I am sosososo sorry for the biggest delay ever! I hope you all don't hate me! hahah, but I made this one a little bit longer than usualy because I know some of you must've been waiting on this for forever! I hope you're enjoying it so far and for new readers and my loyal ones! Thank you so much! Please also pop down to the reviews and tell me what you think! Have a great day! :)x
I walked down the stairs, ready to depart from Cair Paravel for what could very well be the last time. Every faun or centaur I passed nodded at me and watched as I gracefully walked the halls one last time. The courtyard was full of people waiting for me. The council was there, my faithful ladies in waiting and three of the Pevensies.
"Alexea, there you are! We'll be terribly late!" Jake said as I walked over to the crowd.
"Sorry, I had so much stuff that I wanted to take back to Telmar," I said motioning to the various amounts of luggage following me out of the castle.
"We better say our goodbyes," said Jake smiling.
"Of course." I sheepishly walked over to Isobella. She pulled me close in an embrace.
"I think I've won now," she whispered into my ear. "And I guess you'll be taking orders from me soon, I'll be a Queen, while you downgrade," she said making reference to the first time she came to Narnia.
"It doesn't worry me anymore. There's nothing more you can do to hurt me." I said as I pulled back. She gave me a forced smile, my comment not making her victory half as fun as it would've been.
I soon moved on to Lu, who had tears in her eyes. "Don't go," she sobbed, as she threw herself into my arms. She hugged me for what seemed like an eternity, I was grateful for that; I've always loved her hugs.
She pulled back enough so I could see her face. "Hey, Lu, I'll see you soon," I whispered.
"But who will read me bedtime stories when I'm scared?" she asked.
"You're nearly ten now! You're braver than you were before."
"And who will walk with me in the gardens?" she asked.
"I'm sure Su can, but when you come for the wedding," I choked on the last word, "I'll walk with you every day in Telmar's gardens. I promise," I said stroking her hair. She hugged me one last time and let me move on to Edmund.
"Hey," he said when I stopped in front of him.
"Hey," I replied. He looked down to his feet and then back to my face before he engulfed me into a hug.
"I've never repaid you for saving my life," he said. I suddenly had flashbacks from when we were both in the Witch's camp.
"Losing every time we practice duel is more than enough repayment," I joked as we pulled apart.
"Take care," he said, and then moved on to say good bye to Jake.
By the time I got to Susan, her hand was holding a hanky that looked fairly wet.
"Oh Su, I'll see you in eight days!" I exclaimed as I hugged her.
"I know, but you know it won't be the same," she whimpered.
"You get to try on your bridesmaids dress," I said trying to get her to smile. She sighed and nodded. I felt her head bob against my own. We pulled away from each other and stared for what seemed like forever.
"I have to be at your dress fitting and hen's night," she hiccupped.
"Of course, come in five days, everything will be sorted by then," I told her stroking her hair. She managed a smile as I started to walk to the carriage ready to take me to my new home. I was starting to tear up and I turned back to face Cair Paravel. I caught a glimpse of Peter standing on his balcony, watching my departure.
"Oh wait!" yelled Su as I stepped into the carriage. She ran forward and cream envelope in her hand. "It's from Peter," she whispered. I took it gratefully and smiled at her. I heard the whip crack, after Jake closed the door. The three Pevensies, began to wave as the carriage pulled out. My tears escaped and ran down my cheeks, landing on my dress and making little stains.
I felt Jake's hand rest on mine in comfort. I flinched, not used to someone else's hand holding mine. I finally relaxed and gripped his hand back. Maybe it was time to move on and forget what could've been.
We sat in silence until we passed Archenland, that's when Jake decided to break the spell.
"What happened?" he muttered.
"What do you mean?" I asked him, keeping my gaze focused on the passing blur of green.
"Alexea, I know you know what I mean," he sighed.
"I do, but maybe you should ask your sister," I replied bluntly.
"What did she do now?" he asked. I could sense him shaking his head. Isobella had decided to stay at Cair Paravel for another night, planning her wedding as it would be in Narnia.
"She'd finally won."
"Won what?" he asked.
I scoffed, "She won Peter! When I went to see him last night about calling it all off, I saw them kissing."
