Chapter 8: The Kingdom of Rayuvial Part 2
Peter jerked awake when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He blinked his eyes rapidly as he waited for them to adjust before looking up to see Edmund standing over him. Peter looked around in conclusion and found that he had fallen asleep at his desk again.
"What time is it?" Peter asked sleepily as he rubbed his red-rimmed eyes with the heels of his hands.
"Sunrise," Edmund responded as he peered at his brother. "How long were you up? You look as if you haven't gotten any sleep."
"I didn't really," he said with a yawn as he pushed himself to his feet. He staggered a little and Edmund grabbed his arm to steady him. "Are you ready to go?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Edmund responded. "Our horses are ready to leave as soon as you want to go. Do you need to do anything first?"
"No. Let's go."
The two left Peter's room as quickly as they could. Edmund was moving fast so he could leave and get a breath of fresh air. Peter was leaving as fast as he could so he wouldn't be stopped by Isabella. Judging by how urgent King Elvrond's letter was he knew they had to leave as soon as possible or risk the kingdom getting attacked again.
"Hey Phineas," Edmund greeted his brown horse. "Are you ready to go for a ride?"
"Yes, Sir," Phineas responded. "Wherever you need to go."
"Do you happen to know where the kingdom of Rayuvial is?" Peter asked him as he paused in the middle of securing his things to his unicorn, Ashen. He noticed that she was moving impatiently so he gently rubbed her side and muttered into her ear.
"I do," Phineas admitted.
"It's about a two days ride from here. One and a half depending on what path you take," Ashen added as Peter turned his attention to her.
"We need to get there," Peter hoisted himself up on Ashen, "As fast as possible. The fastest route would obviously be the best choice."
"But Sire, what about Cair Paravel?" Phineas asked as he turned so his dark eyes locked with Peter's light ones.
"It' will be taken care of while we are gone," Peter said with a reassuring smile, hoping it would ease Phineas's apprehension.
"Phillip, lead the way," Edmund said as he climbed up and settled down on Phineas's back. Phineas waited for Edmund to be settled before taking off, Peter following close on his heels. The thunder sound of hooves reached Peter's ears as he rocked on Ashen's back.
"Are you all right, Ashen?" Peter asked as he leaned forward slightly. "Nothing's too heavy for you?"
"I may be female but I am as strong as any male horse around here," she said with a flicker of determination formed in her eye. Peter chuckled before reaching forward and sliding her mane through his fingers, admiring how soft her mane was.
"Peter!" A voice rang out. Ashen stopped without having Peter to grab the reigns. Phineas stopped too as Edmund looked around with a confused look on his face.
"Who's calling you?" Edmund asked.
"Peter!" The voice repeated, a little bit louder than before. It seemed to have them surrounded.
"Don't tell me," Edmund sighed, even though a smirk was forming on his face.
"Peter, wait!" Peter and Edmund both looked behind themselves and saw Princess Isabella riding up on a solid black horse. Peter let out a breath through his nose but kept his face void of emotion, even though he really wanted to scold her for stopping them when they really needed to leave. "I'm glad I caught you," she said with a bright smile even though she was slightly out of breath.
"I don't mean to be rude, but I really need to get going," Peter told her in a firm tone.
"I wanted to see you before you left," she said as her eyes widened slightly as she tried to get a look of innocence on her face. "I mean, what if you never came back? I don't want our last moment together to be when you were mad at me."
"I'm going to come back." Peter didn't know whether to feel annoyed that Princess Isabella stopped her or to feel drawn to her for caring about his well being. "I promise," he added when the hurt look on Princess Isabella's face didn't change.
"Just to make sure," she said with a coy smile as she guided her horse to stand next to his. He looked at her in confusion but his eyes widened when she suddenly grabbed him around the neck and brought his lips to hers in a needy kiss. Edmund's face went from amused, to shocked, to amused, to disgusted, back to amused in a matter of seconds as Ashen and Phineas shifted nervously. Once Princess Isabella released Peter his face resembled million different shades of red. "Please come back soon."
"Let's get going," Edmund said with a chuckle as he flicked his reigns so Phineas would start forward again. Peter nodded and, without a word, urged Ashen forward. Princess Isabella smiled to herself before turning her horse around and going back towards Cair Paravel.
She led her horse back into the pen, the smile never leaving her face. She happily made her way up the stairs and into the castle, greeting everyone she passed with a wave and a curtsy. She had to get ready for when she was crowned High Queen of Narnia, which she felt would be any day now. She didn't care that he still had to meet other Princesses and Countesses; she knew that she had a better chance than the rest of them.
"Oh, I'm sorry Queen Susan," she apologized when she noticed that she had almost run into the Queen in her haste to get to her room. "I didn't see you coming."
"It's quite all right, Isabella," Susan said as she lightly brushed off her dress. Isabella raised her eyebrows as she looked Susan over. She knew that Susan had to look her best while she was at the castle but this was above and beyond. She was wearing a forest green dress with light green accents to it. Her hair was behind her in a bun but some strands of hair fell in front of her ears and lightly touched her shoulders. A necklace, that was adorned with rubies and diamonds, which was in the shape of a heart, rested on her collarbone.
"You look amazing, Queen Susan," Isabella gushed as she placed a hand over her heart. "Is there any special reason?" She questioned.
"I just wanted to try something…different," Susan said with a coy smile. "Where were you headed off to?"
"I was going to see how Father is doing," Isabella responded. "Do you happen to know where he is?"
"I think I saw him in the Library," Susan responded. "You could ask a servant to escort you there, if you'd like."
