You guys have been doing better in reviews. Proud of my peeps.

So, I decided to put off writing the dinner scene in this chapter since this ended up being much longer than I anticipated. It's my longest chapter yet, so I hope you like it. Read this and let me know what you think!

Peter was glad when Nephtali offered to take care of the extra work he'd been having to do since what happened. Now, as long as he got up early, Peter finished his duties before lunch. It was a great relief and brought the stress down considerably, but now Peter often found himself with nothing to do. Usually he would be able to find Lucy or Susan to help keep him occupied, however, on this particular day, both his sisters decided to spend their time outside of the Cair. They asked for his consent, of course, to go into the woods nearby. Normally Peter would have shown his detest to such an idea, but he was not blind to the fact that the Calormen King Judas had brought with him, were getting rather overbearing.

Susan and Lucy left that morning - with several guards, of course - to get away from their irritating guests. Peter would have liked to go along, but he knew that one of them had to stay behind. It wasn't like when they were younger; they used to be able to all four go into the woods with no guard at all. Those were the days - no trespassers to be concerned about, hardly any work to do (mainly because they didn't know how to do it), and no worries of any lurking danger. Oh, how Peter missed those days; everything was right. It was quite the opposite of how things are now.

As Peter thought on, he wandered into the gardens - Lucy's favorite place in all of Cair Paravel. He didn't have to wonder why; it was beautiful here. The garden was filled with colors. Peter didn't know much about flower names, but he didn't have to to enjoy the gorgeous blue, and purple, and red, and pink, and orange, and yellow colors that flooded his vision.

The mossy green pathway lead him throughout the large garden. Vines draped down from the tall walls, then receded once the walls shortened as they neared the balcony, which looked out over the beach and ocean. When Peter asked the gardener why the walls were so high, - since he knew that flowers needed light - the gardener had stated that the walls allowed for the flowers to get just as much light as they needed. Peter guessed that was why the walls were shaped at an odd angle.

Once Peter made it to the center of the garden, he stopped in front of the statue. The statute was of Aslan; he didn't look to be standing in a mighty stance, bearing his teeth and roaring the way most statues depicted him. Aslan was standing in a gentle and inviting way. He wasn't roaring at all; in fact, he just stood there staring back at Peter. The lion's eyes were kind and took on a sweet look.

Peter liked this statue more than all the other ones that showed him as a mighty and fierce lion. Aslan was a mighty and fierce lion, when he wanted to be, but more often than not, Aslan was kind and gentle, like this statue showed. Somehow this statue made him feel closer to the Great Lion. It was so lifelike, it was as if the statue could start talking and Peter wouldn't know that it wasn't really Aslan.

And then there were the flowers that sat at the base of the statue. They were a glimmering yellow color - that reminded Peter of gold - in the center. When you traced the petal out, you would find it gradually turn from 'gold' yellow to green to blue and, finally, to a deep purple. They were a rare flower; the King's Flower, the gardener said. They were different from the rest in beauty and in behavior. The King's Flower had the ability to fertilize any of the other flowers. They weren't easy to find, and when you did find them, they would be clustered in one little group. Only another King's Flower can fertilize the other, and the sperms never travel very far before they are taken by another flower, so one King's Flower can't fertilize another over long distances. Nobody understands how it works; they all just assume it was by some work of Aslan that it was possible - which it probably was. Whatever the reason, Peter didn't particularly care; all he knew is that it was the most beautiful flower he'd ever seen.

As Peter gazed at the beauty of the image before him, he couldn't help but feel drawn to it; it was almost like something brought him here. He didn't have time to dwell on it, however, before he heard a shuffling noise behind him. Peter immediately turned around. He saw a person, but they were wearing a hood to cover their face. It was at this moment that he realized that this was one of Judas's slaves.

The figure must have seen him, since they tried to leave his presence.

"Hey!" Peter shouted to keep them from walking further away. When the figure stopped, they turned to face him, keeping their head down to cover their face, "What are you doing?"

"I... uh, I..." The voice sounded like that of a male, though Peter couldn't tell what age, since his voice was so raspy, from lack of water, Peter guessed. The size of the person - he was considerably smaller than Peter - made Peter guess that he was still very young, "I... um."

The boy's stuttering was getting them nowhere, though he was probably just in awe of meeting the High King himself, "I say, I wouldn't guess there's any business for you here."

The boy shook his head, "No... I, uh... I shouldn't be here."

Peter cocked an eyebrow at the mysterious boy, "What is your name?"

The boy hesitated, as if wondering if he should offer his name at all, "Umed." He finally said.

"Umed... That's an Archlandish name." Peter concluded aloud.

"I shouldn't be talking to you. I... I need to go."

"Slave!" Peter heard a voice shout through the garden. The boy went rigid.

"I... I have to go." The boy started to leave, but he stopped immediately.

"Stop right there, Slave." Peter saw a slave master come around the corner. He held a wooden rod in his hand. Either the slaver didn't notice Peter was there or he didn't realize who he was, because he never stopped to acknowledge him, "What do you think you're doing here?"

The slave boy turned around and kept his head down, still, "I... I was just-"

"Don't get smart with me. You know you're not supposed to wander." To Peter's horror - and likely to the boy's too - the master crossed the distance between him and the boy. The slave boy cowered as the man lifted the rod and brought it down. After a couple blows the boy was on the ground and the master continued to beat him. The boy's hood nearly came off at one point, but he quickly pulled it back up over his head. Peter knew that slaves could get punished more severely for letting their hoods down in the presence of their slavers.

Peter watched in a daze for a few moments before he got a hold of himself, "Calormene!" He shouted.

The slaver stopped his beating and looked over to Peter, "Who do you think you are to be interrupting me? This isn't any of your business."

Peter lifted his head a little higher and pointed to his crown, "High King Peter, the Magnificent."

Peter saw the immediate change in the man's features. He slumped and fear grew in his eyes, "I... I"

"And this is my business. You are beating a boy in my gardens - gardens that Aslan himself helped grow. This garden is to be held in the highest respect, as am I, so it would appear that you have wronged my kingdom in not one, but two ways."

The slaver crumpled to the floor. He likely knew that he could easily be imprisoned or even executed for an offense such as this, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I didn't know. I swear, I didn't realize."

"And that makes beating a poor defenseless boy to near unconsciousness just?" Peter scolded the man.

"No, sire, it doesn't. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It won't happen again." The slaver bowed his head in humility.

"It better not. You tell your king that if I ever see such a demonstration in my home again, my hospitality, as well as my patience, will cease to exist."

"Yes, sire, right away." The man stood and turned, ready to leave.

"And, Calormene," The slaver halted as Peter spoke, "fix this boy up. I would much appreciate to see him at dinner tonight."