cribellate | narnia au;

No, not everyone-

[She shakes her head a little, but she pillows her head against his chest, and then she does fall asleep, comforted by the constant thud of his heartbeat.

The next day she wakes up before he does, somehow. She gets up and makes friends with the owner of the tavern's wife, and suddenly the news of the nuptials is echoing through town, and everything is being arranged; flowers are brought out from farmhouses and someone finds a lamb for a feast, and Lucy is laughing because everyone is so generous to these strangers who just came here to get married.

She comes to wake up George a little while later.]

George!

[She's laughing.]

[It's a testament to how on alert George has been since leaving Cair Paravel that he sleeps through Lucy waking and the beginning of preparations. When she wakes him, laughing, he sits upright, surprised by how light it is already.]

You're awake.

[His voice is sleepy and amused.]

I was alone!

[She laughs, because she's almost never alone anymore, she almost always has someone with her. But there is almost no danger here, she thinks. No one here knows who she is.]

I have arranged so much, come look, look!

[She tugs him to the window.]

[A rush of adrenaline floods George's system at the thought of having left Lucy alone. But she's here and safe, so clearly nothing happened. He lets himself be tugged to the window, snagging his breeches on the way.]

What in the Angel's name did you tell them?

[He's not sure if he should be delighted or terrified.]

[She holds his hand, and the town looks like it's ready for a wedding for a favorite child, not a stranger.]

I told them that we were getting married, and I told them a bit how we met, and a bit how you and I are, and I do not know! The next thing I knew, they were preparing a wedding feast and a party, and I think they are just very happy to have an excuse.

[It is not that at all. Lucy is just infinitely and completely loveable.]

[George doubts very much that they're happy for the excuse. He's seen how people react to Lucy; he knows she smiled and laughed and charmed the entire village without realizing it.]

Oh they are, are they? Is Telmar peopled only with romantics?

[She looks at him, her eyes wide.]

However should I know? The queen is famous for being scandalous, but even I have not met her.

I did offer to pay but I was told to not be silly, for they would be more than glad to give us this.

[Stepping away from the window so he can clothe himself, George laughs quietly.]

Well, whatever their reasons, I'm grateful. You shouldn't be married in a dreary ceremony with no one to celebrate it.

George-

[He's dressed, and she's reaching for him, almost flinging herself onto him, beaming, smiling, happy.]

How lucky am I?

[He catches her, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her from her feet. When they get back to Narnia, he knows there will be complications, consequences, but for now, Lucy is happy, and that's enough.]

You? I think you've got that the wrong way round, lassie.

No.

[She looks at him a long moment.]

I am rather certain I know the truth.

[He is perfect.]

[George holds her gaze another long moment and then kisses her, slow and sweet, before putting her back on her feet.]

Then ours will be the luckiest marriage.

But you must promise me something.

[She buries her face in his shoulder, like he can protect her just like this.]

Anything.

[He keeps her close, worried now.]

I'll promise anything in my power, Lucy.

You will not let Edmund and Peter and Susan bully you.

[They may try, displeased with Lucy’s choice. Or they may accept it, because who can stop Lucy, once she has decided something?]

[He laughs softly.]

Is that all? I would never let anyone bully my queen's husband.

[Crooking his finger under her chin, he lifts her face to meet his gaze.]

Being your husband is something I could never be ashamed of, so they will have nothing to bully me for.

[He may worry about their reaction, but he's never actually been bullied. His demeanor doesn't lend itself well to being bullied. He can't imagine he'd take it well.]

And I will not let them bully me, either.

[She smiles just a little, and kisses him.]

Now I will take my dress and go downstairs and get ready. And you will have to hold your breath and wait.

Good. I certainly wouldn't stand for anyone bullying my wife.

[He leans into the kiss with a smile. Butterflies are having a field day in his stomach, but Lucy smiles, so everything is okay.]

Twiddle my thumbs until someone fetches me, eh?

You, sir, are to get ready as well.

Someone volunteered to help you.

[He got a best man just by not waking up in time to stop Lucy.]

I see I'll have to keep a better eye on my wife. [He smiles, teasing.]

I don't know how much getting ready I can do, but if you've got an assistant...we can twiddle our thumbs together.

At the very least, you will not be lonely.

[She says it as she gathers her things, as she leaves the room.

The wedding should be a small, tiny affair. It is not, of course, because Lucy has that ability, to summon people to her side with nothing more than a smile. She's wearing the dress they met in, blue and full of bright stars, and they have covered her in flowers, crowned her in large pink and white peonies and studded her with tiny blue forget-me-nots. There are tiny roses woven around her wrists.

It's a simple kind of wedding, even so. The food after is delicious, and Lucy can't stop smiling, can't stop holding George's hand, can't stop looking at him. They dance, and she doesn't want to stop touching him.

It's late before they are back at the inn - Lucy has practically showered the innkeeper in the gold they brought, in tiny Narnian pearls that she had in a very small bag, in gratitude, when George wasn't around to see. They were given a bigger room - for the newlyweds - he said, and she's giggling when George actually carries her up the stairs.]

This is absurd!

[Even George is a little amazed at how much the town turned out for the wedding. Lucy is beautiful, even more than she was the night he first saw her. Dancing and laughing with her here, where no one treats her like a queen and no one looks at him like a slave, he could almost forget any of that and just be a young groom, dancing with his bride.]

Carrying you upstairs? It's a tradition!

[She's laughing, and holding onto him, and kicking her legs a little.]

Husband, you must put me down!

[He laughs as he carries her down the hallway.]

Careful, or I'll drop you! Which way's the new room...?

It's that one, that one!

[She's laughing, and she has a key, it's in her hand, because they handed it to her before he picked her up.]

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