Just a little one-shot idea I had featuring Sophie, Peter, and the first snow in Narnia since the White Witch's rule. Told from Sophie's POV.
I woke up one morning to snow softly falling outside my window. I blinked a few times in confusion and stared out the window at the white flakes gently falling from the grey sky. "Melisande!" I called out for my lady-in-waiting.
"What is it, Sophie?" Melisande asked concernedly, hurrying into my room.
"Please tell me that's not snow out there," I said, pointing a finger towards my window.
Melisande glanced out the window and back towards me. "That's snow," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm not surprised, though, what with Christmas only a few days away and all..."
"Christmas?" I said in surprise.
Melisande raised one eyebrow. "You've been working harder on those trade agreements with Galma than I thought. Christmas is five days away, to be exact. Haven't you noticed the palace staff begin preparations?"
"No," I said rather sheepishly.
"You need to get a life," Melisande said bluntly. "Now then. Are you getting up now or shall you be sleeping longer?"
"I can't afford to sleep longer," I said. "Peter and I have to finish those trade agreements this week. Help me dress, will you?"
"Seeing as that's why I'm paid, of course," Melisande said with a hint of sarcasm. "Something practical today?"
"Yes, please," I said. "Perhaps the grey dress?"
"Heavens, no, you're not wearing that old rag," Melisande said. "This one will look far better on you." She held up a dark green dress that was still quite practical. "Besides, it's warmer than the grey."
"Fine," I said, rolling my eyes as I climbed out of bed, shivering as my bare feet hit the floor. "I hate the cold."
"Get used to it," was Melisande's candid advice.
A few minutes later I found myself briskly walking into Peter's office only to find him staring out of the window at the snow. "Yes, Peter, it's snowing; now let's get these trade agreements finished," I said brusquely, sitting down in a chair.
"Last time there was snow in Narnia the Witch ruled over it," Peter said, not turning around.
"You're right," I said. "We can talk about that later, though. For now these trade agreements need to be taken care of."
"We didn't have to worry about trade agreements a year ago," Peter said, reluctantly turning around and coming over to his desk.
"No, we didn't," I said absently as I looked over a document. "But we do now."
"Do you remember that snowball fight we had when we first came to Narnia?" Peter said, sitting down next to me.
I looked up from the document I was reading. "Yes?"
"It was so much fun," Peter said.
"It was," I agreed. "Trade agreements. Now."
"All right," Peter said, picking up another document. "It would be such fun, though - "
"You're trying to distract me, aren't you," I said accusingly.
"I'd never do that," Peter said in a mock-affronted tone of voice.
"You would," I said. "You want us to go out in the snow and have a snowball fight as if we're children with no responsibilities and not a king and his advisor who are supposed to be working on a trade agreement with Galma!"
There was dead silence for a moment. Then Peter looked up at me with a hint of disappointment. "I suppose it is too much to ask for."
I felt a twinge of guilt and felt rather annoyed at it. Feeling guilty because Peter wanted to have a silly snowball fight instead of finishing important trade agreements that needed to get done as soon as possible? It was absurd. And yet I felt the slightest bit of guilt.
"Perhaps after we get the trade agreements done..." I trailed off.
"Or we could go out right now," Peter said.
I could feel my resistance slip away. "Or after..." I said weakly.
"Or right now," Peter said, a hopeful look upon his face.
I couldn't resist any longer. "I suppose the trade agreements can wait a little while," I said reluctantly.
No sooner than those words had left my mouth than Peter had jumped up and pulled me along with him as he rushed to the nearest door outside. "You won't regret it!" Peter promised as we hurried along.
"I doubt that," I said breathlessly. "I don't even have a proper cloak on or anything!"
"Don't worry about that," Peter said as we reached a huge oaken door at the end of a corridor. He pulled it open and a rush of cold air blew in along with dancing snowflakes. I shivered in the face of the cold and was about to protest again, but before I could do that Peter had grabbed my hand and pulled me out into the snow with him.
"It's cold," I pouted, standing still as soon as Peter had let go of my hand. I turned to go inside, but I had only taken a few steps towards the door when I felt something cold and wet hit my back. "Ahh!" I shrieked and whirled around to see a laughing Peter. "You'll pay for that!" I yelled, scooping up a handful of snow and throwing it back at Peter.
Soon we were engaged in a full-scale snowball fight even though neither of us had the proper winter clothing on and I only had some silk slippers on. I'm sure the residents of Cair Paravel were entertained by watching us out of the windows. I could've cared less, however; for a few short minutes I forgot all of the work that Peter and I had to do, and the only thing I was focused on was hitting Peter with as many snowballs as I could.
It all ended very quickly, however, when I slipped on an icy patch and my ankle gave way beneath me. I landed hard on my bottom and all I could think of for a moment was the sharp pain in my ankle. "Oh-hh," I moaned.
In an instant Peter was at my side. "What happened?" he asked in concern.
"My ankle," I gasped. "I think it's sprained."
"I'll help you get inside," Peter said, picking me up in his strong arms and heading towards the door we came through. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be," I said, trying not to focus on the pain. "That was terribly fun."
"But if I hadn't insisted on us going outside instead of working on the trade agreements this wouldn't have happened," Peter said.
"I have no regrets," I said, and then added slyly, "And besides. Now that my ankle's most likely sprained, there's no reason for us to not work on those trade agreements."
"I should've known you were going to say that," was all that Peter had to say.
I know I should have been working on the next chapter of When the Time is Right, but the idea for this popped into my head and I had to write it. Enjoy!
~ The Authoress