Worth Fighting For | By : KassandraRamsey Category: A through F > Chronicles of Narnia Views: 13912 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own The Chronicles of Narnia, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
Worth Fighting For
By Kassandra Ramsey
Disclaimer: I do not own the Chronicles of Narnia, or any of the characters or places mentioned.
A/N: Just so you know, I read the first two books of Narnia several years ago. This fic is based purely on the movie, only it will be AU as the Pevensies will not be returning home.
Special thanks to Pixie Fairy for being my beta, and Lynette for looking it over for me.
Chapter One: A Narnian Scandal
“Lucy? Where are you going?” Queen Susan Pevensie called to the brunette whirlwind that nearly knocked her down as she passed it on the stairs.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Susan! I’m late for tea with Mr. Tumnus,” seventeen year old Lucy called over her shoulder in a rush.
Susan just shook her head at the younger girl’s enthusiasm.
“What does she find so fascinating about that faun anyway?” She wondered aloud, jumping slightly at the chuckle from behind her.
“Who knows? At least he keeps her out of trouble,” King Peter, Susan and Lucy’s eldest brother commented holding out an arm to help his sister up the remaining marble stairs.
“Keeps her out of trouble?” Susan asked in disbelief as they continued down a hall dotted with armed guards.
Just last week, Lucy had dropped a mouse down the back of Princess Alana’s dress. Princess Alana was one of many princesses and noble women from other countries trying to catch Peter’s eye.
Peter laughed again.
“Well, could you imagine how much mischief she would get up to if he wasn’t there to occupy at least some of her time?” He asked.
“Aslan forbid the thought,” Susan giggled.
The smile died on her lips at the appearance of their moody younger brother, Edmond. It was rather obvious by the expression on his sullen face that he was not happy about something. Not an unusual occurrence, but no less tiresome all the same.
Even Peter could not quite stifle the weariness in his voice as he asked, “What is it now, Edmond?”
Edmond glared and bumped his shoulder hard against Peter as he pushed passed them.
Peter opened his mouth to admonish him, but Susan stopped him with a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Let me speak with him.”
Peter looked relieved as he nodded at her.
Susan smiled and said, “Sometimes I feel more like we are their parents and not just older siblings.”
Something like pain flashed in Peter’s eyes, and Susan quickly turned away to hide her blush.
“I’ll see you at dinner,” she said, hurrying after Edmond.
Peter watched her go, and then continued on toward the throne room. It looked as if he’d be holding court alone this afternoon.
Susan found Edmond face down on his bed, crying.
She fought back a sigh of frustration as she quietly entered the room. Honestly, he was supposed to be twenty-year-old King Edmond the Just. Looking at him now, all she could see was the twelve-year-old boy who had caused so much trouble on their first arrival to Narnia.
“Edmond? Love, tell me what’s wrong,” she said sitting on the bed and stroking his silky black hair.
He sniffled and sat up with and angry huff.
Susan waited, knowing he would tell her when he was ready.
Edmond glared at her for a few minutes before slumping back onto his pillows and sighing with misery.
“I was training with Marcus and Denam,” he began.
Marcus was a centaur and Denam a faun. They had befriended her moody brother soon after the four siblings had taken up residence in Castle Cair Paravel. Both had both been well trained in fighting and combat when they were very young. They had been training Edmond, Peter, and even sometimes Lucy and Susan for years. Not that there had been any wars since Pevensies had assumed the Narnian throne, but peace in any country never lasts long. They needed to be prepared.
“They said some awful things about Lucy,” Edmond continued and Susan raised her eyebrows in shock.
Marcus and Denam had never been anything but kind to her and Lucy. What could have happened to cause their attitude?
“What did they say?” She asked, quietly.
Edmond’s lips were thin and white, and Susan could not remember the last time her younger brother had looked so angry.
“They were commenting on all the time she spends with Mr. Tumnus. They insinuated that Lucy and he were… lovers,” he spat.
Susan gasped and put a hand to her mouth.
“What did you say?” she asked, finally.
He shrugged and looked down at his hands.
“I said it was none of their affair and tried to engage them back to our practice. But they continued on. They said awful things. Like, if Tumnus was good enough for Lucy, then so were they.”
Susan scoffed in outrage.
“That’s not all. They want to hold some sort of tournament to determine who should get to marry her.”
Susan jumped to her feet, her face red with anger. Edmond almost smiled at seeing his meek sister so enraged.
“That is not acceptable! We have to tell Peter! He’ll put a stop to this,” she cried heading for the door.
She stopped with her hand on the knob and turned back to Edmond.
“Did they say anything about me? I mean, I am older than Lucy is. Shouldn’t I be married first?”
Edmond turned bright red and dropped his eyes again.
“What did they say?” Susan demanded.
“They said that someone already had a claim on you,” Edmond mumbled.
“Who?”
“Peter.”
The color drained from Susan’s face and she slumped to the floor.
The door suddenly opened to reveal the oldest sibling as if he had been summoned.
He looked so sad and defeated that Susan immediately got to her feet and pulled him into a hug.
“What is it Peter?” she asked, stroking his cheek.
His blue eyes glistened with tears as he looked straight at Edmond.
