#except NOT EVEN because Edmund is FUN and I don't get the sense that the haters find JGY fun

[poorlittleyaoyao]

i've always thought of jin guangyao as being very parallel to edmund from king lear

DEFINITELY. JGY and Edmund do have a lot in common! There is a FANTASTIC gifset out there using the “god, stand up for bastards” speech. They’re both bastard sons of noblemen who chafe at the limits their birth puts on their advancement, and they gaslight gatekeep girlboss their way into power. They both even end up in the employ of a hotheaded feudal lord prone to acts of extreme violence! My favorite portrayal of Edmund I’ve ever seen was this wide-eyed, babyfaced actor who was maybe 5’7” max who played up the “pwease hewwp, I’m baby 🥺” aspect to Edmund’s manipulation and delivered his villain monologues with gusto—basically, JGY as he lives in NMJ’s memories.

That said! They're fun to compare, because I do feel Edmund is more unambiguously villainous than JGY is. I say this with utmost affection, because he is SO fun to watch when he's played by someone with charisma. Edmund wants power for its own sake and is, by his own unabashed admission, here to cause problems on purpose. Gloucester's jokes about Edmund's conception to Kent at the very start of the play are callous, but he acknowledges Edmund as his son and they seem to have a good relationship, as do Edmund and his half-brother Edgar. Edmund's entire scheme hinges on the assumption that he has the respect and trust of not just his family, but the nobility as a whole. Edmund doesn't lack for anything; he just wants more power, and he wants it immediately. He also is having a grand old time throughout the play (which is what makes him so fun to watch!), and only has regrets at the very end of the play when he is actively dying.

By contrast, what drives JGY to such extreme lengths is the fact that he isn't accepted or respected. He causes problems primarily as a means to avoid other problems he considers worse for him. If JGY enjoyed the same security, respect, and affection from his father's family as Edmund has from his, everything would be fine! And even if JGS is still JGS, we'd STILL be fine as long as JGY met up with Cornwall instead of NMJ. Cornwall genuinely thinks Edmund is a sweet delicate babygirl who did nothing wrong ever in his life, and Edmund doesn't even have a tragic backstory. Edmund's not even demonstrably good at tasks other than schemes (and, accordingly to Goneril, sex). Imagine what Cornwall would do for JGY! If JGS mistreated JGY on Cornwall's watch, it's on SIGHT. Or not on sight, I guess, since Cornwall's whole thing is ripping out eyeballs. Anyway, everyone's better off and JGS can smell his way to Langye.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Hello, sorry if this has been asked before and no worries if you don’t wanna answer, but do you think Alice had an actual relationship with anyone (excepting Jasper, Edmund, and Bella)? She doesn’t strike me as a social butterfly and she’s not even that close to the rest of the Cullens. I’m don’t know if you would agree but she seems kind of lonely to me?

No.

Alice's gift is such that the people around her, even those she loves, are dehumanized. They become a series of probability distributions that she should guide into picking the best course of action.

Edward is the one she feels a real sense of kinship with, as he shares those visions through his own gift and like her is an unwilling voyeur to those he loves most.

Bella she seems to like because she can tell her what to do and do what she wants with her. She can always have fun times with Bella, can always have Bella look fabulous, and can have all sorts of new experiences and parties because of Bella. They don't actually talk all that much or say anything particularly meaningful to one another.

Jasper's similar in that their relationship boils down to "Alice had a vision about him". In canon, we see them chafing against one another, and their relationship seems to work as it is because Jasper at the end of the day has Alice has his highest priority/will listen to her, not because they have any kind of meaningful relationship.

The thing is, though, that while this is a very small group of people Alice has any relationship it's also the only effort she puts into any relationship. Rosalie wishes she could be closer to Alice, but Alice doesn't seem to want to put up with her. We don't see Alice reaching out much to the other family members or resentful of having only close relationships with a few.

While Alice is lonely, yes, I think she's also content with the situation. She has a sibling/friend in Edward who truly understands her in a way no one else can, she has a lover in Jasper, and a sister and friend in Bella. She doesn't need the others and if she wanted to she could seek a course where they would be whatever she'd wanted them to be (that is, at the end of the day, what Alice's gift is best for).

Alice is living that montage in Groundhog's Day where Phil tries to seduce Rita and treats it as finding the right combination of words to get his desired end result, where Rita isn't so much a person as she is a mysterious black box who can predictably respond to known input.

