Chapter Two: Moonlit Proposals

Peter

"You make me feel as no one has before," Peter said to Ethnee, as they stood in the castle's courtyard one night. The moonlight was not particularly flattering to Ethnee's looks – she was not that sort of beauty. Ethnee looked best in the sun, when the warmth heightened her rosy features and her smile echoed the day's cheerfulness. Still, Peter thought, she was plenty beautiful, even in the moonlight. He kissed her lovely, full lips, but after a moment, she drew away. Ethnee was always reluctant to give all but the most chaste of kisses. Peter knew that this was the best, but sometimes he felt nearly overcome by his passions.

"I feel that way too, Peter," she whispered, blushing and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You are always so kind and chivalrous to me. You – you are so different."

"Will you marry me?" Peter asked and was surprised to hear the words come out of his mouth. He hadn't planned it this way. He had wanted to ask Ethnee to marry him, yes, but he had planned to wait a little bit longer to be sure that he got everything just right. He had wanted to ask her father and to buy her a fine gift and to take her on the small lake near her home where they had first kissed and propose to her in the little boat. He was never this spontaneous! Peter didn't know what had come over him.

Ethnee put her hand to her chest and stepped back, unsteadily. Peter was afraid that she was going to swoon and he steadied her gently and helped her sit down on a bench. One of the things that he liked best about Ethnee was that she always seemed to need his help and protection. Ethnee enhanced his best qualities – his bravery and his chivalry. Peter took her small hand gently in both of his, concerned that he had upset her.

"Oh – oh, Peter. I – I wasn't expecting this."

Peter felt himself blush with embarrassment. "Well then. Er, forget I said anything." He drew away from her, but she caught him by the tunic with unusual force.

She seemed rather startled by the boldness of her action. "I don't think that I want to forget, Peter," her voice was filled with tenderness. Peter thought of what a good little wife she would make. He tilted her head up and kissed her tenderly.

Susan

"You are such a bore sometimes, Alberic," Susan groaned, rising from her bed in frustration and walking over to a mirror to pretend to fuss with her hair. Her hair was very long by now and could be done up in any number of styles. The current trend was to twist the hair quite unnaturally, high atop the head. Susan always had her hair fixed perfectly and even now, after the night's exertions, there was barely a strand out of place.

"You must be more practical," she went on, "it's all very well to talk of love, but now is not the time to be married. I'm not even eighteen yet and I'm not ready." She explained all this with a bit of impatience in her voice, but she thought that she could be excused for this. Alberic was constantly hinting that they should be married and she had told him no time and time again.

"Many women younger than you are married," Alberic objected. He always seemed entirely unable to understand Susan's feelings on the subject. "I just thought that perhaps the news of King Peter and Lady Ethnee would cause you to start thinking of things of this sort a bit more."

Susan sighed. If anything, Peter's announcement that he intended to marry Ethnee, made
her even less eager to take Alberic's proposals seriously. Susan saw the way that her brother looked at Ethnee and she knew, deep down inside, that she didn't have that with Alberic. A conversation that she had held with Edmund deflated her enthusiasm for Alberic even further. Edmund had reminded her that none of them were quite sure yet how consorts in Narnia would be treated in regards to status. Would they also become Kings and Queens of Narnia or would some lesser rank be bestowed upon them? It was very well for Peter to take a wife – and Ethnee was little threat -- but a Queen of Narnia must be more careful, Edmund had said without ever mentioning Susan in particular. Marrying incorrectly could possibly diminish her own influence with her subjects. Susan thought that this sounded very sensible and she was quite impressed with her little brother. Edmund had always been the most levelheaded of her siblings when he wasn't letting some petty emotion get the best of him.

Susan turned to face Alberic, completely nude, the moonlight streaming through the sheer curtains illuminating her form. Susan looked lovely in the moonlight, and she knew it. It always made her dark shine and her fair skin take on an almost ethereal quality. "You're upsetting me," she said, smiling at Alberic, "must we talk about this now?" She allowed her eyes to wander up and down his body. Alberic was really a marvelous looking man.

