Ok, so chapter 3. Hope you like it!

NB – the italics are thoughts

Forgot to say before, I don't own Narnia. Or much else for that matter.

Angela's mind was racing. This morning she had gone to work as normal, had typed and filed and drank several cups of tea - but now at dusk she was walking through a forest, in a strange land, taking directions from a faun. A Faun. Deep breaths, Angela. The forest was thinning again and for some time she had felt that they were moving steadily downhill.

They were approaching another clearing, smaller than the last, flanked on one side by some large boulders that provided some shelter from the wind that was picking up around them. Several small tents had been pitched just in front of the boulders and there was a campfire blazing in front of them. This would all have seemed perfectly normal if it weren't for the mice gathered by the campfire; they stood on their hind feet and each was almost two feet tall, and they were deep in conversation. And when a pair of owls that were comfortably half her height came to land next to them and joined the chatter she decided she had officially lost her mind. The talk died down as Urnus stepped into the light of the fire and all eyes became fixed on Pevensie who had followed Urnus much more readily than Angela.

One of the owls came forward.

"Too woo. I am Glimfeather, and who are you?"

"I'm Peter Pevensie, and this is Angela Lowe," Peter gestured to Angela to come and join him – he seemed to be trying to give her a reassuring look and she decided she may as well trust him as not. She moved towards the fire and stood by his shoulder while the animals scrutinized them. One of the mice piped up cautiously.

"High King Peter? The Magnificant?"

High King? This has to be a joke. Angela raised her eyebrows and Pevensie had the grace to look a little uncomfortable as he addressed the mouse. "Just Peter is fine. But how do you - ah – you are a friend of Reepicheeps?"

"First cousin once removed Sire. Peereep at your service". The mouse bowed low and then turned to Angela – and at your service too of course Milady!"

Angela smiled at him. A talking mouse. Of course. It makes perfect sense. "The honour is all mine".

Pevensie cut across their greeting "Would you mind explaining what we are doing here? Where is Caspian?"

"He set sail for Terebintha half a year ago," said Peereep. "He hoped to see Aslan once more before his death, to ask who should rule after him. But we have had no word, and we do not expect him to return." The mouse shook his head sadly.

Angela frowned and racked her brain – had she ever heard of Terebintha? And who was this Aslan? She felt Pevensie's hand on her hip and couldn't bring herself to resist when he guided her to one of the lower rocks and bade her sit down. He seated himself next to her and turned back to the group before them.

"Why has he no heir? I thought he would marry – my sister Lucy said he met someone on their voyage-"

"Too true, too true" hooted Glimfeather. "We will tell you the story."

The other owl ruffled his feathers importantly and started to tell the tale of Prince Rilian and the Serpent [see A/N]. While he told the story Angela found herself making a mental list of place names and people which might come in useful. The habits of a secretary die hard, she thought wryly.

"And so, you see, " the owl finished "we have no King, and that is why we have summoned you. With this."

Two of the mice appeared from one of the tents carrying a horn between them and held it up for them to see. The horn was so smooth it appeared carved from marble; but when Angela looked closer she saw it was wood; unpolished, unvarnished, but carved so smooth it almost shone. Around the rim was an intricate carving of leaves and apples.

Pevensie gazed at the horn for a long moment and then looked back at the animals with questioning eyes.

"There is a prophecy;" started Peereep, puffing his chest up so they could be in no doubt that he was about in impart some very important information, "That one day Narnia would be without a King or Queen. It was said that when that time came, this horn, when blown, would bring forth a ruler. King Caspian left this horn with his people, with the express instruction that should he not return after 6 months, the horn was to be taken and used at Lantern Waste to summon a new ruler."

Angela looked a Pevensie who seemed to be taking the news that he had been summoned to be King over a strange land rather calmly. But then of course, if Peereep was to be believed, he had been King before.Pevensie seemed to be confused about something

"But surely Narnia has been without a King or Queen before? I mean, Miraz-"

"Was not the rightful King perhaps, but he took the throne nonetheless," said the old owl. "There have many pretenders to the throne over the years, some worthy, some not. But as long as there was someone to take the monarch's place, this prophecy was unfulfilled. This is the first time in Narnian history that the King has reached his death without an heir and no-one to leave in his stead."

Angela's head was becoming foggy. She was exhausted and despite the gears in her mind clanking around and around, desperately trying to process all the information it had been overloaded with, she felt sleep starting overtake her. Pevensie helped her up.

"Are we to sleep here tonight?"

Peereep, nodded vigorously and pointed towards a tent – "for you, Your Majesty, and the one next to it for you, Milady. We will stand guard tonight, and tomorrow we head to Cair Paravel."

A/N – for those readers who haven't read the books (and I suggest you do because they are amazing!) this story is told in chapter 4 of The Silver Chair, and I'm not about to plagiarise it here!

Please do review- I have been meaning to write this down for over 10 years and reviews make it all worthwhile.