The Two of Us

Preparation

Alice sighed as Susan brought out another dress for her to judge. They have been doing this for hours, and no matter what Alice had suggested, Susan would not make a final decision on what she was to wear for her ball next week. This time, Susan had brought out a red, silk dress with gold pieces sewn onto it.

"That one's nice." Alice commented, looking at the dress from top to bottom. "I think it'll go well with the hair style you wanted." Susan scowled at her, "Alice! You said that about every dress I've shown you."

Alice shrugged, "I don't know, all the dresses you show me seem to get better and better. Susan, why don't you just get a dress made for the event? Wouldn't that be easier?" Alice offered, only to be rejected in an instant. "If I do ask for a dress to be made, I won't see the dress until the day before the event. And if I do not like it, it will be a waste of material."

Alice rolled her eyes and rested her head on the table. "Susan, I'm exhausted. Can we continue this later?" Susan shook her head with a slight frown, "Just a few more dresses, alright?" Susan assured Alice that there were only a couple of dresses left for her to judge, but it was clear to her that there were about a hundred more dresses left for her to try on.

"How long is your event going to last for, anyway?" Alice asked, resting on Susan's bed. "You're going to need more than one dress if it's lasting for more than one night."

"Well, I plan on wearing nice dresses when all the Kings arrive, and then my best dress on the night of the ball. So I guess I'll need at least 3 different dresses." Exhausted and tired from all of the judging, Alice stood up and picked out the three best dresses she could find in the hundreds of different dresses.

"Wear this on Day One. This one on Day Two. And this one for the ball." Alice said, holding up three different dresses. Susan nodded in approval, "Hm, I'm liking your choices, Alice. Okay, so my dresses are done. Now for the food."

Alice had promised Susan that she'd help her out with the planning and preparation, but she never thought it would be this difficult. Actually, Susan had made things more difficult than they should be by being a complete perfectionist.

"We're going to have a lot of pastries and bread and meat," Susan ordered to the servants in the kitchens, "Please make sure you have perfected all the recipes by tomorrow. I'd like to taste a sample of each dish." The servants obediently nodded, starting to work on the food. Another thing to tick off the list.

Next, the girls headed to the ballroom, selecting the music they were going to perform for the dances. "I'd like to request a lot of slow music, but also a few fast ones. Peter loves fast dances," Susan teased before nudging Alice. "So please remember to add in some fast music."

Alice followed after Susan, watching as many servants continued to work hard for it. The ball was in 2 days, and already, it had seemed as if it was tonight. "Everything has to be perfect." Susan said, as they continued walking down the hallway.

"Where are we going now, Susan?" Alice asked, stopping as soon as Susan did. "We're going to see which Kings are attending the ball so far." Alice nodded, walking into the mailroom after Susan. "King of Narwana, King of Kanara, King of Haegle, King of....the Lone Islands?! K-King Caspian is coming!" Susan was jumping up and down, grabbing hold of Alice's hands. "Oh, Alice! King Caspian is so handsome! I can't wait to meet him!"

Alice smirked, "So this man is the man you plan on labeling as your King?" Susan quickly shook her head, blushing hard. "Maybe, we'll see how things go tomorrow. Perhaps..." Susan raised her eyebrow at Alice, "Shouldn't you be bonding with your King right now?" Susan laughed when Alice frowned at her. You could somehow say that Susan was right. Alice had barely spent time with Peter, since he was so busy all the time.

"Well, he's a busy man. I don't want to disturb him." Alice said, standing up straight. "Oh, he wouldn't care if it were you to interrupt, trust me. If it was Edmund or I, he'd have our heads. But I'm sure he's definitely much more kind to you and Lucy."

Alice crossed her arms across her chest, "It doesn't mean I have to interrupt. If I were him, I'd still be rather annoyed." Susan couldn't help but just shrug then nod afterwards. Alice was right. No King wanted to be interrupted in Court. But Susan was right, too. Peter was a King who was softer to only Lucy and Alice.

