Disclaimer: I do not own The Chronicles of Narnia. I hardly even own my own characters. They are feeling rather mutinous.
Leaves crackling beneath her feet, Ivie Marshall was running away from home. Away from her parents, away from her boyfriend, away from the only life she has ever known. "God, I knew better then to get caught up in that nonsense," Ivie hissed at herself, while walking into a shop use the lavatory. She gently touched the cut on her lip, where Jason's fist had made contact with her mouth. It seemed stupid to run away with nothing but the clothes on her back, but it seemed stupider to stay in a place where she was not wanted. Ivie couldn't understand what had made people dislike her so much. It could be the brown hair with a red tint or the plain blue eyes that people hated so much. Somehow, Ivie doubted it. As she went out of the bathroom, she noticed something strange. The bathroom was not at all a bathroom. It looked like a wood, with a small brook running through it. In the distance a tall castle was perched on a little hill surrounded by sand, rocks and little pools of salt water.
Ivie fell on the ground, overwhelmed at what she saw. She looked around for a door, anything to get her back to the small shop. She could not find one. As she stood back up, she saw a small group of people riding towards her, dressed in fine riding gear with crowns atop their heads. I think I'm going crazy, Ivie thought dimly. Absolutely loony. Before she could make sense of what was happening, she turned around to face a growling wolf.
"How dare you come to these woods, daughter of Eve," said the wolf. Said the wolf! Ivie thought she was surely losing her mind when the beast spoke again. "We have warned you, and now it is time to pay." The wolf launched itself at her, and as Ivie screamed, a steak of silver ran past her. Startled, she fell into the brook behind her, and was submerged for a moment until she came up, gasping for air. Pushing brown hair out of her eyes she saw that in front of her fighting the wolf was a handsome knight, sword drawn as he fended off the wolf's attacks. As he fought, Ivie couldn't help but notice his blond hair falling into his blue eyes and his lean structure that allowed him to swing a sword. She would have noticed more until she saw that the wolf was sprinting towards her. Ivie scrambled up from the water and was ready to run when an arrow sprouted from the animal's throat and it went crashing into the earth. Behind her, Ivie heard footsteps. She whirled around and came face to face with a girl with an arrow pointed at her chest.
"Who are you and why have you come here?" demanded the girl. Two others flanked her sides, a boy and a girl, all three dressed in royal garments like the blond.
"Susan, leave the poor girl alone. Can't you see she is frightened enough?" said a dark-haired boy, before smiling at Ivie. "Hello, I'm Edmund. King Edmund, really, but it's just a load of nonsense. This is Susan and Lucy," he pointed out the scowling girl and the younger one beside him, "and you've already met Peter."
"Who?" Ivie asked while shaking the two girls' hands. "Where am I anyway?"
"He's the one who just saved your life," said the youngest girl, Lucy. "And this is the land of Narnia. We are the kings and queens of Narnia. We rule from Cair Paravel. The castle up there," she said answering Ivie's questioning look. Feeling very dull, she sat down on the grass and watched as the blond king walked towards the small group. He truly is exquisite, Ivie thought wistfully.
"Hello," Peter said as he sat down next to her. "I see you've met my siblings. I'm Peter, High King of Narnia. What's your name?"
"I'm Ivie, queen of nothing," she said, "Is there a place I can stay until I find a way back to the real world?"
"This is the real world," Susan said sternly, "Just a different part of it. I'm sure you could stay at Cair Paravel until you find out what you want to do."
"Susan's right. Chances are you are in Narnia for a reason," Peter stated while getting on his horse. "Until you find out what that reason is, you can stay with us." The other three got on their horses quickly. With a small smile on his face, Edmund offered his hand and pulled Ivie up on his horse.
"Don't worry. I won't drop you," Edmund said over his shoulder as he nudged the horse into a trot. "This is Philip, by the way."
The ride to the castle was a short one. Edmund hadn't lied when he said he wasn't going to drop her, and after a quick goodbye with Philip the Horse, Ivie was following Susan through the castle. Looking around, she saw fine furnishings and heavy silk draped around rooms. It seemed too amazing that someone would live in such a massive castle.
" What do you think of our home?" asked Lucy, sidling up to Ivie. "I think you should sleep in the room over the seaside. It has a nice balcony and a wash room!" With that, Lucy grabbed her hand and took off running down a corridor. Ivie laughed and followed her. She couldn't remember all the turns they had taken, but behind her she heard the others shouting and running to keep up. Ivie looked behind her to see Peter running after them, grinning and laughing before she collided with something hard and alive.
"Ow! Watch where you're going!" squealed the girl. She was a slight girl. With wispy blond locks down her back, she looked at Ivie as though she had something dirty on her gown. Peter came running up behind them concern on his face, but as soon as he saw who they had run into, he stopped. "Oh, Peter!" When the girl threw herself into his arms, Peter looked as surprised as Ivie felt.
"What a surprise," Peter said dryly, looking to Lucy and Ivie for help. Stifling a giggle, Lucy rolled her eyes at the new girl. "Ivie, this is Arianna. My fiancée."
"Hi. I'm Ivie," she said politely, extending her hand. Not taking it, Arianna continued to stare at her.
"Hello. I am Arianna, princess of Gaima. Are you the new servant girl?" She asked innocently, though Ivie thought she saw a glint of malevolence in her eyes. As she opened her mouth furiously, Peter said, " Ivie is a friend. I expect her to be treated as such."
"But Peter, why is she so important?" Arianna whined, stomping her foot. " I don't understand why you put everyone before me. I'm to be your bride."
"Can we go now Lucy?" Ivie said in a bored tone. Lucy and Susan giggled as Edmund came towards them, panting. He had taken off his armor while the rest of them had been running down the halls.
"Weren't we…going… to eat…food?" He gasped, causing Lucy to giggle more.
"I think you should try to show Ivie her room, Lucy," Susan said stiffly. "She might want to clean up before supper is served." Lucy nodded and took Ivie's hand yet again. They walked in silence for a few minutes.
I don't think I could live here. I would get lost trying to find my way to the bathroom, Ivie thought as Lucy led her through a series of doors.
"I don't like really Arianna," Lucy said unexpectedly as she turned yet another corner to the fabled bedroom. "She's bitter towards anyone that even looks at Peter and as you can tell, he doesn't even like her. No one in the castle gets along with her besides the servants but that's only because they are paid to. She's only here because she wants to be a queen. We're close to your room now." As she said it, they walked into one of the most beautiful bedrooms Ivie had ever seen. The whole room was decorated with deep purple and silver; purple pillows with silver fringes, a purple four-poster, silver curtains covering the seascape from the balcony. Edmund came in and sat on the bed as Ivie marveled at the new room.
"You have dresses in the wardrobe over in the corner," Peter said, coming from behind and startling Ivie. "The door on your left leads to the washroom and the room to your right leads to my chambers."
"Your chambers?" Ivie squeaked. She cleared her throat and smiled at Peter. "Thank you for letting me stay. I won't be any trouble."
"Let's hope not," Susan said from the doorway, grinning at Ivie. "Dinner is ready if you're hungry."
"Food!" exclaimed Edmund, leaping from his post on the bed to the door. "Come on!"
Laughing, Ivie followed Edmund and the others to the dining room. Whether