Peter's Attempts at Peace

Back where it all started, Saedra thought wryly as she stood on the deck of the Forben and looked out to where Cair Paravel was looming larger and larger on the horizon.

"I can't believe it's only been a year," she murmured.

"A year since what?"

Saedra turned her head sharply and saw that Talia had joined her. She patted her step-daughter's shoulder affectionately.

"It was only last spring that I was sent up to meet Prince Rabadash." She grunted and looked down at the girl. "I can truthfully say that the only good that came out of that whole affair was that I met you, Talia."

Talia smiled, her white teeth contrasting with her tan face. "And now you are getting married to High King Peter."

Saedra forced a smile and said, "Yes…that too."

"I cannot wait to see him again! I found that after we left the Winter Festival I missed him dearly. He will be the perfect father," Talia declared. After the festival they had gone back home to Harden while Peter and Lucy went North to prepare for the wedding.

Saedra had to bite her lip to stop a sarcastic comment from slipping out. Yes, Peter has certainly wormed his way into your heart. But she couldn't hold it against Talia no matter how much she wanted to, for she knew very well that she had once been mesmerized by Peter ten times more.

Peter and Saedra had had a long and heated argument over whether the wedding should be held at Cair Paravel or at Harden Castle. Saedra thought it her right as the bride to have it at her home where her people could enjoy the celebrations, but while Peter saw her side of it, he thought that the whole purpose of the marriage would be better served if the wedding was held in Narnia. The quarrel went on for days until Lune intervened and agreed with Peter. That ended the debate, but Saedra was still unhappy about it even though she didn't press the matter.

While Peter and Saedra hadn't agreed on the location, they did agree that they wanted the wedding to happen in late spring when the flowers had already bloomed and when Narnia was at its prettiest. And from what Saedra could see as the ship neared the dock, Narnia was certainly at its prettiest. Flowers and greenery were everywhere, and banners were hanging with the symbol of the Lion to celebrate the upcoming nuptials. It was obvious that the Narnians were going all-out for the biggest wedding they had ever seen.

The place looks positively cheery, Saedra thought. Beside her, Talia looked ready to explode from excitement. Saedra looked back up and thought grimly, Are the only people who aren't thrilled about this marriage the two of us who are actually getting married?

But it turned out that there was one other person who wasn't thrilled about the nuptials, and Saedra almost missed that fact amidst the glorious welcome she received when they docked. Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, Peridan, Tumnus, Lune, Cor and Corin, Aravis, and Dar and Darrin were all there to meet her along with throngs of other Narnians whom she recognized.

After giving Peter and Susan warm hugs, Talia ran over to her dear friends Aravis, Cor, and Corin. Meanwhile, Saedra was swept up and overwhelmed by all of the people and creatures clamoring to see or talk to her; it was amazing the fame she attracted now that she was no longer a meager Duchess but the wife-to-be of the High King.

"Welcome, Duchess," Peter half-yelled over the noise, bowing and kissing her hand.

She curtsied politely. "Thank you, your Majesty. Your palace looks amazing."

"All for you, my Lady," Peter said, looking at her as if searching for something in her expression.

King Lune stepped forward and clasped her hands with his face beaming. "I am glad that thou hast had a safe journey, Duchess. Is this not all marvelous? The High King has been most obliging. Everything is prepared, even though the wedding is not for a week yet! We are in debt to you, King Peter, for your kindness."

"No, it is I who must thank you, oh King, for proposing the idea of the marriage," Peter protested. "Had it not been for your foresight, this happy event might have never come to pass." He then looked over at Saedra with a look that could have been called affectionate.

Saedra was puzzled by the way Peter was acting, but all questions flew from her mind when she turned to Susan. The two friends squealed in excitement to see each other, and threw their arms about each other's necks. When they pulled back for air, Susan said, "Oh Saedra, I have so much to acquaint you with!"

"And I with you! I have been longing to see you for ages."

"Hey, Peter," Edmund's sarcastic voice broke through, making her heart leap. "I think Saedra should marry Susan instead. That would be a happy match indeed."

"Ed!" Lucy admonished.

Saedra laughed and embraced him, strangely aware of his body pressed against hers. This awareness puzzled and flustered her, so she pulled back quickly. It took him a moment more to realize the embrace was over, so there was a weird moment of her pushing and him pulling, but they disentangled themselves with red cheeks.

When she could manage to look up at him, he had an intense look in his eyes. It was a way she had never seen—or noticed?—him looking at her before, and it immediately sparked a flicker of hope in her mind that maybe, just maybe, Edmund didn't think of her only as a friend.

