Disclaimer: I do not own the Chronicles of Narnia or any of its characters or fictional land/lands; I am not C.S. Lewis, sadly. I only own the plot and characters not featured in the original books.
Yes it is early! I hope you enjoy after my five days of endless writing (typing) and thinking.
03/09/12- For those who read it before this date I changed Prince Asa to Theon instead, you'll understand why in the next chapter :D
The day was a beautiful sunny one as always in Narnia, and Lucy, Susan and Ryder were out in the gardens, all linking arms and chatting away, as three young women would. The sun was casting their silhouettes behind them and the cool breeze lifted up their hair and tangled it with none existent hands. It had been a few days since Sergio departure and of the discovery of Ryder's past, and it had finally sunken in that she truly was related to Sergio but also that she no longer had a mother; she didn't know if she had known in her past life but when she did find out it was like she'd been shot with a thousand arrows and her world came crumbling down around her.
Though she was still distant from everyone, she managed to smile and laugh when she could and the two Queens were content on keeping Ryder busy the majority of the time so Ryder only had the nights of peacefulness and loneliness to really express her feelings. Also, she and Edmund had come to a silent agreement, an understanding of each other; so now Ryder didn't have that dreaded feeling of Edmund not trusting her, she understood now why he didn't and he understood why he shouldn't hold her heritage against her.
So, as they walked along, their feet bare, feeling the cool green grass between their toes, they soon came onto the discussion of Edmund's birthday.
"Carlisle told me that he suspected you were planning a surprise ball for Edmund." Ryder informed Susan.
"Damn Carlisle, he has known me for too long!" Lucy and Susan laughed. "Good job Edmund is totally clueless!"
"So, you are?" Ryder asked.
"Of course I am! It's his 22nd birthday and I'm not the one to miss an opportunity for a celebration!" Susan smiled and Lucy laughed.
"Well, Edmund going to get a shock and a half! You promised him last year you wouldn't throw another ball." Lucy said to Susan.
"Well, I crossed my fingers when I told him that!" Susan laughed again.
"Doesn't Edmund like balls?" Ryder asked, smiling at the two Queens.
"Not one bit." Susan giggled.
"It's because he has all those Princesses and Ladies trail after him all night and insist on being danced with." Lucy giggled too at her brothers disliking.
"I wouldn't think anyone could like him with how moody he gets." Ryder laughed, though inside a sick feeling of jealously raised up in the pit of her stomach.
"Oh, that's what the girls love! His dark, moody personality, it gives him this air of mystery about him, well according to Lady Jane." Susan smiled.
"How many of his admirers did you invite this time Susan?" Lucy asked her sister.
"All of them." Susan giggled.
"But that's like 50 or so!" Lucy said her eyes widened in shock. "They'll probably be half of the guests!"
"There are going to be a lot more than hundred, I think I sent out four hundred invites. But no one from Telmar is going because Sergio wants them all out looking for Catherine." Both the Queens looked at Ryder.
"It's alright you know." Ryder smiled. "I'm perfectly fine now."
"Does that mean you'll come to Ed's birthday ball?" Lucy asked.
"I've never been to one before, I don't think. What am I meant to do?" Ryder smiled slightly.
"Just look beautiful." Susan smiled at her.
"Just dance, flirt and converse." Lucy laughed.
The three of them continued to walk on. Ryder felt excitement bursting inside of her, the idea of a ball, with dancing and music, made Ryder happy; it felt like she hadn't danced in a long time or even heard proper music in forever. But also she had a dreaded feeling of old memories of parties and celebrations, though she put them behind her and thought of what an amazing night it would be.
The days counting up to Edmund's birthday went by in a flash and the day had finally come. Peter, Susan, Lucy and Ryder were all gathered together in the dining room of the morning with their presents piled up on the table, awaiting Edmund's arrival.
Edmund was late up, as usual and he strolled into the dining room an hour after everyone had awoken. At first he thought it was any other day but then he saw his siblings and Ryder grinning at him and then noticed the pile of presents set in front of his seat. He grimaced.
"Happy birthday Edmund!" Everyone cheered.
