Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia, only my characters and plot. :)

Hi fellow readers! Sorry this chapter was slightly late. I ended up going through the first story and updating some stuff in it which took a bit longer than I had originally thought, so thankyou for your patience!

Now onto chapter 6...

Chapter 6: Business

"Hold it back. Don't push it forw-" I duck, the arrow missing me by an inch which is worrisome since I'm standing to the side of her. How is it possible for it to even come close to hitting me? "Not quite what I meant." I walk over to where Bree is standing and adjust her position with the bow and her aim. "Need I remind you that I am not the target here? The haystacks. Aim at the haystacks." She pulls back, the bowstring near her ear, before she releases. It falls to the ground with a quiet thud. Throwing the bow down in obvious frustration, she storms over to the side and collapses in a small ball.

"I can't do it, mother!" I rub my temple with two of my fingers. Trying to teach Brianna how to shoot a bow and arrow is like trying to teach a hound dog to not chase a rabbit. It's well near impossible.

"You just need to keep trying. Here – watch me." I grab my bow from its stand and stand in front of the hay bales. Pulling back the string with poise I release, the arrow flying through the air with grace and ease. It hits the centre of the target with acute precision. I look back over to my daughter who obviously didn't watch even a second of that. My shoulders slouch in defeat. What is it going to take? "Brianna?" She looks up at me, tears in her eyes. I'm sure most people would've run over to her within a second of seeing her cry, but I have a feeling she used to get a lot of attention from Miss Fickle at the orphanage with her crying fits. Whenever something doesn't go her way, she cries. I'm not one to give in. "Stand up and wipe away the tears. You're not a baby, you're a princess and as a princess you must understand that not everything in life is going to go your way. And when it doesn't, you need to hold your head high, and take it as it comes. I will not tolerate the constant tantrums, Brianna Pevensie. Now come here right now." She doesn't move, instead her eyes move down and her hands cover her face. "Fine then, I'm trying to teach you, but if you don't want to be taught then you're on your own, honey." I go and grab my arrow out of the practice target before grabbing the whole quiver and heading back inside. It's a beautiful day today. It almost seems sad to have to spend it inside which is why I thought it would be a nice day for some lessons, but I suppose not. "Darius, would you mind just watching Princess Brianna for me while I go to the Great Hall?"

"Certainly, Your Majesty," the centaur agrees with a bow as he trots over closer to her. I walk over to the throne room; waltzing through the already open doors and to my throne. I sit down and instantly get handed a pile of letters from my scribe, Olimanta. She's a faun with short, spiky, blond hair and easily one of my trusted companions.

"These are from the Duke of Glasswater Creek. He wishes to see you sometime to go over the plans for the new orphanage as well."

"Thank you, Olimanta. I will get in contact with him shortly." She bows deeply before running off somewhere else. I unroll the first parchment nonchalantly.

To her Imperial Majesty, High Queen Ashley the Majestic,

from Duke Somertsen of Glasswater Creek.

I have hereby concurred to the agreement of the new stables to be built next to the dungeons.

Wait, what?

"Commencement of the project is due to start next month. We hope to have it completed by the next winter.

With all our regards."

I never asked for stables to be put in next to the dungeons. Why would I? Putting a possible escape for any prisoners daring enough to try and escape from the dungeon is a stupid move. And besides, why would I line up horses somewhere just so they can be stolen?

"What new plans for the orphanage?" Huh? I look over to Peter, not completely focused. Has someone been putting things through behind my back?

"The plans I discussed with you six months ago. Too many orphans, not enough space in their orphanage at the moment. They're getting an upgrade," I reply while rereading the parchment on my lap. Peter wouldn't be stupid enough to do that, would he? But then why is it addressed to me?

"I never agreed to a new orphanage."

"Yes, you did. I spoke to you about it six months ago." Silence. "We had a meeting about it." More silence. By the Lion's Mane! I turn in my throne to face him as much as possible. He's looking at me like I have two heads. "You signed the paperwork for it! Gave complete permission for it!"

"I am fairly certain that I would remember something like that, Ash." I shouldn't be surprised he's forgotten with everything else going on. Anyone would forget about a small building project when their kingdom is being threatened.

"Well then, High King Peter, do you hereby give permission for a new orphanage to be built?"

"Yes."

"If you agree, then why are we arguing about it!"

"Because everything must be run by me first." I huff at his response, falling back into my throne.

"It was. You honestly do my head in sometimes," I say under my breath as I look back down to the parchment.

"Weren't you teaching Bree archery?" I read over the words again, making sure I haven't misunderstood anything before responding.

"She threw a tantrum and quit. Peter, did you sign off anything to give permission for a stable to be built right next to the dungeon in Glasswater?"

"No, who would be stupid enough to do that?" Thankfully not you. I look up at him, my eyebrows furrowed.

"Someone has and they've said that I was the one to ask for it." He looks up at me now, his face looking just as curious before he shakes his head as if trying to disable a thought.

