IT'S MY TENTH CHAPTER! *does happy dance* I'm so happy! :D:D:D

In honor of my tenth chapter, this one is very long. :)

AAAAND, I added another POV! But it's not Edmund, heehee. It's someone just as lovable, don't worry! I don't even know why I'm writing this, no one reads author notes. hahaaha!

So anyway I hope you enjoy!

"Ashlynn! Ashlynn! What are you doing?" Susan yelled.

"Help me! Someone! Please anyone help! I can't swim!" Ashlynn thrashed wildly in the water, close to tears.

"Aee! Hang on! I'm coming!" I yelled, wading into the water with Susan close behind me.

"Leave her! Lucy! Susan! Do not get into that water!" Peter yelled, grabbing us and hauling us back to shore.

Then a voice came out of nowhere, "No! Ashlynn!" Someone dove into the water and through it's murky surface I saw someone who looked suspiciously like my other brother, Edmund. Only, there was no way Peter would have let him go.

"EDMUND GET BACK HERE!" Peter roared.

And so it was Edmund. By then he had caught up with Ashlynn and they should have been coming back to shore but something seemed to be wrong.

"I can't –" Ashlynn was cut off by water flowing into her mouth.

"Peter, she's drowning! Her foot is caught! Help me please!" Edmund called.

"Leave her!"

"No!" The three of us yelled simultaneously.

Then Ashlynn screamed, so, so loud.

"AUGH!" I yelled, sitting straight up, awoken from my nightmare. You'd think it'd be over, but the screaming just now stopped.

"Lucy, shut up," Edmund said.

It was just me I heard. No one else. But just in case...

"Susan. Susan," I whispered, nudging my sister.

"Hmm? Lucy, go back to sleep. It's too early to start," she asked, rolling over.

"Did you hear that?"

"You? Yes. Again, shut up Lucy!"Edmund exclaimed, rubbing his eyes.

"I heard something!" I protested.

Then I realized that everyone was awake when they all said "Shut up Lucy!"

"Alright, alright," I said, laying back down but with no intention of sleeping.

When their breathing was heavy again, I got up and set off.

I know I heard something.

"Ashlynn. Ashlynnnn?" Caspian's voice said, as his face came into focus.

"Ngghhh? What happened?" I asked.

"You took a pretty nasty shock there," He said, lightly slapping my face. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. Slap me one more time and you'll be the one on the ground."

He cringed. "Sorry. My tutor said it was good for those who have just recovered from a faint."

I considered it for a moment.

He really does seem sorry after all. Besides, how many friends can I afford to lost? Especially this one, whom I'd just had success with.

"Alright, just don't do it again," I conceded.

"Okay," he grinned. He had a nice smile, very sweet and slightly mischievous. If Caspian could get some experience he'd definitely turn out to be a ladies' man. "Get up," he said, reaching out a hand to pull me up.

My breath whooshed out while he pulled me up. Boy, was he strong.

"So, where did you think we were, if not for Narnia?" He asked.

Guess I couldn't avoid it forever.

"Caspian, I came in here with four other people. I didn't believe them when they told me Narnia was real," I said, crossing my fingers and hoping he wouldn't press.

"Four other people? Who are they?"

"The Pevensie's. Peter, Lucy, Susan and Edmund."

"Oh. What happened to them?" Caspian looked genuinely curious, not like he was just baiting me, but you can't be too careful.

"Oh, you know, we went our separate ways," I said, nodding wisely and acting like I knew what I was saying.

"Ah," he said, imitating my nod.

"So Caspian, um, how old are you?" I asked, changing the subject.

He stopped, his brow furrowing. "I'm twenty-one. I've just realized it was my birthday yesterday." His head tipped to the side, thinking.

"What does it mean, if you're twenty-one?" I asked him.

"I can take over the throne. I would have, if I hadn't had to run."

"Oh."

He shook his head, looking much like a confused puppy, which made me smile.

"We should not have to dwell on that. How old are you, Ashlynn?"

"Thirteen. I'll be fourteen soon enough." I said, lifting my chin subconsciously.

"How about your friends?"

"Uh, Lucy is twelve, a year younger than I am. Edmund is very nearly fifteen, Susan is eighteen, and Peter is twenty. He had to repeat a year of schooling because all last year he got into fights and was suspended too many times." I answered absently.