“There is going to be a tournament…”
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“Well, it is about time,” Faun Tumnus greeted Lucy with a warm smile as she dismounted.
She laughed and ran to give him a hug.
“Sorry. My last tutor ran over on the lesson,” she explained giving him an extra squeeze. Tumnus was Lucy’s best friend in all of Narnia. Sure she had always had her siblings to play with, but they were all older than she was. It was funny to her that Mr. Tumnus, who was much older than all of them, was more fun to be around.
When Lucy stepped back from the hug, she felt as if someone was watching her. Turning around and scanning the woods, she saw a few rabbits that, upon meeting her gaze, quickly hopped away. A deer shook his head at her in disapproval but left before she could question him.
Turning back to Tumnus, she was surprised to see him flushed bright red and looking at the ground.
“Mr. Tumnus? What is going on? I feel like I’m in trouble or something, but I can’t remember doing anything wrong. At least, not recently…” she smiled, remembering the incident with the mouse.
“Come on inside where we can speak privately,” he said, gesturing to the door of his home.
Lucy shrugged and went inside. Tumnus turned to glare at a bird that had let out a very human sounding whistle, before following.
As Mr. Tumnus settled Lucy in a chair and served her tea and toast, he hoped that she might forget her question. No such luck.
“Are you going to tell me what is going on?” she asked, starting to worry.
Tumnus never hesitated to answer any questions of hers before. Whatever it was, he was very uncomfortable about it.
He finally sat down with a sigh and began to speak.
“Queen Lucy…”
“Tumnus! It’s just Lucy to you. How many times must I remind you,” she teased with a smile, hoping to brighten his spirits.
It didn’t work.
“Lucy, our… friendship, has been the main discussion of many recently.”
Lucy tilted her head as she mulled over this tidbit.
“Our friendship? What about it?”
He sighed, again.
“We spend a lot of time together,” he tried to explain.
“But we’ve always spent a lot of time together! Why is it a problem now?” she demanded.
“When you were a child, it was okay. But you will be eighteen in a few months. More than old enough to marry.”
Lucy blinked and shook her head.
“I still don’t see what that has to do with anything,” she said, feeling a knot begin to form in her stomach.
Mr. Tumnus didn’t want to have to spell it out for her, but he would rather she heard it from him than some heartless gossip.
“Lucy, the rabbits, the deer? They think we are doing something much more scandalous than having tea,” he said slowly.
The confusion in her eyes cleared, and then she looked distressed.
“But that isn’t true! Why would they believe such a thing?”
Tumnus felt his heart break at the sight of her tears, and quickly passed her his handkerchief.
“You have grown into a very beautiful young woman. And… I’m a faun. I can only assume that they think I would take advantage of our friendship. Perhaps it is what they would do if they were in my place,” he thought aloud.
“That is exactly why they aren’t!” she declared.
He nodded and stared at his hands.
“Why anyone would believe that someone like you would want to be with someone like me is preposterous,” he said, quietly.
“Exactly, and… What? I mean I… I never really thought…” she trailed off uncertainly.
He looked up at her with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and took one of her hands in his.
“It is alright, Lucy. Our friendship is very special to me, but if you aren’t comfortable visiting me anymore, that’s okay too.”
Lucy yanked her hand away and jumped to her feet.
“Are you mad? Do you not know me at all?” she demanded angrily.
Tumnus opened his mouth but no sound came out. In all the years he had known her, never before had her anger been directed at him.
“Do you really believe that I would end our friendship because some stupid gossips started a nasty rumor? I would never do that! I care about you!” She yelled, but stopped at the sight of his tears.
Taking a breath to calm her self, she walked over to him and knelt at his feet. She then wiped at his tears with the handkerchief he had handed her a moment before.
“You are my very best friend in the whole world. You have been there for me when my own family wouldn’t be. I would never give you up without a fight,” she said solemnly.
His eyes were wide as he watched her head lower until she was resting her check on his knee. The wiry hair that covered the bottom half of his body was a lot softer that she had thought it would be.
When Tumnus had finally recovered from his shock at her actions, he brusquely grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her up.
“You are my Queen, Lucy. You shouldn’t kneel to me,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.
She gave him a mischievous smile and plopped down in his lap.
“You are right, of course. This is much more comfortable,” she said sliding her arms around his waist and tucking her head beneath his chin.
His entire body was tense for a moment, but then Lucy started to sing. Her melodic voice eased his fears and he allowed himself to hold her close for a few minutes. They both enjoyed the newfound intimacy, and just held each other.
A little while later, Tumnus walked her out to her horse. Neither was surprised to see the crowd of forest creatures that had come to catch a glimpse of the latest Narnian scandal.
Suppressing her anger at their presence, Lucy suddenly had an absolutely wicked idea. If she had taken the time to think it through, she would have realized that it was a very selfish and childish thing to do. However, Lucy was the sort of person that frequently did things without thinking. That was why she was in trouble so much. She never dreamed that her action would change everything forever.
Turning toward Mr. Tumnus, who was busy glaring at the animals, she walked up to him and pulled his head toward her for a kiss. A real kiss. Not a sweet innocent peck on the cheek, but a full-blown lip to lip kiss.
