A/N

I do not own the Chronicles of Narnia nor do I own the characters that are introduced in the Chronicles of Narnia series. I only own my OC Mari and any other characters that sound unfamiliar in the story.

A special shoutout goes to treehugger00 for the kind review that was left in the last chapter. Thank you for your constructive review! Now let's get on with the story.

The castle, Cair Paravel was in my opinion a maze. Every hallway looked the same and it felt like we would never arrive at our destination. The only good thing about the walk was that I could admire the myriad of paintings and tapestry that littered the walls of the castle corridors. Many of the paintings were of creatures that I wasn't even aware existed. Some paintings were of the Narnian landscape as we went deeper into the castle. The corridors were never ending and soon it felt like Blossom and I were walking through the same hallway over and over again. "This is great," I thought annoyed, "I'm going to get lost so easily."

We eventually stopped in front of a large oak door and Blossom opened the door. I gasped as I peered into my room. The bedroom was bigger than my room back home by far. The room was bathed in golden light from the large windows that let the light in. A giant king sized bed rested against the wall with red bedsheets and sheer white curtains surrounding the bed opposite to where I stood. To my right was a wardrobe and dresser that were both white and decorated with complicated gold patterns. There was also a huge vanity table that made me think about the amount of makeup and jewelry I could possibly fit there. To my left was a single chair and loveseat with a hazel coloured coffee table in the middle. A door was also a few feet away from the little sitting area and I walked towards it. My eyes grew wide as I observed a bathroom that was almost as huge as my bedroom. The bathtub was as huge as a small pond and I could feel myself get lightheaded from the amount of luxury I was being exposed to.

I made my way over to the bed and sank down on it, marveling at how soft and comfortable the mattress was. "I won't be able to wake up easily if I sleep in this bed," I thought as I sighed in content.

"Miss Mari, would you like if I draw a bath for you?" Blossom asked, pulling me out of my bliss.

I nodded, smiling gratefully at the faun, "Thank you Blossom. I would really appreciate it."

The faun hustled into the bathroom to prepare my bath. She left me to my musings only asking me occasionally what scents I wanted in my bath water. I was glad that the kings and queens allowed me to stay in the palace for I had no idea where I would have gone if they had refused me. At first glance, they seemed to be nice…most of them at least. I still couldn't shake off the chill I felt when the king at the far left looked at me. He had looked so cold and not like how he was in my daydream. "Stop that," I muttered to myself, "Your dreams mean nothing. They're just childish thoughts…it's just a coincidence that the king looks like the guy in your dream."

Blossom reappeared in my room to announce that my bath was ready and that she would be right outside the bathroom if I needed any assistance. I thanked the faun again and stepped into the extravagant bathroom. I took in the smell of lavender that I had requested Blossom to put in the bath and felt myself relax somewhat. Stripping out of my dirty and sweaty school uniform, I wrinkled my nose at the state it was in. Did I really address royalty when I looked like a mess? I finally sank into the pleasantly warm bath and began the process of cleaning myself. After I got myself clean, I giggled a little bit as I tried to get my feet to touch the other end of the tub but to no avail. Deciding that I had goofed off long enough, I stepped out of the bath and wrapped the towel that Blossom had left for me around my body.

I exited the bathroom and watched as Blossom rushed to me as soon as she saw me. "Let's choose a dress. I picked some styles and colours that would compliment your skin tone," Blossom explained leading me to the clothes.

The dresses as well as suitable undergarments were placed neatly on the bed. Blossom spent ten minutes putting on and showing me how to put on a corset (which wasn't as painful as I thought it would be) and then we spent another half an hour choosing and trying on dresses. When both Blossom and I were satisfied with the dress, the faun dragged me over to the vanity table that had a stool in front of it and sat me down so that she could do my hair. I stared at myself in the mirror as Blossom worked on my hair. The dress was a pale yellow which made my dark brown skin stand out and its flowy sleeves ended mid-forearm. The dress fell gracefully to my feet and I feared that I would trip if I walked too quickly. On my feet were a pair of silver flats which I was very thankful for. As Blossom combed my hair, I couldn't help but admire how the sunlight streaming through the windows showed the highlights of my brown hair. The faun braided strands of my relaxed hair and pulled the two plaits to the back of my head and secured them with a yellow ribbon with the rest of my hair falling in soft waves.