"Oh," was his only reply.
"Oh, is right." I said bluntly. I turned to him and let my head rest on his shoulder, in response his hand weaved around my waist.
"If I were Peter, I'd be following you," he said softly.
"He did write me a letter," I said patting the pocket it was in.
"Did you read it?" he asked.
"No, better save it for another rainy day," I said. I pulled away from Jake and nestled into the carriage pillows. The sky was growing dark and my eyelids had become heavy. I felt a blanket creep up around my shoulders and decided to get some rest before we arrived in Telmar. For the amount of wedding planning I'd be undertaking with Su's help. I'd need all the rest I could get.
"Welcome back!" yelled Lord Caspian as we entered the one of many sitting rooms.
"Glad to be back," I responded mustering a smile as I kissed my future father-in-laws cheeks.
"We have so much to do!" exclaimed Lady Gabriella as she embraced me.
"I know! I'm very excited! I cannot wait to see how it all turns out!" I responded at little to cheerfully which cause Jake to raise an eyebrow.
"Where's Isobella?" asked Lord Caspian smiling.
"She decided to stay in Narnia. She's already starting her wedding planning," Jake told his parents.
"Well then you two should get going!" said Lord Caspian. We laughed at the man's eagerness. Lady Gabriella and I walked out of the room and up the stairs to her private sitting room, where we'd begin to plan. I was already dreading it.
We sat down on a peacock blue, upholstered couch. It was plush and comfy and made me slightly tried and I rolled around on it.
"We must start with the location," she said as she wrote down a list of the most beautiful places around the castle grounds. On the list was the northern garden, views of the ever changing oaks trees, the second option was the beach view terrace and the third one was the ivory marble ball room overlooking the eastern garden that was decorated with beautiful red lilies as well as red roses.
"That's very hard," I said reviewing all the places in my head.
"Maybe a colour scheme, so we can match it to the venue," drawled Lady Gabriella. I nodded and looked around the room for inspiration. There was green, and blue and a vibrant orange but none caught my eye. I looked down to my engagement ring and twirled it around. The red ruby shone under the afternoon sun.
"We can match it to my ring! Red and ivory," I said looking at Lady Gabriella. She beamed.
"Red and ivory. That will match the ballroom and then we can have the reception outside under ivory tents surrounded by the red flowers," she said madly scribbling it all down.
"Easy," I said starting to enjoy myself.
"Now, onto the bridesmaids," she said. My heart skipped a beat at the thought of Lucy and Susan.
"Definitely Lucy and Susan, and I guess Isobella should be one too," I replied.
"You guess?" said Lady Gabriella questioning me.
"It must not be that hard to tell that we don't get along," I chuckled.
"Ah," she said as she lifted her glasses up to rest on her head. "You must excuse the plans of my daughter, she's quite the one for scheming," she admitted.
"It's her hobby," I said then took a sip of my tea.
"Darling, I was in your position once. I know how it feels, but we'll always try to make you feel very welcome and at home here," she said.
"I know. It just hurts to see the person you love with someone else," I told her, opening up to her like I'd never expected too.
"We've all be there," she replied looking into the distance.
"So what's your story?" I asked her curiously. She shook her head and popped her glasses back over her eyes.
"That's for another day, when we've both consumed a rather large amount of champagne." That subject was closed and we went on to the decorations, flowers, invitations and guest list.
I crawled into bed that night very late. Most of the planning was done besides the cake and the dresses. I was overwhelmed with information about everything, it began to clog my brain and make me tired. I tossed and turned in the hard bed. It was soft like the ones at the Cair and was ridiculously uncomfy. I sat up and reached over to my mail that had been forwarded from the Cair, hoping some of it would be boring enough to make me fall asleep without noticing the hardness of the mattress.
I flipped through some that I would have to read more thoroughly as they were about the schools for all the Narnian communities, when suddenly I stumbled upon the one Susan had given me from Peter. I opened it slowly. I reached inside and pulled out one of the many papers shoved inside. I studied it, it was a note I'd written Peter and slid under his door when we first started to court. It read:
Meet me at the library; I challenge you, once again to chess. –A
I remember that day. We'd been playing since breakfast and decided to take a break for work, but I was getting extremely bored and desperately wanted to beat Peter. I remember sitting in the library until the early hours of the morning, getting frustrated every time he beat me. Eventually I got so tried, he had to piggyback me all the way the stairs to put me to bed.
