Freya didn't know how long she had been walking. It felt like years. The sky was still dark. The rain still lashed about them. Freya sneezed again. She was so cold so very cold.

"Look up." The creature muttered in her ear. Freya looked up. In front of herthere was a huge castle. It was giving out warm, glowing light from its'hundreds ofwindows. "This is the palace of Cair Paravel. Where our four monarchs reside; Queen Lucy, King Edmund, Queen Susan and High King Peter."

Freya nodded. Her heart was filled with dread at being placed in front of these four monarchs. She thought one was bad enough. But, she would finally be sheltered from the cruel, harsh winds. The company marched forward toward the castle.

"Halt!" a voice cried from the top of the gate. "Who goes there?"

"General Orieus and some of my men. We bring a party to be put before their Highnesses." The gate slowly swung open. As they approached the castle, General Orieus, gave Freya to one of his other men so that he could go and speak to the Kings and Queens. Freya was now at the back, and was feeling very nervous and scared. 'What if they found them guilty? What then? What would happen? Would they put be put to death?

The company was moving forward. Freya tried to ignore the sick swirling feeling in their stomach as they approached the entrance hall. They entered and Freya felt the warmth flowing back into her fingers. Her hood was still soaked, as was her cloak, and it was making a little puddle of water about her feet. From within her hood, Freya looked around at the creatures that had marched her there. Freya knew some of them from the stories her nurse use to tell her, centaurs, fauns, griffins. Then she heard the sound of some pairs of feet coming towards them.


The four monarchs were in Peter's study. Lucy had changed out of her nightgown, into more suitable attire and they were now just waiting for the mysterious 'party' to arrive. General Orieus broke through their idle chatting.

"They are here you Majesties."

"Lead the way Orieus." commanded Peter.


Freya felt sick at the sound of those footsteps. How she wished she stayed on the ship, trying to rebuild the boat, instead of here, about to be 'put on trial' in front of four monarchs. She realised that they were all being jostled into line. Freya ended up near the end of line, furthest away from the footsteps. She ended up next to Jack, who winked at her. She gave him a small smile. She then felt her self being forced to bow, which to her was odd, as she would normally sweep into a curtsy. Then she remembered everyone thought she was a boy. She straightened up, to see what looked like four children. Well, the youngest looked about eleven, and the eldest looked a little older than Freya, so about 20. Freya didn't really take in what was being said. The eldest was asking lots of questions such as:

"What land do you hail from, What business do you have in these lands?" and so on and so forth. It seemed to go for hours. Freya noticed that she hadn't sneezed in a while. 'Must be because I'm in the warmth.' She thought. She had thought too soon, however, because at that moment, Freya had a tingling in her nose, and Freya knew that she was going to sneeze. She battled to try and hold it. In the end:

"Atishoo!" The four Kings and Queens turned to look at her. Freya felt herself going red beneath her hood. At that moment, however, her head felt bare as the centaur, pulled off her hood. There was a gasp, from the monarchs and the creatures that had captured them.


"Atishoo!" Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy stopped their questioning abruptly, to look at who had just sneezed. It was from a boy standing near the end of the line. The centaur who was holding him took off his hood.

A girl was standing there. She had long auburn hair in a messy plait and deep brown eyes. The girl sneezed again.

No-one knew what to say. Then the leader of the crew said:

"Please, Your Majesty, she is my master's daughter, who came with us on our voyage. Arrest us, if you want, but please Freya has done nothing wrong."

Peter turned to look at the man. He thought for a moment, and then said slowly:

"I believe you Captain, when you plead innocent. You can stay here in Cair Paravel, to re-cooperate and rest. Some of my men will find you new clothes and sleeping accommodation."

Freya and the crew were released from the ropes that bound them. Freya massaged her wrists. The rope had left deep, sore, red marks. She flexed her fingers and passed a hand over her eyes. She saw the two female monarchs approaching her. The youngest one took her hand.

"I'm Lucy and this is my sister Susan." she said softly. "What's your name?"

"Freya your Majesties." Freya mumbled. She felt weak. Her knees felt like they were going to give way. Queen Susan put an arm around her.

"Come we'll get you a nightgown and a room for your own."

"Thank you, your Majesty."

"Just call me Susan." She smiled.

"Come on," said Lucy, and took Freya's hand. The rest of the crew had already gone. They went up many flights of stairs. Freya's senses were so dulled, it took her a while for Freya to realise that the eldest of the monarchs was following. The four of them came to a stop and Freya was led down a corridor, to a room near the end.

"Goodnight Peter," said Susan.

"Goodnight Su, G'nite Lu." Peter said tiredly. Freya bobbed into a cross between a curtsey and a bow and when she raised her eyes again, she saw King Peter smiling at her.

"Goodnight Freya." He said softly and walked off to his room a couple of doors down the corridor.

Susan and Lucy opened the door and led Freya in. There was a large fire crackling in the hearth and a huge soft bed.

"There's a bath and some nightclothes through the door over there." Susan pointed.

"Sleep well." Smiled Lucy

"Thank you, Your Majesties." Freya bobbed into a curtsey. They smiled and shut the door leaving Freya alone. She wandered into the room which Susan had indicated. She didn't feel like taking a bath, but when she saw the clean water, with hot steam rising off it, she realised how grubby she felt. She had just trudged miles through a storm, and hadn't had a bath for days. Freya slipped into the hot water, and felt the grime wash off her. She reached for the soap, washed her hair and scrubbed herself cleaned. She got out when the water had turned cold. She wrapped herself in a warm thick, fluffy towel and wandered into the bedroom. Slipping on a nightgown, she fell into the big bed, which enveloped her in warmth and softness. Freya was asleep as soon as her head had hit the pillow. Outside the storm raged on.