Basically, Alice doesn't see people as people enough to consider herself lonely. If she did, she would rework her approach to those around her to put people into roles that make her feel less lonely.

[greatwyrmgold]

Another "The Problem of Susan" post

As you may know:

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was not a standalone book. There were seven books in the series, each with more Christian allegory than the last.

(Or maybe it's not allegory? Apparently C.S. Lewis has said that Aslan is literally Jesus, so maybe it's all literally just Christianity.)

The series stars the four Pevensie siblings who show up in most of the books—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. They're absent from The Silver Chair and The Magician's Nephew, but all appear together in the other five books, with one exception.

The last book, called The Last Battle, features Peter, Edmund, and Lucy, but not Susan. Not only does Susan not appear, she's mentioned exactly once:

"Sir," said Tirian, when he had greeted all these. "If I have read the chronicles aright, there should be another. Has not your Majesty two sisters? Where is Queen Susan?" "My sister Susan," answered Peter shortly and gravely, "is no longer a friend of Narnia." "Yes," said Eustace, "and whenever you've tried to get her to come and talk about Narnia or do anything about Narnia, she says 'What wonderful memories you have! Fancy your still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children.'" "Oh Susan!" said Jill, "she's interested in nothing now-a-days except nylons and lipstick and invitations. She always was a jolly sight too keen on being grown-up." "Grown-up, indeed," said the Lady Polly. "I wish she would grow up. She wasted all her school time wanting to be the age she is now, and she'll waste all the rest of her life trying to stay that age. Her whole idea is to race on to the silliest time of one's life as quick as she can and then stop there as long as she can." "Well, don't let's talk about that now," said Peter. "Look! Here are lovely fruit trees. Let us taste them."

(Oh yeah, the kids were kinds and queens of Narnia for a few decades when they were kids. Don't think about it too much.)

The Problem of Susan gets even worse because right at the end of the book, Aslan reveals that the Pevensies, their parents, and other Earth-humans who went to Narnia (like the Eustace and Polly mentioned above) died right before coming to Narnia this last time. And now that the Book of Revelations is done, they will live forever in "the true Narnia," which is either an allegory for Revelation's New Jerusalem or literally heaven, I'm not sure which.

Susan is still not there.

So, the first part of the Problem of Susan is that a formerly major character—one that many young fans of the series felt attached to—who gets all but dropped from the finale. This is particularly egregious, since—this is a direct quote— "Everyone you had ever heard of (if you knew the history of those countries) seemed to be there" by the end. Every character from the entire series, from Mr. Tumnus the faun to that cab driver who became the first King of Narnia, it makes sense in context.

But not Susan.

And I guess that makes sense in context, too; she's not dead. But C.S. Lewis wrote the context. It was C.S. Lewis's decision to kill off the other Pevensies, and C.S. Lewis's decision to keep Susan out of this last adventure.

Christian Apologetics, for Kids!

I've seen three common responses to The Problem of Susan from overly-protective fans of the series.

The first is, perhaps unsurprisingly, just a remix of shit fundamentalist Christians say about Heaven and Hell. Just as agnostics will burn in the fires of hell for their ambiguous faith, so Susan will be barred from "the true Narnia" for being less allegorically(?) pious than her siblings.

Speaking as an ex-Christian, I could write a whole series of posts about why that's fucked-up and wrong. But I will instead remain on topic and recommend you read basically any atheist blog from the early '10s; that eternal damnation/salvation shit is low-hanging fruit for guys who want to make fun of fundies.

Second, you have people who see Susan as materialistic, caring so much about "nylons and lipstick and invitations." First off, nothing in the text suggests she was maliciously materialistic, or greedy, or anything else that would merit getting kicked out of Narnia. Second, the text just...does not support this reading. Susan's sin isn't greed, it's growing up too fast.

Third are the people who agree with the text; Susan "always was a jolly sight too keen on being grown-up." This has textual support, and not just from the one page in The Last Battle that mentions her. The problem is, of course, that this isn't a sin worthy of punishment either.

(Zeroth: Susan spent decades as a queen of Narnia, but since because the books want us to think that that wouldn't have any real impact on the kids, we will continue not thinking about it too much.)

