Hello everyone! Here's the next update. Enjoy!

Chapter Two- Everybody's Fool

"Morning Ed!"

"Five more minutes, Lu," Edmund mumbled, burying his face in his pillow to block the suns rays Lucy was allowing to flood into his room.

"Luckily for you, our princess has been delayed, but she's supposed to be here in about an hour. I thought you might like to shower and get something to eat."

"You thought right," he yawned, and got up. "Aslan's mane…"

"What?"

"You! You're wearing a dress. And it's PINK."

"Yes, well, Shaina forced me into it. She said we should try and look our best when we receive our guest."

"I see."

"Anyway, she'll be here soon and both you and Caspian are still in your clothes from yesterday, you both smell of fish, and you both are very cranky because you haven't eaten anything."

"Peter's up?"

"Yes, he's with Shaina. Now get in the shower!"

"Fine, fine, I'm going." He walked through the bathroom door and Lucy left his room.

"Lucy!"

"Oh, hi Damien."

"Wow you look different," her elven friend said, smirking. "My Lady?" She took his arm and they walked down to the beach. "So I'm assuming we aren't training today?"

"No," Lucy sighed. "We have to help give Araminta the tour. And there's the big feast for her…"

"Big feast?"

"Yes, it was the Tisroc's idea. He thinks his daughter deserves it."

"And you don't?"

"No, not particularly. But I've bad mouthed the woman enough, I am done."

"I must say, I don't know whether I should be looking forward to meeting the woman or not. Caspian, Peter and Edmund all seem to like her, whereas you are dreading the thought of her coming."

"If I have any say in who you believe, it should be me. Men never see the bad side of a woman. However, women do. I bet you anything that Shaina won't like her either, but you will."

"How old is she?"

"Twenty two, two years older than Ed and Caspian."

"Ah. Is Prince Valdis coming?"

"I hope not."

"I hope he does, I'd like to give the bastard a piece of my mind."

"Damien!"

"What? After what he did to you?"

"Well I suppose he is worse than Araminta."

"I think he's worse than anyone. Why exactly is she coming?"

"She has eyes for Caspian," Lucy said, looking venomous.

"Jealous, are we?"

"N-no! Just uh…concerned for his health."

"Sure," Damien said, grinning. "I think you like him."

"I do not!"

"Right. So that's why you blush everytime he compliments you?"

"I only blush because people don't normally say things like that to me." Damien stopped her, and looked her in the eyes.

"Well they should, because you're beautiful." He paused, and then grinned. "See? You didn't blush."

"You're horrible."

"I try. So are you going to tell him?"

"Tell who what?"

"Tell Caspian you love him."

"I don't!"

"I know you do, you just have to realize it. Why else would you be so mad about Araminta coming?"

"We have a history."

"Yes, that you refuse to tell anyone. But think about this…who else are you that comfortable with?"

"You."

"Lucy my love, you only love me in my dreams."

"Well I'm glad I make your subconscious mind so happy." Damien laughed and ruffled her hair. "Hey! I spent two minutes on that!"

"You care?"

"Not at all. Your sister can stuff me into as many dresses as she likes but I'll forever act like a man."

"How the two of you get along so well, I'll never understand."

"It's like me and my sister. Shaina keeps me in line and out of trouble, and I help her to loosen up a bit. We complete each other."

"So I assume you're happy for her and Peter?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be? It took him forever to get the courage to court her, and Peter usually has no problem around the opposite sex. Why, do you not like them together?"

"I do, it's nice to see my sister so pleased. I'm just very protective of her."

"You shouldn't be. Peter is over protective of me and it drives me insane." The trumpets sounded clearly and they could see a ship approaching. "Here we go…stay with me?"

"Always."

"There you are!" Peter said as they drew closer.

"Lu, your hair," Shaina frowned.

"It's fine, Shain." Lucy mouthed a thankyou to her brother, but Shaina combed Lucy's strawberry blonde curls through with her fingers anyway.

