Hey guys! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and a splendid New Year!

UPDATES: After this chapter, there will only be five more postings (DUN DUN DUNNNNN) with one of those being an epilogue. Then eventually Mistrostrings and I will have an editing party, so watch out for that. Will there be a sequel? Will there not? All will be revealed in good time!

Reviews are always welcome, especially here in the land of Narnia!

~MisticLight

~.~.~.~.

The following day held many chores for Margaret, Annette, Caspian, and the four Pevensies. Besides having to prepare for a parade and a ball, they also had to set up for Caspian's coronation. So, much to the displeasure of Margaret, everyone was up and about rather early in the morning.

The first task of the day was etiquette practice, which was merely for the benefit of Margaret and Annette. While Caspian walked through the procedure of his coronation, the girls were instructed by Susan and Lucy on how to behave during said event. Although most of it was common sense, the girls still paid close attention. Not only was Caspian going to be crowned King, but Margaret and Annette were about to become Ladies of Narnia for their services in the revolution against Miraz. They wanted to be on their best behavior to prove themselves worthy of such a title.

Taking the majority of the girls' day was cleaning, which proceeded after a quick lunch break. Annette complained about this more than Margaret, who was quite content with the thought of adding her touch to Narnia's way of organization. In fact, it wasn't long before Margaret had complete control over the whole process in general; which was to tidy up the dank throne room for the coronation, decorate the courtyard for the ball, and replenish the gardens for those guests wishing to step away from the dance for a short while. On top of all that, for the girls anyway, outfits and hairstyles had to be planned out for each affair.

It's no wonder that after a day of constant labor, the young royals found themselves behind the castle the following afternoon. The coronation, which was an elegant affair with a small audience, had just been released and now all were waiting to be whisked away to the parade. The four girls sat upon the steps of the castle while Caspian and Edmund, having teamed up against Peter, dueled one another. They each wore charming yet simple clothing with natural hair so Narnia could see them for who they truly were.

Lucy sat on the far left, her straight auburn hair resting nicely against the back of her soft pink dress, with a smile planted upon her face. Her cheeks were tainted red from all the laughing she had recently done and it didn't appear it to be settling down anytime soon. "Peter, what's wrong? I thought you were the 'greatest swordsman in all of Narnia.'"

"I still am!" Peter replied a little too confidently as he unrolled the sleeves of his light blue shirt. "The two of them tricked me and you all saw it."

"Well I certainly didn't see anything." Lucy continued to giggle, "What about you, Susan?"

Lucy leaned forward so as to better see her sister sitting on the opposite end of the stairs. Susan grinned back and shook her head, allowing her partially swooped dark hair to spill across her red dress and yellow sleeves. "I don't believe Edmund or Caspian would do such a thing!"

"Very funny." Peter sneered, sitting on the bottom step. "At any rate, I'm glad they got me out. I was planning on going easy on them, which didn't sound the least bit fun in the first place."

"Someone is a bit edgy this afternoon." Susan loudly whispered to Margaret, who was sitting next to her, intending for Annette and Lucy to hear as well.

Margaret's face easily lit up into a smile. She whipped her head back to make sure Annette had heard, almost causing her slightly curly blond locks to slap against the side of her friends face. Her blue eyes shimmered with excitement and laughter stumbled off of her lips once she locked eyes with Annette. Margaret was in such high spirits because of the upcoming events that she chose to ignore the dirt that the stairs may share with her light silver dress. What Margaret admired most about this outfit of hers were the sleeves; they flowed off of a slightly angled neckline and barely covered her shoulders before transforming into a see-through material of the same color that flowed down until her wrists.

"I agree with you on that one!" Edmund said before ducking away from Caspian's swing.

"Edmund, pay more attention to the match." Margaret almost scolded, flapping the end of the light silver ribbon tied around her waist at him. She wanted him to beat Caspian, and the nudge she received from Annette only further provoked her silent competition. "Stop prying into others conversations."

She jokingly glared at Edmund, but this faded into a smile as soon as he met her gaze. He began to laugh, but the sword approaching from the right soon cut him off. Lifting his own sword, Edmund blocked the attack before speaking again, "Interesting how you mentioned that to me yesterday…." He smirked and pushed Caspian's sword away, allowing a giggle to escape from both Margaret and Susan. The two girls looked at each other as the memories from last night came flooding in.

