Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia nor any of the characters and places associated with it.
Chapter 9: First Kiss and Other Matters
I take in a very long shaky breath myself. His lips are inches from mine, I can feel his sweet smelling breath on my face as he breathes heavily too. Just a tiny bit closer...bang! My head whips around. That sounded an awful lot like my front door slamming. I bet it's Bella. I groan with frustration. Why me?
"Ashy!" I hear my irritating, little sister cry out as she runs into the room in – tears? She immediately jumps into my lap, almost knocking Peter out cold in the process; almost. Curse my annoying little sister! Send lightning bolts and thunder to teach her a lesson about interrupting her older sister while she's trying to receive her first kiss!
"Bella, what's wrong?" Her ceaseless crying is not usual. She's generally a very calm child. I stroke back her black hair as she cuddles innocently up to me. "Sorry!" I mouth over Bella's shoulder to a very perplexed looking Peter.
He mouths back "That's alright, Ash", but I can tell from his face that he's upset. I want to burst into tears and throw Bella off me so I can get my first kiss with the gorgeous King, but Bella is really upset and panicked over something. Her needs are a lot more important than my own at the moment. We wait. Wait for her to do something, say something. Her silence is eerie; almost like she's gone into a state of shock.
"Bella? Isabella what happened?" I ask urgently, my nerves kicking into gear. She finally looks up at me, her brown eyes flooded over with more tears. Her whole body starts to shake in my arms as ear piercing cries begin to fill the room. I hold her close to me, my body automatically shaking with the sudden stress. "Hush, Bella. Calm down, sweetie! What happened?" I repeat worriedly.
"A lady...burst into th – the...house...a – and she...tried to...grab...me and she…st – stole Mr. Snuggles," she cries out. Someone tried to kidnap Bella! My eyes grow wide and I glance over to Peter. He's instantly looking straight into my eyes. I know what he can see. Panic, worry, annoyance, but most of all...anger. Oh there's so much anger, not only in my eye's like I suspected though, oh no, Peter's eyes are filled with a roaring rage too. I'm not quite sure why though. I'm not sure if Bella's like a little sister to Peter or not. I don't know whether Peter feels a connection with her that makes him so angry to the fact that she was about to get kidnapped or whether it's the whole concept of someone trying to kidnap a seven year old child. The grip that Bella all of a sudden has on my stomach is what brings me out of my thoughts. I look down at her and wipe away the fresh tears that have flown freely down her cheeks with the pad of my thumb.
"Don't worry, Bella; I'm never going to let this happen again – to either of you," Peter promises. Either though he's directing his speech to Bella, his full and utter attention is on me. His eyes lock with mine in an intense gaze, which is why I don't notice when he comes up beside me and puts an arm around my waist protectively. I look down when I notice Bella's wailing stop. Peter's hand is ever so lightly stroking her back. She seems to relax at his touch, something I have never seen her do before. I glance over to Peter and see that he's still looking at me. I blush a little bit as he runs his thumb along the contours of my face.
"I've never seen Bella relax at a strangers touch before," I tell him amazed. I look down to prove my point and notice that she's peacefully asleep. One glance at the moon dial tells me all I need to know. It's one am. I look over at Peter. He doesn't seem too concerned with the time, much to my amazement. "I'm going to go upstairs and put Bella into her bed. I'll be right back," I tell him as I stand up. He stands up with me and goes to sit on the sofa. I smile and quickly carry Bella up the staircase and to her bedroom. I open up her door as quietly as I can and walk into her tidy bedroom. I pull back the sheets to her bed and gently, as not to rouse her, put her down on top of the white sheet. My hands reach for the doona before they drag it up over her, tucking her in securely. There we go. I kiss her forehead tenderly before I focus my attention at the door.
"Ashy!" I hear a very tired voice whisper, panic laced in with the softness. Stopping mid step, I turn back around to face her. Her eyes lock with mine and I find myself walking forward ever so slowly.
"Yes," I reply as I sit down on the side of her bed. She rubs her eyes and sits up, her head almost bashing against the headboard.
