A/N

I am back with another chapter though my problems from my previous author's note still remains. I do a bit of a change in point of view at the beginning but please note that once it goes back to the first person point of view, that we will be back with Mari. Again I am so sorry for such a long wait but alas the show must go on.

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.

The High King and Queens of Narnia watched in shock as their guest, Mari, yelled at their brother and then promptly stormed out. The Just King was red in the face as he seethed in anger at the girl's outburst. "How dare she speak to me like that!" Edmund growled as he tried to rise from his seat.

Peter glared at his brother, "Sit down, don't get me started on your behavior."

Lucy pulled her brother by his sleeve and he sat back down. The two queens didn't know what they should say to their irate brother, but they were appalled by his actions. The way he acted was almost like how he was before they arrived at Narnia and this worried the queens greatly. The High King was also worried for his brother, but his worry was overtaken from the anger that he felt. This was not how they treated guests and as far as Peter was concerned his brother's actions reflected badly on the rest of them.

"You went too far Ed," Peter finally spoke up after of few minutes of tense silence.

The Just King slammed his palms on the table, making the glasses and plates shake slightly. The Valiant Queen jumped at her brother's behavior and this was the last straw for the Gentle Queen. "Enough!" the queen shouted.

Queen Susan stood from her seat and stared intently at her angry sibling. She took a deep breath to try and compose herself, "Mari only acted like that because of your accusations. You provoked her with that statement, and you need to apologise to her. We don't treat our guests like this."

Edmund scoffed, "I don't regret saying it and I'm not going to apologise Susan,"

"It appears Edmund," Lucy rose with disappointment in her eyes, "that you have forgotten how scared we were when we first arrived in Narnia. Mari is even more scared than we were because she arrived in a strange place alone. She's right Edmund…you weren't the kindest to her."

Lucy exited the hall and left her two other siblings to deal with Edmund as she had to find Mari and make sure she was okay. Susan was the next person to rise, she started at her brother in disappointment and sighed. "It's a shame," Susan started, "The meal was exceptionally delicious today and we didn't get to enjoy it properly."

The queen exited the room and then it was only the two kings that remained. They stared at each other for a few moments before Peter stood. The High King ran a hand down his face in frustration, "You're a king, Edmund, start acting like one."

With that, High King Peter exited the hall, leaving his younger brother alone with his angry thoughts.

I didn't know how long I was running through the endless corridors of Cair Paravel and I definitely didn't know how long I was crying for. All I knew was that my lungs were starting to burn from the lack of oxygen as my heaving sobs did nothing for my poor respiratory system. My footsteps finally slowed as I tried to catch my breath. This didn't stop my tears however as I realized what I had just done. I yelled at a king. My anger overtook me to the point that I had disrespected royalty.

"He deserved it," my subconscious tried to reason, "He was making false accusations without looking for evidence."

I leaned against the stone wall of the corridor, "I was wrong too. Gosh I shouldn't have yelled."

This brought out a fresh wave of tears but instead of anger, they were tears of embarrassment. I felt terrible and I probably made a fool of myself in front of the people who so kindly took me in. I slid down the wall and buried my face in my hands. What if they didn't want me staying here anymore because I disrespected the king? Was that a form of treason? Oh god, if it was treason…were they gonna sentence me to death? I released a sob at the thought. I really had the worst luck. "I should probably go back and apologise for my behavior. Maybe they will be more forgiving if I apologized without anyone telling me that I had to," I thought wiping my tears.

I got up from the ground and looked around at my surroundings. I didn't look at where I was going when I ran and as a result, I had no idea where in the castle I was. I groaned at my bad luck. "Today is not my day," I said aloud.

I started walking aimlessly, hoping that a painting would trigger my memory or something so that I would know where I was going. It was no use though as nothing sparked my memory and I continued to wander deeper and deeper into Cair Paravel. My body wasn't the only thing that wandered as my mind wasn't quite with me as I walked.

The walls that surrounded me were dirty and covered with years of grime, dust and blood. The cell that I was held captive in was so small, that I barely had room to stretch my legs when I sat down. The green dress I was wearing was almost as dirty as the walls of my prison and my arm still throbbed from the cut that looked like it was caused by a knife. I grabbed the bars of my cell and shook them in vain. They weren't going to budge. I felt my heart drop at the thought and at the sound of footsteps that approached me, but the person or persons never came into my view.

"Prince…are you sure that this is going to work?" a voice asked with a worried edge to his voice.

I heard a stomp that I assumed was from the so-called prince. "It has to work!" the prince whined childishly, "That stupid King Edmund likes Lady Marion too much to leave her here! He will come back for her and in exchange, he will give me Queen Susan."

The other person hesitated, "But…what if he doesn't?"

