Chapter 35 - The Grand Ball
Amelia couldn't really call herself surprised when Susan spent most of the evening dancing with the dashing young nephew of the Lord and Lady Beaversdam. He was certainly charming and Susan hadn't taken her eyes off of him since he invited them downstairs. He seemed nice enough, in any case, and Susan looked like she was having a grand time with him as they spun across the dance floor.
It wasn't as though Amelia watched the party from the edges of the room, however; Peter had apparently decided that they hadn't danced together in too long, and that they should make up for all their lost time in a single evening. Certainly, Amelia loved to dance with her husband, but her feet were aching terribly by the time he was willing to let her sit down.
"Give me a moment to rest!" Amelia demanded, giggling as she tried to pull out of his arms.
Peter, on the other hand, simply grinned and tightened his hold on her waist. "You can't possibly be tired yet, angel! I could keep dancing for hours!"
Amelia lifted an eyebrow. "That may be so, but you're not wearing Narnia's most uncomfortable shoes."
Laughing, Peter guided her effortlessly off the floor and showed her to an empty chair. "But they're quite beautiful," he observed, letting his eyes move down her entire form to the jeweled shoes on her feet. He smirked as she shifted in her seat, the seam of her dress falling so that her calves were revealed for only a moment. He sat down next to her and placed his lips perilously close to her ear. "And the way they make your legs look..." he murmured, making a sound like a quiet growl and grinning wider when she began to blush.
"Oh, hush, Peter. You can't even see my legs for all the layers of fabric in this dress," Amelia hissed, trying unsuccessfully to wipe the smile off of her face. "Anyways, you shouldn't say such things in public!" she added, lowering her voice even further.
He scoffed and leaned back into his chair. "No one is paying any attention to us, love. I'm sure I could say just about anything and no one would be any the wiser."
"Wiser of what, my dear King?" a jovial, though possibly drunk, voice asked. The voice belonged to an older man with a glass of wine in his hand, his hair balding and his beard full and grey.
Amelia had no idea who he was, but from the exasperated look on Peter's face, she doubted he was someone she wanted to talk to.
When Peter didn't answer the question, he turned to Amelia. "And you must be the lovely High Queen! Such a shame I haven't gotten the chance to introduce myself before now! I am Lord Tanis of the Marshes."
Standing, Amelia took his outstretched hand graciously, letting him kiss her fingers. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Tanis." Behind her smile, she was wracking her brain. She'd heard his name before, she was sure of it. She just couldn't remember for the life of her where from.
"The pleasure is all mine, to be sure," Lord Tanis answered, puffing out his chest. "Now tell me, have you ever been to the Marshes in spring?"
Amelia paused thoughtfully. "Late spring, yes, once. I passed through with the Western Tribes shortly after the Winter."
Lord Tanis clasped his hands together and the look on his face told her that he thought her deprived of something essential. "My goodness! We simply must have you come visit during the height of the spring! You haven't lived until you've seen the Marshes in full bloom, I tell you!"
Peter was on his feet then, one arm around Amelia, and he was already gently leading her away from Lord Tanis. "We will come visit, of that you can be certain, but we really should be going..."
"Nonsense! Not before I tell you about the strawberries, anyway. Marshes strawberries have no equal, and, as you might expect, they are at their absolute best in spring. One year, my wife and I..."
And then Amelia realized where she'd heard his name before. Lucy had once told her the story of the man who had talked her ear off for several hours about the subtle differences between two types of stone, something she was sure he'd known absolutely nothing about. Only now she recalled the man's name was Lord Tanis. Frowning at Peter, whose face had settled into a pained smile as he listened to Tanis talk on and on about strawberries, she began to consider how they might escape.
Over an hour later, Amelia had yet to come up with a viable plan that didn't involve being incredibly rude: any time she'd tried to excuse them politely, Tanis had somehow managed to rope them back into the conversation. It was beginning to look like they'd be stuck there the rest of the night. In the time they'd been trapped there, he'd gone from strawberries to the latest fashions to a bridge in Beaversdam that was apparently a marvel of engineering.
Letting her eyes wander the room while Tanis spoke more directly to Peter, Amelia caught sight of a knot of young women, giggling near the center of the room. Curious, she continued to watch them until the group parted, revealing a new mother revelling in the attentions she and her newborn baby were getting. Amelia felt her stomach clench as a familiar pain took hold of her. Thatshouldbeme...
Peter felt Amelia's hand clench suddenly, her fingernails digging into his arm. He glanced down at her, alarmed, and followed her eyes instantly to the woman and the baby. He smiled a half-smile at Tanis and nodded once, sensing that it was an appropriate time in the one-sided conversation to do so, and then turned his attention back to his wife. Her grip was tightening and he could easily see the pain on her face. He needed to get her out of here. She needed a moment to compose herself.
"Well, Tanis, that's very interesting!" He spoke quickly, eager to end the conversation. "But I'm afraid we must part ways."
"But your Majesty, I haven't even told you the best part!" Tanis argued, still blissfully unaware of the expression on Amelia's face.
Peter shook his head. "I'm sorry, perhaps another time. I'm afraid my wife might be feeling a bit unwell, and I would like to have her seen to as quickly as possible."