"I don't want you to leave me alone. I'm scared that lady is going to come and get me," she tells me as new tears start to form in her eyes. My heart clenches at the sight of my little sister scared and crying. Decisions, decisions…
"Bella, Peter is down stairs waiting for me –" I'm about to add something else on, but looking at her little face almost brings me to tears.
"No, I want you to stay up here," she cries out. I stroke her hair back soothingly.
"Bella, listen to me, the lady is not going to come and get you while the High King and I are down stairs, okay? We will never let anything happen to you," I promise her. She nods her little head before she yawns a huge yawn. "Get some sleep, Bells. I love you," I say before kissing her forehead and making her lay down. I put her soft toy, a teddy bear that my mother had made for her, next to her and stand up.
"I love you too," she says, falling unconscious with sleep before I'm even out the door. I close it halfway like I usually do and pretty much run down the steps and into the lounge room. I stop in front of the sofa and flop down next to Peter. He smiles as soon as he sees me.
"Sorry, I took a bit longer than I thought. Bella woke up," I explain. He nods his head.
"I understand. Little sisters can get like that. Is she okay?" he inquires while wrapping his arms around me in a protective stance. I sigh inwardly.
"Slightly. I think it's shaken her up which is a pretty normal response to almost being kidnapped." He nods once.
"Completely understandable. If something like that ever happened to Lucy..." The venom in his tone is undeniable. He is a very protective person. That trait has just become a lot more obvious.
"Maybe we should take our minds off of it..." Kiss me! Please!
"Well, there is still something I want to try you know," he suggests with a smirk. I smile and move my lips closer to his again.
"Ashy! I want a drink of water," I hear Bella call, before the pitter-patter of tiny feet comes down the staircase. I clench my teeth together in frustration as I reluctantly unwrap Peter's arms from around my body before standing up.
"I'll be back," I tell him through gritted teeth. Keep your calm. I walk quickly to the kitchen and snatch the light-weight glass from Bella's small hands. I hear her start to whimper, but at the moment I'm so extremely frustrated that, as nasty as it sounds, I don't care if she starts having a full-on crying fit. I just simply want to go back to my boyfriend and have my first kiss without interruptions. I fill it up with water hastily, annoyed at how slow the water flow is going. Once it's three-quarters full, I stop the tap. My eyes lock with hers as I turn around, my bottom lip going between my teeth as I take in her sad face. Her eyes are filled to the brim with tears. She has a few escape artists that are now cascading down her cheeks and nose. I close my eyes so I can't look at her face.
"Here, Bella," I say softly while handing her her glass of water. I open my eyes and watch as she grabs it nastily from my outstretched hands. She has a frown on her face and looks up at me angrily. I want to cry. Can't I get my way tonight for once in my life! "Isabella, come here," I say while kneeling down so that I can look her in the eyes. She hesitates and then runs into my arms. I hug her close to me and kiss her hair, a bit like what my mother used to do to me. "I love you and I'm sorry. I was a bit harsh. I'm just frustrated, honey," I explain while pulling her away so that I can look at her directly in the eyes. "Can you forgive me?" I ask pleadingly. She nods her head.
"You're forgiven and I love you too," she says while she gets up out of my grasp. "Why are you frustrated?" she asks in true child style.
"Because you keep disturbing Peter and I. Tonight is really important to me, Isabella!" I explain. "Can you please stay in bed and go to sleep? Please, I'm begging you," I plead.
"Okay then," she says before kissing my cheek and quickly running out of the room. I glance up at the moon dial; it's two am. I'm worn out and tired, but there is no way I am going to sleep until I get my kiss. I walk out of the kitchen and sit back down in my previous position. Peter wraps his arms around me again. We don't say anything. We don't have too. We both know what each other's thoughts are. Peter leans down to me ever so slowly. My eyelids flutter closed. And then, finally, he presses his warm and extremely soft lips against mine. I am in paradise! One of my arms wound themselves up around his neck as my other hand knots itself in his luscious, brown hair, pulling him closer to me. I feel one of Peter's muscular arms wrap themselves around my waist as he deepens the kiss. I moan happily into his mouth. We pull away from each other after what feels like hours, panting and completely out-of-breath.