Seduction nearly always worked, but tonight, Alberic was having none of it. "Perhaps you don't want to speak of it because you would rather be with someone else," he muttered, his eyes narrowing. "You certainly still flirt with other men."

"You – you – how dare you, you petulant child!" Susan said loudly. "I've never been with anyone but you!" She felt tears come to her eyes. Susan always sensed that she was being blamed for something that she didn't do. If she were really a loose woman, it would be different – then she would merely be paying the price for having the fun – but even when she was a virgin, people had thought her a tramp. The men were lustful, the women jealous.

Susan pulled on her undergarments, not taking time to fully lace them up, and began looking for her robe.

"Susan!" Alberic said, softening. "Don't cry! Really, dear, I didn't mean it."

"You didn't mean it!" Susan asked choking on her tears and putting on her robe. "I'm leaving."

"This is your room. And you shouldn't be wondering about the castle at night in your state of dress. I'll leave." He got up, lazily from the bed and began looking for his clothes.

Susan had never intended to leave the room dressed as she was, but hearing the possessiveness of Alberic's words convinced her otherwise and she turned and walked out of the room.

"Susan!" her lover called, but of course he couldn't follow – he was still naked.

She was immediately calmer and soon stopped crying. She hadn't really been that upset anyway, just angry at Alberic's attitude. He was so uninteresting and impractical – Susan used to think that it was impossible to be both of these things at the same time, but somehow Alberic managed – and on top of this, he had developed a jealous, possessive streak that made Susan wonder if it was time to end their affair.

It was late and the castle was nearly empty, save for a few servants meandering about who looked at the spectacle of Queen Susan wandering around the castle in her night robe in disbelief. It wasn't that it was so very shocking to see a woman doing this – it was just that Susan always took such time to fix herself up before leaving her chambers. Susan went to a balcony on the second floor that overlooked the throne room that she liked to visit on sleepless nights. She always imagined being able to sit up here, unnoticed, and observe the goings on of court. It must look grand, from up here, when the throne room was full and she and her brothers and sister were seated upon the dais.

As Susan looked down on the throne room, she noticed that there was, of all things, a man sitting in her throne. He was lounging with his head titled back, his legs thrown over the arm of the throne, and his feet resting on the arm of Lucy's throne. Susan had no idea how he could have gotten past the guards. After studying him for another moment, she realized that he was studying her also.

"Sir," she said, trying to make her voice imposing and disdainful, "the Queen's throne is not a lounge chair. Get up immediately."

He obeyed her and hopped to his feet, walking toward her so that he was soon standing almost directly below her. Susan saw that he was probably several years older than she with a mane of shaggy blonde hair and a rather impudent smile. As he moved closer, his grin became even cheekier and Susan didn't like the way his eyes moved up and down her form. She was used to men admiring her form, but this went beyond that. This man stared at her as though he could see right through her garment – as though he knew what she looked like underneath! Susan pulled her robe closer to her body.

The man bowed to her. "I'm sorry, my lady," he said, innocently, "I was merely admiring the lovely stonework. It is – what – five hundred, six hundred years old? Carved by genuine Narnian dwarf masons, I believe?"

Peter or Edmund probably could have told him all about the stonework, but Susan really had no idea how old it was or who carved it. She didn't, however, need to let him know this. "Yes," she said, stiffly.

He laughed at her. Susan was not used to being laughed at. "How did you get past the guards?" she asked.

"Those two old centaurs standing outside? Why I merely walked through the door, straight between them. They were either asleep or blind."

"Don't be ridiculous," Susan said, irritably.

The man gave her an exaggerated bow. "It has been enchanting, Queen Susan, but I really must be going."

Susan's mouth dropped. "You knew who I was all the time! Why you – you – come back here!" Susan yelled, as he began to walk away. "Sir! Sir!" The man didn't turn back and he was soon gone.