Where did that thought come from? He's going to be your brother-in-law! she snapped at herself. Trying to stop her thoughts from going any further, she ignored Edmund entirely and hugged Lucy.

"Don't mind Ed, Sae," Lucy said. "He's been a perfect sourpuss ever since the wedding preparations began."

"Oh? And why is that?" Saedra asked Lucy while glancing over at Edmund, who was watching them.

"It's because I despise parties," Edmund interjected with comical grumpiness, prompting everyone to laugh at him.

Saedra could see that he was trying to change the topic and said, "I must confess I am a bit weary from the journey. Shall we go up to the castle?"

It was a good thing that Saedra wasn't really as weary as she pretended to be for Edmund's sake, for the whole day was spent greeting friends and acquaintances. The whole castle of Cair Paravel was absolutely bursting with activity, because not only was the whole court of Narnia there, but a good portion of the Archenlander court was there as well. On top of that, more people were arriving all the time and everyone had to be greeted and welcomed by the High King and his bride-to-be.

Dinner was a huge event that night, and the Narnians and Archenlanders talked late into the night. Peter and Lune were sitting to her left, caught up in a deep discussion that Saedra was not in the mood to join, so she conversed with Talia, Cor, Corin, and Aravis most of the night. Though the day had not been unenjoyable, she found the company of the children to be more freeing than the proper way of talking that the adults had, and she laughed harder than she had in a long time at Corin's antics.

"And then Cor said, 'Thou art a Prince, are you not? You should start acting like one.' Then I happily obliged him by knocking him down," Corin was saying gleefully.

Saedra smiled and Talia giggled, staring adoringly at Corin. It was obvious that her crush on him had not waned but grew every time she saw him.

"He certainly did!" Aravis said enthusiastically. "Cor was limping for a week."

"I was not!" Cor protested, blushing.

"Was too!" Aravis and Corin said at the exact same time.

"And what did your father say about this whole incident?" Saedra asked.

"Oh, Corin got away with it," Cor said factually. "He always does."

"Yes, I do," Corin agreed, puffing out his chest.

"Why, Corin, my boy!" Saedra teased. "You're terribly spoiled!"

"What would you do if Talia knocked Aravis down?" Corin asked her.

"She couldn't knock me down!" Aravis interjected.

"Well, hypothetically, if Talia did knock someone down, I suppose I'd make her stay in her room," Saedra said. "Or give her extra school work or something...I haven't really thought about it! Talia is such a good girl and would never do anything like that." Saedra winked at Talia, who beamed at her step-mother's praise.

"Pardon the intrusion," Peter said, leaning in towards them with a twinkle in his eye. "But I was wondering if I could steal my fiancée and her daughter now that dinner is ending."

"Must you, your Majesty?" Corin said with exaggerated sadness. "I don't think I can bear to part with them."

"I'm grieved to pain you, little Prince, but we all have sorrows in life," Peter said gravely, but his mouth twitched with a smile trying to break through. He stood up and held out his arm for Saedra to take, and she stood up and linked it through his.

"My sorrow is that I shall have to be king," Cor said mournfully.

Peter chuckled and patted his head. "It's not that bad, your Highness. Shall we be off?"

Talia hopped out of her seat and took Peter's other arm that was held out of her, and they made their way out of the dining hall. The simple act of leaving the dining hall was delayed many times by people stopping to congratulate them, but finally they were walking through the halls of the palace.

Suddenly it hit Saedra that the three of them would be a family.

So this is it. This is what so many women dream to have…a king husband and a beautiful daughter.

Somehow it still felt incomplete. She loved Talia to death and couldn't imagine a life without her; the problem was with the husband. Peter was a wonderful man, but it was a political marriage between two people who had butted heads in their youth and who had had a strange romance as adults. It wasn't exactly what Saedra had in mind when she'd ever imagined getting married.

"Where are we going?" Talia asked.

Peter smiled down at her. "Now that you're going to be a Narnian princess, I took it upon myself to see that you have a permanent bedroom here." He turned to Saedra. "I hope you don't think that I'm implying that I expect you both to be here all the time, or I'm going back on our agreement, Duchess. I just thought it'd be proper that you both feel at home here as well."

Saedra was touched by his unexpected thoughtfulness. "Thank you, your Majesty. That is very kind."

They stopped in front of a door on the second floor that was down the hall from the Kings' and Queens' bedrooms.

"Now, before we go on I want you to know that if you don't like the arrangement, we can change it any way you want to suit your taste. I'm the last one to know what a Princess would want, so I enlisted Lucy and Susan to help," Peter said uneasily.