"That was..." Out of this world? Amazing? I can't find the words.
"Amazing, incredible, wonderful," Peter finishes for me. I laugh.
"Yes, all of those," I agree whole-heartedly. It goes quiet then, our foreheads pressed against each other while we enjoy the moment.
"I'm in love with you, Ashley." The amount of emotion behind his words honestly makes my heart melt.
"I'm in love with you too, Peter." He smiles brightly and gives me one, two, three more kisses before pulling away completely. I frown at the loss of contact until he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me into him. I smile and lay my head unflinchingly on his chest. My arms find their way around his body and I sigh before yawning. Looking up at the moon dial, it tells me that it's two-thirty. We have been kissing for at least half an hour. Now that I know what it's like to kiss Peter, make-out sessions in closets definitely aren't sounding too bad!
"I should go," he says grudgingly, before yawning himself.
"Sure," I agree, unwilling to let him go. You're going to be seeing him in a few hours don't forget. I smile happily at the quick thought. We both stand up together slowly and tiredly and together walk over to the front door. Peter turns to me and gives me a quick kiss on the lips. "I'll see you soon," I promise. He smiles.
"Okay, but please don't come and wake me up at four-thirty again," he pleads. I laugh.
"Peter, do you seriously think that I'm going to have a two hour sleep, just so that I can wake you up early and annoy you?" I ask. He raises an eyebrow.
"Knowing you, yes," he tells me while slipping on a brown coat that I had failed to notice earlier. I grin.
"You're probably right," I admit sheepishly. I hear him chuckle before he turns to me and gives me another kiss. He opens the front door and steps out onto the porch.
"I'll see you around eleven. Call me Sleeping Beauty, but I'm not getting up before then," he tells me. Sleeping Beauty? Am I supposed to know what that means? I giggle all the same though.
"Okay then Sleeping Beauty," I start. He rolls his eyes at me. "I'll see you at exactly eleven." I smile mischievously; well, I hope it looks like that anyway. He laughs. "Peter, where's your horse?" I ask. I don't see it anywhere.
"In the stable with yours, oh, which reminds me; golly your horse is talkative. I don't know how you put up with her!" he exclaims. I chuckle.
"Believe me when I say, I know. She's quite the blabber mouth too. She will tell you anything and everything if you ask her nicely," I explain. We laugh together in perfect harmony this time. After we have finished Peter says goodbye...again...and then leaves silently into the night, or morning I should say. I close the front door after I have waved him goodbye and immediately go to bed. I quickly get dressed into my pyjama dress and fall onto my bed...literally! I close my eyes and instantly am dreaming about Peter all night long.
To say the next nine months are the best of my life would be a massive understatement. I am on cloud nine. Peter and I are always together and, even though we're in a secret relationship, he always ensures that we have a least one date every two weeks, if not more. I feel like I am really starting to get to know him. We talk about anything and everything and I honestly don't think I can live without him. He is my life now no matter what anyone else says about it. Keeping it from Starstone hasn't been an easy task though. She's been going out of her way to put us in situations where it would be easy to slip up and confess. Thankfully Peter and I are good at putting up fronts. She hasn't caught us yet, but we both know that this can't last forever; especially if we want to get married someday.
"Ashley," I hear a high pitched voice echo in my dream one night. It sounds sort of light and fluffy. I groan and roll over onto my stomach. "Ashley," the voice says again, a little bit less dream-like this time. I flip over onto my back quickly. "Ashley!" the voice yells into my ear. My eyelids instantly fly open and I nearly have a heart attack. Bella is inches away from my face, blocking out the streaming sunlight. "You know its eleven-thirty!" she exclaims loudly. Eleven-thirty! I instantly jump out of bed and run outside. I don't care that my hair isn't done, I don't care that I haven't eaten, I don't even care that I haven't brushed my teeth. I don't care about anything. At the moment, the only thing I'm concerned about is getting to the castle so that I can get to work. I do not want to be fired today.
