Thank you to the people who have reviewed already :) I hope I continue to do a good job :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Narnia or any of it's amazing characters... I did however catch a frog today... It was pretty gross.. but kinda cool I guess..

Enjoy :)

4

Tempest was woken up by a firm shake of her shoulder.

"What? What do you want?" she asked in a groggy voice as she turned over on her back and tried to see through the darkness that still was present.

"It's time to train, get up," Venice's voice said softly, but still commanding. I let out a soft groan.

"The sun isn't even up!" she muttered angrily, but grudgingly got out of bed. As Venice walked over to the entrance of the tent she pulled on a new pair of leggings, a loose cotton shirt, and her well worn leather boots. She followed Venice's foot prints and walked out of the tent and into what was still, the moonlight. Venice was standing just a few steps away and Tempest yawned and rubbed her eyes as she approached him.

"What is the meaning of this? Couldn't this wait until morning?" she asked in a snippy voice. Venice's face remained calm. That was one of the most interesting things about him. No matter what, Venice Colton never seemed to lose his temper.

"It is morning," he said and Tempest shot him a glare.

"Fine then, why couldn't this have waited until the sun was up?" she refined her question with a roll of her eyes.

"All of the other Lords and Ladies did not get back to their tents until just an hour ago. They won't be up until the afternoon," he said and gave her a look.

"Oh, head start. I understand now… So what are we doing? Considering we'll have to be quiet. Not sure how many other like me as it is, so I don't want to get any more marks on my record," Tempest stated slowly. It was true that she didn't want them to dislike her. She knew that what she did wasn't exactly normal, but it wasn't to be frowned upon.

"We're stamina and strength training, and then we will take out Squall and work on aim and balance," Venice stated matter-of-factly.

"Wow… Did you stay up all night planning this?" Tempest asked him with a sarcastic flare.

"It's eight miles to the Rush River. Go," Venice said to her without answering her rhetorical question, and without putting up anymore fuss, Tempest began to run.


By the time Tempest made it to the rushing river, her lungs were burning and her legs were trembling.

"That was AWFUL. I hate running. What's the point? There are no marathons in this tournament!" Tempest growled angrily at her trainer who had an equal amount of sweat on his brow and his large chest heaved just as much.

"It's not a matter of out running them, but when you are fighting against them, you will need to have security that you will have a chance of outlasting them. They are large brutes, and moving fast is hard for them. If you can outlast them, then you can beat them," Venice said to her with a wise look in his eyes. Tempest just stared at him for a moment and then shook her head. She dropped to her knees and drank in a handful of water before she was yanked up by Venice's hand on her arm.

"Ouch! I'm thirsty! I'm practicing how to out drink them," she scoffed at him and he looked at her evenly.

"You'll get a cramp. And I will accept any complaining. If you want to have a chance at doing this, then you will continue to do it my way. Let's go," he said to her in a level voice and she groaned again.

"Fine, then! Let's just kill Tempest before the tournament has even begun! What a bloody brilliant idea!" she shouted at him again, but once again she started running.

The sun had risen above the horizon by the time Venice and Tempest had reached the beach below Cair Paravel once more. They were both drenched in sweat and Tempest's body was aching and begging for relief at that point, however she had been motivated by Venice's words to persist. He had a way of doing that too her.

When they finally came to a stop outside of their tent, Venice nodded to her.

"Good, you can go cool off if you'd like," he said as he waved a hand towards the now sparkling water of the ocean.

"Oh thank you!" Tempest muttered under her breath in excitement as she shed her boots and began walking towards the water. The sky was a bright orange color that eventually blended into a softer pink, and then a blue. The sun cast its light on the water making it almost too much too look at, however Tempest continued until the water was up to her thighs.

She dipped her hands into the refreshingly cool water and then pulled them up and splashed her face. Her hair was down still and she pulled her wet fingers through it in an attempt to make it seem cleaner than it actually was. When she was done and her breathing had been regulated once more, she walked back up to the shore and to the tent where Venice was now standing next to a very sleepy looking Jamal who had her bow and arrows in his arms.