Talia was bouncing up and down on the tips of her toes with eagerness. "I'm sure it'll be lovely! May we go in now?"

"Yes, go ahead," Peter smiled.

Talia opened the door and stopped in her tracks with her mouth hanging open. The room was huge and had dozens of windows that all faced the east. In the center of the room was a large four-poster bed that was covered with a red and gold comforter with dozens of pillows piled at the head. The whole theme of the room was the colors of the Narnian banner, and it looked very elegant and inviting.

"This puts your room back home to shame!" Saedra said, her mouth hanging partially open as well. "This is at least twice as large!"

Peter's face broke out into a relieved smile at their reactions. Talia walked to the bed and ran her hand over the soft fabric, then went over to a couch that was situated in front of the fireplace and bounced in it. After a moment of looking all around with an awed expression, she jumped up, ran over to Peter, and threw her arms around his waist.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed. "I couldn't imagine a prettier place in the whole world!"

Peter grinned and patted her back. "A room fit for a Princess then?"

"Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!" Then she released him and threw her arms around Saedra's waist.

Saedra had to take a few steps back to balance herself, and she laughed, "What's this for?"

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here. I would still be a slave in Tashbaan." Talia looked up at her with her wide brown eyes filled with happy tears. "Thank you."

"You're more than welcome, my dear. You have brought more to my life than you could ever know."

Saedra looked up at Peter, worried that they were excluding him, but he was watching her closely with a happy expression on his face. A look of understanding passed between them: they both cared for Talia, and they could and would make the marriage as happy as possible for her sake.

Saedra pulled back from Talia, saying, "It's time we went to bed."

"Can I sleep in here tonight?" Talia asked eagerly.

"Of course!" Peter said. "Your trunks were brought up here and should be in the closet."

Talia gave them both one last hug and they said their goodnights. When Peter closed the door behind them, they smiled at each other.

"Thank you, Pet—your Majesty," Saedra said. "You have her unwavering affection now."

Pause.

"But not yours," he said bluntly.

Saedra looked at him for a moment before abruptly turning and walking down the hall, suddenly feeling guilty. But then she thought, Why am I feeling guilty? He's the one who blew his opportunity. I did love him once.

"I don't think it will serve either of us to go down that road, your Majesty. I thought we had already discussed what this marriage is."

Peter quickly caught up with her. "And what if my feelings on the matter have changed?"

Saedra stopped. "Why in the world would they change? Surely nothing has happened to increase your affection for me," she challenged, daring him to declare his love for her.

What am I doing? I don't even care for him that way anymore. It doesn't matter if he loves me or not...Does it?

Peter didn't reply right away but studied her. "You have a lot of deep-seated anger, Saedra. I think it would be good if we could talk about this and straighten it out."

Saedra started walking again and he followed her. A Narnian noble was walking in the opposite direction, and they all greeted each other politely before they continued walking and Saedra growled, "That assertion is utterly untrue! But even if it was true, can you blame me? I have much to be angry with you about!"

"Such as?"

"Such as the humiliating way you treated me last spring!"

"Saedra, stop."

Peter grabbed her arm firmly and she was forced to comply. She looked up at him defiantly.

He continued, "You need to let go of that. You know perfectly well why I acted as I did."

"I certainly do not! And need I point out that you've never offered an explanation?"

He looked at her uncomprehendingly. "Surely you've figured it out. It was a delicate and complicated matter, but it is over now that we're getting married."

"Peter, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Pause.

"Would you please tell me so we can put it behind us?" she asked.

Another pause. He finally said, "I don't think it would serve any purpose to go down that road. It's over, and so much the better if you don't know."

She stared at him disbelievingly. "You're simply not going to tell me?"

"It wouldn't do anyone any good."

"I can't believe this! You expect me to stop being angry at you and yet you won't tell me why I shouldn't be angry at you!"

"Do you trust me, Saedra?"

"No!" she snapped, though it wasn't entirely true. He was a trustworthy man in all respects except when it came to her, at least that was how it seemed.

He looked away from her and swallowed. "You understand that in order to have a successful marriage we need to trust each other?"

"What reason do I have to trust you? And since when was our marriage ever going to be successful? I could have predicted ten years ago that if we ever were unfortunate enough to get married that this is how we would turn out!"

"You think we're as incapable of getting along now as we were ten years ago? You think us as helpless of reigning in our emotions and tempers as children? You underestimate yourself, my Lady. I know what you are capable of if you set your mind to it."

"I don't know whether that is a compliment, but I will take it as such," she said. "But it is in vain, for I refuse to accommodate people who do not accommodate me. And you're refusing to oblige me by telling me what happened last year, so I see no merit in doing what you want."

