A/N: The world is weird right now. Happy quarantine reading, I guess.
Rose
Two weeks have passed since the war council. So far, nobody has brought me or Lewis any news.
Someone carved Lewis a pair of crutches, so he can get up and walk around camp now. Mum checks in with both of us a lot, but she doesn't stop me from training, so I try not to let it bother me. I know she's just worried we'll get hurt... again, in my brother's case. He stays out of everyone's way and spends most of his time reading now. The king gave him a few of his personal books.
Father, I remind myself. I'm supposed to call him Father now. I'm just so used to all the other soldiers and trainees calling him "the king." It sticks in my head.
Today, a group of the youngest Telmarine soldiers are meeting with Narnians to train together. It's our first day sparring with the other camp. We'll be meeting like this every day from now on, instead of our usual training exercises with just humans. I hope I get a chance to go up against a centaur. I've heard they're a real challenge.
Lewis sits on the ground, back leaning against a tree trunk, watching the rest of us. We're in a large, dusty clearing, where the grass has been stamped down and bushes cleared away to make a training area. It's the spot where the king brought us to our first war meeting when we met him, but it looks different in the daylight. Less magical, more man-made.
Raoul is here, as always, but today he's not training or fighting. He just watches from the edge of the clearing, his arms crossed. Sometimes he calls out reminders from our training sessions.
It's my turn to fight now. I'm standing on one side of the clearing, sword in hand, feet apart to balance my weight. A slender faun about my age, maybe a little older, stands a few paces in front of me. Her short copper hair matches the fur on her oddly curved legs, and her eyes squint in challenge at me over a sly grin.
I smile back. I've trained with Raoul every day since Lewis and I arrived at camp. I know I'm ready for this.
I remember the early days of training, when my arms ached and hands blistered and nothing I did satisfied Raoul, but today the training sword feels light in my hand. I keep my weight on the balls of my feet, ready to move quickly, and focus my eyes on my opponent. Her posture mirrors mine — head up, body low, feet apart, sword outstretched in one hand.
"Begin," Raoul says.
I lunge forward, lifting my arm, and slash at the faun with my sword. She blocks with her own blade. I attack again. She parries, pushing my blade away.
I jump back and take a defensive stance as she runs at me. Her sword swings. I block and try to parry, but her swing is stronger than I realized. I succeed only in blocking her blade. I angle my arm to block again as she slashes.
Her movements are swift and strong. I block twice more before seeing my opening.
As she slashes at my torso, I dive to my knees and swing my sword against her legs. I feel the resistance as my training blade knocks against her leg. I hear her sharp intake of breath as the contact is made, though I'm not sure whether it's from pain or frustration at losing.
I jump to a standing position, but the fight is over. I've won.
I grin. The faun nods her head to me, and I do the same.
As we walk away from the center of the clearing, she rubs the place I hit on her leg and winces. "That's definitely going to bruise." She looks at me. "You're a good fighter."
I grin. "Thanks. I've been working hard."
"It shows."
I walk to the edge of the clearing where I left my things, including a flask of water. I drop the sword and pick up the flask. The faun follows me.
"My name's Talla."
I gulp down water. Sweat tickles down from my hair toward my eyes. I run the back of my arm over my forehead, wiping it away. "Rose," I say. I offer her the flask.
Talla accepts it. "How long have you been here?" She drinks.
"In the camp? A few weeks. My brother and I came together." I gesture to Lewis, who has a book in his lap.
Talla returns my flask. I put the cap back on and set it down.
"What happened to his leg? If you don't mind my asking."
"It's a little complicated. There was an ogre, and a midnight run through the forest, and we hadn't trained nearly as much then as we have now. Or as I have, anyway." I pause. "He hasn't been able to train since, obviously."
Talla winces. Her long, pointed ears make the expression look like her face is stretched out. "That's too bad."
"I'd feel sorry for him, but I don't think he minds much. He wasn't very excited to train or fight anyway."
She glances at Lewis and back at me and tilts her head to one side, her hair flopping about with each movement. "Why did he come, then?"
"What do you mean?"
She gestures to me and then the clearing beside us, where a Telmarine and the smallest minotaur I've seen are sparring. "If he didn't wish to fight, why enlist? Why join the army?"
"Oh. We didn't really come here for the war, exactly."
Her brow furrows. "Why did you come to the war camp, then?"
I run my hand over my hair, which is beginning to fall out of its braid. "Okay, this is also a little complicated. Um... I'm not really from around here."
She's quiet, waiting for explanation.
I take a deep breath and blow it out. "We're kind of... from another world. We came here by magic, sort of by accident but also on purpose, to find our dad, and then found the camp in the woods. We tried to leave, actually, which was all Lewis' idea, but that was when we ran into an ogre in the middle of the night, and our mum showed up from our world, and then we found out the king is our dad. So we didn't leave after all. I've been training and Lewis' leg has to heal and our whole family clearly has a lot to work out, so I'm not sure what comes next." I grin and put one hand on my hip. "I hope it includes beating a centaur, though. That'd be cool."
Talla's thick red-brown eyebrows rise and her already very large eyes widen, their dark brown color turning honey-golden in the sunlight. She breathes out an "oh my."
I shrug. "So how long have you been training? Did you come here from some Narnian village? I don't really know how Narnian life works. Lewis is the one who read all the books."
Talla blinks several times, then swallows and shakes her head. "You... you're from another world?"
I nod. "Earth. We lived in America, but Mum's from England, and that's where we've been lately. Until the magic."
"Your mother... she's from the other world?"
I nod again, not sure what else to say.
"A daughter of Eve," she murmurs to herself.
I've heard some of the Telmarines and other Narnians say that phrase before. I still don't quite understand the meaning.
"My mum's name is Susan, actually."
She brings one hand to her mouth. "Susan! High Queen Susan. Oh my!" She takes a step back and curtseys. "I apologize, your highness! I didn't know."
I feel heat creeping up my neck which has nothing to do with the sun or fight practice. "Um, you don't have to do that."
She looks up before straightening, but stays a step away and holds her posture more properly. "A daughter of the High Queen of old... and you said your father..." She shakes her head again. "I apologize, your highness. It is not my place to question."
I frown. The sudden shift in the conversation leaves an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach. "I'd really prefer you didn't do that."
"What do you mean?"
I gesture at her legs up to her torso, still standing too perfectly straight. "The whole 'your highness' thing. It's so... stiff and formal. I don't want to be a princess or anything. I just want to train."
Her smooth lips purse, but she relaxes her spine. "You wish to be among the people, you mean?"
"I guess. I just want to fight with everyone else. Call me Rose, okay?" I hesitate. "And... I thought maybe we could be friends."
She smiles. "Of course. Rose. And I'll gladly fight you anytime." She gives my shoulder a pretend punch.
Her body immediately stiffens again. Her smile freezes.
I laugh and shove her back, and the strangeness vanishes. "You're on."
