Haidee fought the urge to slump across her cushions and doodled on the corner of her page.
"And why did your ancestors flee to the Islands at the start of the Long Winter?" Penelope asked.
"Because it was cold?" she said to irk her.
"Anya?" the governess asked with a weary sigh.
"The Witch feared the Sea because Aslan came from beyond it. She dared not follow us out beyond the water for fear of meeting Him," the younger girl replied dutifully. Haidee pursed her lips and drew a tiny lion.
"There you are, Haidee, the answer is always simple. If only you would apply yourself to your studies! Your father expects you to start taking on some of the bureaucratic duties he has!" Penelope said. Haidee's pen juddered to a halt.
"Why? I don't need to know any of this! I can dance, I can read and draw, I can host a party and I can organise a household. I am a commodity ready for Papa to barter with," she said bitterly.
"And if you think like that then you are going to end up just like your mother," Penelope said in a low voice. Haidee lifted her eyes from her parchment to glare at her governess, the two of them ignoring Anya's confused expression.
"If you ever speak to me like that again, I will tell Papa," Haidee warned.
"He would agree with me," Penelope sniffed.
The tension in the room was broken by Lucy pulling Edmund into the library.
"See, Ed, isn't it wonderful?" she was saying. She paused when she was the two girls and the governess seated around the small table. "Apologies for the interruptions," she said.
"It is no problem, your majesties! Perhaps you might like to join our history lesson?" Penelope said oily. Haidee rolled her eyes behind her governess' turned head.
The two younger Pevensies looked at each other and then shook their heads. The governess turned back to her charges, leaving their majesties to explore the library. They approached a cabinet of artefacts that Lucy hadn't seen properly the other day. It seemed to be filled with old rosters and trinkets. There were little coral carvings of nymphs and sea creatures and what looked like a music box made from an oyster shell. Edmund crouched down and opened the cabinet. He slid a chessboard and its pieces out from the bottom shelf and set it on a table.
It was beautiful. The board was made from mahogany and inlaid with mother-of-pearl to make the squares. Each of the pieces were sea-themed; the rooks were little lighthouses, the knights seahorses and the King and Queen merpeople.
"Ah, I believe sire has found one of our more precious relics from before the Long Winter. It was salvaged and brought to the Islands by our ancestors when they fled the mainland," Penelope informed them.
"Because it was cold," Haidee added drily. Her governess gave her a filthy look and then continued, "Its purpose is lost to history but we have hypothesised that it was used by generals to plan battles and co-ordinate the movement of troops."
Edmund sniggered. "Close, it's a game called chess," he said, placing each piece on its starting square. Haidee sat up straighter and stared at the board.
"A game? How do you play?" she asked.
"Haidee, don't bother the King-" Penelope chided but Edmund over-rode her.
"I can teach you the rules if you want. It's fairly simple when you know how to play," he offered. She scrambled to her feet and crossed over to Edmund and Lucy, completely forgetting about her sister and governess.
"Haidee! Come back to your studies or you won't go to the dance tonight!" the governess barked.
Instantly her two girls and the King and Queen were staring at her.
"Dance? We are having a dance?" Anya asked, her voice rising with excitement. Penelope faltered.
"Yes... Your father thought it would be a good way for the Islanders to freely mingle with the Kings and Queens," she said slowly. The sisters grinned at each other. Edmund and Lucy also exchanged a look, amused by their reaction.
"Oh, be off, the pair of you! I know you too well; you are never going to focus on your lesson now!" Penelope said exasperatedly. She knew when she was beaten.
"A dance, you say," Susan said as Lucy laced her dress for her.
"Yes, all the Islanders are coming. It's a big thing, according to Haidee," her sister explained. "The dances seem to be different from ours though; both girls were horrified when that governess suggested we include some Narnian dances."
Susan placed her crown on her head and smoothed down her dress. "Well, I suppose we did come here to learn about them and their ways," she said.
