A/N: *sigh* -_- okay here we go... you all need to take a step back and look at a few things. I know you think Nina is a Mary Sue but I really think you aren't reading anything. Do you honestly think a person who has lost their parents because of them and their selfishness, lost their boyfriend and first love, ended up in the hospital and ended up entirely alone would be cruel. Nina shows kindness out of past guilt. Her biggest mistake is letting people walk all over her. Why would people hate that? Why would people in this story hate someone who's trying their hardest to consider others. I wrote Nina out clearly, and she has more layers than you can imagine. If you want to call her Mary Sue then fine...I have read crappier stories with no character depth at all and people say how well thought out the character is and how good the story is. I ALWAYS think my characters out more than you can imagine. What I think is Mary Sue is when the person is always in strife, always has something go wrong, always struggling and they have no clear place in the story at all. I put enough light and dark in here to have a good balance for the palate.
Maybe if you kept reading and quit assuming before it's even done you'd enjoy yourselves. Quit trying to figure it out before it's done, and just sit back, relax, read and take a journey. I like stories that are just the right amount of length, that aren't quick reads, but aren't novels either.
Also...people do not get sent to Narnia without a reason or a lesson to learn. If she was so perfect then she would have no need for Narnia. So she isn't a Mary Sue.
If you're going to review tell me something about the actual words you read. I like opinions and all...but come on...let's quit with the redundant comments.
Chapter Nine: When One Door Opens
Nina came back just in time to hide the box underneath her bed just as Caroline tip toed into the room. She was already dressed in her things except for her hair which was braided over her shoulder with a leather cord and seeing Nina not at all ready she sighed.
"You aren't ready?"
"I had some trouble with Aurelia and Lord Vector…they basically swindled Caspian into escorting her tonight!"
"What?" Caroline frowned. "The implications alone…how dare they?"
"Well, all I know is that he did it out of politeness."
"As you did for my brother." Caroline smiled knowingly as she pulled a gown out of the closet.
"Well, Malcolm is nice, but…"
"He's no Caspian, I get it."
Caroline settled out a white dress this time and boy was this dress the bell of the ball.
"This was to be Queen Susan's wedding dress actually. I had it slightly altered with some silver trimming that had tints of blue so it didn't look too much like a wedding gown and more like a ball gown."
The dress was slim as it flowed out behind in the skirts and the bodice was square cut and timeless. Then there where long laced sleeves that hugged down to the wrist and hooked around the middle finger. Then there was a cape that hooked around the shoulders and flowed out with the lightest of material. Nina would look like she was floating on a cloud in this dress.
Caroline helped Nina curl her hair and pin parts of it up before lightly placing little pearls into it and then her make up. Once she was all done up there was no need for jewelry or embellishments because she looked ready to get married almost.
"I hate to see you on your wedding day?"
"Why?"
"Cause I think if you looked any more beautiful now, then…every man in the kingdom would envy whoever you marry."
"Shut up."
"No, look." Caroline turned the chair and in the mirror Nina saw herself.
She did indeed look very pretty.
"Too bad the man I would ever consider marrying is a King."
"And why can't you marry Caspian?"
"Because we're friends. And that would mean that I'm just proving Aurelia, Lord Vector and everyone else right. I am not the Queen Narnia needs. I don't have what it takes."
"I think you'd make a wonderful Queen. A Fair Queen….with a good heart for her people."
"Well, let's get you finished getting ready."
Nina stood up and helped Caroline with her hair which was just another up-do with yellow flowers in it to compliment her yellow dress. Caroline looked like sunshine this evening.
The two girls like the night before scurried off to the festivities but this time to meet dates. Caroline had been asked by Easton who had previously helped them carry the flour to the kitchens. They made a very cute couple of which Nina would say non-stop. As they reached the ball room however it was clear as day that Malcolm was waiting for her. He stood there looking dashing in blue and he smiled once they approached.
In his hand was a single white orchid.
As Nina walked up to him she curtsied lightly with a grin on her face and he smiled too seeing she was in good spirits about the whole thing.