"He's kind to me only because he pities me," Alice admits, immediately catching Susan's attention, "I'm a Queen who wishes to marry him for the safety of my country. Don't you think Peter is the type to be kind and pitiful towards that situation?" Susan didn't know how to answer Alice, so instead, gave her the look that read: "Are you kidding me?"

Their talk was suddenly interuppted by someone walking in. Edmund. "Peter calls for dinner." he says, in the most glum expression. Why was Edmund always so--- pokerfaced? Alice gave him a curt nod before he left the room again. "Come on, Susan, it's time for dinner." Alice reminded her as Susan continued to look through several envelopes, "Alright, alright. Just a second."

Susan trailed after Alice who was rather excited for dinner this evening. She didn't really have a reason why. Perhaps it was because she was going to see Peter once again? Susan and Alice arrived at the dinner table together, taking a seat in their usual places. Peter greeted Alice once again with a warm smile, and the two begun talking about their adventures in the day.

"We were discussing alliances today in Court, and I thought I should tell you the plans for your country." Peter said, no longer smiling. Alice was aware that there was bad news lying ahead. "Alice, you asked for some of our men to help secure your country. Unfortunately, we can only send in our men in a two weeks time at the earliest." Alice looked down, thinking for a bit.

Alice nodded at Peter sternly, "Alright. Please don't try to make any delays for your men. I want the assured safety of Valhalla."

"I'll do my best." Peter smiled reassuringly. For the rest of dinner, Peter and Alice continued on with their non-serious talk. Peter continued to passionately speak about sword fighting, as Alice spoke about horse riding. They were a pair who seemed to have quite a lot of differences, but seemed to get along very well.

After dinner had ended, Lucy had walked up to Alice, clinging around her waist, "Alice, please come and read me a bed time story." Alice smiled at her and nodded, as Peter offered to join them. Lucy excitedly skipped to her room as the other two trailed behind her.

"It has been a while since someone had read me a bedtime story," Lucy began, picking out a book from the shelf, "Last time, it was mother who read to me." The atmosphere grew heavy, as Lucy fixed her eyes onto the portrait of her mother on the wall.

Alice smiled softly, as she opened the first page of the book and began to read. Lucy lay in bed, carefully listening to Alice as she read. Peter leaned on the closed door, watching them as memories replayed in his mind. Memories of his mother reading bedtime stories to Lucy and the others when they were younger.

Alice had finished reading the book, and closed it gently. "Another one," Lucy said, pointing to the shelf. "Maybe another time, Lu. Alice may be tired from reading." Peter replied, moving closer to Lucy before tickling her, "Besides, I think it's time you rest. We've got a big day tomorrow."

Lucy nodded, pulling the quilt over her chest. "Good night, Lucy." Alice smiled, hugging her. "Night, Alice."

Peter quickly kissed Lucy on the head, blowing out the candle on her bedside table.

"Thanks for that, Alice," Peter said as he closed the door gently behind him, "It has been a long time since someone has done that for her." Alice smiled in return, "It's nothing. There was no trouble reading a story." Peter shrugged, "Well, it involved effort."

The two of them chuckled, then it suddenly became quiet again. Peter gazed at Alice, admiring her beautiful facial features. When there eyes had met, they exchanged smiles before leaning in closer to each other slowly. Before they were able to close that gap, however, their moment was interuppted by the sound of sword fighting once again. They looked out the window to see that there were, once again, men in black cloaks fighting with the guards.

"Quickly," Peter grabbed Alice's hand and rushed down the hallway and brought her to her room, "You might not want to leave your room until the morning. I'll see you tomorrow in the morning."

Alice nodded, "Good night."

Peter quickly kissed her forehead before rushing off, causing Alice to stand there in shock. Her room servant, Sarah, quickly closed the wooden door. "Come, Your Highness, it's not safe to keep your door unlocked at night. The Castle has been having many intruders lately."

Alice nodded, looking at the servant intently, "Who are these cloaked men? Do they attack the Castle all the time?" Sarah shook her head, "No, Your Highness. This is only the second time they have come to attack." Alice looked down before looking back up at Sarah. "I think they're after me."