Beyond The Lamppost

The Best Big Brother Ever

(Set about, a month after the coronation.)

Peter sighed as he picked up yet another
piece of paper from the huge pile that lay on his desk. He'd been working on paperwork all morning, and the piles of paper never seemed to end, to his great frustration.

All of a sudden there was a knock at the door. "Come in." Peter said.
A faun entered and bowed.
"Your Majesty. Lunch is ready, your siblings are requesting your presence in the dinning hall."
"I'll be down in a minute." Peter said with a small smile.
The faun nodded as he exited the room.

Peter turned back to his work, debating if he should just skip lunch and get caught up on his work. In the end he decided against it, and instead finished up the paper he was working on and headed downstairs.

                                 ♕♕♕

"Hey." Peter said as he joined his sisters at the table, sitting next to Susan, Lucy sat across from Peter.
"Hey." Susan said with a smile
"Hi!" Lucy shouted joyfully.
Peter chuckled. "Hey Lu." He said as he walked over and hugged his little sister.
Lucy gladly returned the hug with a huge smile on her face.

"Where's Ed?" Peter asked as he sat back in his chair.
"Here!" Edmund said quickly as he suddenly walked to the table and sat down.

"Where were you?" Susan asked.
"Sword practice with Oreius. Sorry I'm late."
"Are you alright?" Peter asked cautiously."
"Course. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well you sound out of breath, and your face is really red and your sweating more than you normally do after sword practice ."
"Oh, well that's because I trained very hard today. Oreius says I'm getting better everyday!" Edmund added with a small smile.
"Good for you Ed!" Lucy said happily.
"Thanks." Edmund replied as he smiled at his sister.

"How has your morning been Peter?" Edmund asked as he took a sip of his tea, completely ignoring the glass of water that sat next to it.
Peter sighed. "Busy." He said. "And exhausting."
"Why?" Susan asked.

"Well, I was up late last night working on paperwork, then I had to be up early this morning for a meeting.
Since the meeting ended I've been working on a huge pile of paperwork! It's so big, I don't think it ever ends!"

"I'm sorry Peter." Susan said as she placed a hand gently on his shoulder.
"How about I help you with it this afternoon?"
"That would be great Susan. Thank you!"
"Sure." She replied with a small smile.

All of a sudden there was a knock at the door before a faun entered.
"Your Majesties." He said as he bowed.
"My apologies for interrupting.
High King Peter have you finished filling out those papers?"
"No not yet." Peter said with a sigh.
"We need them finished by the end of the day sir."
Peters eyes went slightly wide.
"You are aware that I am the High King? Not you or anybody else?" He said, a bit stern and annoyed.
"Yes your Majesty -of-of course.
It's just that-it would be best if they were finished by the end of today. We could stay on schedule that way."
"Thanks for letting me know." Peter said.

"I also should remind you that there is another meeting right after lunch."
Peter sighed before he said "Thank you," nodding slightly.
"You may go."
The faun nodded and bowed as he quickly left the room.

"That's how my mornings been. Actually that's how my whole week has been!"
"Meetings, meetings and more meetings, and  enough paperwork to cover an ocean! I can't even remember the last time I was this busy."

Peters siblings looked at him sadly.
"Sorry Peter." Edmund said.
"Thanks Ed." Peter said, attempting a small smile.

There were a few minutes of silence before, there was a loud thud.
When he looked over to Edmunds seat, Peters heart skipped a beat when he saw an empty chair.