Hello!! Well pals, I have dome my best, and it paid off, this is a 8882 word long chapter, 13 pages in Microsoft Word, pretty good huh? This is the longest chapter I have written, and it's very nice.
I wrote about my fav time of year (and because it comes with my bday too) so well, I took a long time to think about it, and this is how it resulted, I just hope you won't get too bored.. I tried to make it as interesting as possible.
Thanks again for all those who reviewed, and Stardust for encouraging me to write.
So well, now I leave you to read. Enjooy!
Chapter 10: Christmas
December arrived triumphantly in Narnia, and Lucy was in an even bigger glee than normal. About a week before Christmas, they were all spending some time in the tearoom, as it was the warmest room of the castle apart from the chambers. Caspian was looking interestedly to Lucy and Susan who were talking about decorations and food. "What is this Cirsmass thing?" asked the king. "It's Christmas, and it's celebrated on December 25th. There is a nicely decorated tree, and presents under it, and you have a wonderful dinner with turkey and that. You sing Christmas carols and well, is the best time of the year!" explained Lucy. Caspian was still not understanding the concept fully, but liked the idea. "I was wondering if we could celebrate a proper Christmas in here this year, I wanted to show Maram" said Peter smiling. "Well, I am interested in this Christmas thing, so I think we should do it" said Caspian, giving a throaty laugh as Lucy rocketed towards him, enveloping him in a bone crushing hug. "Thank you, thank you sooo soo much Caspian, I know you're going to love it" said the little girl.
The next morning, they all went looking for the perfect Christmas tree, all covered in big and heavy cloaks, as winter was becoming merciless at this time of year. They finally found a medium sized pine tree, taller than any of the guys, even taller than Glenstorm, who went with them to help bring the tree to the castle. Trumpkin was there too bringing Yuruk, a minotaur who was willing to help too. The guys chopped the tree while the girls stayed watching. As soon as the tree was mounted on a sleight they had brought, they marched back to the castle, not wanting to take the risk of getting buried in the snow, as a snow storm could be seen in the distance and it was approaching the castle.
The pine was carefully collocated in the tearoom, as they decided the room was secluded and familiar, the throne room was way too big for such a private celebration. Lucy had to wait, much to her discontent, to decorate the tree, as Christmas was not celebrated in Narnia since telmarines arrived, therefore, there weren't any kind of decorations in the castle. "I can't believe it! That will mean that the tree won't have anything beautiful on it. It will look terribly dull" said Lucy, disappointment clear in her voice and face. "We will find some, don't worry" said Susan, trying to comfort her sister.
Trumpkin, Glenstorm and Yuruk left for the forest, where they gathered all narnians and asked them to make the most beautiful ornaments for the tree in the castle. Narnians still celebrated Christmas, in a slight different way, as they had to hide from the telmarine invaders. Several faun families agreed to make the coloured crystal balls, given their great ability to handle the delicate material, a hundred balls were done in no more than two hours, and Glenstorm took them with him back to the castle. The centaurs decided to make wooden ornaments, giving away some of their own. And soon, another box full of wooden little soldiers, bells, any kind of decoration that someone could possibly imagine,
was ready to go to the castle. The dwarfs were good at working with metal, so they started doing metres and metres of fine golden and silver bell-binds, long enough to wrap the whole tree from top to bottom. That took longer to do, as the fine threads that to be tangled together and small leaves had to be placed, but it was all ready before the day was over.
The four Pevensies were jubilant with joy at the gifts they received from Narnians, Lucy and the girls were in such a state, that they ran with the things and started placing them all over the pine tree, each ball and ornament sparkling happily in the candle lit room. Birk, the wolf, arrived a few hours after, bringing the news that the dwarves were making their own present for the royal Christmas tree. Caspian was dazzled by all the joy and colourfulness of the event, that he sent Glenstorm and the professor, to tell the telmarines to do the same, sending some of the ornaments with them. The king, then, went to help with the tree, placing both balls and wooden artefacts on the higher places where the girls couldn't reach. Peter and the rest of the family joined too, sharing a great moment, full of laughs, teasing, jokes and joy.
The metallic bell-bind arrived when they were almost finishing, and Lucy squealed in pure fascination when she saw it.
The tree looked radiant after they finished, but it was still missing something. "We need a star on the top, that's what it's missing" said Susan, looking at the lonely green top of the tree. The professor appeared minutes later, bringing news. "The telmarines liked the idea and now every house has a branch of a pine tree decorated and bringing joy to the people. All of them seemed to be quite attracted to the joy of this celebration, the kids, above all, seemed delighted" said the old man. Cornelius raised his eyes to the tree, it was beautiful, but he too noticed that the top seemed to be left unattended. He excused himself from the room, and went to his library, and after some minutes of looking around in several drawers, boxes and shelves, he found what he was looking for. He returned to the tearoom, holding the item in his hands. "I have been keeping this for so many years, I almost forgot of its existence" he said, holding a beautiful golden five-end star that gained a big "awww" from the kings and queens. Caspian got up the ladder he used to place the other decorations before, and put the star on the vacant spot, the whole tree lightening up even more, the star glowing with the reflection of the fire. They all stood contemplating the tree for some minutes, amazed by its beauty, a warm feeling taking over their hearts.
