A/n:

Behold my fellow reviewers: Empire of Fiction, elomeno, EarthToNarnia, Samantha Worley, EgyLynx thanks so much!

~Narrator's POV~

At lunch, Fern's eyes were dried, but it didn't make the meal any less awkward, even though all others were eager to make conversation and kept the spirit jolly. When she and Felicity entered the dining room, Rilian interrogated sharply and the room fell silent. "Where have you been?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Fern replied dully, her voice croaky, and her mind distracted.

"You just vanished without a reason? Invited everyone to archery practice then left yourself?" Rilian pressed on relentlessly.

"It must have slipped my mind," Fern mumbled monotonously, her facial expression emotionless.

"Maybe we should change the topic," Lisa whispered to Salvador. "I can even smell the awkwardness."

"Yeah," Salvador nodded then said loudly. "So, uh…the food…is…um…exquisite, wouldn't you say?"

"Is food all that you ever talk about?" Helena rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"It's good. It even rhymes with 'food'!" Salvador shrugged and stuffed his mouth full.

Rilian didn't say another word but his frown of disapproval was not wiped off his face. Laurel placed her hand atop his, but his hands were curled into fists, and he was glowering at his sister throughout lunch. Fern felt Rilian's glare on her and she tried to shrug it off and pay it no attention, but she found herself aimlessly twirling her spaghetti with her fork and hardly ingesting anything, as opposed to Salvador who was gobbling his food and emptying his plate within a matter of minutes.

"Fern, are you alright?" Levin asked, concerned, and gave Rilian a look that bade him to stop being so harsh on their sister, but Rilian just kept shooting daggers at the Princess.

"Err, yeah!" Fern said distractedly. "Why – why…would I not be?"

"I say," Salvador interrupted again. "Can anyone teach me how to use a sword in the afternoon? I really want to learn to use a Narnian sword."

"Rilian and I will be glad to teach you," Levin offered, and Fern mentally thanked her eldest brother to keep Rilian occupied so that she didn't have to deal with his endless questions.

"Good, good. Thanks. Very generous," Salvador helped himself with another dish, completely unaffected by the awkwardness that was lingering in the atmosphere, particularly the tension between brother and sister that did not go unnoticed.

"Did you all enjoy your archery practice this morning?" Drinian inquired.

"Oh, yes," answered Levin and Helena at the same time. They turned to each other and laughed. As if it were the most natural thing in the world to do, she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah those two were acting real couple-y just then," Salvador said with his mouth full.

"We were not…" Helena said, sitting up straight again and trying to stop her cheeks from flushing but she wasn't much successful.

"Are you kidding me? You two were totally flirting," Salvador blurted.

"Shut up, Cousin," Lisa said, chuckling.

"Would anyone like pudding?" Adriana asked.

"Not for me, thank you," Fern muttered in a tiny voice.

"Ooh, can I have your portion then?" Salvador jumped at the prospect of more Narnian delicacies. He was in a brilliant mood when Fern was just depressed.

"Feel free," Fern murmured without turning to look at Salvador. She was so conflicted at heart. What did Enrique possibly mean? She heard him with her own ears. He told her that he was beaten up by her brother. She knew that Levin would do no such thing, and so it had to be Rilian. It just had to be. And the only time when Rilian had let his violent self get the better of him was at her coming of age party…Fern didn't want to think anymore. She joined up the dots and now everything made sense to her, even though her troubled mind was a mess and the more she thought about her first kiss the more her head hurt and her heart ached. She had a suspicion that she left her hair band at where she rode Fledge out to, and now she had figured out why 'Rene' seemed so familiar to her. Tears were threatening to spill from Fern's puffy eyes again.

"Fern!" Felicity said loudly with a tone full of concern rather than an accusatory one, making Fern snap to attention.

"What?" Fern croaked.

"Laurel's been trying to talk to you," Felicity patted Fern's shoulder.

Fern shifted uncomfortably in her chair and said a few words of apology to Laurel under her breath.

"Would you like some badger-made soup instead? I could just…tell a waiter that, you know," Felicity offered.

Fern was doing everything she could to hold her tears back, and that included gripping on the napkin so hard that she tore it into half. She took in a deep breath and announced, "I'm sorry; I really don't feel like eating any more. Please excuse me."

"There you go again! Where are you running off to?!" Rilian demanded angrily.

"Rilian, that's enough. You're not helping at all," Levin spoke to his brother sternly. In the dining room, he might not be the oldest, but he held the highest rank of authority, so everyone had to listen to him. "Felicity, escort her to her room."

"I'll be back in a moment," Felicity stood and did as she was told. As Fern left the dining room, she felt everyone's puzzled gazes on her, but she paid them no attention and was so deep in thought that she even walked past her quarters straight to the other end of the corridor without noticing it. Thank goodness Felicity was around to stop her before she could wander off to another hallway. She was so distraught.

"You know, maybe you should just get some sleep. Don't worry. I'll take care of our guests. And if anyone asks questions I'll make something up," Felicity reassured as Fern curled up into a ball in a recumbent fetal position and slept with a troubled mind full of distress.

