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"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone
I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run."
Love Story
Taylor Swift

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Chapter XV - Fate

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Words of strategy flew back and forth across the table. When to go after the attackers, how to do so, what the number would look like. I stay silent thinking to myself. Truly contemplating the only opinion no one expressed.

"The next attack must be drawn out by the end of the week. We will hit them hard and end this in one battle." Edmund told his advisors. "Narnia is ten times stronger than this small pack of animals. This will not go unpunished."

"No." I voiced.

"What?" Edmund questioned.

"No, I won't let this happen." I reiterated. "Not until we have considered all options."

"Well, Mrs. Ashton, if you have any better options, please, enlighten us," Claudia says hopefully.

"Ashton," Ben called out warningly.

I breathe out slowly, "They only want me. No one else has to get hurt."

"Have you lost your bloody mind?" Edmund yells.

"It's not like I will act as the queen they want me to be. They want a copy of my mother and I am long passed that." I explain.

"Ashton, can we discuss this another time?" Peter questions, harshly standing up.

"I think it's best to do this now," I tell him, I know that if I let him stop me now, he would talk me out of it. "I'll surrender myself. One life exchanged for thousands. It just makes sense."

"You won't come back from this. Ashton, it's a suicide mission." Edmund clarified, not agreeing with my plan either.

"If that's what I have to do to protect Narnia, I'll do it," I said, trying to sound fearless

"No! Counsel dismissed, find another opinion!" He bellowed.

"Peter!" I tried to interject.

"King Peter! Don't forget that!" He yelled, directly at me. "Everyone out. Now. Ashton and I need to speak."

"You need to calm down," I advised. "You're not thinking straight."

He put both his hands on the table, letting a deep breath out. 'How am I supposed to stay calm when you want to sacrifice yourself?"

"It could save hundreds of good men and women!" I fight back.

"You don't know that!" He shouts, getting riled up again, "They are insurgents coming for the crown. Who knows if they will keep their word. The last thing we should do it give them exactly what they want."

"I won't let you take families from their home for a war purely for me," I say, sounding more like a pleading effort than an effort.

And then Peter shouting back, "That's rich coming from the girl that believes love is a weakness."

"And this is exactly why!" I burst. "This is what Narnia needs if I have to do this for Narnia I will."

"Once again using Narnia as your excuse." He scoffs.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I question, alerted by his tone.

"You know exactly what it means, Ashton!" He counters, pointing at me as he steps forward.

Stare at him, he stood only a foot away now. I knew what I meant in his anger. During the war, I left to give him the space to focus on the war. For Narnia. I left after the war to fix all the wrongs I created. For Narnia. Turning myself in now would be... For Narnia.

"You have to let me go," I whisper out. "I will never forgive myself if any more people die for me."

"You are under orders to say within these castle walls until the threats are over. Narnia will not comply with the demands of rebels." He ordered with his face and unwavering.

That wore it for me. "That's your solution? Lock me inside?!"

"It's a castle, I'm sure there are far worse places to stay in." He rolls his eyes.

"Peter, this is the best option!" I shout, the candles around me burning a little brighter.

"I can't lose you! Not again!" Peter throws his crown to the ground.

"You don't get to do that!" I scream, stepping forward so we are only inches apart. I could see the tips of his ears blazing red, the way they only did when he got worked up.

"Do what?" He asks.

I was mad at him for trying to order me around, imprisoning me and now for controlling me in a way only, he thought he could. "Don't make this about us! We haven't been an 'us' in years, Peter. I am a knight, you are a King. We understand the sacrifice of one life for the many. It's good politics."

"You're not leaving." He declares, turning on his heel and walking away from me.

I would not let him off that easy. He could at least have enough respect for me to finish this conversation before turning his back on me.