By the next morning, every house in Narnia, both telmarines and narnians all the same, were fantastically decorated with red and green ribbons, some even added golden to the mix.
In that week, the kings and queens all were busy looking for presents for the rest of the family. The guys were having a terribly hard time looking for the girls' presents. "Right, we need to think like girls, so what do girls like?" said Peter, starting to get stressed. "Clothes, jewels, cute stuff?" said Edmund. Caspian's face lit up and he ran out of the room, leaving the other two kings looking at him un utter confusion. Peter was staring blankly at the table, when he got the perfect idea for Lucy's gift. He too, marched off without telling a word to Edmund. He was stuck in there, having to think for four presents for the girls, and it was then when he got the perfect idea for Lucy's gift.
Caspian and Susan seemed to have a renewed passion, apparently enlightened by the love of the season. They looked as if they were newlyweds again, having intense loving spurs where they would sneak to a dark corner and snog eachother senseless.
Lucy had spent most of the week in her room, working with paper and ribbons to wrap the presents. Taril became worried that she might have gotten sick, so he was standing in front of the door, ready to knock. He heard a soft come in and entered, surprised to find Lucy sitting on the floor in the middle of a pile of presents and coloured paper. "Oh, Your Majesty is wrapping presents" he said, pointing the obvious. "Well yeah, Christmas is in two days and I still need to finish all this presents. "I can help you if you want" said he, very gentlemanly. She smiled at him and moved some of the things to make some room for him to sit. With his help she finished wrapping the rest of the presents that same day, smiling broadly as she placed them under the tree. Taril brought his after, all of them simply wrapped. "Oh, but you need ribbons" said Lucy. She ran to her room, grabbed the materials se needed and went back to the tearoom, sitting on the nearest armchair. She wasn't as good as Susan in the ribbon making, but she was pretty good, so she had the ribbons ready in mere minutes, placing them delicately around the presents. "Thank you, they definitely look much prettier now" said the boy, kissing Lucy's hand.
Edmund was currently stressing over a piece of golden paper, trying to wrap Lia's present. Susan had help him with the ribbons and Lucy's present, cause as it was of a very irregular shape, he decided against trying to get it done himself. So he now was wondering how to get Lia's gift in the paper. Maram passed close to where he was and heard him sigh in despair. "Hey what's wrong?" she asked. "Well, how can you possibly wrap something like this!" said the king, holding the object in his hand for Maram to see. She smiled and took the kind of crumpled paper from his grasp and making several folds and cuts to it, till it became a quite cute paper bag. "Here" she said, tossing the bag at him. "Thanks" he said to her retreating back, getting a wave of her hand as an answer.
Maram was happy that she had helped Edmund in his task, and because she and Susan had worked very hard that day wrapping the huge pile of presents they had for the rest of the family. Susan really had an amazing ability to make beautiful arrangements with simple fabric ribbons, all of them looking splendid on top of the presents. She was now heading towards their improvised atelier, ready to carry all the presents to put them under of the tree. Both women had to make several trips to get all the presents to the tearoom. Susan was walking through once of the corridors, carrying a rather large pile of presents in her arms, obstructing her view. Caspian happened to be around the place at the same time, he too, carrying some presents, and both crashed against eachother, sending presents to almost every corner of the place. "My love, I'm sorry, I didn't see you" said Caspian helping her to pick the presents. Being the gentleman he was, he helped her with some, putting them next to the already gigantic pile of varied coloured boxes. "Are any of those presents mine?" he asked, eyeing the boxes she was reorganizing. "I don't know, you'll have to wait to see" she said smiling at him. He returned her smile and helped her up, then grabbed her in bridal style in his arms, and ran to their room.
Peter was putting the final touches to his batch of presents when Maram entered the room. "Hello King Peter" she said. "Hello, gorgeous wife, did you came to sneak a peek from your present?" he said, teasing her. "No, I came to sneak a peek, and a kiss, from my adorable husband" said she, sitting on his lap and placing her hands around his neck. He granted her wish, deepening the kiss, licking her lower lip. The kiss lasted some minutes, both king and queen taking the pleasure of the taste of the other's lips. "Help me get these
presents to the tree, would you?" asked Peter, breaking the kiss. They both marched laughing to the room, placing the presents next to Caspian's pile. Peter yawned and stretched, noticing how tired he was. "Come on, sleepyhead, let's go to sleep" said Maram, stretching a hand to him.
Lia entered the room where Edmund was, hoping for him to have finished wrapping the gifts. She smiled lovingly at the sight in front of her, Ed had his head on the table, a pair of scissors in his right hand, sleeping soundly over a brilliant red piece of paper. She went to him and kissed his cheek softly, waking him up. "Huh? Oh, um... hi" he said, rubbing his eyes. "You must be really tired" said the girl, hugging him from the back. "Yeah, but at least I finished these" said Ed, motioning to the pile of neatly wrapped gifts. "Ok, I'll help you take this to the tearoom and then we can go to bed" said Lia, grabbing the top four presents of the pile. "Will you sleep with me?" said Edmund cheekily. "I would love to, but I really don't fancy someone running on us" explained Lia, fitting the new group of presents in the available unoccupied spots. Edmund escorted Lia to her room, kissed her goodnight, a little longer than usually, and then he went to his room, getting in the bed, smiling at the sweet smell that was still lingering in his pillows.
