Disclaimer: Sadly, my genius does not stand next to that of C. S. Lewis and therefore I can not pretend that I am he. Consequently I must write this disclaimer and prove that I am not in fact the said genius. I am only his humble admirant and shall forever be hidden by his glorious light. Yeah, so this aint mine. It's his. However, I do claim ownership to Angela. She is my creation and despite all the mean things I say about her, I actually really like her. Enjoy!

Less than Expected

Chapter One: Dancing Lawn in Midsummer

It was a lovely night. The trees whispered the gossip of their various woodland inhabitants and the stars danced above the blissful assembly. It was always special to be invited to the Dancing Lawn, and especially by Tiberius and Tumnus themselves; it seemed that the air itself twirled in a waltz of its own. Fauns danced in circles around the lawn and centaurs shared philosophies, and sweet wine, in a corner, separate from the revelry. King Peter was trying hard to prevent talking business with the lords of Galma and Queen Susan was occupied trying to prevent tying herself to all the lords of Galma. Queen Lucy danced with everyone and was quite obviously the light of the party while King Edmund talked with King Lune about his twin sons, who had occupied themselves in charming each and every lady there. Although Aravis didn't want to admit it, they were natural born charmers and she just didn't fit in. She had to try and work hard to get any man to notice her, yet when either of them walked into a room they had every girl's attention.

Cor was better at it than Corin, maybe it was the Calormene twang to his accent that hadn't quite disappeared, or perhaps it was the mysterious silence to his air, or the adventure of the long lost son, but something about him was captivating. He was easily charming, pricing each of them individually, he would never turn one of them away; it just wasn't him. Aravis knew from experience how he'd worked; her shoulder was completely drowned from the amount of tears that had been cried on it. After telling one girl to try and get back at him, Cor had introduced every girl he knew to her as his "trustworthy assistant" whom they could run to when they were down. It was hard growing under the shadow of his success. Aravis didn't fit in as they all wanted her to. No matter how cordially King Lune treated her, or how much fun she had with Cor and Corin, she would still be the Calormene refugee who had no real place in Archenland's court. She knew there were still thousands in the country who still believed she was going to steal the heart of their beloved Crown Prince, no matter how much she had denied it. Although they didn't know it, she physically couldn't become one of the masses.

But despite her distaste for similarity, Aravis knew she had more of distaste for dishonesty. She knew that the boys were good looking but she also knew that, despite Cor's denials, both boys were slackers and had heads far too large for their necks. They had it all and they knew it. That was final. And Aravis just had to watch them overtake her in every which way. She felt a little jealous of Cor's growth however, it seemed that he had grown faster than she had, which was only embarrassing because she was so used to being better than him.

As she watched him dance now, she felt a smile form across her face, how long would it be until she were sat in a corner with a handkerchief, breaking the girl's heart for him. Mind you, for once they actually looked happy while they were dancing. Aravis didn't know much about her, she was apparently some princess but the way she tossed her hair behind her and whispered in Cor's ear told Aravis one thing. This girl was evil.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Corin's voice interrupted her mental ramblings. She smiled acknowledging him for a moment but revealing nothing.

"… maybe not," Corin said under his breath

"I'm sorry Corin, its not you…" she said quickly,

Corin glanced from her to his brother his brother "I just remind you of someone, don't I?"

"What?" she cried, "No! It's not even that, Corin"

Corin raised an eyebrow "No of course not."

"I'm just wondering about that girl he's dancing with," she said casually "do you know her."

"Well, none really know her…" Corin said dramatically taking another sip of wine. "We're not truly sure she's even human!"

Aravis gave him a look which told him that he was being an idiot. He'd practically memorized it by now and reflected it back at her. "You've been spending too much time with the centaurs." She said.

"I will debate with you later on the importance of evidence before coming to swift and false conclusions, but for now, I think we should focus on the task at hand." He said setting his glass down and crouching behind the table to spy on his brother.

"What, dare I ask," began Aravis "is this task a hand?"

Corin winked at Aravis and yanked her down behind the table "We, you and I-"

"I don't think that needed clarification"

He ignored her and continued. "We will proceed to prevent my dear brother Crown Prince Cor of Archenland, and all the rest of it, from falling for that bombshell in blue from Galma."

"She's Galmaen?" Aravis asked raising an eyebrow. Galmaens were usually taller with very dark skin, darker than Aravis'. This lady was tall, almost Cor's height, but she had more of an exotic glow than a Galmaen would.

"Well…no." slurred Corin "She the princess of Terebinthia, but she has the hasty nature of someone who's had too much sun-OWW!"

Aravis smiled after slapping him on the shoulder. "Tell me more of her." She demanded.

Corin sighed, "Why are you so interested in her?" he smiled sneakily "do you fancy her?"

"What?! NO!" she cried "Corin!"

"Hey, I'm fine with it!" he defended "Lover boy over there might object however."

At that point Aravis lost the remaining thread of her patience and stood up so that she looked down on him. "Listen Corin, I haven't got the energy to sit here with you babbling on like a horrid drunk about nonsense. Now can you tell me something of value please, do you know her or not?"

Corin shrugged and stood up. He looked her dead in the eyes in an effort to be serious and stern. "Alright, first of all, I'm a terrific drunk" Aravis rolled her eyes at this "and second I only know a little of her.

"Our fathers, or fore fathers have some sort of childhood, blood brothers pact going on and so they tried to make our families stay friends forever. However, Angela's (that's her name by the way) mother was a snob and refused to listen to mine so they got off on the wrong foot. So because she wouldn't take my mother's advice, Angela turned out to be pretty much the split image of her mother with an extra coating of spoilt brat. Of course there is the tiny bit of her father in her which refuses to allow any one to compare her to her mother to her face."

Aravis frowned "and how do you know this?"

"Well, we used to spend a lot of time in Terebinthia, before the king went all senile, so I was pretty much stuck in the play pen with "Precious" while she rambled on about her mother and father and her house and toys and her friend and servants and on and on and on and on and on…"

"-and breathe?"

"Yes!" Corin breathed "that."

Aravis looked over at them "so we know that she is spoiled without cause and a total and utter snob, and our Cor here…" she looked toward Cor "…knows only too well that he's got the whole country eating out of the palm of his hand." She sighed and smiled pretty evilly "with the right prepping, I think they'd be perfect for each other."

Corin's eyes grew very wide and his moth drew very tight. "Why don't I like that tone?" he gasped "you're going to do something mean!"

"Relax Corin," soothed Aravis, "I'm just going to deflate their heads a little, it won't hurt."

Corin looked at her sideways not sure if he should trust her or not. In this case it was a good thing that he didn't hear what she said afterwards under her breath.

"Much…"