Status: On hiatus. Have no fear! It'll still be written eventually...

Awaiting Redemption

Halfway Gone

"Dame, take a bath while we get your gown ready for measurements and alterations."

I raised an eyebrow and walked into the conjoining bathroom. Once inside, I closed the door and began to undo the corset that kept the dress to my upper body. Slipping out of the light blue gown, I slid into the bath of bubbly water and relaxed. I washed my hair and took care to cleanse my body thoroughly; after all, we had crawled through dusty ruins. After I was finished, I wrapped a light gray towel around my body and then walked into my bedroom.

"Quickly everyone, hold the dress up to her. Lucia, dry the dame's hair or just hold it in the towel. Ana, prepare the pins. Dame, step inside the dress please."

Lucia, an unusually young maiden with a pale complexion and somber eyes, stepped behind me and held her hands at the ends of my towel. I obeyed the plump woman's commands and stepped inside the dress, moving in such a way that allowed Lucia to lift the towel at the right moment to catch the ends of my hair before they touched the gown. Fortunately for Ana, a middle-aged woman who looked as if she enjoyed her job, the dress didn't have much extra fabric that needed to be taken in.

"Ana, take it down to Alejandro to be altered after you're done pinning it, if you don't mind.”

Once finished, I stepped out of the dress and re-wrapped my towel around my body. Lucia had gone to get another towel for my hair, Ana had taken my gown down for alterations, and the plump maiden had left to boss some other servants around. For a few moments, I was alone in the room.

Finally, I had time to just breathe and let everything sink in. Nothing stood out to me at Aslan’s How beside my own burned-out face on the wall, and we were followed by what was most likely a wolf. I had just been cornered in a tunnel with Caspian and the main reason why I was in Narnia was still unknown. Was this a lost cause?

“Andy, I just wanted to—”

I looked toward the door from where I was lying down on my bed, and saw Caspian enter the room in a hurry. However, when he saw me lying there in nothing but a towel, his face reddened considerably. As his hand quickly moved to cover his eyes, he began to back out the door. I smiled at his humility.

“Yes?” I asked, standing up and walking over to Caspian, making sure my towel covered what I didn’t want him to see.

With his hand still tightly clamped over his eyes, he squeaked out, “It is custom that I arrive with a guest, and I figured since you don’t have one, you’d be mine? I’ll just meet you at the main stairwell at the start of the ball when you’re… properly dressed.”

With that, he turned quickly on his heel and rushed down the hallway.

I quirked an eyebrow and slowly returned to the bed. Was that his way of asking me out? Wait… why did I care? I lifted my hand to grasp the necklace that was dangling loosely around my neck. I undid the clasp and held it in my hands so I could better look at the piece of jewelry.

Lost in my thoughts, I smiled at the realization that, if Peter were here, he wouldn’t have asked me either—it was an automatic fact that we would be going to a ball together.

When my mind wrapped around the easy sound of that, I didn’t approve of it one bit.

***

“In consideration of the arrival of Dame Andrea, the coronation has been pushed forward to tonight. I am glad every single citizen of Narnia and Telmar alike could be here tonight and on such short notice. After the ceremony, feel free to dine and dance as your heart so desires,” Aslan began to announce to the gathered guests of the castle.

At the moment, Caspian and I were outside of the doors of the main hall waiting to be introduced formally by Aslan. Caspian was wearing dress robes while I was in my gown. Caspian was perspiring lightly, probably because he was so nervous, and kept wringing his hands together.

“Hey,” I whispered. He turned his head to look at me. “Don’t worry so much. They love you.”

He breathed out and nodded before taking my arm in his and turning our bodies to face the grand doors.

“…before you get too comfortable, allow me to present to you the reason we have assembled here tonight. Please welcome Crown Prince Caspian X and Dame Andrea.”

