It was the morning of the first dinner party that was to be hosted at Rosewood, and Edmund was about to go mental. All that had been talked about for the past two weeks were plans for the blasted dinner party, and if he heard one more discussion on whether or not the napkins matched the plates, he was going to explode!

Susan could host a jolly good party—that much was true—and now that she and Mrs. Wilson had combined forces, nothing could go wrong. But when you put two enthusiastic together, things tend to get out of hand. All kinds of people were being invited: nobles, diplomats, politicians, tradesmen, lawyers, doctors, theologists. If they could help the Pevensie's gain a connection in some area, they were invited to the dinner party. After all, that is what parties like these were for—gaining connections. Everything had an ulterior motive behind it, and Susan and Edmund were experts at navigating the waters of diplomacy.

That is not to say that Peter and Lucy were not skilled in the art of being polite for politeness's sake in the least. The Gentle and the Just, however, were simply craftier. They could manipulate with smiles and thinly veiled words, and they were very, very, good at it. That is what diplomats did, and the Pevensies were certainly that. On more than one occasion, had the clever middle siblings stopped wars with their words, and fashioned treaties that were beneficial to Narnia, while making it look like they were not. Yes, Susan and Edmund were good at what they did.

It was a dance, Edmund mused. But instead of with feet and music, it was a dance of words and tongues. It was a clever dance that could make or break a nation depending on what came out of your mouth next, and he and Susan had perfected it. They were the manipulators in the family—the ones who would be just and gentle, but could be ruthless and subjective when the time arose. Narnia came first, to the siblings. And Narnia prospered under their care.

Now, it was not Narnia they were protecting. It was Rosewood, and their family. They were the last of the Pevensies, and the family was not going to sink. If it took a dinner party full of influential people who just wanted to meet "those daring children from the trial", then in the name of the Lion, Edmund was going to do all he could to further the betterment of his family. They weren't going to go down yet. Not while he was still breathing.


Edmund and Peter traipsed downstairs that evening to find their sisters waiting at the bottom of the stairwell in the main hall. Edmund tugged on his bowtie slightly as they descended—the blasted thing was too tight—and Peter kept straightening his dinner jacket.

"Finally! The guests will be arriving within the next five minutes, and it would not do for one of us to be missing." Susan scolded, gesturing for the brothers to join them.

"How do we look?" Lucy laughed, twirling her dress about her. It was the color of vanilla ice cream, and had a bright pink sash. In other words, it suited Lucy perfectly. Susan was garbed in an emerald green confection that made her look older than her fourteen years, and she looked very regal.

"You both look lovely." Peter smiled, grabbing Lucy into an impromptu foxtrot before spinning her out and away from him.

"Much better than I would in those dresses, at least." Edmund teased.

Susan rolled her eyes and laughed. "Yes, I would certainly hope so. Now come! We must await the guests."

Within minutes flurries of arrivals walked through the front doors of Rosewood Manor, and were greeted by the Pevensie Four. The children made quick work of making introductions and impressing their guests. Lucy instantly charmed everyone; after all, who could resist her bouncy demeanor and happy face? Not to mention the fact that she impressed the adults with her ability to function in an environment such as a dinner party. Not all eleven year olds had the opportunity of running a country for fifteen years, and tended to be not as well behaved in company such as this.

Susan and Peter were more tied down than their siblings when it came to the guests. As official host and hostess, they had certain duties to perform, as well as the obligation to make acquaintances with everyone, and not just talk with certain people. Though Lucy and Edmund still did the same as the older ones and spoke with everyone, they were able to converse with those that they had more in common with more frequently, and were able to forge deeper connections this way. Edmund kept a group of lawyers entertained with discussions of the trial, and Lucy held court with a group of theologists, discussing the broad overarching themes of literature and how Christianity correlated with them.

It was a merry group at the Pevensie's dinner party, and by the end of the night it could be considered a success. The guests went away happy and full, and proclaiming the marvels of "those Pevensie children" to all that they met.


It was two days after the successful dinner party, and all was quiet around Rosewood. Harmony seemed to have finally been achieved amongst Susan and Mrs. Wilson, and the staff was keeping everything on time and smooth. All four children were in lessons with their various tutors. Yes, even Kings and Queens must still go to school, much to their consternation. After all, one never really likes going to school, even if one does enjoy most subjects.

This school day, however, was soon to be cut short.

"Telephone for Mr. Pevensie." One of the housemaids poked her head inside the room set aside for lessons.

"Can it wait?" Peter's Latin tutor snapped waspishly.

"The caller demanded to speak with Mr. Pevensie, sir."

"I'm coming, I'm coming…" Peter sighed, rising from his seat and heading towards the telephone. He got calls quite frequently, and oftentimes the callers forgot that he was still a child and was stuck in school. Picking up the phone, the voice on the other end made him sigh deeply.

"Aunt Alberta? Yes, this is Peter. How nice it is to talk to you. Yes, yes. WHAT? Yes, I understand. Of course. I understand. Yes, I will have to confer with my siblings on this matter. Yes, I will call you sometime later. Yes. Alright, goodbye." Peter slammed the telephone back down on its stand.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Edmund, who it appeared had heard the tail end of the conversation, popped in and caused Peter to jump.

"Call a family meeting, Ed. We've got a lot to discuss."

"What do you mean?"

"That was Aunt Alberta on the phone. And she wants Eustace to stay with us at Rosewood."


AN: Alright, I have decided in which way I will continue this story, but you won't get all of the details yet. I will let you know, however, that it will be divided into two parts, and this chapter is the beginning of the end of part one. All else shall be revealed in time.

Thanks so, so, much to my readers! Without you guys I would have given up a long time ago!

In the Name of the Lion,

Lady