Hey everyone! So, first off, I am really, really sorry about not updating in such a long time. This past month was killer school wise. Thankfully, I am now done my second year of university and am on summer vacation. I will be able to update way more.
Secondly, I would like to thank the following person for their review:
Wisham497: Thank you! I love getting feedback! I'm really glad you like this story. I've read some pretty good Edmund/Oc stories myself, so for you to say that this is a good one makes me smile. Thanks again for the review.
Thirdly, and lastly, I would like to give ChocolatSugar, my wonder beta, a big thank you in helping me with my story. You are awesome!
Now, enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own The Chronicles of Narnia. If I did, there would be a book about the Golden Age.
Careful What You Wish For
Chapter Nine: More Shopping and Dance Lessons
"So, I'm pretty sure you only won because you cheated," I said to Lucy, as we slowly made our way down the main street of the town.
"Like I said before, I didn't cheat because you didn't say that we had to wait till the count of three," Lucy said, refusing to believe anything else.
We looked at each other for a minute before I cracked a smile, which caused her to smile in return. Aslan definitely gave her the right title. She was determined, which some people back in my world would have mistaken for stubbornness.
"Okay, you won fair and square….I guess," I said, "So, where exactly are we headed too?"
"We have to go pick up some flower samples, some napkin samples and Susan wants me to pick up this new book for her."
"Don't you guys have a library somewhere in that palace?" I asked Lucy. I still hadn't been able to explore the castle.
"Yes, we do, but Su has read all the books that catch her interest," Lucy said, waving to a little beaver.
"Speaking of catching her interest, what is up with her and Caspian?" I asked, watching Lucy's face to see if I had overstepped my bounds. She just looked at me with a smile on her face.
"So, you noticed too?"
"Yes, Lu, I have," I said. Anything with half a brain and a pair of eyes could have seen it. I kept that comment to myself.
I hadn't had much of a chance to talk with either of them for long, but the times that I've seen them together, they would look at each other with sheep eyes.
"I don't know why they don't just start courting already," Lucy said, sighing in exasperation, "Well, actually I know of three reasons."
"Oh? What are those three reasons?" I asked.
"Well, the first one is that they both like each other, but won't admit it to one another."
I nodded my head, "And the other two?"
"Peter and Edmund; they are very protective of us when it comes to suitors," Lucy said, shaking her head, and then turned into a store that sold napkins and other kinds of cloth.
"Isn't that in their job description as brothers?" I asked, running my hands along some cotton material.
"I guess," Lucy said, "But Su has gotten the worst of it. Pretty much all of the suitors that have come calling, have come for her, since I am not of age yet."
"When do you become of age?"
"When you turn eighteen, you have a big coming out ball. It is quite remarkable really," Lucy said, before turning to talk with the store owner.
Taking a look around, I noticed that this place actually sold silk napkins.
"Would someone actually use these?" I asked Striker, who was standing beside me. Reepicheep was with Lucy.
"I guess some people must if they are being sold," Striker said, "You humans have some very weird cleaning habits."
"Says the one that licks himself to get clean," I said teasingly, smirking at Striker.
"Well, you work with what you have got," he said, smiling.
"This is true," I said, then noticed that more people were coming into the store. I quickly found Lucy and told her that I would just wait outside. I wasn't doing anything in the store anyways, and it was getting really busy.
Exiting the store, I went and looked at the different stalls that were setup outside the stores. Striker followed after me, taking his duty as guard very seriously.
"This is really pretty," I said, picking up a necklace from a stall that was selling jewelry.
The necklace was silver and had a little white gem that hung off of what looked to be a heart made out of woven metal.
"I didn't really take you for the jewelry type," Striker said, as I examined the necklace.
"Well, I don't wear it often because I am usually doing some activity where it isn't sensible for me to wear jewelry, but I do like to wear it when I can. It is usually just a necklace though," I replied, before turning to the faun, "Excuse me, how much for this necklace?"
"It is fifteen gold pieces," the faun said.
"Okay, thank you," I said, feeling a little saddened. I didn't have that much money with me, and there was no way that I was letting Lucy buy me it. She, and everyone else, had already done more than enough. Placing it back onto the counter, I gestured to Striker, and we went and stood by the entrance to the napkin store. Lucy still hadn't made an appearance yet.
"Did you not like that necklace?" Striker asked, sitting on his haunches.
"I did, but I can't afford it."
"I am sure Queen Lucy would buy it for you if you asked."
I shook my head. "No, she has already done enough. Plus, I don't need the necklace."