I jump up onto Crystal and we quickly ride to Cair. I barely notice the eyes that are so obviously looking at me as I ride. The only thing I notice is the fact that Crystal hasn't said word at all this morning, which is highly unusual. I look down at her gentle, horsey face; she seems to be focusing on something other than her gallop. Her eyes are glazed over and full of...love? I instantly wonder whether Midnight (Peter's horse) has made the same impression on her as his owner does on me. I don't have much time to focus on the thought though.
As soon as we enter the city gates, all eyes are turned to me. Everyone is silent. If it isn't for all the creatures standing around the place, I would think it's a ghost town of some sort. I ignore all the curious eyes as we trot through the crowded streets. I shake my head as some little children point at me. I know I'm blushing like mad with all the embarrassing attention. Yes, I like attention, but not this much! We eventually make it to the royal stables though. I lead Crystal inside and notice instantly that we have walked pass her stable.
"Crystal, your stables over there," I whisper in her ear.
"I know," she says in a dream like tone. I look in front of us and have to hold in my laughter. Midnight stands in his stable and is so obviously Crystal's main attraction right now. I jump down off her, but I don't think she even notices; she's far too focused on Peter's, black, talking horse.
"Would you like me to put you in the stable next to him?" I ask. I know all the stables are pretty much connected. They have a wooden barrier that separates each one, but the wall is just low enough for the horses to see each other and talk over it. She nods and does a horsey neigh, which I guess is from excitement. I open up the gate and she's instantly inside. Midnight's head is already hanging over the barrier, talking to her.
"Bye, Crystal," I say whilst walking away. I don't think she even notices me. I don't stay in the stable to find out though; my mind is far too focused on work. I run quickly inside, passing Malina in the process. "Hey, Mal!" I greet as I pass her. I know she wants to stay and chat, but I do not have time. I run up the staircase and head straight to Peter's room. I have to see him before I get yelled at by Starstone; I know when that happens, my face will most likely be covered in tears. I don't want Peter to worry.
"Good morning, Ashley," Yerialds greets before Edmauel repeats it. They're both looking at me strangely. I guess they're both looking at my bed hair. I just smile in acknowledgement to them and quickly open the door. Peter's lying down on his bed reading a very interesting looking book. I watch him jump as the door closes loudly with a thump. His eyes go wide at me for a second and then refocus. He smiles.
"Good morning, beautiful," he says and pats the bed next to him. I run over to it, glad when I don't have to kick things out of the way to get to him and jump up onto the bed. I crawl over the dozens of pillows before I'm lounged down next to him.
"Good morning," I reply while leaning in and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. He smirks.
"I must say, Ashley, I love your new attire, although I'm not too sure if it's very appropriate to be walking around in, you know with little children around and all," he tells me honestly while wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me down on top of him. My head is now lying on his chest. I hope to Aslan that Starstone doesn't decide to suddenly pop in and say hello. I let the words that Peter says sink in before my eyes go wide.
"What do you mean new attire?" I ask. He looks down at me, confused.
"I mean the satin, blue dress you're wearing," he answers. I blush bright red before looking down. Sure enough my very short and low-cut, blue, pyjama dress is still on me.
"Whoops!" I say with a small smile. He raises an eyebrow at me, obviously waiting for an explanation. "Bella woke me up at half-past eleven telling me that I was late for work. I just got straight out of bed, jumped on Crystal, and came straight here," I explain in a rush. He looks sort of amused at my problem. I shoot him a glare.
"Of course you did." He pauses, his eyes looking me up and down. "Although I can certainly appreciate the look on you. It's very flattering." I giggle; my cheeks heating up with a sure blush.
"I'm sure you can, what man wouldn't?" I reply with a smirk. He chuckles, his hands resting on my waist.
"As much as I love it, I suggest you borrow a dress from Susan or find a spare servant uniform before Starstone sees you in that," he says with a knowing glance. "We wouldn't want you to get fired now would we?" He gives me a wink and I laugh.