With that out of the way: Wanting to be older than you are is fine, wanting to be younger than you are is fine, wanting to be the age you are is great. There is nothing inherently wrong with either wanting to be treated as a grown-up or seeking the joy of youth. It can lead to bad behavior, but none of that is described in the actual text of The Last Battle.

Susan is described as misremembering the fantastical adventures the Pevensies had as children, and wanting to be a young adult for as long as possible. Who. Cares.

It seems like C.S. Lewis puts an unreasonably high premium on the innocence of childhood. (This has what I consider to be unfortunate implications when combined with his advocacy of blind faith in The Silver Chair, but that's a topic for another ramble.) This is, I feel, ridiculous. It's fine to seek the joy of youth, but to treat losing that joy as some kind of mortal sin is absurd! Treating the loss of innocence as an inevitable tragedy is one thing; treating it as something worth punishing a kid for if they stumble into it too quickly is horrific.

(And it's really hard to not think about that time Susan was a literal monarch. Well, there were four of them, so I guess she was more of a tetrarch? Whatever.)

Anyways. The fourth response is to point to things C.S. Lewis said after publishing The Last Battle. And I'm going to discuss that.

Contrite-over-Susan Lewis

Unfortunately, I can't find the actual quotes by C.S. Lewis, not in the time I'm willing to spend researching a Tumblr post about a book that was old when my parents were young. But C.S. Lewis has acknowledged the problem of Susan.

The gist of what he said is that he's not happy that Susan's story is incomplete, but writing her redemption arc would put the story into a whole different genre, and that's no good.

My first problem is, of course, the idea that Susan needed to change to be worthy of Narnia. So what if she was always the most skeptical Pevensie? So what if she wanted to grow up? So what if she likes nylons and lipstick and invitations? If the Susan we see in the other books isn't worthy of the true Narnia, that's Lewis's problem, not Susan's.

The second is that C.S. Lewis never wrote that book. Lewis would say that it's out of step with the rest of the series, that the tone would be off, but so is The Last Battle to anyone not drowning in Armageddon-lust. And it's not like character arcs are foreign to the series, either. There are plenty of examples of kids from our Earth going to Narnia and having it change their worldview or attitude. They're mostly small subplots, but elevating a Susan character arc to a booklong undercurrent would not be that much of a divergence.

And even if Lewis committed himself to only writing seven books for numerological reasons—well, first off, he probably could have cut one of the other books. A Horse and his Boy is neat, but depicting the lives of ordinary Narnians during a dramatic time probably should have taken a back seat to a character arc you think is required for her to join the finale. Anyways, he could have written the Susan character arc as a subplot in Prince Caspian or Voyage of the Dawn Treader if he tried.

But he didn't try.

Conclusion

C.S. Lewis supposedly said that Susan was his favorite character, the one he saw the most of himself in. If true, that is not reflected in The Last Battle.

Lewis set some arbitrary conditions Susan would have to meet to join her siblings at the end—at the climax of the entire series, arguably the most important event in Narnian history since the world's creation. He then chose not to write anything that would let Susan meet those conditions, left her out of the last book, and left it ambiguous as to whether she'd ever see her siblings in paradise.

I don't think this would be quite so egregious if Susan was at least mentioned more. Again, Susan is never mentioned before Tirian asks where she is, nor after Peter decides to taste some fruit. She gets three and a half paragraphs where her brother and "friends" bitch about her, and that's that. They make fun of her for growing up and liking nylons and lipstick, then they decide to eat fruit, end of chapter, end of Susan.

It's like the characters don't give a shit about Susan. They're not angry, they're not disappointed, they're not confused. They state a few things about Susan when directly asked, then move on, like these are just facts about some fictional character and not the reasons they're estranged from a sibling or longtime friend. Heck, the younger Pevensies don't even bother to speak up! They don't care!

And if the characters don't care about the formerly important character—important both to the story and, more importantly, to them—why should I think the author did?

[natequarter]

⭐️ if you’re still up for it, for the En Français poem/story fallout ❤️ - thelastplantagenet

Ask game: Offer a director's commentary on a particular story.

What was he called, again? Edward? Edmund? No, wrong guy. That was fifty years ago. This one had a weird name. An old one.

i like to make sneaky references to other fics that are probably only of interest to two other people. this was one of them, filtered through robin's don't-care attitude and terrible memory for anything modern people do

That was it, Humphrey. A strange young man, always shifty-looking, never quite stopping enough to be seen. Even when he painted, his hands were never still for long.

one of my favourite parts of robin is that, even at his wisest, he ultimately never really gives a fuck. he's pretty apathetic about humphrey before he actually gets to know him; humphrey's just another guy passing through. but even from a distance robin can tell the guy has issues

His name meant something, in the oldest of English. Bestower of peace.