"Fights? Fights are silly, especially if they are for no reason. Wars seem to be necessary; otherwise they would be silly as well. Why did he get into fights?" Caspian asked.

Then it was my turn to stop, my brow furrowing. "Because he said he was a king. The king of Narnia," I whispered, the realization hitting me. I closed my eyes and let the memories run over me. The one that played over and over in my head was what Edmund had yelled at me one time, "We are royalty, Smitz! Deal with it!"

"We are royalty Smitz. Deal with it," I repeated, in a daze.

"Smitz? Ashlynn, what are you talking about?" He asked, grabbing me by the shoulders and giving me a little shake.

"Smitz. It's what Edmund used to call me, everyone else called me Aee."

"Do you want me to call you that?"

I snapped back to reality. "NO!"

"Alright, alright!" He exclaimed.

I turned to stare at him. "Caspian. This is important, can you think back to maybe a year ago?"

"Okay."

"Who ruled Narnia?"

"Well, Miraz did, but the throne is rightfully mine."

I exhaled, not realizing I was holding my breath until then. So he was lying about that part at least, since he was telling the truth about Narnia.

Caspian waved his hand in front of my eyes. "Ashlynn? Are you alright? You keep spacing out."

"Yeah, just remembering a lie someone told me about this place."

"What was it?"

"That they were royalty or something," I shook my head.

"You never know, they could have been, a long time ago."

"No, no. Only around a year ago."

"What were their names?"

I looked at him. He certainly seemed like he wanted to help me.

"They were the friends I told you about. Peter, Susan, Lucy and Edmund."

"Peter..." His voice trailed off, his eyes adopting a misty look.

"Look who's spacing out now!" I laughed, nudging him.

"Ashlynn, I'm fairly there were kings and queens named Peter, Susan, Lucy and Edmund. They were the Kings and Queens of Olde. They were Queen Lucy the Valiant, Queen Susan the Gentle, Kind Edmund the Just and High King Peter the Magnificent. The only thing is, they ruled 1300 years ago."

I sniffed. "High King Peter the Magnificent? It definitely wasn't them then. Never mind the time elapsed. I am fully convinced it is not them because nobody would ever call Peter Pevensie magnificent."

"You don't like him very much do you?" Caspian asked me, smirking.

"He's not very nice, so no. I don't like either of the Pevensie boys very much actually," I answered hotly.

"Okay," he said, nodding. "It's not possible that the Kings and Queens of Olde were your friends anyway. They lived a very long time ago. There was something strange about them, I don't remember."

"Yeah," I said, finally convincing myself. "It's dark Caspian. What time is it?"

He squinted at the sky. "Looks to be around two in the morning."

"It is really late – or early – but either way we need to sleep." I decided.

He laughed. "You know Ashlynn, you would make a great Queen one day."

"A Queen, huh? I think I prefer Lady Commodore."

"Why? Queen is as high up as you can get!"

"It's just so...common," I said, grinning at him.

He understood my joke and laughed so hard I thought his head might fall off. "You're really one of a kind Ashlynn."

"Thank you?" I laughed as well.

We had reached my tent by that time. It was a plain tan colour. I was going to demand a bath and night clothes, after all I am a guest here, but something about Caspian stopped me. He seemed far too old to be 21, at least, old on the inside.

"Remind me Caspian, we need to paint my tent if I'm going to sleep in it for more than one night. By we I mean you, or someone you can delegate it to."

"Alright," he chuckled. "We'll have to find you some proper clothes as well. That skirt is far too short."

"What are you? My father? This skirt is perfectly normal!" I protested.

"It's too short," he said firmly. "Goodnight Ashlynn."

I opened my mouth to retort, but decided not to. "Goodnight," I smiled at him.

He started to walk towards his tent (a gorgeous russet colour), but he stopped a few meters short. "I remember what was strange about the Kings and Queens of Olde now, Ashlynn."

"What?" I called back, getting comfortable under the covers, closing my eyes and nearly dropping off to sleep.

"None of them were married. In fact, I'm fairly sure all of them were siblings, but I suppose that was the way it was 1300 years ago."

My eyes shot open and I froze. "Okay Caspian."

It's still impossible.

I closed my eyes, as determined to sleep now as I had been to get away from the Pevensie's.