"Morning," Edmund and Caspian said together.

"It's after mid day."

"Ok, Pete, whatever you say."

"So those blasted trumpets woke us up again…where is this lady?" Caspian asked impatiently.

"Caspian you'd better behave yourself," Shaina warned. "You too Ed."

"Yes mum," Edmund sniggered, and the twenty-year-old men dissolved into laughter. Lucy rolled her eyes, trying to decide if they were just dead tired or drunk.

"I see a ship," said Damien. "And I think Araminta is at the bow, since she's wearing a crown. And I think Valdis is also with her."

"What?" Peter, Caspian and Edmund all said sharply.

"I doubt he's staying," Shaina said. "He's probably just accompanying his sister."

"I hope so," Caspian scowled. He took Lucy's hand and squeezed it, and she smiled at him.

Before the Narnians knew it the ship had docked, and Araminta and Valdis were walking toward them.

"Caspian!" Araminta beamed. "How good it is to see you!" She kissed him on the cheek and Lucy grabbed Edmund's hand, squeezing it tightly. It was this sudden movement that even made Araminta realize the others were there. "Peter, you look marvelous as always."

"As do you my lady."

"Edmund! It's been too long," she said. She held her hand out, and he took it to kiss it.

"It's a pleasure to see you again Araminta."

"Well, well, well…what have we here? You can't possibly be Lucy."

"Think again, Araminta."

"Who knew you'd grow into such a lady? Two years ago I figured you'd end up an old maid, but now…you must be what, 14?"

"18. And you must be what, 30?"

"N-no, 22," Araminta said, a bit high pitched. Araminta's eyes narrowed at the blonde, and she said, "I thought you'd be in Galma with the Lord Drinian and Rhince."

"Oh no, I had to stay here. I don't believe you've met Lady Shaina or Sir Damien?"

"No, I haven't. I'm pleased to meet you both."

"The pleasure is mine," Damien said, and bowed. Araminta smiled at him and turned to Shaina, expecting her to say something as well.

"Welcome to Cair Paravel," Shaina finally said, a fake smile lighting up her face. "I'm Shaina."

"I'm Princess Araminta, one of Caspian's dear friends." Caspian raised his eyebrow, but didn't say anything at the false statement. "You all remember my brother Valdis, do you not?"

"How could we forget him?" Caspian asked, tightening his grip on Lucy's arm. She patted his hand and he smiled at her. Araminta's expression turned from lovely to rage, but right back to lovely.

"It is a pleasure to see you all again. I'm afraid I can't stay long, but I was wondering if I may stay the night?"

"Not a problem," Peter said through gritted teeth. "Elise, will you please show Araminta and Valdis to their rooms?" A small brunette servant came over and stood next to Lucy.

"We'd say we'd take you on the tour now, but we have a grand feast in honor of your arrival in about two hours, and we figured you'd want to freshen up and get settled," Caspian said to the two Calormen royals.

"Yes, that would be rather nice," Valdis agreed.

"Excellent. I'll have someone bring up your luggage as well."

"Won't you escort us, Caspian?"

"Nay, Princess, I must go to the kitchens to make sure everything is going alright. We'll see you in two hours for dinner, and then we can catch up."

"Lovely." Elise led the Princess and Prince in the direction of the guest wing, and Shaina looked at Lucy.

"We're going to get ready," Shaina said, and before the men could say anything they were inside the castle, walking swiftly toward Lucy's room.

"That's strange," Damien frowned. "Lucy never gets ready until ten minutes before wherever she has to be."

"I'll go find out what's going on," Edmund said, and he followed the two women inside.

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"I don't like her." Shaina scowled as she paced across Lucy's floor, and Lucy sat down on her bed.

"I told you that you wouldn't."

"How can those boys honestly think she's a kind, gentle person? It's so blatantly obvious that she's putting on an act. And the way she looked at you…and the way she was looking at Peter, oh I'm going to…"

"Calm down, Shain, I know all that too. But you know the ways of a man's mind. They never see the bad side of a woman until it's too late."

