The Golden Age - Narnia fanfiction (Edmund x oc)

13. More dancing...

When they had gotten to the dance floor Diana sighed in relief. "Thank you." she said, Eric just smiled. "I noticed that you seemed a little uncomfortable, and that your prince in shining armor was otherwise occupied, so I thought I would step in as a substitute. I hope I did not overstep my boundaries." He said teasingly. Diana laughed.

They danced and laughed till the song stopped and Diana curtsied, again thanking Eric for having saved her from her sister. "Any time." He said as he bowed and kissed her hand. Diana blushed, and pulled her hand back. They stood there for an awkward moment, until Eric excused himself heading to the table with drinks.

Diana scanned the crowd to find Edmund but when she saw him she decided not to approach him. He seemed to be having fun catching up with his friend. She suddenly felt a strong cold hand on her shoulder making her jump quickly turn around and curtsy deeply, having recognized the touch of her father.

"What do you think you are doing girl?" He spat at her, quietly enough not to be heard over the crowd. "Your future husband is over there flirting with some other girl, and you dance with someone far below your rank?" He scolds her. "I'm sorry father, it will not happen again." She assured him with a shaky voice not able to control her breathing after having been surprised like that. "You know, I'm getting impatient girl. You should think of your dear friend, she can barely take any more beatings..." He said but trailed off.

"Excuse me, I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I was wondering if I could steal away your lovely daughter for a dance?" Diana heard Peter's calm voice say. She hadn't even noticed him till that moment. Her father looked a little flustered but quickly regained his composure putting on his nice mask.

"Of course not, she would be delighted. After all you are to become family quite soon I should hope." Peter nodded. "Yes I sure do look forward to the day. My brother has never been more happy." While talking Peter offered Diana his arm and she clung to it for dear life trying to steady herself again.

"Now that you mention it, I do not recall there ever being set a date? I should hope to be invited for my own daughter's wedding." Diana could tell that her father was trying to push Peter to get what he wanted. "You will be the first to know when it has been set." Peter answered. Not giving him any time to respond Peter pulled Diana to the dance floor as the next song started to play.

Diana was moving stiffly the only thing stopping her from stepping on Peter's toes was muscle memory from the many hours she had spent learning the dance. She wouldn't look at Peter fearing that he would see how distressed she was after her encounter with her father. But Peter didn't need to see her face to notice how tense she was. He frowned as his dislike for the king of the isles grew.

Peter wanted to help the poor princess, he wanted to tell her that everything was going to be ok, that she was part of his family now, and that her father would have to go through both him, Edmund, Susan and Lucy before he could even dream about hurting her. He wanted desperately to cheer her up, but he also knew that there was nothing he could do for the princess's friend, and it frustrated him greatly.

Towards the end of the dance Peter noticed that Edmund was staring at them, and he grinned slightly. His brother had really fallen hard for Diana, which was only good. He was amazed at how the princess had been able to win his brother's otherwise indifferent heart over like that.

When the dance ended, Peter bowed elegantly, and grinned at Diana. "I better let you go now before my brother burns a hole in my head with that stare." He said jokingly. Diana hadn't even noticed Edmund, and she blushed when she saw him staring at them. "Right... thank you." She said having regained her composure. Peter then left her in Edmund's care.

Edmund walked up to Diana once she was alone, but once he reached her he noticed that something was wrong. He frowned. "What's wrong? Did Peter do anything to upset you?" He asked feeling something stir in him that he had not felt before. It was a strong urge to protect princess Diana whatever it took.

"No! Peter was just trying to help... it was my father..." She stammered. "What did he do? Did he hurt you? I swear I will make him pay for..." Edmund started ranting. "No! Please just listen, I don't want you to get in trouble." She said sternly stopping him in his tracks. He looked at her his expression softening. "Sorry, its just that I have come to care for you very much, and I... uhm never mind... sorry, what did you want to tell me?"

Diana was blushing, but started talking anyways not wanting to waste any time. "I will not have you go and have your image ruined by my father. If you accuse him of anything he will act innocent and trust me he is a good actor, people will believe him and you will look bad."

Diana looked flustered but stern. It was the first time Edmund had seen her voice her opinion like this, so he was a little surprised, but she had a point, he couldn't just accuse another king of... what would he even accuse him of? Honestly his plan had been to punch the man in the face or something, but that also would have the same effect that Diana had just explained.

Edmund looked at her and sighed. "Fine, I won't kill him just yet... but only if you will do me the honour of giving me this next dance." He said with a mischievous smile. Diana sighed in relief, then matching his smile she took his extended hand. "If you must." She said in a jokingly sarcastic way, and they both laughed before stepping onto the dance floor.

The rest of the night Diana made sure to always be in the company of one of the royals, so that her family could not bother her, and she felt guilty for actually starting to enjoy herself while knowing that Carissa was being tortured by her father.