Or had it been something about bears?

i've found various different translations of humphrey's name. most seem to agree the frith element refers to peace, but the first part of his name is translated as, variably, strength, bear cub (hence something about bears), and to bestow. the latter is my personal favourite, so here we get humphrey as bringer of peace. well, he tried...

Humphrey Monsieur Bone pénétra dans la chambre avec précaution.

on the one hand, sophie's struggling to decide what level of formality she should use to refer to humphrey with in her pwp fanfic. on the other hand, 'penetrate' is inherently funny as an english speaker. never let it be said that i am mature

“Seriously?” he muttered, to no reaction. Thank God none of the other ghosts were here. This probably wasn’t something they’d complain about seeing, but that didn’t mean they needed to.

canonically we see that robin is alone at this point but consider this: my version of william is better and robin being surrounded by irritating medieval ghosts is much funnier. humphrey should consider himself lucky his immediate relatives aren't also haunting him

Il enleva la robe de nuit avec ses mains fortes…

i just thought it would be very funny for sophie to romantically refer to humphrey as having strong, firm hands, whilst flatly refusing to talk to him at all

For another thing, it was much more interesting than the depressing French literature she was usually reading. The impermanence of life? No thanks. A fictionalised account of her doing her husband? Much better.

sophie canonically does read poetry about the impermanence of life, so a) HAHA I WAS RIGHT, b) robin finds this boring as shit and naturally has his priorities. his priorities being sophie and doing it, not necessarily in that order

What was that about his dick?

this was really just for comedy value. gets me every time.

Probably all ridiculous and romantic, and using words that were almost certainly made up, like Wriothesley. There was no way that was a real name.

Rrho shook his head. People these days made no sense.

obligatory Making Fun of Thomas Wriothesley moment. also, robin not understanding the weird customs of modern people is eternal

Had Humphrey had legs, he almost certainly would’ve jumped up in surprise. As it was, from somewhere across the house, Robin heard Kitty yelp as his body did exactly that.

i really like the idea of humphrey's body reacting at the same time as his head, except because of the disconnect, it looks completely ridiculous

“You forgot?” Humphrey said. “Just forgot, for four hundred years?”

humphrey has a lot of unprocessed pain, and it really comes through here. he's not really that surprised that he's been let down once again, he just... wishes it would stop happening

“Yeah, and whenever I tried to bring up your wife after you died, you’d start crying.”

“And whenever I tried to bring up my wife, you threw me out a bloody window!”

humphrey has a lot of bottled-up anger. robin still doesn't care. they're friends by circumstance; naturally, they don't get along at all. but when you're stuck together for hundreds of years and he's your oldest friend still around, well, you stop having a choice

“Don’t cry,” Robin said. “I don’t like seeing you cry.”

Humphrey softened. “That makes me feel a bit better.”

“Why? It’s annoying when you start crying. You take forever to stop.”

why must robin always be mr. wise guy? i want more of robin being an apathetic emotionally insensitive jerk who is perfectly emotionally intelligent but has seen so much over the last ten thousand years that sometimes he just can't be bothered to care. he understands that humphrey is tired of being used for his body by people who don't like him, he even sympathises. but he also finds emotions tedious and annoying. you know how it is

“Er, actually,” Humphrey said, “I was unhappy because people seem to only want me for my body.”

“‘Kay. We find your body, and I give you a hug.”

“That’s more like it.”

“And then we do it.”

this fic is a balance of comedy and tragedy. it's kinda meant to match the tone of ghosts, though maybe a little bit nastier, as it is robin's and not alison's perspective on events. humphrey is dwelling in his own misery. robin wants to do it. these two things can even go together

“It’s not like with Fanny. She doesn’t like you.”

“I’m well aware of that, thanks.”

i think this is funny. nothing deep to say here. fanny just sucks

“Ow! Hold me properly, not by the hair! You’ll damage it!”

humphrey is very defensive of his hair

Best to make haste. He had a lot to show Humphrey.

they are so going to do it in detail post-fic. robin really likes eating bum ;)

[the-romantic-lady]

I've seen some people commenting that Richard III wasn't as faithful to Anne Neville as many historians say because one of his children was conceived after his relationship with her, but I've only found one source, who is not very trustworthy, saying that. What do you think? How do you think their relationship was like? It's so sad that we don't know more about her, but they seemed pretty close.