Christmas day arrived rather dark, a soft snow storm hiding some of the daylight and bringing more snow to the already white surfaces. Lucy, in her excitement, woke up very early, making sure that every member of the family woke up too. Edmund yelled her to shut up and go bother someone else. Lia smiled sweetly and told her to wait till it was a little later, Peter, who had his eyes barely open, sighed and told her that the presents were going to be opened after dinner, so she could go back to sleep. Susan and Caspian didn't even answered her knocking on the door. So the girl was sitting in her bed, wearing her nightgown, looking sad, as none of her siblings wanted to make her company. There was a light knock on the door, followed by Taril's head popping in. He quickly closed the door back again after seeing her in her pyjamas, but entered later, when she told him that it was ok. "Why are you sad" asked the boy, looking at her uncharacteristic expression. "Well, I want to play in the snow, but none of my siblings want to" she said looking at her feet. "I want to" said Taril, smiling at her.
A few moments later, both youngsters were playing in the snow, Lucy showing Taril how to do a snow angel. They had a snowball fight and had a good share of fun, Lucy having big fits of laughter frequently. "My Queen, I think we should get in again, you are getting cold" said Taril, noticing her overly rosy cheeks. "Oh that's nothing, I'm ok really, and I told you to call me Lucy" answered the queen. "But your lips are purple" said Taril, moving forward touch the queen's face. "Ok, well, maybe I am a little cold" said Lucy, blushing a little more at the closeness of the boy. Taril slowly closed the distance between them, and pecked her lightly. Realizing what he just did, he gave a huge jump backwards. "I am... I... sorry, I shouldn't have done that, is a huge disrespect towards you" he said, looking completely nervous. Lucy said nothing, still playing the scene on her head. She stopped the boy's rambling, grabbing his hand, and pecking him again. "Hey! What do you think you're doing to my sister!" came a yell from the castle. Peter was standing in his pyjamas and slippers, looking furious. "Taril, I demand to have a talk with you right now" he bellowed to the snow covered garden. "Ok, that's it, I will have a talk with him" said Lucy, stomping to where Peter was. "Peter Pevensie! What the HELL do you think you're doing!" shouted Lucy, sounding scaringly similar to her mother. "You have nothing to talk with Taril, he just kissed me, or rather, I kissed him! We like eachother, so leave it! And don't you DARE to ruin my Christmas!" Peter stood there, his finger held up in a way as to retort something,
but his mouth hung open, no sound coming from it. His sisters sure had a volatile character. Caspian appeared in the scene, wondering why sweet, shy, lovely Lucy was yelling so high. "What happened?". Lucy turned to him, finger pointing at his chin. "And you, don't even THINK of saying a word to Taril either!" Caspian rose his eyebrows, surprised at Lucy's approach. He turned to Peter, hoping that he could explain what made Lucy threaten him like that, but let out an amused laugh at Peter's state. "He...that... that..boy, kissed Lucy!" said Peter, making the matter sound as if the castle was getting on fire. Caspian laughed even more at this, he sure felt a little tingle of overprotectiveness in his chest, but he knew it was an exaggeration, Lucy knew how to take care of herself.
Caspian tried to calm peter down, but failed miserably. When they were all together having breakfast, a magnificent once at that, full of the monarchs' favourite meals, Peter looked positively deadly, sending Taril a glare so cold, it could be felt around the room. Susan and Lucy were glaring at Peter, knowing that he just had an overprotective attack. Edmund seemed to be enjoying the exchange, wondering how long it would take for Peter to realize he was being deadly stared at. Taril, surprisingly, was holding his head up bravely, looking confident. Lia shared Edmund's curiosity, but her wondering were placed on how long her brother would resist. Maram and Caspian both were ignoring the silent war that was going on at the table, and had started talking about an ordinary topic. After they all finished the meal, Maram got really irritated with the situation and decided to end it there. "Ok, listen, I'm getting fed up of this, today we're supposed to be happy, as that was what I understood that Christmas was about, so, Peter, drop it, leave them be, I assure you that Taril wont kidnap Lucy or anything of the kind, so please stop being so grumpy". Peter stopped in mid glare, looking at his wife in shock. "But I was just..." he tried to defend himself but was interrupted by the rest of the table yelling a "Yes Peter, we know" in unison, which managed to shut him up.
Apart from that little incident, the day went by very cheerfully, hours passing by with a constant reminder from Lucy that she wanted to open the presents already. All the girls locked themselves in the kitchen, following Susan's instructions on how to prepare the Christmas dinner, each of them taking care of a part of it. The tasks were so many that at one point they had to call the guys, Edmund going very reluctantly, to help a bit. Peter was in charge of stirring the cranberry sauce, being constantly checked over by Susan, who was literally freaking out, having to check on everyone and taking care of the turkey. Caspian was watching her by the kitchen table, where he and Lucy were cutting some ingredients for the salad. "Caspian, those carrots are too thick, just cut them in squares ok?" said Susan from over the counter, where she was helping Lia with the final seasoning of the turkey. Edmund was sent to put the table, as he was eyeing the food maliciously, and Susan got him out of the room. Maram was putting the final touches to the apple and orange cake, making nice mistletoe decorations with frosting, that, of course, Susan taught her how to do.
