The sun was creeping around the window, telling the woman It was around ten in the morning. But it wasn't the light that awoke Syrena.

''How in the name of Aslan did you get in?'' She muttered half asleep covered in furs after hearing a noise.

''The door was open" Banriel answered.

''No it wasn't'' She uncovered herself after making sure she wasn't compleatly naked under her furs.

''Did you hit your head on your way back last night to remember you left it open, grumpy human?'' Syrena grunted at the nickname.

"'Don't call me that, pointy ears'' She struck back playfully, while putting on her cloak to protect herself from the cold afternoon. The sun was warm, but inside of her lonely cottage was cold like autumn's dawn. ''What brings you here só early?'' Syrena asked already making her way out to face the day, being followed by the elf.

''Erlan got in some trouble again'' Banriel said in a tired whisper, while poiting with his head to the young elf screaming with an wooden arrow carved on his left arm.

'' Oh my..." Syrena fastened her pace towards Erlan and his sister, who were already running their way to the girl's house ''How?? WHY?? ERLAN!" she aproached the boy examinating the wound.

''We were target practicing by the forest and...'' His sister started holding the injuried elf down and begun to

explain.

''And Erlan was the target??'' Syrena asked in a grown-up tone. Even thought she was only five years older than the twins in front of her, she loved to boss them around like a full adult, it reminded her of how her brother used to treat her, though her brother really was a whe decade older than her.

"THERE'S A FUCKING ARROW IN MY ARM!!'' Erlan started throwing another tantrum while the girls were talking.

"NO! I swear he got in the way!! He is stupid like that princ...Syri, you know that!'' Yralissa answered Syrena's sarcastic question.

''I heard a noise!! I saw someone!! I told you to hold back because I was going to check...OUCH!" Erlan screamed being interrupted by another sudden pain when Syrena tried to touch the arrow to examinate him better, not paying atention to the siblings fighting in front of her.

"Now calm down Erlan , I need to see how deep it goes." She tried to calm down the young boy down "You will be alright. Lissa, go fetch some water and a cloth please'' Of course he was going to be fine...He was an elf. These creatures were blessed, or cursed, -as Syrena loved to provoque-, with the gift of immortality,...Syrena wasn't even a "healer", she was just cold blooded enough to pull out arrows of young elves' arms. And it was good doing something to help around there, other than help Myleala and her son polish elfstones.

''Syri, there's someone in the woods...'' Erlan whispered as he was telling a secret.

''Who's in the woods?'' Banriel, who was behind them the entire time, suddenly joined the conversation.

"I...I don't know... I was about to see who it was when Yralissa and her lousy aim almost sent me to Vagdarr's Realm'' he muttered the last sentence angry. Syrena flinched at the mention of the northern god.

''You're lucky to be out of these woods with just your sister's arrow in your arm instead of a blade plunged in your heart!'' Banriel's tone grew louder as he finished his lecturing. "Idiot ''

''What is it, Ban??'' Syrena questioned her friend with her brows furred, trying to understand his preocupation ''I'm sure it was just a traveler. You shoudn't wonder around the woods by yourself like that though, Erlan''

''Just a traveler huh?'' Banriel was now facing her. Ignoring Erlan mumbling that he was already seventeen years of old and people should stop treating him like a child, Syrena rolled her eyes knowing that it was her time to be lectured ''Haven't you heard? Calormenes are all around the West and North of Narnia, cutting our trees down, enslaving our people around, and they dare to say it is Aslan who's is ordering this chaos, so they can get more narnians to work for them... the animals, oh the animals are the easiest to deceive'' Banriel lamented ''I wonder how many of them are slaves of Calormen now...'' he said with a distant look, and then looked back a the brown haired human in front of him ''They have probably arrived in our lands now and we shoudn't take these people for granted! Especially you Syrena, you are still the King's sister!'' Banriel knew he had crossed a line bringing up Rilian. She never talked about her brother. Never. It was in her past, and there was nothing holding her back to her royal past anymore.

''Here!'' Yralissa came back running with a bucket of water and cloth, handing them to Syrena.''Please don't tell my father'' she begged, and Syrena rolled her eyes at the girl. Why would her father care about a silly injure? He had way bigger problems to worry about as the leader of Rivenorm... On the other hand Yralissa's clumsiness was starting to get dangerous.

''How do you know it was human at all? it could be an elf, Rivenorm is close to the woods, you know?'' Syrena asked Erlan, ignoring the mention of her brother and Banriel's lecture.

''It was human'' Erlan answered lifting up his arm in her directiong, trying to avert his eyes from the arrow. Levitt held up his breath and Yralissa's eyes grew wide.

''Are you sure?'' Syrena asked again while wetting the cloth on her hand ''Did you check for pointy ears?'' She teased with a playfull smirk.

''I think I know an elf when I see one'' The boy said, rolling his eyes at her statment.

''So you did check the ears...'' she mumbled still making fun of her friends features, trying to distract him from the pain that was about to come.