The prince apparently didn't appreciate the question as he bellowed, "I DON'T CARE! KILL HER, TORTURE HER, KEEP HER AS A SLAVE! I JUST WANT QUEEN SUSAN AS MY WIFE!"

The persons retreated and I relaxed. The country I was trapped in clearly wasn't a friendly place especially with rulers like the prince. I just hoped that by Aslan's mane that I would be safe, and that Susan wouldn't have to be with that cruel man. Edmund would come for me… I was sure of it.

I took a deep breath as my daydream ended. This was the first time that I actually had a full dream without being interrupted and it hurt like hell. My arm hurt from where dream me had gotten cut and a headache was starting to form at the back of my head. I stumbled a bit and looked around. It looked as if I was even more lost than I already was but the increasing pain from my head stopped me from freaking out. The pain was starting to get so intense that I could barely keep my eyes open and the urge to throw up appeared.

I leaned against a wall and slowly sat down. "Breathe Mari," I thought as my heart raced and the pain got worse, "Maybe if I close my eyes, the pain will go away?"

I closed my eyes as my headache got to the point where it felt like my skull was being split open. In my pain filled daze, I could hear hurried footsteps approach me. "Mari?" the person called out to me.

I winced as the voice rattled my brain. The person got closer and I could feel their hand on my shoulder. "My head," I whispered, "Please help me."

The hand left my shoulder and the person ran to the way they came and a few minutes later, I heard multiple footsteps approach me. I felt myself being lifted up and carried and I hoped that I was being taken to my room. I was placed on something soft and my mouth was forced open. A drop of liquid fell on my tongue and my body instantly warmed. My headache disappeared and the throbbing in my arm dulled. Whimpering, I slowly opened my eyes in fear that my headache would return. I squinted at the light that entered my eyes and could make out the features of a worried Queen Lucy. "Lucy?" I mumbled.

The girl's head snapped towards my frame and immediately engulfed me in a hug. "Mari? Are you okay? How are you feeling now?" Lucy rambled.

I brought my hand up to my forehead and spoke softly, "I feel…surprisingly better. What happened?"

Lucy sat next to me on my bed, "I should be asking you that! I was searching for you after you left the dining hall and I found you in an empty corridor, writhing in pain. I ran to get the healer and we brought to your room. Healer Rose had no idea what was causing the pain in your head, so I used my cordial…I panicked."

"Cordial?" I questioned.

"Oh…" Lucy brought out the aforementioned cordial, "One drop can heal any injury. We didn't know what was happening and I panicked when I saw how much you were affected by the pain, so I used it."

I sat up and hugged the girl. "Thank you, Lucy," I whispered, hugging her tightly.

She returned the gesture and we pulled apart when the faun who I found out was Healer Rose approached us. She gave me a teacup filled with peppermint tea. "Do you think you can tell us what happened before we found you? Maybe there was something that triggered the pain and it will help me to heal you better."

I hesitated. Should I tell them about my dreams? "No," I thought, "It probably means nothing."

"I was angry at the way King Edmund treated me. I probably got a migraine from that," I lied.

The healer seemed to accept my explanation and left the room, to leave the queen and myself alone. We were silent for a while and I tried to gather the courage to apologise. "I'm sorry for yelling and storming out at lunch," I finally said.

Queen Lucy's head snapped up immediately. "No," She protested, "Edmund shouldn't have provoked you like that! He was wrong for accusing you like that and I'm sorry that he's being so harsh."

I shook my head, placing my hand on her shoulder, "As much as I appreciate your apology, you shouldn't apologise for King Edmund's mistakes. I'd rather if he acknowledges that he's wrong and apologises to me personally. I was already scared being in an unfamiliar place and him accusing me didn't make things better."

Lucy nodded, "I can accept that… You should get some rest Mari. You've had a tiring day, I'll send someone to wake you for dinner."

Lucy left my room and I settled down to take a nap. This day was just a rollercoaster of emotions and events and I felt disappointed at the way I handled everything. There was nothing that I could do about all that now. I sighed and snuggled under the covers. My exhaustion took over as my head hit the soft pillows and I drifted off to sleep.

Trees loomed over me as I walked through the wood. If it wasn't for the full moon, I have would been in complete darkness and probably would have bumped into multiple trees by now. I was dressed in a thin nightgown that fell to my ankles and the cool wind of the night raised goosebumps on my bare arms. I didn't know what or who I was looking for, but I could hear my name being called. The sound seemed to surround me, and I broke into a run as I tried to get to the source of the voice. "Where are you?" I shouted as I looked around wildly.

I surged forward as I searched even more frantically. Branches scratched my face and my bare feet started to slip in the damp dirt. My muscles were screaming for me to stop but my brain was telling me that I needed help and I needed it now. Slowing down against my better judgement, I struggled to breathe as my chest heaved.