By ten o'clock everything was perfect and the dining room smelled beautifully, and the guys were impatiently waiting for the girls to arrive so they could start eating. "I am hungry! Why did Susan want us to be dressed nicely to eat! I mean we are just eating!" complained Ed, who was being awfully teased by the delicious aroma of the freshly cooked turkey. "Well, is Christmas, brother, I believe is quite an occasion" said Caspian straightening his clothes. A few moments later, the girls appeared, all wearing nice dresses, not fancy, but elegant for the event. They brought the food to the table, and started eating. Caspian let out a content moan at the exquisiteness of the turkey, a flavour he had never tasted before, but had him captivated. "Love, this is fantastic! I have never, in my seventeen years of existence, tasted something this good" said
Caspian, moving to get another serving of the tasty meal.
When they were all satisfied, and having complimented Maram's dessert, it was the time Lucy had been waiting all day long, opening the presents. They moved with their goblets of wine to the tearoom, where the white, silver and gold tree stood magnificently, the coloured, sparkling paper form the presents twinkling softly at the candle light flickering.
They all sat on the surrounding couches and armchairs, Lucy bouncing in her sit, eager to see the presents. "Right, this is from Edmund to Maram" said Susan, passing the little box to Maram. The girl opened it carefully, revealing a crystal bottle, nicely craved with leaves. She opened it, instantly freeing and intense sweet smell of fairytinkle, a little blue flower, very typical of Narnia that had a very sweet but subtle smell. "Oh, thank you! That smells so good!" said Maram, taking another sniff of the sweet scent. "Well, its fairytinkle water, you can use it as a perfume, I know you like that flower" said Edmund, a little embarrassed, "Oh right, but... um... what is a perfume exactly?" asked Maram, blushing slightly. "It's a liquid, nicely scented, that you put on your neck and pulse, and it makes you smell good all day long" explained Susan. "Oh, like scented oils, oh, wow, thanks Ed!" said the telmarine, taking some of the liquid and rubbing it on her neck. "Now, this present is from me, to Taril, I hope you like it" Said Susan, giving the nicely wrapped object to the boy. He took it slowly from the wrapping, his face lighting up at the book. "This is great, a book about the creatures of Narnia! I've always wanted to know what other creatures lived in here! Thank you very much, My Queen" said the boy, still thrilled about the gift, bowing his head to Susan. She smiled and took another present, rather big. "This is from Maram, to.. me, oh, that's nice!" she took the paper delicately, and then opened the box, revealing a magnificent blood red dress, with white embroideries all over. Susan was astounded by it, taking it from the box, looking at the fine details lovingly. "Maram, it's beautiful! I love it! How did you know I liked it?" said Susan, standing up and twirling around with the dress, pressing it to her body. Caspian laughed at her, amazed by how gorgeous she looked when she smiled. "Well, I was looking for your present, and I ended up in this store, and the lady told me that you liked the dress, so I got it" said Maram, reaching to take a better look at the embroidery. Susan folded her new dress carefully and placed it on the box again, giving it to Caspian, who was in charge of placing his and her presents in a pile next to him. "From Taril, for the three kings" said Susan, handing the box to Edmund. He opened the box, and found three wonderfully hand carved goblets, each of them with their names engraved. "Whoa Taril, this is really a piece of artwork, where did you get them?" asked Caspian, examining his goblet. "I.. um.. did them myself" said the boy humbly. "Oh-ho-ho! You are incredible! This is professional looking! You're good at this whole handicraft thing right? said Edmund, rising to envelop Taril in a one-armed hug. "Oh, Taril, that's why you had blisters all over your hands!" said Lucy, taking his right hand in hers and examining for other possible wounds. Peter was surprised that Taril could do something so perfect, and smiled, knowing that if he was this careful with simple wood, he would take an excellent care with Lucy. "Taril, I think you would like to learn some more of wood handling with the centaurs, they are skilful" he said, extending his hand towards the boy. Lucy smiled at the tender moment, and Susan continued with the gift delivering. "From Peter to Lucy, with all my brotherly love" read the little card stuck to the present. Lucy ripped the paper off, eager as she was, and found a complete art set, that included every colour of coloured pencils, aquarelles, chalks and every other item related to art. "Peter! Oh, that is just so cool! Thank you very very much!! Now I can really go back to painting as I used to when we first came!" said the girl, launching herself to her brother's neck, almost strangling him.
Maram took Susan's place in the present giving, taking a bright blue gift from under the tree. "this is to Caspian, from Lucy, and these other two are for Peter and Edmund for her as well" Caspian finished opening his present first, taking the light gray wool jumper and pressing it to his chest, checking how it looked. Ed and Peter got identical jumpers too, Ed's was white and Peter's brown, both smiling at the warm-looking pieces of clothing. "How do I look?" said Caspian, deciding to out on his jumper. "Really handsome" said Susan, rubbing his leg softly. "The next present goes to Susan, from Ed" said Maram, passing the green object to Susan. The present was a book, a romantic novel, mixed with a little comedy. "I thought you would like it, Su, it's the kind of story you like, and is written by telmarines, guess some did believe in love after all" said Edmund, when Susan went to hug him. Lia took out five little packages, giving one to each narnian royal in the room, except Edmund. "This is a little sign of my deep affection for all of you" she said shyly. They all opened the boxes with curiosity, each taking a coloured crystal shaped bottle. "This were brought directly from Archeland, they are perfumed waters, each of them have a different scent, I thought would match your tastes" said the girl. "Oh, dear! I've missed these so badly! I can't believe you found my favourite, Lia! You haven't forgotten that I absolutely loved rose and cinnamon!" said Maram, passing the bottle to Susan, so she could smell. The gentle queen opened her own bottle, lavender scent tickling her nose. "I simply adore lavender! Lia you just hit the spot!" Lucy let out a yelp at her present's scent, putting some in her finger and sparkling it on her neck. "Orange and vanilla are two of my favourite perfumes, thanks Lia!" she said, hugging the other girl dearly.
