Tirian, Lucy and Olyria burst into the ballroom, pushing past gasping guests as they searched for the other Narnians and King Patria.
"Lucy!" Edmund cried, grabbing his sister's arm as she rushed past him. He took in her disheveled appearance, her dress torn in several places and a few tiny cuts on her face from the destroyed balcony. "What happened to you?" he asked, glancing at Tirian's similar appearance.
"The castle was attacked. Erivin blew up my balcony while we were standing on it," Lucy explained. Edmund's face paled.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"We are. We need to find the others and explain in private," Tirian said glancing about the room.
"Edmund?" Georgie asked as she came up behind them, gasping when she saw Tirian and Lucy. "What happened?" she asked alarmed.
"Not now, G. Let's go find the others. Lucy, you three go wait in the hall. No one needs to see you looking like that," Edmund said. He grabbed Georgie's hand and began leading her through the crowd in search of the Narnians.
"Come on," Tirian said, taking Lucy's hand in his. Lucy glanced at Olyria, who Tirian carried, and gave the girl a weak smile as they started for the hall.
The other Narnians, King Patria and Princess Adria joined Tirian, Lucy and Olyria in the hall several moments later. Susan quickly rushed to her sister, inspecting her cuts and bruises. Lucy slapped her hands away and pursed her lips in frustration at her older sister.
"Susan, stop it! I'm fine and now isn't the time for your mothering!" she said impatiently.
"What happened to you three?" Peter asked as he stepped forward.
"Lucy and I were on the balcony of her room and suddenly there was a loud explosion. Before I knew it, half the balcony was gone, destroyed. Erivin was below with several others and he shouted to us to surrender Olyria and he would call off the war," Tirian began explaining, stopping when Olyria gave a small cry. He hugged her tightly to him, staring at Lucy over her head.
"I told him he would never get her and then the strangest thing happened. This ball of blue... well, I'm not quite sure what it was, but it began to grow out of his hand. He threw it at us, destroying the last of the balcony. We dove inside at the last minute and heard Olyria cry. Two men were trying to kidnap her; I could tell by their skin they were Thalasseans. Tirian killed one of them," Lucy said.
"What about the second one?" Edmund asked. Lucy and Tirian exchanged nervous glances.
"I killed him as well," Tirian said quickly, looking towards the others.
"Oh my," Princess Adria said softly as she sunk into a nearby chair.
"Princess?" Susan asked, staring curiously at the young woman.
"I was afraid of this. Strangers come from another world, supposedly here to help us, and now we've only angered him. Perhaps we should give him what he wants and save our people," she said.
"Adria!" King Patria cried.
"This is our way to stop him! If all he wants is the girl, then let him have her! It would spare our people and save our lives!" Princess Adria exclaimed, jumping up quickly.
"How dare you!" Lucy cried, stepping towards the princess.
"I dare because I am trying to save the people of Choras!" Princess Adria said.
"And I am trying to save my child!" Lucy exclaimed angrily, clenching her fists. She felt firm hands clamp down on her shoulders, pulling her back.
"Lucy, calm down," she heard Tirian say softly. Lucy turned and, fighting hot, angry tears that began to build in her eyes, buried her face in his chest. Tirian wrapped his arms around her hugging her tightly.
"Princess Adria, while I appreciate your desire to protect your people, we are not willing to sacrifice a child so that we may avoid an inevitable fight," he said firmly. The Narnians were silent, too surprised by the scene between Lucy and Tirian to speak. Robert found his voice first.
"I think we should continue working with the soldiers, helping them prepare for this battle. As King Tirian said, it is inevitable. I feel tonight is only a taste of what Erivin is capable of and we need to be ready to face him when the time comes," he said. Lucy glanced at her brother-in-law and smiled weakly.
"Robert is right. There is no sense in us even considering surrender. Olyria is under our protection; we are not giving her up. But for now, I say we get these three patched up and all turn in for the night. Tomorrow may be more difficult than we think," Susan said. Lucy pulled away from Tirian and stepped towards her sister.
