Disclaimer: Nope.

AN: Thanks for the positive response to my story. It's the first one I've posted so I wasn't really sure what to expect. And as for any questions you may have… you'll just have to wait and see! :)

Chapter 3

Cair Paravel was situated on a peninsula in the Eastern Ocean. On one side, there was a beach leading down to the water. On another side, there was a cliff with a sharp drop. One day, about a year and a half after the defeat of the White Witch, Susan, Lucy, Peter, Edmund, and Anna happened to be taking a walk along the cliff area.

"It's beautiful out, isn't it?" Susan asked. It was a warm summer evening, and the sky was just beginning to be tinged with the colors of sunset.

"Yes, it is quite lovely," Lucy agreed.

"Look at those seagulls up there," Peter said. "I don't think they're Talking Seagulls, though."

Edmund was standing on the edge of the cliff, looking down. "Watch the ocean clash against the rocks."

Anna came over to join him. She held her arms out for balance as she looked down at the waves crashing against the cliffs. "Wow," she said, "I wish I had a camera."

"Silly!" Lucy laughed, "There are no cameras in Narnia!"

"That's why I have to wish I had one," Anna replied.

"Oh, do come away from there," Susan called.

Edmund stepped away, but Anna stayed at the very edge of the cliff.

"It's fine, Susan," she said. "I'm not going to fall."

But that turned out to be a lie.

Right then, an unusually strong gust of wind knocked her off balance. Edmund leapt forward to try to steady her, but to no avail. Her foot slipped, and Anna was falling, falling...

The next thing she knew, Anna found herself being carried in the direction of the castle.

"What -?" she choked out, and then coughed.

"Shh," said Susan, who was walking along side her and Peter, who was the one carrying her. The Gentle Queen brushed the wet hair out of Anna's face in a maternal way. "It's alright. You'll be alright."

Lucy hurried up on the other side. "Don't worry, Anna. I'll just get my cordial and you'll be all better, I promise."

"No," Anna said. She thought her voice sounded weird, but kept talking anyway. "The cordial is too precious to waste on this. I'm fine. I'll live."

Lucy looked worried. "Are you sure?"

Anna nodded weakly, and sunk again into unconsciousness.

When she opened her eyes again, she was laying in her bed in her room. The Pevensies were all gathered around, looking anxious. None of them noticed that she was awake, because they were focused on a centaur on the other side of the room. Anna recognized him as the local doctor.

"She will make a full recovery," he was saying in his deep voice. "A few days rest should put her right again. If his highness hadn't saved her when she had, the damage could have been much worse."

"Don't call us 'highness'," Peter said. "Just call us by our names, everyone else -"

"She's awake!" Lucy cried gleefully. The other three's gazes all snapped from the centaur to Anna. The doctor smiled and slipped out of the room quietly.

Edmund was by her bedside in an instant. "Never do that again," he said, touching her cheek to show how serious he was, "You scared the living daylights out of me - out of us."

"Don't worry," Anna told him tiredly "I'm not planning on trying that again." Edmund hugged her and then sat back down in his chair beside his older brother.

Lucy and Susan immediately rushed forward and began hugging and talking and reprimanding and thanking Aslan and asking if she wanted something to eat or if she wanted something to drink. Anna shook her head, the effort making her dizzy.

"How did I survive that fall?" she asked, "That was the scariest thing ever." Well, she thought, Second scariest thing ever.

When no one said anything, she said, "The centaur said that his highness saved me. Was that you, Peter?" she asked, turning her head to look at him, "Did you save me?"

"Yes," Edmund said quickly, "Yes, he did save you."

Edmund and Peter exchanged a meaningful glance, but Anna was still too tired to notice.

"Thank you," she said.

"Oh," Peter said, "It was no problem." Recalling it later, Anna would think he said it as though he was telling an inside joke that he knew she wouldn't understand. But then, she didn't notice. She was too impressed with Peter.

Anna fell into a routine over the next three years. In the morning, after rising, she would have breakfast with the Pevensies. Then, she and Edmund would be taught fencing by Oreius, the centaur. (The other three used to take classes with them, but Peter was moved to an advanced program, Susan was perfectly content with her bow and arrows, and although dear Lucy tried her best, fencing just wasn't her thing.) Then, nothing much happened until noon. This time, between fencing classes and lunch, was when the kings and queens would have their meetings with the Narnian council, if they had one that day. Anna would try to help as much as she could, but more often than not, she zoned out and wasn't of much assistance at all.

After lunch, Anna, Lucy, and Susan would practice archery. Even though Susan hadn't known how to shoot a bow and arrow before coming to Narnia, as Anna had, the Gentle Queen quickly surpassed her in skill. Lucy hadn't caught up to Anna yet, but Anna knew she would soon. The rest of the day usually varied. Sometimes something was going on, and other times, Anna just walked the gardens with Lucy or played chess with Peter. This routine was only changed when some kind of event was going on, like the Harvest Ball that Susan was planning.

