Chapter Eleven: The Hours Before Trouble Comes:

//I found myself stumbling through the dark down to my last prayer//

Good to his declaration, Peter did stay with her until her clothes were dried out. Whether it was because he wanted to spend time with her or was too self-conscious to either walk back to the How shirtless or ask her for it back, she would never know. However she did not in point of fact care, she’d had a fantastic time with him, getting to know him better and realising just how many things they actually – notwithstanding the time period difference – that they had in common and also the things about him that drove her crazy, which were also abundant.

When it was time for her to get dressed, he automatically kept his back to her while she removed his shirt and put on her knickers and slip, only shuddering faintly as he heard the whisper of fabric and his imagination went into overdrive. He turned around – he just could not withstand it any longer – when his shirt flew through the air and landed in his hands.

She perceived the disenchantment in his eyes when he saw that she was in some measure clothed and she endeavoured, ineffectively, not to express amusement at his expression. He smiled at her as he come over to her and helped her on with her dress, even sweeping her hair to the side so he could fasten the corset-like ties on the back for her without being asked.

With her hair out of the way and the bare skin of her neck exposed, he placed a soft kiss against her skin, sending a shiver to shoot down her spine. Giving in he spun her around and pulled her into his arms and kissed her until she was almost breathless. When they finally broke apart she spoke, although unsteadily, “Maybe we should – uh – get back…”

“I suppose we should,” Peter replied unhappy at the thought of leaving their time together.

He intertwined his left hand with her right hand securely – so that she could not wriggle away – and began the walk back to the How. She acquiesced for the moment, bewildered and flustered over her sphere of feelings. Guilt, attraction, happiness, more guilt, as well as million others flooded through her and she had no way to sort through them without someone to talk to and that was an impossibility. The only female – Human – close to her age was Susan and it might be more than a little embarrassing to discuss Peter with his sister and besides her… there was Caspian, a dwarf and some Minotaurs.

Also she had the additional pressure of the upcoming battle to contemplate; did it have some bearing on what she thought she might be feeling? Everything was so messed up and confusing that she wished that she could simply bury her head in the sand and wait for it all to be over.

As they came in close proximity to the How, two recognizable figures burst out of the woods, one in chase of the other. Buffy sighed and wondered what Susan and Caspian had done to each other now… She felt the contraction of Peter’s fingers on her own as they heard Caspian call out for Susan’s attention. When they slackened Buffy thought there might be a reprieve, until she saw the expression on his face.

“Peter, don’t!”

He ignored her and marched of fin the direction of Caspian, determined to interfere. “Keep away from my sister.”

“Stay out of this,” Caspian spat back. “This is not any of your concern.”

“My sister, my business.”

“I do not interfere in your relationship…”

“Relationship?”

“Peter!” Buffy called as she ultimately caught up to them. “Leave Caspian be.”

“No,” he declared obstinately at her, before turning back to Caspian. “What relationship do you have with *my* sister?”

“I am in love with Queen Susan.”

“You’re what?”

“I love…”

“I heard you,” Peter said his voice iced over. “She’s my sister.”

“She is not mine.”

At that declaration, Buffy cringed as she saw – practically in slow motion – Peter’s fist ball and fly through the air, hitting the Prince squarely in the nose. She shook her head in abhorrence at the sight in front of her – two people who should know better – a King rubbing his fist and a Prince holding a bloody nose. Turning around, she headed to the How to search for Lucy and her cordial, hoping that the two of them would behave while she was gone.

“Have you seen Caspian?”

The question surprised Buffy; she was sitting down on the outside ledge of the How, watching the Narnian army’s sword and archery preparation and without a sound contemplating how they were going to vanquish Miraz and his men. She looked up at him and raised her eyebrows in incredulity, “And if I knew the answer to that… I would tell you, why?”

“I need to apologise.”

“You?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I should not have hit him…”

“Is that all?” she encouraged.

Peter sighed, “I should also not get in the way of whatever is going on with him and Susan. I should also have not attacked him over the raid.”

Buffy smiled rather wickedly, “That’s very well-mannered of you. So what did Su do to you to bring about this impulsive change of heart?”

Peter declined to meet her eyes, turned an intense pink and shuffled his foot along the stone ledge looking uncomfortable. “I do not wish to discuss it – ever!”

“Last time I saw Caspian, he was heading into the stone table room to sulk.”

Peter looked at her unexpectedly, “Do you think I was wrong?”

“Yes, but you’re impulsive and protective. You act before you think, more than ever when it comes to those you love – it’s something we have in common.”

“Will you come with me? I am not good at saying sorry.”

Buffy held out her hand and he took hold of it to help her up, before the two of them entered the interior of the How. As they came in the vicinity of the doorway to the room that Caspian was hiding in, they encountered Lucy, Edmund and Trumpkin, doing nothing and looking extraordinarily uninterested and discouraged.

“Where do *you* two think you’re going?” Lucy asked slyly, looking at their entangled hands.

“Peter is going to apologise to Caspian,” Buffy informed them.

“He is?” Edmund looked shocked at the thought.

Peter acknowledged it to some extent rather half-heartedly, “I am.”

“This I *have* to see,” Edmund proclaimed following them towards the room. “Peter *never* apologises for anything. Did you or Su torture him, Buffy?”

“Shut up, Ed!” Peter yelled.

