Emily Richards travels far from her home of Finchley to stay with her grandmother during the war, wanting more than how far her daydreams reach. With the help of a friend named Lucas, she opens a locked door in the house and finds a chest that takes...
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"Emily."
The fantasy was over. It had been for a week. Emily still remember the look Peter gave her when she suggested they go back that evening. It had grown dark outside the waterfall and the two had finished dancing, sitting on a blanket to enjoy the apples Peter had picked from the trees. He told her more stories, though these were stories of his time back in England; when he was growing up. The countless fights him and Ed would get into, the long talks with Susan, and his playful attitude with Lucy. He was like her. Normal. He too was a child who had suffered from war, and now found peace here in a world that was not reality. Not yet, at least to Emily. He forgot that he was High King of a Kingdom, and talked to her as if they were students attending school. They laughed and Emily counted the numerous times their laughter echoed off of the walls of the cavern.
Most of all, however, Emily remembered Peter's longing stare to her every time she would smile. The gaze into her eyes as they danced. Even the shock and fear in his eyes as he thought she would take the unknowing plunge off of the cliff into the rocky waters below them. He saved her, but deep down she wasn't sure if he had recovered. By that, with the days that followed she would occasionally see Peter watching her. She thought that perhaps it was because she was always around the other siblings, and being the protective older brother he was, Peter wanted to make sure they were safe. She didn't think that such an incident that happened to her clumsy self would have such an impact on the boy. Even herself.
At the thought of the event, Emily remembered Peter's hands on her shoulders. His grip on her wrists as he pulled her and her horse back. She would often place her own hands around her wrists, imagining that they were dancing again. It was so calming, as was Peter's whisper into her ear; yet so daring and bold. Like the roar of a lion.
Apparently, someone had caught her deep in her thoughts in the gardens. Because the repetition of her name brought her slowly back down to earth. "Emily!" It was Lucy, shoving her shoulders to shake her out of her daydreams.
"What?" Emily blinked, rubbing her forehead in slight confusion of where she was. Books on various shelves with candles and torches on the walls bringing light into the room; though that was mostly thanks to the large window overlooking the lush greenery and distant ocean. It took her a few moments to process she was in the library with Lucy, planning the event of the season as Lucy called it. A Solstice Ball. "Right, sorry. Where were we?"
"We were talking of the flower arrangements before you started to stare longingly out the window." Lucy answered with a giggle. A Solstice Ball as the citizens of Narnia called it, was an seasonal gathering for the changing of the seasons. As summer was approaching, Lucy usually enjoyed taking part in the planning with various friends she has made around the castle. Susan would help her as well, but today she was with Peter and Caspian in the war room.
The war room had become a series of topics at dinner time. The boys and Susan would either have sour looks on their faces or ones of seriousness. Both equally as bad. There had been news of frost near the fords of Beruna, even the slightest on the rocks and leaves near the forest floor. The waters were completely fine, yet still, it let a chilling thought for everyone. The ball was a chance for everyone to forget their troubles and focus on liveliness and merriment.