''...Yes, I checked his ears!...twice, just to make sure. It wasn't an elf, okay?'' Erlan answered her provocation clearly annoyed by the conversation ''Besides I think...OUCH!!!'' He screamed again and started to fake cry when he saw the bloody arrow on Syrena's hand. "it's out'' She said, cleaning the blood with the dampt cloth.

''No warning????'' He complained, now watching the big spot where the arrow was plunged seconds ago slowly closing itself. The elf bit his lip holding back a scream. Self healing hurted like a blazing iron burning the the skin in order to cauterize a wound. ''He was human and I don't think he was a calormene, he was wearing very strange clothes'' Erlan concluded, after the pain on his arm started to fade away.

''Calormenes wear very strange clothes'' Yralissa said behind them in an annoyed tone.

''You two go straight back home now, enough troble for a day, huh?'' Banriel told the twins. They both got up, picking up their bow and arrows.

''Thank you, Syri" Erlan said before waving goodbye. Syrena smiled and waved back, watching them both walk away.

''Sorry for bringing them here, it was the closest place outside the village'' Banriel justified. ''-didn't want Arathorn to see his son like that'' He was careful chosing the right words that woudn't sound as harsh as 'the elf leader doesnt like you and doesn't aprove his children visiting you'

''It's fine, really'' She said getting up, and patting away the dirt of her dress. They started making their way to Rivenorm as well. It wasn't far away from her house, located on the other side of the hill, wich Syrena hated. She could never see the village from her cottage, and she always had to climb the hill up and down to get to her friends.

''And I'm sorry for mentioning the king'' Branriel apologised minutes after walking in silence, without meeting her eyes.

She looked at him, and then gazed at the forest behind them. "Do you really think there are calormanes in the woods?''

Syrena asked ignoring the subject of her brother again.

''Maybe...'' He let out a breath "You don't belive Aslan is the one ordering our people to surrender to the Calormanes, do you?" His brown gaze pierced through her blue ones. 'Damn his dark beautiful eyes' she thought. Banriel was one of the few elves who belived in Aslan, while the rest of the village still belived in the gods of their ancestors from the north.

"Of course not. I'm sure there is a misunderstanding" Syrena has never seen Aslan before, but how could she doubt of his existence and his wisdom? He was the one who crowned her father, Caspian. He was the one who created and saved Narnia countless of times before. The Aslan she heard in the stories of the kings and Queens of Old, that her parents used to tell her...He would never do such a thing to his own people. Her mind traveled back to the times when she loved to play pretend she was Queen Lucy. Syrena would aways make her brother play along, pretending he was King Peter or King Edmund, -The four children who won the battle against the White Witch-, she loved those stories as a kid...you can imagine how Caspian found the whole thing oddly adorable...

Where was Aslan when that snake bitch killed your mom? a voice questioned on her head ... When your father went crazy after Rilian disapeared? Where is he now that you, a princess, has to live hiden in a cold cottage meters away from an elvish village?. She shook those thoughts away, and decided to ignore the insecure feeling that something was actually very wrong.

"Honestly Banriel, I don't even know if we should belive in random rumors... Maybe the human Erlan saw was just narnian, or a telmarine traveler" she tried to hide the fear in her voice. If it was true, she didn't know what would be worse: Not being able to do something about it anymore, or not wanting to fight anymore.

"Last week I went for a hunt with Nivorlas by the woods further west, and we heard a scream" Banriel said with cold distant voice "It was a dryad...they were cutting down her tree...'' They were almost a top of the hill when Banriel stopped and made her look at him before finishing ''We couldn't help her, she had barely finished to beg us to help her, and then she was gone.'' He put a hand on her shoulder. ''Then yes, I do belive those rumors, and if the human in the woods is a calormane we must be sure, and we must be prepared to make a stand, for they will try to enslave us and take everything from us" That confession made Syrena's heart skip a beat. Her people were in danger.

"I don't understand..." She whispered "How could Rilian let this happen?" It was a question directed to herself, more than directed to anyone else.

"Syrena!" Banriel half whispered pinning her down to the ground, hiding behind rocks they looked down to field just in time to see someone coming out of the green ocean of trees.

It was a man, Syrena concluded, even thought she couldn't see clearly due to the distance "It's a young man, he is caring someone else, perhaps a girl..." As if he read her thoughts, Banriel started to describe the scene that his elvish eyes were able to see even in long distances "very weird looking skirt..." He stated furrowing his brows.

"What are they doing? Should we help them?" Syrena whispered the last question, even though it was impossible for the stranger to hear her.

"I don't know, he seems lost" He anwsered confused.

Syrena narrowed her eyes at them, trying to see it for herself. ''He is going inside the cottage!'' She got up but was brought to the ground again by Banriel. ''Stay down" He said already pulling out his bow and bringing an arrow to it.

How could mystery man be so sure her house was empty? Was he spying on them?

"He is going back" Banriel informed.

"What??" She got up again, compleatly confused, he ramdomly left a girl in her house and came back just like that?

"He is going back to the woods" he repited himself. " Stay here, I will follow him. Go to the city! Now!" Said the elf, making his way to follow the man.

