Susan climbed into bed after yet another late night of revelry. She anticipated yet another early rise in the morning, yet she didn't think she'd be able to muster much sleep tonight—she was simply too excited!

The reason for her excitement was that tomorrow a week-long celebration marking the end of the tetrarch's first year in Narnia would culminate with a grand tournament. Every land in the known world had sent a delegation to participate in the fun, and everyone but the Calormenes had come to spend the entire week with the tetrarch and there had been hunts every day and feasts every night. The Pevensies were being run nearly off their feet with the burdens that such a large gathering demanded, but it was all good fun, so none of them minded in the slightest. In fact, Cair Paravel had become a place where laughter and gaiety were never in short supply.

The fact that the Tarkaans wouldn't be around till just before the games began didn't bother the tetrarch. They had long since learned that most of the other nations didn't regard Calormenes with much esteem, and, of course, the Pevensies themselves didn't care for the pompous men the Tisroc sent to events like this. Yes, they were excellent at their crafts and many times they won whatever events they entered, but they also had an unrelenting habit of telling others about how good they were and they often spoke at length about how the virtues and beauty of the Tarkheenas surpassed those of ladies from other lands, and they often went on and on about how Tashbaan sparkled like the sun itself when the morning's rays hit its bejeweled buildings.

Now, Susan shivered with excitement in anticipation of what was to come, and only wondered briefly at which of the pompous Tarkaans might show up tomorrow. Then, by habitual reflex, she lit a candle and flipped Swanwhite's diary—this one was bond in burgundy cloth with a silver orchid sewn into it—to the next entry.

She read.

What an interesting day it has been, and, of course, I anticipate having many more days of this nature, although, I must say, I'm not at all keen to have an exact repeat of what happened today!

But, first things first, the day began with Tarkaan Arda , the Tisroc's first cousin, showing up and asking my daddy for permission to court me. I wasn't really surprised that he allowed it, of course—I am growing up after all, and my parents and none too few court members have told me quite a bit about the courting process and what qualities that I should look for in the man who will be king of Narnia someday.

When he came to greet me and my daddy, Arda was so respectful and polite, and afterward when we strolled in the garden he said some very sweet things to me. He told me that I am very beautiful, and I hope that's true, because that would mean that I'm on my way to becoming who Aslan wants me to be, although, I have a suspicion that Arda didn't notice my insides before he told me I was beautiful.

You know why I suspect that? Well, see, after we strolled in the garden and had a little picnic lunch, I was called away to have a few lessons and Arda said he was going to wait for me in the rooms we've provided for him and his delegation, only when I came back, I found him outside harassing a poor Talking foal. I was appalled! Of course, I know no Talking Beasts live in Calormen, but surely he knows how to behave when he visits other lands!

I'm quite sure that he wouldn't have done something so foolish if he'd known I was there, but I'm also glad that I discovered his true nature by watching from out of sight. That's one thing that my mother told me to watch out for—she said that if a man behaves one way when he is standing in front of me and then in another way when he doesn't know I'm watching, then he's not at all the type of man that I should want helping me to guide Narnia forward. I'm so glad that my parents taught me to be alert and observant when it comes to choosing the man I will marry, although, I do wonder if it could be possible for Arda to change his ways someday.

Susan closed the diary; she felt a bit more sober after reading it, and her practical brain told her that she needed to sleep; after all, she wanted to be at her most capable when the games began in the morning. So despite her still dancing heart, she tucked herself under her covers and soon found herself asleep.

It was mid-morning, the next day, and Susan found herself waiting to take her turn practicing for the archery competition. The Cair's wide lawn was positively packed with people, their horses, armor and weapons, and tents of seemingly every color. And, of course, and there were more than a few Talking Beast roaming about. Onca himself sat beside her, keeping a sharp eye on the crowds that moved to and fro.

The clang of swords drew Susan's attention to where her two brothers, King Lune, and Lord Dar were getting in a bit of practice before their competition. It seemed to her that they were ribbing each other more than practicing, although, when they did spar, their swords seemed to twinkle in the sunlight. The sight of King Lune made her quickly turned back to where the Narnians had set up their tents and she watched Lucy cuddling a sleepy-looking one year old Corin, just inside the tent flaps, and out of the sun. Lucy's lips were moving and Susan suspected that she was singing a lullaby to the young one in her arms. For his part, and despite of how sleepy he looked, Corin still wanted to play with the end of her long golden braid. Lucy continually, pressed his hands away, but Susan could tell that she was struggling not to laugh.

