❁Heart of Pearl❁ 〈Narnia ⇀ Peter Pevensie〉

Chapter One

Chapter One
English Affairs

Word Count: 1k

The noise from the wagon she rode on was surprisingly overwhelming. Melody didn't know if it was from the cracking of the whip Mrs. Macready was using for the horses, or if it was the rustling of her unkempt thoughts and feelings being bounced around during the ride.

Nevertheless, as the giant house came into view, all thoughts were replaced with how boring this was going to be.

"Now, I expect you to behave and don't bother the Professor. There are four siblings temporarily residing here like you, and they already know the ground rules. There will be no shouting, no running. No improper use of the dumb-waiter or sliding down the banister." Mrs. Macready listed off all her rules as if she knew them like the back of her hand. Which she probably did.

Melody perked up a little at the mention of other kids. Maybe this wouldn't be so boring.

"Oh, and there will be no touching of historical artifacts. This house has great historical value and people come from all over England to view it." She finished off her 'practiced' lines, and Melody could almost yell out of joy with the fact she was done talking.

The rest of the ride, which was only a few more minutes, was silent as the older woman had nothing else to say. When they made it to the front of the house, Mrs. Macready dropped Melody off with her singular suitcase as she left to put the wagon away.

Melody took a deep breath as she pushed open the doors. If she was being honest, she was nervous. She was going to be meeting new people her age. Something she didn't do well.

Footsteps echoed down the stairs and the sound of the doors closing filled the house. There were a lot of sets of footsteps, and they appeared to be running. Something Mrs. Macready would kill whoever it was for if she ever found out.

Almost as quickly as the footsteps started, they stopped right in front of the girl. As Mrs. Macready said, there were four of them - two boys and two girls. The youngest was a girl that looked to be no older than 8 maybe. The oldest, a boy that looked a little older than Melody, maybe 15 or 16. The oldest girl looked closer to her age, and the youngest boy a few years younger than that.

The little girl was the first to speak, a bright smile on her face. "Hi! I'm Lucy." She said, sticking out her hand.

Melody gave her a small smile, lightly shaking her hand. "I'm Melody."

"Sorry for the sudden appearance. Mrs. Macready told us yesterday there was going to be another girl and Lucy got really excited." The older girl said, before holding out her hand as well. "I'm Susan."

Melody let go of Lucy's hand to shake Susan's. They all seemed really nice, which she silently thanked god for. 

But one of them ruined that moment. "Yay, we saw the new girl. Can I go now?" The youngest boy had his arms crossed and looked as if he was bored out of his mind.

"Cut it out, Edmund." The eldest was serious as he reached over and hit his brother on the arm. 

"Ow!" Edmund responded, rubbing where he was hit. "What was that for?" He asked as if he did nothing wrong.

The siblings ignored their brother and turned back to Melody. "Sorry about him." The eldest said, giving her a sheepish smile. "I'm Peter, and he's Edmund." He pointed at his grouchy brother, who rolled his eyes a little.

"It's alright," Melody said with a small smile. "I've dealt with a lot of worse people where I come from."

"We should let you settle in as we have," Susan said, taking Lucy's hand and ushering her away.

Edmund didn't wait for a second to leave, grumbling something incoherent under his breath.

Peter was the last to leave, lingering for a moment. "I guess I'll see you around, Melody." His blue eyes lingered for a moment, captivating her with his gaze. Soon he walked off, following where his sisters went. 

Melody felt herself blush for some reason. She didn't know why, but the way he said her name gave her a weird feeling. A good, weird feeling.

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Melody spent the rest of the day settling in. She had a room to herself, but it was right next to the girls' room. She wouldn't admit it, but a part of her wished she wasn't in a room by herself. Most of the time she would prefer to be alone, but not in a time like this.

It was getting late, but she had no motive to go to sleep right away. So, she sat in her bed and read for a little while.

She read her favorite story, which really was only a collection of works by Edgar Allan Poe. She had been reading for what felt like a couple of hours when she heard a commotion outside her room. 

She set her book down and quietly got off the bed, tiptoeing over to the door. Cautiously, she opened her door a tiny bit to peak out.

She saw the four siblings, Professor Kirke, and even Mrs. Macready. 

She felt a little pang in her heart, knowing that something was probably happening and she wasn't a part of it. She wanted to walk out and ask what was happening, but it wasn't any of her business.

She closed her door, going back to her bed and curling up. 

She had heard a little bit of their conversation, but only about Lucy going to someplace called Narnia. The world Narnia sounded familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place where she heard it first.

As she fell asleep, all she could think about was what was going on out in the hallway, and repeating the word Narnia.

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I hope you liked the first chapter!

I'm going to try and keep chapters around this length (1k words), but some might be longer or shorter depending on the content.

Also, this isn't the best I've written. Starting stories can be hard for me, so I'm sorry if this is a little rocky for you!

I have so many ideas for later on in this story, so I really can't wait for that.

Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be posted Friday.