100 pts go to Team Delaney for having the most amazing user name ever

Impatient gets full credit for me writing this tonight. I have been wicked busy coaching my nephew's soccer team but the plea to hurry with the next chapter tugged at my soft ol heart.

I don't own any characters other than Delaney and a few of her crew. All other characters, plot, and fictitious lands are property of their respective owners.

"Perfection's rare and so the last time I checked we've all been introduced to being ashamed."

Relient K : Nothing Without You

33

Delaney rubbed her tired eyes and stared at the small fire that Edmund had built before he had left to gather his siblings. Her mind was trying to wrap around everything that Grace had just told her and it was having a bit of trouble.

It just…was beyond comprehension.

She was in a terrible mood as it was. Delaney had woken up to find Edmund cradling her and Grace smirking at her from over his shoulder. Her head felt like it had been wrung out, and throbbed with every dull thud of her heart. It had taken a considerable amount of begging on Edmund's part to get her to even listen to him, she was so determined to be angry. Everything he had said, the way he had behaved… it still chilled her. Edmund had mumbled some sort of panicked apology and promised that he would tell her 'everything' later, when there was time. He proceeded to kiss her senseless until Grace cleared her throat and reminded them that they had some business to attend to.

Grace.

Delaney still hadn't decided yet if the Telmarine was lying, insane, or just trying to be difficult. Grace sat with her arms crossed and glared while Delaney processed. More wild than Grace's tale was the truth about her bloody nose. It was a brilliant injury. Both eyes were already starting to swell and bruise, the skin at the bridge was split, and the whole thing was now slightly off center. Best of all every time Grace breathed she made little whistling noises. It looked like she had been boxing with a Bear, but the truth was far more interesting.

The truth. Delaney rolled her eyes. If everything that Grace had said was true, then the Cair was no longer a safe place to be. They had an idea…maybe. Delaney still wasn't sure if it was something she wanted to go along with, but she had to admit that Grace was an evil mastermind. Keyword being evil. Edmund hated the plan and to be honest, that was part of the draw for Delaney. Every time Edmund said no, Delaney grew more intrigued by the idea. He had finally realized that fighting with her wouldn't do any good and had gone to the castle to gather up his family. They needed to hear Grace's story from the horse's mouth, so to speak, and if Delaney and Grace went through with their insane plan, they couldn't be seen anywhere near Cair Paravel.

Delaney shifted in the grass and Grim adjusted next to her. The poor Wolf was still weak and was sleeping peacefully at her side while the twin Ocelots kept her company, their patterned coats glowing golden in the fire light.

"We were prisoners, same as your friend," Quinto said. His voice sounded like it was heavy with laughter. He was a delightful personality and Delaney took an instant liking to him. "Though, lucky us, we were only just caught this morning. We never had to face the one-eyed man."

"Never a worry, love," Pine said, rubbing up against Delaney's side. This brother was slightly more serious, but he was fiercely intelligent, regardless of his thick speech. "Your mate got a good bite in before he got his skull cracked. Left that dirty bugger with a limp, I bet."

Delaney saw Grace shudder at the mention of the one-eyed man, the principle character in the story she had just told. Delaney sighed, tired of waiting. "Was he really that bad?" she asked quietly.

At first Grace said nothing. Delaney thought that the older girl was just going to ignore her, but Grace nodded stiffly. "I am afraid of nothing, Delaney. I am every bit as fearless as you are even if I don't go about sparring like a man, but…he scared me."

Her words broke Delaney's heart. If he was really that bad, then there was little hope for Delaney. Everything would be decided in just two days time. Two days. It seemed like nothing…it was nothing. She had only just found Edmund. Yes, she was mad at him, but she loved him even if he didn't love her. She had real friends now. Lucy and Susan. Grim was like a furry extension of herself. Even Peter…she wasn't ready to give them all up yet.

A Wolf howled in the distance and Delaney let out a tense sigh. "I hope you're ready," she whispered to Grace. After a few moments, the sound of horses and jingling tack reached them. The entire Pevensie monarchy approached across the field, Edmund among them. Lucy flung herself off of her horse and raced over to hug Delaney as tightly as she could.

"You forgive him, don't you?" she whispered into Delaney's ear. Delaney chuckled. Count on Lucy to worry about her brother's relationship when the whole world was going to hell in a hand basket.

"I don't have a choice, Lu. There's not time for anger anymore." Delaney shooed Pine from her other side and made room for Lucy to sit at the fire. Grim grumbled in his sleep but didn't open his eyes. The long scar that ran up his muzzle was made even more terrible by the shadows cast by the dancing fire. Susan passed by and placed a gentle hand on Delaney's head before she sat, as well.

Peter and Edmund sat together on Grim's other side, leaving Grace alone on the other side of the fire. The isolation did not go unnoticed and she sneered. "I'm out here freezing my ass off to save you and you couldn't be less thankful if you tried."

