"Queen Lucy!" Darius called out the moment he noticed the young girl looking agape at them and backing out of the room. He quickly let go of Susan, giving her a slight push left because the sword was on his right and he didn't want her to get hurt.
"What are you doing with my sister?" she shrieked, pulling out her dagger.
Darius quickly stood up and bowed. "Your majesty, I swear, we just tripped while practicing."
"Indeed!" Susan said, a bit too emphatically. Darius grabbed her hands to help her to her feet. She smiled gratefully until she remembered her sister was still there with her dagger out and quickly blushed and pulled her hands away.
"Your majesty, you were late for practice," Darius said, hoping to change the subject from the awkward embrace she just caught him in with her sister.
"Excuse me, I'm not a little girl. I can tell you are trying to distract me," Lucy said, glaring at him.
"Lu, nothing happened. We started practicing, he got the sword out of my hand, and I tripped over him while he was picking up my sword," Susan explained, finger-combing her hair to try to look a bit more presentable.
"Mmhmm," Lucy said suspiciously, but she put her dagger away anyways.
"Alright," Darius said quickly, grabbing a light sword and holding it out to Lucy. "You'll be using this sword. We've wasted enough time. If you're serious about wanting to get good at this, we need to maximize usage of our few practice times."
After several weeks of practice, Susan noticed Darius giving the two of them an appraising look while he was watching them swordfight against each other.
"Yes?" she said, raising an eyebrow at him.
"You know, if you were anyone else, the two of you would have no problem getting into the royal army," he said approvingly. Susan blushed and looked away.
Lucy grinned widely. "Really? You mean it?"
"Well I'm not exactly the type to hand out unwarranted compliments," Darius said. "Alright, you girls should start heading back before you're missed."
"Actually, I haven't practiced any archery in awhile and have nothing on my schedule, so how about the two of you head back? Don't worry about cleaning up, I've got it," Lucy said a bit too sweetly.
Darius and Susan exchanged awkward looks. Susan was a bit nervous about someone catching the two of them alone, but said, "Um, alright, I guess. C'mon Darius."
Darius dutifully followed, even though he clearly seemed uncomfortable.
"Darius, do you really think it's so imperative we do not act friendly in public?" Susan inquired.
"It's not like we act unfriendly," Darius trailed off.
"But, it seems only natural I would be good friends with the guard my brothers trust so," Susan said, placing a hand on his arm.
"I don't understand why they do," Darius said, changing the subject.
"You've made up for your past," she said softly.
"I don't think you all realize just how much I've done. I've lied, I've stolen, and I've killed. I even used to enjoy all that. No matter what I do, it could never make up for everything I've done. I know that," Darius said, tightly grasping her wrists.
"No! I realize what you done, and I agree – it's horrifying. But notice how everything you said is in the past tense. That's not you anymore. You still have those skills, but not the hardened heart. And with using those skills for good, you can make up for everything. You must stop thinking that you can't and concentrate on making up for it," Susan said emphatically.
Darius just shook his head ruefully. "No, nothing can make up for it. But don't worry, that doesn't meaning I'm not trying. Anything I can do to just make up for even the littlest bit of it."
Susan, hoping to lift the somber mood, gave a wry smile and lightly slapped him, saying "How dare you!"
He looked at her wildly.
She tossed her hair haughtily and said, "You dared to contradict your queen."
Darius laughed and said, "And now I dare… to tickle her!" Susan shrieked and ran ahead of him, but he quickly overtook her and grabbed her with one arm around her waist, using the other hand to tickle her.
"Darius!" she shrieked, pleased that he was in a better mood. She tickled him back and he laughed. Suddenly he stopped.
"What was that about?" she said crossly.
"Your brother's here and he did not look happy about seeing us together," Darius said worriedly.
Susan turned and saw Edmund walking swiftly towards them, a frown apparent on his face.
"Oh, hi Ed," Susan said, still trying to recover from the tickle battle.
"Your majesty," said Darius formally with a bow, trying to placate Edmund. Edmund barely even glanced at him.
"I'll ask you what that was all about at a later time. Susan, Peter needs you straightaway. You'll find out when you get there," Edmund said.
"Alright," Susan sighed.
"Darius, go find my other sister. We need her as well," Edmund said.
"Yes, sire," Darius said, glad of the excuse to get away from what was sure to turn into an awkward situation. He ran off in the wrong direction on purpose, planning to double back.
"Susan, so while we walk… what was that?" Edmund said sternly.
"I'm not about to be scolded by my younger brother," Susan said.
"Would you rather I tell Peter and let him–"
"No! And besides, what's to tell?"
"You and Darius were tickling each other? You too aren't even really friends," Edmund said suspiciously.
"Alright, he was acting very negatively about his ability to ever negate his past, and I was trying to cheer him up! What's wrong with that?" Susan said defensively, purposely leaving out some details. Not like there was anything inappropriate going on. Of course not. She just didn't want Edmund to get what was definitely the wrong impression.
