I'm sorry it's been about 2 weeks since I last updated, but on the plus side this is a mega-long chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed last time and to those of you who've checked out my new story, SILENT WORDS. So...who's watching the royal wedding tomorrow? My mum has actually organised a street party...which should be fun! And in the morning she's giving me her credit card to go shopping with! Life is gooood! And it'd be even better if all you wonderful readers would review! Enjoy!
That night Felicity went straight to bed without attending dinner, and pretended to be asleep when Peter later came into the room. Though her long talk with Tommy had calmed her she could not forgive Peter for his actions. He was doing it again; just as he had in the war with Calormen he was taking all of the responsibility himself. Then, it had been marrying someone he'd never even met; now he was taking the fight alone.
Peter slid into bed and still put his arms around her and pulled her close to him, just as he did every night. Felicity had quickly discovered that it was very difficult to fall asleep on your own when you had become accustomed to the warmth of another's skin next to you. And, even in her angry state she was unable to help herself as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
The next morning she awoke to find herself alone. Judging by the position of the sun it was still early morning, about 8 o'clock. Putting on Peter's dressing gown she opened the door and spoke to the two wolves lying on the doorstep.
"What time did Peter get up?"
"About 2 hours ago. He's preparing for the fight." Shate told her, looking up at her with his big eyes.
Felicity shut the door again and carefully selected her dress. She wanted to look good; after all today would be a day that would be recorded in history books no matter what the outcome. Sleeping on her worries had actually helped and she felt much calmer; the treaty had been made and Peter could not back out now; all she could do was support him. She was a queen and it was time that she started acting like one.
She pulled her purple dress over her head and brushed her hair, leaving it loose as she did practically every day.
No-one but Mr Tumnus and Tommy were still at breakfast.
"Where's Peter?" She immediately asked.
"He ate about an hour ago. I think he may be training with Edmund." Mr Tumnus said, looking at her anxiously.
As Narnia's most skilled sword-fighter, Edmunds input and ideas would be crucial to help Peter win. Felicity swallowed and sat down beside Tommy; perhaps she wouldn't disturb Peter. She needed him to get all the help possible.
Tommy pushed the plate of sliced bread towards her but Felicity shook her head with a rueful smile of thanks. She carefully studied the fruit bowl before selecting the smallest apple; it was all she could stomach.
"I've already shown him how Riordan fights. He's prepared." Tommy told Felicity, trying his best to reassure her.
Mrs Beaver soon bustled in and cleared away the breakfast things, which meant it must be 9 o'clock. Felicity left the great hall and retreated to Peter's room. If he was not already there then he soon would be to put on his armour. She stopped in the doorway when she saw him.
"Leave us." She quietly ordered the faun who'd arrived to help Peter put on his armour. He immediately trotted out with his head bowed and Felicity approached Peter, picking up one of his leather wrist guards.
The silence grew between them as he willed her to look him in the eyes; to let him know she believed in him. "I will beat him you know." He finally whispered as she refused to speak.
She paused in her job. "I know." She whispered quietly, the lump in her throat changing her voice; she was remembering her promise that morning that she would support Peter, make him believe that she was behind him, even if it was a lie.
"Hey!" He exclaimed, catching hold of her hand as she turned away from him to wipe the tears from her eyes. "What is it?"
She looked at the floor and then up at the ceiling with unseeing eyes as she tried to stop crying. Peter clasped her to his bare chest and she let out a few strange squeaks as she fought to keep her sobs down.
"I know you'll win." She finally said, taking a step away from him and wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. "I know you'll win, but I will know forever that I endangered your life. This is the kind of world I've created around myself; one where two armies are fighting over me! What kind of selfish creature am I that I can put the love of my life at risk for my own happiness?"
Peter stared at her, speechless. "I make my own decisions, Felicity. I choose to fight him."
"But why?" She whispered. "Why are you fighting him when you don't have too?"
Peter sighed and wriggled his wrist distractedly as he made sure the leather was in the right position. "Because we're fighting for more than what's agreed. We're fighting for your honour! Your status is fine within Narnia; you are too well loved for them to think badly of you, but the rest of the world does not know of our troubles. You cannot gain your own honour by killing his entire army. The only way I can restore your honour is if I fight and kill Riordan."
