Lucy stirred herself. She hadn't managed to sleep all night, although she had tried to. It was just as well though, she thought. As queen she had grown used to sleeping in until the sun was well above the horizon. If she had slept fitfully, she might not have been able to rouse herself early enough for what she had planned. The sun had not even risen yet. She glanced over at her packed bag in the corner, loaded with all the clothes and other essentials she would have access to until the war was over, or at least as long as she could keep up her act. She had taken the boy's clothes from various baskets in the laundry, never too much from one place, never enough to be wondered at. She had a sword, a small dagger, and a bow and arrows in way of weapons. It almost made her guilty how easy it was to take them. As queen, she was under virtually no suspicion and nearly no door was closed to her.

She crossed to her vanity, scrutinizing her appearance with a close eye. She had decided she just couldn't bring herself to cut off her hair. In her otherwise plain appearance, her rich, almost auburn brown hair was the one thing about her appearance she took any pride in. She knew it was vain, but tightly braided hair tucked up under a cap would accomplish the same thing, right?

She'd braided her hair in a crown close to her head, so tight it was giving her a slight headache. With what she had of a figure hidden under baggy clothes, she made a pretty good boy. She'd just have to be careful to avoid her brothers or anybody else who would recognize her, but that shouldn't be too hard. The high ranking officers who'd traveled in Lucy's circles wouldn't likely have much interaction with a young new recruit.

Her head jerked up and the sound of drums booming though the courtyard, lit by the first rays of the sun.
Rum tum tum Rum tum tum. It was the call to battle. She felt the beating of the drums in her soul, her heart matching it. She grabbed her bag and spun it on her shoulders as she reached for the door. She flung it open to see a servant staring at her. Oops! She thought, blushing. There's another thing Susan's going to have to explain- an unknown boy emerging from the queen's room early in the morning. She nodded dignifiedly at the servant as though nothing at all was unusual about their meeting, before flying off down the corridor.

She reached the enlistment table in record time, having fled the royal wing before anyone could question her. She was the 3rd in line there and only had to wait a minute before reaching the table.

"Name and age?" questioned the centaur posted there.

"Llll-iam Guthrey " she said, catching herself before she could blurt out her name. "age 16."

"16? Are you sure, Lad?" he asked suspiciously, looking her small, slight frame up and down.

"Yes."

He shrugged. "Alright then. You're assigned to squadron seven, report there immediately."

She smiled, adjusted her bag, and walked over to the banner with a 7 on it. Nothing appeared to happening yet, so she stood there, watching the proceedings. The enlistment line kept growing, and it warmed her heart to see so many people willing to lay down their lives for Narnia. Soon enough another boy walked over and joined her at the banner. He was nearly twice as tall as her, solidly built with dark brown hair and a smatter of freckles across his nose. He looked down at her.

"Hello," He said with a gaping yawn.

"Hello," She replied brightly.

"What's your name, then?"

"Liam, what about you?"

"Alex," He said groggily. "I wonder what our captain's going to be like. I've heard some of them are horrible."

Lucy hadn't even considered this.

Alex continued, not waiting for a reply. "I was hoping to be assigned to squadron one. The kings themselves lead it. I suppose not many new recruits are assigned there, though."

"No, I don't think any are." agreed Lucy, secretly glad for that fact.

They both let the conversation trickle off. More people slowly began to join their group, until it had grown to be about twenty. When it seemed like no more new recruits were coming, a man walked up, shoulders firmly pushed back, and such a proud look on his face you'd think Aslan himself had made him breakfast that morning.

"Men! For the duration of your service, I will be your captain! My name is Joshua Negree, but you may refer to me only as Sir!"

He paused in his speech apparently waiting for something, and quite apparently annoyed when all he got was blank looks and silence.

"When I finish speaking, you will reply with 'yes sir!'" He shouted.

Lucy thought this was a bit much, even for a captain and wondered how Peter could have promoted him to a captain. "I'll have to speak with him about his choice in officers when this is all over." she mused.

"Soldier!" snapped the captain. Lucy's head whipped up to find him glaring at her. "You appear to have something more interesting to think about than listening to me speak. Would you care to share this with the rest of us?"

Lucy shook her head, finding her words lost.

He smirked and spun his attention off of her. "Good news, soldiers. This young man has just agreed to do all the cooking for the next three weeks." Some of her fellow soldiers looked at her laughingly, but most looked sympathetic. Personally she felt the worst for all of them. She couldn't cook at all. This was going to be harder than she thought.

Here's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it and I apologize for any errors. At this point I'm surprised I can keep my eyes open, so even typing is an accomplishment. Please keep reading and reviews are much appreciated. Thanks to those of you have have followed this story!