Over the next few days, Lydia had no time to dwell upon her encounter with Aslan due to the arrival of the delegation from the Seven Isles.
The normally calm and serene Susan had entered a state of panic, "All because they're our subjects does not mean we can't make an effort!" and in the days before the party was due to arrive had everyone cleaning and organising to such an extent that Lydia was rushed off her feet fetching cloth and helping hedgehogs put up decorations and banners for the ball that was to be held to welcome the delegates.
She bore it all without complaint though as she knew what the next few days could potentially mean for Susan if she had taken anything from their little conversation.
"You may need to put yourself first over the next few days." She reminded Susan and the older girl nodded.
"I'm so pleased we had that little chat Lydia" she said, placing an arm on her friend, "I think it may have been just what I needed."
She smiled warmly at Lydia who couldn't help but smile back.
They were both stood in the throne room waiting for the delegation to arrive. There had been an awkward moment where everyone realised Lydia had no where to sit until an old centaur offered her his place on the front row.
The Pevensies, minus Peter who had gone to meet them on horseback, were stood at the top of the aisle waiting and whilst Lucy and Edmund looked regal, Susan was the epitome of grace with her back as straight as a board, her hair elaborately styled into a coil on top of her head. Lydia looked down at her own simple plait and dark green dress, one of Lucy's this time, and resisted the urge to sigh over the formality of the world that she'd found herself in. It had got to a point where she was longing for her old jeans and trainers.
If she thought Cair Pavarel had made an effort, it was nothing compared to the lengths the people of the Seven Isles had gone. The doors burst open and a toad carrying a bugle ran in to announce "Lord Glendan of Red Haven and the council of the Seven Isles!" A series of men came in, each wearing a hat with an enormous feather pointing to the sky. Peter followed in behind them but Lydia could barely see the tips of his crown over the array of feathers.
Lord Glendan himself was a tall young man with dark blonde hair and blue eyes and a pale blue cloak and hat to match. Lydia watched Susan carefully as he approached the young queen and raised her hand to his lips.
"My Queen," he said his eyes lingering on hers for just a fraction too long to be anything more than good manners before he moved on to greet Lucy.
It was, Lydia thought, a complete cliche, the staring into each other's eyes thing but it was a cliche that Susan appeared to be happy with as she stared at Lord Glendan all the way through the formalities in the throne room and on into the ball that evening.
Lydia had no idea how much the other three knew of the relationship; Susan had admitted to her earlier that they'd only met a couple of times, "We keep in touch through letters," she'd said one day after dinner and she showed Lydia a stack full of letters wrapped in a strand of red ribbon.
If the others knew, would they accept it? Or would they insist that Susan had to stay with them in Cair Pavarel?
As she watched Lord Glendan lead Susan to the centre of the room to dance, Lydia hoped it was the latter.
She herself thought it was quite sweet, the way they had kept in touch through letters all this time, like something out of an Austen novel. Not something she would want for herself but then she had never been much of a romantic.
"Would you like to dance?" A voice cut through her thoughts and she turned to see Edmund stood in front of her, holding an arm out.
"I'm not very good." She said, her hands placed firmly in her lap, "You'd find a better partner in someone else."
Edmund shrugged, "I'd rather have you as a partner than have some stranger push their daughter in front of me and insist on dancing; at least you aren't looking to marry a king."
Lydia couldn't help smiling at his blunt honesty, "How could I possibly refuse a proposal like that?" She said and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor.
Edmund, she noticed, danced as though he had been born to it. It wasn't hard to imagine the mothers of the court pushing their daughters towards him; he wore royalty with such ease, smiling at everyone they passed.
"I never took you for someone who would enjoy dancing" she said as they twirled and spun with all the other couples.
Edmund 's cheeks reddened a little but he smiled, "I love music and it allows me just to forget everything for a little while. Besides," he added, "I very rarely have a good partner."
Lydia snorted, "Because having only stepped on your feet twice, I'm practically professional."
Edmund shook his head, "That's not what I meant" he said quietly but before Lydia could reply he dipped her, right there in the middle of the room in front of everyone which stunned Lydia into silence. She looked at him.
"What was that for?"
