I'd see them again soon enough.

That was how Fate worked. It wasn't enough to have one chance meeting. No, I just had to meet them again.

But this meeting wasn't nearly so strange. It was still strange, mind, just . . . in a different way.

For one thing, I was at a bar.

Not just any bar.

An underground bar, a hidden bar, because more Narnians didn't do drinking so well.

But I'm only human, so I asked the Faun for a tankard of the best ale in Narnia.

Never saw that part in the stories, did you? Where the heroine sits down to get drunk as hell, and beat up any guy who thinks she's looking for someone?

Nope, never hear that part in the stories.

Well, this time I only had to beat up two guys before I noticed something momentous.

You know Queen Lucy? The Valiant?

Well, she ran into the bar, chased by a few men. She wore the clothes of a commoner, and moved too fast for most to see her face. Being chased into a bar was a common enough affair, so no one did anything.

I did. I got up, grabbed my tankard, and walked over.

"Hello boys," I said, a hand on my hip. "What are you chasing her for?" I demanded.

Lucy took shelter behind me. The leader growled at me,

"No business of yours, lass," He said, and eyed Lucy.

"I beg to differ," My clear voice rang out through the bar. "It is very much my business, mister,"

And with that I kicked him backwards into a pair of drunken men.

In the madness that ensued, Lucy and I were able to escape.

We weren't far from Cair Paravel, so we began to walk.

"Thank you," Lucy said. "I guess,"

"You're welcome, Your Majesty," I said.

"Call me Lucy," She said.

I grinned at her. "Okay, Lucy,"

There was silence for a while as we walked. The air was cool, the perfect temperature, and the sun was about an hour before setting.

"He's been looking for you, you know," Lucy said.

"What?" I was a little bit stunned. "Who?"

"Edmund," She said matter-of-factly. "He's been looking for you. It's been a month. The coronation anniversary's in a few days. He hasn't seen you since you sparred with him."

"Yeah, well, I've been busy," I said, and kicked a pebble. We were nearly at the castle gate. "Don't ask what, and I won't ask what you're doing outside Cair Paravel without your Court."

"Fair enough," Lucy nodded. At the gate, the Faun on guard stopped them.

"It's alright, Cadmus," Lucy said. "It's me, and this is my friends Fallon,"

The Faun nodded, bowed, and let them in.

Inside the Throne Room, three worried siblings got the their feet, what seemed like a hundred courtiers turned around, and three worried Kings and Queens stopped in their tracks as they saw Fallon.

"Leave us, please," Susan commanded-asked the courtiers. They nodded, and left, shuffling out the door.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Susan crossed the hall to grasp Lucy by the shoulders, "What happened, Lucy?"

"It's alright, Susan," She said. "Some people were chasing me, but Fallon stopped them,"

"Oh," Susan said. She looked up at me.

"She's a hero then," Peter observed, coming over.

"I prefer 'heroine,' Your Majesty." I said. "Hero sounds so stuffy."

Edmund came, too, looking very Kingly.

I know, such description, right?

"Where were you, Lucy?" Susan asked.

I answered for her. "A bar," And I smirked at the Kings and Queens' faces.

"What were you doing there, Lu?" Peter asked.

"I told you, some men were chasing me," Lucy said. "But Fallon stopped them."

They looked at me. "You're welcome," I said. "Now, if you don't mind Your Majesties, I'll be leaving now."

I spun on my heel, and began to walk out, my footsteps sounding against the floor and echoing in the hall.

"Wait, Fallon," Peter called behind me.

It was an order, so I sighed and stopped.

"Yeah, Your Majesty?"

"Come back,"

I spun, and walked back, muttering bad things under my breath about Kings.

"Yeah, Your High-Kingliness?" I asked.

Peter made a face. "Don't call me that. It's just Peter, please."

I shrugged. "Suit yourself. What do you want?"

Lucy elbowed me. "Be nice," She whispered.

"We would like you to stay with us for a while," Susan said.

I raised my eyebrows. "Beg pardon?"

"You are the only other human we know of in Narnia," Peter said. "We think there is much that can be learned from you,"

I shook my head. "I'm no lady to live in castle, Your Majesties. There's too much about me you don't know."

I started to walk away again, but Lucy caught my arm

"Please, Fallon?" She asked, and she still looked so young and sweet it was hard to refuse.

I sighed. I told the Kings, "I'm not going to be studied like some rare bug, got that?"

They grinned, and nodded.

"Is there anything you need, from home?" Susan asked. "We can send someone to go with you and get it."

I shook my head. "Everything's right here," I patted the bag at my side.

Susan nodded. She turned to her brothers and sister. "I'll find her a room," They nodded, and Susan grabbed my arm, and began to tow me through the castle.

"These are your chambers," Susan said, showing me to a gorgeous selection of rooms.

"Your Majesty, I really don't need all this," I said. "What'll I do with three rooms?"

"What everyone else does," Susan said. "Sleep in one, closet for another, living room for another."

I looked around at the rooms. "What do I do now?"

Susan laughed. "You put your things in the closet, and come down to meet the court. I can lend you a dress,"

I shook my head vehemently. "I don't do dresses, Your Majesty."

"Call me Susan, Fallon," She told me. "I think we're friends enough to call each other by our first names."

"Me, calling royalty by their first names?" I snickered. "Me friends're rolling over in their graves."

"They're dead?" Susan asked, horrified.

"Most of 'em," I said, dumping my bag on the bed. "Didn't like most of 'em. Traitors, vagabonds, you know the like."

Susan seemed a bit dazed. She shook it off, and said, "Well, come down as soon as you can, but you'd better change first,"

I grinned, and nodded. My clothes were dirty, from the walk in the woods and splashes of drink from the 'fight' in the bar.

Susan nodded to me, and left.

I changed into men's clothes. I always thought men's clothes were more comfortable than dresses and skirts.

I wore a cream shirt, with a green tunic and brown leggings and my best boots.

I brushed my hair long and loose to my waist, and buckled my sword. This was a game of power, show, talent. So, I hid daggers in my forearms under my shirt sleeves, and small ones in my hair disguised as pins. I slipped one into a sleeve hidden in my right boot, and another in my left. I put one in plain sight, at my belt, and hid one more in my belt buckle. Three more, one at the nape of my beck, and two hidden underneath my arms completed the outfit.

I was ready for Court.

So I raced down the hallways and corridors of Cair Paravel.

The Throne Room was once again full of courtiers, men and women of all ages, but mostly the Kings and Queens' ages.

Except, no one was Lucy's age. I could see her sitting on her throne, fiddling with her dagger.

But when the doors opened, and I entered, everyone looked up, to find a girl dressed as a boy.