"YOU CAN'T avoid him forever, child."

I glare down at the cheetah standing beside me. "I know."

"Do you think he hasn't noticed?" Nyssa continues almost scoldingly. "He's hardly taken his eyes off of you all evening."

I purse my lips in annoyance, grabbing another toreino square to sate my urge to argue. The caramel and tender custard does its job, smoothing the sharp words creeping up my throat.

"There aren't going to be any desserts left if you continue to stand here all night."

I glance over my shoulder at Caspian, who wears a terribly satirical expression as he approaches us.

I shrug, unbothered by his teasing. "They're made to be eaten, aren't they?"

"Eaten, not devoured."

I grab another one, holding it up as I meet his gaze. "This is what's saving you from getting stabbed right now," I tell the king, popping the dessert into my mouth. I can't count how many I've eaten tonight in order to keep myself from snapping an angry response at Nyssa's prodding.

"Ah, so I should be grateful."

"You should find her someone to dance with, is what you should do," Nyssa interjects sourly. "Preferably a king."

Surprised, Caspian glances between the two of us. "Edmund?" He questions, lifting a toreino to his mouth. "What for?"

I roll my eyes, muttering irritably, "this is why I'm at the dessert table."

"She's avoiding him," the cheetah explains.

Caspian licks the residual caramel off his fingers, switching his attention back to me. "Why? Did something happen?"

"It's complicated," I sigh. "I am going to talk to him, I just need a little more time." I can read the worry in his eyes, so I add firmly, "I'm fine, Cas. I swear."

"Good." He grins, sticking a hand out toward me. "Because I was hoping you would dance with me."

I laugh and slide my hand into his open palm. "You just need a refresher before you dance with Susan," I point out, following him away from the dessert table to the large, open floor.

Caspian shrugs, feigning innocence. "Maybe I do. You look beautiful, by the way."

"Thank you." I fold down the back of his tunic collar with a smile, noticing that it lifted up. "You look pretty, too. Is your neck sore yet?"

The king shoots me a look of surprise, maneuvering to join the row of dancers as they approach the edge of the floor. "How did you know?"

I snort, eyeballing the large, golden crown resting atop his head. "Looking at it makes my neck sore."

He swallows his laughter and quickly steps into the formation for loyos, joining the line of men as they advance, taking five steps forward before spinning and lowering to one knee. Their partners follow, with two slow steps and three quick ones until I'm back at Caspian's side and he rises to his feet. The pattern repeats itself once more, and this time when the ladies rejoin the men, I place my hand in Caspian's open palm and we commence a series of quick, careful movements in sync with the rest of the Telmarine dancers.

I remember learning this dance in the town square with a few other girls while Cas was off at his own ballroom lessons in this very hall. This particular sequence of steps always gave me the most grief, being so easy to slip my mind. But after all my practice, I'm able to move through it tonight without even whispering the moves under my breath.

Caspian surprises me as well, spinning and gliding across the floor without a single misstep. He looks nothing like the bumbling young boy I remember. I guess I never realized how long it's been since we last danced together — carelessly and without any worries.

The music rises to a crescendo and finale at the conclusion of the dance, Caspian and I simultaneously turning to face each other and genuflecting with our hands still clasped. As the song fades into the night, applause rises from the party guests to bounce off the high ceilings and fill the space like echoing thunder.

Caspian grins at me, rising to his feet. "You learned to dance," he says, sounding impressed.

"So did you."

Another song fills the hall without a breath to spare, this one more Narnian and with a lively, carefree tempo. I only have a moment to release the king's hand and glance toward the dessert table in search of Nyssa before Lucy Pevensie sweeps me up in a rush of laughter and spiraling movement. The young girl pulls me along to the center of the hall to dance with her and a group of fauns.

They tap and clack their hooves against the stone floor in sync with the music of the flutes, creating a loud beat for us to drown ourselves in. Lucy and I do our best to copy their quick feet but end up a giggling mess and simply lock hands, spinning and leaping about in vivacious circles. Her smile grows and grows until it's so wide it can swallow the sun, her soft hair a halo framing her face as it bounces and flies with her movements.

Lucy laughs and releases my hand, shouting a delighted, "Susan!" as her elder sister joins us in our frolicking, growing the circle so the three of us dance wildly with interlocked fingers.

We skip and twirl and twist, the music of the flutes and the drums building higher and louder and seeming to charge my blood with ardor. If I close my eyes I can taste the salt of the Eastern Sea on my tongue, feel the wind off the mountains rush against my skin, hear the trees as they wake from their slumber, shaking their branches and shifting their roots. I can feel Narnia returning to itself after so long being trapped in the dark.

And it feels like magic.

The song ends only for another just like it to take its place. But we don't stop.

For hours, it feels like, we dance into the night. Though our feet grow sore and our breaths become more labored by the minute, our laughter and the awakening pulse of Narnia beneath our toes drown it all out. Only when I feel Susan's hand disconnect from mine do I find myself crashing back into my body — hear the murmur of the party around us and smell all the aromas of the feast.