Edmund frowned and slowly approached the table.
"Well, don't look so pleased." Lucy said sarcastically.
"I forgot it was my birthday." Edmund mumbled.
"How could you have forgotten your own birthday?" Lucy asked in surprise.
"I have more important things to think about." Edmund said, pulling the smallest present from the pile. "Anyway, you better not have organised some ball Susan."
"Of course not Edmund, I promised you last year no more celebration for your birthday." Susan smiled, then when Edmund looked away put her thumbs up to Ryder.
"So what are we doing today?" Edmund asked Peter.
"Well, I thought we could go riding and then sword practice. I invited Lord Henry and a few others over for the day." Peter told Edmund.
"Well that sounds better than any ball." Edmund mumbled to Peter.
Peter laughed while Susan threw him an upset glare.
"Are you going to open your presents or not?" Lucy asked.
They watched in silence as Edmund opened his presents; he got a brand new gold chess set off Lucy, a new set of navy and gold robes off Susan and a set of Narnian history books off Peter. When it came to Ryder's present, Edmund looked at the small box.
"I didn't know what to get you so Lucy and Susan helped me decide." Ryder blushed slightly.
Edmund opened the box and in it was a silver ring with an oval lapis lazuli stone set in the middle with tapered scrolled floral band.
"Do you like it?" Ryder asked.
Edmund smiled and took the ring from the box and pushed it onto the middle finger on his right hand. "Yeah I do. Thank you Ryder."
After Edmund had opened the rest of his presents off of the knights and guards, sword polish, oh how they made Edmund laugh, and the maids and kitchen staff had made a towering cake for them all to eat of the evening, Peter and he departed from the room to meet Lord Henry and the rest of Edmund's friends and then have their day out. It was all part of Lucy's and Susan's plan for his surprise ball.
Peter was to keep him from the castle of the morning and afternoon so they could redecorate the throne room, prepare the feast, the dryads were able to practice their dance and the faun's were able to prepare the music and practice. Susan was busy ordering everyone about so Lucy and Ryder helped out in the kitchen.
The day was a busy one and disappeared in a flash, the bell rang for five 'o'clock and carriages started to arrive soon after. They were all quickly ushered into the grand throne room which was now beautifully decorated in white silk and satin all draped across the walls and white lilies in golden vases with floral engravings dotted on each dining table. First there was to be a feast then the tables would be removed and the ball would commence.
Once everyone was settled down, Lucy, Susan and Ryder all clambered up to Susan's grand bedroom where a team of dryads were waiting for them. They were set in three individual chairs and the dryads set to work. They pulled and tugged at the young women's hair and small about of makeup was applied to the already beautiful women. Lucy had her light brown hair down and in ringlets of curls with pieces of hair twisted and pinned back into her hair; Susan let her long dark hair flow to the floor and just had her crown set on her head and Ryder's hair had been plaited and pinned back into a bun at the base of her neck and her hair at the front shaped around her face. Then it was time to decide on a dress. Susan and Lucy, who had been planning this since last year, had already picked out what they were to wear but Ryder was clueless on what to wear.
"We knew you wouldn't be able to choose so we chose for you!" Susan squealed.
The dryads presented Ryder with a beautiful white silk dress; it flowed down to the floor and trailed out behind. It was a shimmering white and had a lace corset and was off the shoulder and had an open back. The sleeves were long and of lace material with embroidery pearls along the cuff.
"It's beautiful." Ryder mumbled, feeling the soft, shimmering fabric in between her fabrics.
"Put it on then." Lucy smiled.
Once she had got the dress on and they had fitted it perfectly and sorted her hair out again, they pulled her over to the mirror and the two Queens and team of dryads stared in amazement at Ryder. The white dress brought out the darkness of her hair and the brightness of her eyes, she now had an olive tint to her skin and her lips and cheeks were a rosy pink.
"Oh my Lady Ryder, you are a vision!" One of the dryads, Willow, whispered. The other dryads nodded in agreement.