Edmund gave a crooked grin "You've clearly never been to a dance before." He blinked. "I mean, this is normal" he said gesturing around and Lydia had no choice but to nod.
Edmund pulled her back and she could feel the warmth radiating from his arms. They continued dancing as if nothing had happened. Lydia could feel her heart pounding and her hands were sweating; she hoped Edmund just put it down to nerves.
For a while, they didn't speak, Edmund guiding her around the room with ease and it allowed her to distract herself by taking a closer look at Susan who seemed to almost glow as she spun and twirled, her black hair fanning out behind her, the rose coloured gown she was wearing, complimenting her hair beautifully
"Why are you staring at my sister like that?" Edmund asked eventually.
"Oh sorry." She said realising how rude she'd been but Edmund just shook his head.
"Don't be. I'm guessing you may have an ulterior motive."
Lydia looked back at Susan who was now slow dancing with Lord Glendan and then turned back to Edmund's inquisitive eyes.
"Have you noticed that Susan and Lord Glendan are quite close?"
Edmund frowned, "They spent a lot of time together last time we went on a visit but that was a couple of years ago now."
"Well they keep in touch through letters and I think they might be quite...attached to each other." Lydia said cautiously and her heart sank as Edmund's eyebrows raised dramatically.
"Did she tell you all this?" He asked, turning to look at his sister and Lydia nodded, "I think she wanted someone to confide in. And I'm not sure whether you were supposed to know." She added a little guiltily.
"No, no I'm glad you told me." Edmund said his eyes still trained on Susan, "I wonder if Lucy knows." He said trailing off, his grip slackening on Lydia,
"No hang on, it was supposed to be a secret." Lydia said in alarm but Edmund laughed,
"You don't need to worry about that Lydia, Susan will understand" He glanced around "I think I need to go and speak to Lucy if you'll excuse me." He let go of Lydia, his eyes still scanning the room and walked off leaving her in the middle of the room alone.
She stood for a minute disorientated, watching the other couples sweep past her then sighed and went back to her seat, the only other people sat being an elderly dwarf and a couple of drunk centaurs. From there she watched as Edmund took Lucy to one side and whispered into her ear. Lucy gasped then turned round to look at Susan and Glendan who were still dancing and then looked back at Edmund, grinning.
For people who had to deal with dignitaries and state dinners, they weren't exactly being subtle, Lydia noted with mild irritation as Peter wandered over to see what Lucy and Edmund were whispering about; at this rate Susan was going to find out that Lydia had betrayed her trust and told the others.
She sighed and turned her eyes back to the dancefloor but this time, there was a large gap where Susan and Glendan had been.
"Edmund! Lucy!" she hissed, waving to get the siblings attention.
Lucy bounded over, "Oh Lydia, have you heard?" she squealed "Edmund thinks Susan and Glendan might be love! Isn't that wonderful?"
"Yeah brilliant" Lydia said, glaring at Edmund who shrugged his shoulders at her. "Anyway now that you know about that, you should know that Susan and Glendan are gone."
"Gone? Who's gone?" Peter asked, sitting himself down next to Lydia.
"Susan and Glendan." Lucy clapped her hands in delight "Oh what if he's proposing to her? She'll be so happy"
Edmund frowned, "Yes but I don't think everyone else will be, especially not the Calormens." he said darkly causing Lucy to hit him on the arm.
"Don't be such a killjoy Ed" she huffed at him, "Susan has every right to marry who she wants, it doesn't matter that she's a queen."
"Of course I know that Lu" Edmund said impatiently, "I would never try to stop Susan from marrying anybody but you know that there will be others who will take this as an insult, that Susan has married someone from her own kingdom."
"They can't do anything can they?" Lydia asked but Edmund merely shrugged.
"They could if they really wanted to, use something else as an excuse." He sighed, "We haven't heard back from the Calormens yet about executing their spy. They could use that to start a war."
Peter held out a hand "Let's not get carried away with ourselves" he said, the voice of reason, "They could have easily just gone for a walk in the grounds." He laughed "Lord Glendan's only been here one day, for goodness sake"
"Apparently one day was all he needed." Lydia said slowly nodding towards the couple in question who were walking towards them holding hands with a very large gold ring now resting on one of Susan's fingers.