"If she does anything to Peter I will personally tear her spleen out through her left nostril."

"Shaina! Wow, I don't think I've ever heard you say something so violent. Bravo!"

"Oh be quiet. I can't believe that even Edmund is fooled!"

"It is a pity, isn't it? He's the last person I thought would believe her."

"So I know that Caspian and Peter and all them keep asking you why you and Araminta hate each other so badly. Since I don't like her either, would you care to tell me?"

"I'd be glad to. I don't want to tell them because I know they won't believe me. It doesn't matter that I can't lie. But two years ago, when I went to Calormen with my brothers and Caspian, Araminta instantly couldn't stand me because I was so close with Caspian. She was insanely jealous, and thought that I was big competition, something I'm sure she still thinks I am. Anyway, even though I didn't like Caspian like that then-"

"Wait! You like Caspian?"

"Yes, but we'll talk about that later. Anyway, she wanted to do everything in her power to make me look as bad as possible. I couldn't stand how selfish she was being, so I made her look like a fool in front of Caspian. She was livid, and so she decided to talk to Valdis."

"She didn't…"

"Ask him to do what he did to me? Oh yes, she did. And then she told Caspian to go into that room at the exact time Valdis did, because she thought Caspian would think we were actually having sex. Luckily, he knows me better than that and knew what Valdis was doing."

"She is evil."

"Only we know it, however."

"And now I do too." The door opened, revealing the image of Lucy's 6 foot, dark haired brother.

"Ed? What are you doing here?"

"Well everyone was wondering what was up since you never get ready for anything early, and I said I'd check it out. And Lucy, for the record, I do believe you."

"You do?"

"How could I not? You don't lie. And sorry for eavesdropping."

"Don't worry about it. If it means you'll help us prove Araminta is a fraud, then we don't mind at all," Shaina said.

"Prove she's a fraud? Since when are we doing that?" Lucy asked.

"Well we can't just let her get away with fooling our men!"

"They aren't ours, Shain."

"Well I'm dating Peter, and you like Caspian, and-"

"Woah, woah, woah. You like Caspian?"

"Er…"

"I knew it!"

"How? I didn't tell anyone until now!"

"Well it's kind of obvious. You've never been good at hiding your feelings."

"Apparently not, since Damien figured it out too. But anyway, we can't just go and make Araminta look bad. I learned my lesson the last time."

"We won't make her look bad, we'll just…oh I don't know."

"Good plan, Shain."

"Oh be quiet." Edmund grinned, and sat down next to Lucy.

"Lucy, why don't you just tell the others what she did to you?"

"I know they won't believe me."

"I did."

"That's because you know me better than anyone. If I just openly tell them 'oh, Araminta is the reason why I almost got raped,' then they're just going to think I'm trying to turn them against her since I don't like her at all."

"That isn't something you would do."

"I don't normally bad mouth people either, but I've been doing that frequently. Why should lying be any different?"

"Because it's you. You can't lie, but if you're so dead set against telling them, how about this. I'll tell them the story, and then I will tell you their reaction."

"That's a good idea," Shaina agreed. "And if they don't believe you, then we will form some plan of action."

"Alright, that sounds good to me. I'll leave you two ladies to change."

"Change? Why do we have to change?" Lucy asked.

"Well it is a formal feast, dearest," Shaina said.

"Good luck with her." Edmund ruffled Lucy's hair and left the room.

"I'm already wearing a dress, Shain. Isn't that enough?"

"That is a day dress, Lu. We're supposed to wear formal-"

"Dresses are formal."

"To you they are. But normal women wear dresses, and then for formal occasions they were fancy dresses."

"Why wasn't I born a man?"

"Because your feelings for Caspian would be frowned upon by some people. How long have you known you liked him?"

"A few months now."

"And you didn't tell me? Or Edmund? That's not like you."

"I didn't want anyone to know. It's kind of disgusting since I've always thought of him as my older brother."