Striker opened his mouth to reply, but, just then, Lucy and Reepicheep exited the store.
"Finally," Lucy said, shifting the basket in her hands, "I thought that would never end."
"Why did it take so long? Do you want some help?" I asked, watching her.
"No, no," she said, waving her hand, "It is only napkins. It took so long because Su order so many, and she couldn't find some of them. She did eventually, which is good."
"That's good," I said, as we made our way down the street, towards a stall that was selling flowers.
"Could you hang onto these, please?" Lucy asked when we had reached the merchant.
"Sure," I said, taking the basket so that Lucy could do her business.
Taking a peek into the basket, I saw that there were tons of napkin samples. Looking at the pile, I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows. Susan really got into planning when it came to balls if the napkin sample was any indication.
After two minutes, Lucy had selected the flower samples that Susan had ordered, and we made our way to the bookstore. The flowers were going to be sent to the palace with a delivery person.
I thought this was a good thing because the flowers probably wouldn't have made it back in good condition if I had to hold onto them.
"Hello, Queen Lucy," said a little old, human man. "Who is your friend?"
"Hello, Mr. Mirano. This is Christine. Christine, this is Mr. Mirano."
"Nice to meet you," I said, giving a curtsey.
"The pleasure is mine," Mr. Mirano said before turning to Lucy, "So; I am guessing that Queen Susan is in need of another book?"
"Yes," Lucy said, laughing, before asking Mr. Mirano if he had the book that Susan was looking for.
"I take it Susan purchases books from her quite a bit?" I asked Reepicheep and Striker.
"Yes," Reepicheep said, "I have never seen someone read as much as Queen Susan, though King Edmund does come close sometimes. That is, when they don't have any duties to take care of."
"Wow, and I thought I read a lot," I said, before Mr. Mirano returned with the book.
"Thank you, Mr. Mirano," Lucy said, handing him some gold pieces when she took the book, "Susan will be overjoyed."
"It is always a great service to serve your royal highnesses," he said, bowing to her.
Saying our goodbyes, Lucy, Reepicheep, Striker and I exited the store.
"That didn't take long at all," Lucy said, as we walked. "Peter didn't need to tell me to be back before dark. We will be back in plenty of time."
"So, who is all coming to this ball?" I asked Lucy as we went to fetch the horses.
"People from Archenland and Calormen; most of the Narnians and you three," she said. "Though, some royals from Calormine are coming a few days earlier."
"Why?" I asked, as I swung up into the saddle.
"The Calormen king requested a talk with us, and because the relationship between Calormen and Narnia is rather fragile, Peter agreed to avoid any disagreements," Lucy said, not looking thrilled at all. "You are so lucky you don't have to be present. It is really dull, and, between you and me, those royals are right snobs. The ladies are no better, either."
"You have my deepest sympathy," I said,
"Thanks."
"What is the ball itself like?" I asked Lucy, after we had been riding in silence for ten minutes. Since there was tons of daylight left, we were taking the ride at a leisurely pace.
"Oh, the balls are lots of fun," Lucy said, grinning at me. "The music and dancing are wonderful, and everyone has a splendid time. Well, everyone except Edmund."
"He doesn't enjoy the balls?"
"He enjoyed balls until he became of age. Ever since then, he has hated them. This is due to the fact that the ladies now throw themselves at him. He says that it is really annoying, and makes it hard to enjoy the ball, when you have someone telling you their life story."
"I can see how that would make balls less appealing."
Lucy nodded, and then frowned, "Some of the girls that try to get Edmund's attention are not what he needs. They just want him for his title. They tried to go for Peter, but when he rejected them, they go for Ed. It is rather sad."
"None have tried to go for Caspian?"
"People can see that Su likes him, so they don't try it," Lucy said.
"Lucky guy," I said, "So, has anyone caught your interest?"
"No, not yet," Lucy said, "Which is probably a good thing because Peter would go crazy. What about you? Do you have someone?"
"Nope," I said, "Still single."
"Maybe you will meet someone at the ball."
"Maybe, though I'm not really one for long distance relationships. Plus, what would happen if I do meet a guy, and then Jenn, Cody and I have to go back home?"
"You make a good point," Lucy said, "I guess we will just have to see what happens."
"Yeah," I said, before switching topics.
After twenty minutes of riding, the palace came into view. As we neared the castle, I brought Apollo to a stop, and climbed off.
"What are you doing, Chris?" Lucy asked, turning to look at me.
"I decided that I want to walk the rest of the way. I haven't had a proper chance to look at the grounds," I said, looking up at her.
