Part 2

Chapter 12: Peter

The sunlight streamed through the glass windows in the morning room. It caught on the silverware on the table and bounced off the white linen tablecloths. It made the russet-tones in Susan's hair glimmer and gave both Caterina and Lucy's hair the appearance of spun gold. It was going to be another beautiful day.

Peter looked around at the small family breakfast they were having before their guests woke up. When it had been suggested, he'd never expected it to actually happen. He'd assumed at least one member would be missing. But there Caterina was, green eyes twinkling as she and Edmund exchanged whispers about something they were finding utterly hysterical. If they were hoping to be discreet, they were failing miserably as they aimed snide kicks at each other and dissolved into giggles at random intervals. Clearly the injury on her arm that they had been so vague about last night was not troubling her this morning.

Lucy was being equally as loud in her own way, as she enthusiastically regaled the table with stories of the night before. It seemed she had had a good evening and had awoken this morning with her joy still intact. The fact that almost nobody at the table was listening to the sixteen-year-old had completely bypassed her.

Susan, sat at the opposite end of the table from Peter, was her characteristically quiet self. She smiled graciously as the food was brought in from the kitchen and her face stayed beautifully serene in the face of both her younger siblings' chatter and noise. Peter often wondered how she managed it. The very sound of both Lucy and Edmund's voices was grating on him this morning. Lord Asriel's proposal had kept him awake long into the night and the two very last things he wanted to do this morning were to listen to a re-hash of last night or see the golden-haired source of his troubles behaving quite so improperly at breakfast.

'It's such a shame we can't have something like that more often, perhaps once a week,' Lucy was saying now, her face quite downhearted at the very real prospect of there being no balls until Christmas. 'It would very much lift the spirits of the kingdom, Peter.'

'I wasn't aware they needed lifting,' Peter replied. 'Unless you know something I don't?' Because of her trustworthy face and genuine interest in people, Lucy was often the best source of news from the kingdom at large. Peter disliked the word 'gossip', with its negative connotations, although he partially feared his younger sister may be becoming one.

'Oh, not about that.' She shook her head, golden waves shimmering. Whilst Susan's dark hair was neatly tucked away, and even Caterina had made some effort to tame her blonde curls, Lucy favoured the natural look. It wasn't that it didn't suit her, and she was only sixteen, but Peter sometimes wondered when she would begin to take on more of the bearing of a queen. There was something so lively and animated about her that didn't seem conducive to making reasoned, sensible decisions about matters of state and policy.

Now she shot him a mischievous grin. 'I have however heard one thing which might surprise you.'

'Oh yes?' Peter spoke in the absence of anyone else doing so. He glared at Edmund and Caterina briefly, and tried to give Susan a more encouraging look, only he suspected he wasn't quite quick enough and he'd mixed the two looks up. Anyway, neither party showed by so much as a flicker that they'd even noticed.

'Lord Asriel's son has returned to Narnia.' Lucy gave a delighted giggle.

The very name silenced even Edmund and Caterina, who both glanced towards Lucy.

'Lord Asriel? A son?' Edmund voiced his disbelief. 'I didn't even know he had one.'

'He's been living abroad for a few years,' Lucy continued, in the voice of an expert as she carelessly buttered a slice of toast. 'He only returned earlier this month.'

'Peter? Did you know anything about this?' Edmund looked to his older brother.

'I'd heard he had a son,' Peter admitted now, remembering the vague rumours he'd heard circulating over the years he had been king. Long after the lords of Narnia had returned to the kingdom from wherever they had hidden in exile, the mythical son of Asriel had stayed away. There had been all sorts of whispers over where he had been all this time, and whether he was still even alive. The rumours had continued for so long that even those who enjoyed gossip had all but dismissed them as nothing more than a story. 'At least, I heard he had had a son. Whilst his family were in exile. There was never any real proof he even existed.'

'Well there's proof now,' Lucy put in.

'A rumour from a faun doesn't mean it's true,' Edmund responded drily and more than a little cruelly.

Lucy pulled a face at him. 'I never said it was a rumour from a faun, did I? If you must know, I met him last night. I danced with him.' Rarely had she ever looked so satisfied with herself.

'Well you danced with a great many men last night, Lucy, I'm surprised you can remember individual details.'

The whole table turned to look at Susan in a stunned silence. She had been so quiet all morning, as was her way, but now she had roused herself to say something uncharacteristically nasty to her younger sister. Peter saw Lucy's face flit between anger and utter devastation at her sister's comments, whilst Caterina gazed at her idol with something akin to horror. Peter felt it was his job to say something, but before he could, Susan had risen from her seat.

'I must prepare to see the guests off,' she said, as calmly as though her previous comment had never been said. 'Please excuse me.' She swept away from the table and out of the morning room before anyone could say a word.

'Well. That was... strange.' Edmund glanced across at Lucy and their early acrimony was lost. 'Are you okay, Lu?'

She nodded and looked towards Peter. Her large eyes had become even larger now, stripping her back to the little girl she'd been when they first arrived in Narnia. Peter felt infinitely more charitable towards her than he had done earlier; despite her affectations and giddy ways, she was still Lucy Pevensie, his little sister, and he loved her. Right now she needed him to say something comforting, about how Susan hadn't meant it, about how she was probably just tired. She needed her big brother.

He finished chewing the mouthful of toast he had and then turned to Edmund. 'If Asriel has a son, we should keep a close watch on him. The last thing we need is for that man to be made stronger.'

In the last few minutes, the bright atmosphere in the morning room had changed to a stilted and tense silence. The silence continued a few seconds longer, as Edmund gaped at his brother's words.

Lucy stood up abruptly, shaking the table a little. 'May I be excused, please?' she asked, and Peter could hear the catch in her voice which was like a stab to his stomach. 'I... I need to... get ready.'

When Peter didn't reply, Edmund nodded his assent and she left equally as hastily as Susan had done. As soon as the door had closed behind her, Peter felt his younger brother's gaze turn onto him.

'Well that was badly done,' he remarked.

'I didn't ask for your opinion,' Peter replied as calmly as he could. 'And I don't remember you being put in charge of the breakfast table.'

'I only stepped in because you were doing such a bad job of it!' Edmund glared at him. 'Lucy wanted some comfort, Peter, and you just ignored her!'

'As you were doing all morning! You and Caterina have barely listened to a word she's said, and now you want to act like I'm the one who has the problem?'

'Caterina and I were simply talking, which was more than you or Susan were doing! We don't all like to begin the morning in stony silence, Peter!'

Before Peter could fire back another angry reply, another voice broke in. An unexpected one.

'Perhaps we were a little rude,' Caterina said now, her voice unusually calm and apologetic. Peter couldn't remember ever having heard her speak in such a tone before. Perhaps this was the Caterina his siblings, especially Edmund, had known all these years. Now she gave him a small but seemingly genuine smile. 'We should have been paying more attention, your Majesty, and I apologise.' She gave Edmund a slightly more dazzling smile as she too pushed her chair away from the table. 'I'll get out of your way.' She bobbed a curtsey at Peter before leaving the morning room.

Something was definitely going on in this castle today.