I'VE NEVER been more grateful for the demands of chaos than I am the day of Caspian's coronation. It clears my mind, giving my hands and my body something to do and my thoughts something else to concern themselves with. All morning, I busy myself with helping decorate the hall for tonight's festivities and prepare food in the kitchens.

It's soothing to slip back into my role as a servant, despite all the shouting and the hurrying. It makes me feel like everything has gone back to the way it was — just for a while. It's also the perfect way to avoid Edmund. Until Susan finds me in the stables.

The queen hurries toward me, her skirt held high so it doesn't get soiled with dirt or horsehair. "What are you doing here?" She demands. And by the perfect curls of her brown hair and the rouge on her cheeks, I know she's just finished with her cosmetics.

"Helping with the horses," I respond, running a comb through Destrier's tangled mane.

"Well yes, I can see that." Susan looks me up and down. "When were you planning on getting yourself ready?"

I pause, my hands stilling against the stallion's neck. I can't tell her how I wish I didn't have to attend the ceremony. How I want nothing more than to stay at the palace and continue with the mindless tasks of organizing the feast and preparing dishes in the kitchens. I can't tell her that the moment I stop working all I can think of is how nothing I know feels real anymore — that I'm so terrified of seeing Edmund and telling him the truth that I can barely look at him. So I say to her, "Soon."

But she hears everything in that one word.

"Arryn." Her voice is soft as she releases her skirt, lifting her hands to grasp mine tightly. "Come on," she urges, drawing me away from grooming Caspian's horse.

Swallowing hard, I nod and drop the comb into Destrier's grooming box before following her out of the stables. I know arguing with the older girl is pointless; she always wins, somehow. Peter and Edmund swear up and down that she's some sort of diplomatic witch, but I attest it to her being the second oldest of four siblings to mediate.

The castle corridors are busier than ever with less than an hour until the ceremony, but we manage to reach Susan's room in record time. The tigers sitting guard outside her chamber stand up when we approach them, dipping into bows.

"Your highness," one of them begins. "King Caspian came to see you while you were gone."

Susan looks surprised. "He did?"

The tiger nods. "He asked we convey to you his sincerest regrets for being unable to stay and await your return."

"He also left a gift for you inside," the other one adds, smiling at the queen's fluster. "Your highness has quite the admirer."

Her cheeks flush a deeper red than the powder colouring her skin. "It seems I do. Thank you, Ersa, Tevahn."

They dip their heads and step aside for us to enter.

"Lucy is with Nyssa?" I ask, closing the doors behind us.

"Yes, but I have no idea where they've gone off to," she admits with a laugh. "Peter's room, if I had to guess."

I turn around, following the girl to the edge of her bed where she stands, looking down at a white-painted box with a red flower resting atop it. I recognize it as the rose the Telmarines traditionally use to express their love. It's grown in abundance throughout the village for lovers to gift each other, and I can't count the number of times I've seen men and women of all ages gush over receiving the flower and what it means for them: everlasting love.

A wide grin grows on my lips, elated that Caspian has taken my advice to finally express his feelings for the queen. For him, this flower is quite possibly the most obvious way of saying it, but to someone unfamiliar with Telmarine traditions, it's just a gorgeous red rose.

Susan picks the flower off the box, spinning the stem between her fingers with a soft smile. I debate whether I should tell her how important this flower is to Caspian, but at the risk of ruining whatever careful planning the king has no doubt made, I decide to keep quiet about it.

"Ersa was right," I muse instead. "Caspian's quite the admirer."

Her smile widens as she turns to me, still twirling the rose under her nose. "You could say that."

I raise an eyebrow at the unusually sly tone in her voice, watching her set the rose on her bed and pick up the narrow box. She says quite languidly, "He kissed me last night."

"What?"

She grins at my disbelief, toying with the unopened box. "It came as a surprise to me, too. I thought he'd need a few more days to build up his courage to do it."

I laugh past the hand covering my mouth, still in shock. "What did he say!" I demand. "How did it happen?"

Susan shrugs, a fondness glazing her blue eyes as she no doubt relives the memory. "It just happened," she says. "We've been talking a lot more recently, but last night we were walking back from the village and he brought me to my room. And right before he left he just kissed me." She laughs. "I think he was too nervous to stay and say anything after, so this is his way of making up for running off." She opens the box, revealing a necklace with a rectangular cut ruby inlaid in a delicate pendant of fanning metal on a chain decorated with small red gems.

The two of us stare at the beautiful piece of jewelry in awe.

"He's so hopelessly in love with you," I mutter.

"I know." She places the box down beside the flower and takes my hand. "Come on," she ushers, guiding me across the room toward the dressing screen and cosmetic desk. "You can tell me what's bothering you while we finish getting ready."

A small part of me hoped she might have forgotten, but I'm not so lucky.

The queen gets me to sit in front of the desk with its large mirror, taking my hair out of its bun. And before she can reach for a brush to detangle it, I regrow the red locks so they're perfectly smooth.

She smiles at me through the mirror. "Thanks. Is a French braid alright?"

"It's perfect."

She nods and scoops up a comb, beginning to section off my hair. For a minute, silence hangs in the air between us as she waits patiently for me to confide in her what's on my mind. And for a minute, I battle with myself and how I might begin or whether I can even handle doing so. But the elder girl just shared her kiss with Caspian with me, so the least I can do is tell her about mine.

