herself at the memories, Amber tugged a comb through her long, defiant hair. Here in Narnia, under the influence of the constant sun, she could have sworn it had a lighter tinge to it. And she was pretty sure that she was getting a tan too. Along with plenty of freckles.
Amber was startled from her thoughts, upon hearing Aetak enter the room through the window. Turning to see her, Amber smiled widely, jumping up from her seat to greet her friend.
"Aetak!" she exclaimed, crouching down to share an awkward hug.
Aetak looked at her in suppressed suprise.
Hugs?
"It's like I haven't seen you in years!" she laughed freely. Aetak felt a sense of shock, at the sound of Amber's laugh. This person was so unlike the usual cool, reserved Amber.
And they had only been here a mere month.
She masked her suprise though, watching Amber carefully.
"Wherever have you been?" Amber asked curiously, returning to her stool, and resuming pulling a comb through her uncooperative hair.
"The Forbidden Forest." Aetak responded carefully. "Did you know that there is a whole other world of talking animals outside the Northland?" Aetak said, her deep, throaty voice sounding indifferent, as if she couldn't really care less.
Amber smiled; ignoring Aetak's apparent lack of interest. "Yes, actually!" she exclaimed. "You know, there are quite a lot of them in the castle. Lucy introduced me to the faun, Mr. Tumnus just yesterday! You have to meet him, Aetak, he's simply lovely. And Ed's horse, Philip, can talk too, you know! Last week I..."
Amber continued brushing her hair, seeming to be talking away to herself. Aetak began to feel rather worried, as suspicions began to rise within her.
As much as Aetak wanted Amber to be happy, she simply couldn't let this happen. There was too much at stake, and she knew and understood how badly Jadis needed this. She knew how much she was depending on Amber, who was oblivious to the amount of pressure she was under. Aetak knew that Amber would thank her for this in the long run, if they made it through this. She needed to put Amber's feelings aside for now however. It was for her own good.
"And what of your task, Amber?" she questioned, cutting across her rambling.
Amber paused abruptly, turning slowly to look at Aetak with guarded eyes.
"It's all under control. I've managed to get a lot of information from Peter about the Narnian army. You know, its size, its standards, its techniques-"
"And what of King Edmund?"
Amber visibly stiffened. She turned back to her mirror, steadily avoiding Aetak's eyes, and returned to brushing her hair, rather robotically.
"Like I said. It's all under control."
"Good." Aetak said carefully. "Keep it that way."
Amber nodded slowly, her eyes worried, and thoughtful. Aetak could practically see the wheels turning in her head as she contemplated deeply.
Amber's good mood had vanished, all her laughing and smiling gone. Her face was heavy now, thoughtful, with a frown. She remained like that for some time, before; finally, an unhappy, resigned look flashed across her face. It disappeared quickly though, and they lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.
Then Amber stood silently and made for the door. An unreadable expression was on her face, her mouth set in a thin line.
Aetak stood too, not wanting to leave things the way they were. "Amber, where are you going?"
Amber turned back to face Aetak. Her face was open now, and she looked slightly panicked, maybe even a little scared. Aetak felt her earlier apprehension return. She had to remind herself though; it was for her own good. She was doing it for Amber.
Amber took a deep breath. "Taking care of King Edmund." A faint smile flickered across her face, before the panicked look returned. She turned and left, without another word.
Aetak stared at the door after she left; the image of Amber's panicked face remaining in her mind. She had never seen the usually composed Amber that way before, ever.
And in truth, it frightened her, a lot.