AN ENCHANTER'S FORETELLING. [NARNIA]

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO | CATCH

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CATCH

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The minute she laid her hazel-brown eyes upon the grand ballroom, her lips had fallen agape and her eyes had widened like saucers as she gently tugged on Edmund Pevensie's sleeve, and urged him to look at the multitude of jubilant Narnians. By Jove, this is much better than I had anticipated!

Crystal chandeliers had hung on the golden, colossal ceiling, letting a bright glow illuminate the vast ballroom; many dancing couples had taken over the empty space left for the first dance in a disarray of vivid gowns and suits; the pleasing melody of the harps, violins, and even clarinets, had filled the vast halls with a mix of the joyful chatter that slightly drowned the instruments.

The shimmering, delicate silks of the maidens' gowns had twinkled underneath the pale, crystal chandeliers with their every movement, and almost all of the guests had been wearing a lavish matching mask. So, with the masks on, it had been difficult to pinpoint where each of the monarchs were.

Edmund Pevensie had been glad that there could be a chance no one would be able to recognize him, but, being one of the only few humans residing in the glorious Cair, it would be a tad easier, as well.

"Oh, what I sight to behold!" Rose had exclaimed, her pink lips still parted as she looked up at Edmund as though she was a child receiving many presents for Christmas. "Why, your sisters did a great job. Eds, remember me to have them plan my birthday party next," she joked, quietly laughed, and turned to look at the bustling ballroom once again.

Edmund nodded, and a small smile graced his lips at the sound of his new nickname being uttered from her lips. He placed his hand on her arm that had been wrapped around his, and his brows furrowed. "Why? When's your birthday?"

"Oh, on March 2." She shrugged, her eyes still wandering about the throng and many dancing couples with childlike wonder twinkling in her eyes. Edmund kept staring at her as if something had suddenly clicked inside his head, and his expression softened almost immediately. She looked up at him and his eyes swiftly darted to the four grand thrones up on the dais overlooking the crowded dance floor. "When's yours?"

"September," Edmund mimicked her and shrugged as well, still not quite wanting to let go of his hand resting comfortably on her forearm. "Uh, we should hurry, for it will be Pete that will have my head if we don't."

Rose smiled at the revelation of his birthday, and nodded, a thoughtful look on her features as they turned to head back into the quiet halls.

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The pair that had been all too comfortable wrapped in each other's arms, had been forced to part the minute the blaring fanfares had rung throughout the grand ballroom with a catchy tune. All of the guests had been forced to quiet down before it had all fallen entirely too silent. It was a silence where you could hear the shuffling of one's foot, or even the smallest of pins drop. Not to mention the buoyant birds' chirps that were heard from within the expansive Cair Paravel grounds, along with the faintest of crickets and owls in the distance.