Somehow, all of the chores from the day before were finished by nightfall. So as all the creatures dispersed to do what they will, Susan approached Margaret with suggestions on what she should do with her hair for the ball. It was easy to see the enthusiasm on Margaret's face as they discussed this, and thus curious Edmund, fearing they were speaking about him, decided to investigate. He began to follow them into the gardens, but Margaret learned her lesson from before when she had fallen into the fountain. Almost immediately she called him out and the bashful Edmund had no choice but to step forward. Amongst the glares, he was able to choke out a cordial 'hello' to each of the girls.

Susan scrutinized her brother before inquiring, "Edmund, what exactly are you up to? Why are you following us around?"

A rather uncomfortable laugh toppled out of Edmund "Following? Is that what you think I was doing? No. I was just walking around….taking in our day's work. What are you two doing out this late?"

Susan remained unconvinced and inspected her brother. "We're merely conversing. Girl talk, as you would put it. What's it to you?"

Edmund shrugged, looking from Susan to Margaret. "Genuine curiosity, that's all." He smiled and placed his hands behind his back, not at all noticing the slightly peeved look the girls had on their faces. They were annoyed, yet slightly amused, of the interruption to their conversation. "So what is it, exactly, that you two are talking about then?"

Margaret narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. She straightened herself up so as to appear taller and declared with a confident voice, "Hair, Edmund. We are speaking of hair. Is that a problem?"

"Well, if you put it like that..." The two girls could see the discomfort rising in Edmund's face as he spoke. He moved his finger along the inside of his collar, a sign of nerves, before shaking his head and backing away from Susan and Margaret with an uninterested yet panicked expression about him. It took all the girls will power to suppress the rising laughter in their throats once he spoke up again, "Nope. It's not a problem at all. I suppose I should be going then...yes. I'll see the two of you tomorrow!"

He quickly turned his back to them and scampered off. As he did, Margaret couldn't resist the temptation of shouting out after him, "Stop prying and mind your own business, Edmund Pevensie!"

Margaret's small giggle soon turned into full on laughter the more she thought about it, especially when she pictured Edmund's face as he left her and Susan. It was one of those faces that would forever be etched into her brain.

A gentle hand was placed on Margaret's right arm, making her laughter cease for the time being, to look over at Annette. A smile was tucked into her face as well, one that made a small sparkle rise in her green eyes. The olive green dress she wore almost matched those eyes of hers; it was just a few shades brighter. The rounded neckline swiftly rolled into the sleeves, which reached just above her elbow before flaring out a little. Annette pushed her wavy hair to the side so her hands could play with it rather than the cream colored belt weaved around her waist. "Margaret, do quiet down a bit. No offense, but you're being a tad distracting."

Widening her eyes, Margaret followed Annette's gaze towards the duel where a perplexed Edmund had just clumsily swung at Caspian. His furrowed brows and darting eyes showed just how unfocused Margaret had made him.

With a gasp, Margaret's hands flew to cover her mouth. She remained a bit uncomfortable for a few moments, but then Annette began to laugh and Margaret couldn't help but join in with her.

Again, Edmund looked over towards the laughing friends with concern written all over his face. He became so sidetracked that he almost forgot to dodge away from another one of Caspian's swings. "Come on Edmund, pay attention!" The new King chuckled.

"And would you two quit giggling?" Peter sternly commanded.

Immediately Margaret and Annette shut their mouths. They remained quiet as Peter glowered at them, but after a few somewhat tense moments Annette began her laughter all over again. Margaret shushed her friend with a questioning look about her face, but Annette continued her laughter.

"I'm sorry, Peter!" She said between giggles. "But presently, I cannot take you seriously!"

Surprisingly enough, Peter's face softened and he began to smile along with them. This provoked Annette to look over Peter and at Caspian, who instantly locked eyes with her. They shared a smile before Caspian had to back away from one of Edmund's swings. With a smile upon her face, Annette now looked to her right at an already giggling Lucy.

Margaret, Susan, and Edmund weren't the only ones to have an interesting incident the night before.

Lucy and Annette were determined to make pudding for Caspian. It was a crime, really, to have never tasted the delicacy of such a treat. So, the three of them snuck into the kitchen as soon as their chores were completed and began to bake. Since the ingredients had to come from memory, their first attempt at creating pudding ended up in a disaster. They pushed the bowel aside and began a second batch, which appeared to be much more promising.

Just as Caspian put the pudding into his mouth, a bashful Annette declared, "This really doesn't do it any justice. Actually, it's a bit awful. I promise it tastes better with a recipe in hand."