Her intention had been to show their audience that she didn’t care what they thought. She wanted them to know that she would do whatever she wanted, and that no one could stop her. She didn’t think about how Mr. Tumnus might take it.
She gave a start when she felt his arms suddenly slip around her to hold her against him.
Lucy felt bad, suddenly realizing that she was leading him to believe that she cared for him in an entirely different way than she did.
Just when she was about to break the kiss and apologize so that he wouldn’t get the wrong idea, the faun suddenly slipped his tongue into her mouth.
He tasted of tea and jam, and something that she had no name for.
Lucy, forgetting that they were outside in full view of the forest animals, wound her arms around his neck and pressed closer to him. The warmth of his body against her fueled her with an excitement she had never known before and she never wanted the kiss to end.
But as with all good things, the kiss had to end. They pulled apart panting, and looking at each other differently than they ever had before. A part of Lucy wanted to cry as she felt the innocent friendship she shared with this faun turn to something more intense and heated than she had ever known.
She reached a hand up to caress his cheek.
“It will never be the same again, will it?” she asked.
He shook his head, still panting slightly.
Lucy stepped away and quickly pulled herself up onto her horse’s back. Once mounted, she just sat there, unsure of what to say or do.
“Do you want it to be?” he asked after a moment.
Lucy gave him a long hard look.
“I don’t know.”
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If Peter, Susan, and Edmund hadn’t been so lost in their thoughts, they might have commented on how quiet Lucy was when she returned from the faun’s house. But as it was, they were each trying desperately to think of some way to get out of having to hold the tournament.
Later that evening, Peter summoned Lucy to his suite.
Lucy marveled at how fast the news of her kiss must have spread through Narnia, for surely this was what Peter wanted to see her about.
She was dismayed to find all of her siblings waiting for her in Peter’s sitting room. Having to face Peter would be hard enough, but she hated the thought of getting yelled at in front of all of them.
She needn’t have worried, for as fast as gossip spread, it had yet to reach Cair Paravel.
“Lucy, we have a situation. I’m sorry, but I just can’t see a way out of it…” Peter began, looking defeated and miserable.
Susan quickly went to his side and took hold of his hand. For the first time in her life, Lucy recognized the way Susan was looking at Peter. It was not the way a sister should look at her brother.
Edmund uncharacteristically took charge of the situation.
“Lucy, there is a rumor going around that you are sleeping with Mr. Tumnus,” he said, flatly.
Lucy flushed, even though she already knew of it. Still, she lifted her chin in the air and looked Peter square in the eye.
“So? It isn’t true, if that is what you want to know. And quite honestly, I don’t care what anyone thinks.”
She felt proud and very grown up all of a sudden.
“Oh, Lucy! We know you would never… It’s just that the other fauns and the centaurs are jealous. They think that if you are going to be with a, er, non-human, then you should be with the best non-human in Narnia,” Susan tried to explain.
“They have demanded to hold a tournament to determine who should be allowed to, um, court you,” Peter added.
Lucy was taken aback by this.
“But I don’t really know the other fauns and centaurs. Why would I want to be with one of them?” she asked, confused.
“You are Queen, Lucy. You can befriend anyone you like, but when it comes to marriage and love... Well, royalty is always held to different standards,” Edmond continued.
Lucy shook her head, puzzling.
“Well, I’m not ready to get married, so I guess this will just have to wait,” she said, finally.
“You will have to stop seeing Mr. Tumnus then. As long as you continue to visit him, the others will think you are, er, dating,” Edmund said.
“NO! I refuse to stop visiting my best friend just because some mean gossip is jealous of us!” she cried.
“Maybe, if we can convince everyone that your relationship with the faun is completely platonic they might leave you alone,” Peter offered, hopefully.
All the color drained from Lucy’s face.
“I did a very foolish thing today,” she admitted.
The others waited for her to continue.
“I kissed him. And a lot of animals saw,” she mumbled, blushing again.
Peter groaned, and Susan looked shocked.
“Well, there is no getting around it now,” Edmund offered unhelpfully.
Lucy turned to Peter angrily.
“How could you agree to such a thing?” she demanded.
Peter held up his hands in a placating gesture.
“It wasn’t my decision Lu. Apparently it is Narnian law that if enough subjects request something, it must be done,” he explained, “and there were at least three hundred asking for it today.”
Lucy slumped to the floor and buried her face in her hands.
She soon felt Susan’s arms wrap around her and allowed her older sister to hold her as she cried.
The boys remained silent, uncomfortable with the emotion, but they didn’t leave.
“Don’t worry, Lucy. Everything will work itself out. You’ll see,” Susan comforted.
As Lucy cried, she felt a pang of longing for her mother, whom she knew was out there somewhere, but never really thought of much. Just a moment ago she had felt so grown-up, but now she felt like a little girl who was in over her head.
Susan looked over her sister’s head at Peter.
“What will we do?” she mouthed, silently.
Peter sighed and walked over to them, stooping down to pat Lucy’s back.
“We’ll think of something.”
End Chapter 1
Chapter 2: Coming soon!
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