Susan turned back to see how many more people and Beasts were waiting ahead of her—Lucy would probably like to get in a few practice throws before the dagger-throwing competition, she thought, as she looked forward to holding little Corin.

"Good morning, O Queen of most exquisite beauty," the voice behind came from a Calormene, and she groaned inwardly. But when she whirled to face the speaker, she found herself standing before a man who actually looked very dashing—dressed in clothes that were of finer quality than other Tarkaans she'd seen, he seemed to exude confidence and Susan couldn't help but be drawn to that.

He took the hand she offered and kissed it with somewhat of a flourish, which made Susan blush, but she did just manage to suppress the giggle rising in her throat. He smiled as if he knew that she was struggling not to laugh. He held her hand a bit longer than was necessary and Onca, with his cold Cat eyes, finally stood up. The man gave the Jaguar a confident smile, but released the Queen's hand.

He continued speaking, "You must forgive our tardiness to your celebrations, O most beautiful of all queens. It is quite worthy to mark such an occasion as grandly as you have, but unfortunately, my father was forced to detain us to put a stop to some marauding in the streets of Tashbaan. Of course, I'm sure that if he had been properly informed of your great beauty, he would have not delayed us for so long—do you know what the poets say about this matter, O gracious and wise, Queen?"

Susan was very flattered by his manners and speech. Everyone always treated her very respectfully—she was a Queen, of course—but no one ever stared at her as if she was their whole world, as this man did now.

"No, I'm afraid I don't run into Calormen poetry very much," Susan said, a little shyly, while not completely forgetting that she didn't even like Calormen poetry, "But, I have my own question for you?"

"Yes, my gorgeous Queen?"

Onca's soft snarl came immediately to Susan's ears, but the man before her didn't seem to notice it.

"You said your father needed you and the other Tarkaans to put down marauding in Tashbaan, but the Tisroc himself handles matters in that city—who are you?"

The man smiled, his teeth flashing brilliantly in the sun, "I am, O queen, whose beauty even now surpasses that of all others, Prince Rabadash. I am the eldest son and heir of the great, wise, noble, benevolent Tisroc—may he live forever—"

Oh! The Tiscroc's eldest son and heir! Susan heart fluttered just a bit. Was it possible that this man, who undoubtedly held more sway than the ordinary Tarkaans, would be more reasonable than those arrogant men they'd dealt with over the past year? Surely a man who was this polite and this dashing would be more receptive to the tetrarch's point of view.

Lord Darrin voice spoke from behind her, "Your majesty—it's your turn."

Susan, so distracted by Rabadash, jumped at Darrin's voice, "Oh, oh—thank-you, Lord Darrin."

"No trouble, at all, your majesty—I'm sorry that I startled you!" Then he gave Rabadash a hard look before telling Susan, "I know how much you'd like to get back to our Prince."

Rabadash only cocked his brow as Susan took aim and let fly with her first shot. A perfect bulls-eye.

A little while later, Susan arrived back at where the Narnian tents were set up. Corin was asleep in Lucy's arms while the younger queen looked around, with keen interest, at all the goings-on.

"Did you know that the Tisroc sent his eldest son to lead the Calormen delegation?" Susan asked.

Lucy gave her sister a skeptically surprised look, "Oh? Did you meet him? What do you make of him? What's his name?" She dropped her voice to a whisper, "Is he any better than the Tarkaans we've met?"

"Prince Rabadash. He's very handsome—and very sure of himself." Susan said, but blushed as she spoke.

Lucy clamped a hand over her mouth to avoid waking Corin when she burst out laughing, but holding her mirth in only made her body shake with glee, and he woke up crying anyway.

"Now look what you made me do!" she said through her giggles.

"I didn't make you do anything," Susan retorted, but held out her hands with a smirk, "and if you're only going to wake the poor lad from his nap, than you'd better hand him over."

Lucy's eyes got bigger and she snuggled Corin closer to her, "Not this one—surely you mean another." She looked around as if searching for someone else.

Susan giggled. "Hand him over, Lu," she ordered with mock sternness, "Besides, you'll probably want to get a few throws in before your competition."

"Oh, phoo." Lucy scowled, still hugging the wide awake Corin to her.

"Come on, hand him over."

Lucy reluctantly complied, and then began looping her belt, holding her dagger and cordial, around her slim waist.

"So what did this Prince Rabadash and you talk about?" she asked.

"Oh, not much of anything—it was my turn to shoot before we really got to talking. I think he was about to recite some poetry when I got called away though."

That set off another round of giggles. "Susan, you don't even like Calormen poetry!" Lucy managed to say, as she laughed.

