Hi agian

Disappintment at the total lack of reviews! I don't mind if you hate it lol, but you could at least tell me why? I'm here to improve my writing, so please let me know!

Late that night, the knights, the royalty, Anna and Ava were gathered in the hall of mirrors (as neither the ballroom nor the dining room currently had a roof), sat on the floor, and eating whatever had been found around the castle. The kitchen had been very fully stocked, as the castle had clearly noticed the presence of more visitors than usual; as well as a few of the bedrooms curiously containing some fresh fruit piled inside cupboards and wardrobes. The knights also had with them their own rations and so a strange little feast was being held. Anna absentmindedly munched on a nectarine while she watched Caspian and Rosalina laughing and flirting together. She smiled warmly and felt Ava's happiness at the scene inside her head too. Glancing in the mirrors, she noticed behind her reflection the faces of the knights. Suddenly fear stabbed into her chest. She remembered the faces of soldiers and knights from her old life; when they would march through her village they would leer with hungry eyes at the women. She saw exactly the same expression on their faces now. How long had they marched to get here? How long had they been on the road, the only woman in their company one they could not touch on pain of death? She shuddered, and wished she could sleep with Ava tonight.

Anna tried to take her mind off things by watching Rosalina smile, but suddenly she couldn't stop feeling their eyes on her skin. She shifted closer to Ava, and glanced around the room again, this time noticing that Princess Cassandra was now also staring at her with a strange kind of concern on her face. Probably thinking about the curse, she thought distractedly.

The makeshift feast was coming to a close, and Anna felt a sick sense of worry in her stomach. "Well, my Princess, I shall escort you to your chambers," Prince Caspian said, rising and offering Rosalina his hand. Anna followed them a little distance away, noticing the gaze of the knights following her as she left the hall.

"He's just wonderful…" Rosalina gushed. "He's so sweet and shy and sensitive, but he's so strong… From the look of his arms he'd be able to pick me up with his little finger!"

"Well, he managed to keep me still well enough," Anna mused out loud.

"Huh?" Rosalina looked confused and Anna remembered she hadn't been filled in on what happened. Skimming through the story quickly, Rosalina nodded in comprehension then laughed. "I can't believe he though you were me! I mean seriously!"

"Well thanks! Didn't realise it was that obvious that I'm a pleb," Rosalina looked immediately horrified.

"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry Anna,"

"It's fine," Anna tried to laugh, "I know perfectly well I'm nothing to your beauty. And besides," she cut in before Rosalina had the chance to say more, "I'm not sure he knows what a real princess looks like, what with his sister dressing more like a prince," Rosalina laughed, and Anna was glad that she had brightened again. Once she had left though, Anna found herself listening with rapt paranoia to any sounds that might be footsteps on the spiral staircase. She shivered, and undressed quickly, slipping on her nightdress and brushing out her hair, trying to calm her nerves. Suddenly she could hear boots on the staircase. She froze, brush in hand, and glanced around the room for anything that might be used as a weapon. Perhaps if she took the lit candle off the wall (another of the castle's traits was that it lit them by itself, making Anna and Rosalina's lives much easier) she could burn an intruder with it? She resolved to try and gave one a tug, but apparently the castle was adamant that it kept hold of its candles. She panicked, still clutching the brush and wondering if it was heavy enough to do any damage. It was silver after all and-

Suddenly the footsteps had stopped and there was a knock at her door. "W-who is it?" Anna called, cursing her shaking voice.

"It's Cassandra," Anna shuddered out a sigh of relief and set the brush on the table before unbolting the door.

"What can I do for you, my lady?" Cassandra brandished a bundle of blankets.

"I'm sleeping in here tonight," Anna frowned, confused.

"My lady, I don't mean to be rude but there are many other rooms in the castle, you may simply choose one," Clarissa waved Anna's protest aside and sauntered in, setting down her sword on Anna's dressing table and dropping the blankets on the floor.