"Even if it means a disharmonious marriage?"

"Hah! You keep harping on that. The sooner you understand that this marriage is merely a means to an end, the better."

"So you truly don't respect me," Peter stated flatly.

Saedra was confused. "What do you mean?"

"You think that I am just a pawn in your scheme of avoiding marriage to Ahoshta Tarkaan."

"That is not all you are, but that is one of the things," she admitted.

"I never thought you so heartless," he said with a hint of bitterness.

"If you want to cancel the wedding, feel free to do so," she dared him.

Peter laughed bitterly. "I will do no such thing. Oh, no. We are going through with this. You will not make me look a fool that easily."

Saedra smirked. "Is it not more foolish to marry me?"

He shook his head, looking like he had no idea how he came to be in such a pitiable situation. "I wouldn't do that to Talia. She's already like a daughter to me."

"Fine then. We shall marry and appear happy and in love, and all the world will think us the ideal couple. Talia cannot know of our discord. Agreed?"

"Agreed. But I must demand that you not undermine my leadership in any way. I may be compassionate, but I'm not stupid, and neither you nor Talia will have any claim on the Narnian throne. I can promise you that."

"Nor would I want it! I don't have any of the ambition you suppose I do. I have no desire to be Queen and am quite content in my current station."

"Good. See that it stays that way."

Just then they heard someone coming down the hall towards them. When the approaching people passed a torch on the wall, they saw that it was Edmund (looking out of sorts) and Lucy.

On seeing them, Edmund stopped short. "I hope we aren't interrupting anything important."

"Not at all," Saedra said, avoiding his gaze. She acutely remembered her confusion around him earlier and found it awkward to meet his eyes. "I was just about to go to bed anyway."

"How did you like your new room?" Lucy asked. "Did you like the curtains I picked out?"

"My new room?" Saedra asked confusedly.

"She hasn't seen it yet," Peter said in a flat voice. "We were distracted."

"Oh, shall we all go together?" Lucy asked. "I want to see her face when she sees it!"

"You go ahead," Peter said. "I'm exhausted."

"Me too," Edmund said, matching Peter's depressed tone. "G'night."

When the two men had gone into their rooms, Lucy asked as they walked, "What's wrong with Peter?"

"Like he said, tired," Saedra lied. "What was wrong with Ed?"

"That's typical Ed now. He's sunk into a funk and no one can pull him out of it. It's just not like him at all."

"No, it's not," Saedra said thoughtfully.

"Here we are!" Lucy said brightly, opening the door.

"Wait, aren't we near Peter's room?"

"Of course we are! His is attached to this one through the bathroom you'll share."

The room was similar to Talia's, except even more grand, and the color scheme was purple, blue, and white. Saedra wandered around, complimenting the room to make Lucy happy, thinking the whole time how strange it would be to share a bathroom with Peter. She finished her tour of the room and sat on the bed, indicating that Lucy should join her.

"Is it proper for me to sleep here since we aren't married yet?" Saedra asked.

"Well, there's a lock on your bathroom door so as long as you keep it shut it won't matter. Besides, you are practically married anyway." She had a sudden thought. "Or are you worried that the temptation might be too great with you two being so close together here?"

Saedra had to literally swallow back a sarcastic comment. "Yes, that has been an issue for us."

Lucy moved in closer and put her arm around Saedra's shoulder. "Well, it's less than a week now. The wait will be over soon."

Saedra had to change the subject, otherwise she might burst out laughing. "Where's Susan? I had hoped we might catch up on things tonight."

"She's off with Peridan," Lucy said casually.

"With who?"

Lucy straightened. "She hasn't told you yet?" She clapped her hands gleefully. "I get to be the first to tell you! Susan and Peridan have started officially courting!"

Saedra's jaw dropped. "You jest!"

Lucy giggled. "It was a shock to all of us too—well, except for me. I could see that Susan was starting to look in his direction more than was appropriate and that he looked at her a great deal."

"But he's so old!"

"He's only thirty-six."

"That's what? Over a decade older than her?"

"Oh, don't be a wet blanket," Lucy laughed. "They're adorable together."

"I can well imagine it. But I always pictured Susan with some dashing, outgoing knight in shining armor. Someone rich and famous who would sweep her off of her feet."

"So did we all. But I think after her experience with Rabadash that desire was eradicated."

"With good reason," Saedra agreed, then leaned back on her elbows. "I just never would have thought!"

"Strange couples fall in love all the time. Just look at you and Peter. You and he never seemed to get along when we were little, and here you are, desperately in love."

"Yup," Saedra grimaced. "Desperately in love."