She showed up late to breakfast, and then dragged them all down to the ballroom. They stared in shock when they saw that the entire room had been set up with tables, each covered with different food dishes.

"Su?" Anna asked, after no one had said anything for a good two minutes. "What is this?"

"Food options for my Harvest Ball," Susan replied cheerily.

"To celebrate what holiday?" Peter asked.

"It isn't for a holiday," Susan explained, "It's to celebrate autumn. Everyone's invited."

Lucy clapped her hands together. "Oh, what fun this will be! Do you need any help, Susan?"

"Actually, that's what I brought you down here for. Do you think you could sample these dishes and tell me what you think?"

The other four surveyed the hundreds of types of food that were spread out before them.

"Susan," Edmund said, "If you had wanted us to eat all of this, you probably should have come to us before breakfast."

Susan sighed. "Let's just start with the dessert." She led the others to a particularly long dining table on the left side of the room. "This one shouldn't take too long. I've already picked my favorites. I only want you to give your opinions to help me narrow down the list. Alright, here we have lemon squares and petit fours." She passed both of the trays around, and everybody took one. Susan went on showing them desserts and passing around trays until she reached the last one. "Now, this is my favorite and I think it's the one that I'm going to pick - Turkish Delight."

"NO!" Anna was surprised to hear two voices yell it, instead of just hers. She looked over at Edmund, to find him as shocked as her.

"I know you're full," Susan said, "But this is the last one. Can't you just try it?" She held the plate forward.

Both Anna and Edmund stepped back, as if the dessert was made of poison.

"What's up with you?" Peter asked. The other three Pevensies didn't know about Edmund's association of the treat with the White Witch, and no one knew the reason for Anna's aversion to it.

Edmund gave a meaningful look to her. "Anna, can I talk to you in the hall for a minute?" He caught her wrist and dragged her out of the ballroom.

"Why did you react that way to the Turkish Delight?" he asked, once they were out of earshot of the others.

"Why did you?" she countered.

"You first."

"No, you."

Edmund sighed. "It's the White Witch," he admitted. If he noticed Anna tensed up upon his saying that, he didn't give an indication. "When I first came to Narnia, she gave me enchanted Turkish Delight. It's part of the reason I betrayed my family."

"I didn't know that," Anna told him.

"So why did you react like that?"

Anna faltered. "I... just don't like Turkish Delight."

Edmund crossed his arms. "Anna, if you just didn't like it, you would have eaten it anyway."

"How do you know?"

"Because that's what you do at dinner. You eat as much of whatever it is as you possibly can, and then quickly take a bite of something else to get the taste out of your mouth."

Anna opened her mouth to argue, but then realized he was right. "That is true. I just reacted that way because... I'm deathly allergic."

"Anna, you've told me that you aren't allergic to anything."

"Anything... except Turkish Delight," she said.

Edmund raised an eyebrow. "You're lying."

"I know," Anna sighed. "Look, if you must know, I've always associated it with the White Witch too. It... it was a favorite food of hers. It's weird to think of her as eating, but I guess she must have."

Edmund looked thoughtful. "How did you know this?"

"Read it in a history book," Anna said.

"Why were you so reluctant to tell me that?" Edmund asked.

"Because I was afraid you'd be upset that the Witch's favorite food was also your favorite. Or ex-favorite," she told him. Of course there were other reasons, but she wasn't going to tell him. Or anybody. Still, she found herself saying, "And also because it scared me. The Witch, not the food."

"Edmund! Anna!" Susan called to them from inside the ball room. "Are you going to help me or not?"

Edmund grinned. "Should we run now?"

"And have Susan yell at us later? I don't think so," Anna said, although she, too, was smiling.

Edmund protested, "Susan won't yell at us. She's - she's... gentle."

Anna nodded toward the door. "Come on. Let's go back in."

The two entered the ballroom again, only to find Susan right by the door. She sent Anna to try different entrees with Peter and whisked Edmund away to sample appetizers with Lucy.

"Are you okay?" Peter asked worriedly as soon as Anna approached him.

"Oh, yes I am," she replied, taking a deep breath. "I don't know what came over me. So, entrees."

Peter seemed to notice her obvious change of subject and dropped it. "Yes. Did you know there are seventeen different ways to cook a chicken?"

"There are probably many more," Anna said with a smile and stepped to stand beside Peter at the table's edge. "But let's be thankful Susan didn't decide to try them all!"

Peter laughed. Anna felt happy that she was able to make him smile. Not that he didn't often laugh, but it was usually at Lucy or Edmund. She studied him. Whenever he wasn't there, Anna always had to wonder if he was as handsome as she pictured him in her mind. And whenever he was there, she looked at him and realized he was.

"She would, too," the High King said. He noticed her looking at him. "What?"

Anna blushed. "Nothing."

Peter studied her thoughtfully. Suddenly he snapped his fingers. "Oh, I've been meaning to ask you something."

Anna held up her hands in defense. "Whatever was broken, I swear it was Edmund."