The queen slips through the fray of leaping fauns and dwarves, dodging even a few Telmarines who've fallen victim to the enticing music of Old Narnia. I follow her and the path she creates before it can disappear, returning to the relative calm of the party.

Susan glances over her shoulder at me, a wild grin I haven't seen before splayed across her painted lips. "How are your feet?" She asks.

"Sore," I admit with a laugh, now all too aware of the tender skin rubbing against my shoes.

"Me too." She stops at a refreshment table, searching the red-painted pitchers for one that still contains water and pouring two glasses when she finds one.

I accept the chalice from her with a breathless, "Thank you," sipping at the cool water to soothe my dry throat. My gaze drifts back to the dancing Narnians, Lucy in the middle of them, and shake my head in disbelief. "I can't believe she's still dancing."

Susan smiles. "She could probably last until the sun rises."

"Oh, absolutely," Peter agrees, appearing beside his sister with a golden apple grasped between his fingers. "She's outlasted all of us on more than one occasion. By the way, Su, where'd you get that necklace?" He asks, looking at the golden chain of rubies strung around her neck. Something tells me he already knows the answer and only wants to hear her say it aloud.

The brunette sips her water and humors him anyway. "Caspian."

"Hmm." Peter nods, looking thoughtful. And as promised by his siblings, he is in fact wearing blue. "It looks nice. Make sure you tell him I said that when he asks you to dance tonight." He bites his apple, smiling wickedly.

Susan shoots me an exasperated look that makes me grin. "Or you could just swing your sword at his head again," she says drily.

The High King swallows with an innocent shrug. "Forgot it in my room." He meets my gaze and gestures to something behind me. "Edmund's over there with Rainstone and Suncloud."

I lift an eyebrow, trying not to laugh at his strange attitude. "Thanks."

Peter nods and disappears with his apple, heading toward a table upon which I spy Reepicheep standing, speaking with Nausus.

"How much wine do you think he's had?" I ask once he's out of earshot.

"None," Susan responds with a shrug. "That's just Peter being Peter. Without a war to fight or anything to worry about."

We watch as he joins the mouse and the faun, a moment later laughing uproariously at something. I don't miss the fond smile on the queen's face as she appreciates the sight of her brother, for once untroubled and happy.

With a content warmth burning in my chest, I tell Susan she'd better dance with my best friend before turning in the direction Peter pointed out earlier. My heart jumps in my chest not from nerves, but from the way his eyes light up and fill with rapture. Because Edmund Pevensie is already looking at me when I turn around.

I grin and start toward him, the centaurs noticing their friend's divided attention and following his gaze to me. Suncloud laughs with his brother and nudges Edmund's leg, making the king smile and shake his head. I can't hear what they're saying over the music and the clopping hooves of the dancing fauns, but I don't have to to know the two Narnians are teasing Ed about me. I can't help snickering at how short he looks next to the towering centaurs.

"Where's Ironhoof?" I ask when I reach them.

Rainstone snorts and nods his chin to somewhere across the hall. "Trying to win over Greyheart."

"Again," Suncloud adds.

"I don't see either of you out there," I point out, defending the youngest brother.

Rainstone smiles, glancing around the large room. He hides it well, but I know he doesn't appreciate the location of the party. Centaurs don't dance in halls made of stone, with a barrier between them and the sky. They dance under the light of the moon, from sunset to sunrise. Nothing more or less.

I would tell the two of them to venture out into the courtyard, but with the horrors of last week's night raid still fresh in our minds, they won't want to stand on the same stones that were once covered in our friends' blood, celebrating a future they can't be a part of. So I hold my tongue and instead tell them the fireworks should be starting soon.

Suncloud shifts his weight with a knowing look. "You'd better dance with your king before you lose the chance, then."

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" I demand.

Edmund's grin widens as he looks between me and the centaurs. "Well, you haven't said anything. Am I supposed to read your mind?"

I roll my eyes and reach for his hand. "Come on, we're going to dance."

The king chuckles and locks his fingers with mine. "Alright."

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author's note

ugh where do i even start? ok so, basically every day for the last week or so, i've said to myself, 'today i'm gonna finish this and finally post it!' and then, every damned day, i ended up getting called into work or helping with my grandma's birthday party or dealing with some recent family stuff that happened out of nowhere. in conclusion, chaos kept breeding chaos and i literally haven't had the time to sit down and write at all

and technically, this chapter still isn't even done lol. i'm just splitting it into two parts because it was getting really long so now i'm PRAYING i can get the second part done today because i won't have time to write tomorrow

so i'm sorry. i can't believe how chaotic everything has been. all covid restrictions have been lifted where i am, and between work and my extended family (which is huge) making up for all the lost time seeing each other this past year, my social battery has been running on 0% for two weeks and i no longer have the patience for anyone lmao

hopefully i can get the next chapter out today, and if not, probably friday. enjoy!