This is home
Now I'm finally where I belong
Yeah, this is home
I've been searching for a place of my own
Now I've found it
Maybe this is home

~"This is Home" by Switchfoot

Edmund's return brought long awaited peace among the Pevensies. It was clear that whatever had happened between Ira and Edmund had changed him, but he remained upbeat, even more cheerful than before they had ever met.

Evelyn was becoming the opposite.

Things between Peter and her were growing more and more serious. She berated herself daily for being so miserable when others would consider her the luckiest girl in the kingdom for having the high king's attention. There had been several more occasions when Peter had asked her to come to his room, overcome by passion, but she had continued to refuse him. Peter was the most wonderful thing that had happened to her in her twelves years in this strange place, yet he seemed to be the roadblock that prevented her from returning home.

It had been several months since Rabadash's trial. Spring had brought a sweltering summer and the coolness of autumn was beginning to settle in. Evelyn had spent yet another meaningless day wandering the palace, waiting for Peter to join her when he was finished with his meetings. The four Pevensies and Evelyn were sitting on one of the large balconies of the palace, chatting lightly while Evelyn played gentle tunes on the dulcimer and Edmund joined her on the flute. Peter was watching them play, admiring Evelyn and yet frustrated with her at the same time. He felt like a silly schoolboy with the way they had been courting, stealing kisses in dark corners while on their best behavior in front of the court. He was the high king for Aslan's sake! This was behavior that he might have partaken in as a teenager, but not as a grown man! But he had seen the way Evelyn's eyes were beginning to fade the longer she spent time at Cair Paravel. Aslan was still nowhere to be found and Edmund's tale of meeting him in the desert hadn't helped anything. Peter was beginning to grow nervous that Evelyn would take off in the middle of the night to find the great lion if she didn't get any answers soon.

Almost as if she had heard his thoughts, Evelyn stopped playing. All the Pevensies glanced at her, eyebrows raised.

"Evelyn," Lucy said, "Is everything alright?"

Evelyn tickled tray pieces of hair behind her ears. Her hair was now too short to be tied back while she played which was extremely frustrating. Susan kept trying to teach her how to pin her front pieces back, but she had no patience for it. "Is there anything I can do other than play music for you all?" she asked, lounging back and pushing her dulcimer to the side. "I feel so utterly useless around here."

"We love your music," Susan said, smiling gently.

"That's now what I mean," Evelyn said, letting a scowl escape. "Peter and Edmund spend all day in council meetings, Lucy goes to visit the local dwelling places of the dwarves, and you get to act as an ambassador for Narnia with the surrounding kingdoms."

"That's because we're the kings and queens of Narnia," Edmund said, setting down his flute. Ever since Ira had let the secret out that Edmund was musical as well, Evelyn and he had created a strange bond, often spending the evenings playing together such as this one. "No one expects you to do any of that."

"Ed," Peter said, "I highly doubt Evelyn intends on taking on any of our official duties."

Edmund shrugged and went back to playing the flute in his hands, lost in its strange melody.

Evelyn sighed, thinking of the best way to phrase what she was about to confess. "I plan on leaving in a few days."

Edmund's song ended abruptly and Susan nearly dropped the goblet she had been holding, staring at Evelyn with her large, blue eyes.

"First Ira, now you?" Lucy said, sadness evident in her voice. Edmund winced slightly at her words. He put on a brave face in front of his siblings, and it was true that his meeting with Aslan had given him reassurance, but little did they know of the hole in his heart. On more than one occasion since his return he had cried himself to sleep.

Peter closed his eyes upon hearing Evelyn. He knew this conversation had been coming.

"Where will you go?" Susan asked.

"First to Archenland," Evelyn said. "If Aslan's now there, I'll continue on to the desert. I already tried going north to find him and we all know how that turned out."

"Evelyn," Susan scolded, "You only just gained your freedom! Why on earth would you go back towards Tashbaan and risk losing it all over again? You know the desert is crawling with thieves and slave traders."

"Because the desert is where I arrived when I was first brought here," Evelyn replied, closing her eyes. "If Aslan won't appear to me, and I still can't find him myself, perhaps I can find the way back on my own."

Peter couldn't listen anymore. He stood, accidentally knocking over the chess board he had been playing with Lucy. He hurried from the balcony, his face hardened and furious. Everyone stared after him and Lucy rolled her eyes.

"You better go after him" she said to Evelyn. "If you thought Edmund was the dramatic one in the family, that's not true at all."