The guys sniffed the content of their bottles, all of them smiling at the scents. Peter's was a mix of the forest woods, Lia having guessed that it was his favourite place to be. Caspian's was stronger, eucalyptus leaves with a mix of rainwater, being very stimulating for the senses, gaining Susan's approval.
The next present was for Lia, two beautiful silk scarves, in shades of green and light orange. "I was with you when you saw them in the market, so I just returned the day after and bought them" said Maram, smiling at the joy which Lia was fixing the scarves around herself, looking absolutely enchanted.
The three girls got a nice set of face towels from Lucy, each had their name engraved in silver for Susan, red for Maram, and cooper for Lia. "Here Lu, this is from me" said Maram, passing a package to the little queen. She opened it eagerly, wondering what it could be to have such a big box. She yelped and took her gift from the fine silk paper covering it. She had a wonderful thick cotton two-piece pale blue set, both blouse and skirt had the sweetest and most delicate embroideries in shades of purple, violet and lilac. "This is just so beautiful! I soo love it!! You definitely have to tell me where you got it! Thanks a lot, I'm going to wear it tomorrow!" said Lucy, hugging Maram tightly.
Caspian took out a long, rectangular box, giving it to Taril. "The three of us thought you would like to have this". The boy opened it carefully, wondering what it was. His eyes almost popped out at the object inside, his expression of utter disbelieve. There was a sword, laying unmoving, all the decorations and gems glinting joyfully. It was made of solid iron, bathed in silver, giving it an extra glow. Taril was trembling when he took it out its scabbard, awing at the shine and words engraved on it: Love is behind every brave action. The three kings smiled, they had had a tough time looking for a good present for the boy, and well, what better than his first, own sword? "You just have to promise to us it only to protect people, don't go killing people around" said Edmund. Taril nodded enthusiastically, smiling from ear to ear.
Edmund pressed his present to Caspian's chest, nodding for him to take it. Caspian smiled at the gesture and took the thing. It resulted to be a book, slightly old, being owned by Ed for 1300 years, which he found in his chest in Cair Paravel. The book was meant to be for a little child, narnian fairy tales being famous for its enchanting narrative. "Thank you brother" said Caspian, smiling warmly at Edmund. "Nah, it's nothing, I just thought you would like to read them to Cas" said the king waving his hand. "This is for you, my love, from Su" said Peter, holding Maram's present. A plush, royal blue, stuffed box appeared behind the paper. Threads and threads of all the colours existent were lined up extremely organized, going from whit to black in the most beautiful scale. Also there were several needles pinned one next to another. "This is just what I needed! Susan, I can't thank you enough for this!" said Maram, still looking at the sewing box in awe. "Ah, you think I haven't noticed how much you like sewing decorations to any piece of clothing" said Susan, pointing to the rim of her skirt that had tiny flowers, all embroidered by the middle queen.
The ladies were presented by handmade necklaces from Taril, all made with coloured stones he himself collected from different places near the castle. Lucy's was the most elaborated, having a medium sized lilac quartz on the centre and little pieces of the same material surrounding it entirely. Taril helped Lucy to place it around her neck, smiling at her. "It's beautiful, thanks" said Lucy shyly, smiling. "I am your sister, and I got just green stones, I feel so loved, brother" said Lia in mock resentment. "If you notice, sister, they are not just common stones, but they are very similar to our jades, so don't complain" said Taril, looking at her, arms crossed. They all laughed at the little scene, and focused back on the present giving.
Caspian gifted Maram with a beautifully ornamented wooden jewel chest, which he knew she needed, or at least would need later. Maram, as payback, gave him a new pair of boots, claiming that his were "already too used, old and smelly, not to mention not fit for a High King". "Do tell, how you women do to notice those details, and remember them?" asked Caspian, wondering how and when his sister had noticed his way too wore off pair of boots. The girls exchanged looks of secrecy and just laughed, leaving Caspian to make a mental note to ask Susan later. Edmund got a telmarine card game from the telmarine queen, having her to promise to teach him how to play, being guaranteed that it was very tricky, as all telmarine games were.
Three solid silver and extremely ornamented bracelets were the gift from Peter to Lia, who thanked him whole heartedly and placed them on her right arm, shaking it a little, producing a sound like the tinkle of a bell. Lucy got hyper at Edmunds present, finally having her own bow and set of arrows to practice. They all knew she had wanted to learn for a good time, having started a few lessons, and now she had another reason to continue with them.