A protest emerged from Caspian, but Lucy spoke up and acted as the middleman. "This isn't as good as mum's Christmas pudding, but I wouldn't necessarily call it awful..." Still Caspian claimed their cooking to be perfect, so a plan hatched in the young girls mind. "Perhaps you haven't had enough of it!"

With that, Lucy grabbed a handful of pudding and smashed it into his face. At first the shocked Annette gasped, but then she began to snigger along with the young Queen. Caspian's baffled expression combined with pudding was too much for her.

With the spoon in his hand, Caspian scooped up some pudding and proceeded to dump it onto Annette's head. She squealed at Caspian's unexpected action and took the spoon from him. With a quick reaction, Annette launched some pudding at each of her laughing companions. And thus a pudding fight broke out amongst them.

In the heat of battle, the doors burst open. Everyone froze as a displeased Peter stomped into the kitchen shouting, "What do you think you are doing?"

Very carefully, Annette dipped the spoon into the bowl. "We're making pudding. Would you care for some?" Peter's face slightly softened as he succumbed to the precious dessert. He stepped forward to take the spoon, but before he could grab it Annette flung the contents at Peter's face.

Lucy, Caspian, and Annette started to laugh as Peter removed the pudding from his face. However, his stern gaze shut them up rather quickly. Annette cast her eyes downward, coughing to calm down the giggle that so wanted to be known. "Is it not delicious?"

Stifled laughter from all three of them became prominent, but Peter's face remained the same. He analyzed the substance and said, "Almost" before smiling and launching the pudding back at Annette "Now it is."

Annette gaped at Peter, but then she mischievously smiled and retaliated with more pudding. And thus the pudding war resumed.

"It wasn't all that funny." Peter said, although the laughter in his voice gave him away.

"I believe it to be otherwise." Caspian shouted towards them with a smile planted upon his face. He looked over at Annette once more, but a sword suddenly entered his vision and he had to duck out of the way.

This time it was Edmund's turn to laugh as he looked down at the bewildered King. "Come on Caspian, pay attention." He mimicked Caspian's words to him a few moments before, smiling as he did so. Caspian pushed himself up, now more determined than ever, and reentered the duel.

The rest of the group merrily watched and cheered on for whom they sought fit to win. Annette took Caspian's side along with Susan, who would sometimes applaud for Edmund since he was her brother. Margaret chose Edmund as did the loyal Lucy. Peter remained neutral. In all reality, he did wish for any of them to win because the two of them had teamed against them in the first place. However, he maintained a cheery mood and offered his support to both sides.

An unanticipated cough from was what paused the duel. They all turned their heads towards Edmund, who shrugged and looked behind him. There, stomping his paw in the dust, stood a rather impatient Trufflehunter. In his claws he held a large golden crown, the one that had been placed upon Caspian's head during his coronation. "I presume you all had your fun? Your uncontrollable laughter could be heard from the stables."

Margaret timidly smiled at the badger, not really knowing what his current emotions were. "We were just having a bit of fun is all, no harm in that."

"Is that so?" Trufflehunter said, his ears perking up a little. "You could have damaged your outfits." He specifically eyed Margaret sitting atop of the soiled staircase in her light colored dress. As if reading the badger's mind, she shot to her feet and offered an embarrassed smile. "Luckily Caspian wasn't wearing this." The badger lifted the crown towards Caspian, who was now hanging his head in shame for forgetting such a precious item. "Now unless you wish to delay the parade any further, I suggest we get going."

Now everyone was on their feet and following after the waddling badger. "We will finish our duel later then." Edmund said to try and lift Caspian's spirits for the parade.

"Of course!" He said, unrolling the sleeves of his cream shirt. "When that day comes, I assure you that victory will be in my favor."

"That's what you say now!" Edmund smirked, straightening the cuffs of his brown shirt. "But just wait until that theory of yours is wrong."

Trufflehunter lead the group of royals to the awaiting Narnians. They all felt rather bashful for forgetting the time, but then all eyes fell to the front of the procession where a smiling Aslan stood. As soon as he met each individual's eyes, they knew the Lion was not angry with them in the least. All was forgiven and the parade could be carried on in peace.