"Okay," Lucy said, "I need to deliver these samples to Su, so I shall see you at the lessons."
"What lessons?" I asked, as she was walking away, with Apollo following.
"Your etiquette and dance lessons!" she yelled back.
"When was this planned?" I yelled, but got no reply because she was out of hearing range. Sighing, I looked at Striker, "Any chance that they would forget about it, if I went and hide?"
Striker shook his head, "They will probably just send the wolves to find you."
"Great," I said, before starting off.
"My feet hurt," I said, flopping down onto the ground that was shaded by a cherry blossom tree.
"Well, what do you expect? You had been walking for thirty minutes, exploring the grounds," Striker said, from where he was laying.
"That is true," I said, taking of my shoes, and rubbing my sore feet.
Once the pain had disappeared, I fell back onto the ground, closing my eyes. Striker way lying next to me, yet neither of us spoke. We just enjoyed the fresh air and the sounds. I could hear bees, and the muffled voices of people talking, but the thing that I heard the clearest was the sound of music. It sounded like it was coming from an acoustic guitar. I was feeling too lazy to go and investigate, so I just enjoyed the music.
I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, I could feel someone poking my shoulder. Opening my eyes, I turned my head to see Striker, and a small brown rabbit, looking at me.
"You have got to be one of the hardest people to wake up," he said when he saw that I was awake. "I've been trying to wake you up for the past five minutes. Luckyfoot says that it is time for your lessons."
"Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically, standing up. As we walked into the castle, I couldn't help but wonder what the parents of Luckyfoot were thinking when they named him or her that. Mind you, I've heard some weird human names too.
"What took you so long?" Jenn asked when Striker, Luckyfoot and I entered the ballroom/throne room.
"The lady decided to take a nap, and is rather hard to wake up," Luckyfoot said.
"I thought you and Cody had gone to the beach?" I asked, sitting by Jenn and Lucy.
"We did, but we came back early, and then Susan told me about these lessons," Jenn said. "Cody gets free time till the dancing lessons.
"Enough talking," the woman said, "I am Lydia, and I have come upon the request of Queen Susan to teach you girls how to be ladies. The first lesson is to be on time." She looked pointedly at me. "Ladies are never late for anything."
For the next two hours, Jenn and I were put through lady-like boot camp, and I mean that literally.
"This woman is harsh," I whispered to Lucy, as I walked back and forth for Lydia.
"She's strict, but she helped Su and me. She means well," Lucy said looking at me sympathetically before Lydia spoke.
"Stand up straight, girl! You aren't carrying a huge weight on your shoulders! Shoulders back! Head up!"
"I feel completely ridiculous!" I said, walking again, doing as she said.
"Put this on your head," she said, handing me a book.
Repressing the urge to say 'Yes, Ma'am', I grabbed the book and placed it on my head. Needless to say, it didn't stay there. I was picking the book up, when the doors opened, and in came Cody, Edmund, Peter and Caspian.
"Ladies do not pick up books like a man! Do it gracefully!" Lydia barked at me.
My fingers clenched around the book, as my annoyance started to turn to anger. She had been on my case the most, and it was getting on my last nerve. I bit down on my tongue, to keep my thoughts from turning into words.
Placing the book back on my head, and managing to keep it there, I walked to where Lucy was standing.
"You aren't a piece of wood! Don't walk so stiffly!" Lydia said.
Clenching my teeth, I tried to loosen up my posture, but that is not really easy to do when you're mad. I walked back and forth four more times before Lydia said that we were done for the day.
"For the day?" Jenn asked, once Lydia had left. "You mean that we have to do that again?"
"Lydia wants to work with you for one more day," Susan said to Jenn, then turned to me, "She thinks that you will need a few more days of work."
"Yippee," I said sarcastically, slamming the book onto the table.
"So, I say it's safe to say that you don't like her," Cody said, walking over to us.
"No shit, Sherlock," I said, taking a few deeps breaths to calm myself, and muttering some rather unladylike things about Lydia.
"Now, Christine, it isn't ladylike to swear," Edmund said, wagging his finger at me. I felt my eye twitch.
"Yeah, well, I'm not changing how I act because some old toad says that I have too," I said, before crossing the room to get to the door.
"Where are you going?" Susan asked, "Your dance lessons start soon."
"I'll be back. I just need to go let my anger out," I said, before leaving the room.
I walked to the armory, and grabbed a training sword. Then I looked for the dummy that Susan uses for her target practice. After locating it in a corner, I took the dummy and set it up in the training grounds. Once it was set up, I practiced my swordsmanship on it. Needless to say, by the time I felt better, the dummy had many stabs wounds in it.