"That won't be necessary, but thank you for the offer," Isabella said with a smile and a little curtsy before walking off. Once she had her back turned to Susan her smile slipped from her face and a scowl replaced it. She made her way to the library as fast as she could. She forced the doors open and it hit the opposite walls with a loud bang, causing her father to jump at the noise.
"What's the matter, darling?" Lord Auren asked once he saw the look on his daughter's face.
"Peter's siblings are getting on my last nerve," she responded as she crossed her arms over her chest. "They're always around and always want to know my business and they never leave me alone, especially that Lucy girl."
"But, sweetie, you knew that trying to get close to High King Peter would have a price," her father said slowly.
"I know, and I'm suffering for it but I don't know how much longer I can handle it," she admitted. "And that Ruby girl," she added with a growl. "She's always with them, always. When they're riding, reading, relaxing outside, or playing chess. She's always there."
"Well, I heard from a couple of people that she is trying to become their bodyguard," her father said slowly as Isabella's eyes widened. "She's not like any normal lady."
"That's because she's not normal," Isabella responded. "She doesn't act like a lady at all." She huffed as she pouted slightly. "I need someone to get her out of the way. Daddy, do you know anyone?"
"I'm afraid I don't, sweetie," he responded.
"There was that Radwan guy at the ball," Isabella said more to herself than to her father. "He seemed to have his eye on her. I'm sure he'll work perfectly. Father, I need you to write a letter, post haste telling Radwan that a certain lady would like to see him."
"Sweetie, I don't think," her father started.
"Father, do you not want this?" Isabella questioned. "Do you not want to live like this for the ret of your life?"
"I'm sorry, I'll get right to it," he responded, flinching slightly when her slightly softened glare landed on him. "In the mean time try and be friends with them."
"But that might take forever," Isabella whined. "Fine," she sighed when her father stood her ground. "I'll play along, for now."
"Where are they?" Lucy asked herself as she held up the front of her dress so she could move quickly down the hallway. She was searching for her brothers and so far hadn't found them in their rooms, sparring on the lawns, in the library, or in the conference room. "Oh, Isabella," Lucy greeted her happily as Isabella stepped into the hallway. "Have you seen either Peter or Edmund?"
"They never told you?" Isabella asked in surprise as her eyebrows rose.
"Tell me what?" Lucy asked as her smile faltered a little.
"Peter received a letter from King Elvrond the Noble asking him for Peter's help. He and Edmund went to the kingdom to try and find out more about the Beasts and to bring the King back with them. I thought they told you."
"They never said a word to me," Lucy said softly.
"Well, I'm sure they had a good reason not to tell you about this," Isabella told her. "They probably don't want you to worry about them."
"But they always tell me where they're going."
"They didn't have time this time," Isabella explained. "The letter was urgent."
"Then how do you know about this?' Lucy asked as she locked eyes with Isabella.
"Peter told me before he left," she explained. "I would've told you if I had known that you didn't know."
"That's all right," Lucy said with a sigh. "Thanks for telling me now, at least."
"My pleasure," Isabella said through a smile. "Where are you off to?"
"I was going to ask Peter if he wanted to take a walk with me," Lucy admitted. "But now that I know he's not here I'm going to see if Crystal will go with me." She paused before quickly adding, "Do you want to come?"
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm busy," she responded before continuing her way down the hall.
Lucy shrugged before picking up the front of her dress and walking down the halls. She paused to ask servants about Crystal's whereabouts and was directed outside to the sparring grounds. She stood at the top of the stairs, watching in awe how skillfully Caspian was moving his blade as he sparred against a centaur. She went down the stairs and sat next to her sister, who was watching intently. Crystal was sitting on her other side, twisting her necklace around in her fingers as she stared at it.
"What're you doing?" Lucy asked as she leaned forward to look at Crystal.
"This necklace brought us here to Narnia somehow," Crystal responded. "I'm trying to figure out how a necklace was capable of bringing us here and why it never did anything before. It doesn't make sense."
"Aslan probably could have explained it," Lucy said with a sigh.
"Lucy," Susan started, finally breaking her gaze that was locked on Caspian as he continued fighting, the sounds of clashing swords filled the air every now and then. "Aslan can't stay and help with only our troubles. He's the greatest creature known to Narnia."
"I know that, but he must know why we were able to come back," Lucy pointed out. "Especially you and Peter, you shouldn't have been able to come back. He probably also knows why the new Beasts are here, what they want, and how we can stop them."
"But if he did then they'd be defeated by now," Susan pointed out. "Lucy, you can't always rely on Aslan."
"I know that, Su. But there has to be something we can do, something we can figure out. We can't just sit here and do nothing while we're waiting for Peter and Edmund to come back," Lucy told her.
"Wait, they left?" Crystal asked, looking up from her necklace. "When'd they leave?"
"This morning," Lucy said in a dismissive tone. "Su, we have to do something to help."
"Peter gave me specific orders that you weren't to get into any danger," Susan told her.
"You never let me do anything!" Lucy declared before jumping to her feet and rushing back up the stairs and back into the castle.
"I didn't mean to upset her," Susan muttered. "I better go talk to her," she said with a sigh as she gathered her dress in her hands and stood to go back into the castle.
"I'll go talk to her," Crystal told her. "You stay and talk to Caspian; I know that's why you came out dressed like that in the first place. You succeeded in getting his attention." With a smile, she turned and rushed into the castle.
Susan turned around when she noticed that the sound of metal hitting metal stopped and birds chirping filled the air. She smiled a little when Caspian set his dark eyes on her as red spots formed on her cheeks.
"Would you like to take a walk with me, My Queen?" Caspian asked as he held out his hand. Susan giggled to herself as she placed her hand in his.
"I'd be delighted."
