I hope you all like this chapter! And wow, I'm gaining new readers so quickly! Thank you all so much for over 100 favorites and follows!
Reviews:
Seiya-Serena-fan18 - Oh! Well, happy (now belated) birthday, then! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you like this ones as well!
AcetheQueenZ06 - Thank you so much!
Guest - I'm glad! 'Cause something is definitely coming for these two ;) And if you ship them then you're definitely going to enjoy this chapter ;)
Guest - I'm glad! If you ship them, then you're definitely going to enjoy this chapter ;)
*Annabelle's P.O.V.*
"Anna?!" I heard Susan's voice, and scrambled to wipe the tears off my cheeks quickly just as my older sister found me. "You've been alone for the past 30 minutes. Are you alright?" She asked, concerned. I stood up from where I was sitting on one of the stone outside of the How, and nodded. "Are you sure?" I nodded again, forcing a small smile. It was then that her eyes fell on my cheeks. "Have... Have you been crying?" She asked, worry and concern evident in her eyes. I sighed, knowing that I won't be able to hide the truth from her.
"A little." I admitted, sitting back down on the stone with a sigh. Susan looked at me for a second, before sitting down next to me. "It's just... I can't seem to be able to get rid of these memories from..." I trialed off, unable to finish as tears built up in my eyes.
"That night? When Aslan and you were...?" Susan trailed off, not wanting to upset me further. I just nodded meekly, causing her to close her eyes briefly. "Oh, Anna." She breathed out before pulling me into a tight hug. I hugged her back tightly, nuzzling my face in he shoulder, trying to stop the tears from flowing out. "I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine..." She trailed off with a sigh, not knowing what to say. I just nodded in thanks, before slowly pulling away. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Not really." I admitted. "But there's nothing I can do about it. It's not like I can just sit here and cry while the Telmarines are probably planning something against us."
"Do you want to help me train some of the archers? They're already gathered on the other side of the How." Susan offered, and I couldn't help but smile despite my bad mood. Practicing my archery skills always makes me feel better. I absolutely love using my bow.
"Sure." I agreed, and she smiled, offering me her hand before pulling me to where the archers were waiting.
*Third Person's P.O.V., 1 hour later*
Susan and Annabelle watched as the archers they have been training for the past hour released their arrows, aiming at the puppet resembling a Telmarine soldier that Trufflehunter was holding as their target. All the arrows fired, but missed their target.
"Nope! Not a scratch!" Trufflehunter called to the two Queens, who were watching anxiously. They weren't making any progress!
"It's alright!" Annabelle called to the Narnian archers, and Susan nodded in agreement.
"Rome wasn't built in a day." She agreed, causing Annabelle to close her eyes briefly and sigh. She honestly did not feel like explaining to the Narnians what Rome is.
"How long did it take?" A Minotaur asked from the side.
"What's Rome?" A faun who stood next to him asked him, not understanding what the Gentle Queen was talking about.
"It's... It's just a phras-" Annabelle proceeded to explain quickly, but was interrupted by an arrow whizzing in between her and Susan's heads and hitting the middle of the target.
"Hey!" Trufflehunter yelled, not being ready for the shot.
"Nice shot." Annabelle praised, staring at the arrow embedded in the puppet, before looking at the archers that were on either sides of her. "Which one of you-?"
"Good afternoon, Your Majesties." A voice with a Telmarine accent greeted from behind them, causing all of them to whip around. "I thought you may use some help." Caspian said kindly, coming to stand next to Annabelle.
"Things are well in hand, thank you." Susan replied as politely as she could from Annabelle's other side, not liking the tone of Caspian's voice. It was almost as if he was underestimating their abilities of training soldiers.
"I didn't mean to suggest otherwise." Caspian apologized, realizing how what he said must have sounded like.
"Do you suppose you could do better?" Annabelle asked with a small smile, eager to see the Prince's skills. Caspian's attention then turned to her once again, and a small smile grew on his lips as well.