I sat there in the bed, pulling out more little notes that I'd sent to Peter, left in awe and amazement at the fact that he'd actually kept them all. He truly was a romantic. I began to get tired and put them all back in the envelope and slipped it into a draw on my bedside table. I left it there to be completely forgotten.
Three days after we had arrived back in Telmar, there was still more wedding planning to be done. Today, Jake and I were heading to the kitchen to try out the cake. As we walked, he was awfully silent, which was very peculiar for him.
"What's wrong?" I asked him as we turned the corner and descended another staircase.
"Nothing," he mumbled and shot me a half-hearted smile.
"Jake, come on! You're not being your overly talkative self today," I said half joking, half not.
"I just don't want to go down to the kitchen's," he said, his voice monotone.
"Why not?" I asked him as he stopped short of the kitchen door.
"She works down here," he replied, stepping aside to let a servant scurry past with empty dishes.
"Who works down here?" I asked him confused.
"Eva. She's the pastry chef," he said. It finally all came together. I walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, knowing exactly how he felt.
"We don't have to go together?" I told him. "You can go in by yourself."
He shook his head, "I can't. I promised her she'd get to meet you," he mumbled.
"Take a few deep breaths then, it'll calm you down," I told him. He nodded and began breathing. I watched his chest move up and down until he had composed himself.
"Ready," he said and pushed open the kitchen door. I walked in behind him and followed him as weaved his way past scullery maids and dirty pots and pans. We walked in through a wooden door and into a cleaner and much cooler room that was adorned with icing, edible flowers and sparkles. Cake sketches had been plastered along the wall in preparation for the wedding.
"Hello," I cooed as Eva was no were to be found.
"Oh, sorry! I'll be there in a minute," someone yelled from a dark room on the other side of this one. In a matter of minutes a girl with long brown hair, fair skin and blue eyes walked out. She stopped as she saw who waiting for her.
"Hi," Jake muttered sadly.
"Hi yourself," she replied, rubbing her hands clean.
"This is Alexea," he said.
"It's nice to meet you," I said walking over to the girl and giving her a hug.
"Oh no, don't do that, you'll wreck your dress!" she exclaimed.
"I don't mind, it's just a dress," I said laughing.
Finally, she too embraced me back laughing. I pulled away and looked at the girl, a moment of understanding washed through us both.
"I can't wait to see what you have planned for us," I told her.
"I hope you like it all," she said. Just after that, one of Jake's guards walked in and whispered something into his ear. Once the guard had finished, Jake gave us both a look of apology and left the room, leaving us to decide on the cake.
"Does he always have to attend to stuff?" I asked her as I sat down at the sofa in the corner of the room.
"Yes, he always had to be dragged away by something when I was with him," she replied. A pregnant silence passed between the both of us, it had started to get a little uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry you're not making the cake for your own wedding to him. If I could change how things were, I would," I told her sheepishly.
The girl walked over and sat down next to me. "I know. Jake comes to see me every night in this room. He says you've been awfully nice about everything and that you too are in the same position as us."
I nodded, "Yes, I'm afraid we've all been caught up in Isobella's scheming."
"That's very right! I sometimes think she's Jadis' spawn," she joked. I laughed along with the girls.
"I'm excited to taste your cake and see your designs," I said to Eva. At once she got up and got a plate arranged with different flavours of cake and in her other hand she grabbed pieces of paper with different designs.
"Are you a white chocolate fan?" she asked excitedly.
"Yes, of course! Ever since I remember I've loved it," I told the girl beaming. She then picked up a slither of cake.
"Try this then," she said as she handed it to me. I took it and placed it into my mouth; it was the moistest, most delicious white chocolate mud cake I'd ever tasted.
"It's wondurfawl," I said, forgetting all etiquette and speaking with my mouth full of food. Eva laughed at me. I swallowed the cake and wanted more. "This is definitely the one! I don't even have to taste the others! I love it," I said wiping my hands.