Susan was indignant. "You have no right to speak to us that way!"

"You should be pleased that we agreed to come at all, considering your past treachery." Peter's voice was ice cold and Delaney looked at him, surprised. The look on his face…well, that was exactly why she was afraid of Peter Pevensie. She cringed when Peter turned his gaze to her and Lucy patted Delaney's leg in comfort. "I was told that you supported this proposal."

"I thought you should hear everything for yourself first. Get any questions you might have out of the way. But yes, I support this. It's flawed, but it's the best idea we've got. Listen and see if you can do better." Delaney hated the quiver in her voice and Edmund scowled at his brother.

"Ease off," he ordered.

Peter cast one last annoyed look at Delaney before he turned back to Grace. "So? Now that we're all here…speak."

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Grace had stood in the empty hall for all of three seconds before her curiosity got the better of her. She didn't even bother with a cloak, she just whipped open the door and took off after Delaney.

Twenty minutes later she was horribly confused and infuriated with herself. She had been so certain that she had seen Delaney come in this direction, but the younger girl was much faster and not weighed down by skirts. Grace was swearing up and down and about to give up and head back to Cair Paravel when she caught sight of a figure moving quickly and none too quietly through the trees. Thinking it was Delaney, Grace went after it. It wasn't until some time later, when the figure left the trees that Grace realized her mistake.

It wasn't Delaney at all.

It was Rose.

Rose? What the hell was Rose doing out this in the woods by herself? Grace watched her sister head straight into the marshlands without so much as blinking an eye. Grace danced on the spot, a bit annoyed at her own cowardice, but finally darted out from the cover of the trees and straight into the smelly swamp.

Rose was embarrassingly easy to follow. She was about as sneaky as a stampeding Elephant as she moved through the tall grass and sucking mud. Grace really was about to blow her cover and just berate her sister for leading her on a wild goose chase when Rose let out a giddy squeal.

"Carter!"

Grace watched from the reeds as Rose threw herself on some tall, lean man. Grace hissed. A scar ran up the left side of his face, cutting across his eye, leaving it white and useless. It was the one-eyed man that Mardel had found in the woods weeks ago. He…and Rose?

Bile bit up the back of Grace's throat but she kept herself in check. This was unacceptable. This was…the man was a monster. She watched hands stained with dried blood move over her sister and she felt nothing but revulsion.

"Look at what I've found for you, Rosie." He took Rose's hand and guided her past a modest tent. He limped with difficulty, but his face showed no pain. Donnon was there, looking most annoyed, but he said nothing as his killer pet led Rose to a post. Two leads were hitched there, restraining two very angry looking cats.

"Horrible, aren't they?" he said with a sneer. "Found them poking about today. Our silver agent on the inside said they weren't part of Cair Paravel's network, but she might have missed something. She might even be lying. I thought you'd like to kill them with me."

"Carter, you are so thoughtful." Rose beamed at him, like he had just offered her a piece of jewelry.

"If you are quite finished, we weren't through." Donnon interrupted their terrifying exchange of affection and Carter nodded.

"Coming, my lord." He looked at Rose. "Can you entertain yourself for a few? This shouldn't take long. He just wants to make sure that I'm ready to face Laney. Only two days. I wonder if she even knows what that day is?" He smirked before he kissed Rose again and swaggered off to join Donnon in the tent.

The second he was out of sight Grace erupted from the swamp grass and confronted Rose. "Are you out of your mind? What are you doing here, Rose? And with him?"

Rose smirked. Grace had seen that face countless times but never had it been directed at her. "Really, Grace, what are you doing out here? This is hardly a place where a woman like you would be comfortable." She began throwing small rocks at the two cats, regardless of their angry protests. "Did you follow me?"

"I thought I was following someone else," Grace spat. "And don't you dare change the subject. What are you doing with that man?"

Rose laughed. It was a gentle, tinkling sound that completely belied the sinister, cruel look on her face. "You and I weren't getting anywhere, Grace. Carter is going to face that savage girl in two days time and after that, things will be different. There will be no Narnia to hold us back."

"But why are you with him?" Grace spit the word out like it tasted foul in her mouth, and to be honest, it did.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Come now, Grace. We can't all be as lucky as Laney. We can't all fall into a king's lap. Carter is going to be a powerful man when Donnon overthrows the High King, and I will be his wife. I am keeping him happy until he faces Delaney and all the while our inside agent is sowing dissent among Peter and his siblings. He and Edmund at each other's throats. She saw it today in the hall. It's perfectly delightful. She's moving on to the girls next."

