Chapter 11 – Midnight Swim

It took several more weeks for Peter to heal completely of both the poisoning and the injury. Once he did, however, life suddenly seemed more active for everyone. The royals suddenly didn't feel tied to the castle any longer, and started taking long hikes into the forest, searching for dryads and faun dances. Amelia almost always joined them, as did Tumnus (though this had been usual habit for years).

One month to the day after Peter's poisoning, it was decided that a trip to Beaversdam would do them a world of good. Since the end of the Winter, it was becoming a bustling center of trade, and if you were lucky, traders from as far north as the River Shribble and as far south as Anvard or even Calormen would be there.

Susan and Lucy were ecstatic at the prospect of taking Amelia shopping. The only clothes she'd ever owned were the ones that could be carried with her, because the Tribes were nomadic people. Since she'd arrived in Cair Paravel, she'd been wearing mostly Susan's old clothes. Now that Amelia would be staying with them, they felt it necessary to buy her a wardrobe of her own.

Amelia found the shopping more exhausting than the trip itself. She'd never been to Beaversdam on a market day (or any other place like it, for that matter) and the sheer number of different sights and sounds and smells overwhelmed her.

Susan and Lucy obviously had their favourite dress shops, and they spent most of the day in only three shops, getting Amelia fitted for new clothes.

"We'll need several of each style," Susan was telling the seamstress.

"The poor girl must have no clothes!" the woman exclaimed when she realized just how much Susan was asking for.

Lucy laughed. "She only has what she can carry. And most of it is armor." She turned on her heel and began to look through the different fabrics that were laid out on the couch behind her. "She looks wonderful in green, and I think this red would suit her well," she said, lifting the sheet of red fabric and hanging it between herself and Amelia.

Susan nodded. "The red would do nicely. We'll want mostly winter clothes. We'll be back in the spring for her summer things."

Amelia's jaw dropped. "Susan! You can't possibly buy me more clothes than you already are!"

Susan clicked her tongue and shook her head. "You are a member of our court and you will be properly provided for, and that means clothing too! Oh! And Miss Day, we'll be needing something for her to wear when she works; she's a healer, you see. Obviously these clothes wouldn't do."

Miss Day, the seamstress, nodded her head vigorously. "Of course, your Majesty. Let me just see what I have for some sturdier fabrics." She disappeared through the shelves of cloth rolls.

Amelia, who had been standing on a stool in front of a mirror for the entire morning, jumped off and sat down. "Goodness, Susan, you want me to do this again in six months? I think it might just take me six months to recover from this shopping excursion!"

Lucy nodded knowingly. "Shopping is very tiring. But think how nice it will be to have clothes that fit you properly!"

Amelia nodded begrudgingly. It was true that most of Susan's dresses had sleeves that were too long for her, and waists that fell just slightly too low. It would be nice not to have to tug on the dress to get it to sit properly all of the time.

At the end of the day, Miss Day sent them home with new underthings for Amelia and the promise that she'd have at least one of the dresses delivered to them by the following morning so Amelia would have something to wear the next day.

The royals were staying at the summer home of the lord of Beaversdam, despite it being autumn. He had tried to convince them to stay in his winter lodgings, to the south of the town, but they'd insisted on the summer house; it was situated on the water, with its own private beach. It wasn't exactly on the river; instead, there was a pool fed by a stream that came off the river.

Lucy had discovered that, on a sunny day, even in late autumn, the sun would warm the pool so well that it was like bathwater just after dark.

The girls were getting ready for bed when Lucy decided to bring this up. "It's quite lovely. Maybe a quick dip is in order before bed?"

Susan and Amelia both agreed wholeheartedly, and, wearing nothing but their shifts, they sneaked down the hall and down the stairs, and out the back door onto the beach.

The breeze was chilly, as was the sand, so they made their way quickly towards the water. It was steaming in the moonlight.

Lucy waded right in, having done it before, but Susan and Amelia both paused before stepping in, both half expecting it to be freezing, as the river would be.

"Come on!" Lucy whispered, glancing conspiratorially up at the wide open windows that she knew looked into the bedrooms. The summer house was small for six people; it was only built for the lord and his wife; they'd never had any children. There were only two bedrooms, so the women were sharing one, and the men had the other.

Amelia looked up once at the windows. There was a candle burning in the men's room, but she couldn't see anyone.