Like Syrena would stay behind when strangers were creeping around her house, close to the village filled with the remaining people she was close to. Banriel should know her better, she was almost disapointed at him for thinking she was a scared little princess who needed protection. ''I've led armies before, Ban. Armies'' she mumbled to herself while making her way down the hill to her little house "I think I can hadle two humans. Calormenes or not."

Arriving at her door step, she looked around paying atention to every noise, even bird's tweets couldn't go unoticed by her. She grabbed a piece of firewood layed outside. She was unarmed. All her weapons were inside the cottage where a strange girl was located at that moment. ''Wood will have to do for now'' Syrena thought while opening the door silently entering the place, ready to strike any visible threat. Quickly glancing at her sword leaning on her chair, she tip toed to reach out to it. Letting go of the firewood and switching to a proper weapon, she now took a second look around her place.

A girl, gently placed on her messy bed. She aproached the girl, still sharp eyed at any sudden moves; Syrena slowly put her sword down at the realization that she was in fact unconscious. The stuborn rays of sunshine that were still peaking through her window made the girl's hair look almost red. Brownish red hair, Syrena thought. She was beautiful. A young woman, not a girl, probably around her age, maybe younger...definetly older than Yralissa.

Who in world was she?

Getting close to the stranger, Syrena dared to touch her face. The mystery girl shifted unconfortably, as if she was awakening from her sleep.

Another sudden noise startled her, making Syrena turn around to the door and raise her guard immediatly.

Now she was facing a dark haired man, and and he was holding the same firewood she ditched for her once inseparable blade. Without thinking twice, Syrena crashed her sword at his direction, but he blocked her blow with that damn piece of wood. Her sword got stuck to the wood...and the wood was at the man's hand. She tried a couple of times to draw it away from it, but it was useless. The man, noticing her struggle, quicly grabbed her sword by the hand kicking her away from it, taking full, control of the situation.

Quickly glacing at her table, Syrena grabbed a knife she used to slice bread, and refused to abandon the fight. Maybe because it has been so long since she had actually fought someone, and the adrenaline got the best of her, or maybe it was her fear about these people being calormenes who were slowly taking over Rivenorm... and Aslan knows what other narnian villages around.

She charged towards him again, noticing he had managed to free the sword by steping on the wood using his upper streght to pull it out of it, Syrena tryed to stab him somewhere she knew it could unarm him. She went for his arms, for his belly, his legs, even his face, but he was able to dodge all her blows with suprising skills. She finally managed to slash the flesh of his uper arm, a little over his shoulder. He grunted in pain and looked at her in a mix os disblief and suprise. She tried to cut him again, but now he blocked away her knife with his lower arm. He too investet his sword a couple of times, but Syrena could tell that, -unlike herself-, he wasn't trying to hurt her.

In a suprising turn of events, the man kicked her knees and she lost her balance. He took that advantage to pin her to the ground, pressing his knee on top of her to keep her on the floor. Syrena let a skweak of pain, but grunted in anger right after. Still holding her knife, she tryed to stab his leg, but again he was faster. He held both of her hands above her head, unarming her, and placing the sword above her neck, not applying too much pressure to actually hurt the young woman. The man coudn't help but notice she already had a large scar around her neck, and he didn't intend to mark her skin anymore.

Syrena was still kicking and moving her arms frenetically, trying to get away from his hold.

"I don't want to hurt you'' The stranger finally said out of breath. They were both out of breath, 'She put up a good fight' the young man admited to himself, even though he'd won that one ''My siblings and I are just looking for shelter...and awnsers'' Syrena imediatly remembered the girl on her bed. She had forgotten about her. She stoped moving around and analized the man on top of her. His eyes were brown, but not as dark as Ban's. They were very light colored at the light of the last strays of sun that were still peaking through her window. She's aways had the habbit of looking really deep into a person's eyes, it was her favorite feature to notice in any creature, and those were the prettiest eyes she's ever seen, not only they were pretty... Syrena could see sincerity in them. Still holding a cold gaze with clenched teeth though, she didn't let him see through her. When she finally opened her mouth to say something, someone else walked in.

Banriel was now pointing his arrow towards the man "Get of her! Now!" He ordered with a threatning tone. The stranger immediatly drew the sword away from Syrena's scared neck and raised both hands. ''Do you have any idea who she is??'' The elf asked angry.

The man finally turned around to face Banriel, slowly, without any sudden moves. Syrena sat on the ground, watching the scene in front of her

''She attacked me first'' he answered calmly, justifying his defense.

"She is Princess Syrena of Narnia, you insolent fool!" Banriel affirmed in na agressive tone. Syrena mentaly cursed her friend for giving away her identity tô a compleatly stranger.

The man's reaction to that information was first of suprise, then his thick brows joined together in confusion, while he looked back at the girl who was still on the ground, he quickly licked his lips and his mouth opened slightly.

''For the love of God, Ed'' A feminine voice was heard behind them. Syrena lifted her gaze to the girl on her bed, now compleatly awake ''Just because Peter first met Caspian while fighting him, doesn't mean you have to do the same to his daughter.''