Haidee knocked respectfully on the door and the Queens stared at her in surprise. She was wearing a relatively plain dress, her hair tied off her face but still flowing freely down her back. She smiled bashfully as shifted from foot to foot nervously.
"I thought I would come and check your dresses," she said. Susan stared down at herself.
"What's wrong?" she asked. Her gown had been finished just before she left Cair Paravel and the creamy silk looked beautiful against her skin. As an answer, Haidee pulled a hidden loop out of the folds of her skirt and slipped it over her wrist. By raising her arm, her skirt was pulled upwards; leaving her bare feet free from the material.
"In those dresses, you are probably going to spend more time on the floor than dancing. Our dances are fast and you have to be nimble," she explained. Lucy and Susan looked at each other's dresses. They were perfect for the stately Narnian dances but clearly they wouldn't do tonight.
"We don't have anything else," Lucy said. Haidee bit her lip.
"Well, I suppose you could borrow one of my old dresses but I don't know what Susan could wear," she said uncertainly, glancing at the taller girl.
"Your mother's maybe?" Susan asked. An odd expression of hate flashed momentarily across Haidee's face but then it returned to her friendly smile.
"Good idea! Follow me, I'm sure we will find something," she said. She led them to the room she had ignored on the day she had given Lucy a tour of the house. It was a large airy room decorated in beautiful varying shades of blue. Haidee vanished into a small adjoining room, leaving the Queens to stare at the marble surfaces and the murals of sea life across every wall. Despite the beauty and care put into the decoration, the room had a distinctly unloved feel to it. The bed looked like it hadn't been slept in for years and a thin layer of dust lay over everything. The only things not dusty were the many chests and boxes heaped around the room.
"This was my mother's room. We use it for general storage now," Haidee said as she returned, sunny yellow and inky blue draped over her arm. She handed the yellow to Lucy and then held out the blue to Susan.
"That colour has never really suited me," Susan admitted.
"All of my mother's dresses are blue, I'm afraid. Her name was Marina and she had a certain affinity for the Sea," Haidee said. Susan took the dress from her and was pleasantly surprised when she saw the fine detailing with tiny seed pearls about the neckline and sleeves. This dress belonged to someone who was greatly loved; it didn't make sense that it had been tucked away where no-one else could wear it. And the same could be said of this room; it had been specifically decorated with great care and attention to detail but now it was little more than a store.
"What happened to your mother?" Susan asked. There it was again, that odd expression of hate or mocking flashing momentarily across Haidee's face.
"I'd rather not talk about it," she said shortly. "She left us when I was very young and it's always been rather painful for me."
The three girls walked into the central courtyard. It was alive with people; it seemed like the entire population of the Islands were there and all mingling freely. The rich in their finery spoke happily with the poor in their carefully mended best.
Cedric emerged from the crowd and made his way towards them. His face dropped when he saw Susan's dress.
"You girls looks beautiful," Peter said from behind them. Edmund watched Haidee carefully. She was glaring at her father, a challenging gleam in her eye.
"Queen Susan didn't have any suitable dresses to dance in so I found one of Mother's for her," she said.
"It suits you well, your Majesty," Cedric said with icy courtesy.
"If it bothers you then I can change," Susan said politely but the Governor shook his head.
"It is no problem," he said and then turned to the crowd. "My friends, let us show the Kings and Queens what it means to be an Islander!"
Haidee pushed past them excitedly and dived into the throng as a small mismatched band of a kindly-faced old merchant and a few shepherds and fishermen quickly tuned their instruments. They struck up a jaunty tune; the Islanders pairing up.
Cedric led the Kings and Queens to a table surrounded by low cushions. "You may want to sit the first dance or two out until you get a feel for our rhythm."
The dancing in front of them seemed to be composed of mainly spinning and turning. The Islanders turned with an unbelievable speed and grace; their clothes whirling about them in a forest of colours. Only the fauns from the crew Splendour Hyaline seemed to able to keep up with them as they twisted and spun this way and that.