And what a parade it was! The party made its way from the castle, across the bridge, and into the city. Leading the parade into the cheering city from atop of Destrier was the freshly crowned Caspian with an ever-proud Aslan on his right. Behind him were the eldest two Pevensies, followed by the younger two. Annette and Margaret walked behind the Kings and Queens with Trumpkin, Professor Cornelius, and Glenstorm. Trufflehunter remained at the rear of the party with Reepicheep and his army my mice. However the proud rodent wished to be closer to the front, or 'glory' as he put it, and strode forward to join Margaret and Annette. Smiles were easily passed along, especially when the happy citizens began tossing flower petals onto them. Margaret and Annette beamed at one another; this was where they wanted to be.

Although the rain of flowers stopped as soon as the procession set foot on the bridge, the cheers could still be heard and the merriment did no die down. Not even when all had assembled in the castle grounds did smiles leave the faces of Narnians. The parade had lifted the moods of all involved, but now the anticipation of a ball began to fill everyone. This dance especially excited Annette and Margaret since they had never attended such an affair. Even though the two friends didn't know a thing about dancing, they anticipated it all the same and excitedly chatted as they departed from the Narnians.

"Annette! Margaret! Wait!" A familiar, accented voice resounded after them, halting both their conversation and their movements. Still smiling, they turned around to see an approaching Caspian and Edmund. "We have a question."

"And what, exactly, would that be?" Annette inquired as soon as the two boys directly faced them.

Caspian and Edmund nervously looked at one another, saying nothing. In a joking manor, Margaret began tapping her foot. "Well come on, we haven't got all day." In all reality, they did have a lot of time. It was about noon and the only remaining events of the day were to prepare for the dance, eat a glorious dinner, and then attend the ball.

"Right." Edmund coughed after Caspian nudged him forward. "We were just curious as to what colors you were wearing tonight."

Margaret and Annette curiously glanced at each other before facing the two boys again. After a short pause, the two stated their colors at the same time: Margaret saying the color of 'blue' and Annette with 'maroon'.

Annette looked the two of them up and down. She was unaccustomed to the procedures of old fashioned balls and did not understand what Caspian and Edmund were getting at. "Why do you need to know the shade of our dress?"

"No reason!" Edmund quickly spoke up, almost cutting off Annette. "Just genuine curiosity, that's all." Margaret's ears perked up because the last time he mentioned such a phrase, he had been up to something.

"We should be going." Caspian said in an attempt to cover up Edmund's nerves. Annette, however, saw through this and raised her eyebrows with curiosity. Caspian diverted his eyes away from her in response. "The kingdom calls!"

The two boys left to join Peter before another word could be said on the matter. Margaret and Annette watched the back of their heads, pure confusion written upon both of their faces. After a while, Margaret leaned towards Annette. "Do you have any idea as to what they're getting at?" Her friend shook her head, causing Margaret's shoulders to slump. "Ratsnacks, I was afraid you'd say that."

"What?" Annette chuckled, turning towards her friend. "Ratsnacks?"

"Oh, heh." Margaret said, nervously placing her hands behind her back. "Did I say that? How embarrassing!" She began backing away in the direction Edmund and Caspian had just gone off in. The main reason for this was because Margaret was nosey and wanted to know what the two boys were up to, and she had to do it alone. Why? Because Annette normally protests spying on friends, and one person is less easy to spot than two. "The sun must be getting to me. I'll just….step inside for a while. Bye!"

Margaret backtracked a little before spinning on her heels and running inside. "Margaret, wait!" Annette tried to call after her, but it was no use. Margaret was paying no attention to Annette whatsoever and was nearly halfway towards the door. "What on earth are you up to?" She grumbled after her, fully knowing that Margaret was about to do something. Annette planned on chasing after her friend, but something else caught her attention.

An older man with curled, black hair was leaning against the side of the castle walls. He had a scar running through his left eye and facial hair surrounding the lower potions of his face. Although to an outsider he appeared threatening, Annette felt no fear towards him. In fact, she only held curiosity as she approached this forlorn looking man.

"Excuse me, sir?" Annette questioned after a small cough. "May I ask you a question?"

The man was startled, and his suddenly wide eyes showed for it, but he did not jump away from this girl's sudden approach. By now he was so used to unexpected sounds that they no longer frightened him. He nodded his head for her to continue; he recognized her but never imagined that she'd approach him.

"I'm Annette, by the way, newly titled Lady of Narnia." Annette's intentions were not to brag, she just felt as though saying her full title would be more formal. He was an older than her.

"Glozelle, former General of the Telmarine army."

