The Phoenix Archer ∞ Peter Pevensie

i. | S I X T E E N

✧

P E T E R

"How in the world does this thing work?" I mutter to myself as I fumble with the straps to my armour.

I'm sure it has taken me more than thirty minutes now and still, I haven't had any luck figuring this thing out.

With a sigh of defeat, I let the straps go and my armour falls off my chest and onto the storage chest before me.

"Your Majesty."

I straighten up at the voice that I've grown to recognise by heart before turning to face the entrance.

Nerissa leans against the pole beside her, her lips curled into a smirk.

"I had a feeling you wouldn't be able to figure it out." She nods towards the armour that I had abandoned on the chest, "Need a hand?"

"Yes, please."

My breath hitches as she takes several steps forward before stopping in front of me and leaning forward. Wrapping the strap around my waist, she starts tightening it, along with all the remaining loose straps.

Soon, I find myself drifting off, my eyes roaming her face and taking in her features that I've grown to appreciate, much like a piece of art.

She must've noticed me staring, because the next thing I know, she yanks on the strap that goes across my biceps, pulling it a little too taut.

"Ouch!"

"Forgive me, Your Majesty. I didn't mean to do that." Nerissa flashes a smirk at me- one that tells me that it was no accident at all before she resumes working away at the straps.

Finally, she finished off with the last strap. "Done," she announces, looking up at me with a satisfied grin, "You can breathe now. Not that I needed you to hold your breath at all."

I blow out the breath that I didn't even realise I've been holding, suddenly well aware of the proximity between us. One small tilt of her head and our lips could meet.

I don't know what came over me as I started to lean forward, slowly closing what little space there was between us and I hear Nerissa suck in a gasp.

Just as our lips were about to meet, the entrance of the tent flies open and I stumble away from the Archer, whose eyes were wide with shock as she stared at me.

"Am I interrupting something?" My brother had the cheek to ask.

His eyes darted between the both of us in confusion, seemingly oblivious to my glares.

Nerissa straightens up and regains her composure in the blink of an eye.

"No, nothing at all. I was just leaving." She says, "Is there anything else either of you need?"

"No, all's well. I just needed to grab my sword." Edmunds replies, pointing to his sword in the corner and I click my tongue in annoyance.

Nerissa nods, "Good. I'll be on my way, then."

With that, she turns on her heels and makes her way out of the tent. Shooting Edmund one last glare for good measure- although, I'm not sure he even realised what he did to deserve it- I rush after the Archer.

"Hey, wait!" I try my best to keep up with her.

I notice her shoulders stiffen, but she doesn't stop. She definitely heard me.

"Nerissa!"

This time, she actually stops, but she does it so abruptly that I almost ran right into her. She spins around to face me, her stoic expression giving me nothing to go off on. Was she mad? God, I couldn't even tell.

"I have things that I need to get done, your Majesty. So, if you could make this quick."

I blink at her, part of me was expecting a mouthful from her after the stunt I pulled- or rather, tried to pull.

"I-uh..."

Totally caught off guard and not knowing what to say, I stutter and Nerissa raises a brow at me. My initial plan was to apologise for overstepping my boundaries (something I find myself doing quite around her. It seems like my self-control goes flying out the window when I'm around her), but it didn't seem like she was angry... or was she?

"I'm sorry," I decided to apologies were in order regardless.

"For?"

"For..." I trail off, "Are you joking? I honestly can't tell."

The corners of her lips quirk up slightly into a small smirk once again. Oh, she definitely knew.

"Haven't got a clue, your Majesty."

"Well, I'm sorry, anyway."

"Is that all?"

I nod in reply and she spins around once again. She manages to take a couple of steps when I call out again.

"Wait!"

I jog to catch up with her this time, catching her by her wrist and twirling her around to meet my eyes.

She heaves a dramatic sigh, "What now, your Majesty?"

"I-I..." I find myself getting tongue-tied again as I meet her eyes.

Nerissa rolls her eyes, folding her arms over her chest, "Well? We haven't got all day, you know. In fact, we barely have a couple of hours."

I shake myself out of my daze, "Right... I just wanted to say, be careful out there. Promise me you will."

Her eyes seem to soften as the words leave my mouth.

"No promises needed, your Majesty." She shoots me another one of her playful grins, "Also, maybe be a little bit more aware of your actions next time?"

She raises her hand, where I still had her wrist gripped in my palm and I feel my cheeks start to burn, fully aware that she was probably referring to our almost-kiss as well.

"S-Sorry." I fumble over my apology as I quickly retract my hand.

Surprisingly, the Archer looks amused by our interaction and lets out a chuckle.

"I'll see you on the battlefield, your Majesty. I hope you're ready."

I feel the nervous pit in my stomach return at the reminder of going to battle and I let out a long sigh.

"If things go sideways today-"

"They won't." Nerissa cuts me off before I can finish, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I do really need to get going. There's still much to prepare for."

She turns to leave but pauses, looking at me over her shoulder.

"Everything's going to be fine. You and your siblings will be back home in no time."

There's a strange aching in my heart at her words. Home. It didn't feel right leaving all of this behind after all we've been through and oddly enough, Narnia has been starting to feel a lot more like home.