The posting of this chapter is in memory of a very special lady who will be much missed.

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The faun coughed. Susan glanced at him quickly, and then back at Evren. "I mean," she began, somewhat flustered, "that I am Susan, Queen of Narnia, sister to High King Peter, and Loyal Servant of the Lion…" he she seemed to falter. "And so on, and... something along those lines." She grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm supposed to be learning how to do all that – introduce myself as a queen and such. How was it?" she asked the faun.

"Very good, Your Majesty, quite an improvement from yesterday." the faun said, somewhat stiffly. Queen Susan winced.

"Ah, yes. That. Well, let us not recall such times," she tried to say with dignity. Evren could not help but smile. There was a bit of a pause; then Susan, sensing the awkward silence, jumped in, saying, "Well, I guess we should get on, then."

"Your majesty," the centaur who had not spoken yet moved forward and offered Susan his hand, helping her clamber into the carriage. He then turned his huge, hairy face to Evren, beckoning her forward as well. She put her trembling hand in his and stepped into the coolness of the carriage. The centaur shut the door behind her.

Evren stayed standing, not entirely sure of what to do. She glanced back out the window of the carriage as it began moving forward, and took one final glimpse of her former envoy as it faded into the distance. Evren swayed as the carriage began mounting the bridge.

"Please, sit down." Queen Susan gestured sweetly to the seat opposite herself. Evren shakily sat, trying not to look the young Queen in the eyes. Susan didn't seem disturbed in the least.

"Now that it's finally just the two of us," she said, sitting back in her seat, "we can have an actual conversation." She smiled kindly at Evren, and Evren, in spite of herself, could not help but smile back. She could not understand the queen's amazing ability to set anyone she was with at complete and utter ease.

"So," Susan began. "I'm to understand it that you are Evren, a tree dryad, if I'm correct?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Evren's voice sounded raw and husky after keeping silent for so long, and she had to swallow to regain it's proper sound. Susan looked as if she would be perfectly delighted to hear her go on, so she continued speaking. "I'm from the Southern Forrest, there are all sorts of trees there… I'm the spirit of a privet tree there, towards the center of the forest." She rushed on, feeling now as if she couldn't quite stop. "My tree is rather large – well, a comfortable size, really. In late summer it blooms – really pretty white flowers-" She stopped herself – what was she doing, babbling about her tree in front of the Queen of Narnia? She should be begging for her innocence, explaining away everything she had been charged with.

But Susan simply grinned and sighed contentedly. "Oh, that must be perfectly lovely." she said. "You must show it to me someday, I would love to see it."

Evren was surprised. "Of – of, course, Your Majesty."

"You must excuse my ignorance," Susan explained, seeing the look of surprise on Evren's face. "My brothers and sister and I have not been in Narnia for very long, so we are still learning of the customs and such around here. Why, where we come from," she laughed gaily, "Beasts do not speak, tree spirits cannot move, and 'magic' is thought of as the stuff of fairytales."

Evren was now really confused. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I have been out of Narnia myself for a long while now, and I can't say I really know what has happened since Your Majesty and Your Majesty's siblings have come to Narnia!"

Susan smiled again, and her smile seemed to compete with the sun in radiance. "Forgive me – of course you could not know, having lived in Archenland the last few years, and the White Witch stopping all forms of communication with anyone outside of Narnia." She stopped, mused for a moment, then said, "Well, I suppose all that really happened is that my siblings and I entered Narnia from our world by accident, really, and then we got swept up in all this madness." She shrugged. "Aslan needed us to fight the White Witch, and we did, and with His help, she's now gone. And now here we are, ruling a kingdom! It's quite scary at times, how quickly everything happened, and everything is overwhelming…" Evren could sense that the Queen was being modest about her adventures. "But it really has been the most wonderful of times, as well." Susan smiled wistfully.

"I feel like I've missed everything," Evren said, with a trace of mourning in her voice. "I had left Narnia, originally, so that I could go to Archenland and learn things that might help overthrow the Witch. And then it happens while I'm gone!"

Susan chuckled. "We would have been glad to have your help!" Her smile faltered just the tiniest bit. "But that brings us around, then" she said, more serious now, "to what happened when you came back. I understand that you were arrested under suspicion of witchcraft. What can you tell me about this?" Susan looked at Evren, and Evren could tell that this girl would accept her explanation, whether she was guilty or not.

"Your Majesty," Evren began, the slightest bit of desperation in her voice, "My powers – my magic – well, I had planned to use it with the purest of intentions. My only goal was to become more connected with the earth, and to somehow use that power to help in the resistance to the White Witch. I was hoping to help Narnia." She swallowed. "Narnia is my homeland; I would never hurt it or those who live here."

Susan did not seem to be convinced of Evren's innocence or guilt. She merely looked interested, and somewhat confused, when she asked, "Your power – with the earth… do all earth spirits have this power?"

"Well… no, Your Majesty." Evren answered. "You see, hundreds of years ago, before I was born or even the Witch had taken over Narnia, Aslan made a promise concerning the dryads of the Southern Forest. He said that one day, a dryad would be created that could be the medium, the very balance, or middle, between the earth and the Forrest. And that dryad would have power from the earth and everything that came from it." Evren could feel herself turning red. She was not a boastful person, but she was not overly modest either – she just disliked telling the prophecy about her birth, one that made her look to have some sort of great destiny. Blushing, she continued, "…And it's supposed to be me. I am the dryad that has the special connection with the earth.

"I was born sixteen years ago, during the Hundred Years' Winter. My people thought my powers could be put to use – to defeat the White Witch. So that, Your Majesty, is why I was in Archenland. I was developing my powers, and deepening my connection with the earth." Evren's tone was close to hysterics now. She willed Susan to understand; to believe her. "I understand that Narnia may fear magic after the reign of tyranny they have just experienced, but I swear to you, that I intend no harm." Suddenly, the fear that Evren had kept at bay for the past few days seemed to bubble up. It nearly escaped her – she seemed to regain control of herself at the last second.

Perhaps Susan had seen these emotions in her face, because at once the young queen got up from her seat and sat down instead next to Evren, putting her arm around her. Evren was so surprised that she could not think of anything to say; instead, she looked down at her lap, feeling astounded that someone so good was sitting next to her, hugging her. Susan simply smiled at her and gave her a squeeze.

"You have nothing to fear. If this is indeed your true story, than I see no reason why you should be accused in any way. I will personally vouch for you when we get to Cair Paravel, and no matter how frightened and sensitive some people of Narnia may be, I will make sure they know what a good person you really are."

Evren looked up to thank her, but the words could not come from her mouth. This queen, a stranger who had not known her only ten minutes before, was sitting there comforting her, and vowing to stand by her. Evren realized that Narnia had been so long under the control of the White Witch's harsh laws and mercilessness, its inhabitants were surely to be shocked at this queen's kindness. And if her siblings were anything like her – Narnia was sure to experience an emotional renaissance.

In the end, Evren's reply was simple. "Thank you," she murmured. She knew it could not sound like very much, but she hoped that the queen understood how much she had done for her – how much she had lifted her spirit and moral – in this short time.

And though it was only two words, just a short phrase, Susan understood.

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A/N – Now we're getting into the thick of things – hope you're enjoying so far.

I hope to have some more chapters up soon, but, as Acacia59601 (one of my favorite C.S. Lewis FanFiction writers) says, "Real Life" tends to sometimes get in the way of frequent updates.

Thanks to Hufflepuffgirl for reviewing; I'm glad you like it!

Fun Fact – I pulled a C.S. Lewis: "Evren" is Turkish for "creation."

Please Read & Review! They are much appreciated!