17) Impressions Part 2 Julianne's POV

Princess Julianne's POV

I can see the castle. It's much nicer than mine. I'll at least give them that. I've heard things about the royals here. I've heard that Princess Elizabeth actually fights, with a sword. And that she fights the King on a weekly basis; and wins. In Terabithia it is forbidden for a woman to even touch a sword. We arrived in the courtyard. Waiting.

The Princess herself pushed the huge doors open. The brilliant smile dropped off her face, and another one replaced it. It was the kind of smile I used all the time at home. The fake one, the I'm-just-trying-to-be-polite smile, but behind that cover, I saw some honesty. More than I was showing with my almost identical smile.

"Welcome to Narnia," She said quietly. "Princess Julianne."

"Thank you," I replied, dismounting the horse I was riding. I handed the reins to one of my many guards, and noticed the slight frown that it caused in the Princess. Her crown was beautiful, but it was silver. Mine was gold; this caused me to smirk. Her sword was at her side.

"It is time for supper," She explained. "I will show you to your quarters immediately after." She led me towards what turned out to be the Dining Hall. Prince Stephen was already sitting at the huge table.

"Sorry love," He grinned at Elizabeth. "I already ate all of the chicken."

She hit him upside his head, muttering, "Prat." She turned and really smiled at me, "Sorry about him." I flashed her one of my rare real smiles, and she looked slightly triumphant.

Supper wasn't bad, conversation wise, and was truly magnificent food wise. Elizabeth smiled and led me to the North Wing, Stephen at her side. "This is the wing that the High King lives in, he'll be returning tomorrow. Stephen and I both live in this wing." Stephen walked down a hallway, but Elizabeth kept going forward. "This is the King's hallway. His quarters are at the end of this hall. I live here too."

That didn't make sense, "Why doesn't Stephen live down here too? Or why don't you have your own hallway, like Stephen?"

"It's one of the many things I'm going to explain to you." She answered.

My room was gorgeous, and absolutely perfect. We sat on the bed, facing each other, "Start."

She sighed, looking straight at me. "First off, call me Liz. I hate Elizabeth. Secondly, I have the impression that you don't understand what goes on around here." I sure as hell don't. "Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are not married."

I opened my mouth, but Liz held up a hand. "They are siblings. Stephen and I are not related, but as close as you can get. I live nearer to Peter, partly because Aslan requested it, partly because the rest of the castle expects us to get married eventually. So you know who they are talking about when they say High Queen." I smiled; this was pretty funny. "I didn't mean to be cold to you, but Peter made me stay here to greet you; I wasn't allowed to go with him. I think it's partly an excuse to keep me safe, to tell you the truth, but I wasn't very happy. Then he blocked the ocean from me. Long story, by the way, and it included me almost freezing to death."

"Anything else?" I pressed.

"And while he's away, there's a chance I'll never see him again." Liz added after an afterthought, "And I cut off my hair, impersonated a soldier, and was almost killed." So that's why her hair was only brushing her shoulders. "Well good night, I'm just a few doors down. And my favorite color is purple." She left, closing the door behind her quietly. I changed into my nightgown, and crawled under the covers. I hope I'm invited to the wedding.

It must have been around midnight, and horns were signifying the arrival of a royal. I heard footsteps, running footsteps. Stephen poked his head in, "It's Peter, he always makes it home early for Liz." He smirked, "You can go back to sleep if you want, but if you come down with me, I suggest grabbing a cloak. It's freezing, and Liz is going to get yelled at for coming down without one." I grabbed a cloak, and followed Stephen. When we reached the courtyard, all I could see was Liz's back, seemingly smothering the other person in a hug. I could make out his face, probably murmuring comforting words.

Liz finally pulled away, and then Peter's face immediately hardened, "Where's your cloak?" He demanded, pulling her close again.

Liz pouted, "I forgot it."

Peter rolled his eyes, "Let's get you inside then." He turned his gaze toward you, "You must be Princess Julianne." He stuck out his hand, one arm still around Liz. "Pleased to meet you," He seemed like he meant it. "I hope Liz hasn't been too awful to you." He added, throwing Liz a playful glare.

"I have been a perfect angel," Liz defended.

Peter shook his head disbelievingly, and I jumped in. "Actually, she has been very welcoming."

Peter's eyebrows rose, "That's a surprise."

Liz pouted, "Just for that, I'm not giving you any mercy in our duel tomorrow."

"Oh, I'm scared." Peter scoffed.

"You know that you should be," Liz said. We were walking back to the North Wing, Stephen drifting off, and I stood in my doorway watching as Peter and Liz went straight to his room. Interesting.

"Who do you think will win?" I asked Stephen.

"Liz." He answered simply.

"Really?" That was hard to believe.

"She always wins." Stephen shrugged. "Most people won't even face her, if they know what's good for them." We continued to watch, and the duel ended with Liz's sword against Peter's neck, a satisfied smirk on her face. He rolled his eyes, and I sensed this scene had played out before.

"I win!" Liz said, her eyes sparkling. Peter got off the ground and brushed himself off.

"It's not like you didn't expect it," He snapped. Liz's face fell, and she plopped down in the grass. Peter seemed to sense that he did something wrong, and he across from her, their knees touching. Liz refused to meet his gaze, and he ended up lifting her head to meet his eyes. Peter said some things to Liz, and she nodded, hugging him close.

"Does he mess up like that often?" I asked Stephen.

"All the time," Stephen sighed. "He's a great King, but he just can't completely understand Liz yet." He seemed slightly exasperated. "Liz is always worried about losing the people she loves, and Peter is number one on that list. She's extremely sensitive to yelling, or when people get irritated, annoyed, or mad at her; but only she can tell you why. And she probably won't tell you; since she hasn't even told Peter." I nodded, understanding. Stephen was like the brother I never had. I'm the sole heir to the throne in Terabithia.