As the large doors opened to the crowded dining hall, we stepped inside and loud music began playing from the bugle horn ensemble located inside. We walked, smiling and waving, down the aisle lined with centaur soldiers in their armor. Caspian ascended the stairs leading to the high thrones, but I halted—after all, I wasn’t the one being crowned. I was about to walk to the side of the hall when Aslan began to speak.

“From this moment,” Aslan announced, his voice booming throughout the hall, “No one shall live in fear or in hiding. Narnians will be treated by the Telmarines as they would like to be treated, themselves. Miraz’s rein has come to an end, and the crown will return to its rightful owner, Caspian.”

Loud cheers erupted from everyone in the hall. I scowled. Rightful owner—wasn’t that the Pevensies’?

“Andrea, if you wouldn’t mind, please do us the honor?”

I looked at Aslan inquisitively and he gently tilted his head to the side. My eyes gazed over and I saw a faun holding a pillow with a royal crown perched on the top. Of course, I was going to be the one to crown Caspian.

I scoffed silently at my misfortune and walked with poise to retrieve the crown. Upon reaching the faun, I found (with great relief) that Caspian’s crown wasn’t the same that had once sat on Peter’s head. I picked up the crown with the edges of my fingertips and walked carefully back to the middle of the stairs. I readjusted the crown in my right hand and lifted the skirt of my gown with my left, so it would be easier for me to climb the stairs. Eventually, I was standing right at Caspian’s side.

“To all the sea and land yet untraveled, I give you King Caspian, the Navigator.”

Caspian turned his body toward me and kneeled down so as to allow me to be able to comfortably rest the crown on his head. As he bowed his head down, I took in a deep breath and hovered the crown above his head, holding it there for what seemed like hours. Caspian tilted his head up and looked at me with curious brown eyes. I swallowed and dropped the crown on his smooth brown hair. I offered up a small curtsy before turning and walking down the steps.

From where I was standing, at the bottom of the steps and to the far right, I could scan the entire hall and see over everyone who was currently seated. The Narnians were all seated on the left side of the hall and the Telmarines were mainly concentrated on the right. Every single one of them was staring up at Aslan with fascination.

I smirked. It was good to know that at least something in Narnia hadn’t changed.

***

After the four-course meal, it was time for the dancing part of the coronation ball to begin. The dance floor had been cleared and it was tradition for the King to lead the first dance.

Caspian and I walked toward each other from opposite sides of the dance floor. At an appropriate distance away from each other, we curtsied/bowed accordingly. Then, the music began.

I didn’t remember much about the type of dancing in Narnia, but as soon as the music started I was transported back to a time when Peter and I had shared a very similar dance to the one I was about to share with Caspian. Suddenly, it became hard for me to breathe, and I had to consciously remind myself to breathe in and out, like a normal person.

Caspian’s big brown orbs locked onto my own blue eyes and before long, our respective arms were parallel to each other as we rotated to the right. When we had returned to our original positions, our other arms moved into the two parallel ‘L’s that the dance called for and we began to rotate in the other direction. Caspian tried to smile slightly to lighten the mood, but I couldn’t be bothered to forget Peter…ever.

Without breaking the gaze, we moved both of our arms into parallel positions and began to rotate. It was hard for me not to lean on his arms because of the height difference and at one point, the palms of our hands grazed each other. I flinched slightly and Caspian raised his eyebrow at my response. We both stepped backward into the original position. I gulped as I noticed Caspian’s signature smirk placing itself on his previously expressionless face.

Before I knew what was happening, Caspian’s left hand was around my waist, his right hand in mine, and our bodies were being pressed together by the straight frame required by the dance. We began to twirl around the dance floor, one foot in front of another, and our eyes never looked away from each other. Soon, other couples were joining in on the dance and before I knew it, the band stopped playing. I stepped away from Caspian and curtsied, quickly hurrying off to find the table I was to sit at so I could mope about not being with Peter and being attracted to this...thing man who considers himself the rightful King.