"You're right – again. I'll see you soon," I tell him after giving him a kiss. I jump up off the bed and quickly run outside into the hallway. I'm not even half-way down it when the horrible sound of hooves echoes loudly throughout it. I freeze. There has to be somewhere to hide! She cannot see me dressed like this! I notice a suit of armour standing up along the side of the wall and quickly choose to hide behind it. By the time I reach it though it's too late. Her angry glare tells me that I'm in deep trouble.
"ASHLEY MASEN!" Starstone bellows angrily as soon as she comes up the stairs fully. I close my eyes in hope that this is all a dream – no such luck! I open my eyes to the same horrible, angry centaur. "We need to talk, now," she commands quietly. Her voice though is full of evident threat. I walk cautiously towards her. Every step I take seems to be louder than usual, or maybe it's just my heart-beat I can hear. I stop about a metre away. She looks me up and down in disgust. "What am I going to do with you?" she asks rhetorically. I shrug my shoulders, unsure. "Ashley, I'm going to give you one more chance. If you are late ever again you will be fired. If I find you in inappropriate short dresses," at this she gestures towards my nighty, "I will fire you. If I see you making any sort of contact with the High King I will fire you. Anything that you do wrong, I'll hear about it somehow and you will be fired instantly. Have I made myself clear?" she asks. I nod in fright. "Good! Now you know where the spare uniforms are, go and put one on," she commands. I nod one more time before running past her and down the marble steps.
Once I'm at the bottom, I walk silently over to the uniform closet. I open up the door and pull out one of the horrible uniforms in my size. Closing the door loudly, I stomp off to the staff bath chamber to get changed. Once I'm in the security of a locked door, I strip off my pyjamas and throw on the dress. I swear they make these dresses specially to make servants feel poor.
I exit the bathroom and immediately sit down in a deserted corner. I let the tears overflow down my cheeks and nose as I let out small whimpers that resemble that of a mouse. I have been holding it in since Starstone started yelling at me and while I was getting dressed. I don't really want the company of anyone at the moment, with one exception. What I really want at the moment is a comforting hug from my boyfriend, but I know that will be far too dangerous to do, especially at this time of the day. I'm not sure how much time passes, although it feels like hours, before the crying calms down. I wipe my nose on the back of my arm just as I hear footsteps rounding the corner. I freeze, holding back a sob, while I wait. Three shadows appear on the ground in front of me then. I look up a little bit, startled, but relieved, to see Susan, Edmund, and Lucy towering high above me.
"Hello, Ashley, we thought we heard someone crying behind here. Are you okay?" Susan asks worriedly. I nod as a few more tears roll down my cheeks. I know my face is red and sticky at the moment. Lucy sits down next to me then and starts drawing circles on my back in comfort. I smile a very watery smile.
"I'm fine, just a little bit worried that I'm going to get fired," I explain. Susan sits on my other side then while Edmund sits down in front of me. I look down at my hands and pick at my fingernails.
"Why?" Edmund asks. I was expecting someone to ask that question eventually. I look up at his face and instantly notice how much he looks like his older brother. I decide quickly not to ponder on the thought and focus on the question instead.
"Um, because Starstone suspects that something is going on between Peter and I when Royalty/Servant relationships are forbidden. She's going to find out one day and I know when she does, she won't hold back," I explain slowly. Edmund seems to be lost in thought for a moment; I don't really want to know what plan he's conjuring up in his weird mind.
"We won't let you get fired, Ashley. You're a hard worker. I don't even know why they would want to fire you," Lucy says. I shrug.
"Ashley!" I hear a voice shout out. Starstone, I would know her voice from anywhere. I get up from where I'm sitting and instantly thank Peter's siblings for checking on me. They all say not to bother and that I'm like a sister to them all so of course their going to check up on me.
"We have to attend a meeting now anyway so, if you want us for anything, we'll be in the Great Hall," Susan adds. I smile at them before quickly running off to look for Starstone. I see her standing over near the kitchen and hastily make my way over to her.