Susan herself chuckled at that. "You're right, of course—I don't know, Prince Rabadash just seemed very charming, that's all."

Lucy made a face as she headed out of the tent, "Ugh, that's probably because you haven't turned your back on him yet."

Then she paused and, dagger in hand, struck a pose, "You know, I kind of think that I'm going to win today, so why shouldn't they just give me the prize?"

"Oh, now, who's talking like a Tarkaan?" Susan teased, "Come on, Lu, you wouldn't have nearly as much fun if they just handed you the prize. You've got to beat the best in order to be the best."

Lucy sigh, "Oh well, I suppose you're right—come on, Concolor." She said to an enormous Cougar, her personal guard, who was waiting beside her and together they headed out. Susan settled onto a blanket with Corin.

A little while later, Susan was startled out of her doze by some barrels that fell near where the Terebinthian delegation's tents were set up. She moved outside to watch, with a sparkle in her eyes, as several Lords scrambled around to clean things up and another scrambled to catch up to a wayward horse. After the excitement died down, she sighed and looked down at Corin, who had a fist full of her raven hair clutched in his hand. She moved back into the tent and resettled on the blankets, hoping that he'd fall asleep again. But, when a bit of breeze caught the tent flap, she thought she spied Prince Rabadash, and curious, she scooted, as quietly as possible with a young one in her arms, to the entrance to watch him.

"What do you make of the competition for the dagger throw?" he asked one of the Tarkaans.

"Negligible—as usual," The Tarkaan scoffed. Then he shifted uneasily, "The little Narnian Queen—she's a mere child, but she has skills that surpass most any other adult I've ever seen. I would consider her to be my most dangerous threat—child though she is."

Susan felt a smug since of satisfaction that a Tarkaan would actually praise her sister's skill, but then she felt a twinge on indignation mixed with pride at Rabadash's next words.

"Yes, the older girl, beautiful though she might be, is no slouch with the bow. It will be necessary to watch out for her as well. I don't want to be shamed by mere children at these games. It is such a shame that these northern lands do not teach their women to do as our beautiful Tarkheenas do. But, tell me, where are the others—we must find out how much skill the Narnian kings have with their swords."

"Yes, if they're as good as their sisters," the Tarkaan grumbled, but stopped when he saw the look in Rabadash's eyes.

"We will win today," the Prince snarled, "No northern children will bring shame on me!" Rabadash turned and stormed away, but screamed over his shoulder, "Find the others! Find them! After I get finished with—"

Hearing Rabadash's screams, Prince Corin woke up crying, and Susan quickly withdrew into the tent. She missed the rest of what he said, but she didn't really mind. Suddenly Rabadash didn't seem all that charming.

"Why the long face, Su?" Edmund questioned, as he had just entered from the backside of the tent, "You look like you lost something, but I see Corin, so that can't be it."

Susan jumped at the sound of his voice, but quickly recovered.

"Oh, it's nothing—just something silly," she shook her head, embarrassed that she'd gotten caught up in a silly crush on a man she'd only briefly met.

"Oh, yes, that makes sense—oh, come on! Tell me—I need a good laugh over something silly—the competition is tough!"

"It should be—that's what we expected." Susan countered, while ignoring his request for information.

Edmund gave her a knowing smile, "I saw Lucy throwing—she was spectacular, of course—and she told me that you'd talked to some Calormene prince—Rab-uh-Rab…"

"Rabadash," Susan volunteered, while turning a little pink that Edmund would know.

Edmund smiled—he was getting pretty good at pushing the right buttons, and said,"Yes, well, she didn't have time to tell me much about the conversation…"

Susan's face turned pink again, "Edmund!"

"Yes?" he countered innocently.

Suddenly, Peter dashed into the tent, "Come on, you two—Lucy's waiting for us over by the jousting lists—King Lune against a Calormene Prince—can't remember his name—Rab-something. They're just getting ready now."

"Rab-uh—"Edmund tried to volunteer, "Susan knows it."

"It's Prince Rabadash—you guys go ahead, it's too hot out for Corin."

"No—we all have to go," Peter said as he took hold of her elbow, and pushed her outside, "Come on, we'll have to hurry! Corin will want to watch his father beat up on Raba—something."

"It's Prince Rabadash, Peter, and Corin won't remember a thing about this tournament tomorrow—he's barely a year old."

"You know, Lucy told me Susan got to chat with Prince Radishbad while she was waiting to shoot some practice shots."

"It's Prince Rabadash, Ed," Susan growled, while trying not to roll her eyes. Honestly, she was beginning to suspect that he was doing that to tease her—in which case, Lucy probably told him more than he was letting on.