The twosome became a quintet as they entered the stone table room. However the spectacle that welcomed them when they got there, pushed all other thoughts and banter from their minds. Caspian was stood in front of a wall of ice and there was a woman inside of it, beckoning to him.

Buffy stood there for a short time bewildered as Peter, Edmund and Trumpkin sprang into action. Weapons drawn they rushed headlong into the room and the circumstances that were unfolding. Each one of them had an adversary of their own – fighting for their lives – as Caspian stood there more or less frozen.

After a moment Buffy joined in the skirmish, she chose to help Edmund battle the Werewolf and leave Peter and Trumpkin to do their individual things. Her determination was based on menace level and not on anything personal – a werewolf was exceedingly more of a threat than the others if it were to get away.

Out of the corner of her eyes she became aware of Lucy and that she had come to the aid of Trumpkin and Peter was having little trouble with his Hag. She and Edmund kept up the pressure on the Werewolf, confusing it by giving it more than one target to aim for. In the end it came down to one straightforward team move, she placed a well implemented roundhouse kick to the Werewolf’s midsection and as he flew through the air, Edmund sliced through him – cutting him in half.

Buffy observed that Peter had defeated the Hag and had rushed over to Caspian, knocking the Prince out of the way. He pointed his sword at the ice woman, “Get away from him.”

The woman looked shocked, “Peter, dear… I have missed you. Come, just one drop.” She reached towards him, “You know you cannot do this alone.”

She saw Edmund sneaking around towards the back of the woman and Buffy decided to intervene, just in case. Pushing Peter and his steadily lowering sword out to the way, she stood in front of the woman. “Who are you?”

“Ah, a new one. Give me just one drop of your blood and I shall be free.”

“No thanks… not interested.”

“You dare to defy me...” the woman yelled wondering why she could not put his slip of a girl under her thrall.

Buffy nodded, “Pretty much.”

“Do you know who I am?”

“No - I did ask, but you were too rude to answer.”

“I am Jadis, Queen of Narnia...”

Buffy looked at her, “Sorry wrong answer. Lucy and Susan are the only Queens I know of.”

“Girl…” she began, but without warning groaned instead.

The wall of ice all of a sudden shattered into a million minuscule pieces and all that was left was Edmund standing there with his sword drawn. Buffy walked over to him and slapped him on the back, “Way to go, Ed.”

“Ed… I…” Peter stuttered.

“I know,” Ed answered sarcastically. “You had it sorted.”

At a distressed gasp, everyone looked up and saw Susan in the entrance to the room. She looked at each of them in turn and Buffy out of the blue had the impression that she back in class, had once again not done her homework and the teacher was about to call her on it. When Susan was done, she sent a ominous glare to Peter and Caspian, before turning around and leaving the room and a befuddled Prince behind.

Buffy looked over at them all, “So… who or what really was that? And why do I feel as though we have just avoided a most important disaster?”

The remainder of the day seemed to drag on and on, two Kings, one Queen and a Prince had split up the remaining army into groups. One group went with Susan – and a still trying to make-up Caspian – for archery practice. The remaining warriors stayed with Peter and Edmund for sword training and the ones who were not participating in the fight returned to the How to continue preparations.

Buffy had taken Lucy to one side to give the young girl a few hand-to-hand techniques in case of any trouble and had found herself with a group of her own – consisting of a couple of younger Centaurs. She had them pair off after she had shown them a few things so that she could see what they needed to have more training on and she also worked with Lucy – who turned out to be a lot sneakier than she looked.

Dusk was a hair’s breath from falling when Edmund approached her. She looked up at him dubiously, “What’s up?”

“We – Peter and I – are going to have a sword fighting demonstration…”

“And you want my group to watch?”

“Yes… no… not exactly…”

“Spit it out, Ed!”

“Lu and the others can watch. I want you to – uh – teach Peter a lesson.”

“What?”

“He is being insufferable again… so I thought… maybe you could… show him humility.”

“Go on, Buffy,” Lucy urged. “It will be fun… for us anyway.”

Buffy nodded her consent, “Okay.”

“I’ll go set things up,” Edmund replied a malicious smirk settling over his face.

“And I’ll go get Su and Caspian,” Lucy told her before running off.

She stood there abruptly on her own and asked no one in particular, “Why is it always me?”

Ten minutes later she meandered over to where Peter was waiting - with irritation - to perform his demonstration. The crowd was growing progressively larger and Buffy knew that Lucy and Edmund had been spreading their set up to everyone who would listen. As she approached him, he smiled at her and she realised that Peter was the only one who had no idea what was in fact going on.

“Did you come to watch me destroy Ed?”

Buffy tried not to laugh, “Not exactly…”

“Ed won’t win, you know. He never can beat me.”

At that moment, Edmund arrived with Lucy, Susan and a large amount more contented Caspian in tow. Buffy was undecided if the Prince was in high spirits because he had made-up with Susan or because Peter was about to get his behind delivered to him in front of a large crowd.

“Ready, Pete?” Ed asked serenely.

“Absolutely, Ed.”

“Great. You can use my sword, Buffy,” Ed replied handing over his weapon to her.

Peter paled as she smiled and accepted it, “Thanks, Ed.”

“Buffy…” Peter started apprehensively.

“Yes, Peter?”

“Try not to kill me.”

She laughed, “I’ll do my best.”

End Part

Lyrics:

Trace Adkins – And Then There Was You