"Thank you," she whispered, hugging Susan tightly.
"You're going to be a wonderful mother," Susan whispered back. Behind them they heard Eustace groan.
"Women," he muttered, causing the others to laugh.
"Georgiana, Jill, what do you say we take this little one to find a snack while Lucy and King Tirian clean up?" Laira asked cheerfully. Lucy glanced towards her sister-in-law and saw she now held Olyria. The girl's face brightened as she glanced towards Lucy.
"I'll see you in a little while," Lucy smiled warmly as the four set off towards the castle's kitchens.
"King Patria, we should discuss battle strategy and plans tonight," Peter suggested. The boy nodded.
"I agree, King Peter. I want to help," he said firmly.
"But you're too..." Princess Adria trailed off when her brother scowled at her.
"Princess, I know it's hard to accept, but your brother is king. He has to be a part of this. We all understand his youth, but we were his age when we fought our first battle. I swear to you we will work to keep him safe," Edmund promised. Princess Adria nodded.
"I'll just go see to our guests," she said tightly as she walked back into the ballroom.
"I'm sorry about my sister. She's scared. I hear her crying sometimes at night," King Patria said sadly.
"Rest assured, King Patria. We will stop this," Peter said, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder.
An hour later Lucy sat in Susan's room on a low seat in front of a mirrored table. Susan stood behind her, brushing her hair. "Exactly when were you planning on telling me that you were in love with King Tirian?" Susan asked.
"As if you didn't already know about us," Lucy said, scowling slightly at her sister's reflection. Susan laughed lightly.
"Of course I knew. How could I not when he asked us for your hand in marriage? What I want to know was when you were planning on telling me about it," she teased giving a lock of Lucy's hair a quick tug. Lucy grinned.
"I suppose as soon as I tell him," she replied. Susan stopped brushing and frowned at Lucy in the mirror.
"You haven't told him yet? Why not?" she asked. Lucy shrugged.
"I started to earlier, but we were interrupted by our near death experience," she said sarcastically.
"That's no excuse. You need to tell him how you feel so he'll know and you don't end up making my mistakes," Susan said softly as she set the brush on the table and sat next to Lucy.
"Susan, those mistakes are in the past. When are you going to let them go?" Lucy asked. Susan shook her head.
"Those mistakes are my past. They make up who I am, who I became," she said.
"But it turned out alright that you didn't end up with Caspian because you met Robert and you've never been happier. Your mistake of not telling Caspian you loved him turned out to be your path in life," Lucy argued. Susan smiled and placed her hand on the side of Lucy's head.
"Lu, that isn't the mistake I'm referring to. My mistakes in life have nothing to do with love or past loves; they're not telling those I love how I truly felt. My biggest mistake, my biggest regret in life is not telling you, Edmund and Peter how I felt when we were growing up. Keeping my thoughts and feelings about Narnia from you three did nothing but ruin our relationship and caused a rift between us. And then you three were gone before I could correct my mistake. Don't do that to Tirian or yourself; tell him how you feel, what you want. Don't wait until it's too late," Susan said. Lucy threw her arms around her sister, squeezing her tightly.
"Susan, there was never any rift. We never gave up hope that you would come back to us. Even death didn't kill that hope," she said.
"Ahem," a voice said from the door. The two women looked up and saw Robert standing in the doorway. "I hate to break up your sisterly bonding, but Tirian and Olyria are waiting on Lucy," he said, grinning at them. Susan squeezed Lucy's hand as they stood.
"Go. We'll see you in the morning," she said as Lucy walked to the door.
"Don't do anything your sister would do," Robert called as he wrapped his arms around Susan. Lucy giggled as she closed the door on Susan's outraged shriek.
