Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or its rulers.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: Lady Ariella Thalia Raven's reaction!

Ariella stared. "What?"

"Would you like to read the decree, lady?" The centaur bowed low and offered the scroll to Lady Ariella. She took it hastily, ignoring the fact that her actions were less than graceful, and read hastily through it.

"This is impossible!" she spluttered. "Utterly and ridiculously impossible! Do you seek to mock me, Centaur?"

"I most assuredly do not, lady. This decree was written and signed into law nearly seven years ago. It is delivered to all who come seeking the hands of any of Narnia's sovereigns that they may know what to expect if they are successful in their suit."

"But it is impossible! The High King is in love with me! He WANTS to make me his QUEEN!" Lady Ariella's voice climbed dangerously high and she almost screamed her last words. She was standing now, crying her defiance up at the massive messenger. "Do you not understand, centaur, that I have traveled here for no other purpose than to become your QUEEN!"

The centaur remained unmoved. "You will notice, madam, that this law cannot be changed save by the express command of Aslan himself. You are free to wait here until Aslan returns, but there is no one living now who knows when that may be. He is not a tame lion. For now, I will leave you with this and bid you farewell. If you still desire to marry our High King, you are welcome to stay. If not, we will provide you with everything you may need for your return journey."

The door shut behind the centaur and Lady Ariella dissolved into a helpless heap of satin, lace and tears. Her maids gathered around her trying to comfort her but to no avail. Then, just as suddenly as she had begun, Lady Ariella stopped wailing and sobbing. She rose from the wreck of her dress like a vengeful goddess and strode over to the nearest desk.

"Hand me the proclamation," she said with imperious grace holding out her hand.

One of the maids hastily handed the scroll to her mistress and Lady Ariella read it again, slower this time, checking every word and phrase. Was she not learned in all the proper forms of laws? If there was an error to be found, she would find it. Her gaze lingered on the last sentence "…King Edmund the Just in the year 1001…." The centaur had said something about seven years ago; this must be the year 1008 in Narnian time. Lady Ariella froze. This proclamation was written when the younger king was only eleven years old! Impossible! How could one so young dare to write such a law that would bind him and his siblings for all their lives? There was her loophole. Surely there must be a way to prove that a law of such magnitude could not be written by a mere child. Doubtless it was a ploy by the queens to drive her from the castle. A slow smile spread across Lady Ariella's face. She would not be dismayed so easily. She would proceed with her wedding plans and persuade the High King to annul the law and make her his queen. The smile was still on her face when she went to bed that night.

In the morning, Lady Ariella thought to sleep in to the fashionably late hour of two hours past dawn. However, she reckoned without the bright Narnian sun pouring through her windows, bursting through the curtains, and tearing her from sleep and the dreadful hour of dawn. No matter how hard her maids tried, they could not shut the sun from her room. Lady Ariella was not happy when she finally got out of bed and allowed her maids to dress her. (Today, she wore a long dress of spring green with fitted sleeves and ivory lace edging the throat, wrists, and skirt. An ivory belt looped over itself and hanging down in front and a gold necklace set with peridots completed the outfit.) Dawn was neither perfect nor fashionable and it was that squirrel's fault that she was not able to sleep! He knew this would happen when he gave her this room.

Lady Ariella surveyed herself in the mirror. Carefully, she wiped all frustration from her face and replaced it with a charming smile. No matter. She would prove today that she could, and would, be queen despite these silly laws. The High King would see to that. A small sigh escaped her lips as she thought of him. He was so tall and handsome. A worthy mate for one such as herself.

A knock sounded at the door. One of the maids opened it to reveal a bright eyed deer standing in the hall. Behind it were several other Animals, a badger, squirrel, and—of all things to have in a castle!—a giraffe.

"Ah, the lady is awake," said the deer. "Since you are, perhaps you would like some breakfast? We have brought you some."

Lady Ariella smiled her most charming smile, one that made all her suitors melt at her feet. "That is very kind of you. Please, bring it in."

The deer, badger, and squirrel all came in and swiftly set a table with a linen cloth, porcelain plate, and silver utensils. The badger trotted back out and returned with a tray laden with food. As soon as the table was prepared, the Animals all left.

"If you have need of anything, Lady, just call and someone will come help you. If you are still here at noon, the royal family would like for you to dine with them in the Banqueting Hall; there are several other guests of note that you might like to meet."

The breakfast provided was considerably larger than that to which Lady Ariella was accustomed. Still it was excellent and as she finished, she began preparing her plans.

"The High King is surely awed by my beauty; I must win him by my wit. Once he is mine completely, I will persuade him to do away with this dreadful law that would keep me from queenship. I suppose he could actually marry off one or more of his sisters and then I could take their place; there would still be two kings and two queens. I must be careful though. If either one hears of my plans, they will be sure to try to stop me.

All morning, Lady Ariella stayed in her room. She had her maids unpack all her clothes and hang them in the wardrobes. One of them, she set to drawing out possible wedding dresses. Most of these plans were carelessly discarded until in frustration, Lady Ariella took up the pen herself. Her drawings, she thought, were far superior to any her maids cold make anyway. Twenty minutes before noon, Lady Ariella bid her ladies make her ready for lunch and at five minutes before noon, she swept from her room, ready to make herself queen.

At the end of the hall, a dryad met Lady Ariella and escorted her to the Banqueting Hall. The lady entered and dropped a grand curtsey to the Narnian rulers, looking almost exclusively at High King Peter though King Edmund did get a brief glance. Only once seated (across from the High King, she noticed with inward glee) did she allow herself to look around at the others gathered at the table. What she saw almost made her gasp in surprise.

Not one, nor two or even three, but four ladies whose beauty nearly (but not quite) equaled her own were seated nearby. Of them all, Queen Susan was the most striking with her black hair, blue eyes and flawless porcelain skin, but the others were not far behind. To Queen Susan's right sat a golden-haired maid about her own age, the Queen Lucy. Further down the table was another woman with black hair and blue eyes though her skin was slightly darker than the queen's; next to her was one who could have been Lady Ariella's twin but for her tanned skin. Ariella scarcely knew what to think and so turned her attention to the High King.

"You have a most pleasant castle here, High King," she said.

"We are glad that it pleases you," High King Peter replied. "We trust that your sleep was restful?"

"It was indeed, High King." Lady Ariella let her voice linger on the title. It did sound so wonderful.

"It is good. It has come to our ears that you are an archer, Lady. Perhaps you would like to join our sisters at their practice this afternoon?"

"Yes, please do," Queen Susan now spoke to Lady Ariella. "It is so rare that we are able to find other ladies to practice with. It would be a great pleasure if you joined us."

Lady Ariella considered this for a moment. She could outshoot any of these ladies here most likely. In all likelihood, they barely knew what they were doing compared to her. It would be an excellent time to show this queen that she, Lady Ariella Thalia Raven was in every way her superior as queen.

"I would be glad to join you."

A/N—There y'all are. I did get it done before this weekend after all! Aren't you happy? I don't as much as past chapters but oh well, it'll have to do. Now we are in the humiliation stage of our story. The other two beautiful ladies are characters from my own non-fan fiction story who decided to visit; we shall see more of them later. Oh, and a peridot is a pale green semi-precious stone that is August's birthstone.

Next chapter: In the Practice Courtyard