As the days went past, the hot summer wind slowly faded into the cool autumn breeze. Queen Lucy the Valiant strolled aimlessly along the winding corridors of Cair Paravel, taking one of her daily walks around the castle. In a few days summer would be over, and autumn would be here. Lucy loved every season, so she was not disappointed or especially happy. In spring she would frolic around and smell the sweet smell of the beautiful flowers that Narnia had. In summer she would spend most of her days by the beach next to Cair Paravel with her siblings, building sand-castles, swimming or just enjoying the day. In autumn she would lie in the soft multi-coloured leaves and go to extravagant celebrations. In winter she would make snowmen and develop devious plans to hit Edmund with snowballs.
However her siblings did not share her same love for all seasons. Peter loved autumn the most. Why, she had never found out, but every year since coming to Narnia it had been his favourite. Edmund mostly enjoyed Spring or Summer. Lucy knew he used to adore winter, but ever since the White Witch, Edmund had loved the bright, hot days. Susan preferred winter. She said that it went well with her dark hair or something along those lines. Lucy tended to zone out when Susan talked of appearances.
"OK, but you must leave by tomorrow!" hissed an urgent voice from inside the Throne Room.
Lucy stopped walking. She knew that voice: It was Peter!
"Yes, your Highness," replied the court voice that was Oreius the Centaur.
"Just remember to try and get as many as you can."
"Yes, your Highness," sniggered a dwarf.
Lucy peered into the room curiously. Peter was standing in the middle of a large group, with a bunch of Narnian beasts surrounding him. By the looks of it, the group consisted of those who mostly fought in battles. Peter was looking very stressed, with his hair standing up on end and his clothes creased.
"And try come back from Archenland as soon as possible," he said eagerly, looking almost mad.
The troops sniggered again. Lucy glared at them in outrage. How dare they laugh at the High King when he was asking them something obviously important?
Lucy took a step closer and stood in the doorway, accidentally makinga larger noise than intended. Peter'seyes scanned the room, almostfrantically. A few seconds later, his blue eyes had found Lucy. He looked most alarmed when he jumped back in fright.
"Lucy!" he cried, beckoning her into the room while motioning that the others should leave. "How are you?"
"Peter, what was that about?" inquired the young Queen, after the group had left the room.
"Oh, um," Peter said awkardly, pausing and shuffling his feet. "Don't worry about it Lucy, it doesn't concern you."
"As a Queen of Narnia, it must concern me. Now Peter, why are you sending troops off to Archenland?"
"Dear Lucy, you must trust me when I say it is none of your concern."
Swiftly, Peter exited the room leaving Lucy looking very disgruntled.
"Edmund!" screeched an angry little voice.
King Edmund the Just, who was currently sitting in his bedroom reading an interesting book on Humans, looked up at the sound of the cry.
"Edmund!" the voice screamed.
Edmund suddenly flinched and tumbled off the side of his chair. He picked up his book and hastily stood up. It was not good when Lucy was mad.
Lucy Pevensie stormed into the room, sending all that was left of Edmund's bravery flying.
"Yes, L-L-Lucy?" He stammered. Her face looked so angry it would make any other person run flying out the door.
"Why is Peter sending troops to Archenland? Why did he not consult me when doing so? Why does he think he is so great and mighty that he need not include me in his plan?" She said this so quickly that he had to pause for a few seconds to intake it.
"Wait- What?" replied a bewildered Edmund.
"Why is Peter sending troops to Archenland without my consent?"
"Peter's sending troops to Archenland?" he asked her curiously. "Are you sure? Then, he did not consult me either. And that would be a terrible mistake, as I am the best fighter in this Kingdom." He smirked and mimed doing a sword technique.
Lucy would usually have snapped back saying something about how proud Edmund was that he had beaten the champion fighter last year, only because the man sneezed at the wrong time, but she had no time for that.
"You honestly don't know about it?" Lucy said skeptically, raising an eyebrow.
Edmund shook his head, his long dark hair waving about.
"You really need a haircut," Lucy pointed out, getting distracted.
"I like it long though," he shrugged. "I've had more suitors lately with it long."
Lucy groaned. Edmund was the only one out of the four of them who actually liked suitors. Well, he didn't really like the fact that beautiful women from different countries were coming to propose marriage to him; he just liked the way they begged at his feet, telling him how handsome he was. However, every time he got a suitor, Lucy would point out he only got them when Peter rejected them. Edmund would retort by saying it was the same with Susan and her.
"Well, will you come with me to see Susan if she has any idea about this?"
"Of course. If Peter has told Susan about this and not I, I will be very displeased."
Lucy muttered something under her breath, Edmund only catching "selfish" and "prat."
Before he could figure out what else she had said, Lucy had stormed out of the room and dragged him with her.
"Susan?"
Queen Susan looked up from tying up her hair at the sound of the sweet voice. She elegantly turned around from the mirror to face her siblings.
"Hello Lucy," She smiled, and then nodded at Edmund.