Grace was speechless. "Rose there are other ways to escape Donnon's court. You can't ally yourself with that man. Don't give up on King Edmund yet! He and Delaney just had a fight, she's run off. There is still a chance…"

"To do what? End up in the dungeons like Mardel?" Rose said nastily. "No, I am not as foolish as him. Mardel was going to tell the kings and queens about Carter, did you know that? He was going to betray his own country and for what? His honor." She scoffed. "It is a wonderful thing that my Carter got him drunk enough to attack Edmund's whore. He can rot in that Narnian dungeon for all I care."

"But the plan!" Grace was not recognizing her baby sister in this hard, cold woman.

"I do not want Edmund and he does not want me. I have chosen Carter. He…suits me."

"He is a mad man!" Grace hissed.

Rose's little fist hit her square in the nose. There was a terrible crunching sound before hot blood started to pour down Grace's chin. "You will never speak about Carter that way. He is going to kill that bitch, and he is going to take care of me. I am going to get everything that I deserve!"

Grace did not take well to being handled. Ever. It was one of the reasons she was so keen on getting away from the Telmarine court. She did not care for the rough men, nor did she care to be treated like property. It was an unpleasant life for any woman, but being a woman that Donnon was constantly putting on display…it made it all the more difficult to avoid unwanted attention.

Rage. All she felt was rage. At the situation, at her sister, at her place in life, and Grace focused every ounce of it into her first two knuckles as she hauled back her arm and slammed them against Rose's temple. The miserable little traitor. Rose dropped into the moist dirt and Grace snarled, "You can't trade one lunatic for another and expect a different result." She turned on her heel and started to walk back into the reeds when the cats called after her.

"Hey, what about us?"

"Bugger's gonna kill us!"

Grace froze, a thought rippling through her mind. She went back to the post where the pair of them were tethered. "If I free you can you track someone?"

"We ain't Dogs," one of them said, "we're Ocelots."

"We're bloody bit more useful than Dogs," said the other. "Teeth and claws, love."

"Can. You. Track?"

The Ocelots looked at each other. "Sure, love. Point us in the right direction, we'll get you where you need to be."

Grace loosened the knots around their necks quickly and they rubbed around her legs happily. Rose stirred. She sat up and looked into the faces of her furious older sister and the suddenly free Animals. Rose started to wail. "If I ever see you again, I'll kill you!" She screamed, kicking her dainty feet into the mud. "I'll kill you, I'll kill you!"

Grace snarled and backed away as she heard shouts coming from the other side of the camp, from her uncle and the one-eyed man. "Then listen closely, little sister. You had better hope that I don't see you first." Rose paled visibly as Grace and the Ocelots raced into the marsh and out of sight.

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The Pevensies sat around the fire, staring at Grace with both incredulity and shock. Lucy's grip on her arm became painful and Delaney gently uncurled her friend's fingers. "Circulation, Lu."

"This is…are you certain he's camped out in the Northern Marsh?" Susan asked. "Why haven't we heard anything from the Northern Patrol, Peter?"

The High King scowled. "I haven't heard anything from them in a few days, but that isn't unusual!" he said quickly when everyone's eyes went wide. "They aren't the Wolves. They are a bit more thorough than that."

"And yet my Wolves managed to find a person in the Waste where as your patrol can't pick out a man…with a fire…in the middle of a swamp." Edmund leapt to his patrol's defense.

"Hey!" They all fell silent as Delaney glared around the fire. "Can we stay on topic? We've got a plot to overthrow the kingdom, a spy that's apparently close enough to turn you all against each other, missing patrols, and apparently, a sparring match that is going to decide the fate of Narnia, which leads me to my next point." Delaney took a deep breath. "I'm going to lose."

Peter rolled his eyes, Susan and Lucy shook their heads, and Edmund's eyes narrowed. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Lane, but the reason you ran out into the woods in the first place is because I said that very same thing a few hours ago." Edmund crossed his arms.

"Actually, I left the Cair because you said that you hated me."

"Edmund!" Lucy looked appalled and Grim woke up with growl.

"What'd I miss?" Delaney rubbed his ears and the Wolf yawned before resting his chin on her lap.

"Tell them why you are going to lose, Delaney," Grace urged, a smirk on her face. "I'm surprised they haven't figured it out. What do you see in this lot?"

Delaney's head lowered a bit with shame. "It's brilliant, of course. Donnon is…genius, really. Thanks to his spy, he knew I was going to challenge his champion, so he made sure his champion was someone I couldn't beat."

The Pevensies didn't seem to understand. Delaney wasn't sure that she understood either, but she was too wired and stressed out to care.

"Delaney?" Edmund had seen Delaney in all manner of moods. Defeated wasn't one of them, and seeing her wear it now scared him. She was slumped, head bowed, expression bleak. "Who can't you beat?"

"My brother." They just stared at her, the significance of her words not sinking in because they were simply too outlandish. "Ethan is the one-eyed man."

Reviews are love...

50 pts to whoever can tell me who I named the Ocelots after 3