And there were even more presents to be opened yet. Caspian, knowing Edmund's passion for strategy games, got him a beautiful marble and silver chess set, to replace the old wood one they used to play before. "Look at the art of these pieces!! They are just so perfect! Wow, this towers look like the ones in here! Caspian, we must have a game after, I am dying to play with this" said Edmund, twirling a knight in his hand, looking at its perfect design. "I want to know whose big present is this one" said Edmund trying to lift an enormous box placed in one of the farthest corners of the tree. "It's yours, from me" said Peter, walking to help his brother. Edmund opened the box carelessly, his eyebrows shooting up, almost in his hairline, his mouth forming a silent "oh". Silver, shining pieces of an armour were organized in the box, giving the impression of a sleeping warrior waiting to be awaken. "Wooooaaah" was the only sound Edmund could let out for a while, taking all
the pieces and looking at them carefully, turning them and taking in every corner of them. "Thanks, Pete, I didn't really have an armour of my own, this is really fantastic, what's it made of?" said Edmund, the pieces laying around him like a giant puzzle. "Steel, lead and silver, I asked it to be pretty resistant, only Aslan knows how easy you ruin things" joked Peter, surprised that his brother didn't even countered his statement, for he was too busy looking at his new armour.
Susan's gift for Peter consisted in a cricket set, she personally asked to be made, knowing that the king loved the game. He looked fascinated, taking a swing at the bat, smiling at how light it was. "Thanks sis! I will teach Caspian how to play" said Peter, taking the ball and throwing it at Edmund's head, earning a growl from the boy.
Peter pushed yet another box, this one taller and heavier than the rest. "You shouldn't be getting that after hitting me with that ball" said Edmund, still rubbing his head, looking at Peter, who was unwrapping the thing. A wooden chest appeared in between the layers of paper. It was quite light, presumably made from pine or cedar, the details darker, but not too dark. Peter opened the box, and found a complete set of tools, nails, screws, and every other material that could be found in a tool box, for the chest was exactly that. "I thought you would have another manic attack, like the one you had 1300 years ago, and try to fix everything that was broken in Cair. But now that I remember correctly you also tried to fix things that were completely fine, and ended up breaking them, and fixing again" said Edmund, his finger going to hold his chin at his last statement. "Thanks Ed, I was really needing one of these. You could have spared the humiliation though" said Peter. Caspian and Taril were containing a guffaw at the little anecdote, but didn't want to play with the king's mood.
An exquisitely done flute, made in the finest birch tree wood was the gift from Lia to her brother, eliciting a content yelp from the boy, and from Lucy, who wasn't aware of the fact that he knew how to play. He immediately placed the instrument in his lips and started playing a beautiful, lively melody, producing a nice surprise in the monarchs.
Lia got presented by Caspian with a silver pair of earrings, that had the shiniest amber stone on the very end, the design simple but very elegant. The girl proceeded to wear the earrings, matching her dress perfectly, Edmund whistling at her, producing a light blush on the girl's cheeks. Susan, got a lovely shawl from Peter, made of the shiniest and finest silk and silver threads that had an airy look on it, as if it floated around her shoulders. She thanked him with a kiss on the cheek.
Susan placed a little velvet bag on Edmund's hand, encouraging him to open it. He opened the bag and flipped it over, a cooper compass falling charmingly in his open palm. "This is just perfect! I lost my other compass the last time we were in Narnia. And this is one magnificent compass, Su! Did you get the dwarves to make it? The details definitely seem narnian, look there's Aslan in the back!" said Ed, raising his hand for everyone to see the details. "Yes, I asked them to do it, they were very gentle, wanted to make a whole lot of them, but I guess you only needed one" said Susan, taking the compass in her hand, admiring the detailing.
Another jumper popped in the present pile, after Taril opened his present from Maram, it was bright red, contrasting with his dark hair. He seemed very pleased with the present, imitating the rest of the guys and wearing it too.
Seemed that Susan and Caspian went shopping together, cause for Lia's surprise, the queen had got her the necklace that matched the earrings. Both things looked like made for her, complimenting her natural beauty without taking the attention from her.
Peter's present for Caspian worked as a reinforcement of the peace and friendship between them, as both things had been disturbed not long ago. Just at the sight of the
wrapped object, one could tell what it was. Tearing the paper from it, Caspian took the hand forged sword, much alike Peter's. The handle had some gems, carefully polished, so the handle was smooth and easy to grab. The blade shone in the candle lights, as if it was on fire, the reflections clear as mirror. Words were engraved in the back of it, as most swords in Narnia, as a reminder of the correct use they should have. Narnia lives in the hearts and souls of its people, and that is where its power resides, recited the engraving. "Peter, was it you who thought of this phrase?" asked Caspian, rereading the words, each one of them getting to the deep of his being. "No, I asked Aslan, he is good with this. They describe the narnian warrior inside you, and I know they are now engraved in your heart" said Peter, his blue eyes serious, but warm nonetheless. The scabbard, was made of the same though silver of the sword, gems sprinkled all over it, a fine straight row of rubies glinting in the centre. Caspian untied his telmarine sword from his belt, placing the new one in its place, pride and honour flashing intensely in his eyes. "Now you are a complete High King of Narnia" said Edmund, who had never really liked the design of the telmarine swords. "Oh, but now my present for you seems pretty lame" confessed Caspian, looking at a rather small box under the tree. Peter took it and opened it, revealing a golden shaving blade, the blade itself made in polished silver, and the rest stood in the most radiant gold found in Narnia. "Well, you hit the target, cause I was needing one desperately" said Peter, taking a piece of the wrapping paper and passing through the blade, amazement showering his pale face at the sharpness of the thing. "Right, I know that, cause you asked for mine, and I haven't seen it since" said Caspian, his hand caressing his beardy neck. "Oh so it was you! Peter, really we need it back, Caspian here will look like a werewolf soon" said Susan, half joking. "Hey! I thought you liked it!" complained Caspian, recalling that morning when she had told him that he looked very handsome with his two days of not shaving. "You do, but you look older" said Susan, moving to place her arms around his waist. "Thanks, I really feel much better now" he said, very sarcastically, but smiling anyway.
