narnia / year 1011

word count: 1,163

xXx

Corin skipped through the arching golden corridors of Cair Paravel, wintery light pouring in from peaked windows towering to the east, the scuff of his footfalls echoing as he bounded around a pillar and spotted exactly who he'd been looking for all morning.

"Susan!" he called, and broke into a sprint for the low arched doorway where the woman glanced up from a slender tree boy, the bustles of her deep green skirts swishing as she turned and dark doe-eyes landed on him.

Something sober flashed in her expression before she glanced back to the dryad and said "Yes, thank you, your help has been most appreciated."

The boy smiled and bowed and turned through the doors, disappearing into the hall just as Corin skidded to a stop beside Queen Susan.

"Who was that?"

"Oh," she said airily, averting her eyes to gaze up into the archway, "he was just helping me to string up some decorations."

Corin followed her eyes to the greenery hung over the door, tracing the shape of the arch with a tiny bundle of pale green stems and white berries at its center. "Why didn't you ask me?"

"Because things of this sort require care and consideration, not daring acrobatic feats."

"Ah." He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "So you are still mad at me."

She glanced over at him and then quickly away again. "Don't be silly, I've never been mad at you."

"Well there's a fabrication if ever I've heard one. You'll have to come up with a better story than that, my Queen, I question only whether your grievance against me is new or old. You've hardly spoken to me in all three days I've been back at the Cair, why— I fear I'll go home again without ever knowing what I've done to offend you!"

"Don't be ridiculous," said Susan, though a slight pink flush crept into her pale cheeks, nearly identical to the color that had graced her delicate face the last time he'd seen her, earlier that year when they'd docked safely in their own quay after that desperate escape from Tashbaan.

She'd been particularly cross over his exploits in the city, though his plea that it had all been in defense of her honor seemed reluctantly to soften her eyes, even if she did keep up a sternly concerned exterior. The cold shoulder she showed him now seemed a very different sort of torment.

He'd been meaning to visit again all year, though such plans were rather easily derailed when one suddenly found oneself in possession of a twin brother and a lifetime of catching up to do.

"I'm sorry for riding into battle, okay? Is that what you want to hear?"

Susan pursed her lips and crossed her arms. "And?"

"And…?"

The Gentle Queen raised a graceful brow in challenge, and Corin sighed.

"And I'm sorry for taking Cor with me."

"Do you mean that?"

He hesitated.

"Corin!"

"I mean the part about Cor!" he cried, straightening up from the wall and motioning emphatically with both hands. "How was I supposed to know he couldn't fight? At least I'm teaching him now, and anyway, I did help in the battle, no matter what Edmund says, and I can't be sorry for defending my home against self important brutes like Rabadash!"

Susan watched him in uncertain consternation, and Corin bit his lip when he realized he'd nearly been shouting.

At last, she sighed. "I suppose that's the best apology I can hope for, coming from you."

He bounced on the balls of his feet. "So you like me again?"

"I have never ceased liking you, playmate, that is precisely why you worry me so."

He grinned. "I shall endeavor not to be too terribly worrisome, then. At least not until next year, but I don't think I can help it very much, so I do hope you will be forgiving if I inadvertently cause you any concern."

Susan laughed, a gentle, airy, musical sound, and Corin's grin widened.

"How could I refuse such a nobly intended promise?"

"You can't, I offer it from the depths of my soul."

Susan laughed again, and clasped his fingers in her smaller, softer, paler hands. "I have missed you terribly, no matter how my worries have torn me every which way. How are things at home? Your father mentioned in his letters that your brother is settling in well."

"Oh, yes, splendidly—though I do think Father rather favors Aravis over either of us, now," he giggled. "It's terrifying, you know, how well they get on."

"I'll have to meet her soon," said Susan. "And Cor, of course, though I suppose we did meet in Tashbaan."

"Yes, when you thought he was me."

"I should've known it was impossible," she said primly, "he was sweet and quiet as a mouse."

"I shall thank the Lion, then, that I am neither."

Susan tutted, but she could not entirely suppress her fond smile.

"Is that a new dress?" he asked before she could chide him, and Susan glanced down at her own silky evergreen gown.

"Yes," she beamed at once, "I had it made only this month, do you like it?"

"I do not think the humblest garment has any choice but to look royal on you," he grinned, and then glanced up into the archway. "You match the door."

Susan followed his gaze from the tiny pearls sewn into her neckline to the white berries peeking out from the garland overhead. She giggled. "Yes, I suppose I do. Do you know what mistletoe is?"

Corin looked back down at her and shook his head.

"In my old world, it is said that any man and any woman who find themselves standing beneath a sprig of mistletoe may kiss, and if either one denies it, they will have terribly bad luck."

"What kind of bad luck?"

Susan cocked her head thoughtfully. "I don't know. I'm not even quite sure why I've retained such a tradition from a place about which I remember so little else. But I suppose it makes me happy, to keep it alive here."

Corin smiled. "Does that mean I get a kiss?"

Susan squinted doubtfully. "It's any man and woman, my dear."

"I count as a man! I'm nearly fifteen!"

And again, Queen Susan could not quite suppress the fond smile that tugged at her pink lips. She leaned down very carefully to the boy who had now nearly surpassed her in height, and planted a soft kiss on his cheek before straightening up again. "Will that suffice, your Highness?"

Corin grinned unabashedly at the attention. "I suppose so," he said very wisely—or at least, in a concerted effort to sound grown up. "For now. Wouldn't want to find out about that bad luck, you know."

"No," said Susan with equal false pomp, and a tiny knowing grin, "I do believe you create enough of that on your own, dearest Prince."