Lucy stood in front of Tirian's door, her hand raised hesitantly to knock. Her mind was racing with thoughts of the events that had happened earlier, of Tirian's admission of his feelings, his discussion with her brothers, their kiss they shared on the balcony. Her heart began beating quickly as she remembered their kiss, the way her stomach had fluttered and swirled, the way her toes had curled in excitement from his touch. She thought of how it felt to hear him say he loved her and how much she had needed to say the same words to him. Steely determination overtook her as she prepared to tell him how she truly felt, how she genuinely loved him and wanted to be his.
"If you're planning on knocking in this decade, I wish you would hurry up so I can stop waiting on you," she heard Tirian call from behind the closed door. She gasped and covered her mouth, stifling a giggle that built in her throat. She knocked on the door which promptly opened. Tirian stood in the doorway, a lazy smile on his face.
"I'm not really a patient king," he teased as he reached for her hand, pulling her towards him.
"I'm very sorry for making you wait, your majesty," she said, giggling as he leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose.
"Please don't do it again," he murmured as he pressed his lips against hers, winding his arms around her waist. When he pulled away, Lucy swayed forward, breathless from the kiss.
"I'll try my hardest," she whispered, grinning at him. Tirian chuckled as he pressed a kiss against her forehead. "Where's Olyria?" Lucy asked, glancing around him into the room.
"Queen Laira and Queen Georgiana were supposed to bring her here. I suspect she's charming them into giving her a larger snack," Tirian said.
"We're not that easily tricked," Georgie laughed as she, Laira and Olyria walked up behind Lucy and Tirian.
"It was actually Georgiana here who tried to charm us into giving her a larger snack," Laira added. Georgie shrugged.
"What can I say? I'm eating for two now," she said, patting her enlarged stomach. The four adults laughed as Olyria smiled at them before yawning widely.
"I suspect we should be getting you to bed, Olyria," Lucy said, stroking the girl's hair.
"Jill said you both could sleep in her room since yours was destroyed," Laira said. Tirian shook his head.
"No, they're both sleeping in here," he said firmly.
"Tirian, we can't sleep in there. It wouldn't be proper," Lucy said, nervously glancing at Laira and Georgie. Georgie rolled her eyes at Lucy.
"For Aslan's sake, Lucy. Don't be such a prude. King Tirian is right. You need to be near someone who can protect you both," she said.
"But I don't want everyone to think-" Lucy began.
"No one will think anything, trust me. I slept in Edmund's room before we were married and all we had to risk was Susan's wrath if we didn't behave properly. Tirian has it worse; he has not only Susan's wrath, but both your brothers', Robert's and probably Eustace's and Jill's wrath if he tries anything ungentlemanly," Georgie said.
"Besides, you'll have Olyria sleeping in there as well. I doubt he would try anything with her in the room," Laira added.
"Will you three stop acting like I'm a lecherous old codger?" Tirian growled. The three women laughed.
"Lucy, I'm not letting either of you out of my sight tonight. Either you both sleep in here or I go wherever you go. If you want to sleep in Jill's room, fine; but I highly doubt she will appreciate all three of us in there," he said seriously. Lucy's grin faded as she stared into his worried eyes. He stepped closer to her and leaned next to her ear.
"It isn't as though we haven't slept in the same room before," he whispered. Lucy blushed.
"I think we should be going now," Georgie said, grabbing Laira's elbow as she began moving away.
"Goodnight," Laira called, glancing over her shoulder as she followed Georgie. Tirian took Olyria's hand and shook his head.
"How did we get mixed up with this bunch?" he asked. The girl laughed.
"I like them. I'm happy they're my family," she said, smiling at Lucy. Tirian looked at Lucy, giving her a slight grin and said, "I agree. I'm glad they are, too."
When Lucy woke the next morning, she felt an arm draped over her neck. Blinking against the morning light, she focused on the owner of the arm. Olyria was sleeping next to her, her legs and arms sprawled. Lucy grinned at the sleeping girl as she slowly slipped out of the bed. Stretching slightly she glanced around the room, momentarily forgetting where she was. Her eyes fell on Tirian who was sleeping in a wing chair, his feet propped on a small stool and his arms crossed over his chest. He still wore his clothes from the night before and his sword hung at his waist. Lucy smiled at his boyish, handsome features, the stubble from several days that grew on his face and the way his dark hair fell across his forehead.
