The Professor smiled down at her. "Good evening, Sophie. You missed a rather spectacular supper," he said conversationally.
Sophie was slightly taken aback. Professor Kirke was standing outside of her room making small talk. She wondered if perhaps his age was getting the better of him. "Not to be rude, Professor, but is there something that you needed?" she asked tentatively. Her nerves were rather on end and she judged that rest would be the best remedy for that, at the moment anyway.
"Yes, yes," Professor Kirke answered, waving the hand that held his pipe. "If I recall correctly, young Lucy's birthday is coming up soon, is it not?"
"It is in three days," Sophie replied, still confused.
The Professor smiled. "Splendid. I was hoping to arrange some sort of party for her, but old man that I am, I seem to have forgotten what exactly an eight year old girl's party might involve."
"Would you like me and Susan to plan it then?" she asked. She couldn't believe that out of all the things in his life, Professor Kirke was concerned with Lucy's birthday.
"Indeed I would, Sophie." He smiled again. "Now, I've a letter or two to write, so if you'll excuse me…" he trailed off, turning and walking down the hall.
Sophie gaped after him. She had been thinking of doing something for Lucy's birthday, but things had been rather complicated of late. This would be a welcome distraction for her tired emotions. Lucy did deserve a good birthday celebration, after all. In Narnia, following the Pevensies' coronation, her party had been the biggest celebration that the land had seen in a hundred years.
A few minutes after the Professor had left, Peter appeared at the end of the hallway. In the briefest of moments, he made eye contact with Sophie. Almost immediately, she slammed her door shut. He heard the lock turn and wished that he had the guts to walk over and knock on her door. Three small words; that was all it would take. Well, he hoped so anyway.
Peter woke with a start. He was shaking, and his forehead was slick with sweat despite the cool air. At first he was confused by his surroundings, but then everything started coming back to him. He was in Archenland. How he hated traveling away from Cair Paravel—away from his family, away from Sophie.
The nightmare came back to him then too, causing him to shudder. If he should ever lose her, he didn't know what he would do. His hands clenched into fists as he tried to rid himself of the gruesome images. What had brought them on?
Even as he theorized, he knew the answer. He had brought it on himself. It was his fault that Sophie's smiles never reached her eyes. It was his fault that Sophie never laughed like she used to. It was his fault that Sophie rarely ever left her room. And instead of trying to make amends, he kept avoiding the problem.
The High King groaned in frustration and flopped back onto his pillows. He would tell her when he returned home. Perhaps tomorrow he would take a walk through the capital's marketplace to find her a present. With this thought in mind, he squeezed his eyes shut, willing sleep to come over him.
"Lu! Lu! Wake up!"
The youngest Pevensie rolled onto her side, pulling her blanket over her face. "Five more minutes, Mum," she whined, still halfway in the land of dreams.
Sophie laughed. "Lucy, I am not your mum. Now wake up!" She reached over and shook the younger girl. "Don't you know what today is?" she asked.
Lucy's eyes popped open and she propped herself up on her elbows. "No…" she replied slowly, a look of false innocence in her eyes. "Would you care to tell me, Soph?"
"Hm." The older girl pressed her lips together and tapped her forefinger against her chin. "I suppose I could, but I think that would take the fun out of everything," she answered vaguely.
"Well if there's going to be fun, I suppose I can get out of bed now," Lucy said. She swung her legs over the side of her bed and walked over to the closet. She glanced out of the window and was surprised to see how high the sun was in the sky. "Sophie!" she cried.
"What?" Sophie looked over to her in alarm.
"How could you have let me sleep in so late?" Lucy demanded, racing to get dressed now. She hopped around the room on one foot as she pulled on a stocking.
Sophie shrugged. "You didn't miss any—"
"Except breakfast," Lucy interrupted, fumbling with the buttons of her blouse. Her stomach chose the opportune moment to let out a gurgle of hunger.
"Well that would be a problem if I had overlooked that. But," she started, then paused. She reached over to the other side of Lucy's bed and produced a picnic basket with a flourish. It was her job today to distract the birthday girl while the others set up for her surprise party. In her pocket was a much abused, folded-up piece of paper covered in her neat writing. The list of Things to Do with Lucy had gotten ridiculously long after she had jotted down every single suggestion that Edmund could come up with.
"Ta da!" she continued. She set the basket on her lap and drummed her fingers on the twisted wicker handle.
Lucy mock frowned. "Are we having a picnic, then?" she asked, hands on her little hips.
The older girl nodded then stood up. "And afterwards we can pick flowers to make crowns and climb trees and play catch and watch the clouds and all sorts of other fun things," she explained cheerfully. She started towards the door and was halfway out when she realized that Lucy was still standing in the middle of the room. She turned back around and cocked her head to the side. "We can't do anything if you stay there, Lu," she said pointedly.
"Isn't anyone else going to come with us? Where are Su and Ed?" Lucy inquired, tactfully leaving out Peter's name.
Now it was Sophie's turn to frown. "What? I can't spend time with you? We used to spend hours doing things together, just us two girls," she replied, feigning hurt.
"I was only asking. Last one outside is a rotten egg!" Lucy cried, running past Sophie. She smiled to herself as she tried not to trip down the stairs, her eyes sparkling mischievously. Yes, everything was going according to plan.