Personal relationships are always hard to read into. So we know that Richard III had two illegitimate children. John and Katherine. Katherine was married in 1484 but it is unclear if she was old enough to be bedded (14) so we can't exactly assume her birth year. I would assume she probably was but Richard was king so I could see the Earl of Pembroke trying to marry her no matter the age. Hard to say. John was made Captain of Calais and given all powers of it except for appointing officers until he was 21. So we know he was younger than 21 but that should be given considering Richard would have to be 11 at the time of John's conception then. So basically we know nothing about their mother or their birth years.

One of Richard's older brothers Edmund Earl of Rutland was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland at the age of 8. However he was given deputies to carry out the duties. John of Gloucester was not. So we can assume he might older that 12 to be given as much responsibility as he was? He was knighted in 1483 and interestingly most boys were around 15 or 16 when they were knighted. But Richard himself was knighted at the age of 9 so who knows. In my opinion, both Katherine and John must have been around 14-16. That adds up with them being born around 1468-1470 which was around the time, he was young and single. It makes sense. I think most historians accept this.

However, I too have read some historians bring up more possibilities. One of the things is that if Richard did have bastards whilst he was with Anne, we would hardly know. Most illegitimate children became apparent once they got older and they would have been quite young. One of my friends who is a historian speculates that Richard possibly had an affair with one of his best friend's sister. Now hear me out since it makes a lot of sense.

So this woman name Frideswide Norris was the sister of Francis Lovel, Richard's best friend. He gave her money for "special considerations". We could say that was because she was his friend's sister. Ok fine. But then around Easter 1484, he granted an annuity of 100 marks which is A LOT of money. Then in January 1485, she gave birth and he doubled that amount. If a child was born in January, they would likely be concieved around Easter. Interestingly, this was also around the time that rumours of his affair with his niece spread around. So it suggests that he might have been engaging in extra marital affairs. Their son, Edward, passed away on Easter 1484 (coincidence?) and then Anne become ill around Christmas 1484.

My theory is that after their son passed, Richard and Anne drifted apart. The Croyland chronicle indicates how devasted they were and how later, many would hear the King and Queen quarrelling. Ofc, this was taken out of proportion later to suggest that Richard would "posion her with words". But I assume that their relationship was falling apart. So its possible that after their son's death, Anne and Richard lost the affection and Richard sought it elsewhere. Maybe around Christmas, he told her and that contributed to her getting worse. And around that same time, some speculated that Richard was sleeping with his niece possibly because he was sleeping around. It seems to add up.

But one thing to note is the shock many chroniclers had at these suggestions. I can't remember which one but he says that the King's physicians told him to not sleep with the Queen. Which meant that he mostly did sleep with her. Also, they really stuck together. And Richard's bastard children might have been raised at Middleham where Richard and Anne lived. She must have been forgiving to allow that. And their marriage was self-determined on both sides (Anne actually chose to marry Richard regardless of the reason).

To put all this together, this is my picture of it. They had affection and respect for each other. After Richard found Anne "trapped" under his brother, he put her in sanctuary for her to make her decision. Ofc, she would love to marry the brother of the King (a duke) and make claim to her share of her inheritance. So they marry for mutual benefits and live a calm life in Middleham. They seemed equally religious and an intelligent couple. And then in 1483, the test comes for their relationship. At this point, I think their relationship lost the stability and thus the need to be with each other. And so Richard began sleeping around and rumors of his affair with his niece spread. Their marriage was more or less over. Unfortunately, Anne died and I am sure that must have been a blow to him. But like every other relationship, it must have been complicated but I am sure that he loved her. He had respect for her and stayed by her for a long time. They had one son and clause of divorce when they married but he stuck with her. The last few years of both their lives must have been hell and I am sure that reflected on their relationship.

But you know, what's most telling for me? That when Anne was sick and on her deathbed, he stayed with her. He did no official business (he was king!) and stayed by her. They both liked reading so I am sure, he sat by her bedside and read to her. His time was for her and this indicated love to me. Love is more than sex (especially since sex was viewed as a necessity for young noblemen rather than its associations with love that we have now) and even if he cheated on her, the fact that he valued her enough to give her time amongst the chaos of kingship indicates to me that he loved her. If not as a wife but as a friend and companion for sure. I find it quite poignant that he never visited the place where she died once he left because he died only 5 months after her.