Ryder turned her wild eyes on Susan and Lucy, who looked equally beautiful in their dresses. Lucy's dress was a dark satin blue and showed off her feminine curves; Susan's was a lilac shiny dress, with long draping sleeves.
"I think we are all ready here!" Susan smiled. "Edmund should be back and ready now."
"Now, wait here until everyone's eaten and we know there are no Telmarines who have come and then Carlisle will bring you down." Lucy said.
"Sure and remember to capture the look on Edmunds face when he sees what you've done seeing as I won't be seeing it." Ryder hugged the two Queens and then ushered them out of the room, the dryads following behind.
The two Queens filed out of the room and down to the throne room to await Edmund's arrival and the worst day of his life. Ryder didn't mind missing the feast, she had already eaten, but she was afraid of arriving 'late' because everyone would stare and she didn't know anyone except the Kings and Queens of Narnia and the household staff and knights.
Edmund had just arrived back, and knew immediately something wasn't right. Lord Henry, Dictino, Sagar and other friends departed into the castle for dinner but Edmund was ushered up to his room by Peter.
"We are having a family dinner, with Lord Henry and the others as your guests, so you need to look presentable. How about that new attire Susan brought for you?" Peter said.
So, Edmund and Peter got dressed, Edmund rather reluctant to, and were soon on their way down to the throne room. This aroused questions from Edmund.
"Why aren't we going to the dining room?"
"The table wasn't big enough." Peter said, suppressing a laugh, for he knew of the plans and the true meaning behind his answer. The table was defiantly not big enough for at least four hundred people.
Edmund took in the answer then stopped in his tracks. "Of course the table was big enough for me, you, Lucy, Susan, Ryder and everyone else."
"Well, thought it would be more spacious in the throne room." Peter replied, pulling his brother along.
It wasn't until they had reached the throne room that Edmund caught on, he gave a look of pleading at his brother but the grand doors were soon pulled open and his arrival was announced.
"Please rise from your seats for his majesty, King Edmund the Just!" A faun cried.
The throne room erupted into a chorus of happy birthday. Edmund stared terrified and surprised into the hundreds of familiar faces. There was the King and Queen of Calormen with their son and two twin daughters, Oceana and Alexa, who sighed happily when they saw Edmund, and then there was the King and Queen of Archenland and their offspring, their three sons, Asa, Theon and Caius and double amount of daughters, Helena, Lilyanna, Elethea, Zelfa, Soumaya and Titiana, but luckily only half of them seemed interested. That wasn't all; there were the Lords and Ladies of Calormen, Archenland, the Lone Islands, Galma, Terebinthia; he spotted his female fan club, Lady Jane, Lady Valentina, Lady Lidia, Lady Cyra and many others he didn't remember the names of, and then added to all of that were centaurs, fauns, talking animals, dryads, Minotaur's and dwarves of Narnia.
He forced a smile and then with his brother walked through the hundreds of tables and to the long table in front of the four thrones which sat him, Peter, Susan and Lucy. He was surprised that he hadn't spotted Ryder glowing through the crowd of women but he knew she probably wasn't coming because of her fear of being recognised.
He also noticed that the room was decorated entirely in white; white silk and satin draped along the walls, white lilies in golden vases, white chairs and tables, white roses, everything was in either white or gold, Susan theme for this birthday this year.
"What's with all the white and gold?" He whispered to Susan when he approached the table.
"I thought it was a good colour combination." She said smiling.
He shook his head then turned to the crowd of guests, who were eagerly awaiting his speech. He gulped and shuffled on his feet then finding his voice, spoke in his strong, powerful voice. "This is a genuine surprise. I didn't expect another celebration for my 22nd birthday but my dear sister," he sent a forced smile at Susan "has once again proved me wrong. And I would like to thank her and everyone who helped out for organising this and to all of you, our guests, for attending and celebrating my birthday with me and my family so thank you and I hope you enjoy the rounds of entertainment for tonight."
Everyone erupted into cheers and clapping and Edmund took his seat and let Peter cry. "Let us eat!"
