DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything related to The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis.

Author's Note: Hi everyone, first I must apologise for the lateness of this chapter, I haven't had very good internet and with Christmas and everything...I've just been WAY too busy and distracted. So, yeah, sorry. I hope that there are some people still reading this story. I can't promise anything but hopefully I won't have to keep anyone waiting so long again in the future. Now, please enjoy!:D

Chapter 7

Lucy absolutely insisted that Lairk and Lili would get married at Cair Paravel. Liliana and Lairk didn't put up much of a fight and the preparations for the ceremony and celebrations afterwards began. Having learned from the last feast, Lucy decided not to plan the whole thing by herself. She asked Susan, who happily agreed, to help her. Susan, who was now a beautiful woman of twenty one, was known for her organisation skills and she had everything planned in a matter of weeks. The date was set and all that still had to be done was Liliana's wedding dress which my sisters, mother and I had to make. We slaved away for weeks sewing every little detail until finally Lili tried it on. She cried along with my mother when she saw it and at the realisation that Liliana would be leaving in a week, I cried too.

The day before the wedding, Liliana and I went for one last walk. The wedding was only in the afternoon, but the next day would be so busy, we knew that this was to be, if not the last, at least one of the last times we would walk together for a very long time.

We went towards the beach and we talked, trying not to bring up the subject of the wedding. Instead, we pretended nothing was about to happen. That Lili wasn't leaving forever the next day.

The great hall had been decorated beautifully and I gasped when I saw it. Lili, my family and I had arrived early to get ready. As the guests arrived, Liliana was dressed and her hair was done. Once we had finished with Lili, Ilise, Jardia, and I changed into our matching dresses of gold.

The ceremony was beautiful with Liliana in her flowing white dress and her hair loose and silky. Lairk looked happier than ever and his whole family had come to the wedding. Only one of my already married sisters was also present. Sorenne was my second eldest sister. She had married twenty eight years earlier to a water nymph who lived by the River Rush. She had two daughters, both of whom had come along. I had not seen her since she had married and she was surprised how grown up I looked. My other two married sisters could not make it, one was pregnant and the other lived too far away, over the sea, near the Lone Islands.

The ceremony went just as planned and the feast afterwards was enjoyed by everyone. As the feast came to an end, Liliana found me in the crowds and hugged me goodbye. We knew that this could be the last time we saw each other and so didn't hold back the tears. Eventually Lairk and Liliana left to travel back to Lairk's home and the rest of us went home.

The next day when I woke up, I cried before I had even opened my eyes. I already missed her. A messenger from Lucy told me that she wanted to see me in the palace and so I went straight after breakfast. I was glad to be outside as the house seemed almost empty without Lili there. I walked down the familiar corridor to Lucy's rooms and entered after knocking.

"Mitha, how are you?" she sat on one of the sofas and I went and sat down next to her straight away. Tears leaked from my eyes and I mumbled, "I miss Lili."

Lucy hugged me and cried herself as she comforted me. After another good cry, we sat and chatted for a while before Lucy told me why she had asked me to come to the palace.

"With Liliana gone, I need another lady-in-waiting and you're obviously my first choice, so…how about it?"

I laughed, glad of some good news after the painful departure of Lili, and said, "Of course, Lu. Do you want me to live here in the palace?"

"If you wouldn't mind...?" she said tentatively.

"Of course not, it'll be wonderful!" Finally I would be able to be her lady-in-waiting.

"Excellent! I'll have room just down the hall made up for you."

A week later, Lucy showed me my rooms where I would be staying in the palace.

The rooms were on the same corridor as the Lucy's and her sibling's and I felt very honoured by this. The room was large and grand, though not as grand as Lucy's room. There was a beautiful lavish carpet and matching royal blue curtains that framed windows with a magnificent view of the ocean. The bed had four posts and there was a desk and chair and even a sofa.

I gave Lucy a big hug and declared that I loved it. That day I began living at Cair Paravel. I ate with the four monarchs, and all the servants accepted me at once and were very friendly. Every morning, I would wake, go and wake Lucy, help her to dress, do her hair and then escort her to breakfast. After breakfast we would start the day's activities. Often, Lucy, Peter, Susan and Edmund would have to greet people coming from far and wide to see them. Other times, Lucy would have to attend large lunches or dinners that were given in honour of some visiting dignitary. Sometimes there wouldn't be anything to do and we would go for walks, read, sew, draw or sit with Peter, Susan and Edmund. Every day or so, Lucy would give me two hours for myself. I would often go and visit my family and have tea with them.

One day, nearly a year after becoming Lucy's lady-in-waiting, I set out to visit my family during my hours off from work. I was walking across the bridge over the river when I heard someone call out behind me, "Mitha!" I turned to see Edmund walking the same way I was going; over the bridge. I stopped and waited for him to catch up.

"Good afternoon, King Edmund." even though he had asked me countless times, I still did not call him Edmund.

"It's Edmund," he raised his eyebrows slightly about me calling him 'King' but did not comment on it further, "How are you this afternoon?"

I smiled and replied, "Very well, it is a beautiful day, don't you think?" He returned the smile, "It is indeed, it's also a good day for walking, would you like to join me?" Although I had planned to go and visit my family, I decided I would like very much to go on a walk with King Edmund. I agreed and we walked west again along the river. We strolled slowly and again only had a polite conversation. We talked about the weather, the palace, Narnia and the river. When I realised that my two hours of free time were nearly over, I told King Edmund that I should return to the palace and he said that he would walk back with me.

After that walk, King Edmund and I went on many more. Slowly we began to meet more often; first by accident, but after time because of prior arrangement. We would often meet by the large rock where I first met him, west of my home. Sometimes we would walk, sometimes we would sit by the river. We never seemed to walk near the beach or the east side of my house, only ever along the west side of my house, along the river or between the trees. Although Lucy eventually found out that her brother and I were becoming friends and sometimes went for walks during my free time, our growing friendship was not public and we were never open about it, even around Peter and Susan.

A/N: Hope you enjoy, I'd love to hear your thoughts. -Cloey van Zyl :)