This is way too long lol. But I love speculating on medieval romantic relationships. Its fun :D and so thought provoking.

[knightslionswardrobesandthings]

Somebody To Love | Peter Pevensie

Warnings: some mature language

Pairing: High King Peter x Princess Reader

Time: Golden Age Narnia

Summary: Being a Princess from Calormen doesn't necessarily mean you act like a lady. But you yearn for somebody despite that and at the ball Queen Susan set up for your twentieth birthday, you found that somebody. Except it was someone you didn't expect.

ººººº

"Your Highness, please get down from there before you fall." Your Lady-In-Waiting, Rosa, called from below you.

You gave her a laugh. "Oh, come on, Rosa. Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Down here with me on the ground, where you should be." Rosa huffed as she slipped her slippers from her feet and began to climb the tall evergreen tree you were sitting in. "Your Highness, if your parents were here, you would get a good scolding for this."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing they're not then. Besides I don't need them to scold me because Susan will do it for them." You replied as you gave her a childish grin when she sat beside you.

"Your Grace, we really must get down from here. Queen Lucy is looking for you with King Edmund." Rosa breathed as she clung to the tree. The poor girl hated heights. "Your birthday guests are waiting for your appearance."

You sighed as you looked below you. Your slippers were beside the tree trunk, nestled in a knot in the roots protruding from the dirt. You then looked at your feet and how dirty they became from being barefoot.

"Oh, alright." You were reluctant about it, but you began to climb down the tree. As you did so, you made sure that Rosa was alright. Allowing her to stay right above you, in case she fell you'd be the one to break her fall.

It didn't take more than a minute or two to be safely on the ground. You helped Rosa down the rest of the way before you gave her her slippers. Rosa smoothed out her skirts after she slipped them on her feet. She combed the leaves from her hair and turned to you with her hands on her hips.

You glanced up as you grabbed your slippers. "What are you looking at me like that for?"

"Y/N, how on Earth do you expect to find a husband when you behave like a boy?" Rosa pursed her lips as she glared at you.

You were going to give her a snide reply in return until you heard the sound of Lucy dashing towards you. "Y/N! Oh, we've been looking everywhere for you."

"I told you to check the trees, Lu." Edmund said as he appeared close behind his younger sister.

You rolled your eyes before you stuck your tongue out. "Very funny, Edmund."

"Oh, Y/N, you are covered in dirt." Lucy reprimanded. "You need to go take a bath before the ball. Come on."

Edmund shook his head as he let Lucy drag you back into the castle. "Lucy, leave Y/N alone. Let her have her fun. She's turning twenty."

Rosa laughed as she watched Lucy pull you around. "She does love her childish endeavors."

"If you want to mock me for climbing trees, then from now on I'll laugh at you when you try to sing when you bathe, Rosa." You shot back. Not from anger, but to pick fun at her in return.

"At least I can sing." She shot back in kind.

"I prefer sparring with Edmund and Peter," You'd be damned if Rosa kept it up. "I don't like girlish things, big deal."

"Then don't expect to be married anytime soon, Your Grace." Rosa bowed to the three of you and turned on her heels to inform Susan of your return. Plans had been made and Susan was a stickler about keeping things as agreed. No matter how much you didn't like being at most of them. Council meetings, festivals, balls (sometimes masquerades), even holidays. But you were a people pleaser so you always went anyway.

Lucy and Edmund were stunned at the words that they heard. And even more stunned that you didn't reply. You always had a comeback.

Lucy saw it then. The way you stared at your hands and nails. Lucy watched as she led you to your chambers, she saw the way you dug the dirt out of your nails and then the way you rubbed your hands together, letting dirt particles fall to the floor.

Lucy swallowed thickly before she carefully placed a hand on your own. "Don't listen to her, Y/N. You'll be married one day, I know you will. Even if you don't think so."

You hummed in response and looked at the two Pevensies through the reflection of your vanity's looking glass. "Oh, please, don't feed me that, Lucy. I grew up around boys and now I can barely go five minutes without getting filthy like one. I was sent to Cair Parvelle for your sister to make me a lady." You looked away from your reflection. "What's the point?"