Lucy squealed happily at the box full of jewels, rings, chains, hair finery and other ornaments. She had always liked to wear jewels, fix herself with beauty garnitures, and this was paradise for her. Susan had literally run through a whole group of shops, registering every corner of each place, taking as much things as she could. Needless to say, her jewel hunt produced a huge amount of things, which she organised in a nice wooden chest full of divisions, so Lucy could locate the items easily. The present was a success, as Lucy was already trying things, squeaking every time she found something new. "Glad you liked it Lu" said Susan, patting Lucy's head lightly. "I loooooooooved it" said the little queen, giving a big, sloppy kiss to her sister.
To add even more excitement to the already boosting enjoyment of the youngest queen, Caspian present resulted to be an exquisite dress, in a candy shade of blue, the skirt embroidered completely, forming branches, leaves and an abnormal amount of flowers, all in every shade of blue in the pallet. "Oh my, oh my, OH MY! I love it, it's so.. oh dear, it's just so amazing! And look, it looks so soo good with this necklace! You have an INCREDIBLE taste in clothes for being a man, Caspian!" said the little Pevensie, placing a sounding peck on the telmarine's cheek and hugging him, producing an "ooof" from the guy.
Each of them had left the presents for their significant others for the end, as, of course, the present were extra special. Caspian approached Susan, a brilliant red pack in his hands. He kneeled n front of her while she opened the object. A red velvet box contained a set of
necklace and ring, made of the richest silver and the most exuberant rubies that she had seen in all her years of being queen. "By Aslan's Mane! These is just astonishing! Caspian, my love, thank you so much! I completely love it!" said Susan, throwing herself to the awaiting arms of her husband. Caspian took the thin chain and helped it around his wife's neck, ending the task with a tender kiss on her shoulder. "Those rubies look pathetic next to your astounding beauty, My Queen" said Caspian, taking her hand in his and kissing it. Susan bent towards the tree, taking a soft thing from its spot in the floor. Caspian took the paper off, looking in awe at the thick and heavy dark blue cloak that laid in his lap. He touched the material with his hand, feeling the nice softness of the wool. "And I am amazed again at that capacity of yours to take in every detail, I DID need a winter cloak" said Caspian, looking lovingly at Susan, bending to kiss her softly.
Next to them stood Edmund and Lia, the latter sitting on Edmund's lap. "I thought you would like this, and I hope I'm not wrong" said Lia, giving him a medium, rectangular box. Curious as he was, he opened it fast, taking out six little boxes, several cards and a rolled piece of paper from it. The little boxes contained tiny round wooden pieces, looking more like pills than any other thing. Still curious to see what the whole thing was he opened unrolled the paper, showing a big map, clearly invented, with several regions and territories marked with black ink. He was the strategist of the family, so he soon figured out what the game was about: war. "You are the best! I know that when you tell me how to play this I'm going to love this game! You know me so fucking well!!" said Ed, pushing the things aside to plant a very passionate kiss on his girlfriend's lips. He got lucky that the rest of the family was so absorbed in their own romances that didn't notice his swearing nor reprimanded him for it. Lia almost cried at his gift for her, holding in her trembling hands a beautiful necklace. "Those are sea emeralds, the mermaids made it for me" said Edmund, indicating the transparent, bluish green gems, resembling to tiny pieces of sea. At this, the tears she was so hardly containing, flowed freely, Edmund hugging her close and rocking her in his lap, whispering for her to stop crying.
Lucy handed her gift to Taril, blushing madly and getting worse as his hand touched hers when he picked the present she was offering him. "Sweet Lucy, I will be most honoured to wear this wonderful scarf" said Taril, bowing and kissing her petite hand. The scarf in question, showed all the signs of having been made by Lucy herself, as there were some slight, but obvious, mistakes on it. "I am a beginner, I promise ill make a better one next time" she said humbly. "Like I care about that. You made something for me, just for me, with your own hands, and that warms my heart like a thousand flames" said the Archelander, closing the distance between them and giving an innocent peck to her lips. "What did you just did to my sister!" spoke Edmund in a slightly high voice, not wanting Peter to get alarmed, and possibly slice the boy. "Piss off, Edmund" responded Lucy, hugging Taril close.