"How nice to see your eager and smiling face, finally!" Tempest snickered at the small boy who only looked at her with tired eyes.

"Thought we could use someone to retrieve your missed shots," Venice said calmly and Tempest shot him a frown.

"Thank you for having so much faith in me," she replied sarcastically.

Venice shrugged, "You know you need to work on your shots as well as I do."

"Yeah, but you don't have to be so blatant about it," she muttered under her breath as she took the quiver of arrows from Jamal and slung it over her back, "Shall we?"

Venice nodded and they all started walking back through the tents towards the grassy green hills that Tempest had walked up the night before.

They walked directly into the large stone stables that were connected to large stone wall surrounding Cair Paravel. The door had been unlocked and inside there were fauns and other creatures tending to all of the horses brought from other countries. Tempest nodded at a few of them and she was pleasantly surprised that none of them gave her a curious or disdainful look. So far she liked the Narnians best.

They walked down the length of the barn until they got to the last stall on the right which had a tag on the stall door that read: Redhaven, Lord Hector. Tempest undid the bolt and slid the door to the side revealing a well built gray horse with a black mane. The horse whinnied, startled by the sudden intrusion, however when Tempest whispered a few words to him, he calmed down slightly. She put the bridle on and led him out of the stall and tied him up in the hall then tacked him up quickly.

"Ready?" Venice asked as Tempest untied Squall and nodded. When she was outside of the stable she pulled herself up into the saddle and the group started walking towards the practice range.


"Again, do it again!" Venice said with a commanding voice and Tempest sighed angrily as she turned Squall around and walked him back to the starting line. She had missed all five of the targets. She had not hit one of them, and she was starting to get very angry about it.

"Take a deep breath, loosen your shoulders, tighten your abdomen, and aim. Do not think about anything else, alight? Try it again!" Venice called to her from his spot on the side of the range underneath a tall oak tree.

"That's what I have been doing, and in case you didn't notice, it's not working!" Tempest muttered angrily under her breath, and then she squeezed her legs a bit and Squall began to trot, she squeezed a little tighter and he began to run. As he ran, she knocked an arrow and took aim with her bow at the target. As soon as she let go, she knew it was a miss.

Her teeth ground together as she neared the next target and she knocked another arrow and took a deep breath, relaxed her shoulders, took aim and…. Missed… Again.

"God damn!" she whispered in exasperation and she slowed down Squall to a walk. She was done. As she turned around she saw Venice talking to Jamal under the tree and she walked the horse over to them.

"Take a small break, I'll go and get something for you to eat," Venice said calmly as he turned to walk towards the camp again. Tempest nodded as she swung her legs over Squall and landed on the ground. She rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck as she took the quiver of arrows off of her back and tossed them to the ground in a pile with her bow. She tied up Squall to a low branch on another tree and then walked over to Jamal and unceremoniously dropped to the ground.

"It was awful… I know it was," Tempest sighed as she flung her arm over her eyes to block out the light and the lying face of the thirteen year old.

"Well…." He began to start, but then he hesitated. Tempest groaned, having her thoughts confirmed. She stood no chance against the other knights who had actually done this all of their life. On horseback, it wasn't a matter of outlasting the competitor… It was a matter of actually having talent.

It was quiet between the two of them and finally Jamal broke through the awkward silence.

"So how was the feast last night?" he asked quietly and Tempest sighed.

"The usual looks… Hector got drunk… Oh and I met… Queen Lucy…. Dammit!" Tempest let out a sudden yell as she sat upright and looked hard at the now blue and clear sky.

"What? What?" Jamal tensed as he searched the skies as well.

"What time is it, you think?" she asked as she stared at Jamal.

"Uhhh… Probably around nine in the morning?" he asked, unsure of himself.

"Do you think that the royals are up?" Tempest continued.