Brushing some loose hair out of my face, I dropped the sword and went to retrieve the dummy. Turning around, I almost had a heart attack. I could feel that I had the deer caught in headlights look.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," Edmund said from where he was standing beside the fence. "You were gone awhile, so I decided to come and find you."
"How did you know to come here?" I asked, carrying the dummy under my arm, and the sword in the other.
"Jenn said that when you go to let off anger, that usually involves hitting something, so I decided to check here," he said, taking the sword. "It is really the only place you can do that anyways."
"That's true," I said, still feeling a bit better. "Can you imagine what that old toad would have said if she would have seen the display right now? She probably would have had a heart attack!"
Then I put my face into one of disapproval and disgust. "Ladies don't sword fight or do anything where they can get dirty. They are prim and proper, and must not fool around with activities that are meant for men," I said, doing my best impression of her.
"Wow, that was scarily accurate," Edmund said, before doing his own imitation. "Ladies are to be soft spoken and polite to everyone they see."
"That was pretty good, but you need to make your voice higher," I said, laughing at the look he gave me.
"I don't think that can happen," he said, as we put away the sword and dummy. "So, ready for some dance lessons?"
"I think the real question is do I have a choice?" I asked him, as we walked back to the throne room.
"With Su, not really," he said, "I've tried to get out of dancing lessons before, and she always finds me."
"I thought you guys would be experts by now."
"Susan says that we can always use practice. I would rather practice sword fighting."
"Well, the sooner that this gets started, the sooner it will be done," I said, walking into the throne room.
"That's true," he said, looking at everyone.
"Where'd you find her? Kicking the stuffing out of a dummy?" Cody asked, from where he was sitting.
"Pretty much," he said, "Except it was more like stabbing."
"Stabbing?" Cody asked, than it clicked. "You got your hands on a sword? Was anyone hurt?"
"The only thing hurt was the practice dummy that Susan uses," I said, than changed the topic. "So, are we going to do this dance lesson?"
"Yes," Susan said, as Lucy set up something that looked like a record player. "The partners will be Peter and Jenn, Cody and Lucy, Edmund and Chris, and Caspian and I. Alright, pair up!"
"So, you're the poor soul whose feet I get to step on," I said, standing beside Edmund.
"Do you not dance at all?"
"I dance, but not this kind of dancing," I said.
"What kind of dancing do you do then?"
Thankfully, I was saved from having to explain the kind of dancing that people from my world do, by Susan.
"We will start off easy, so the first dance is going to be a foxtrot. Caspian and I will demonstrate for Jenn, Cody and Chris, than we will all try it," she said, before starting the music.
As they danced, Susan counted out the beats, so that it would be easy to follow. After they finished, she turned to look at Jenn, Cody and I. "So, any questions?"
"Yeah, how do you expect us to do that?" Cody asked, looking uncertain.
"Oh, you will get it eventually. Now, come on. Try it," she said, starting the music again.
"I'm just going to apologize now for stepping on your feet," I said, facing Edmund.
"I'll help you," he said, before the dance started.
Needless to say, it could have gone better. But, then again, it could have gone worse. I only stepped on Edmund's feet a few times, but I had trouble getting the beat.
"Well, that went fairly well for your first time," Susan said, as we all lounged outside on the balcony that was off the throne room.
"Yeah, no one is crippled, though Edmund is limping a bit," Peter said.
"That will go away in a few hours," Susan said, shooting Peter a look.
I was listening to their conversation with half an ear, when I remembered that I still had muffins to make. "Oh, I just remembered that I still have muffins to make!" I bolted out of the chair and into the room before anyone could say anything.
When I arrived at the kitchens, I saw Mia talking with a few others workers.
"Hey, Mia," I said, approaching her once she had finished her conversation. "I would have come sooner, but I had dance and etiquette lessons."
"That is perfectly alright, Christine. Your cookies turned out wonderful, and I have a quite a time keeping people from trying any of them," Mia said.
"Oh, you can have some if you want. Can I still make my muffins?" I asked.
"Of course," she said, "Everything is over there." She gestured to the table, where most of the ingredients were still sitting.
"Thanks, Mia!" I said, grabbing an apron and setting to work.
So, here is the next chapter. I'm sorry for the long wait, once again, and that it was only a filler chapter, but I wanted to show Lucy and Christine becoming friends. The next chapter will be way better! I promise!
So, what did you think of the chapter? Should I go at a faster pace? Let me know in a review! Pretty please? Thanks and until next time, which hopefully won't be as long! Sorry once again!