The others turned round to stare and if Lydia heard Peter swear softly under his breath as Susan beamed at them, she decided not to mention it.
#
"Isn't it the most gorgeous ring you've ever seen?" Susan asked for at least the third time that morning, holding it out in front of her as if she was frightened of forgetting what it looked like. Lydia had no choice but to agree, it appeared Susan had forgiven her for any betrayal of trust but this didn't mean Lydia didn't still feel guilty about it.
"So when's the big day Susan?" Peter asked as a group of hedgehogs came to remove the breakfast plates. He was watching their progress intently, determined not to catch Susan's eye and Lydia had to resist the urge not to roll her eyes at how obvious he was being.
Only Lucy was showing any genuine happiness for Susan's engagement, ever since the news, Edmund and Peter had constantly been exchanging worried looks, something that had not gone unnoticed by the others.
Susan thanked the hedgehog who took her plate and dabbed at her mouth with a napkin. "Well we were thinking of having the ceremony before Glendan goes back to Redhaven, so I can go back with him." she said brightly.
"Before he leaves! That means the wedding is tomorrow!" Peter yelped, the noise causing a couple of birds to fly out of a nearby tree. "There's no time!"
"What Peter means," Edmund said shooting a glare at his brother, "Is that don't you think this is all moving a little bit fast? We just want you to be happy Susan."
A guilty look flashed briefly across Susan's face and she brought the hand with the ring back into her lap, out of sight.
She sighed, "Is that your way of saying you disapprove?" she asked but before Edmund could protest she continued, "Look, I know its quick but I want to do this now. I'm happy to have a simple wedding if it means all this trouble with Rabadash will be behind us."
"Yes but you can't blame us for being concerned" Peter said, "We know the Calormenes want war and in the last couple of days, we've executed one of their spies and now you're rejecting their marriage proposal by marrying someone else!"
"I know that Pete" Susan replied, "Please believe me, I am well aware of the situation that this puts us in. But I refuse to live in fear of this arrogant stranger, if I do not marry Glendan now, who knows what will happen? Besides," she added, "its time the rest of the kingdom got to see one of us and there's a lot of good I can do in Redhaven."
A tense silence followed that. Lydia ate her breakfast without really noticing what it was. She'd never seen the Pevensies argue like this, she assumed that if it wasn't for how demure Susan was the siblings would have been yelling at each other by now.
"Susan?" she started tentatively, "If you need any help for the wedding preparations, I'm happy to do anything." She determinedly avoided Peter and Edmund's gaze as Susan began reeling of a list of various tasks to be completed by tomorrow. She'd made her decision to support Susan and the boys would have to accept that.
#
"What are you doing?" Edmund's voice rang out from across the courtyard. Lydia gritted her teeth; Edmund and Peter had been insufferable all day, constantly trying to make Susan doubt herself and in Peter's case, trying to scare the groom away from his own wedding.
"Your sister has gifted me with the task of sorting the flowers for tomorrow." She said not turning to face him.
Edmund chuckled, "Let me guess you have no idea what flowers Susan likes?" Lydia studied the array of plants in front of her. Some of the more exotic pinks and blues she assumed were Narnia's own but there were some she recognised too. Roses, violets, tulips.
She bit her lip, "I'm sure all these flowers would be perfect for a wedding. Maybe I should just get one of each?"
"What and have Susan murder you for colour clashes?" Edmund moved towards the flower bed and plucked out a white rose. "What about these?" He handed Lydia the rose.
She frowned "They're a bit traditional aren't they?"
"Perhaps, but they're special to us. They're the flowers our father used to bring home to our mother whenever there was a special occasion." He picked another one and twirled it round in his fingers.
"For me, at least, they're a symbol of happiness"
Their eyes met and not for the first time Lydia felt her breath catch. Edmund jerked his hand forward as if he was about to give Lydia the rose. She looked at the flower, then back up to Edmund's deep brown eyes. Her hand itched to take the flower from him, to move closer to him.
She shook her head and smiled "then maybe we should get some for Susan then" she said, and Edmund snatched his hand back.
