Author's Note: Chapter seventeen! To Mrs. St. John Allerdyce: No, she's not being married off. Peter would never allow that ;) It would be interesting though...Anyway, don't worry, she won't be married off.

Quote from Chapter: "You looked like you wanted to be pushed."

Chapter Seventeen: The Swing Set

A few days later - five, if you want to be specific - Aceline stopped coming to the meetings. What would be the point if she was just going to be talked about later on? Her belief had only heightened as she overheard another conversation about her. Unsurprisingly, the Lords Daemyn and Phillip had been talking about her.

"And now she's stopped coming," Lord Daemyn said.

"Consider it a blessing," Lord Phillip replied. "She was a bit of a distraction on the whole."

"I couldn't agree with you more."

So, the Princess took to exploring the castle. She had found if you opened a specific door on the second floor, it would lead you to the northernmost courtyard if you went down the short corridor. She had also found a swing set at the end of that courtyard. The swing was one of those types that four people could sit across from each other, two on each side.

Right now, she was sitting on it, looking at the northern mountains. She was thankful that the set had a small roof overhead, for it looked like it was going to rain. Her hand settled on one of the wooden posts when she felt someone start to push the swing from behind. Aceline's head whipped around and she saw the twin lords looking at her. They were both pushing the swing in a steady rhythm.

"Hello," she said quietly.

"Hi," they said in unison.

"Why are you pushing me?"

"You looked like you wanted to be pushed."

"Oh. Thank you."

"Anytime." The Princess turned around, feeling puzzled at the lords's odd behavior. Raindrops fell against the roof. She whirled around to address the twins.

"Get under here, quickly," she said. They sat down across from her, their green eyes staring into her purple ones.

"I'm Aceline, by the way," she said.

"I'm Dar."

"And I'm Darrin."

"Nice to meet you."

"So, Aceline," Darrin began, "Do you usually come here to relax - "

"Or just during meetings?" Dar finished. The Princess blushed in unconscious embarrassment.

"Sometimes a bit of both," she answered lamely. The twins grinned at her.

"No need to be embarrassed with us," Darrin said.

"We accept people for who they are," his twin added. She was a bit surprised at their easy manner.

All three of them didn't bother making small talk; they were smart enough to know they would get bored of it. The rain hit against the shingles as they learned something different about each other. She found out that Dar and Darrin were the Lord Daemyn's sons. They discovered that she wasn't the least bit spoiled as their father had thought her to be.

The rain soon let up, but the three ignored it and continued to talk. Aceline liked their goofiness (there was no other words to call it) especially Darrin's. Dar was slightly more serious than his younger twin, but Darrin really didn't care about politics like he pretended to. Neither did Dar. They just pretended to please their father.

"But you shouldn't do it just to please him," Aceline insisted.

"Father wouldn't like it," Dar sighed, putting his hand under his chin.

"He doesn't like us to say what we think. He thinks it's bad if we do," Darrin added.

"Why don't you try to change his mind?" she asked.

"He doesn't listen," they said in unison. "He never does."

"He should listen to you," she said stubbornly, crossing her arms. "Parents can listen to their children."

"Yes, but he can't. At least, he doesn't want to," Darrin said.

"I can help you with that," she said suddenly.

"How?" The twins were looking attentively at her.

"Well, I can help you on one condition," she said hastily.

"We'll do anything," Dar said, eyeing her like a predator does its prey. His brother nodded in agreement. "Just tell us how."

"If you can be so open with me, why not do the same with him?"

"We've already told you, he won't - "

"Tell him it's important," she interrupted. "Then tell him what you think." The twins looked at each other, considering the idea.

"So what do you want in return?" Darrin asked her.

"Teach me how to pretend to be interested in the meetings," the Princess said at once. "I don't want the Archenlandian embassy to keep thinking I'm so spoiled." They nodded and Aceline held out her hand.

"Deal?" They nodded again, but this time, they were staring at her outstretched hand.

"You shake it," she said. Darrin took her hand and literally shook it, so it looked like she was trembling. She laughed and pumped it up and down. She did the same with Dar.

"What was that?" Dar asked.

"It's called a handshake. People do it to close deals or greet each other where I come from."

"Why?"

"I don't really know," she answered after a short pause. "People just do it." The lords still looked a bit confused, but didn't ask any more questions about the handshake.

"Where are we going to meet?" Darrin asked. "I mean, where are going to teach you?" Aceline considered this, but it was Dar who answered.

"Why not here?" This idea appealed to the other two. So, they shook on it again.

