Sorry about the wait. Hope you enjoy
Chapter Eleven-Now I'm Here
Last time on True Love Never Dies-
"Welcome, friends. I am so glad you've come." Vera curtsied as all Princesses should, and the others bowed.
"It is a pleasure to see you again, Vera," Peter said, smiling.
"Vera, may I introduce Queen Lucy and King Edmund," Caspian said.
"It is so nice to meet you both," she said politely, but she didn't even look at Lucy. Her eyes seemed to be glued to Edmund. It was only when Peter cleared his throat that she looked away and remembered her manners. "Thankyou so much for coming…I'm really beginning to worry about my father and brother."
"We came as soon as we could," Edmund said, and her eyes snapped back to him. "Er…so what seems to be the problem?" She sighed and ushered them inside the castle.
"I'll show you to your rooms so you can freshen up, and then I will bring you to them. The problem can only be seen, not told." They were led up many flights of stairs until they reached a small hallway with four doors, and a champagne colored carpet. "Caspian, Peter, your rooms are on the right, Lucy and Edmund, yours are on the left. I made sure to have the servants supply your room with plenty of clothes, I know how hard it is to travel with a lot of clothing, so I assumed you wouldn't bring much."
"You assumed right," Lucy said. "Thankyou, Vera."
"Of course. I'll fetch you in say…45 minutes?"
"That sounds lovely," Lucy said again. Vera smiled and walked swiftly out of the hallway, her eyes still not leaving Edmund until she rounded the corner. Edmund stared after her, a little unnerved, and the others began to laugh uncontrollably.
"What?" he snapped.
"All I'm going to say is, you're going to have one fun time in Archenland," Caspian said grinning. "But I want to get clean, so I'll see you in… what did your lover say…45 minutes?"
"Shove it," Edmund said, rolling his eyes. Peter opened his mouth to make a rather inappropriate remark about what Edmund had just said, but Edmund quickly ran into his room before the words came out.
"You shouldn't tease him like that," Lucy scolded, but she was smiling nonetheless.
"I know, it's just so funny how obvious she is!" Peter said, and he too walked into his room, still laughing. Caspian quickly kissed Lucy on the cheek and followed suit, so Lucy was left with no other choice than to change into a dress.
After taking a 30-minute bath and putting on a pale green dress, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," she said.
"Do you like your room?"
"Very much, thankyou Vera." The princess smiled and led Lucy out into the hallway where Edmund, Peter and Caspian already stood.
"Would you like the tour while we go to my father?" Vera asked.
"It would be nice to know where we're going," Edmund said. The statement wasn't meant to be funny, but Vera laughed anyway and took a hold of Edmund's arm. He looked at her oddly and said, "Er…okay then."
"The hall on the right is where Rama, my father and I all stay…" Vera didn't stop talking for about a half hour, which was when they finally got to the gardens. Vera had figured Nain and Rama would be there with Jacinda because for some reason, that was where they almost always spent their time. Apparently they didn't care it was December and they were in the mountains.
"Rama, Father, the Narnians are here." The two men stood up from a bench, but the lady that was with them still sat.
"It is wonderful to see you again," Rama said to Caspian and Peter.
"Indeed. I am glad you have come to our court for a time, it's been too long since we've seen you."
"It has," Peter said. "Infact, I don't believe you had even become King yet."
"No, I hadn't. But it's been a year, and I haven't been ruling for that long yet." Nain turned to Edmund and Lucy and smiled warmly. "Greetings, friends. I assume you are the King Edmund and the Queen Lucy?"
"You are correct, sire," Edmund said in his most diplomatic voice, and Nain let out a booming laugh.
"Please, call me Nain, and I shall call you by your names. Now, let me introduce you to my son Rama, and his lady, Jacinda." The Narnians saw Vera's mouth tighten at the woman's name, but they greeted both of them with the up most respect. Rama was warm and welcoming just as his father, but Jacinda seemed cold and very distant. This didn't surprise them after what had happened with Araminta though.
"I have heard so much about you both, I couldn't be more happy to meet you," Rama said kindly, shaking both their hands. Lucy couldn't help but think of him as a little boy in a man's body. He had the nature about him.
"We have heard much about you as well," she answered. "And we're very glad you have allowed us to stay here for the time being."
"We are honored," Rama said. He felt a tug at his hand and looked to Jacinda.
"Sweetheart, I was hoping we'd go on a horse ride with your father again today," she said sweetly, and Rama frowned a little.