"I got this for you."
"Oh it's beautiful." Nina accepted it and then skillfully tied it into her sash and this seemed to please Malcolm and so he offered her his arm.
She took it and Malcolm leaned over a bit to compensate height as he whispered in her ear.
"You look absolutely breathtaking."
Entering the ballroom tonight's theme had more roses around the room than anything and it made Nina stand out more as she was dressed in white. Malcolm spun her about immediately on the dance floor capturing the attention of others before bringing her in and grinning. Malcolm wasn't by any means ugly, in fact Caroline's entire brother's including herself where very appealing. Malcolm had bright blonde hair and deep blue eyes and was very tall and muscular since he was in the guard. But something about him reminded her of Mathew back home and Karina's brother and she felt like it was suddenly at prom all over again.
But putting on her best smile and determined to enjoy herself she allowed him to spin her about and dance with her. And Caroline and Easton danced alongside them as they laughed and enjoyed the evening. That is until Caspian made his entrance with Aurelia.
Aurelia was in light pink looking very pretty actually as her hair was sleek and lightly curled at the end. She was latched onto Caspian's arm and he looked actually mightily uncomfortable, at least to Nina he seemed that way. He was dressed in white and gold and Caroline leaned over and hit Nina in the arm.
"What a coincidence you two match again." She whispered and Nina looked down at her dress and then back at Caspian before glaring back at her best friend.
"Somehow, I think you know his outfits for this week." She hissed back.
"Perhaps." Caroline shrugged. "Or maybe good fortune smiles down on the both of you and you both are destined to be together."
"If good fortune goes by the name of Caroline." Nina hissed and Caroline merely stuck her tongue out at her friend as she was being pulled away by Easton.
Caspian nodded to everyone he walked by as he presented Aurelia as his date but then his eyes befell the only woman in the room who looked like an angel in white. He paused for a moment and Aurelia looked at him confused before following to what he was staring at or more pointedly to whom. Once her eyes befell Nina herself her whole body tensed with jealousy and she tugged Caspian along making him break his eye contact with the other woman.
"Dance with me Caspian?" she bat her eyelashes at him and he nodded but his eyes kept wandering and as they turned about the dance floor. Whenever they turned he just kept staring back at Nina as if he was a man enraptured. Nina was trying her hardest to keep herself interested in Malcolm but it was hard when you had an incredibly attractive King staring at you.
"You are a very capable dancer my lord." Aurelia praised but he seemed to not have noticed a thing she had said. "And your tunic for tonight it compliments you so, though I must admit not so much as the purple one you wore yesterday's eve."
"Yes, thank you." He finally responded as he looked back at her for a moment. He noticed then she had a real peeved look on her face and he sighed. "I'm sorry. Nina is my friend and I haven't had the chance to speak to her at length since the festival started."
"Well many Lords and Ladies of court are wondering if you and Lady Nina are more than friends with the amount of attention you bestow upon her."
"No. I'm afraid there is a man that already has her love and would never presume to intrude upon that." Caspian said honestly. "Besides, a friendship like hers is invaluable. She's honest with me, does not pretend to be something she's not and she does not use me because I am King. You can see where the appeal is I'm sure."
"Of course my lord. You want a confidant. It is understandable since everyone bows before you and treats you like you are some god, when really you are a man. It's also understandable since you are in need of a Queen soon that you would find some qualities that Lady Nina has to be desirable."
"Desirable yes, attraction…not so sure of." Though the last half was a lie on Caspian's part. For Nina was fair and there was no way that he was not attracted to her on every level.
"Well that bodes well for the rest of the ladies of court then." Aurelia smiled but there was more smirk than anything.
When the song ended Caspian and Aurelia where then starting to be surrounded by a group of couples and before they knew it they were being praised at how well they looked together and how pretty Aurelia seemed. Many of the girls who had been her supposed friends would praise her more and more trying to escalate her in the Kings eyes but it was not working when Caspian knew what was underneath.