Susan huffed in frustration. She turned and found that a wood nymph, apparently a servant, was standing in the hall, watching her. "You," Susan said, with much more force than usual, "who was that man?"

The creature jumped at Susan's uncharacteristically harsh voice, but she answered. "That's King Torim, Your Majesty."

"King?" Susan asked in surprise.

"Yes, The King of Terebinthia."

"Why haven't I seen him before?"

"He arrived just this evening, Majesty. You have – ah – been cloistered up in your room with Lord Alberic since early afternoon," this was said with an apologetic glance. Everyone knew about Susan and Alberic and it bothered Susan to no end. Tonight, however, she wasn't terribly upset.

"Ah, yes, Alberic," she said faintly. "I must get back to him."

Edmund

"You don't understand, Cade!" Edmund said in exasperation. "You didn't hear what he was saying about Susan!"

"Susan's a grown woman, Edmund. Everyone knows that she's already with Alberic. I say that she'll do what she likes no matter what some pitiful excuse for a King says."

Edmund flushed in anger. "Well, this pitiful excuse for a King may just punch that Torim fellow in the face."

Cade blinked in surprise. "I meant him, not you, silly. But I am surprised at you, Edmund. I always took your brother to be more the overprotective type."

Edmund frowned. "He is. Believe me, if he knew this – well, never mind. It's not really Susan having a lover that upsets me, it's the smug look that was on that man's face and what he said – that he would soon bed her – it was so disrespectful!"

"You worry too much."

"Yes," Edmund mused, a bit irritably "perhaps I need to stop worrying about Susan's lovemaking and begin some of my own." He locked eyes with Cade at this moment and realized his error. He hadn't meant the statement in that way, he had merely thought that perhaps he needed to begin courting, but Cade grinned broadly at him.

"Are you propositioning me, King Edmund?" he asked in delight. Edmund sighed. There had been several encounters between them since that first on Edmund's bed a few months ago, but they always occurred spontaneously, as though each were only for a night rather than part of a long lasting relationship. It meant that every time they were together Edmund faced the same moral dilemma. Each time he felt the same guilt and regret and the feeling that if he had just had a stronger will, he could have resisted this temptation. He knew that Cade still loved women, but was mostly content that he at least no longer spoke of them in Edmund's company.

In the end, he couldn't stand to say no to Cade.

Edmund stopped pacing about the castle garden and went and sat down near the young man. They kissed briefly. Cade seemed to enjoy his willingness; usually it was Cade who made the first move, Cade who had to convince Edmund. Edmund couldn't master his doubt, however.

"We shouldn't – it's wicked," Edmund whispered, more out of habit than anything else.

"Wicked?" Cade asked and Edmund saw that for once he wasn't being sarcastic or smarmy, but rather sounded curious and almost dreamy. Edmund shivered. The moon had just come up and in the moonlight, Cade's features always took on a look that almost scared Edmund, especially on the rare occasions when he was serious. There was something very cold about him – and not as though he was trying to be that way on purpose, but rather as though it was the natural state of his features. Cade was a somewhat rare breed. He wasn't one of the humans who had come to Narnia since the defeat of the White Witch, but one of the few men who had lived in Narnia prior to her reign. He had been turned to stone and was technically much older than the seventeen years that he claimed. On nights like this, Edmund wondered if he was entirely human. The aloof perfection of Cade's face and form reminded Edmund entirely too much of the water spirits and earth spirits that he had seen in Narnia. Cade never talked about his past and Edmund never asked.

A moment later, Cade was back to his same old jovial ways. "Wicked … wicked … wicked …" he mused, drawing out each word as though he had never heard it before. Edmund rolled his eyes. "If it's wicked then we simply must do it more often."

"I'm serious, Cade," Edmund said, but he smiled.

"I don't know where you came by this idea that it was so wicked," Cade yawned, "but I find it very tiresome."

"It is wicked. It's so wicked that people can't even speak of it in polite company."