"How come you didn't scream at her?" demanded Edmundto Lucy. She only shrugged in her innocent, little girl way. However, at eighteen, Lucy was not a little girl anymore.
Susan looked startled. Lucy only screamed when she was angry.
"Why is Peter sending troops to Archenland?" Lucy asked nicely. Edmund tried to say something, but she ferociously stepped on his toes, causing the young King to yelp in pain.
"Peter's sending troops to Archenland? Whatever for?"
Edmund sighed. "We were hoping you could tell us."
Susan suddenly stopped, and she seemed to zone out as if in a daze.
"What month is it?" She asked dreamily.
"It's the end of August, nearly September, why?"
Susan grinned sheepishly and ran a hand through her long darkhair."Don't worry, what Peter's doing has nothing to do with you."
The other two gaped at her. "You know? What is he doing?" they both demanded.
"Don't worry," Susan repeated calmly. And with a movement as swift as Peter, Susan left the room in the blink of an eye.
"What the ruddy hell was that about?" Edmund asked, bewildered.
Over the course of the next days, Lucy and Edmund kept noticing how their older siblings seemed to be avoiding them. Lucy would often see Peter and Susan discussing something exciting in different rooms. Whenever they caught sight of her, they would dash away.
Edmund was very disgruntled, snapping at most who tried to talk to him. Peter and Susan would (most unusually) run around giggling.
One day in the second week of September, Lucy was looking absently out of Edmund's window when she spotted the delegation returning from Archenland.
"Edmund!" she cried suddenly, pointing outside.
Edmund, who was currently trying (and failing) to write a poem jumped up at the cry and hurried over to the window.
Spotting the troops, he grinned down at Lucy and ran out of the room. Lucy quickly ran after him and flinched when she heard an excited shriek from Susan's room.
"Peter! It's finally here!"
With such speed that Lucy thought impossible of her elder siblings, they sprinted out their rooms, past her and Edmund in a flash.
Edmund, who did not like being beaten, grinned amusedly back at Lucy. His face seemed to ask "Race them?"
She nodded fervently and ran as fast as she could down stairs and through long winding corridors. On the second floor, Edmund yanked her behind a tapestry into a passageway she had never known existed. It was obviously a short cut as they jumped down the stairs three at a time and pushed their way outside a door. They ran along a pathway until they came to the entrance of Cair Paravel. They pushed through the gates, puffing and panting, and they hurried to the delegation, which was now a couple of hundred meters away.
"What!" screeched a voice from behind them. "How did they get in front of us?"
Lucy turned to see Susan and Peter about twenty meters behind them. Peter looked wild as he gave chase, his eyes alert and bright.Susan, who was surprisingly keeping up with Peter, was looking like a madwoman with her long hair frizzing out of its bun.
Lucy and Edmund laughed loudly back at their siblings. They were going to get there first.
However, they had seemed to have forgotten that Peter was much older, and in long distance running he was a champion. Edmund was fast and agile, but was a sprinter. Lucy, who was usually very light and speedy was falling behind after running so long. Susan, who usually forbid herself to run was certainly doing a good job.
Soon the four were neck and neck, running what felt like for their lives. The troops suddenly saw the four crazy runners and halted immediately. A few of the horses were carrying what appeared to be numerous large silver bags.
The horses dropped the bags in fright and trotted a few paces away from them.
"Mine!" shouted Peter, almost manically, leaping forward to grab them.
Lucy tried to grin as Edmund reached there first, but she could only manage deep breaths.
"Um, your Majesties," said Oreius rather timidly, "We got what you asked for. You were right, they had a special sale on all through the first week of Autumn, and we basically bought out the whole store. Buy one, getten free."
Edmund, now even more curious, snatched up the bag quickly and pulled it away sharply, just in time for the diving Peter to miss and hit the ground with a large thud. Either he was just too focused on the bags, or immune to the pain Peter flung himself off the ground. With Edmund keeping his eyes on Peter, he did not see Susan, who had leaped and landed on Ed's back, and wrapped her legs around his torso. He yelled loudly as Susan bgean yanked on his long dark hair.
"Gerroff me, Susan!"
His hands slipped on the bag, and it fell to the ground with a crash. He stared down at the bag, wondering what in Narnia could be in it. New swords or weapons, perhaps?
"Aha!" cried Peter suddenly, pulling the bag towards him. "We win!"
He and Susan laughed almost evilly. But suddenly they were puffing so much they past out with exhaustion.
Lucy and Edmund gasped. Ed hurried over to them to make sure they were alright. He nodded to Lucy and the troops before picking up the bag and passing it to Lucy. Instantly, the both burst out laughing. Lucy was so tired she had to grab on to Edmund for support so she herself wouldn't pass out.
"Finally,"Ed laughed, and then stopped to take more large breaths.
Lucy ripped open the bag eagerly. Finally they could find out what was inside this thing!
Their jaws dropped. Their eyebrows rose. Their eyes widened. They gaped stupidly at the bag.
"Hair products?"