The feast was magnificent; the kitchen staffs had done traditional Narnian meals but in between were exotic food from Calormen, delicious food from Telmar, sweet deserts from Archenland and many different fish meals for the guests from the surrounding islands. The night was going brilliantly. Soon everyone was finished and the tables were taken away, people bombarded Edmund with their presents and birthday wishes, and then the music struck up and everyone was mingling together and dancing.
Edmund finally relaxed in his throne and stared out into the commotion of people and creatures, the general buzz of chatter and laughter rang in his ears and he frowned. He hated balls, though his siblings seem to love them. Lucy was cheerful and wildly dancing with Mr. Tumnus who looked terrified at the young women's energy, Susan was dancing elegantly with one of the Princes of Archenland and Peter was in a deep conversation with the King of Archenland and some of his Lords, their group soon erupted into laughter at Peter's unknown joke.
Then there were the many flirtatious looks from his fan club, which happened to have gathered into a large group and were creating the most noise. Soon Lady Jane approached Edmund.
"King Edmund you look so down, you should come dance." Lady Jane said sweetly.
Edmund frowned. "No I'm alright, I think I ate too much; dancing wouldn't do me no good."
"Oh that is a shame King Edmund." Princess Titiana said linking arms with Lady Jane. Cyra, Valentina, Lidia, Princess Elethea, Titiana, Alexa and Oceana soon joined the two and smiled sweetly at Edmund.
"Won't you dance with any of us King Edmund?" Cyra sulked.
"It's your birthday you can't sit up here all night."Lidia pouted.
"I am flattered but…" Edmund began.
"Please King Edmund; there aren't enough men to dance with all of us." Valentina started too. That was a lie there were plenty of men for each of the ladies but they wanted only one man. Him.
"Come on Edmund." Jane grabbed his hand and pulled him into the heart of the dance.
There was lots of spinning and Jane treading on his feet, then Elethea demanded a dance and he soon had gone through all of them about three times. His feet were starting to ache as a few weren't that elegant on dancing and multiple times their heels had crushed his foot. He waved them off then hobbled back to his seat, literally flinging himself into it. Peter soon joined him and then Susan and Lucy.
"Well, you look like you had fun." Susan said sarcastically.
"I think my feet are going to drop off." Edmund mumbled, rubbing his foot through his boot.
"Oh the faun's are brilliant dancers but I think they are more energetic with their music than dance. Mr Tumnus was quite reluctant to dance after the third song." Lucy said quite dreamily.
"I think he is overwhelmed by how cheerful you can be." Edmund replied.
"Well you know how much I love to dance Edmund!" Lucy smiled and placed her hand on his arm. "Don't look so glum, I'll dance with you later and I promise not to tread on your feet." Edmund smiled at her.
"Ryder should be here soon. I thought she would have come down earlier but I think she is quite scared." Susan said to Lucy.
"I didn't know Ryder was coming." Edmund said puzzled.
"Oh we wanted her to have a bit of fun. You know Susan's saying; dance, flirt and converse. It's the cure for boredom." Lucy giggled.
"Yes well I'm not quite sure Ryder wants to do those three things." Edmund replied.
"Oh you never know she could surprise us Edmund!" Susan smiled.
A slight hope rose up inside of Edmund. He wanted to see Ryder badly; they hadn't spoken much in the last few days except for brief hellos in the courtyard and glances at dinner. Lucy and Susan had practically spent all their time with her, leaving none for Edmund. And he prayed that she would distract him from these stupid celebrations and overwhelming women. He sighed.
The evening grew darker and it became closer to eight 'o'clock. The ball was at full swing now, the dryads had taken to performing their dance, Lucy had dragged another poor creature onto the dance floor and Susan was once again asked to dance by another Lord. Peter was off dancing with the Queen Mother of Archenland, a sweet, talkative woman, who knew a lot on politics and Edmund had gone through the pain of dancing with more women. As he dragged himself to his seat, the sound of a faun's voice echoed through the room.
"Lady Ryder of Lantern Waste."