I starred at my reflection in awe. I couldn't remember the last time I looked this pretty. "Thank you so much Blossom. Your work is amazing," I gushed.

The faun blushed and accepted the praise silently. Blossom and I decided to chat for a few minutes with the faun talking about her life in Narnia and with me talking about the many mishaps I had in school. A knock on the door soon interrupted us and with Blossom quietly saying "Come in", the person opened the door. The person happened to be one of the queens and Blossom curtsied immediately. "Your Highness," Blossom addressed the queen.

The woman smiled, "Thank you for taking care of Miss Mari, Blossom. You may leave now."

The faun nodded and quickly said her goodbyes to me. I was then left alone with the queen and I felt my nerves take over. I curtsied and addressed the queen shyly, "Your Highness."

The woman smiled at my attempt to be polite. She strode towards me and placed her hand on my shoulder. "Please, call me Lucy. I'm not keen on the formalities," the queen stated.

I grinned sheepishly. It was a shock to me that a royal, a queen…wanted to be on a first name basis with me. I definitely didn't feel worthy. I didn't feel like I deserved to be in a beautiful room, with a beautiful dress and then have a queen want me to address her by her first name. I pushed those dark thoughts aside as I realised that Lucy was waiting for my response. "Of course, Lucy," I replied, "If I'm being honest, I'm glad I wouldn't have to curtsy every time I see you."

The woman giggled and I smiled. "I came to invite you for lunch with my siblings, Peter, Susan and Edmund," Lucy stated.

My smile faltered a bit. I wasn't sure if I quite knew all the table etiquette, but it would be rude of me to reject an invitation from the queen to dine with the other monarchs. I nodded, "I accept the invitation though I must warn you, I don't know how precise my table manners are. I'm sorry in advance."

This pulled a hysterical laugh out of the queen. I stared at her in shock. She definitely didn't act like those queens I saw in movies and televisions show who were cold and sometimes manipulative. Instead, she acted like a friend. "Don't worry," she reassured me, "If you're lost just look at me. Lunch will be starting in five minutes, so we best get a move on now."

I agreed and the woman led me out of my room. On the way to the dining hall, Lucy engaged me in multiple conversations. I found out that Lucy was only a year older than I was and that her siblings and herself were going into their fifth year of ruling Narnia. I, in turn, told Lucy about the countless mishaps I had in my chemistry classes. My stories made Lucy laugh and I was surprised. No one back home ever thought my accidents were funny. Everyone back home was usually angry or annoyed with me, so it felt refreshing to have someone actually think my accidents were humorous. We arrived at the dining hall and I marveled at the sight before me. The hall was large with windows that overlooked the sea and the room was very airy. A long oak table was in the middle of the room and surrounding it were white chairs with high golden backs. The hall was massive enough to host huge banquets but now it would only host the four monarchs and myself.

As Lucy and I walked past the many chairs of the hall, I could see three persons seated at the far end of the table. The king with blonde hair sat at the head of the table with the other king and queen sitting on either side of the table. The older king and queen appeared to be in an intense discussion whilst the dark haired king watched the scene with amusement swimming in his eyes. Lucy cleared her throat as we got nearer to the trio and they looked up at us. "We're here!" the girl announced, motioning me to sit next to the dark haired queen.

Once I was seated next to her sister, Lucy ran over to sit directly opposite me. I smiled at her gratefully as I realised that she did it on purpose so that I wouldn't be lost when it came to the etiquette. The queen next to me turned towards me, "I'm Queen Susan. It's a pleasure to meet you Mari."

I grinned, "Likewise your highness."

"Oh no…even though I introduced myself as queen, please call me Susan if that makes you more comfortable," the queen smiled kindly.

I gave her request some thought before I responded. "Can I call you Queen Susan until I feel comfortable calling you Susan?" I suggested.

I waited anxiously for her reaction and to my surprise she nodded, having approved of my suggestion. The blonde King was the next person to introduce himself. "I'm High King Peter. You can do the same for me as you are doing with Susan if you'd like," The king advised.