Of course, she hadn't told any of them about what she'd seem just before the boys arrived.

"So…?" Peter said as he looked at one and then the other with a rather amused look on his face, "What's this fellow like anyway?"

"I'll tell you more once Lu is with us," Susan said to put them off, "I had another encounter with him after Lucy left to practice, and well, I want her to hear about that too."

"Well, I hope it doesn't take too long—Prince Rabaradish—or whatever—and I are dueling in the finals after Lune gets done with him."

"It's Rabadash! Honestly, you two boys are—"

"Well, there you guys are," Lucy squealed with delight, as she came running up, "and, oh good, you brought Corin!" Then pulling the boys forward, she added, "Come on, we'll be late and miss it if we don't hurry!"

"Wait a minute, Lu," Peter pulled back, "Su wants to tell us something about Raba-Raba-uh—let's go watch from the shade of that oak tree. It'll take them a minute or two to start anyway."

"Oh, I know all about him." Lucy smirked.

"No, you don't—I have something new to say, and besides, the shade will be better for Corin. And it's Rabadash, for the millionth time, Peter!"

The four of them quickly scurried to the shade provided by the oak's big leafy branches. Lucy and Edmund had sappy smirks plastered to their faces and Peter kept weaving between amused looks at his two youngest siblings and expectant curiosity toward Susan.

"I feel so out of the loop," he muttered.

"Well, see," Susan began with some mild embarrassment, but she figured that it was better to be embarrassed now, and avoid any trouble with Rabadash later, so she continued, "Well, a little while after Lu left, I saw Prince Rabadash talking with one of his Tarkaans—he wasn't at all charming like he was when he was talking to me—"

Edmund and Lucy nearly had to sit down, due to the giggles that they managed to muffle with their hands over their mouths. Peter looked a little astounded and didn't speak for a full minute. When he did, his voice gave away his bemusement. "Wait a minute, you thought Prince Raba uh—Rab—whatever was charming?"

Susan turned red as a beet and hissed, "Yes, I did, Peter, but for goodness sake, don't advertize it to the whole company—I've changed my mind, and I'd like to tell you all why."

She continued, "You might say that he showed his true colors when he was talking with his Tarkaan. They talked about, well, they talked like any of the other pompous Tarkaans we've met so far—I'm, well, I guess I'm disappointed—he was so—and now he's… And I thought maybe…and now… Well, he was so polite and charming when he talked with me face to face and I thought that perhaps we'd found a Calormene who would be reasonable and understanding and when he was talking to his Tarkaan, he was only interested in winning the tournament and bringing honor and glory to himself—he was so selfish—like the other Tarkaans, and well, I'm a little embarrassed that I let him charm me into not seeing him for who he really is."

Edmund and Lucy finally sobered up when they understood that Susan's pride had been hurt.

"Well," Peter finally spoke after a minute, but he weighed his words carefully, "At least you saw his true nature before something happened—but I'm curious—what exactly did he and his Tarkaan talk about?"

"Oh," Susan started giggling hysterically, "They were talking about us, of all things! The Tarkaan was really impressed with your throwing skill, Lucy."

Lucy beamed.

"And Prince Rabadash," Susan continued, "thought I had great skill with my bow. They considered the four of us to be their greatest threat to winning honor and glory, even though, in their words, we are mere children, but they didn't know about you boys yet—apparently, they hadn't talked to the Tarkaans who were scouting you boys out—they wanted to know if you were any good."

"Oh great," Peter muttered, "now if I lose, he'll probably rub my nose in it for all time, and our foreign policy will be run aground and all sorts of horrible things will happen—"

"Oh, put a sock in it, Pete!" Edmund laughed.

At that point, a trumpet signaled that the jousting final was about to begin. Lune and Rabadash mounted their horses and entered the lists from opposite sides, and the Pevensies turned to watch. But as she watched, the tall arrogant Prince on his fine stallion, Susan remembered the last line of Swanwhite's diary entry and wondered if it was really possible for Rabadash to change his tune.

A/N This chapter comes to you courtesy of Prov.7:6. I think the association is a bit odd, and if you want to know why I think that, you can PM me. Of course, I thought it worked well enough to use it. You really should read all of Prov. 7 for proper context.

A/N I'm awfully sorry about the delay in getting this chapter up. This was not one of those breaks that I mentioned in the summery (that are to be used when I fancy to start another story every now and again), but this was simply real life pulling me away. Expect that to continue though. I'm afraid updates will continue to be slow and I'm sorry about that. I hope it doesn't put you fine reader/reviewers off!