"That's true but I think you're missing the point. There are a lot of lonely men downstairs, and if you hadn't thought of that-," She stopped, seeing the expression on Anna's face. "Ah, well, that explains how terrified you sounded a moment ago," Cassandra smiled and Anna bristled with indignation. "I was apprehensive, and with good reason-," Cassandra cut her off by grabbing her chin.

"Don't worry, I won't let anyone touch what belongs to me," She said, in the same sultry voice that had made Anna splutter in the entrance hall like a fool. She raised an eyebrow, determined to win at this bizarre game, and leaned closer to Cassandra, licking her lips.

"My lady," she said, impressed at how breathy her voice came out, "surely you cannot call something yours until you have," she paused for effect, "claimed it?"

"True," Cassandra practically growled, then suddenly Anna was thrown from her feet and was on her back on the bed, the foreign princess on top of her and pinning her down. Anna was struck by her strength and the thought that perhaps Cassandra had not been playing a game with her as her face loomed closer.

"So, sweetheart," she said in a low voice, pressing her lips to Anna's neck. "Are you ready to be claimed?"

"Um- Er- Um, I think we might have had a bit of a misundersta- ah!" Cassandra lightly bit her neck by her pulse point and Anna arched up off the bed, shocked. "My lady, please stop!" she cried. Cassandra sat up and Anna looked up at her, wide-eyed and fearful- both that she would leave, and that she would continue. Then her face split into a wide grin and Anna realised she had just lost the game to a far better player. She covered her face with her hands. Cassandra laughed loudly, but didn't move from her position on top of her.

"Sorry sweetheart, but I couldn't resist. You're just too cute,"

Anna groaned some obscenity into her hands and Cassandra laughed again. "I am sorry. I shouldn't mess with someone who's had a day like you've had. How's your arm?"

"Fine, thank you," Anna replied stiffly, but didn't remove her hands from her face. "But could you please get off me, my lady?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Cassandra climbed off and sat cross-legged on one corner of the bed. Anna sat up massaged her forehead. She had never thought dealing with people again would be this difficult but quite frankly she felt that anyone would have trouble dealing with Princess Cassandra. "You know, I wasn't joking about the knights. If they're giving your trouble, just find me. I won't let them touch you, and neither will my brother,"

"Thank you, my lady," Anna said, taken aback by the genuine conviction in Cassandra's voice. Yawning, Anna got off the bed and began to arrange the blankets so she could perhaps get some sleep and escape this madness. She slid between the blankets, wincing at the hard floor after getting used to sleeping in a real bed, but closed her eyes anyway. "Goodnight, my lady," She said flatly, and fully expected conversation to cease.

Of course not.

"You're going to sleep there?" Anna cracked one eye open irritably.

"It would appear so, my lady,"

"That's my bed," Cassandra informed her. Anna sat up, thinking she should know better than to be surprised by this woman after today.

"You're a princess. You sleep on the bed," Anna didn't even bother to add a 'my lady' to that.

"It's your bed,"

"It's the bed I happen to sleep on. Today the floor is where I happen to sleep, my lady. And I am very tired," Anna was beginning to get irritated. She liked her sleep a lot and this woman was keeping it from her.

"Fine, I won't argue with you," Anna sighed in relief and lay back down before she was scooped up by Cassandra and dropped unceremoniously onto the bed. She opened her mouth angrily to protest, but Cassandra held up a hand.

"I don't want to hear anything come out of your mouth unless it's the rather clichéd but still very welcome suggestion that we both sleep in the bed tonight. Got it?" Anna nodded, and certainly didn't take Cassandra up on her offer.

The next morning, neither Anna nor Cassandra were awake when Rosalina strode in and tore open the curtains. "Oh good God, what did I do to deserve this?" Anna whined from under the covers. "Rosalina, have mercy, please?" Irritatingly, however, Cassandra woke up and was instantly her perky self.

"Oh, good morning, my future sister! I'm sure you slept well?" As Rosalina gushed about how she'd had a dream that Caspian and her were married with ten children, Anna wondered why Cassandra could act like a normal person around royalty.

"Is Anna always so difficult to wake up?" Cassandra asked Rosalina once she had finished her tale.