Edmund noticed what Lucy had then. He saw the way you rubbed dirt off your face and pulled leaves out of your tangled hair. He watched you in the mirror and saw just how much Rosa's words stung. Then he felt anger bubble up in his chest, you and Rosa may not think it, but he'd be honored to marry you. Despite your tendency to run around barefoot, roll down hills, and climb trees. He liked that stuff too.

So did Peter.

And Peter was standing beside the open oak door, listening. And he watched from around the door jamb as Lucy combed out your hair. Edmund took the leaves and threw them over your balcony.

Peter didn't believe his ears. How could you ever think you wouldn't get married? Despite your unladylike adventures outside the castle walls, you were someone truly remarkable. You could do anything he could do, but still act like a lady. And maybe you didn't notice that, but he did.

Even at eighteen, you were just as adventurous and spontaneous. Always trying to get your hands dirty with him and Edmund, always doing something to get dirty in the gardens with Susan and Lucy. And Peter was sure he'd join you in your escapades if he wasn't the High King.

Peter took another glance around the door and saw you slip into a silk robe as Lucy led you away to your bath. Edmund sighed and hung his head as you disappeared and Peter turned on his heels and walked away before Edmund saw him.

Peter found the ballroom in no time and made his way to Susan and some other nobles talking to her. When they noticed Peter coming their way, they all bowed. Susan smiled at her brother and dismissed herself. She looped her arm in his and gave him a sideways glance.

"Who were those men?" Peter asked as he walked with Susan around the room, inspecting gifts, foods, drinks, and decorations for your birthday.

"Suitors," Susan replied vaguely, gauging his reaction. When Peter didn't respond, she gave a cheeky smile. "But I suppose you want to know for who, don't you?"

Peter glanced at his sister before he shrugged. "Are they here for you or Lucy?"

Susan shook her head with a laugh. "No, not at all. They're here for Y/N. They all heard she was turning twenty and wanted to meet her."

Peter felt his jaw clench and his teeth grind. He spared a glance to the group of noblemen across the room. Some were chatting and sipping wine, others were watching the entry ways to see you arrive. Peter guessed some were sons of nobles and others must have been divorced or unmarried men who needed a new wife to help them create their line of succession.

Susan nudged Peter's side and he turned his head to look at her. "What is the matter, Peter? She has to be married soon."

"Not necessarily." Peter could make you a better match than those boys and old men. "We could let her stay here and be happy instead of marrying her off to someone who'll force her to change who she is for them to be happy."

Susan stopped walking and made Peter halt. "What's gotten into you?" Susan was far from stupid, let alone ignorant. But she suspected much about Peter and the way he acts when you're mentioned. "Don't you want her to find somebody?"

Peter sighed and turned his head to Susan. "Of course, I do, Su. But they won't love her like I know I can. I'd treat her better than they could."

"Peter," Susan breathed, her smile growing wide. She was so worried about you not finding the love of your life that she hadn't bothered to see that maybe he was closer than you assumed. "You love her, don't you?"

Peter sighed heavily as his heart beat became sporadic. Yes, he did. High King Peter the Magnificent loved you. He didn't know how it happened, but in the two years you've been in Cair Parvelle, something had made him love and care for you.

"Susan, I do. And I don't want her to go. I want her to stay here. With me." He answered, letting Susan see his heart. "I'll marry her instead."

"Marry who?" Lucy interjected as she arrived to stand beside Susan. In the last six years, Lucy grew to become as beautiful as their sister. It always showed when she dressed up. But behind Lucy was you and Peter noticed you walking across the ballroom floor, looking nothing like yourself. Then you got stopped by a pair of hands from one of the princes he saw earlier and Peter felt his hand fall to the hilt of sword.

Susan whispered in Lucy's ear and Lucy grinned at Peter. "Oh, Peter. She'll be so happy to hear that."

Peter wasn't listening, he was walking towards you and the Acherman Prince. Susan grabbed Edmund's elbow as he arrived and pointed to the scene across the room. Edmund nodded and walked on the other side, investigating the scene.

You pulled and clawed as the Prince's hands tried to keep you from getting away. Who did this fool think he is? You turned around and tried to push him away, but nothing worked. This boy must be built like a minotaur.

"Prince Zarek, I must insist you get your hands off of me." You beat your fists against his chest and sighed.