Annette smiled to herself. She knew he was the same general; it was just nice to finally have a name to call him by. Again, Annette released a cough before continuing on with her question. "Why did you spare us?" Glozelle slightly tilted his head and pushed himself off the wall, pretending not to understand her question. Annette took a deep breath and began to explain. "I saw you refuse to give the orders to fire at us during the raid. Then during the final battle, you could have killed me! But you didn't. Instead, you handed me back my dagger and ran off. Why?" Her voice was calm and sincere, showing her interest into his reasoning.

The general looked Annette up and down. How does one so young have such superior insight? Anyone would notice when an enemy spares their life, but not all would delve deeper into its meaning. The normal attitude would be to consider themselves lucky, or assume that their opponent was just frightened to kill a human being. Or, in his case, they'd think he couldn't kill someone who still had a whole life to live. However General Glozelle's thought were preventing him from answering the girl before him, and she most definitely deserved an answer.

"Well, Lady Annette, it was dishonorable." Annette eyed him with more curiosity, and Glozelle took this as a need to explain himself further. "At the raid, you were all fairly retreating. There was no need to fire down upon you, especially since your backs were to us. Lord Miraz saw it differently and fired the first arrow your way. Not only that, but my men were down there. If I were to give the signal to fire, many men would die on my hands. Wives would be without husbands, and children without fathers. I would be responsible for this.

"The final battle, as you call it, had a different reasoning entirely. I had fairly disarmed you, but that was without knowing who you were. Just by looking at your appearance I could tell you were not a Telmarine, so therefore you must be from where the Narnians 'Kings and Queens of Old' are from; except you are not in the scriptures from that time. You were new to the land, and probably had just learned how to yield a sword while I have had years of training and experience. What sort of man would I be to take the life of someone as inexperienced as you?"

Annette's eyes traced the general's face as he spoke, trying to find any sort of trickery in his explanation. When she saw that none ever crossed his face, Annette didn't know whether to feel joy over her initial feeling that he was different or shock because he had not lied to her. She mulled over her thoughts as Glozelle patiently awaited the response he would receive. When a smile crossed over Annette's face, he knew she understood his views on the situations.

"Thank you, General Glozelle." Annette said, sticking her hand out. "I always knew there was something different about out."

Not quite understanding what to do, Glozelle shook the girl's hand. Annette looked from her hand to the unspeaking general, suddenly becoming bashful and uncertain of herself. With a nervous smile, Annette did a small curtsy and headed off into the castle. Before she was fully concealed by the castle's walls, a mumbled phrase entered her ears that resembled that of a 'Thank you.'

~.~.~.~.

It was early evening when Margaret made her appearance onto the balcony. Straight away she slumped onto the railing, her chin resting against its smooth surface. Her mission to discover just what Edmund and Caspian were up to ended in failure, and she was not at all happy with it. After following the two of them around, Margaret was spotted by none other than Peter Pevensie. She was forced to make up another awkward excuse, this time about getting lost in the castle, and quickly vanish out of sight. The only person to openly question her was Edmund, but Margaret pretended not to hear and rounded the corner away from the three of them.

"Margaret?" The familiar voice of a worried Annette called out from behind Margaret. She groaned before turning to face her friend. "Margaret, are you alright?"

"Yes, just a little disheartened from my mission earlier today."

Annette chuckled at her friend before joining her at the railing. Margaret had told Annette about her scheming of the day when they were both being worked on by the maids. It was a bit strange, having other people powder their faces and pull back their hair, but Margaret and Annette weren't entirely complaining about it either.

"Perhaps if you take your own advice and stopped prying into other's conversations you wouldn't feel like this." Annette's voice was light and in no way sounded as though she were scolding Margaret.

"That's easy for you to day." Margaret said with a roll of her eyes. She looked up and smirked at her friend. "You never snoop around."

"I do….just not the same way in which you do." Annette continued to smile, shaking her head at her friend.

"Right. Do you really expect me to believe….that….that…." A flash of gold made its way into Margaret's peripheral vision. When she looked over at it, her eyes nearly doubled in size and she forgot she was speaking with Annette.

Following Margaret's eyes, Annette spun around only to become just as surprised to see Aslan sitting before them. His tail encircled around his front paws and his eyes glimmered with humor from seeing the reaction of Margaret and Annette. The two friends quickly glanced at one another before offering a small curtsy as a form of greeting.

When they rose back up, it was Margaret who spoke out first. "Aslan, what are you doing in my room?"

"Margaret!" Annette scolded, lightly hitting her friend on the arm. "Don't be so bold."