However, my moping plans were fruitless because the ball ended after that dance. Or rather, those dances. I hadn’t realized it at the time but Caspian and I had been dancing the entire night. As the hall emptied, I noticed that many male human servants remained to remove the streamers from the ceiling and to clean off the tables. Oddly enough, the other few people there were Trumpkin, Trufflehunter, and Prince Caspian. I guess tonight was going to be like any other night, then…

Before long, Trumpkin and Trufflehunter had me engrossed in this fantastic story that seemed to perfect to have actually occurred. Prince Caspian stayed out of the story telling this time around and simply sat back in his chair, drinking some ale. I was in a really good mood from listening to this captivating story, and he was doing everything he could to not ruin it.

“The witch and the wolf took the remnants of her staff and dug it into the ground. Using magic, they summoned her spirit which created a portal-like wall of ice in the How, behind the stone table. All the White Witch needed to return to power was a drop of Adam’s blood. Peter tried to save Caspian from the White Witch’s spell, but he ended up falling for it himself! The White Witch almost had Peter’s blood but Edmund had gone around behind the back of the wall of ice and stabbed her with his sword.”

“It seems bad to say it now, but that was an amazing moment,” Caspian chimed in, chugging the rest of what was in his mug. When he slammed his mug down on the table is when I realized that something was wrong. With that loud thud, everything clicked in my head.

“So what happened to the White Witch? Is her spirit still stuck somewhere, ready to be summoned again?”

Trufflehunter and Trumpkin just looked at each other, unsure of how to answer. Of course they would be, they knew nothing of Old Narnia and its magic. Neither would Caspian know anything about how the White Witch got trapped in a portal-like world. All of a sudden, my heart dropped. I leaned into the table and the other three followed suit.

I breathed in and out slowly before I whispered harshly, “Where is that staff now?”

“Probably still back in the caves where we left it,” Trufflehunter said merrily.

“No!” I yelled, before lowering my voice. “I walked around that table two times and saw nothing of the sort. I would have recognized that ghastly thing anywhere. I can assure you it was nowhere in that cave or near that How.”

Suddenly, everyone was sober and quiet.

“Caspian, you heard the wolf paws behind us, did you not?” I asked, trying to connect the dots in my head. He nodded.

Everything was happening so quickly that I stood up and started to pace. Trufflehunter, Trumpkin, and Caspian sat patiently waiting for me to calm down enough to explain to them what was in my mind. Moments later, I was ready. I stood before the table and clarified my conclusions.

“Someone out there is still trying to bring the White Witch back to life and has gotten to the staff first. This means that all they need is a place of Old Magic and a drop of Adam’s blood. We’ll talk security details in the morning of all locations but as of right now we need to make sure that every human being is accounted for. We can’t give her Adam’s blood. Tomorrow morning we’ll have to go back to the How and look for clues that can guide us to the type of creatures that want to resurrect the Witch. I’ll also need to meet with your tutor, Caspian.”

He looked at me blankly for what seemed like an eternity. Then, he nodded and walked out of the door, presumably to give the command to make sure every registered human was in bed safe and sound. When he returned, I said good night and headed to my room. I knew that the next day would be a long one so I wanted to get a good night’s rest. Surprisingly, it wasn’t hard to do. I fell asleep with a smile on my face because now, after days of searching, I’ve finally found my place.
♠ ♠ ♠
SORRY THIS TOOK SO *^$&ING LONG.
i wanted to get this to you before I leave for Costa Rica tomorrow :) so i apologize for grammar errors or whatever. if you notice anything, leave it in a comment and i'll be sure to fix it when I get back!

JOIN: http://www.polyvore.com/mibba_outfits_item_contests/group.show?id=67730

her gown: http://www.polyvore.com/im_in_love_with_caspian/set?id=11766568

I SUCK AT DESCRIBING DANCES, THIS IS WHAT I WAS GOING FOR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10SVwR8K9mI