The next morning, Lucy skipped into the room to wake them up. Elaine got up okay but Lydia got up reluctantly. She could feel the pain from her injuries the day before. It was intensified now, after a full night of sleep. She walked around getting dressed, trying to lessen the pain.

When they were dressed, the three girls walked down to the dining hall for breakfast, where Peter, Susan, and Edmund were waiting. "Good morning!" Peter said cheerily. "You're lucky that Edmund has had time to wake up. He's not as grumpy now as he was about a half hour ago."

Edmund glared at his brother and everyone laughed. The girls walked into the dining room and went to the table. As she was walking, Lydia's ankle, which was already weak from her fall the day before, gave out beneath her. She stumbled into Edmund who had not yet sat down at his seat.

"I'm sorry," she said, as he helped her regain her balance. "My ankle hurts from falling yesterday. I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. No need to apologize," he said reassuring Lydia's pleas for forgiveness. He wrapped her arm around his shoulders and walked her to her chair. Once she was seated and comfortable, Edmund walked around the table and sat down across from her.

"So how did you sleep last night?" Peter asked Lydia and Elaine.

"Very well, thank-you," Elaine said politely.

"And how about you Lydia?" Peter asked.

"I slept fine until I woke up," she said simply.

Peter chuckled. "Well we did find you on the ground. You must have taken quite a spill yesterday."

"If you would like I can take you down to the infirmary after breakfast. One of the nurses can fix your injuries," Edmund offered.

"Yes that would be good," Lydia decided out loud.

"Ed and I both have meetings this morning. After you return from the infirmary, if you feel well enough to walk Lydia, Susan and Lucy can take both you and Elaine on a tour of the castle."

"Oh that would be lovely," Elaine said happily.

"Well then we better eat so we can get busy. There is a lot of castle to see."

They ate in silence but they finished eating quickly. Once they had finished, Edmund wrapped Lydia's arm around his shoulder once more and helped her walk to the infirmary.

As they walked, Lydia said "I thought an infirmary was only for soldiers in war."

"An infirmary is just like a hospital. Its where sick and injured people are kept while they are treated. So yeah, they are definitely used for soldiers during war time."

In the infirmary, a young faun bandaged Lydia's ankle so that she could walk again. It still hurt but she could at least walk without stumbling and falling.

Edmund thanked him for helping Lydia before they left. "Now you know where something is that Elaine doesn't," Edmund said to Lydia as they left the infirmary with Lydia supporting her own weight this time. "C'mon. Let's go find the others."

Edmund and Lydia found the other three Pevensies and Elaine waiting at the main castle entrance. Edmund and Peter said good-bye to the girls and then they went off in their own ways.

The girls began their tour of the castle with Susan and Elaine in the lead, talking about something Lydia had never heard of. Lucy and Lydia followed.

"It's so exciting to have you here. I always have my siblings but they can get boring after a while. It's like having a new friend. I honestly haven't had a friend outside of the castle and who's almost my age since we first entered Narnia," Lucy told Lydia.

"Wow I can't imagine not having friends. I would be lonely," Lydia commented.

"Well I always have siblings to keep me from being lonely."

They went to the infirmary and Lydia and Elaine were introduced to Bowman, the faun who had fixed Lydia's ankle earlier. They saw all the bed rooms, the ball room, and a variety of other rooms.

One of the rooms they passed had the door opened just a crack but it was enough that she could hear voices from inside. Susan had said this was the council's meeting room. It was where they had big meetings and trials and usually only one of the four royalties had to be present.

Lydia was overwhelmed with curiosity so she snuck into the room. It was a big circular room with 3 tiers of seats. The highest tier had a wall built behind it, so Lydia crawled behind it and then peered around it.

A girl stood in the middle of the floor crying. It looked like a human girl to Lydia which was surprising because this was the first human she had seen besides the Pevensies. Lydia noticed a vacant chair across from the crying girl before she noticed a boy pacing in front of her. She recognized the voice to be Edmund's before she noticed the silver crown on his head.

"Why would you do something like that? You put yourself in danger, you put your family in danger, and you put your country in danger. You knew it was wrong so what made you do it?" Edmund was the one speaking and he sounded stern but gentle. He never stopped his pacing as he spoke. This girl must have been at least Lydia's age or younger. The girl mumbled an answer but it was too soft for Lydia to hear, hiding on the top tier.

"Do you know what kind of punishment is ordered for this kind of crime? You have committed treason against your country," he said stopping his pacing in front of her chair.

The girl let out a sob. "Yes your majesty, I understand the punishment, but I couldn't help it. I didn't know I was being used. I was being offered everything I've ever wanted and I couldn't let that offer down. I'm terribly sorry and I promise to never do it again if you don't punish me so harshly," she pleaded.

Edmund looked like he was contemplating what to do when the man in front of Lydia, or Centaur rather, began speaking. Edmund looked up and Lydia ducked back behind the wall, hoping no one had seen her.

"Your majesty, you know the punishment for treason used to be death. I think she is lucky to just spend life in prison. The punishment is not as harsh as it used to be and for that she is lucky. She should not be let off without punishment. She needs to serve her time. You especially, out of all of us, should know that when a crime has been committed, someone must pay the price."

Lydia was wondering what this girl could have possibly done to be accused of treason when Edmund began to speak. She snuck back around so she could see again. "You do make a good point Firestar, however, she is only ten years of age. I know the struggles that go along with dark magic and how tempting it can be. For that reason and that reason alone, I will let you off by serving in Cair Paravel until your fifteenth birthday. Can everyone agree on that?"

"That seems fair enough. It's a just decision that did not have to be offered so she can take it or leave it. But either way she must be aware that although it is hard to resist the temptations of dark magic she must learn to just as everyone else must. Especially if she does get let off with a lesser punishment," Firestar said.

Lydia didn't stick around to hear the final vote. She realized how long she had been gone and realized that could be a bad thing. She snuck back out of the council room and walked quickly, trying to find the other girls. Eventually she ran into Lucy. Lydia was both relieved and nervous because of this. What would she say when Lucy asked her where she had been?

"Where did you go? We couldn't find you and we were worried." Lucy asked embracing her.

"I got lost. It's hard for me to keep up," she said, gesturing toward her ankle, hoping that this would make sense to her.

"Oh well. Susan does walk pretty fast. I guess we should ask her to slow down," Lucy answered.

Lydia sighed in relief and started walking again.

They caught up with Susan and Elaine in a short time. Lucy asked Susan to slow her pace a bit and then they continued their tour. At noon, the four girls went back to the dining hall where they met up with the two boys. After they had eaten lunch, they decided to ride horses out into the woods. Elaine was given her own horse to ride, but Lydia chose to ride with Lucy again since her ankle was still bothering her. They spent the whole afternoon in the forest and that night Lydia was exhausted.

"This is so cool! Imagine being able to live in the castle of teenage kings and queens in another world!" Elaine exclaimed excitedly that night after they had gone to their room.

"It's exciting. But I wonder why we're here. Peter said only the Lion Aslan could tell us why we are here," Lydia said, her back towards Elaine, playing with her rattle.

"Do you think we'll get to meet Aslan so he can tell us why we're here?"

"I dunno. Maybe," Lydia yawned. "G'night Elaine."

"Good night Lydia."