"Pick a target for me." He said, and Annabelle looked around trying to find a target worth the challenge, along with Susan, as Caspian loaded his crossbow.
"Do you see that pine cone?" Annabelle asked, nodding her head towards one of the trees. Caspian followed his gaze, and a small grin made its way onto his face.
"No problem." He said, very sure of himself. He was also happy, because an easy target like this gave him an opportunity to impress the High Queen. He posed his crossbow and prepared himself to shoot, but Annabelle stepped towards him and placed her hand on his crossbow, aiming it a little higher.
"Um... That one." She helped, not realizing that Caspian's eyes wandered to her face as he admired her beauty once more. But the Prince was also a little flustered with the High Queen being so close to him. Susan saw the look on his face, and smirked, looking away to the side so that Caspian wouldn't get embarrassed.
Caspian followed Annabelle's gaze, now seeing that he was aiming at the wrong pine cone. He then squinted his eyes, trying to see the target she picked for him through all the branches surrounding it.
"Are you sure that's not an acorn?" He asked her with a hint of nervousness, knowing that he might not be able to hit it.
"Too far for you?" Annabelle asked with a teasing smirk, causing his expression to change into one of determination. He then posed his crossbow one more time, this time aiming at the right target. Annabelle and Susan both watched eagerly and curiously, as the Prince fired his arrow. The two Queens were quite surprised and impressed to see that the arrow missed its target by only a few centimeter. Just as that happened, Lucy, Peter, and Edmund came outside, wanting to speak with their sisters about what the faun who was on watch saw at the edge of the forest, but decided to wait, seeing that they were in the middle of training. Peter and Edmund were not too happy with how close Caspian and Annabelle were, but decided to act nice and not get into any trouble. Especially since Lucy gave them warning glares when they glared at Caspian. She might be the youngest of them, and the most innocent, but when she wanted to, Lucy could be scary. "Not bad." Annabelle complimented, trying to fight off a smile. This wasn't not bad. This was very good.
"Well, I was trained by the finest in the Telmarine army." Caspian said with a hint of pride, looking at Susan and Annabelle's, mostly Annabelle's, surprise. Peter couldn't help but snort quietly from where he was standing, causing Lucy to elbow him in the ribs.
"Ow!" He hissed quietly, giving Lucy a look.
"Be nice. Caspian hasn't done anything wrong. Quite the opposite, actually. He is trying to restore peace and give the Narnians back their freedom." Lucy scolded, looking at the Prince fondly. This only fueled Peter's anger further. First Caspian wants to charm Annabelle, and now he wants to be Lucy's older brother?! Edmund noticed the look in Peter's eyes, and elbowed him gently in the side, begging him silently not to make a scene.
"Well..." Annabelle started with a small smirk as she started to load her bow. "If that's the best they've got... We might stand a chance after all, wouldn't you say so, Su?" She asked, and Susan smirked knowingly as Annabelle aimed for the same target Caspian was aiming for. All the Narnians stopped their small conversations, and everyone watched curiously, wanting to see if the stories about High Queen Annabelle being the best archer in Narnian were true. Annabelle waited for a second, wanting to get the perfect aim as she felt all the eyes on her, before releasing the arrow, which hit the target right in the middle, causing it to fall off the tree branch and embed itself into the ground, with the arrow holding it down. Annabelle and Susan both smiled in victory, and the boys smirked from the side of the field, but their expressions quickly changed to shock and worry as the two Queens and Caspian saw a Telmarine soldier on a horse just behind the treeline. Annabelle looked at Caspian for a split second, then at Susan, and quickly loaded her bow again with Susan doing the same, and Caspian quickly loaded his crossbow again. Annabelle and Susan released their arrows simultaneously, but missed. Caspian released his arrow a second after, but missed as well. the five Kings and Queens of Old and the Telmarine Prince shared a worried look. This wasn't good. At all.