I take a deep breath, exhaling my nerves as best I can. "Edmund, um…we actually…kissed a few days ago," I tell her quietly. "Right before the battle."

I'm so worried telling her this about her own brother I have to look down and away from her gaze reflected in the mirror.

"Did he really?" She asks in a sort of breathless shock.

"Well, it was me, too," I amend, my cheeks burning red. "But…yeah."

"Well, don't keep me waiting," she exclaims, excitement seeping into her voice. "Tell me more!"

Finally, I gather the courage to look at her. And she's grinning madly at me through the mirror like this the best thing to happen since they returned to Narnia. It makes my next breath so much easier to take and I instantly relax into the chair, telling her everything from what Cornelius told me about my parents and my conversation with Ed at the Great River, to the history of the chimæras and my past life I learned from Aslan. And by the time I've finished, she's long finished with both my hair and my cosmetics, resting her hip against the edge of the desk and listening with arms crossed over her chest.

I wring my hands together in my lap with a tired sigh. "Everything is so complicated," I mutter. "I have no idea how to tell him about the spell."

"All you have to do is tell him the same thing you just told me," Susan advises. "He'll understand, I promise."

"But what if he realizes the only reason he has feelings for me is because of the spell?" What if everything between us is a lie?

Her blue eyes fill with pity. "Arryn…" She tilts her head, lips pursed as she takes in my troubled expression with a sigh through her nose. "Aslan said the spell only connected you; it didn't tell him to fall in love with you. Edmund did that all on his own. And he would have done it without any magic, too. It just would have taken him a while longer."

I stare at her. The words make perfect sense coming from her but all I can think of is that one statement.

Edmund fell in love with you all on his own.

Susan grins, as if knowing exactly what I'm thinking. "Just talk to him," she says. "Trust me."

I nod wordlessly, making her laugh and stand up.

"Come on. Let's get dressed."

━━━༻❁༺━━━

I don't try to hide the fact that I shed a few tears watching my best friend accept the crown he fought so courageously for. The same crown he once wished so fervently wasn't his. The crown he's grown to realize is so much more than an accessory or a mark of power, but a promise and a commitment.

Yes, I cry. And Rainstone makes sure to tease me for it, but I don't care.

The ceremony is beautiful; the council room decorated brightly and with so much life I almost don't recognize it. Even Caspian himself looks like a new person, wearing a white and gold tunic with a heavy, jewelled crown atop his head. He's confident and unfaltering and happy.

He looks like a king.

From there, the Narnians and Telmarines filter out of the council room and we form a parade to walk through the village, allowing them to celebrate their new king and his promise for a better future.

The King and Queens of Narnia, alongside the Great Lion Aslan, lead the procession across the bridge and into the village. And behind him follow myself and my father, Cornelius, Trumpkin, Glenstorm and his sons, Nyssa, Trufflehunter and Reepicheep, and all the people we couldn't have achieved this day without.

The streets are lined with colourful flags and long strands of greenery, villagers holding baskets of flowers and ornamental staffs in honour of the coronation. They stand on their balconies and lean out their windows as we pass, raining flower petals onto the cobblestone. Children balance atop their parents' shoulders to get the best view, waving wildly with both hands with flower wreaths atop their heads or around their necks. Children and young girls equipped with wicker baskets frock to the front of the parade, decorating the street with even more red petals for us to walk upon.

It's a sight to behold, and an experience I'll hold dear in my heart. Never would I imagine the Telmarines would welcome the Narnians they were taught to fear with such joy and acceptance. They wave to the centaurs and giggle when Reepicheep sweeps into a deep bow for them, they smile and cheer and garnish the cobblestone with flowers for us.

Two weeks ago, a day like today felt impossible. None of us ever believed we'd reach peace. We hid in the trees and the mountains for so long, fearing and hating these people for the bloodshed and pain they caused so long ago. But here we are, walking the same streets, celebrating the same king, and accepting each other with open hearts.

Cornelius was certainly not wrong when he said history is being made. I know the Narnians around me will never forget this moment.

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author's note

hello yes i'm a piece of garbage for releasing this three days late lmfao

for real tho i have a whole week to write 2000 words for the next chapter and i consistently wait until the last minute so when my weekend was bussin' with grad activities for my sisters, i had no time to get this done. i do this to myself all the time and it makes me so mad i need to stopp

anyways i hope y'all aren't too bored with these chapters lately, i just thought we'd all appreciate the extra time with the pevensies. there's def gonna be at least two more chapters (maybe 3) before prince caspian is officially over. the next chapter will cover a sort of feast/ball celebration with fireworks so let me know if there are any specific scenes you'd like to see in it!

but you guys. susan is using the L word to describe edmund's feelings for arryn. she fucking knows before anyone else and i can't handle it. and it was such a raw fucking line from susan too like wow. one of my fav quotes from this book so far lol

also ik the whole 'gifting roses' thing is pretty much universal in expressing love/affection so susan basically knows exactly what caspian is trying to say, but to him it's a pretty big thing. in telmarine culture, if you receive this flower, whoever gave it to you is promising their love to you. like a promise ring i guess? i spontaneously developed this little piece of telmarine culture on my own lol i was just trying to decide what kind of flower caspian would give susan and i read that valencia red roses are a symbol of everlasting love and it's very popular for the spanish to gift them to their partners. and since the telmarines have a lot of spanish roots in this film, it fit perfect

ok i'm talking too much now, i hope y'all enjoyed the chapter!