"Hey!" Edmund cried as Evelyn nodded, picking up her skirts and racing inside the palace. It seemed as if the high king was nowhere to be found until she came across Ardas, who informed her that he had retired to his bedchamber. She knocked on the large doors tentatively, unsure of why her heart was racing. Perhaps it was because he had been asking her to come here for weeks now? The door swung open, revealing a disheveled looking Peter. His eyes were red, brimmed with unshed tears, and his usually tidy hair was in his eyes.

He glared at her, his blue eyes like ice. "What do you want? Aren't you leaving us?"

"Peter," Evely said gently. "Please, may I come in?"

Peter laughed bitterly. "You've never accepted any of my previous invitations to come to my room."

"Hush," Evelyn said, staring at him darkly while glancing over her shoulder. "Please, I don't need the servants to start spreading rumors."

Peter stepped aside after a moment, his anger slackening slightly. Evelyn hurriedly shut the door behind her and bowed her head, staring at the floor while Peter paced in front of her. The submissiveness she had learned as a slave was hard to forget, especially being constantly surrounded by royalty here in Narnia. She listened to Peter's heavy breathing, waiting for him to speak first.

"You're just running in circles," Peter said at last. She raised her head to stare into his eyes. "How many times do we have to have this conversation? You can't find Aslan unless he wants to be found! You can't just go running off on your own every time something doesn't happen in accordance to your timing."

"But I can't continue to stay here doing nothing," Evelyn bemoaned. "Don't you see? You and your siblings get to spend all day doing things for the good of your kingdom. I'm just taking up space, occasionally performing music as entertainment. I serve no purpose here."

"You must be content with where you are," Peter said, shaking his head. It was clear Evelyn had spent too much time with Ira. "You can either wait here in safety or risk your life out there in the desert, where you will more than likely either be captured by slave traders once more or robbed by Telmarine thieves. You're brave, Evelyn, but you're not Ira. You won't be able to survive out there on your own."

He paused, staring at her intently. "Why can't you see that Aslan brought you here to be with me?"

Evelyn's eyes widened. "What?"

Peter closed the distance between them. "When you ran away, Aslan came to me. I was weary, weak and uncertain of my role as high king. But Aslan told me I would find my strength somewhere beyond my victories in battle. And I did. I found it with you."

Evelyn continued to stare at him, unsure of what to say. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she felt Peter's closeness. There had been many times over the last few weeks where they had stolen kisses in the dark, tempting what she feared could never be. But this was different. It felt like an electric current was pulling him to her, into her very soul.

"Please, Evelyn," he begged. "Wait here with me. Marry me."

Marry him? Evelyn felt herself begin to shake. "Peter, I —"

"I know you'll eventually return home," Peter said. "I can sense that I will one day return too, and I dread it. But for now, I choose to be selfish and I'd like to spend my remaining time in Narnia with you."

Evelyn felt tears begin to swim in her eyes. Freya, Mama, Papa… they were all vague memories. Her love for them had not faded, unlike their faces, but here was Peter. She was burning for him and he wasn't fading away. Would she continue to let herself wallow in unhappiness here in this strange place? Perhaps Peter was right… perhaps Aslan had brought her here to find him.

"Marry you?" she said softly. "But am I fit to be a queen of Narnia, a high queen at that? You forget I've only ever been a Calormene slave. What could I possibly know about ruling this land?"

"That's what I'm here for," Peter said, a smile playing on his lips. "Narnians come from all walks of life. You forget they happily accepted us as their rulers when we had spent just a few days in this place. I have a feeling they will respect you all the more coming from your place of lowliness."

Evelyn at last let go of the crushing weight in her heart. The memory of Freya in the train car began to float away and the memory of Mama at the train station grew so dim she could hardly recall her face. Could she be alright leaving them behind while living in paradise with this man?

The only way Evelyn knew to accept his offer was to kiss him. Peter wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the ground as their lips moved together. It wasn't until Evelyn felt the cushion of a mattress beneath her did she open her eyes. They were on Peter's bed, with him posed over her.

"Now that you've accepted me," he said with a small smirk, "Will you at last let me love you properly?"

She blushed, but saw in his eyes only love. His proposal was sincere and she could see he was desperately trying to remain in control of herself.

"I love you," she said softly, kissing him once more. That was all the encouragement he needed and they were soon lost in their own version of paradise.

Evelyn had found her home, even if she hadn't found Aslan yet.

Don't forget to R&R!