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They met at the swing set nearly every day after that. The lords taught Aceline in the aspect of acting. The Princess showed them that expressing their ideas wasn't at all bad as they had been taught.

Sometimes, after they taught their "lessons", they would push the swing. Darrin would sit with her while his brother pushed, or vice versa. The twins rarely let her push. Despite many of her protests, they just wouldn't let her.

"But I can do it," she insisted.

"We're not letting you do something that we can do ourselves," Darrin said, sitting across from her.

"Stop treating me like I'm a little girl," Aceline said stubbornly, crossing her arms.

"You are a girl, Ace," Dar said, jumping on as he stopped pushing. He slid in the seat next to his brother.

"I'm little?"

"Well, no," Darrin answered. "But you're still a girl." The Princess kept her arms crossed, not even bothering to look at them.

"Oh, come on, Princess," they whined in unison. (They used the title "Princess" as a term of endearment.) "You know we were joking." She still didn't look at them, but a twinkle of amusement flashed in her purple eyes.

"Aceline," Dar said, an uncharacterstic devilish look on his face. Quite suddenly, both twins started tickling her. Tears of laughter streamed down her face as she lay on the swing, feeling a bit helpless.

"Alright, alright!" she yelled, still laughing. The tickling stopped, and both boys leaned back, grinning happily.

"Time we should be getting back," Darrin noted, looking at the setting sun. The other two nodded.

Their short trip back to the main castle was filled with laughter and talk. Aceline and Darrin were laughing at a joke that Dar told when they came across the Lord Daemyn and the Pevensies. They fell silent as if they had been struck dumb.

"Hello," the Princess said quietly.

"Dar, Darrin," Lord Daemyn said, looking as stiff as a board. "It's time for supper." She looked up into the lord's face and was surprised to see disdain clearly written in his eyes, even though the rest of him remained emotionless. Her face fell and her hurt was visible through her expression. The twins looked surprised at her as they looked at their father.

Then they decided to amuse her.

"We shall see you later, Your Majesty," they said, bowing in perfect unison. To everyone's surprise, especially hers, they kissed her hand. Her eyebrows flew up, but they quickly went down as she followed suit.

"I do hope I see you, my lords," she replied, curtseying.

"Perhaps in the...S.S.?" Dar asked.

"I will be waiting," she answered, nodding.

"We will be there tonight," Darrin answered. Though her face remained blank, her irises showed the mischievous twinkle that the boys knew was inside of her. Before turning to leave with their father, the twins winked at her. She did the same. As they left, Peter turned to her, an angry expression on his handsome features.

"What was that?" he asked indignantly.

"I can't make friends?" she asked crossly.

"Looks to me like they want to be more than friends," the High King mumbled. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Oh, stop it, Peter. I'm just friends with Dar and Darrin," she said. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to have a bit of a lie-down." She walked away, leaving behind an annoyed-looking Peter and three very confused Susan, Edmund and Lucy.

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"What took you so long?" she asked as the twins took their usual seats across from her.

"Sorry we're late," Darrin said.

"Father was giving us a lecture," Dar added.

"What about?" she asked, although she already knew the answer.

"About how we're friends with you," Dar answered quietly after a short pause.

"Oh."

"Look, Ace," Darrin began, and they were surprised to hear annoyance in his voice. "We don't care what our father thinks."

"We're still going to be friends with you, no matter what," his twin said audaciously.

"Always."

"For as long as we live." Aceline was surprised and touched at their words. She hugged both of them and was pleased to feel their arms wrap around her waist.

"Thanks," she said. "I'm glad to hear that." They talked for a bit until the Princess began to feel a bit tired.

"Come on, we'll take you to your room," Dar said. The twins laced both of her arms through each of theirs. They manage to keep her awake until they arrived at her room.

"By the way, there's a ball tomorrow night," Darrin said.

"A ball?" she yawned.

"Yes, a ball. Promise you'll be there? We'd feel stupid with no one to talk to," Dar said.

"Yeah, right. Trying to call yourselves stupid while saying that I'm the only one you'd talk to. You're wheedlers, you are."

"Aren't we all?" they asked simultaneously. Aceline laughed at their matter-of-fact tone.

"Goodnight," she said before closing her door.

"Night, Princess," they replied as she shut it.

Don't you just love a jealous Peter? I know I do. Do you? Tell me what you think! Okay, I'm going to do something that I've never done before in a story. I'm going to let my readers be in it! Just leave the name, race, brief appearance and brief personality at the end of your review and I'll promise I'll put you in.