Fern had locked herself up in her room for the rest of the evening. The only person she was letting into her private quarters was Felicity. She didn't have the appetite to go for dinner, nor did she want to "talk about it". Honestly what was there to talk about?

"Your parents have been asking about you," Felicity reported.

"What did you tell them?" Fern asked weakly.

"Well…seeing as the rain was pouring heavily yesterday, I lied and said that you got ill from the weather…" Felicity sighed.

"And they didn't say anything more?" Fern was a bit surprised.

"Well they didn't look like the believed me at first, but I think Phoebus has got it covered. Trusty cat," Felicity beamed slightly. "And Rilian…"

"Oh, no," Fern grabbed a pillow and covered her ears with it.

"He didn't outwardly say anything, but, I could hear him vaguely telling Levin that he'll deal with you later," Felicity added.

"Wonder what that could mean," Fern grunted. "Hope he doesn't beat me up."

"Oh he wouldn't do that," Felicity reassured.

"You don't know him," Fern said disconcertedly.

"Laurel does though," Felicity replied.

"Then I feel bad for Laurel," Fern sighed.

"Why? Because ignorance is bliss?" Felicity asked.

"Humph," Fern replied dully.

"Is there anything else you need? I'm going to go for dinner in…not long. Maybe an hour or so. But just tell me what you require and I'll go fetch it for you," Felicity offered kindly.

Fern sighed. "Could you be so kind as to bring me a basket with half a dozen jars? You know the cylindrical containers that are used for serving alcohol."

Felicity frowned slightly. "I know that you are my Princess and I'm here in service but…I'm not really sure if alcohol is a good idea…you know…not after what happened last time…"

Fern scowled. "It just seems to me everyone likes to mention the most embarrassing moments of my life, and can't get them out of their heads," She explained. "But it's not the alcohol I'm after. Please…just fill the bottles with sweet water. That is all I require. And tell no one of this."

Felicity looked a bit surprised at the Princess' bizarre request, and the servants in the kitchen gave the same reaction, but got what she needed anyway, and kept it a secret. Fern thanked her handmaiden with a weak smile. There was a plan forming in her head.

In the dead of night, when everyone had gone to sleep, Fern discreetly sneaked out from under her covers, brushed her hair and put on her orange hair band, grabbed the basket of bottles of sweet water she acquired, and exited her chambers. With one hand, she hugged her cloak more tightly to her body, and even though she tried to not make any noises, the sounds of the bottles knocking against each other made her cringe.

Fern gasped softly when she heard a faint purr. She whirled and was relieved to see that it was Phoebus, who blinked mysteriously at her, as if trying to tell her something without words. Fern bit her lip and went off anyway.

After a walk, she had reached the hostlers' dormitories. Every step on the grass was amplified because it was so quiet at night. She was lucky to not be caught by any guard. She had never been at the hostlers' dormitories at all so she had a bit of trouble finding the main entrance. It was locked and she tugged on the gate hoping it'd budge, but instead of loosening, the metals creaked and loud noises were made which made her panic and run. She rounded a corner and reached the backdoor of the dormitories. It was unlocked, so she slipped in cautiously and found that though there was a night watchman in a small, dimly light room, he was asleep and even snoring lightly, so Fern tiptoed to into the dormitories without much difficulty.

Inside, there was nobody sitting at the counter as it was closed. She placed the lamp on the desk and set her basket down on the floor since it was becoming heavy for her to carry. She flicked through a log book to see a long list of names arranged in alphabetical order and written neatly in cursive – thankfully none were crossed out, as that would be a sign of slave trading, according to her parents.

E, she thought to herself, and without removing the bookmarks, had found a page of names starting with 'E'. A second later, she found that she had been flicking through the wrong notebook – that was for the females' dormitory. She sighed and went to another counter opposite to the one just now. The cover of the log book indicated that this was the correct one Fern should search. In a rush, she knocked a goblet over with the back of her hand. She held her breath in fear, but soon realized that the goblet was empty, so that there wouldn't be a splash of liquid on the carpeted floor. Once she picked up the goblet and placed it where it should be, she began scanning through the list of names: Elijah, Elliot, Elton, Emmanuel, Emmett, Enrique.

Room 310, she found. Swiftly, she flicked the page to the book's cover so that nobody would suspect a thing. Cautiously, she picked up her lamp again and made for the stairs. The wooden steps creaked even though she tiptoed, so she just bit her lip and silently hoped that she wouldn't wake anybody during her secret mission.

Soon enough, she had reached the third floor. She had to place her lamp pretty close to the door to see which room Enrique was in. It would be really bad if she knocked on the wrong door. Good thing each hostler had their own room and didn't have to share, else her plan would have failed miserably.

She soon found the room 310 and, holding her breath, decisively knocked with her signature rhythm as she would on the wooden door in the barn Enrique worked in. She heard a thud, followed by a few shifting footsteps.

And then, the door opened.

A/n:

Aha! Does that count as a cliffhanger?

Please tell me your thoughts about Fern's behavior. I really want feedback from you guys. PLEASE.