Amelia tore her eyes away from the baby for a moment to look up at Peter. She hoped her gratitude was obvious enough on her face.
"Well," Tanis said, taking a deep breath, "my cousin is an incredible healer. I've picked up a few things from him over the years, you know. I might know a thing or two to help."
"Thank you for the offer, but..." Peter began, only to have Tanis interrupt him.
"No, really, your Majesty, I insist. It will only take but a moment."
"We really should..."
"I'm sure I know just the thing."
"But..."
"I can see it on her face. I know exactly what is ailing her."
"Tanis..." Peter's tone took on an edge of warning now, but still Tanis interrupted him.
"Now, the best way to deal with such a sickness..." But as Tanis began to speak, Lady Beaversdam swept into view, all smiles and grace.
"Ah, here you are, Queen Amelia! I've been looking everywhere for you!" she exclaimed, taking Amelia's free hand in her own. "Good evening, your Majesty, Lord Tanis." Tanis opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get a word out, Lady Beaversdam was speaking again. "Now, I do believe I promised you a tour of the gardens, and it will be getting far too cold outside if we wait for much longer." She looked up at the men once. "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I'm afraid I must take Queen Amelia out now, or our chance will be gone." Tanis was opening his mouth again, but, again, Lady Beaversdam cut him off neatly. "Well, gentlemen, I appreciate your willingness to part with the lovely Queen for this short while, and I assure you that we'll be back before you know it! Come on now, dear!" And with a sweep of her skirts, she gathered Amelia and swept them both out of the room and out into the gardens.
"Ah, Gregory!" Lady Beaversdam called, noticing two young serving boys standing on the steps. "Would you please find something warm for Queen Amelia and myself while we tour the gardens?"
Nodding once, the taller of the two boys scurried off.
Amelia looked up at Maria, rubbing her arms to ward off the cold. She was almost a bit dizzy from the speed at which she'd been removed from the ballroom. It was clear, though, that Maria had known why she needed to leave, from the way she was looking at Amelia now. "I... Thank you."
Maria watched her with tenderness in her eyes. "Think nothing of it, dear. I'm only glad I could help."
A moment later, Gregory returned with two coats and, to the surprise of the ladies in the garden, Lucy and Susan in tow.
"I understand there is a tour of the gardens taking place?" Susan asked as the two queens arrived.
Maria looked taken by surprise for a moment and then, with a slight shrug and a smile, she answered, "Indeed, I was just about to take Queen Amelia for a short tour of our Winter gardens. They are quite lovely, even before the snow had fallen."
The ladies spent nearly an hour walking the gardens, giving Amelia time to compose herself and come to terms with the fact that she would undoubtedly see the new mother again once they inevitably returned to the ball.
Approaching the staircase up to the balcony, the small group met Peter, who was on his way out to the gardens.
"There you are!" A smile broke out across his face as he spotted them. He trotted across the grass towards them and took Amelia's hands in his as soon as he reached her. "How are you feeling?"
"Better, thanks to Lady Maria," Amelia answered, pulling her hands from his and wrapping her arms around his torso instead, resting her head against his chest.
Maria herself looked a bit startled by the display of affection between them. Lucy began to laugh. "They're always like this. It's only been an hour, I know. Honestly, I don't know how they survive being apart for more than a day."
Amelia twisted around and stuck her tongue out at Lucy, earning a giggle from Susan.
"Come on, I'm sure people are wondering where we've gotten to," the Gentle Queen said, motioning for the others to follow her up the stairs.
The rest of the evening passed mostly uneventfully. They succeeded in avoiding Tanis, and though the woman with her new baby was still there when they returned, Amelia was much better prepared. She even managed to congratulate the young woman near the end of the night and, since it was no secret what had happened to Amelia, the young mother had nearly started crying at the sentiment. Susan was slightly disappointed to find that her dance partner seemed to have no inclination to part from his new crush now that she'd returned from her walk, but she had plenty of other men waiting for a chance to dance with her, so she wasn't too upset for long.
The party died down shortly after midnight and the guests began to thank the hosts and say their goodnights. Peter and Amelia were among the last to retire to their room.
Peter was tugging off his shirt while Amelia brushed out her hair, grumbling loudly every time she found a pin still hidden somewhere inside her mess of curls. He turned around to face her, smiling at the look of concentration on her face as she began to fish out more pins.
"I'm proud of you, angel."
Amelia paused, looking up at his reflection in the mirror in front of her. "Why? What did I do?"
"The woman with her baby this evening. No one would have thought any less of you if you'd simply avoided her, or even if you had decided to leave the party. Instead... instead you walked right up to her and told her how happy you were for her."
Amelia rolled her eyes. "Sure, after I left the party for an hour to calm myself down."
Peter walked up behind her and helped her pull out the pins at the back of her head, kissing the top of her head as he did so. "That took great courage."
"Leaving?" Amelia asked, confused.
Peter grinned. "No, coming back."
H'okay, this one's short, but it's pretty much filler so... Hopefully this is a sign that the hiatus is over! I'm already well on my way to finishing the next chapter, so expect me to post it reasonably soon! For those of you who stuck with me through the hiatus, I can't thank you enough! And I'm looking forward to hearing from any new readers as well! Love you guys!