"Lydia, I…" he started but he was interrupted by a loud voice
"Lydia! Have you chosen the flowers yet?" It was Lucy so Lydia plastered on a smile and handed her a rose. "We think these will be perfect"
Lucy's eyes narrowed and she looked towards Edmund who started fiddling with the rose he was still holding. "Roses are certainly a nice idea but I've been talking with Susan and she's decided she wants yellow flowers."
Lydia shrugged and surveyed the flowers before her, "What about these ones then?" she pointed to a bunch of yellow flowers resembling dahlias.
Lucy smiled, "Those are perfect, I'll help you pick them." She turned round "Where are you going Edmund?" she said causing Lydia to turn round as well. Edmund who had been backing away smiled sheepishly.
"I expect Susan will have something else for me to do". He was still fiddling with the white rose in his hand.
"Here Edmund, take mine as well." Lydia handed him hers and he smiled at her in surprise before walking away.
Lucy waited till he was out of sight "What was all that about? With the roses?"
Lydia turned back round to start putting flowers into a basket
"It wasn't anything really, he told me that white roses are important to your family so I let him have the one I'd picked."
Lucy crouched down to join her "That's funny I don't really remember that"
Lydia's hand paused on the stem of her next flower "What do you mean, don't remember?"
Lucy shrugged "I suppose we all remember different things from the old world." She grinned, "I wasn't referring to the flowers though. I mean what is going on between you and my brother?"
Lydia pretended to focus on a particularly stubborn flower "I don't really know what you mean, Edmund's been perfectly nice to me ever since he apologised after the dungeon incident"
She knew she sounded cool and unfeeling in her head and it was clear that Lucy didn't believe her.
"No its more than that, over the last couple of days he's be acting strange, strange even for him."
Lydia stopped pulling at the flower and turned to look at the youngest Pevensie,
"Maybe he's just stressed about the wedding?"
Lucy thought for a moment, "Perhaps," she mused, "though I think it has something to do with you. He seems a little nervous"
Lydia turned back to the flowers, "Well if there is something going on with him, then he'll have to sort it out by himself, I've got enough problems of my own."
#
The morning of the wedding dawned bright and clear. In terms of Narnian royalty it was a relatively small affair but this did not prevent the influx of dignitaries and nobles who had made their way to Cair Pavarel. Lydia, who had refused to intrude on the Pevensie siblings that day, had been charged with welcoming the guests with Lord Glendan to help her.
"I realise I probably haven't spoken to you as much as I should have" she commented whilst there was a lull of people to shake hands.
"There's no need to worry my lady, everyone here has been very busy these past couple of days."
Lydia frowned, "There's no need to call me that, I'm a passing visitor, nothing more."
Glendan laughed, "I don't believe that, even if that's what you believe at the moment."
He leaned in and whispered "I heard from one of the courtiers that you can communicate to Aslan; that makes you incredibly important."
Lydia frowned having been so busy with the wedding preparations, she hadn't really been able to give the whole thing with Aslan much thought
"I wouldn't put too much stock in what people say about me" she said finally, "I haven't exactly been in regular contact with him."
"Still we should expect great things from you" Glendan replied before moving forward to greet an elderly dignitary who was hobbling towards them.
#
If Susan's regality hadn't already been apparent to Lydia then the wedding would have confirmed it for her. Thankfully, due to the high status of so many of the guests, for once she was able to sit away from the spotlight, hidden away next to a pillar.
This also meant that no one heard her sharp intake of breath when she first saw Susan.
Susan had followed a traditional English wedding dress with an A line lace dress but the bridal train was pure silver and when Lydia looked closer it seemed to be fluttering, tiny bodies all holding hands forming a chain. It was breathtaking.
Whatever a traditional Narnian wedding should look like, Susan had clearly stuck to it as her walk down the aisle had been met with nods of approval by many of the older guests.
Glendan and Susan exchanged vows and exchanged rings, very similar to how Lydia envisioned her own wedding but her eyes were on Peter who towards the end began to frown. His face was contorted into a half smile grimace, he was clearly trying to hide his displeasure from his siblings who were both smiling at their sister.
But as the happy couple kissed, Lydia's eyes narrowed as she watched Peter attempt a half hearted clap.
Whether Peter and the Calormens liked it or not, there was no going back now. The die had been cast.