Alright, so I'm trying to get this all done at once. Now, remember people, no flames. If you're going to give constructive criticism, please, don't just tell me what's wrong with my story, but give me ideas on ways to fix it.

Disclaimer: I own only five characters in this story, and four of them aren't here yet.

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Chapter One

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As the the girl rode North, the night got colder. The darkness became nearly complete as clouds drifted over the moon. The girl shivered. She almost wished she'd never left home. Almost. Almost anything would be better than being stuck in that God forsaken town with her new parents. After ten of her nearly seventeen years of life, one would think that she might have stopped calling her 'adopted' parents her 'new parents', but, no. She obstinately refused to accept them as her family.

She wanted to turn back, despite her 'family', but she couldn't. She'd stolen a horse from her non-father's stables, and stolen her gown and cloak from her non-mother's closet while they slept. If she returned now, she knew she'd be hanged as a thief. And she also knew that her 'father', although he had the authority to stop them from doing it, would say not a word for her.

So, she had no choice but to continue North.

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As the night wore on, the girl became more and more exhausted. It was nearing four am, and she had not eaten anything since her light dinner at five. She was light-headed. The forest swirled around her, warping and twisting with her lack of sleep and hunger… Wait! Forest?

Her head whipped around. Trees, everywhere she looked. She was there! She grinned widely into the air, then whooped, causing the horse to rear its head back in fright. She spurred the horse onward. It leapt forward with renewed energy, as if it could feel the same energy in the air as she could.

But the girl had not been expecting the horse to respond with so much energy. She lost her seat, the horse slipped out from under her, and she fell to the ground, hard on her back, with a solid THUMP. Her head connected with a tree trunk on the side of the path, and she saw no more.

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All dark. Nothing. The girl was being suffocated by the blackness – the nothingness. Then…a light. A figure appeared as the light drew closer. It was clearly a young man, but none like she'd ever seen. All the men of her village – even the boys her age – were…but she couldn't remember them. She remembered their names, but she couldn't see their faces.

As the light came closer she could see details – sort of. She could see strong arms. She could see tan skin. She could see dark hair. And she could see a silver crown. But she couldn't make out his features – the light must be behind him, she decided.

He was close enough to touch, now, but she still couldn't see his face. He reached out a hand for her. She didn't know this man, but anything would be better than the dark. She lifted her hand to take his…

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Her eyes snapped open. She was exactly where she fell off the horse. She stared up at the trees overhead. She could see through the tree branches – bare of leaves – to the lightening sky. The girl clambered to her feet, but before she could move two steps, the blood rushed back to her head, and she stumbled, black spots popping before her eyes. She swayed and put a hand to her head.

When her vision cleared, she looked around. All around her, there was nothing but trees. She knew which way she'd been going, so she turned in that direction and began to walk. But before she could get far, she heard the sound of hoof beats.

They were coming from the North – her direction – and there was no way she could outrun whoever it was – not without her own horse. Nor could she hide alongside the path – since everything was dead, she'd be spotted within a minute, because of the lack of shrubs.

So the girl did the only thing she could. She waited. Soon, she could see the horsemen. Around a bend in the path, she could see a man on horseback. She had been taught that it was rude to stare, since she was a small child, but she could do nothing now but stare.

He was strong, with tanned skin and dark hair. She would have thought nothing of it if it hadn't been for the thin silver crown, sitting lopsidedly in his messy, dark hair. Her eyes widened. This was the young man from her dream!

She looked at him, dumbstruck as he approached her. He stopped several feet from her, before dismounting. When she finally took in the meaning of his crown – which took several more seconds than should have been normal – she gasped and bowed her head, dropping into a low curtsy.

"You Majesty…" she murmured. Instead of just bobbing a curtsy and coming back up, as if she were merely acknowledging something that her 'father' told her, she dipped down, and stayed there, head bowed.

The young man sighed. She was unsure why, but it seemed as if he were almost…displeased about his title.

"Madam," he said, extending a hand to her, "You may rise." She did so. "Now, I must ask," he said, taking in her full appearance, "What is a young woman like yourself doing out in the forest, this early in the morn, with no horse, escort, nor even a weapon?"

The girl looked around, avoiding his eyes. She didn't want to tell this man that she was running away, but she didn't want to be caught lying either… She decided that, as much as she feared what he might do, she should just tell the truth.

"I-I am running away, Your Majesty," she mumbled, looking at the young man's dusty boots. "My adoptive parents mistreated me and…I…I suppose I just snapped."

He looked down at her sympathetically. He smiled a little bit and asked her, "So why did you decide to come to Narnia?"

She sighed and said, "Well, I think part of it was spite towards my 'father'. He always forbade me go past the close edge of the fields to the North of our village. And…I do not know the other part. I was simply…drawn."

"So what is your name, My Lady?" He finally asked.

"Adelinde, you Highness," she said, head bowed again. "And if I may be so bold as to ask, what is your name, my King?"

He smiled lightly. "You may be so bold," he said jokingly, "I am King Edmund the Just."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, King Edmund," she said, bobbing another curtsy, but not so deep as the first one.

"The pleasure is mine, Madame Adelinde," he said, bowing to her.

"Please, King," she said, looking away from him again, "Do not call me 'Madame', nor 'Lady'. For I am no such thing. I will not pretend my social rank is higher than it is. Either call me Adelinde – or, if you wish, Ada. If you must be formal, 'Miss' at most, please."

He smiled at her kindly. "Adelinde, then." He gestured toward her. "But we should probably get you somewhere...did you have any family or friends you were planning to stay with in Narnia?"

Adelinde shook her head. "No sir," she said, "My only living family is that from which I am fleeing from, and they are back in Archenland."

"Well, my conscience will not allow me to leave a young lady alone in the forest with nowhere to go!" he extended a hand toward her, "Would you do me the honor of accompanying me back to Cair Paravel?"

"It would be my pleasure, Your Majesty," she said. He took her arm and lead her back toward the horse he had arrived on.

He helped her up, then pulled himself up onto the horse's saddle. He turned the horse around, to face North-East – the direction he had come from, toward the sea – and nudged the horse's sides. Adelinde couldn't believe her luck. She had come to Narnia with almost nothing, and nowhere to go. She had had almost no hope she could have survived. But now she was sitting on the back of the horse of King Edmund, on her way to stay at Cair Paravel.

It amazed her how quickly things could change.

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Thanks to Metonomia for helping me come up with her name!