Felicity bit her lip in horror. It was too late now; Peter would not go back on his word and withdraw from the fight when he saw himself as fighting for her.
She put on his other wrist guard and finished dressing him in silence until he caught her wrist and kissed her palm with extraordinary tenderness.
They shared one last kiss and embrace before Felicity picked up his sword and shield and followed him down the stairs to the courtyard.
Most people were already at the pitched ground, but sitting on the steps waiting was Edmund. Peter had chosen four marshals, Edmund, Felicity, Orieus and Honeysnout; the bear.
Felicity handed Edmund Peter's shield and as was tradition, the two followed Peter out of Cair Paravel and to the ground, walking on either side of him. Felicity carried his sword in both hands on his right hand side and Edmund walked on his left, carrying the shield so that the lion crest faced directly forwards.
It was not a typical Narnian day for the sun had disappeared behind grey clouds. The pathetic fallacy made Felicity swallow as she realised that if it looked like Peter was losing; she'd have to intervene. Honour be damned.
The Narnian army had separated into two clusters, leaving a wide path in their midst for Peter. By some freakish accident Riordan was just walking to his end of the battle pitch from his tent, accompanied by General Timmond who was carrying his sword.
Lucy tried to smile at Felicity as the older girl walked past, but only a painful grimace managed to make an appearance. Tommy stood next to her and regarded Felicity through steady eyes, assessing her mood.
The Calormene army had indeed left in a hurry the previous night, but they only accounted for 20 ships out of the remaining 90. Their participation had been small.
Riordan swung his leg over the rope and climbed into the marked space, closely followed by Peter on the opposite side.
He turned to Felicity as if having read her mind. "Don't do anything, unless they start cheating." He warned her, positioning his shield on his arm.
She grudgingly nodded slightly and handed him his sword.
"Tell me you believe in me." He whispered so quietly not even Edmund overheard.
"Without a doubt." She whispered back. She believed in Peter's capabilities completely; it the Gardanian's she didn't believe in.
He smiled, reassured and turned to face Riordan.
The two approached each other slowly, assessing each other for weaknesses.
Not a word was exchanged before Peter lunged at Riordan, kicking up sand behind him as the two exchanged blows. Riordan blocked each easily and the two stopped again after only a few seconds; the brief encounter had only been to see the strength of the other.
It was Peter who attacked yet again; aiming for Riordan's head before changing mid-swing and attacking his legs that were only protected by thin chain mail. His sword bounced off harmlessly but was hard enough to give Riordan a bruise and make him falter slightly in his defence. Peter took advantage of his moment of weakness and rained blow after successive blow on the older man, stretching him to his limits.
The sand was not at all ideal for the fight; it flew everywhere and stung Peter and Riordan as well as their spectators in the eyes. Both men were stumbling every now and then, becoming tired much more quickly than normal as they fought with the ground as well as each other.
There was nothing backhanded about the fight; it was based purely on sparing skill. But just as Felicity realised that she directed her attention to Riordan's marshals instead of the fight, expecting some sort of trickery from them. Felicity was the only marshal, or indeed the only person on the beach, who was unarmed; everyone else who was human carried bow and arrows or a sword, and as she watched the marshals she saw an archer crouching some distance behind one of them, his bow and arrow drawn, ready.
Clenching her fist subtly she made the air directly around the bow and arrows burning hot until the archer dropped them as they threatened to burn his skin. He stared suspiciously at the weapons in the sand before looking up directly into Felicity's eyes.
He narrowed his eyes at her and she simply raised an eyebrow arrogantly, sending him the message that no cheating would take place whilst she was there.
Looking back at the fight she realised Riordan had somehow turned the tables and it was now Peter who was fighting hard to stay alive.
She forced herself to breath properly, sucking in a sharp breath of horror as Peter fell to the floor, rolling and staving Riordan off with his sword.
Riordan jabbed down, inches from Peter's face, but he used Riordan's own momentum and managed to hit him in the side with his shield, sending Riordan crashing to the floor as well. Both men scrambled up; Riordan far more tired than Peter, and circled each other for a moment, each trying to find an even footing.