Edmund turned abruptly and focused his eyes of the figure by the grand gold doors. The room had gone awkwardly silent and all heads were turned to the figure that had just entered. She was all dressed in white; a flowing white silk gown that trailed behind when she walked and that clung at her body. The long sleeves were of white lace and the dress fell off her shoulders, exposing her chest and neck. Her hair was pulled up but loose strands fell around her face, creating a silhouette against her cheeks and over exaggerating her bright blue eyes. She was breathtakingly beautiful, and stunning and shiningly pretty. She looked like a swan, pure and beautiful.
Before Edmund realised what he was doing, he rather happily skipped down the few steps and walked through the crowd of guests and reached Ryder, who looked out of place next to everyone. She was too beautiful to stand next to the other ladies and none of the men seemed to fit right with her. She spotted him and approached him, blushing slightly.
"I'm so sorry for being late King Edmund." She curtseyed.
"That's alright, you're here now. " He linked his arm through hers and pulled her up towards the thrones. "Susan and Lucy will be thrilled to see you and Peter will be happy to know you didn't stay in all night."
As they made their way through the still staring guests, Ryder clinging onto Edmund's arm for dear life, Lady Jane and the other women were sending glares at the mysterious girl.
"Ryder is such an unfeminine name." Jane grumbled to the others.
"Yes I quite agree Jane." Valentina frowned.
"Well she certainly is a one for the eyes." Prince Caius said to his younger sister, Elethea.
"Yes, where did King Edmund ever find her?" Prince Theon mumbled dreamily to the women.
"I'm sure that she is probably already being courted or even married." Elethea said hopefully.
"I've never seen King Edmund so happy in his life." Prince Asa piped up.
"Yes, his eyes seem to be sparkling." Soumaya mumbled.
"Oh don't talk such nonsense Soumaya!" Jane moaned. "Anyway, what a silly title she has! A lady of Lantern Waste."
As the group of women debated over the new arrival, Ryder and Edmund had reached where his siblings stood. Lucy literally threw her arms around Ryder in glee, Peter kissed her hand, happy to see her and then before Edmund could even ask Ryder to dance, Susan grabbed hold of her hand and dragged her to a group of Lords. They were soon joined by the three Princes of Archenland and the Prince of Calormen. Ryder sent a pleading look to Lucy.
"Well tonight's going to be fun!" Lucy giggled, she then hurried over to the faun's who were playing a soft tune and whispered something to one of them. The faun nodded and ended the tune slowly and quietly. Then an upbeat, cheery tune started to play and Lucy skipped over to Ryder and Susan took both of their hands and pulled them into the dance. They all clasped hands and began to dance in a circle, Ryder was laughing along with Lucy while Susan protested. "Have some fun Susan!" Lucy exclaimed.
Soon more and more people joined onto the circle and they all began spinning in a large circle. Then it turned into a dance, the women would skip to the middle while the men still danced around in a circle and facing a palm into the middle they spun in the opposite direction, then they dance back into the large circle but change place and then the men would dance to the middle. This went on for the entire song.
When the music came to an end, everyone burst into a round of applause and the men bowed to the women and the women curtseyed. Ryder was pulled away by Susan once again but Ryder excused herself to get a drink. She stood sipping the goblet of wine when she was approached by Jane, Valentina, Lidia Princess Oceana and Princess Elethea. She felt intimidated by their presences and slowly looked at the four women.
Edmund noticed the Jane and her crew approach Ryder, he was going to interfere but he stopped himself. He stared at the group of women. Jane with her long blonde hair and pale blue eyes with red rose lips, she had a very pretty face but it was tarnished by the sour expression she wore. Then there was Valentina with her raven black hair and dark chocolate eyes, she had a beautiful face with strong cheekbones but her pout made her look like she was always sulking. Lidia with her shining auburn hair, that look like a burning fire, and leaf green eyes that were very scary, as if they could see into your mind, like snake eyes and then there was Elethea, with her long chestnut hair and sparkling turquoise eyes. She too had a pretty face, round with a small cute nose, but her lips were set in a thin line and ruined the beauty of her face. Lastly there was Oceana, with dark brown skin and equally dark brown eyes, then her plaited black hair and sharp features, she was very exotic and stunning, her gold dress bring out the darkness of her skin.
