A/N: I am so, very sorry. The wait for this chapter was inexcusable. I feel nothing but remorse, I'm so, so sorry! I'll give a full explanation for this blasphemous wait at the den of the chapter, as I'm sure you're all dying to read my much-procrastinated on 10th chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia. Short, sweet, and to the point.
"This is bad." Edmund muttered to himself as he flew down the corridors, "This is so very bad, and of course, who has to tell everyone else? Me. Always me." he continued, sprinting towards the common room. It was two days until the ambassadors ball, and something rather unexpected had come up. And Edmund, as usual, found himself saddled with the task of informing the rest of the royal family. The letter of impending doom clenched in his left fist, Edmund rounded the last corner leading to the royal families common room… and stopped dead in his tracks.
There were only two people present in the room at this time, and they were wrapped around each other in one very small armchair. Edmund bit back the vomit that threatened to come forward at the sight of his older sister snogging his closest friend. He, however, was not able to keep the gagging sound in his throat from making itself known. Susan and Caspian pulled apart when they thought they heard someone choking, and as soon as they realized who it was, Susan jumped up off of Caspian's lap, turning tomato red.
"Ed! What… uh, what brings you here?" she asked, completely mortified. Caspian, for the record, was just as red as Susan, (quite a feat, considering his Telmarine-tanned skin) and had suddenly found the tips of his boots extremely intriguing.
"There's, um, there's some not-so-good news, but I was hoping everyone would be here when I had the privilege of sharing it." Edmund sputtered, staring at a point on the wall above his sisters head. Susan nodded quickly, and tore off, muttering something about knowing where Lucy was. Caspian vanished in the next moment, stating he knew Peters precise location. Edmund sighed heavily, still trying to remove the scarring image that had branded itself into his brain. Yuck.
Soon enough, the five monarchs were gathered in their common room, staring expectantly at Edmund, who sighed again. He hated being the bearer of bad news.
"Well, like I said earlier, before being scarred for life…" He started, taking a moment to get some payback. Susan and Caspian flushed, and Peter grumbled. He was not pleased, not pleased at all. Of course, the moment Peter had entered the room, Edmund tattled on his sister and friend, making Peter quite cross. He currently had a permanent frown on his face, a frown that deepened anytime he so much as glanced at the Telmarine King.
"Get on with it, Edmund." Lucy said exasperatedly, attempting to save her sister some grief from both of their brothers.
"Right, well, this," he said, brandishing the letter in his hand, "is a note from the ambassador whom we are hosting this ball for. He says he hopes we are willing to accommodate two additional members to his party." Edmund said, looking grim. The other royals frowned.
"So? We have more than enough room here for two more people. What's the problem?" Caspian asked, his accent making it very difficult for Susan to focus.
"Well, they're two people we probably don't want here. The son of the ambassador, and the eldest princess of Calormen. And both are expected to press suits, almost certainly expecting marriage in the end." he said. Caspian, Susan and Peter all blinked rapidly, almost perfectly in unison, before Susan threw her hands up in the air with a huff, rising to her feet to pace.
"Perfect, just bloody perfect." she fumed, pacing even faster, "Just when everything was turning out well." she exclaimed, throwing her hands up again. Caspian rose from his chair a moment later, grasping her hands, bringing her to a standstill.
"We'll figure it out." he murmured. Peter was too distressed to even be upset over this display of affection.
"I'm going to have to entertain the princess, aren't I?" he more stated than asked. Caspian looked over at him.
"I'm guessing so. We fully intended to share our courtship with the rest of the world at this ball, which is probably going to upset the ambassador. He most certainly is hoping for a match for his son with one of the Narnian Queens of Old." he replied, glancing over at Susan, "We can't risk upsetting the Tisroc as well." he added.
"Well, his son can deal with it. I already have a suitor." Susan pouted, leaning her head against Caspian's chest.
"The princess, on the other hand… with two (technically) eligible kings, the Tisroc is most certainly going to expect a suit for his daughter… and I am otherwise committed." Caspian said, looking at Peter with remorse. The golden-haired king sighed, sinking deeper into her chair.
"I will entertain her for the duration of her stay, but I can't promise I'll make any commitments. I went fifteen years without so much as a lady that might even suspect I'd take her hand, I doubt I'll find a someone this time around. Especially a girl from Calormen." he said, eyes turning dark. All four Pevensie's scowled a little, remembering that fateful trip to Calormen in the Golden Age, when they were so unfortunate as to cross paths with Prince Rabadash. Looking back on it now, Susan really couldn't understand what she saw in the man. Though, back then, there was no Caspian to compare him to.
"Their treatment of women has greatly improved over the last 1300 years. They're no longer looked at as mere objects." Caspian said, trying to ease the tension in the room. However, he would like nothing more than to rant on angrily about the foolish Calormen prince that had once imprisoned his beloved Susan and attempted to force her into marriage.
"No more dancers?" Edmund suddenly said. There was silence for two beats, then laughter from the other three Pevensie's. Edmund flushed, and Caspian looked confused.
"Dancers?" he enquired, looking down at Susan, who was still wrapped in his embrace. She snickered at Ed once more, then turned to look at Caspian.
"Back in the Golden Age, women in Calormen, as you already know, were little more than objects. The attractive ones though, were forced to be exotic dancers. They wore very little clothing, danced quite provocatively, and the Tisroc at the time made absolutely sure that they were present at every single political gathering we ever attended. Poor Ed was always a little… distracted." she said, laughing again. Edmund turned even redder, if it were possible.
"Any man would be 'distracted' at that." he grumbled, causing Peter to laugh even louder.