Maram and Peter were snuggled in the corner, completely unaware for the rest of the people in the room. Peter was peeling the paper from his gift, wondering what could lay inside the lovingly decorated package. Opening the box, he found a new scabbard for his legendary sword, which had a very humble leather one. "I thought it was time for you to have a more royal looking scabbard" said Maram, looking how peter examined the object meticulously. And he had a reason to do so, as it was a real piece of art. The whole silver and white gold piece was carved with the tiniest details, forming an amazingly intricate design. The carving itself was so fine and delicate that seemed that if had been done with something no wider than a toothpick. Four oval sapphires made a row on the front,
outlined by polished white gold rings. Each ring, however, had the tiniest lazulites surrounding them, all of them round and magnificently polished. On the rim, just a few millimetres before the orifice where the sword should fit, were three rows of tiny, rectangular aquamarines, a delicate silver strip separating each row. Sure now, Peter was going to be the envy of many other monarchs, as this gift was definitely unique, not only for the value of the materials, or the rareness of the gems, but for it had been specially made for him by centaurs, mermaids and dwarves.
Peter The Magnificent was short of words, he was not expecting something like this, and he was starting to regret having gotten something so trivial to his wife. "It's really beautiful, I don't think I deserve something as elegant as this" he said, looking up from the scabbard to his queen. "Yes you do, push your humbleness to the side, it's a present!" said Maram, pushing his hands closer to him, as if convincing him to take the object. Peter smiled fully and pressed his lips to hers, joy exploding in every cell of his body. "Thank you, my sweet queen, I will use it only in very important occasions, this is just so precious to be wore everyday".
After popping out of their own fantasy lands, the couples hugged eachother, and sat around the fire, wine goblet in hand. "Let's toast for Christmas! For being an exceptional time to spend with our loved ones" said Peter. They all rose their goblets to the air, and drank. They chatter amicably about non important things, enjoying the warm feeling both wine and fire were providing. "Oh, and where did you put all the presents for Orion and Cas?" asked Edmund, looking for the huge pile of toys and stuffed animals destined to the princes. "They are nicely placed all over their room, it was indeed a big quantity" said Maram, recalling that it had been quite a task to find a place to so many things. "We should go give the presents to the Professor, he must be feeling quite lonely" said Lucy, always thinking about others. Nodding the all took their respective presents for the old, gentle man, and marched happily down the corridor.
Professor Cornelius was sitting in his chair, a goblet of wine close to him, while his eyes scanned some old papers interestedly. The light knock on the door pulled him out of his reverie, his mouth forming a gentle smile. "Merry Christmas Professor" said Lucy, hugging the man and giving him her present. A small simple walnut wooden chest was shown to the Professor under the wrappings, and his smile widened. "I heard you say the other day that you needed something to put some objects, so I thought that you could use this" said Lucy. "Thank you my dearest Queen, this chest is a great present, and it will come of use right away" said the man.
Taril was next, presenting the wise professor with a handmade pipe. "I do not know, my young Lord, how you knew that my last pipe had broke in half a mere day ago. I am mostly honoured that you took your time to make such a wonderful handicraft for this humble servant" said Cornelius, bowing slightly to the boy. Taril just blushed, as he was not accustomed to be treated with such courtesy, not even in Archeland.
Peter and Maram were next, having both bought a present for the man they had learned a lot of. "Our present is simple, but it comes with the love and respect we both have for you" said Maram. "Paper and quill will always be a highly enchanting present for a man of knowledge, I, for instance, am always taking notes about different subjects, so your present, Your Majesties, is extremely welcome. But what gratifies me the most is to know the deep appreciation you have for me".
A gold and crystal chess set came from Ed and Lia, eliciting a soft laugh from the professor. "My King, I believe we both will enjoy this present, am I wrong?" he said, his
eyes sparkling at the king. "In a way, but this set is yours, for when I need a good opponent, or when you come out with one of those magnificent strategies of yours" said Ed. "Whenever you want, Your Highness".
Caspian and Susan were last. They had spent a whole afternoon, looking for something really special, the Professor being almost like a father to Caspian. Finding nothing in town, Susan had the bright idea to look in her old things, both travelling to Cair Paravel the next day. She had always been the biggest reader in the family, and her stone chest had several books from her last time in Narnia. After going through some books, they found the perfect one, and took it home. The title read: "Aslan, the Legends of the Legendary Lion". Professor Cornelius fitted his glasses higher in his nose, so he could take a better look at the book. "This is fantastic! This own book is legendary! Then only copy ever written, and it was given to you My Queen. Rumours have it that it contains lots of pieces of information about Aslan, that no narnian remembers anymore. This is simply an invaluable jewel of literature! I can't thank you enough for such a present!". "Well, when you finish reading it, you can share your knowledge with me, and with any other that wants to know, all people in Narnia deserves to know more about the Great Lion" said Caspian, who had now gotten a certain interest and curiosity over the book. "I will, sire, I will".
They all wished merry Christmas to the Professor one more time before leaving, all of them deciding to go to bed, as it was late night already. They all said their goodbyes and took the different roads to their chambers, but a certain couple decided to skip a step.
Once Caspian and the rest were out of view, Ed took Lia's hand and pulled her with him, entering his room and closing the door fast. He was tired, so was she, so they silently agreed to just sleep together this night, enjoying eachother's warm and resting peacefully.
Yes, Christmas was definitely a wonderful time.
AN: so well, if you liked it, leave a review, if you loved it, then you must leave a review!! Please people!!
Bar fully available after you leave the review, we have turkey, salad, cranberry sauce, and a wonderful cake. (Yes they didn't eat everything, so help yourselves)