"But he isn't really. It's not like you have feelings for Edmund."

"Ew, ew, ew, ew-why would you say that?"

"To gross you out. But Peter told me Caspian returns your feelings."

"No he doesn't."

"Oh yes he does. Peter and Edmund were talking to him about it last night apparently."

"I was with them, how could they?"

"You fell asleep."

"Ah, right. But it isn't like he can act on them now, not with Araminta here."

"Why not?"

"You haven't seen that woman angry. She will do everything possible to make our lives miserable."

"You know that, but he doesn't. What if he does decide to act?"

"He's too polite. He won't want to hurt her feelings."

"Yes, that sounds like Caspian."

"Can we please change the subject? I really don't like talking about it."

"I understand. Alright, what colour dress would you like to wear?"

"Shain…"

"Dark purple? Just what I was thinking." Shaina stuffed the elegant gown into Lucy's arms and shoved her into the bathroom. "I'll be back in half an hour."

"Why?"

"To make sure you actually put the dress on."

"You're very irritating."

"And if I wasn't, you'd look very out of place at dinner." Shaina left the room, and Lucy turned the shower on.

"I hate being a girl sometimes," she mumbled under her breath.

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"This food is exquisite. What is it?" Araminta asked for the hundredth time that evening. Lucy finally slammed her fork down and turned to the dark eyed beauty next to her.

"Pray tell, Araminta, you've never eaten oranges in Calormen?"

"Nay, they don't grow them there."

"Really?" Edmund asked. "For I was positive that oranges originally came from Calormen, you know, seeing as we get our oranges from your country?" Araminta turned bright red. Valdis cleared his throat loudly and turned to Caspian.

"The rooms you have given us are quite complacent, thankyou so much for your hospitality."

"Don't mention it, we like to try and make our guests as at home as possible."

"Maybe that's why we're having oranges," Lucy whispered to Edmund. "Oh wait…" Edmund snorted, and Peter looked at him oddly from across the table.

"So we thought we all would give you the tour tomorrow morning," Peter said. "Does that sound alright with you?"

"That sounds perfect," Araminta said, beaming at the handsome blonde. "Now are your rooms on the same floor as ours, or are they in a different part of the castle?"

"They're in a different part," Caspian answered. "Why?" Valdis ignored the question and said,

"Where are they?"

"He told you, in a different part of the castle," Edmund said. Valdis quickly shut his mouth. "How long are you staying, Valdis?"

"Only tonight and tomorrow."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay, dear brother? Think of all the fun we would have." Araminta's eyes widened, and she stared at him as if trying to tell him something.

"Nay sister, I'm sorry, but you know I must be off to help Jac…my father." Lucy looked sideways over at Edmund, who was also watching the exchange with interest.

"How is your father?" Lucy asked, trying to be as polite as possible.

"He is doing quite well, thankyou. We have…he has been quite busy with things, which is why you haven't heard from him lately."

"I see. We were beginning to worry," Edmund said wryly. No one talked for a few minutes, causing an awkward silence to wash over the company until Damien spoke for the first time during the meal.

"So Araminta, do you like to fence?" he asked, ignoring Lucy's motions of 'don't go there'.

"Not at all. I believe fencing to only be for the men. I don't take part in any kind of manly activity; I feel that doing things they do will only make me one of them, not with one of them. I fear that I'd die alone." She looked sideways at Lucy, smirking at the expression on the younger girl's face.

"Well I am sure that you won't," Damien said. "Someone so beautiful as you are wouldn't have a chance of dying alone." Araminta beamed at him and said,

"Aren't you quite the charmer? It is a pity I haven't met you before now, you're lovely company."

"Obviously you haven't known him long, he's much more irritating than he puts on to be. You'll see." Damien glared at his sister, who just smiled sweetly at him.

"Then maybe you'll be less irritating as time goes by," Araminta muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Lucy."

"Mmm."