"Yes, I must be the only Princess alive who has to wake her own maidservant," She grumbled.

"If you got up at a reasonable hour this whole scenario would be different," Anna informed her from under a pillow, then punctuated her sentence with a yawn. Without warning the covers were wrenched off her bed, leaving her curled in a ball squinting up at her two tormentors. "With all due respect, Princess," Anna said to Rosalina, "I really hate you right now,"

Rosalina giggled and launched herself at Anna, mercilessly tickling her until Anna was wailing "Okay, okay, I don't hate you!" Finally Rosalina relented and Anna sat up, shaking her head. "You go upstairs and get washed, I'll be up in a minute, right?" Anna said, giving Rosalina's hand an affectionate squeeze, knowing that today Rosalina would be determined to look her best.

Once Rosalina had gone, Anna washed and dressed on her bed with the curtains closed while Cassandra went and stood on the balcony, staring out at the land that stretched out for miles from the second highest room of the tallest tower. Anna watched her for a moment, then left quickly to do Rosalina's hair. Arriving at the room, however, she saw a mess on an apocalyptic scale. Dresses were strewn over every surface, with Rosalina in the middle of them looked extremely frazzled. "I don't know what to wear!" she cried. "I don't look good in anything!" Anna pinched the bridge of her nose and got the feeling she was in for another long day.

After sending Rosalina down for breakfast with prince Caspian, Anna spent a long time getting every dress back on a hanger and back in the wardrobe. Honestly, she thought, how ridiculous. She was sure she'd missed breakfast as she descended the seemingly endless staircase and felt her stomach grumble. But first on her list was to check up on Ava, and be sure she wasn't being poked and prodded at by inquisitive knights. However, upon entering the ruined ballroom, she saw Prince Caspian stood a few feet in front of Ava, and bowing stiffly and looking rather terrified while Rosalina smiled and cuddled Ava's uninjured leg. She leant against the wall and snickered as Ava lowered her head to say hello and Caspian jumped out of his skin. Shaking her head, she turned and headed toward the kitchens to see if she could scavenge some leftovers from breakfast. There were a few knights chatting in the corridor she needed to go down and Anna felt nervousness well up inside her again. Telling herself stiffly that she was being silly and that she was going to have to speak to them at some point or other, she set her teeth and began walking down the dim hallway. "Good morning, Miss Serving-Girl," one of them said, nodding at her.

"Good morning, sir," Anna replied, giving a quick curtsey before continuing. The knight followed.

"A few of my fellow knights and I were thinking of having a little card game up in my chambers tonight, and we were wondering if you would care to join us? I mean, seeing as you've been alone here with only her majesty's company for so long," The request was innocent enough but Anna was not foolish enough to put herself in such a vulnerable position.

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline your offer, sir," Anna continued walking quickly, hoping that the man would get the idea. But unfortunately he was insistent.

"Come on. You'll have fun, I promise,"

"Really, I have to decline, sir. Please excuse me,"

"Just one game of cards. We wouldn't stay up late,"

"Still, I must decline," Anna rounded a corner quickly and bumped straight into Cassandra. The knight looked slightly alarmed but stayed around, clearly hoping that she would leave.

"Oh, hello sweetheart. I was just looking for you- you missed breakfast so I saved you some," Cassandra held up a plate which was thankfully uninjured from their collision and Anna was torn between relief and gratitude.

"You are very kind, my lady," Anna said, taking the plate from her, mouth watering. Cassandra glanced at the knight who was still hovering in the hallway.

"Problem, Sir Gawain?"

"No, your highness, not at all," Anna cleared her throat.

"Sir …Gawain has been kind enough to invite me to a card game this evening,"

"A card game?" Cassandra raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Anna replied, "In his chambers,"

"A card game in his chambers," Cassandra repeated, staring directly at Sir Gawain who was looking very frightened indeed.

"With his friends," Anna finished, slightly smugly, and Sir Gawain spluttered an excuse and fled the corridor. Anna smiled up at Cassandra. "Thank you, my lady,"

Get on with it, Caspian!

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