"Maybe you signed something a while ago? Although it doesn't seem like something you'd agree to," he responds apprehensively. He knows me well enough to know that I read through things ten times over before agreeing to anything.

"Exactly. I know I wouldn't sign anything without reading it a hundred times over." I turn my attention away from my charming husband to the rest of the room, my gaze landing upon Allesamia. "Um, Allesamia?" She jumps slightly at the mention of her name before she cautiously walks over to me.

"Yes, Queen Ashley?" she answers with a curtsey.

"Could you please fetch Olimanta for me?" She nods once at my question and smiles while straightening up.

"Of course, Your Majesty." She hurries off then and comes back a moment later with the faun right on her heels. They come to a standstill at the bottom of the steps before Allesamia takes a few steps back leaving the faun at the front by herself. She looks nervous, her bottom lip finding its way between her teeth as she bites down on it before she gathers herself and curtseys.

"You asked to see me, Queen Ashley?"

"Yes, could you please take some guards and go over to Glasswater Creek for me? I request to see the Duke immediately." She lets out a small sigh of relief before she smiles at me.

"Certainly, Your Majesty." She takes off immediately, gesturing over two of the guards from the hall to follow her, before they take off out the door.

"Why don't you just go over there yourself?" Peter asks me. I look over to him. His lips are turned up into a smirk, jesting me. He knows I love riding and will take any excuse to go out – usually.

"Because if anything turns foul, you're here to witness it," I throw back with a smirk of my own. He gives a loud laugh before shaking his head in humour.

"Using your husband as protection – that's weak, especially for your standards little miss I-can-do-anything-you-can-do." I turn my attention back to my lap with a laugh. I mean, he's not wrong.

"Don't tell me you don't appreciate it." I hear his slight chuckle before I feel his hand rest on my shoulder, the warmth running down the length of my arm immediately.

"Of course I do." I glance at the hand on my shoulder and give the back of it a kiss before unrolling some more of the parchments. Thankfully there's nothing else too crazy in here. Mostly just basic requests from some of the farmers and the occasional follow-up letter. About an hour or so later Olimanta appears, the old Duke in tow. He bows to us slowly, the feather of his cap floating up and down.

"You wished to see me, Your Majesties?" I sit up slightly in my throne as does Peter.

"Indeed. Two things I wish to discuss with you. Firstly, I am very glad the plans have officially gone through for the orphanage. When does construction commence? It didn't say it on the parchment."

"On the eighteenth of next month, Mi'lady. Miss Fickle and the orphans are extremely excited about it too," he responds cheerily. I smile at him.

"Very good. Now onto the other issue I have. Who gave you a request to build a stable right next to the dungeon?" He looks at me as if I've grown another head as my words slowly start to sink in. The confusion is clear on his face as his expression falls from the smile he was wearing.

"Well, by the letter, it looks as if you did, Queen Ashley. Was that a mistake?" he asks me, his voice shaking ever so slightly.

"Quite. There must be no construction of a stable right next to the dungeon of your hold. Understood?" He nods once, his eyes shifting between Peter and myself before resting back on me.

"Crystal clear, Your Majesty. I will rectify the situation immediately." I smile at him while leaning forward and passing him the parchment that now has a massive X plastered across the top of it. He takes it willingly before taking a few steps back.

"Good. Thank you, Duke Somertsen. That is all I wanted to speak to you about. You may go on your way now – oh! One more thing! Don't forget to update us on the orphanage. We would love to come and visit once it's nearing completion."

"Of course, Your Majesty, we would love to have you both visit us again soon. I will keep you posted. Good day." He leaves hurriedly after that, leaving the hall empty besides my husband and I and a few guards; also the twins who are playing on a mat in the corner of the hall quite happily. I read through a few more parchments before a thought pops into my head. "Peter, have you heard back from the spies?" I ask, turning my attention to him.

"Hm, pardon?" he doesn't look up at me.

"The spies that Edmund and Oreius sent out to figure out who the Black Subjours are – have they reported back yet?" Hesitation. Major hesitation. I can feel a few eyes on us now. I think quite a few of the guards have been wondering the same thing.

"Nope. Later." He's looking down flipping through his own parchments, his eyes glued to what he's doing. Mine narrow in on him.

"You would tell me if something had happened, right?" He clicks his tongue once before responding.

"Sure." He doesn't look up at me or even attempt to calm me down. He's lying. I put my elbow on the edge of my throne and prop my chin on my hand, studying him. Something is just not adding up here.

"Why are you lying to me?" He looks up at me for a brief second before focusing his attention back down after noticing my gaze.

"I'm not."

"Promise me?"

"Mh hm." Either he doesn't know anything and I'm just paranoid or this isn't the place for it and he wants to discuss it in private. Either way it's not worth the argument right now. I'll press him on the issue later. I sigh and look back down to my parchment. It goes quiet for a little while, both of us in our own heads filing paperwork, responding to requests, that sort of thing. After a while I get up to sit with the twins. Doing paperwork with them crawling all over me isn't actually as hard as it sounds. It means I get to spend some time with them in my crazy scheduled day. I'm just finishing my final report before lunch when little footsteps ring through the hall.