"It seems so difficult!" Lucy exclaimed, her eyes shining in delight.
"The steps are really quite simple and we have danced the same dances for generations. Why, look there, even the youngest of us have no difficulty," Cedric said, indicating where a group of children danced on the edge of the circle. The eldest was about eight and the youngest no more than three or four but they all still kicked and turned exactly in sync with the adults and music around them.
"We only have one rule here, you may never refuse a request to dance," Cedric said. "Whether you were born to the noblest family on Avra or whether you are a fisherman's daughter who guts fish on the market stall, tonight you are all equal and you dance together."
Two young men nervously approached their table. "We wondered, perhaps, if the Queens would care to join us for a dance?" the elder asked. The sisters smiled and let themselves be accompanied into the fray.
As their partners pulled them into the circle, the dancers parted and the Kings and Cedric saw Haidee. She was in the very centre of the dancers; her hair flying wildly as she danced and her face more alive than Peter and Edmund had ever seen.
Cedric sighed. "She is the image of her mother tonight."
"What happened to your wife, if you don't mind us asking?" Peter said. The Governor sighed again.
"I loved my wife dearly. Too dearly in fact and I neglected to notice that she was taken by a sickness of the mind. It grew and festered inside of her until she resolved to take herself from us. Haidee was very small and Anya but a babe. A great shame," he said sadly.
Before the boys could fully digest this, the jig ended and Haidee was forcing her way out of the crowd towards them.
"Papa, come dance!" she said, tugging at his arm.
"I don't think so, remember what happened last time?" he smiled.
"Now, now, what was that you were just saying about you can't refuse an offer?" Peter said jokingly.
"Last time I danced with Haidee, I broke my leg."
Haidee pouted and played with her father's sleeve.
"That wasn't my fault, you tripped over Leila's dress. Please, please Papa!" she wheedled.
"No," he said and turned his attention away from her.
"I'll dance with you, if you want," Edmund said. She looked surprised but nodded.
She led him into the very centre of the circle.
"I'll try to help you as much as I can," she said. As the band started again, Edmund looked around.
"How do you know what dance it is?" he asked, taking both her hands like the other couples.
"You can tell by the music," she said brightly, tapping her foot to the rhythm. "In a moment we are going to spin to the left for a count of sixteen."
"Uh, when?" he asked but suddenly she skipped to the side, yanking him around with her. He was surprised by her strength and speed. He leaned back slightly and her grip tightened in panic as they spun faster.
And then she let go and he was spinning other girls, Susan, Lucy, Anya, girls he had never met before, only to be met again by Haidee to turn again.
It was the most confusing thing he had ever done but it was also one of the most fun.
"Ed looks terrified," Peter said. Cedric laughed heartily.
"He decided he would join one of our more ferocious dances," he agreed. "Your sisters seem to be picking it up better."
As if on cue, Peter saw Lucy stumble and nearly fall. He jumped to his feet but her partner had caught her and lifted her back onto her feet without missing a beat.
"You need not worry sire, we are used to the less-experienced needing some help. Look at the way Haidee directs Edmund," the Governor said.
Peter looked. It was very subtle, merely a small tilt of her hand or her head, but it was clearly helping Edmund. He seemed far more relaxed than a minute ago.
"Shortly I will begin to search for a match for her. She is a pretty girl and she is sweet-tempered when she wants to be. I thought one of the lords of Archenland or possibly Caspian of Telmar," Cedric said. "Or maybe you should consider her as a wife, sire. The ties between the Narnians and the Islanders run deep and it would only be prosperous for both of us to renew them."
So that's his game, Peter thought. He didn't show his surprise on his face.
"Yes, or possibly Prince Rabadash?" he suggested.
The Governor's face darkened and his eyes suddenly burned with a strange fire.
"Oh no," he said quietly, lifting his cup to drink. "No child of mine shall ever marry a Calormene."