Tears brimmed in my eyes and I could feel the desperation roll off me in waves. The many cuts on my face bled freely and as my tears streamed down my face, the cuts burned but they did not hurt as much as my heart did. Falling to my knees, I let out choked sobs as my emotions took over. I somehow managed to choke out, "Please, I need you."

I woke with a start. I gasped, clutching my chest in panic. The dream felt so real and I could feel the beginnings of a panic attack starting to form. Bringing my knees to my chest, I took deep breaths as I tried to calm myself. I began calming down though the feeling of terror and desperation still remained. What was even that dream? Was the dream caused by the stress that I had experienced today? Or was the dream a sign of more suffering to come for me? I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. It appeared that I had slept for far longer than I had intended as my room was shrouded in darkness. I probably missed dinner too. I groaned as I realised that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep soon, so I rose from the bed and did yet another dumb thing for the day…I exited my room.

The hall outside my room was much brighter than my room due to the torches that lined the walls, glowing enough for me to see. I wandered down the corridor, with my dress flowing around me and my bare feet padding against the cold stone floor. The castle was deathly silent…so I was scared out of my wits when I heard my name being called. "Mari," the voice whispered.

I jumped almost a foot into the air and looked around. "Who's there?" I whispered, not sure if everyone else in the castle was asleep or not.

The voice uttered my name again. The voice sounded light and wispy and if it wasn't so silent, I would have thought that it was the wind. I followed the sound of the voice as it continued calling my name. The voice carried me through the various corridors of Cair Paravel until I finally ended up outside in a garden that had neatly trimmed rose bushes. I walked through the cobblestone path that the rose bushes surrounded, with the voice leading me in a seemingly pointless chase until a clearing came into view with a stone bench in the middle. On said bench, sat a king that I thought would have been sleeping. He sat on the bench with his legs stretched out in front of him and his head titled towards the sky. It was then that I noticed that the moon was out as the moonlight made his blond hair shine. The king before me looked so peaceful and I didn't want to disturb the Zen that he had going on. I began backing away slowly until I accidentally snapped a twig. The twig however was not what caught the king's attention…my yelp of pain did as the twig that I snapped stuck my foot. "Mari?" he asked in concern.

I smiled sheepishly, "Hi, King Peter…Sorry if I disturbed you."

The High King shook his head and patted the space next to him. "You haven't. You can join me if you want," King Peter offered.

I walked over and sat down. The two of us were silent until King Peter spoke up. "Lucy said that you weren't feeling well so she didn't bother to wake you for dinner. Do you feel better now?" the man asked in concern.

I nodded, "Yeah, I feel better now. I'm sorry if made you, Queen Lucy and Queen Susan worried."

"It's alright, we all feel a bit under the weather at times," he reassured me.

I grinned slightly and looked up at the sky. The moon was full, and a myriad of stars littered the sky. The garden was silent, and I felt pretty peaceful. "If you don't mind me asking, King Peter…why are you out here? I can only assume that it's really late right now," I questioned hesitantly.

King Peter sighed and I was nervous that I may have overstepped my boundaries. He was a king after all, and I didn't know if it was my place to ask him something that may have been personal to him. "I couldn't sleep," he admitted, "The way the lunch went bothered me and I came out here to clear my mind."

I bit my lip. Was this the moment where the High King would say that I wasn't welcomed here anymore? Or was I going to be punished for my actions? I whispered shyly, "Bothered how?"

"Bothered by the way King Edmund spoke to you…He shouldn't have done that to you. We don't treat our guests harshly," King Peter explained.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted during lunch," I apologized.

The High King waved off my apology, "Though the situation could have been dealt with better, it wasn't your fault. I will accept your apology nonetheless."

I smiled slightly, "So you guys won't kick me out or punish me to death?"

The man glanced at me in shock, "No, of course not! Did we really give off that impression?"

I giggled in embarrassment, "A little…sorry."

"I don't want you to feel uncomfortable here. You have nowhere to go so Cair Paravel can be your home. You will always be welcomed here Mari," the king explained.

My shoulders relaxed at the statement. I felt so much better knowing that the High King at least didn't see me as a threat and that I was welcomed to stay. I smiled gratefully, "Thank you King Peter."

He reciprocated the smile and stood up from his seat. "Allow me to walk you back to your room. I have a feeling you don't really know where to go," he suggested.

I grinned sheepishly and the king guided me back inside Cair Paravel. As we walked, I made sure to pay special attention to corridors that we walked through so that I wouldn't get lost again. Soon enough, we arrived at my room and I bid the High King goodnight. I walked into my room and looked at the place I would be staying for god knows how long. I felt less stressed out knowing that I wasn't going to be kicked out or would have to find a place to rest my head at night. Sure, it appeared like King Edmund hated my guts, but I had the support of others and for that I was glad.

Maybe Narnia wouldn't be so bad.