"It's my speciality," she beamed. "Do you want to see the designs?". I nodded eagerly and was handed four pieces of paper. The first once had a three tiered cake, decorated with red swirls. It was pretty but not what I had in mind. The next two were just as pretty, but again, not what I had in mind.
I almost gave up, but then I saw the last one. It was a five-tiered circular cake. On every layer it was adorned with red roses and red lilies, like the flowers we planned to use in the ceremony. They were scattered around the cake and if you looked closely enough, you could see little ivory pearls in the centre of the lilies.
"This one," I said pointing to it. Picking the cake had been easier than I thought.
I could barely sleep as I tossed and turned that night. It was hot in Telmar, and the temperature rarely dropped below 20 degrees at night. I put on my lightest dressing gown and walked out to the balcony to get some fresh air. I stood there letting the breeze whip against my face.
I heard laughing down below and quickly opened my eyes. I saw Jake and Eva walking along the beach. He'd just splashed her with some water and she began to chase him. I laughed at the two, finally being able to steal time away together. I closed my eyes once again and let their laughter fill my ears.
"Peter stop!" I yelled as he continued to wreck my sandcastles. "That took me forever!" I said as I watched my attempt at a sand Cair Paravel wash away from the water Peter had poured over it.
"Well that's what you get for not talking to me," he said sticking out his tongue. I'd been ignoring him all day after he told me that sand castles were for children. Little did he know I was very fond of making sand castles, even at the age of seventeen.
"Well, you pretty much called me a child!" I said grinning wildly, a cunning plan springing to mind.
He looked confused at my expression, "Why are you smiling?" he asked slightly worried.
"Oh nothing," I said calmly, as I grabbed a handful of wet sand and threw it at him, hitting him right in the chest. "Gotcha," I teased. I stood up and sprinted for the stairs that led to the castle. My heart was pounding as I laughed and my feet were slightly burning from the sands heat.
I suddenly felt my arm being grabbed as Peter had caught me, my momentum was pulled back and I slammed into Peter's side. He caught me with a grunt and we tumbled to the floor. "Who's got who now?" he said, eyes flashing a mischievous blue.
He stood up and picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. "What are you doing?" I screeched as I saw the steps get further and further away. I turned my head to see we were nearing the shore line. "Peter, put me down!"
"Not a chance Lex. This is what revenged is," he said cheekily. He continued walking until the lower half of his was submerged in water.
"Peter, don't you dare even think about it," I told him sternly.
"Think about what?" he said as he lifted me up and threw me.
"Pete-arghh," I yelled as I hit the water. I stood up when I re-orientated myself. My hair was plastered to my face, my beach dress was now completely soaked, something I always tried to avoid. "You monster," said as I waded through the water over to him, he was practically doubled over in laughter.
Then with all my might and adrenaline pulsing through me, I pushed him as hard as I could. He was caught off guard and off balance and fell into the water. I giggled at the fact that I had beaten him at his own game. It was now my turn to double over in laughter.
I finished laughing only to realise he still hadn't resurfaced. I began to panic. "Peter! Where are you! This isn't funny! Peter!?" I yelled as I trudged through the water. My hands were outstretched trying to find him. Then I felt a strong tug on my leg and before I knew it I was underwater again, face to face with Peter.
He crushed his lips to mine, and I kissed him back, smiling into it. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he wrapped his around my waist. We kissed like this until we floated to the surface. We pulled apart for some much needed air.
I hit his chest playfully, "I thought something happened to you!"
"At least you're talking to me," he grinned boyishly.
"Oh Pete, whatever am I going to do with you, huh?" I said hugging him.
"Well just before you tried to drown me!" he said hugging me so tight so that I couldn't hit him as punishment for his comment. I giggled as my face kept pressing into his bare chest. He let go and looked down at me. I rubbed my nose as it hurt from being squashed. He laughed at me.
"I can't wait," he whispered.
"For what?" I said looking up at him confused.
"For this to be officially forever," he continued. I felt a smile spread across my lips and I'd never felt so lucky to have Peter than I did in this moment.
I shook myself out of my trance and waved down to Jake and Eva when they caught me standing on the balcony. I quickly moved into my room and got into bed. I lay down on pillow, feeling my happy tears being soaked up by it.