"I never took you for the type to care so much about what people think."

"I'm not," Edmund muttered, "not usually, anyway."

Cade brought his hands to both sides of Edmund's face and kissed him gently. Edmund pulled away. "Anyone could see," he breathed, but there was a note of excitement to his voice. The danger of being caught was half the fun – ever since he was a small child, Edmund had always had a taste for the forbidden. Not, particularly because he enjoyed doing things that were wrong or bad, but because he liked testing the boundaries. He liked to see how much he could get away with. Since he came to Narnia, however, the excitement was always accompanied by a gnawing sense of fear and guilt. Edmund would always remember how quickly and how far things could get out of hand.

By now, Cade knew what Edmund liked. He placed a hand over Edmund's chest. "Your heart is racing," he whispered, then he grinned and before Edmund knew what was happening, they were kissing again.

Lucy

"You have been acting very peculiar lately, Lucy," Susan said, glancing over her shoulder at her sister, as she sat, brushing her hair at her mirror.

Lucy sighed. Of course, it would appear that way to Susan. Her barely suppressed jealousy and her desire to at least be a good friend to Roydon, if he didn't want her to be more had given her what must seem to be unusual mood swings whenever she was in Susan's presence.

"I don't know why you are on about this Roydon fellow, anyway. He simply isn't my type at all. He always has his head in the clouds. And you know I'm with Alberic," Susan rolled her eyes as she spoke Alberic's name.

Lucy took her sister by the hand and looked at her sincerely. "But I know that you don't love Alberic – Su, it's so obvious that you don't – don't you want to be with someone who you can love?"

Susan frowned and pulled away, looking as though she hadn't really even thought of it all that much. "Well, yes, I suppose. I don't think that I could love this Roydon, though. If, if, I wanted to try someone else, I should want someone who was more down to earth than Alberic, not less. Besides," Susan finished with a titter, as though trying to cheer Lucy up with a joke, "Roydon's not even that handsome."

Susan's words, of course, had the opposite of their intended effect on Lucy. Lucy felt so rejected by Roydon and now here was Susan saying that he wasn't even that handsome anyway! "He is too handsome!" Lucy exclaimed, "Much handsomer than Alberic or half the idiots who court you! And he's smarter than them. And nicer. And – and –" Lucy dissolved into tears and threw herself down onto Susan's bed.

"Lucy!" Susan said in amazement, rising to comfort her sister. She looked down at Lucy and seemed to realize, with growing amazement, what was wrong with the girl. "Oh, Lucy, Lucy. You're sweet on him? I didn't know …" Lucy looked up at her sister through tear-filled eyes. There was moonlight streaming through the windows and Susan always looked gorgeous in the moonlight – and Lucy always felt even paler by comparison. Especially when she was red-cheeked and puffy-eyed from crying. Lucy began to weep again.

"There, there," Susan went on, stroking her hair like a mother, but when Lucy looked up at her sister, she saw a sort of half-smile on her face. The sort of smile that said "how cute, Lucy likes a boy". It was unbearable.

"Oh go away!" Lucy spat, viciously, "you don't know what I feel like!"

Lucy could tell that Susan wanted to give her sisterly words of comfort. To tell her that she understood completely and that every girl gets rejected now and again. The only problem was that it wasn't true and they both knew it. Susan had never been rejected by a man.

"Come now, Lucy," Susan said, "there are plenty of boys who would be glad to court you. I've seen young men looking at you before – I just didn't know that you were interested in looking back yet."

"I haven't seen anyone looking at me in that way."

"Oh, but they do," Susan said confidently, "you just seem so young and innocent and pure that I think they afraid to say anything. I shall have to teach you how to flirt. Peter's dour looks probably help scare them off as well. Why, if you let me teach you, you'll soon have a whole score of suitors."

Lucy raised her eyebrows in alarm, her tears now mostly gone. "I don't think that I want a whole score. I just want him. I can't help it – I just want him."