Prince Zarek gave a laugh of pure mockery. "You don't put up much of a fight, do you?"

You scoffed, "At least I don't fight like a girl, you prick."

You swung your head forward and it connected with his nose. You heard a crunching sound and then a shout of pain. You rubbed your forehead and looked at the Prince. "I said to get your hands off of me."

You fixed your skirts and your tiara before you continued to accept and decline dances. Peter watched you exchange pleasantries with your birthday guests and smiled. You were just as remarkable as he always thought. And you certainly just proved that.

As you finished dancing with an older noble, you grabbed a goblet of wine and drank a few swallows. You wiped your mouth with the back of your hand and paused when your eyes met his gaze. Peter chuckled as your face began to pinken. He made his way over as he exchanged greetings with other nobility. He took your wine and drank the rest.

"You are quite the little fighter." Peter mused as he smiled at you. "Who taught you that?"

You snorted as you put your hands on your hips. "Don't make me inflate your ego, you know it was you, Peter."

Peter laughed as he set the empty chalice back on the table. He held his hand out for you to take. "Care to dance with me?"

You felt your neck and ears burn, surely as red as you thought they were. You were just glad that you looked better than you did thirty minutes ago. Lucy made you look as beautiful as Susan and as girlish as herself. In a light green dress with silver linings and trim and high heeled shoes, you looked like the princess you were supposed to be. As uncomfortable as the things were to wear, you supposed you should be thankful that Lucy made you look good enough to have Peter dance with you.

You hesitantly put your hand in his and smiled. "It'd be a pleasure, Your Grace."

Peter hummed as he pulled you into the middle of the crowd. He put a hand on your waist and the other still held yours as he danced across the floor with you.

"You look beautiful, you know." Peter murmured as he twirled you in a circle before pulling you back into his arms.

You scoffed as you gazed at him through your lashes. "As opposed to when I don't?"

"No. You look beautiful all the time, even covered in dirt with leaves in your hair." Peter stopped your waltz and spun you to face him again. His words reached a place in your heart that never thought it'd be filled. You looked away from him then and he smiled at the utter innocence of the action. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"I don't know. Nobody else thinks so, so why should you?" You replied as you stepped away, but still close enough for Peter to touch you.

Peter reached out and tucked a piece of fallen hair behind your ear. "Because I know you and I want you to know that if you decide to marry one of the suitors here for you, I'll let you even if it breaks my heart to see you do so."

You felt breathless as he pulled you closer again and you welcomed it. Peter had always been extremely attractive to you, from the moment you heard stories about the boy to the moment you met the man. Sandy blonde hair that looked soft enough to touch and blue eyes to drown in with muscles in the right places, Peter grew up to be the image of a king and he was a complete gentleman.

"Can I kiss you?" He whispered softly, cupping your face in his hands. And he smiled when you nodded.

The butterflies escaped their cage as Peter's lips met yours. They fluttered wildly as your hands clutched the silky fabric of his tunic, pulling him closer. Peter wrapped his arms around your waist and held you against him.

Peter broke away and stared at you with a grin on his face. You looked as breathless as he felt. Your eyes were closed as you touched your lips and he loved how he was the one to kiss those lips first. But the words you said is what made him weak for you.

"That was my first kiss," you said wistfully as your eyes opened to look at Peter.

"Happy Birthday, Y/N." He replied as he kissed you a second time.

You hummed contently as you felt better about your unnecessary worries from earlier. As much as Rosa may think you weren't a Princess worth marrying to any Prince, it seemed a High King wanted you despite all your unladylike activities. And knowing that was enough for your heart to belong to Peter. And it did.

Peter knew he could love you better than anyone else could. And he knew he'd treat you better. And he'd be damned if he didn't prove it to you. He would. Everyday, he would.

So he danced with you for the rest of the night and he laughed with you and he kissed you over and over again. And across the ballroom, from their place by the balcony, the three youngest Pevensies grinned as they watched you both.

They were as happy as you both felt. You both found the love of your life and it was each other. You were in good hands and so was Peter.

And soon they joined you both, dancing with you both as a family. Letting the night fill with love, hope, and joy.

ºººº

Hope you all enjoyed this first piece!

Feel free to request for more for Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, and Caspian.

If you'd like to be tagged for my Narnia writings, let me know.

(Follow my first account @hoforhogh for my Vikings content!)