Peter laughed again. "No. Lu and I have been invited to visit Archenland for a couple months to reestablish the ancient alliance between our countries, one that Jadis destroyed. Do you want to come with us?"

"Yeah, I'd love to!" Anna exclaimed, happy to be invited anywhere by Peter. "Susan and Edmund aren't coming?"

"They'll be coming along later, but we need someone to keep an eye on the place, since we'll be gone for quite a while."

"Alright, wonderful!" Anna said. "When are we leaving?"

"The day after Susan's Harvest Ball," Peter told her. He added apologetically, "I would have asked you sooner, but I had to write back to King Lune to see if it would be acceptable to bring guests and..."

Anna held up her hand to stop him. "It's fine, I understand. I can't wait!"

"Peter," Susan called. She walked by and gently pulled her older brother away by the arm. "I need you to look at different colored napkins for me. I can't decide between off-white and beige." Peter gave Anna a look over his shoulder and mouthed Help me! before consenting to being taken away.

Anna giggled, and turned around only to find that Lucy was right there.

"So you're coming?" the young queen asked excitedly.

"Of course!" Anna said.

"Hooray! I so wanted to tell you, but Peter said that I couldn't, because he didn't want you to get your hopes up. And then, I couldn't tell you because he said he wanted to ask you himself." The look on her face indicated that this was significant.

"What does that mean?" Anna asked.

"I don't know," Lucy said, although it was clear that she had a few ideas.

Anna rephrased her previous question. "What do you think it means?"

Lucy leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "I think he likes you."

Anna allowed herself a small smile.

Lucy gave her a wide grin. "Well, I had better get back to tasting fancy bread. Goodbye!"

"Bye!"

Anna watched as she skipped back to join Edmund. The Just King was giving Anna a suspicious look.

"What?" she asked him.

There wasn't any way he could have heard her all the way across the ballroom, but he must have read her lips or her expression, because he merely shrugged and turned away.

"Edmund," Anna told him. "You can't do this. The White Witch will turn you to stone."

The soon-to-be-king drew his sword. "I have to try." He let out a battle cry, and charged across the battle field.

The Witch turned to him, her expression of utter loathing. He dodged her first swipe. Anna ran toward them, arrow on the string, to try to help. She was too late. The White Witch struck again, and her blow hit home. Anna screamed as Edmund turned rapidly to stone.

"EDMUND!"

Anna turned to see Peter charging toward Jadis, his expression truly frightening.

"No, Peter!" Anna yelled to him. "Don't fight her! Wait for Aslan!"

"Aslan is dead, Anna," he shouted back, and began to battle the Witch. Anna fell back as the clashing of his sword and her wand created sparks. Ducking her head, she ran to the statue that was Edmund. She gently touched his stone face, not bothering to wipe the tears that were running down her cheeks. "There's always a price for those who betray the Witch," she murmured.

Suddenly, a painful cry pierced the air behind her. Fear pounding in her heart, Anna turned slowly, and almost stopped breathing. Peter lay at the Witch's feet, her Stone Knife sticking out of his chest.

She tried not to panic. "LUCY!" Anna screamed. "LUCY!"

The Witch chuckled darkly and twirled her wand between her fingers. "Do you think that the little girl's cordial will help him now? The son of Adam is dead, my dear." She cast the stone Edmund a look of loathing. "Both are."

"LUCY!" Anna cried again. She wasn't going to give up hope.

"I don't think the Daughter of Eve will hear you, child," Jadis cooed. "After all, she is in my statuary, and that's all the way back at my castle."

The image of Lucy frozen in stone flit before Anna's eyes. She opened her mouth to scream for Susan, but the Witch cut her off with a chuckle. "Her sister is with her."

"You killed them all?" Anna asked. She meant it to sound threatening, but ended up seeming more like a scared little girl.

Jadis sighed dramatically. "It had to be done. They were simply too dangerous to let live. I'm only sorry that it had to take this long. Really, the only thing protecting them was Aslan, and I killed him myself last night. Don't look at me like that. I know you don't approve of murder, but you must understand it was either him or me. And the human children, as I said, were too dangerous to let live." She grinned. "You, on the other hand, were marvelous, my dear. I thought that your turning in the girls was wonderful, but tricking Edmund into coming to battle me instead of running away like the coward he is was brilliant on your part. You're the smartest Daughter of Eve I have met so far, and the prettiest too. You're much more beautiful than that silly Susan girl. Once we get back to my palace, I will make you a princess, and you will rule under me, and eventually be my heir. But for now, let us have a small treat to celebrate our victory." The Witch reached into her fur robe and pulled out a small tin box that Anna was all too familiar with. Jadis lifted the lid to show what was inside. "Turkish Delight, my dear?"

AN: Sorry for this chapter. It isn't my best. It was really hard to write. I kept splitting it up and adding things in and taking stuff out, and I don't even remember what my original intent with this chapter is, because it sure is different now. Anyway, I would have cut this chapter so you don't have to read it, but it sets up for the more important things that happen later. So I hope you don't trash this section, but I won't blame you if you do.