I don't own Narnia or the Pevensies.


Lucy awoke far sooner than she had wanted to, to a rough arm shaking her shoulder through the blankets.

"Get up," a woman's harsh voice said. "Your shift starts in twenty minutes."

Lucy opened her eyes to see the retreating back of a stout woman, apparently a head among the servants. She was now bending to wake someone else. Yawning, Lucy sat up and shifted to the side of the bed before reaching for her slippers. She knew she had to act naturally – though she didn't know the morning routine of this castle's servants, she had to pretend as if she did. This was easy, though, as several people around her were groggily rising and filing out of the room and down a hallway, so Lucy simply followed them. She did not see Danya either sleeping or with the rest of the maids.

In a huge room she'd only passed by the previous night, Lucy washed up with the other maids and acquired a new uniform from one of the giants bins near the doorway, in which the clothes were sorted by size. Then she again followed the line of maids out into the castle, where she found her way back to the kitchens, assuming that was where she was meant to go.

Even at this early hour – she guessed it could not have been past six in the morning – the kitchens were cramped and busy, preparing breakfast and the inevitable feast for the wedding. When she found herself shunted off to one side of the room, away from the ovens, she approached a table where a few maids were slicing cheeses and meats onto vast platters. Then she took up a knife and set to work, her mind fleeing the kitchen to visit other, more important matters.

These thoughts were interrupted when she found a completed platter pushed into her arms. Surprised, she lurched under its sudden weight, but swiftly regained her balance to save the teetering tower of finger-food from ruin. Then she left the kitchen on the heels of another maid who was carrying the other tray, trying to keep up with her swift pace but still keep everything together. The two of them swept through the hallways and up a short flight of stairs only to come down it on the other side, then made a sharp turn into what Lucy barely recognized as the Great Hall, so changed it was from how she'd seen it the previous night.

White and silver banners hung from every wall, interspersed with long streamers that fluttered in a breeze that came in from the high windows. Lucy could sense the energy of the magic crackling in the air as she walked beneath a chandelier that hung near the ceiling in midair, unsupported by any visible apparatus. It hadn't been there before, and neither had the dozens of other flashy chandeliers that lit the room with harsh, unnecessary light. Long tables ran the back length of the room, set with benches of handsome wood, which had been polished so hard the guests may have been able to see their faces on their surfaces. Huge bouquets of white and pink roses were arranged on every table. In front of them, more benches had been set up rather like pews, row upon row before the raised dais of the King's seat, presumably so that the guests could observe the ceremony from there.

Down the center of the room, a long white carpet trailed up to the central steps and onto the raised dais where two massive stone thrones rested; Lucy presumed one was Valin's, while the others might have once been Vareth's. Before the two thrones, a stone altar had been erected, on which rested a glittering glass cup. Lucy did not know what the marriage traditions of these people were, but she assumed the cup must be a part of it, and bowed her head in a silent prayer that Susan would not ever have to approach that altar.

She followed the other maid to a long, white-draped table, where she carefully set down the platter and hurried back towards the kitchens. It wouldn't be long now, she knew, until the king would be eating his breakfast. And after he ate his breakfast, he would meet with the Cleric to purify himself. And after that…

Rounding a corner, Lucy wondered if this could indeed be claimed as a success for her family, if all went well. Perhaps they could all return safely to their home, but what had she and Edmund and Peter actually done? They had crossed the Void and infiltrated the castle only to fail in the last, most desperate hour, and now Lucy could do nothing but place her trust in others to save them. She did not want to assassinate anyone; she wished there had been a way to confront Valin head-on in an honest fashion, but it seemed there was not. She could always go and challenge him directly, but surely she would be killed instantly – she had no weapon, and little strength. Though Valin seemed an idiot and a tyrant, from what she had seen of him the other day, he was a strong man, and likely to be a formidable swordsman. Lucy's dagger, even if she still had it, would be no match for such an enemy.

When she returned to the kitchens, she was surprised to find them silent – not absent of talking, but absent of motion as well. All the maids and servants had frozen and turned to face one man, a guard, who stood at the south entrance with a scroll in his hands. Lucy quickly shut the door behind her and tried not to attract any attention to himself as the soldier cleared his throat and began to speak.

"By order of His Majesty King Valin, Singular Ruler of all Caelan and Lord of this the Castle Ilvant, I bring you this command. All men, women and children graciously employed by His Majesty in this castle are to immediately convene in the Great Hall for a special assembly," he declared into the room, his voice a little hard to hear over the crackle of the oven fires and the bubbling of the pots on the stoves. A few murmurs spread through the crowd – an assembly? What sort of an assembly? The wedding was but a couple of hours away; how could he expect them to prepare everything if he ate away at their time so? But apparently, the king's word was not to be ignored.

Within moments, the fires had been dampened, all sources of heat removed from the kitchen, all tasks set aside for resuming later, and the exodus began. Lucy found herself swept up with the crowd as her stomach twisted uncomfortably – what did this mean? This had not been a part of the plan they had so carefully constructed; what if the king had changed something? Would their scheme still work?

With a river of people flowing through the castle's passageways, Lucy shuffled through the stream and towards the Great Hall to find out what was going on.