"I don't see how it matters to-"

"DO YOU?" Tempest cut off Jamal with a yell and he shrugged.

"I don't know! Why does it matter?" he asked in complete confusion. Tempest let out a sigh as she ran her hand through her hair.

"Queen Lucy invited me to tea today… I said I'd reply in the morning…" Tempest said slowly and it was quiet for another beat. Then suddenly, Jamal erupted into laughter. Tempest's eyebrows came together as she glared at the boy.

"What, exactly, do you find so funny about this?" Tempest asked him with a growing irritation.

"You… Going to tea? That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of! I don't think you've ever even had tea!" Jamal kept laughing while Tempest continued glaring. Suddenly a deeper voice interrupted them.

"What happened?" Venice asked slowly and Tempest whipped around to see him.

"Oh, good! You're here! Alright, so I just remembered that I sort of told Queen Lucy the Valiant that I might have tea with her today…." She said to her trainer with a slightly sheepish smile on her face. Venice seemed to mull over what she had just said to him, and then he nodded to her.

"Tell her that you can go…" he said and Tempest's mouth dropped open.

"Excuse me? You aren't going to say something along the lines of, 'we have more practice to do today'?" she asked in disbelief.

"No… I think it will be a good opportunity…" he said slowly and both Jamal and Tempest exchanged looks.

"Opportunity for what?" Jamal asked.

"To learn some manners," Venice said and once more Jamal began to laugh while Tempest stared at him with an open mouth.

"You can't be serious! I have plenty of manners! You should've seen me last night at the dinner!" she countered quickly and Venice nodded.

"Oh yes, I heard all about that…" he said, and she looked down at the ground, unsure of what she had done wrong, "Just trust me, Tempest… I haven't steered you wrong yet, right?"

Tempest sighed, "I suppose."

"Good. Then you, boy, go to Cair Paravel and tell the Queen that her invitation has been accepted and that Miss Tempest will be there at noon," Venice said directly too Jamal who was now nodding vigorously as he got up to his feet and started towards the shining castle. Tempest and Venice watched as he walked at a leisurely pace and Venice sighed.

"I suggest you run," he called out loudly too the young boy who quickly picked up his pace and started running on his gangly legs. Tempest watched him run for a few moments and then looked back at Venice.

"This can't just be about me learning manners. I'm pretty sure that I won't need to know which spoon I need to use to eat my soup with when I'm about to fight someone…" she trailed off slowly and Venice eyed here carefully.

"You're right, but it might do you some good to get to know Queen Lucy… Perhaps get some sympathy on your side from an influential figure," he replied.

"Yeah, considering that the other women attending this tournament think I'm an improper, un-ladylike, disappointment of a Lady…" she sighed, expecting Venice to comfort her. He did no such thing and she sighed as she lay back, closing her eyes. It was quiet between the pair of them, and only when Squall whinnied loudly a long while later did Tempest open her eyes and sit up.

Jamal came to a jerking stop near them, his chest heaving with his labored breathing and he bent over with his hands on his knees to try and regulate his breath.

"Well then, what did she say?" Tempest asked him impatiently.

"Can't you let me relax for a moment?" he asked her with a gasp of air.

"No. Never, now tell me what she said," she replied quickly.

"Alright… her ladies maid said that you were too meet Her Majesty in the Eastern courtyard for some tea… And to wear something presentable," he said slowly and then collapsed to the ground in a heap.

"Well that's not too horrible… Wait! Lord Hector spilled wine on my dress last night! I won't have time to wash it… Now what am I going to do?" Tempest asked with a look towards Venice. He was quiet for a moment while he looked at Jamal who was still crumpled in a ball on the ground then he turned to look back at Tempest.

"I suppose you'll just have to wear some… Nice training clothes?" he asked, and Tempest was taken back for a second. Venice never sounded unsure. And if Venice sounded unsure, then sure as Hell that made Tempest even more nervous.

This was going to be a disaster. She could already tell…

Getting Reviews is better than going for an 8 mile run :)