"Yes?" I ask. She smiles when she sees me.
"Ashley, do you mind cleaning the dirty dishes in the kitchen for me?" she asks smiling sweetly at me. Can I use the dress to clean them with?
"Yes, Starstone," I answer her. The first rule of being a servant is never to argue with your superior, even if they're acting oddly sweet and kind to you after such a rough morning. I rapidly rush into the kitchen and stop directly at the counter near the cooling station. I look around confused. There aren't any dirty dishes. I hear a chuckle behind me before I spin around and gasp. Starstone's standing at the doorway smirking. "Goodbye...forever," she says before slamming the door closed. I run as fast as I can over to the doorway, but, before I reach it, I hear the sound of a lock being turned and then nothing. I listen for a little bit until I hear something that no one in the world ever wants to hear.
The sound of running water.
I race over to the sink and notice that the tap has been taken off. Water's starting to spill over the side of the sink in bucket loads. I look around frantically for something to catch the water in. There's nothing! Everything in the kitchen has been taken out. A small part of my brain tries to figure out how Starstone managed to get everything out without people getting suspicious. I ignore that thought as soon as I feel my bare feet starting to get wet. I look down and notice an endless stream of water spreading around the empty kitchen and building up.
I look around frantically for an escape. The window! I spin around and run over to it as quickly as I can. I try to open it, but it's locked tight. I vaguely notice that my legs are starting to shake from the cold water. I look outside the window and instantly spy Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy sitting on their thrones, obviously listening to some creatures. I bash on the window a few times, trying to get the attention of someone down below. They all seem oblivious to me though. I bash a bit harder.
By the time one of the guards looks up at me, the freezing cold water is up to my waist. I wave my hands in the air above me, sort of like what you would do if you were stranded on a deserted island trying to get the attention of a nearby boat. The guard that has looked up, Woodnight, locks eyes with me then. Confusion is the only expression on his face. I signal down to the water and then point up trying to make sure that he understands that the water is rising up higher every second. He seems to understand after a few minutes, but by the time he actually understands what I'm trying to say, the water is just below my chest. I watch on as he quickly goes up to Peter and points up to me.
I look down at my boyfriend and for one brief moment we lock eyes, before he's running at top speed out of the throne room. I watch the scene unfold in the throne room after he has left. Everyone is frightened and running around like crazy. If I'm not so panicked about dying then the sight would be humorous. Why do I feel lighter suddenly? I look down at the water only to discover that my feet are no longer touching the floor. This is not good! I look up, the ceiling is getting closer to my head with every passing second. I'm terrified, not going to lie. I hear a rattling then coming from what sounds like the door. I can hear the bashing sound as someone tries breaking in; I assume it's Peter or one of the guards. I swim over to the entrance and knock on the door.
"Peter, can you hear me?" I shout.
"Yes." I can hear the panic in his voice. "Why can't I open the doors?" he asks, even more panicked now than he was a second ago.
"Because they're locked. Peter, I have to tell you something," I get out through breaths.
"What is it?" he asks worriedly. I take a deep breath in before shouting out those three words.
"I love you!" I don't care who's behind the door with him. I don't care if everyone in Narnia hears me. I don't even care if Starstone's going to fire me for it. I just need him to know.
"I love you too," he shouts back. I feel my eyes well up with tears as soon as the words are out of his mouth. He loves me. Of course I already know that, we tell each other every day, but hearing him say it out loud with probably most of the castle there with him makes it all the more special. I have to tell him one more important thing.
"Peter, tell Bella that I lo –" I get cut off abruptly as the water rises up past my mouth. I know in an instant, I'm not going to see tomorrow, I'm never going to see my friends or Bella ever again.
"Ashley! Ashley, talk to me! Please! Say something, anything! I love you! PLEASE!" I can hear Peter's desperate plea's loudly as I sink beneath the surface of the water. I can hear his crying just as much as I can hear the pain and heart-break in his tone. I know in this moment that I'm never going to see him again. I'm never going to marry him nor have children with him, because right now, I know that I'm going to die.