"Well supper has been absolutely marvelous," Valdis said, setting down his knife. "What say we all go to a more comfortable area and really catch up."

"Oh what a good idea, brother." The two Calormen's stood up, waiting for the Narnians to join them. Damien, Peter and Caspian got up as well, while Lucy, Shaina and Edmund followed rather slowly.

"Follow me, we can go to the nearest sitting room," Caspian said. Before he even had the chance to take Lucy's arm, Araminta had already grabbed his own.

"Caspian, I've missed you so. It is so nice we can finally talk to one another."

"We have been all evening."

"But we were so far away from each other. It felt like I was back in Calormen all over again."

"Did the oranges help that?" Edmund called up to them, and Lucy stepped on his foot. "Ow!" Peter walked by them, shaking his head and laughing silently along with Shaina. Damien and Valdis walked at the back, Valdis' eyes never leaving Lucy.

"What are you staring at?" Damien finally asked him, and Valdis jumped a bit.

"Er-nothing, nothing at all." Damien stopped him and looked the man square in the eye.

"If you try to hurt Lucy again, I swear it will be the last thing you ever do." Damien looked positively frightening, and he could tell Valdis was frightened by him.

"You don't scare me," Valdis spat. "I'll have you find that fear is not in my vocabulary."

"That may be so. But it's in your eyes." Damien quickened his pace and the two men caught up to the rest of the party.

"How lovely!"

"Araminta, that's a broom cupboard. I needed to get a lantern."

"I-I know, I just…they're much nicer here than they are at home."

"I see." Caspian looked at her a bit skeptically, and then opened the real door to the sitting room. "Is that better?"

"Yes, much." She followed him over to one of the sofas and instantly sat down next to the Narnian King, never withdrawing her arm from his. Lucy noticed Caspian tried to remove his subtly, but Araminta's grip was too tight for subtlety.

'Atleast he doesn't like her like that,' Lucy thought to herself. She looked over at them again, only to see Araminta stroking Caspian's arm with her hand. 'Yet.'

Three hours passed with talk of mostly Calormen, when Lucy finally was too tired (and too fed up) to continue in the discussion. She tried to leave un-noticed, but was caught red handed by the princess herself.

"Lucy, where are you going?"

"I'm sorry, but I am too tired. If I don't go to bed now than I shall fall asleep here, which is rather rude."

"I understand. Afterall, you are the youngest one here. I don't think any of us would want to see you stay up past your bed time," Araminta smirked, and laughed at her joke.

"I'll escort you, Lucy," Caspian said, and jumped up.

"What? Why? Why won't you stay here?" Araminta asked, pouting.

"I'm afraid I need to go to bed as well, I haven't gotten much sleep in the past few days. Goodnight, everyone." The two friends left the room before anymore protests could be issued from Araminta's mouth. "Oh Aslan…"

"I thought you liked her."

"I do, she's very nice, but oh Aslan she's so annoying!"

"Well I'm glad you don't think she's an absolute goddess like Damien does. Honestly, just by looking at him you'd think he was under a spell!"

"I know. Hopefully she'll be better tomorrow, I'm trying to convince myself it's because of the long trip over."

"Somehow I doubt that, but okay. I feel bad leaving the others with them, though."

"I'm sure that they'll head off to bed soon anyway. I knew you'd be the first to leave, and I didn't want you to be walking alone with Valdis in the castle. Plus I haven't really talked to you all day and it's quite depressing."

"Well it's nice to know I mean so much to you." They both blushed. The rest of their walk was silent, but it was a comfortable silence of just enjoying the others company. When they finally reached Lucy's room, Caspian stopped her and said,

"Lucy, I uh…I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

"Do you…I mean to say would you want…um…I think I…goodnight."

"Oh come on, you can't do that! What were you going to say?"

"Nothing, it's stupid. Nevermind. Goodnight." Caspian walked off swiftly in the direction of his own room, and Lucy looked after him, shaking her head.

"That boy is going to be the death of me."

There it is. Please review and tell me what you thought!