Felicity scanned the surrounding crowd again for anything backhanded, doing a double take when she realised the archer she had stopped earlier was no longer there.
She narrowed her eyes and squinted into the Gardanian army, trying to remember the exact details of the man's face.
Peter and Riordan were still stalking each other when she heard the unmistakable twang of an arrow being released. Unable to locate it she raised her fist and heated the air a metre in front of Peter from rope to rope of the arena. The arrow burst into flame on Peter's left and dissolved into a pile of grey ash on the sand.
"Cheating will get you nowhere." Peter declared loudly to Riordan.
"Then let us have 10 minutes respite to enable me to deal with this archer..." Riordan practically purred, looking for any excuse to take a break and get his breath back.
"It doesn't take 10 minutes to kill a man." Peter growled in reply. "Five."
The two backed away, still facing each other, neither trusting the other.
"Good work." Peter muttered to Felicity as Edmund took his sword and shield. He sat down in the waiting chair with a sigh of relief and a goblet of cold water and a towel was brought to him.
He drained the goblet in one and held it out for some more which Felicity summoned for him with a flick of the wrist. He raised his eyebrows up and down quickly at her and smiled as he acknowledged how handy her power was.
Edmund took his goblet and Peter removed his helmet, wiping at his sweaty head and face to make himself feel more refreshed.
"How am I doing?"
"Well." Edmund responded immediately. "He fights like Tommy showed us. Time to wrap it up, Peter." He encouraged with a half smile, wanting the tension to end quickly.
Peter smiled and took back the goblet, taking small sips of the cool water now. Felicity heard the twang of an arrow once again and turned as quickly as a flash and clenched her hand in front of her. The air in front of the three of them turned into thick ice that the arrow thudded into, inches from Felicity's fist. The archer had been aiming for her that time.
The ice pounded to the sand at their feet, the arrow sticking straight up out of it.
Peter made a noise of annoyance in his throat and looked at Felicity. "Can you keep that up?"
Felicity nodded confidently. "But protecting you continuously is more difficult. I'll have to do it around the whole arena and protect Riordan as well."
"That's fine. I want it to be a fair fight." Peter said, standing up again and dusting himself off. He declined his helmet, claiming that the sand that was getting trapped inside it was too annoying.
With his back turned Felicity cooled down the air subtly around him, refreshing him but leaving his muscles warm and supple.
His back straightened slightly as some of his discomfort was eased, and Felicity gave a small smile; she had done it without his knowledge because he wanted a fair fight but she intended to help him in any way possible.
Riordan had been watching them and Felicity smirked at him, taking her Narnia pendant out of her bodice and putting it on show as he watched.
Felicity's little ploy had worked and Riordan practically jumped over the rope, attacking Peter instantly. One of the first things General Timmond had told her (before he knew she was so bad with a sword) was to never fight in anger. The overriding emotion made you weak and sloppy. You took risks that almost always resulted in death or injury.
Peter was having difficulty holding off Riordan's strong blows and Felicity clasped a hand over her mouth as he managed to slice straight through Peter's chain mail, cutting into his bicep and causing extensive bruising around it. She fought not to give in to her desperate need to summon magic and help Peter, but suddenly Riordan left a wide opening and Peter lunged with all the power he had.
His sword travelled straight through Riordan's chainmail, just below his breastplate in one of the weak spots.
Riordan seemed to freeze, his sword still raised.
Having realised he'd finally done it; Peter braced himself and hauled his sword out of Riordan's abdomen.
He straightened just as Riordan fell to his knees, his eyes glazing over as everyone watched on in silence. He fell, face down in the sand and suddenly the entire Narnian army was cheering and celebrating.
Felicity joined in and Peter turned to face his army, raised his sword above his head and screamed, "For Narnia!" In a voice louder then Felicity had ever heard. His eyes were so alive; sparkling with triumph and victory as though taking Riordan's life had given him the older man's energy as well as his own.
No more cheating arrows were fired now. Timmond dragged the body of their dead king away as the other marshals began to order the army back to the ships.
Peter ran over and gave Felicity a long kiss as he won back her honour before climbing out of the arena and being congratulated by any who could reach him.