Okay, I really enjoy making the characters speak using that formal, archaic tone like C.S. Lewis did during HAHB, but I didn't have them use that language all the time. They pretty much only use it when they are talking to foreign dignitaries like Rabadash, though they also use it when they are teasing each other.
And I am going to put in a lot of references to Amber's cooking (this isn't a reflection on me, I actually love to cook. Just thought I'd throw that out there). The idea is that Amber is a terrible cook. The Pevensies will allude to different scenarios involving this particular flaw, so I wanted to make sure you understand as they do. The gist is that Edmund was first burned, then poisoned by Amber's food, so he never really lets her live it down. Just so you know.
Enjoy! And please review!
Chapter 2: Dinner with the Prince
That evening, as Amber was was headed up to their private drawing room, she spied Susan and Rabadash. The two were parting at a nearby gate. She hailed the Queen as soon as Rabadash's head was turned, and Susan walked over to the Tigress.
"Hello, Amber," Susan said dreamily.
"Hi, Su! Sorry you had to spend the whole day with him. You're a real sport."
"Oh, but it wasn't half as bad as all that!" Susan replied. "In fact, it was precisely the opposite of what I had expected. Oh, Amber, Rabadash is so sweet, especially once you get to know him. Do you know that he has won every tournament he's ever entered? I believe it; he's so strong. And he's so handsome!" And arrogant, Amber thought.
"He has been talking about Calormen, and it sounds so lovely. There are river parties nearly every day in Tashbaan. And the palaces are said to be the grandest in the world. And Rabadash said that oranges grow there, in abundance. He said that you could walk under any tree there, and reach up and pick some kind of citrus fruit. Imagine, Amber! Rabadash has hinted that he might invite me to visit; I think I'd like to. Wouldn't you?"
"I've rarely heard you talk so much and so fast, Su," Amber said, hoping to turn the subject away from Calormen and Rabadash.
"Oh, Amber, I simply can't help myself! At first I thought that Rabadash's proposal was just another ploy to get my crown, but now I think it was genuine! He's been ever so kind and I really do want to know him better. I've invited him to dine with us tonight. You'll be sure to tell the others when you see them, won't you? I must go down and make sure that the cook knows." Susan fairly ran off, to get things in order for dinner. I hope Susan doesn't get too carried away with this, Amber thought. She knew that Susan had a romantic mindset, but it rarely clouded her vision so!
Amber sighed and hurried up to change before meeting Peter, Edmund, and Lucy in the drawing room. Normally, she wouldn't have bothered, but since Rabadash would be joining them, she thought it best to dress nicely. Amber found a dress of soft yellow that reminded her of spring. After styling her hair, she hurried to the drawing room.
"Hello, Amber," Peter greeted jovially. "You haven't seen Su, have you?"
"Yes, I have, and she's invited Rabadash to sup with us, so go make yourselves presentable. I'll not have that Prince insulting Narnia because her Kings and Queens don't know how to dress for company. Come on, Lucy, and I'll do up your hair. We need to hurry, supper's in half an hour. And Edmund - by the Mane, would you please do something with that hair!" Amber tended to get very cross when taken by surprise - and a cross Tigress, in her human form or otherwise, is never anything to mess with- so the boys scrambled to escape the ruffled young woman while Lucy quickly followed her out of the drawing room.
"There's nothing wrong with my hair!" Amber heard Edmund complain as they separated. She rolled her eyes and marched Lucy into her bedroom.
Lucy quickly changed into a pretty dark blue dress that complimented her blond curly hair perfectly. Amber pulled it out of the Queen's face and let it fall freely down her back. She then placed Lucy's crown on her head and the two met the boys right before they entered the dining hall. Amber was relieved to see that Edmund had managed to hide his ghastly cowlick with his crown.
Since Susan and Rabadash had already entered, Amber walked in on Peter's arm, and Edmund escorted Lucy. Rabadash stood as the four entered the room. His eyes lingered confusedly on Amber for a moment.
"O great King Peter," he said, still eyeing the Tigress, "forgive me, but I was under the impression that I would be dining with only the royal family tonight." Amber tensed up, but relaxed when Peter squeezed her arm against his side.