He's so different from the prince, Lucy thought. Her prince had been a boy, merely a puppy that was happy to follow her around. Tirian was stubborn and thoughtful, he was unafraid to argue with her and to be passionate and strong. How could I have ever loved anyone unlike him? she thought as she quietly walked closer to him. She gently brushed a lock of his hair from his face as she leaned down and brushed her lips against his. She felt his hand move up her side, wrapping around her waist as he kissed her back. Quickly he tightened his grip and pulled her onto his lap. Lucy gasped against his lips, pulling away from him in surprise.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Tirian apologized, his eyes twinkling. Lucy smiled down at him and leaned forward, kissing him again. When she pulled back a second time, Tirian kept his eyes closed.
"I hope you're planning on waking me up like that every morning," he said quietly, grinning. Lucy felt her face fill with a pleasant heat and remained silent. "That is, of course, if we marry," Tirian said, opening one eye to look at her.
"Shouldn't you ask me first?" Lucy said softly.
"I thought it was implied last night that I will," Tirian said, opening his other eye and frowning. Lucy bit her bottom lip.
"Did you speak to the others last night about training today?" she asked, changing the subject. Tirian nodded as he lazily rubbed her back.
"We've decided to double the posts throughout the castle, keeping watch at all hours of the day and night. After breakfast we'll work with the soldiers again, keeping up the little training we've been able to offer them. The same will go for you and the archers. King Peter wants them to be our main offense; he hopes that if we can cut their numbers before they reach our holding we may stand a better chance," Tirian explained.
"Do you think he's right?" Lucy asked.
"Your brother is a great strategist, I trust his judgment completely. But I've seen what Erivin can do; we both have. I don't know if mere force is going to kill him," Tirian said. Lucy glanced at the bed and the sleeping girl in it.
"I'm truly afraid to find out what will," she whispered. Tirian took her chin gently in his hand, forcing her to look at him.
"Don't worry. Aslan knows what he's doing and so does Olyria. We can't stop whatever is coming and have to trust that Aslan will see us safely home. For now, let's just focus on this moment and our time together," he said, pulling her down to him.
They kissed deeply, Tirian burying his hands in Lucy's hair as she wound her arms around his neck, pressing her body close to his. Lucy felt the familiar fluttering in her stomach and the need to express her feelings nearly overwhelmed her. She began to pull away to tell Tirian, but his arms tightened around her, holding her close to him. He moved from her lips and began kissing down her jaw when the door suddenly flew open. Tirian quickly jumped up as Lucy fell from his lap, landing hard against the cold surface of the floor.
"Lucy!" Edmund shouted as he entered with his sword drawn, stopping suddenly when he saw them quickly break apart. Behind him Georgie giggled, peeping over his shoulder as she grinned at Lucy.
"Now you know how it feels to be constantly interrupted," she teased. Edmund sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand.
"For the love, G, not now!" he groaned. Georgie bit her lip to stop from giggling as she watched Tirian help Lucy from the floor. "What exactly is going on here? By the Mane, Lucy, the child is in here!" Edmund said irritably, gesturing to the bed where Olyria lay.
"She's asleep, Edmund," Lucy argued. A tiny giggle came from the bed. The four turned towards it to see the sheets quickly flying as Olyria covered herself completely. Tirian groaned as he rubbed his forehead.
"Edmund, what is it? Is there a reason you two came flying in here so early?" Lucy asked.
"There's been an attack. Several soldiers were wounded, nearly as many killed. We came to get you. This battle may happen sooner than we think," Edmund replied gravely.
AN: Yes, I know it's been a while and yes, I know I left you with yet another cliffhanger... I've been putting it off because I thought there was really only one chapter left and I didn't want it to end! But then I realized that there needed to be a little more added, so I got inspired to write. I promise I won't make you wait as long for the next chapter!