18) Proposals And Parties

NO POV

It had been two years. Peter and Stephen were twenty-one. Liz and Susan were nineteen. Julianne was eighteen. Edmund had recently turned sixteen, and Lucy's fourteenth birthday was a month away. The entire kingdom was getting ready for her party. Not only were they preparing, everybody was putting the pressure on Liz and Peter.

They felt it, and it was getting heavier each day. It's not that they didn't love each other, but marriage? Neither of the two thought they were ready. Well, actually, Liz didn't think Peter was ready, and Peter didn't think Liz was ready. You can see the great communication there.

"LIZ!!" She rolled her eyes, giving Peter an exasperated look.

"Yes Lucy?" She smiled, though she said it through gritted teeth. She was in the middle of a duel.

"Sorry." Lucy backed down slightly. "Susan said that she needed to see you, and Stephen needed to see Peter." Peter looked ready to go, but Liz crossed her arms.

"No," She challenged. Peter sighed, exasperated. Something like this seemed to happen every other day.

"Come on Liz," He gently said. "It's got to be something important."

"I want to finish what we were doing," Liz said stubbornly. "So get in position. Now." Peter got in position, and they restarted their duel. They barely got five minutes into it, when Sirius appeared, a seriously pissed off Susan by his side. He picked up Liz, and slung her over his shoulder. "Put. Me. DOWN!!" She screeched. She had (thankfully) dropped her sword in surprise, so he couldn't really get hurt. "I hate you."

Sirius put Liz down in her room. No, not the room that she slept in every night, her actual room. She turned and stared at her indignantly, "I can't believe you." She gave Sirius an icy, deadly glare. "I can't believe that you just did that." She crossed her arms angrily over her chest. "Don't think you're going to be forgiven anytime soon. But to help your cause, you can go tell Peter that I'm completely pissed at him for not helping." Sirius hurriedly nodded, and backed out of the room in fear.

Susan walked in, Lucy and Julianne trailing behind. "Calm down Liz." Susan snapped, "We're getting you ready."

"Ready for what?" Liz asked slowly.

"The proposal," Julianne butted in. "Of course."

Liz rolled her eyes, "And does Peter know about this proposal?"

Lucy looked up at the clock, "He will in about five minutes." Liz's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, don't worry. He already has the ring; he was just waiting for a year, or four. You know how shy he is." Susan was ruffling through her closet, and rolled her eyes at Liz.

"You don't have what we want," She complained. "Lucy, get the dress we ordered."

"Why did you go through my stuff if you had ordered a dress?!" Liz asked.

"I didn't want to make this look planned," Susan shrugged.

"Not look planned?" Liz asked disbelievingly. "How could this not look planned?" She hissed angrily. "How dare you interfere!!" She sat down, hoping to get the message across.

Sirius walked back in, "Peter says sorry, and to go along with it. They're going to force us anyway." Liz smiled, and let Susan, Juli, and Lucy make her into their personal Barbie doll.

Once they were done, even Liz had to admit, she looked good. The dress they had ordered was (what else?) purple. It ended just below her knees, and was fitted to the waist. After that, the skirt fanned out slightly, but still classy. It was the royal purple that Liz absolutely loved. Her hair was left to its natural curly state, and in true Liz fashion, she refused make-up. She had the purple diamond necklace and earrings that Peter had given her for Christmas that year. They were simple and elegant; everyone knew that she hated big, flashy jewelry.

It was time, and Liz was lead to the biggest terrace of the castle, one of the many that faced the sea, and the sunset. Peter was waiting, smiling, but rolling his eyes at the other three. They left, and Peter motioned for her to sit down. Chicken was at the table.

"Did you know about this?" Liz asked warily.

Peter shook his head, "Sorry, but I had nothing to do with it." He grinned, "It must have taken a while to plan though. Especially since they ordered that dress. Stephen wasn't supposed to tell me that though. He said something about he wasn't even supposed to know." Liz grinned, Stephen always could get into things he shouldn't.

"So, are you ready for marriage?" Liz asked challenging. "Because I am, and obviously, everyone else is ready for it." She met Peter's gaze head-on.

Peter got up, and came to her side. "You're ready. I'm ready. I've been waiting for this." He pulled out a box, and got on one knee. "Liz, will you marry me?" She nodded wordlessly, and he slid the ring onto her finger. The ring was gorgeous, with one purple diamond in the middle, two smaller blue ones on the side, and two smaller purple ones on the side of that. The gold band fit perfectly.

"Well, Susan and Juli will be happy," Liz, said, grinning at Peter from across the table.

"LIZ!!" Lucy screamed jumping on her bed. "Wake up! My birthday party's today!!" Liz rolled over and poked Peter.

"Wake up, you're sister's party is today," She said.

He turned to face her, "Leave me alone. She's screaming for you. Let me sleep." She stuck her tongue out at him, and got up. "See if I'll talk to you at the party then."

He lifted his head, "Of course you will, we're announcing our engagement." Before Liz could reply, Lucy dragged her out of the room, and into hers on the other side of the castle.

"I'm soooooo excited! Are you excited Liz?" Lucy was bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Liz managed a tired smile, "Of course. Just tired." Lucy beamed, and went to her closet, pulling out the dress she was to wear.

"Do you think it's ok?" She asked worriedly. It was a light blue dress, spaghetti strapped, and light. Perfect because it was summer.

"It's absolutely beautiful, Lu," Liz assured her. "And it's perfect for you."

Lucy smiled, and turned to her, "What are you wearing?"

Liz thought for a moment, and walked to the door, "Be back in a moment." She tiptoed back to the room, and came back carrying a gold dress. It was a "t-shirt" style for sleeves, and had a v-neck. It shimmered in the light, and brushed the floor. For these social occasions, all the women had to wear dresses that touches the ground; it was only proper. "It's going to be hot and humid today." Liz sighed; the fans would be going dangerously.

"Can you believe the nerve of her?" They whispered. "Showing up here like she owns the place!" More whispering followed. "We all knew they've been sleeping in the same bed for years!" Some "shhh" sounds followed this, but the voice continued. "I mean, some of us have been planning our whole lives with the notion that Peter would need to find a bride, and she come waltzing in-"

Liz couldn't take it anymore, and stood up, straight in the woman's face. She hadn't even realized who had been sitting there. "Would you like to finish that statement?" She growled dangerously. "Do you really want to push it?"

The woman opened her mouth, "Actually I-" She was cut off by Liz's angry screech, and Liz moving towards her. Stephen grabbed both of her arms and held her back.

"Elizabeth, calm down," He ordered.

She whipped around and spat nastily, "It's Liz." Stephen rolled his eyes, and led her away. She sat down in a chair, putting her head in her hands. "I'm so sorry."

Stephen pulled up a chair and sat down, rubbing her back. "It's okay, it's understandable." Liz shook her head and stood up.

"No, it's not." She was disgusted in her actions. "I'll be back." She walked back to the woman she nearly attacked and saw her tense as she got closer. Liz held her hands up in surrender. "I just came to say I'm sorry for the way I acted. It was inappropriate and I apologize." She looked down, staring at the shoes she had bought the day before.

"I'm sorry too," Liz looked up in surprise. "I shouldn't have said those things. It was disrespectful to you, as the Princess of Narnia. It was disrespectful to anybody." Liz smiled slightly, "I'm Madeline."

"Liz," She blushed and replied, "Well, you probably know that. I hope to speak to you again Madeline." The blonde-haired woman nodded, and Liz turned to find Peter.