Chapter 7, coming up! Haha, I'm so funny… I loved your reviews, people! Guardian of Imagination, keep up your rambling reviews; I like them! Hey, that's funny: rambling reviews. As you all can tell, I'm in a bubbly and excited mood, for reasons I'd rather not say here. DawnDestination, I've told you, and lucypotter14, if you'd actually sign in once and a while and read your PM, you might know, too! (K-Bear, Get. Online. NOW! -_-)

Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia, only Avaline, Analiese, Biff, etc etc etc.

-Chapter 7-

Lucy was reading a mystery novel on the sofa before the fireplace in her red-themed bedroom when she heard two knocks on the door. "Who is it?" she called out to her visitor.

"It's us," a female voice replied from the other side of the door, and Lucy immediately recognized the voice as that of her sister. Lucy hurriedly dropped her book, being sure to carefully slip in her embroidered leather bookmark, which was a birthday present from Susan a few years back.

"Yes?" the Valiant Queen said, opening the door all the way, only to find a crying Avaline. No, crying wasn't quite the right word for this. Sobbing was more like it. "Oh, goodness, what happened?"

"Oh, Lucy, if only you could have been there!" the poor girl wailed, throwing her arms around Lucy. The latter wrapped her arms around Avaline in return and patted her back comfortingly. She peeked over her shoulder to see Susan and Analiese still standing in the doorway of her bedroom, and mouthed to them, 'What happened?'

Susan simply shook her head and raised her index finger to signal it would be a moment. Lucy nearly died of anxiety when five minutes passed and Avaline still lay crying into the youngest queen's shoulder. Finally, she released her hold.

"I'm sorry," Avaline laughed nervously as she wiped the back of her hand along the underneath's of her eyes. Lucy passed her a tissue and she gladly accepted it, dabbing her eyes this time. The Valiant Queen waved off the Telmarine's unnecessary apology before the latter spoke again. "It's just that- I'm sorry," she said, dabbing at her eyes again and looking down at the ground.

By now, Susan and Analiese had entered the room and were seated on the Narnian-red bedspread of Lucy's bed. Lucy looked to her sister for an explanation, and one word was all she needed to understand, though she didn't quite know what meaning it held in this circumstance. "Edmund." Lucy raised an eyebrow. "He yelled at her when she didn't do anything wrong. He was drunk."

"Drunk?" the strawberry-blonde-haired girl asked incredulously. "What in Aslan's name was Edmund doing drunk?!"

"Peter decided to move the bachelor's party so that it was last night rather than the night before the wedding," Susan explained.

"But we haven't even sent out the wedding and bridal shower invitations yet, let alone the bachelor's party invitations."

"It was all taken care of for us." Susan rolled her eyes. "Avaline was scared because she'd never seen him act like that before, and neither have I, for that matter, so I don't exactly blame her."

"What was it like?"

"Like talking to a lunatic!" Susan remarked. "He didn't know how to filter his words so that they didn't end up hurting others, he looked like any old ragamuffin off the streets, and he was stumbling around like an idiot. I've never seen someone react so badly to alcohol in my entire life!"

"Tell me about it," Analiese broke in. "He was even worse than Caspian, and at least he is of legal age!"

Susan gave a sneer at the sound of Caspian's name. "Who was that girl he was kissing?"

"Kissing? You mean swallowing whole?" Analiese asked, laughing. When she saw the serious look on Susan's face, she backed down from the jokes quickly. "I have no idea."

"Well, I intend to find out," Avaline spoke up for the first time in a while. "He is my cousin, after all, and I have every right by Aslan's mane to learn who that red-haired girl is."

"Of course you do," Analiese said. "But I'm not sure that it's really any of our business."

"It is too my business who my cousin makes out with when he's drunk!" Avaline exclaimed.

"No, no, my Queen," Analiese reassured her quickly, scared into using the Passionate Queen's title, "When I said that it is none of our business, I meant it isn't mine or Susan's or Lucy's business. Yes, I completely agree that it is your right to know."

Avaline's expression turned apologetic. "I'm sorry; I thought you meant something else," she said regretfully. Analiese simply nodded in response.

"Well, girls, I think it's time we finish getting ready and head to the library," Lucy suggested.

"Shouldn't we be attending breakfast first?" Analiese asked.

"I agree; I am getting quite hungry." And she was. As a matter of fact, the Valiant Queen's flat, fit stomach had been grumbling since she woke up.

"I'll call up Peter and tell him to get the drunkards ready," Susan sighed, then mumbled under her breath, "At least I know one of them isn't fully intoxicated." And then the Gentle Queen went off to write a note for a servant to send to her brother.

Analiese looked down at her lap and noticed her brown dress. It was casual, yet pretty. Lucy was already dressed in a hot pink dress with white stitching, and Avaline in a purple dress. The three looked ready for their long day of wedding planning ahead. Susan had wanted the wedding to take place a few weeks before Christmas, which would give Analiese and Peter time to warm up to being married before the annual Christmas Ball.