He then looked towards his male sibling and sighed, "And the person who refuses to introduce himself is King Edmund."

I glanced at King Edmund. The amusement that was in his eyes minutes before was replaced with a hard, cold expression. Was it because I joining them for lunch? "No," I thought, "It's not that."

The king looked like he didn't want me in the castle. I felt myself become uncomfortable under his scrutinizing gaze and insecure thoughts began to run through my head. Did my hair get messy on the way to the dining hall? Did my dress have stains on it? Did I still have dirt on my face? My anxious thoughts ceased for a moment as food was placed on the table. A plate was placed in front of me and my mouth watered at the sight of the food. On my plate was a pasta dish with a savoury, crème sauce with fresh tomatoes and a breaded meat on top. The servants started filling our glasses with a deep red drink that made my mouth water even more. I thanked the person filling my glass and they curtly nodded before scurrying away. I looked at Lucy as my hand inch closer towards a fork, so I could start digging in immediately, but Lucy shook her head minutely. I retracted my hand while giving her a confused look. Motioning to her brother, I understood what she was trying to convey. We weren't allowed to start our meal until the High King said so. King Peter looked at us exasperatedly, "Really? You all know very well that the rule is for only banquets."

Queen Susan and Lucy began giggling. "Sorry," Queen Susan apologized, "But Mrs. Beaver always said that we should practice even if there isn't a banquet."

King Edmund cracked a small smile at the comment but as he saw that I was staring at him, his cold mask was put in place once again. The High King told us that we could eat and with Lucy's small coaching, I dug into the meal before me. I had to suppress the moan that threatened to escape my lips as I ate the pasta. My taste buds were attacked with flavours that my mind could not comprehend and I felt myself craving for more of the dish. Lucy giggled as she noticed my expression. "I must say Mari, you look very nice in that dress," Queen Susan complimented, "Blossom did a very good job."

I blushed at the comment. I couldn't believe that the beautiful queen complimented me like that and I could feel my cheeks warming up more. I sipped the red drink that tasted like hibiscus tea to hide my smile. "Thank you," I replied simply causing the queen to smile.

A scoff was heard and my head snapped towards the king next to Lucy. The king looked at me with a hard gaze and I shrunk into my seat. My anxiety returned and all eyes turned to the king. "What's wrong Ed?" Lucy asked.

King Edmund's eyes were trained on me as he spoke. "Don't you think it's funny that this girl shows up just when we are having conflicts with the Governor of the Lone Islands?"

The table grew silent and High King Peter sighed, "Not this again Edmund, we already talked about this and Mari's story sounds legitimate."

The younger king glared at the High King. "She could have convinced the rabbit to go along with her lie to gain access to Cair Paravel," the king explained, "We're already having problems with the Lone Islands, I wouldn't be surprised if the Governor sent her to spy on us or overthrow us."

Tensions began to rise as the queens tried to get their brother to stop talking about the topic in front of me and High King Peter warned lowly, "Edmund, that's enough."

While all this was going on, I could feel my anxiety and most importantly my anger start to rise as I understood what the King was implying. This guy thought I was a traitor… a spy. He never spoke a word to me before or even got to know me but he thought I was going to betray them. I stood up abruptly, my chair dragging loudly behind me making the monarchs look at me in surprise.

"No," I whispered, "Say whatever you want but let me say something first…In the span of a few hours, I've been suspended from school, had my mother yell and be disappointed in me and on top of all that, end up in a place that I have never heard of before and interact with creatures that I never thought existed. I was and still am very terrified about being in this situation. The only thing that's keeping me from going crazy and having a panic attack is the humanity that your siblings have shown me…the humanity that you clearly lack King Edmund. So, you can say all you want about me or speculate about who I am but it's not going to get rid of the fact that you have been a terrible host to me so far!"

I didn't realise that during my speech, my voice became progressively louder until I was basically screaming at the king. The king who I was screaming at was red in the face with anger and I felt a sense of cruel satisfaction knowing that my words probably hurt him. My chest heaved at my outburst and I could feel tears forming in my eyes. "Now if you'll please let me be excused, I would like to be by myself right now," I choked out.

Lucy began to stand, but King Peter raised his hand subtly to tell her to let me be as I ran out of the dining hall.