"The Lady Amber Tigress is as much our family as our very own Queen Susan," Peter replied smoothly. "She is our wisest councillor and dearest friend. She shall always be welcome at the table of Narnia's King." Peter's words resounded in the great feasting hall, and Amber could tell then and there that something big had just occurred. She wondered why the rest of them hadn't noticed. She let Peter lead her up to her usual chair, which was between himself and Edmund (this was purely out of necessity; for though Peter and Edmund were both great and wise Kings, they were still brothers, so, inevitably, they fought like brothers. And while Susan was fairly good at keeping them from fighting, she often got dragged into the argument herself, which was counterproductive. Lucy found too much amusement in the scuffles to be of much help, which left Amber as the only one who could ever stop them). Peter was seated across from Susan, Amber was across from the Prince, and Edmund faced Lucy. Susan and Rabadash spent most of the meal speaking to each other, with little regard to the others. This resulted in an awkward silence around the rest of the table.
Simply to provide a topic for conversation, Amber said, "Queen Lucy, isn't Prince Corin supposed to arrive before the end of the week?"
Lucy perked up and answered, "Oh! Yes, and I am so excited! I think it has been far too long since we have seen the dear Prince. I wonder how much he has grown this past year. Once a year is too rare to see such a good friend. Perhaps he shall have learned to beat King Edmund at chess."
"I doubt that, madam," Edmund laughed. "As much as the young Prince is a good boy, he is not known for using his head. It will be a very strange day when he can beat any of us at chess."
"Well, even Prince Corin can beat me," Amber interjected. "Chess is not my best subject."
"Neither is cooking," whispered Edmund across the table to Lucy. He had suffered the most from Amber's cooking skills- or rather, lack thereof- and took every chance he could to remind her. Unfortunately, he had not taken into account the fact that Amber had very good hearing, and he struggled to keep a neutral face as she violently kicked him in the shin.
"Why is the Lady Amber called Tigress?" asked Rabadash congenially. Amber caught Peter's eyes and shook her head slightly. She didn't want Rabadash to know about her being a Feline-Child.
"Our Lady is so called because of her unmatched prowess in battle," Peter answered. "She fights with the fierceness of a Tiger. Aslan himself knighted her."
"You allow your women to fight?" Rabadash was clearly surprised.
Amber's eyes flashed dangerously. Women were not possessions! Apparently Peter was thinking along the same lines, for he said, "We do not speak of the women here as possessions, Prince. The women of Narnia are fierce warriors, if they have reason to be. Even the gentle Queen Susan is a formidable archeress, though she rarely joins us in the field of battle. But Lady Amber is by far one of Narnia's finest warriors."
"Battles are ugly affairs, though," Rabadash stated, taking a different tactic. "Surely, a woman would want to shield herself from such brutality."
"Well, of course any decent person would want to avoid any kind of bloodshed," Amber said coolly, "but if war ensues, Narnia will need every creature that can fight to defend her. Of course, women do not have to fight if they do not wish it - Queen Susan herself is proof of that - but I have no qualms about fighting if it means that Narnia will survive another day."
"As King Peter has already pointed out, though," Susan interjected, "very few women here do choose to fight. Lady Amber is one of the few who go to battle regularly."
"She is an invaluable General," said Edmund. "She and King Peter are primarily responsible for Narnia's constant victory." Amber blushed. She was glad that the Kings thought so highly of her, but she did wish that the attention would turn away from her. She preferred to be in the background, not the spotlight. Lucy caught her friend's eye, and promptly changed the subject. Amber mouthed a silent 'thank you' to the girl, and the meal continued. Amber mostly kept silent; she didn't like the attention of the Prince. The way he looked at her made her feel like he was evaluating her, much like one would evaluate a horse before a purchase. She wondered if Lucy or Susan felt this way. She would be sure to ask later.
"Are you and the Lady Amber seeing each other, King Peter?" Rabadash asked a little later. Amber choked. Peter worriedly patted her back, trying to dislodge the food. Amber hurriedly took a drink of wine.
"No, of course not," she replied, when she had caught her breath. "Why would you ask this, your Highness?"
"I was merely curious," he said nonchalantly. Amber though it might be a trick of the light, but she thought she might have seen a… an almost greedy look in the Prince's eyes. "The High King escorted you in, Milady, and when you sat together, I simply assumed that you were…"
"No… no, the Lady and I are dear friends…but nothing more," Peter said, though Amber did not miss the well-masked wistful tone in the High King's voice.
The Tigress knew very well that Peter wanted to marry her, but she would not consent. Peter respected her decision, but he did not understand it. Amber knew that she would outlive anyone she would ever wish to marry. She would not want to remain a teenager while her husband grew old and gray, and she knew that if she committed herself to anyone, she would not be able to live with herself after he had died. So she had decided not to marry at all.
Amber excused herself as soon as possible, declaring that she had important matters to attend to. She made her way up to the private drawing room and busied herself tidying up. She successfully reorganized the bookshelves, and meticulously straightened every pillow and ornament in the room before Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy finally entered.