But as the night drew on he had actually many good conversations with Aurelia. And perhaps maybe he thought her to be naturally jealous and ambitious but there was something else. The more he looked at her the more she morphed into Susan, her eyes, her lips, her hair. It was like the past was coming back and there she was.
"Caspian are you quite all right?" Aurelia asked as she plucked at the red jewel on her neck and Caspian nodded and smiled some.
"Yes, I just, can't believe how much we have talked despite all the attention on us."
"I may be a little strong about what I want, but I am not…unforgiving or truly unkind. I just wish that everyone would look upon you well my lord."
"Thank you Aurelia."
"Not at all." She smiled pleasingly and Nina watched from across the room at how intimate they appeared. The night was almost over but of course she had to gracefully bow out and wish Malcolm a better night for she wished to sleep and retire. She saw something…and couldn't believe that Caspian was falling to Aurelia's charms when he knew full well what she was capable of.
Her own jealousy raged a war in her heart.
Getting out of her gown in haste she threw it on the chair of her vanity and put on a nightgown, tying the strings and then donning a robe of red and gold. She was pacing her room before she took to the secret passage in her room to the gardens and down another to the stables. There at the end was Ronan as he was sleeping in his stall. He was lying on the ground all curled up in fresh hay and Nina got up on the fence.
"Ronan!" she hissed and the horse grunted before he opened his eyes and looked up at Nina.
"Good Aslan, Nina! It's quite early into the morning. Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"I couldn't sleep."
Ronan sighed seeing the distress on her face and gave her a hard stare for a moment before bringing his head down and resting it.
"Come on in then."
Nina hopped over the fence and then tip toed over to Ronan's side before sinking to the floor and leaning her back up against his side. He was warm and smelled of course like hay and naturally a horse. He looked at her with his big brown eyes and started the conversation.
"What troubles you?"
"Aurelia…and Caspian. He escorted her this evening and well…he seemed to be enjoying himself despite the fact that he knows she plots against him and me. And I was jealous…and I don't want to feel jealous. Especially jealous of the likes of her."
"So you do like him?"
"I do." She whispered and he nodded.
"Well, I hate to say it Nina but you aren't gonna win his majesty by just sitting there and smiling and being good natured. As pure as you are you also need to harden yourself a bit. Play Aurelia at her own game, don't stoop to her level, but play it. Gain friends at court, gain allies, and in turn gain favor with the King."
"I can't treat this like a game Ronan."
"Sweetheart it is a game. It all is. And as sad as it is to say if you want to survive you have to know how to move the chess pieces right. That's as much as I can offer you in advice…after all, I'm only a horse."
"Well, I just…don't want to become such a selfish person again."
"There's nothing with having ambition if it's a good ambition. You need naught feel guilty Nina. Deep down I see your heart and it is good."
"How can you see such a thing?"
"In your eyes. When you look upon something you care for you get this look in your eyes. It is filled to the brim with soul and warmth and there is only one other such person I can think of that shares a soul such as yours. And that is the Great Lion himself."
Nina had to smile a bit at the compliment as she lay back more on Ronan.
"So tomorrow I go to court and…woo them?"
"Once you show them all you have to offer, they will flock to you like bees to flowers."
"I love you Ronan you remind me of my father…he used to, say things like that to me. He was always motivating me to do more and always was proud of me. I never got to tell him I loved him before he died. I never got to tell them both how much they meant to me."
"They know. I'm sure of it." He said softly and rose his head and nuzzled the side of hers gently. Nina pet the side of his neck and looked at him. "And the compliment warms my heart. If I had a foal, I would love to think she would be exactly like you."
Nina started tearing up then as she buried her head into Ronan's side and softly wept. She did not often cry but now her heart was filled with such sadness. For she loved, and she mourned, and she tried all she could to stand on two feet once more.
"Oh my fair sweet girl." He said kindly. "Do not weep. Please do not weep."
She tried to stay her tears but they kept flowing as soft little sobs came out here and there until finally she fell asleep right there in the stable with Ronan. It wasn't exactly what a lady should do but here in this moment she received comfort and strength and when she awoke she would have an unshakable resolve.
She would become the Fairest of them All.