"I thought we agreed on tomorrow, darling, because the Narnians are…" Jacinda looked at him with big eyes and a rather 'endearing' pout, and Rama sighed. "Of course we'll go now, darling. Father, would you like to join us?" He was about to decline when he caught sight of Jacinda's face as well, and he also gave in.
"I would be delighted. I am sorry to leave you so soon, but we will talk at dinner. We have much to talk about," the King said to his guests, and followed his son to the stables.
"Wow," Lucy said, speaking for all them.
"I know," Vera groaned. "It's horrible. They're like that all the time. They barely even notice me anymore unless I act the same way Jacinda does."
"What, look like an idiotic puppy?" Edmund asked, and Vera laughed.
"No, be all whiny and bratty."
"The Calormen princesses have a way with doing that," Caspian said wryly. "Don't worry Vera, we will help you prove Jacinda to be what she really is."
"What's that?" Vera asked, confused.
"A toy for her father and brother," Peter frowned. "There's something more to this than just these sisters wanting to rule our lands, I know it."
"I've been thinking the same thing," said Vera.
"And we will do all we can to find out what in Aslan's name is going on," Lucy said.
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The rest of the day the Narnians spent with Vera, walking around and chatting. She seemed to be very kind, and a lot of fun, and Edmund and Lucy were soon beginning to like her just as much as Peter and Caspian already did.
Nain and Rama didn't return for dinner as they had said they would, which gave them the chance to meet more people. If they had returned, the Narnians had no doubt they would be conversing with them the entire meal. As it was, they had the pleasure of meeting many of the ladies and soldiers who lived in the castle, and they met many of the servants. Overall, they had quite the enjoyable time.
"You're sure you can find your rooms from here?" Vera asked, and the others nodded. "Alright, then I'm going to go to bed. It's been a long couple of days and I'm exhausted."
"We understand," Lucy said, and Vera laughed.
"I imagined you would."
"Sleep well, Vera," Edmund said, and Vera smiled dreamily at him.
"You do the same, Edmund." She sighed and just looked at him for a couple minutes and then turned to the others. "Goodnight." She walked off, leaving her friends to go to their rooms.
"So Ed…"
"Don't get any ideas in your head, Lu. It's not going to happen." He walked a little quicker, but when Peter put a hand out to stop her from following him all Lucy could do was call after him and say she was only teasing.
"What'd you do that for?" she asked her brother.
"You know Ed, he has to figure this out."
"I know…but she seems to like him very much."
"We noticed," Caspian laughed. "If only you had acted like that before we started courting…life would have been a lot easier." Lucy just stuck her tongue out at him.
"Goodnight, all," Peter said once they reached their rooms. He gave Lucy a quick hug before disappearing behind his door, and Lucy and Caspian entered Lucy's room.
"This isn't fair!"
"What isn't?" Lucy asked.
"Your room is bigger than mine! And your bed looks more comfortable."
"I guess there are some good points of being a lady," Lucy smirked. "We always get treated better."
"Stupid chivalry," Caspian pouted. "And yes, your bed is more comfortable."
"Don't go getting any ideas now, mister," Lucy warned jokingly. He laughed and pulled her down next to him. "So Archenland is a lot more fun than I thought it would be."
"Yes, Vera is a rather fun person."
"I do like her a lot. But I'm surprised how alike it is to the Archenland I knew. I always had so much fun in this castle with Corin. And Cor, and Aravis when they came."
"I forgot you hadn't been here this time around. Sorry there are no children to play with."
"That's alright, soon there will be," Lucy said, thinking of the niece or nephew she'd have in nine months time.
"I still can't believe Shaina is pregnant…and so out of the blue."
"I can't believe they did…ugh." Caspian laughed. "Oh, bad images, bad images!"
"On that note, I think I should be going."
"Not now! Now I'm going to have dreams about this…ew."
"Don't worry, you can have dreams about this." He leaned down and kissed her passionately, and she immediately forgot all about her earlier thoughts. She kissed him back fervently, and just as they were both really getting into it, he pulled away. "Goodnight," he smiled.
"I love you," she said, and slowly let go of his hand so he could walk out the door.
"I love you more." Before Lucy could protest the door closed behind him, and she was left to lie on her bed and dream of him until the next morning.
I know, it was short, and not very important, but next chapter you get to meet one of my favorite characters!! Keep reading and please, REVIEW!!