"Still creative, I see." The Lion chuckled at the two friends, causing them both to warily look down at their feet. "What is bold and what is not can only be determined by the actions of others."

"You see, Annette?" Margaret grinned, rising her head to look at her friend. "Since he entered my room without my knowledge, it's only right to inquire as to why."

Annette shot a glare at Margaret as she and the Lion chuckled in unison. It's not that Annette was angry with her friend for solving the riddle, she was just angry with herself for not thinking it up. It was only common sense!

"Very good, my child. I see this country has taught you much." Aslan inclined his head towards Margaret, who blushed and backed up slightly. "As for why I am here, it is you, Annette, who should know this answer. I sense it has been pulling at your heart for some time now."

Sadly, Annette looked from the mighty Lion back to the now curious Margaret. "It's about leaving, isn't it?"

Aslan nodded, but all Margaret could do was clutch onto the railing for support. Why would this topic enter her life in the midst of such a splendid day? "We're not leaving soon, are we? Please tell me we have a few more weeks!"

"That day will come, but to tell you when will only sadden you. Do not count the days until a departure; enjoy the remaining time given to you." He looked directly at Margaret as he spoke those words because Annette had figured this out herself just two days prior. Margaret analyzed his words, but she couldn't stop the tears from rising in her eyes. She wanted to stay in Narnia for just a little while longer not because she wanted to delay going back to England, but because she wanted to spend more time with Annette.

"Aslan, please don't make us go back soon!" The Lion continued to gaze at her, his wise face showing no signs as to how soon they were to leave. Without an answer, Margaret grabbed her friend's hand. She didn't even try to hold back the oncoming tears. "I don't mean to sound greedy or….or selfish, Annette, but I need you. Without you back in England, I don't know how I'd manage myself! I'd be all alone. My parents….they're trying to be at home more, but you know it'll never come to pass. And the Pevensies….they've become dear friends of ours, but what if we never get around to seeing them? Letters are never as nice as an actual person. And….and….I just need you. You're my family." Margaret looked into the now teary eyed face of her friend and quickly released her hand. Slowly, she headed towards her room. "I'm sorry, Annette. I don't mean to burden you. Do whatever you like."

However Annette wasn't ready for her to go; especially after a speech like that. "Margaret?" She hesitantly reached after Margaret, pausing before actually grabbing a hold of her arm. "Please stop. We can talk about this."

"I'm fine, Annette. See?" Margaret spun around and flashed her friend a smile, although the tears running down her face certainly proved her otherwise. "I'm just going to put on my dress." Margaret quickly returned to her room before anything else could be said, leaving Annette alone with the always observing Aslan.

"I-If I decided to go…." Annette began after taking many shaking breaths. "Would I ever return to Narnia?"

"There is no telling what lies in store for you. If you leave, you may not come back; just as if you stay, you may never see Margaret again. You must decide for yourself which path to take and which obstacle to face."

"I can't bare either." She said, turning away from Aslan. "You were wrong in thinking I was strong enough for such decisions. Can't you just tell me what I should do?"

Keeping the same poised face he always wore, Aslan strode over towards the torn Annette. "If I pick for you, what lesson will you learn? Without realizing it, you have already shown your strength this day."

"How so?" Annette asked, although Aslan remained silent to see if she could figure it out herself. Minutes passed before she came to any sort of conclusion. "Do you mean when I spoke with General Glozelle?"

Aslan nodded and his ears peeked out of his mane. "Without anyone asking of you otherwise, you approached this man to figure out something troubling your heart. No one guided you, my child. You chose for yourself."

Annette remained silent, allowing for Aslan's words to sink in. She never thought of this desire of hers as a demonstration of valor. Wasn't she just being curious? Then again, as Aslan said, no one else pushed her to ask Glozelle, a complete stranger to her at the time. What if she had accomplished something for herself?

"I suppose you're right." Annette finally replied, wiping her face dry. A small chuckle escaped her once she looked down at her sleeves. "I suppose I shall have to get my face done all over again before putting on my dress." A smile could be seen on the Lion's face. A strange thought, but one Annette had become used to after spending so much time with him. "Would you mind coming with me? You'd be a great comfort, both to me and Margaret."

"As you wish, dear one." Aslan said. Annette lightly grabbed his golden main and allowed for the Lion to lead her back inside.

Already Aslan's presence was lightening her heart, which was exactly what she and Margaret needed before going to dinner and the ball. Only magic could lift the dreary mood the girls had suddenly drifted into, and Aslan surely knew his way around magic.