Susan, meanwhile, was dipping her toe into the water. "It is warm!" she exclaimed.

Lucy laughed. "I told you so! Now come in!"

Susan grinned and ran into the water, raising huge splash that splattered Amelia.

"Hey!" Amelia cried, looking down at her brand new, soaking wet shift. It was white.

Lucy noticed the effect that the water was having on the opacity of Amelia's clothes. "For the sake of decency, Amelia! They could look out the window at any moment!" she called, laughing.

Amelia grinned. "Then I supposed I have no choice." She splashed into the water up to her knees and then dove forward, gliding along the surface of the water. "This is beautiful!" she exclaimed, lifting her hand out of the water and watching the steam rise off of it.

The pool never got particularly deep, but at the center, none of the girls could touch the bottom, so they simply let themselves float in the warmth and the moonlight.

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Peter, Edmund and Tumnus were all sitting in their room, a few candles burning, playing cards.

"I haven't played anything like this in years," Peter said, inspecting his hand. He grinned. "It's a nice change from chess."

Edmund glowered at him from over the top of his own cards. "That's because chess requires a certain measure of skill. This game is all about luck, which you seem to have plenty of."

"King Edmund, I believe the point of this game is to trick your opponents into believing you have something in your hand that you don't," Tumnus said, chuckling. "You may have just made it very clear what kind of hand you have."

Edmund raised one eyebrow. "Or was that simply a ploy to make you think I have a particular kind of hand?"

"Touche."

They each set their hands down on the table.

Peter grinned. "I win again."

Edmund sighed. "You were right, Tumnus. I had a horrid hand... just like I did last time, and the time before, and the time before that..."

Tumnus was about to reply when there was a shriek and laughter from outside the open window. The two men and one faun looked curiously at each other and went to the window to see what all the fuss was about.

Peter leaned over the edge of the window sill and looked down on time to see Amelia gliding across the water towards Susan and Lucy. He straightened up and leaned against the window frame, smiling as he watched them.

Edmund and Tumnus joined him, looking out over the window sill in turn.

"Wouldn't that be cold?" Edmund asked, bewildered.

As if in reply, Amelia's laughing voice cried, "This is beautiful!"

Peter smiled indulgently, watching as the girls splashed and played.

"Peter," Edmund said, trying to get his brother's attention. He raised an eyebrow at Tumnus when the High King didn't respond.

"Your Majesty?" Tumnus asked. Peter still didn't respond.

Edmund snickered. "Oh, I get it. He's far too enthralled in the view to pay any attention to us," he said, chuckling when he saw Lucy shriek because her shift was floating up around her middle and try to push it back down again. "I don't think he's ever seen Amelia with so few clothes on."

Peter glared at him. "Don't be crude, Ed."

"Perhaps," Tumnus said slowly, "it wouldn't be crude if she was yours..."

Peter blinked cluelessly at him. "What?"

"What I'm saying, your Majesty, is that it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. And perhaps an heir to the Narnian throne could offer the land considerable stability in the future," Tumnus answered, walking over his his bed as he spoke.

"A wife?!" Peter choked, surprised. He wasn't adverse to the idea of getting married; he'd just never considered it before.

Edmund strolled away from the window and sat down on his bed, blowing out his candle and laughing. "Good night, Peter."

And Peter was left in the dark by the window, struggling what understanding the things that were just said to him and why in the world his companions had said them. Experimentally, he considered the idea of life with Amelia as his wife. He couldn't contain his smile as he thought of it. His happiness was dampened almost immediately by worry, however. He wasn't sure if that was what she would want. It wouldn't have surprised him in the least if she didn't want all the responsibility that comes with being a Queen, but even worse, he had no idea if she wanted him at all in that way. Part of him said that she would undoubtedly want him – he was the High King, after all – but most of him realized that she didn't treat him like a King, she just treated him like Peter. That was why she could reject him, and it scared him, but it was also why he loved her, which quite possibly scared him more.

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Ack! So short :( But it's because I added stuff to last chapter (which this was supposed to be stuck to the end of) and I decided to separate it into pieces. This piece ended up being way short, but that's okay, because I'm posting SUPER FAST!!

Also, I know, the Jane Austen reference is random, but I personally don't think I could say it better myself, so I used that quote. Besides, I like Pride and Prejudice. If you haven't read it, go do it. Now! Wait, no, review first... then read it!