"Mother?" I turn my attention to my eight-year-old. She's standing near the mat, her face solemn. Her black hair is splayed all over her shoulders and her green dress has dark, wet patches through it – I'm guessing from her tears.

"Do you have something to say to me?" She nods with a grimace.

"I'm sorry." I open an arm in response. She quickly runs over to me and cuddles into my side. "Can we train some more this afternoon? I promise to try and listen to you!" she pleads with me, her blue eyes gazing into mine. I smile.

"I would love it if we could train. Is after lunch okay?" I ask her. She grins at me, her dimples sinking into her red cheeks.

"That sounds great, mother."

"I'm glad." I cuddle her in close just as I spy movement out of the corner of my eye. I glance over to see Peter walking towards us. He gives me a nod and grimace before standing behind Bree.

"Bree, your mother and I have something we'd like to discuss with you." She jumps slightly in my arms before turning around to face him. We do? I let go of her in the same moment and grab Anna who at the moment is trying to crawl away. She giggles at me as I hold her to me, her hands finding the sleeve of my dress and playing with it.

"Yes, father?" Peter bends down to her and grabs her hands, making her look him in the eyes.

"Your mother and I were talking last night and she brought up a very interesting detail. She mentioned that you asked about Bella yesterday morning and apparently you said that I had told you about her, which is absolutely not true, so we would like to know where you heard about Bella. Who told you?" Oh, that's right. I knew there was something important we had to talk about today! Bree's eyes race over to me immediately. Please, as if I'm going to try and get her out of this conversation! She obviously doesn't like her chances after reading my face so instead she turns her eyes downwards and shrugs.

"I don't know." Peter looks over to me for a brief second, his face a mask of worry before composing himself and looking back down to her. I move closer to her too and grab one of her hands from Peter.

"I just want to know – why did you lie to me? You can tell me anything," I say to her. This is the first time she's ever lied to us about something big. It kind of hurts. She looks up.

"Because I couldn't remember and I was worried that you'd be angry if I didn't give you a reply." Her eyes shift downwards straight away again. She's definitely lying to us. I stand up, my hand still holding on hers as I gesture with my head for Peter to follow us.

"Allesamia, could you please watch the twins for us. We'll be right back," Peter asks her. She instantly runs over and sits down with them. They start crawling all over her within seconds. At least they're taken care of for a moment. I turn my attention back to the matter at hand and lead Bree and Peter into the small office before I sit Bree down on the chair. I sit opposite her. Peter joins me on my side of the desk.

"We don't want lies, Brianna. Tell us right now, who told you about Bella?" Peter pushes. She looks up at us, her eyes full of venom. It sounds terrible, but that's the only way to describe the look she's sending us right now.

"Why are you worried about it? I thought since she was my aunty you would want me to know about her," she snarks back angrily. I grimace.

"Bella is a rather touchy topic. We need to know who told you," I explain as calmly as I can. She scoffs at us.

"You wouldn't believe me."

"Try us," Peter responds immediately afterwards while leaning forward on the desk slightly.

"I won't tell you," she says while crossing her arms across her chest and lifting her head ever so slightly. I clench my jaw. She's testing us right now. I don't really know how to deal with this situation if I'm being honest with myself. We haven't really seen this sort of attitude from Brianna yet.

"We can sit here all day, Bree," Peter continues.

"Then I guess we're going to be. I promised the person I wouldn't say." Person?

"Is it someone in the castle?" I inquire. She looks down, her mouth agape slightly as she realises she just gave away crucial information. She composes herself and looks at me.

"Not quite." I raise an eyebrow at her.

"So they're not in the castle?"

"No, they are, but they're also not." What does that mean? I take a glance at Peter who looks just as befuddled as me.

"How can they be here, but not be here at the same time?" She just shrugs her shoulders at my question.

"We're not leaving till you tell us, Brianna. Confess. We're not going to do anything to the person, we just want to know."

"You won't be able to talk to them." Them? My forehead creases in confusion.

"Why not?"

"Because they're not here." With those words she ups and leaves the room, leaving us behind completely bewildered and also pretty mad that she just walked out on us. I get up to go and grab her, but Peter grabs my arm instead.

"Before we lose our temper fully, which I'm doing everything in my power not to right now, I think we should follow Brianna," he suggests while slowly walking me towards the door.

"Why?"

"She might lead us to the person (or people I should say)." I nod once before he leads me out the door. We go to find her just as we hear the familiar chime calling us all to the dining hall for lunch. Maybe she was just hungry and needed to eat? We scurry over and take a quick peek inside, but come up short. She's not in there. We look at each other worriedly before leaving the dining hall and ripping through the hallways on the bottom floor. Brianna is nowhere to be found.

Who do you think the people might be and where has Brianna gone?! Let me know what you think in a review! ;) Also remember to favourite and alert the story if you want to keep up to date with when I post. My updates are usually every Wednesday AEST!

Until next week!

- narnia and beareject fan 1 xoxo