"Then why was I always able to focus while your head was elsewhere?" he snickered, and Edmund scowled at him, choosing not to answer. Caspian shook his head, fighting back laughter. So the stories of the Calormen dancers were indeed true… he hadn't thought it possible, women treated das such. Shaking his head, he turned to the Pevensie siblings again.
"Regardless of what once was, women truly are treated much better. Princesses and Queens are actually given some semblance of political power, though the Tisroc still has ultimate control." Caspian added, taking pity on his friend. Edmund lost some of his excellent color now that the subject was slowly moving away from him and the dancers.
"It doesn't mean I have to marry her!" Peter lamented, throwing his hands in the air. Apparently it was a Pevensie sibling trait.
"Never said you had to marry her. Just that if she presses a suit, they Tisroc would be hoping for and expecting a marriage." Edmund corrected, reading off the letter. "Well, he's going to be disappointed. What about the ambassadors son? If he gets rejected by my sister, will the consequences be dire?" Peter asked, a little concerned. It was a well known fact that men got a tad ridiculous when it came to Susan.
"No, and it doesn't say that about the princess either. But can we really afford to reject them both? That will certainly upset the ambassador AND the Tisroc." Susan added, tossing some of her infamous logic into the mix. The royals frowned.
"Well, if we bring to their attention that Su and Cas are already together, then they certainly can't expect the ambassadors son to even have a chance. I mean, look at them!" Lucy exclaimed, waving a hand in the direction of the couple, who were still locked in each others arms.
"Indeed…" Peter added, not even bothering to look menacing when he met Caspian's eyes. Caspian took this as progress.
"Furthermore, if you suck it up and spend time with the girl while she's here, and find that she's not right for you, they really can't do a darn thing. You're a king of Narnia, she's the eldest Princess of Calormen. She's got three brothers in line before her, seven sisters after her, and probably plenty of eligible men lined up to marry that close to the Tisroc. We'll be fine." Lucy continued, with a confident finality.
"Well, when you put it like that, it makes decent sense… and besides, if they declare war on us over something as silly as rejecting a suit, we'll certainly have backing from some of the other countries surrounding Narnia. I mean, seriously, war over a courtship rejection?" Edmund added, scanning the letter one last time. There definitely was not any mention of ill-will should either or both suits be rejected.
"Oh, most certainly. Archenland will support us without a second thought. The current king is adamant on being able to choose who you marry, and not forcing his daughters into anything." Caspian added, seeing some hope in what was, 10 minutes ago, a hopeless situation.
"See? Nothing to worry about. Now, Edmund, we need to finish the pants on your outfit for the ball. Come." Lucy ordered, taking her dark-haired brother by the shirt front, and proceeded to drag him from the common room, Edmund whining and complaining the whole way. Peter muttered something about practicing his swordplay, (probably to avoid being dragged to a fitting of his own) leaving Susan and Caspian alone once again.
"I'm still worried." Susan finally said, and Caspian raised an eyebrow.
"And why is that, my love?"
"I have terrible experiences with Calormen men, as you surely know. And where the princess has two of you to pick from, there is only me for the ambassadors son to press a suit upon. What if he forces it on me?" she asked, her voice shaking. Caspian pulled her in tighter, willing his arms to cement themselves around her waist so he might never have to let go.
"I won't let him near you if it comes to that. I'm hoping once they see we are together, they'll get the message." he murmured in her ear, calming her considerably.
"Let's hope. Besides, I never was a fan of the Calormen's accent." she said, a light teasing entering her tone.
"Oh? And what accent would you say was your preference?" he asked, glad she was feeling a little better.
"Well, those Archenlandians always were quite charming…" she said, trailing off when she saw his face. He looked torn between laughing at her joke, or actually being worried. This was too much for Susan, who burst out laughing, causing Caspian to laugh as well.
"I was quite concerned for a moment there." he said once their laughter had died down, and Susan grinned.
"You have nothing to worry about my love. Yours in the only accent I swoon for." she replied, standing up on her toes to kiss him. Caspian smiled into the kiss, wishing it would last forever. Too soon however, she pulled away.
"What now, my love?" he asked, and she grinned quite maliciously.
"Now, we go and complete you jacket for the ball. I want to be sure the seamstresses got the color right." she replied, taking him by the arm and dragging him towards the door. Caspian groaned, sensing there was no way out of this predicament. There was no stopping the Queens of Narnia when they teamed up with the palace seamstresses. It was going to be a long afternoon…
A/N: Once, again, I'm SO SORRY! I think the wait was, like, almost a month, and it's not a very satisfying chapter. But I threw some Suspian in there to make up for it a little. The next chapter will feature the ball, and the first time we meet the Princess, the ambassador and his son.
Now, About this wait... I can't apologize enough. As I said in the last chapter, I went away to Band camp the day after I posted it. Then, when I returned home, my mom surprised me with a trip to the States to go grad dress shopping (I'm going to graduate in June, I can't believe it!) Anyway, I got a dress, but after being computer-less for three days at camp, I was them computer-less for 6 days in Montana. Then I came home, and the homework began piling on. I had a massive social exam and a chem test in the span of three days, and spent the better part of a week preparing for them, which left zero time to work on this, or any of the other stuff I'm in the process of writing. Once all that was over, I just got extremely lazy and didn't do any work for probably two weeks. Which is totally inexcusable. So, again, I profusely apoligoze!
Finally, I plead you, my devoted readers, to review. Another reason I was so reluctant to writing is the total lack of reviews. I had tons on chapter eight, and then hardly any on chapter nine. So, please, REVIEW! It keeps me motivated to write, therefore I get chapters out sooner.
Until next time, readers!