"It's inevitable!" I shout as he walks away, "I have to leave, eventually. Do you think I can stay here for much longer? The King of Archenland is already arranging your marriage to his daughter. Do you think I can stay here and watch that? Do you think I can stay here knowing that you fall asleep next to someone else at night? Do you think I can come back here knowing that you love someone else? That would be worse than death."

He stomped back to me, pinning my arms against the wall, keeping the fire away from him. He ducked his head and kissed me abruptly. Right then, my control over the fire went out. He dropped my hands so I could grab the front of his coat to pull him closer. He cupped my cheeks, deepening the kiss, and weakening my knees. I had to admit it, he knew how to shut me up.

"I have never and will never love someone else. It's only ever been you." He whispered as he broke the kiss, his eyes moving from my lips to my eyes.

My heart fluttered under his lustful gaze. A million memories of us flashed in his eyes like nothing ever happened.

My breath hitched, "Then don't marry her Peter. Please don't." My voice was soft, I couldn't help myself from how pitiful it sounded.

"Claudia and I aren't getting married." He told me and I'm afraid my heart stopped for a second. "It's complicated but I can explain everything. The council doesn't know and doesn't know yet. I wanted to talk to you first, and she has some things to figure out." Peter tells me.

"You once asked me what could have changed if you never left. I can't explain the infinite possibilities that the past contains but I can promise you that my feelings for you are unchangeable."

"I am and will always be in love with you." I spoke quickly, needing to say it. I should have said it ages ago.

"I'm sorry what was that? I don't know if I heard you correctly." He smirks, clearly knowing what I said."

"I love you," I repeated, placing a kiss on his cheek.

I kissed his other cheek, "I'm in love with you."

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his forehead, "Peter Pevensie, you are the love of my life."

I stopped short of his lips, leaving millimeters before I whispered. "I love you, Cupcake."

That sent him over the edge as he finished the kiss. He kissed me like his world depended on it. I ran my fingers through his air, smiling to myself remembering the time I accidentally pushed his crown off.

We pulled away before we completely got lost in each other, grasping at our last bit of control. I pulled his hand to the least used exit, spying down the hall for any nosy maids. We ran across the hall, ducking into a door alcove when we saw the cook down the hall. I listened to his footsteps praying they would go the opposite direction. It was hard to focus while Peter danced little kisses on my neck. Once the cook was gone, we had a straight path to his chamber, where I entered and immediately froze the lock shut as Peter pulled my shirt over my head. I giggled as he lifted me up, spinning me around.

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I watched the sunrise rise over the Eastern Sea, wrapped up with Peter. Blissfully content with the world for these moments.

I swirled little circles on his bare chest, sighing, "You know we can not hide here all day. Someone is bound to come in."

"So let them see. I don't care." He objects.

He chuckled, "Your fake fiancee might."

He shakes his head, "That will be over soon. And then we have a lot of time to make up for."

"How soon? The sooner it happens the longer I can stay in the mornings instead of creating the most scandalous walk of shame in the whole kingdom."

"Forty-eight hours." He proposes surely.

"Thirty-six." I counter, after all this time apart or fighting or confused. I don't want to wake up to the world alone again.

"Deal. And then I get you all to myself." He smiles, which fades into a scowl, "Maybe then Mason will stop hitting on you."

"Oh please, jealousy is no good for you, Peter. Don't forget you literally got engaged. You can't make comments about men seeking my courtship while I was not yours."

He was intrigued by my wording as I pushed up to see his face, "What about now, are you mine?"

"For as long as you want me. As you are mine." I told him, pushing a blonde lock of hair out of his eyes so I could see them and drowned in the ocean color.

He kisses my forehead, "I love that."

"And I love you."

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THERE'S A LINE IN THIS CHAPTER THAT YOU GUYS WILL MURDER ME FOR LATER.

DEAR ANYONE FROM THE FUTURE THAT COMES BACK TO THIS CHAPTER AFTER I FINISH THIS BOOK. I AM SORRY BUT IT'S KINDA FUNNY. NO? OKAY BYE

XOXO B