"Susan told me it'd be chilly outside today," Analiese said, making small talk. The other two girls nodded.

"I miss summer," Lucy replied absently. She looked outside her bedroom window, where the thin, red, gauze-like curtains were drawn back with a gold, glittery ribbon. Outside, the strawberry-blonde-haired queen found the one, single tree outside her window, an apple tree, to be completely leaf-free. Apples no longer flooded the branches as they did in summer. Then the Valiant Queen looked up, and her eyes met Analiese's. "You could postpone the wedding until summer."

"No, Lucy, I don't think I can," the blonde-haired girl replied sadly.

"Sure you can!"

"No, she can't!" Susan called through the wall. She was in Lucy's study writing the note for the servant to send to Peter about breakfast; this room was next door to Lucy's bedroom and this wall was the thinnest wall in the entire palace, or at least one of them, so Susan could hear her friends through it.

All three ladies laughed at Susan. Of course, she'd always have to add in her two cent's worth.

They sat in silence for a while. When Susan returned from sending her note, the four girls sat in Lucy's bedroom, awaiting Peter's answer. In around five minutes, they got one when they heard a knock on the door. A servant had come to tell the three queens and the queen-to-be that the kings were waiting in the dining room for them.

So they made their way downstairs to meet their fellow monarchs. Susan laid a hand on the curved knob of the right-side door of the set of double doors when they reached the entrance to the dining room. She was just about to open it when her older brother came through the door next to the one Susan was about to open.

He continued walking a few steps until he realized that he had missed what he was looking for. The High King spun around to face his dark-haired sister. "Susan," he said. "The boys have something they want to tell you all. Please, just act like you're willing to forgive them, even if you're not."

His oldest little sister nodded and opened the door, Lucy and Avaline following close behind. Analiese was just about to do the same when Peter laid a hand on her hand to stop her. The blonde-haired girl turned to meet his gaze, allowing the door to close in the action. Her eyes were questioning.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking into her green eyes.

"For what?" Analiese asked. She had no idea what her cute, blonde fiancée was talking about.

"For this morning in the hallway. Edmund is, too, and so is Caspian, but especially Ed. If he had been sober, he never would have said something like that to you."

"Peter, it isn't your place to apologize. You did nothing."

"No, it is. I shouldn't have let him get that way."

"It's not your fault. Besides," Analiese paused and smiled up at him, "you were there to save me."

"That I was," Peter smiled back. The two were gazing into each other's eyes when the High King slowly began to lean in. Analiese's eyes widened, and she pressed her hand to his mouth, pushing back. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Peter, we need to talk," the queen-to-be said, worry in her eyes. Peter raised his eyebrows. "I-I-" His expression urged her on. "I don't think-" she sighed, then, "I don't feel that way about you."

Peter's eyebrows lowered and furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Analiese gulped, realizing that she would have to come straight out and tell him the truth. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself. "Peter, I think that when we're married, the thing that will become the biggest factor in us maintaining a healthy marriage will be honesty. Do you agree?"

Her fiancée nodded, confused as to what her words meant.

"Well, I'm going to start now and admit something that is very hard for me to say."

"Go on," he muttered anxiously.

"Peter, I-" Analiese looked down at her feet and bit her lip nervously. She glanced up at him and saw his confused expression. It wouldn't be fair to keep leading him on like this, she told herself. "I don't love you."

The High King froze. His blue eyes pierced her green, wide in bewilderment. But their positions were switched when he suddenly burst out in hysterical rounds of laughter.

"What?" Analiese asked, perplexed. Her current confusion had erased her previous feelings of guilt.

"G-Good one, A-An-Analiese!" he managed to choke out between laughs.

Then it hit her. He thought she was kidding. "Peter," she said, one hand reaching for his arm. He didn't notice. "Peter!"

This got his attention. She had grabbed his shoulders and shook him roughly once. His laughter immediately halted, and he stared at her, surprised.

"This isn't a joke," Analiese told him.

The High King saw nothing but truth in her eyes. Good actress, he thought. "Come on, An. You almost got me to believe you! I'm sure you didn't come up with that on your own. Was it Edmund? It had to have been-"

"I'm not kidding," Analiese said.

"Of course you are!" he replied. His lips were just about to raise up into a smile until he saw the guilt laced into her features. "You're not kidding." It was not a question now.

Analiese nodded. "What-"

"Peter," she stopped him. "I'm not in love with you."

"What do you mean?" he asked, his voice cracking.

"I'm sorry," Analiese whispered. Hurt flashed across her husband-to-be's features. "Peter, I-"

She stopped when she saw the High King's features go hard. His eyes were cold and emotionless, and his voice indifferent when he said, "I think we're late for breakfast now, milady."

Peter pulled his arm from her grasp and turned. Before Analiese could say anything else, he was gone. She remained standing where she had been, staring at the place he had just left. A tear slipped silently down her cheek, but she wiped it away. She refused to be hurt by him.

So after straightening her brown dress and adjusting the braid in her hair, she followed her husband-to-be where he had disappeared into the dining room. After all, she was beginning to get hungry.

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