Chapter 2

All of the children gasped as the dwarf's revelation, staring with renewed curiosity at the girl, who was apparently called Rachel.

"Is your name Rachel?" Susan asked, a little timidly. The girl met her gaze, her eyes earnest.

"Yes." She replied simply, then blushed, embarrassed. "I'm sorry for the drama, it's just….I've heard so much about you, and I wanted to introduce myself in a, well, a fairy tale fashion. I….I'm sorry." Her voice had grown smaller, her eyes no longer met theirs. Lucy was the first to break the long silence.

"Are you American?" She asked, it was the only question she could think of.

"Sort of." The girl replied, nervously repeating her earlier ritual of smoothing her bloody blouse and tattered skirt. The formerly bold girl whose eyes had shown with humor had apparently disappeared. An even more awkward silence ensued. It was finally broken by Aslan.

"Children, you will rest here tonight, tomorrow, your respective journeys will begin. Daughters, come with me." Lucy, Susan, and Rachel followed him down the hill and were soon out of site. The remaining boys watched them then turned and stared at each other. Edmund was the first to speak.

"HIGH Queen?" He asked, his gaze questioning his brother. Peter shrugged, looking as bewildered as his brother.

"Don't look at me, if I'd had a wife, I would have remembered, and I certainly wouldn't have been able to hide it." Edmund acknowledged that with a nod.

"But, Peter, how ELSE could she be High Queen?" Peter shrugged again then, turned his gaze to Trumpkin.

"Trumpkin, what do you know about her?"