"Next time, try cheering up with something a lot less, you know…" Edmund said.
A few weeks later, Susan was about driven out of her mind! She had not one, but two suitors simultaneously trying to take up all her time, her regular queenly duties, and a royal Christmas ball to plan. She would have passed off more of it onto Lucy, but now Lucy also had a suitor trying to take up way too much of her time. She ran down the stairs, realizing she had forgotten about the castle security meeting for the ball. She ran down the stairs so fast that she slipped over some water on the steps.
She was caught by warm, strong arms.
"Your majesty," said Darius. Susan put her hands on his shoulders to straighten herself and he let go of her. How does he always manage to show up at the right moment? "I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there earlier."
"Huh?" Susan said in confusion. She then noticed he had cleaning supplies with him and had been cleaning the stairs. "Oh! Right… Thank you for catching me though." She then hugged him tightly.
"Um, your majesty? Are you alright?" Darius asked, awkwardly patting her with one hand.
"Just a bit… overextended at the moment," she sighed. "Darius, are you not meant to be at the security meeting? Why are you cleaning of all things?"
"When I'm not on guard duty or training, I'm often asked to do other things," he said with a shrug. "And it's not like I really have a choice to refuse. And as for the ball, it seems your brother wants me to serve in a more visible role so he put me on serving food and drinks. I think Peter wants to show off to the other countries that if they send assassins after you four, why, then he'll just turn them into servants," he said, waving his hands around as though he was Peter with some magical wand that turned assassins into servants.
Susan giggled. "It sounds so much more impressive that way. And thank you."
"For what, your majesty?"
"For making me laugh." She went on tip-toe and kissed him on the cheek before leaving. But… it was just a friendly kiss of course. Nothing more, right? After all, no one would think anything of it if she kissed a Talking Animal. In fact, it was rather expected. And the idea of this friendly kiss meaning anything more was preposterous. As he had a tendency of pointing out, he had tried to kill her. But a nagging voice in her head said, then why do you feel the need to defend your actions?
Darius was replenishing a platter of drinks when he felt someone tap his shoulder.
"Ask me to dance with you," Susan insisted. Her smile was so charming it took all that he could to not instantly agree, even though he knew it was wildly improper.
"You majesty, I couldn't," he protested, even though it was a rather common Archenlander song, so he was familiar with the steps.
"I command it. And you would not dare to disobey your queen's command," Susan said haughtily, but with a teasing glint in her eyes.
"Well, I wouldn't dare even dream of disobeying you. Will you dance with me, my queen?" Darius said teasingly, taking her hand and kissing it. They spun around on the dance floor to several odd looks from the guests at the ball. Darius wasn't sure how many were wondering why the queen was dancing with a servant versus how many knew his reputation and was really wondering why the queen would deign to dance with him. He was kinda wondering too. One of the Calormene guests was staring at him with interest and a bit of something else Darius couldn't quite place.
"You dance rather well," Susan said.
"When I have an excellent dance partner," Darius responded gallantly.
"And yet you seem uncomfortable."
"Several people are watching us. Um, including both of your brothers," Darius said nervously.
"My brothers can't be upset with you for obeying me when I commanded you to ask me. They should only get upset at me," Susan pointed out. Darius wasn't so sure about that. He was pretty sure if they were going to get upset, it would be against him, not her.
As the dance ended, he bowed and kissed her hand again. "Thank you for the dance, milady."
"It was my pleasure. Thank you," Susan said with a small curtsy.
On Darius' way back, the foreign guest he had noticed staring at him approached him.
"I request to speak with you privately."
"I have work I need to do," Darius said uncertainly, picking up an emptied plate to return to the kitchen. To his surprise, the Calormen followed him.
"Many find is strange that the queen whose beauty inspires even the dimmest poets would allow one such as… you in her gracious presence, much less the glorious opportunity to dance with one such as she. One would not think that the magnificent High King would permit an active mercenary near his precious jewel, his sister. " the Calormen said.
"Former mercenary. I've reformed. I no longer do any work like that at all," Darius said, gritting his teeth.
"Including thievery?" the Calormen asked.
Darius tried to refrain from rolling his eyes. "I haven't stolen anything from here. I would never steal from them. Is that why you're following me? To accuse me of stealing something?!"
The guest seemed to be musing over something. "You have not recognized me," the guest said suddenly, more of a statement than a question. "You and an accursed partner thief stole a painting from my house. I saw the two of you and, in a ill-advised attempt, engaged the two of you in a fight. I lost swiftly and your partner wanted no witnesses. He would have killed me if you had not chosen to show mercy."
The Calormen looked around, and then leaned in close to Darius ear, whispering, "The assassin three months ago was only a ruse. And to see if your taking the position here was part of some plan of yours or not. So just…make sure your family is safe and out of the way next Saturday. And now I've repaid you for sparing my life."