Strangely all five women seemed less beautiful when they stood next to Ryder. Ryder is pure and untarnished, her new life hadn't let her experience the horrors of the world, where as these women were selfish and jealous. As she stood next to them, in her flowing white gown, Edmund was reminded of the Roman goddess, Venus, the goddess of love and beauty; with her dark hair tied up and her radiant face exposed, her ocean eyes twinkling in the light, those delicate pink lips and smooth, gently expression, she was the definition of beauty.
He stared lovingly at Ryder as she conversed with the women and then he couldn't control himself any more. He hurried over to the faun's and requested that the next song be a romantic, peaceful tune and then as the fauns slowly ended the current music Edmund hurried over to Ryder. The six women seemed surprised at Edmunds arrival.
"I'm sorry to bother you ladies but," He turned to Ryder, "I would like to request to have this dance with Lady Ryder."
"Oh but I'm sure you would rather dance with someone else, King Edmund." Ryder replied scared at Edmunds proposal.
"You have not danced with one man to night Lady Ryder and as it's my birthday and as I your King; I must insist you dance with me for this next song." He out stretched his hand.
She stared wildly at his hand then focused her wide eyes on Edmund's face. "Well, I cannot deny the birthday boy but I must insist you be gentle with me, I haven't danced in a long time." She smiled brightly at the King and slowly slid her hand into his.
Jane, Valentina, Lidia, Elethea and Oceana stared in shock as the young King and the mysterious lady walked into the middle of the ball room. Edmund took Ryder's right hand in his left then slipped his right hand around her waist while she gently placed her left on his shoulder. Ryder felt butterflies erupt in her stomach at the touch of Edmund's hand and Edmund's cheeks grew hot at their closeness.
They began to dance slowly, to the rhythm of the music, and Edmund noticed that Ryder just glided along the room elegantly without much effort. She didn't miss a step or tread on Edmund's feet; she let Edmund lead her. They were so close that it was almost possible to feel their heartbeats beat against each other's skin but they were more concentrated on the feel of the music and their eyes were locked onto each others. A few of the guests had stopped now to watch the King and beautiful lady glided across the floor so gracefully. Edmund spun Ryder out and then she twirled and twirled perfectly, she then spun back into his arms and they continued to dance around. The music came to a climb and Edmund grabbed hold of Ryder's waist and as if she was a feather lifted her up. There were the sound of gasps and cheers but the two didn't take noticed of them.
"Meet me in the garden in five minutes." Edmund whispered. She twirled and looked at Edmund, then smiled and he knew her answer.
The song ended soon after; Ryder and Edmund noticed they were the only ones dancing. Everyone began to clap causing Ryder's cheeks grew a rosy shade of pink and Edmund to resume his moody expression, though a smile did play upon his lips as he saw the irritated and livid expressions on the other women's faces. Ryder slipped away from Edmund and approached Lucy, who began to rapidly talk to her and so Edmund strolled back to his throne, where Peter was and struck up a conversation, and when he glanced over to where Ryder was she was gone. Lucy was up dancing with Prince Theon, and he just caught the white swan exit the throne room.
He excused himself from his conversation with Peter and slipping out into the quiet corridor, he saw the trail of Ryder's shimmering gown exit out of the castle entrance and into the courtyard.
Edmund took a deep breath, antagonising over what he was planning on confessing to Ryder and then he marched after her into the night.
Author's Notes: So, I updated early. I was going to make this longer but I liked the way this chapter ended (you have to wait for my next update now to know what happens next). And what do you think of Jane, Cyra, Valentina, Lidia, Oceana and Elethea? I might include some of the women named in following chapters if necessary. I had a hard time naming them all myself because C.S. Lewis uses such unique and old names you rarely hear them so a good way to find names like that is type in Google 'Mythology names' or ancient Greek names'. Also, Helena I thought of because the first Queen of Narnia was Helen and the King and Queens of Archenland are descendents from her and then I used Skandar Keynes mothers and sisters name, Zelfa and Soumaya, because I've never seen them used before.
Review if you like it, review it if you hate it.
I appreciate the criticism or praise.