Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.

Summary: Not all shields look as we expected... Not all shields are physical...

Chapter Two

I never realized how boring a palace could be until the shield incident. The palace of Cair Paravel was huge and, although I often accompanied Lucy when she had a free moment and even Susan sometimes, I still wasn't comfortable with the notion of exploring it on my own. After all, there were still Narnians close to the Kings and Queens who looked askance at my presence and relative freedom. My actions at Satyr Alaois' military hearing had both positive and negative results from the army. Many had been swayed by the fact I had stood for Alaois in spite of what he had done and were more inclined to at least introduce themselves when they encountered me. However, those who already resented my presence and had doubts that I was who I said I was (i.e. not a witch) became even more belligerent and blamed me for Alaois' misconduct and his demotion. So far, Alaois himself had avoided being anywhere near me, which was a bit of a relief.

Anyway, I was bored out of my mind by the ninth hour on Thirdday, which was only the second full day I had off since the shield incident, and I decided to do something different, something that did not involve me staring at the ceiling and walls of my chambers. I peeked out into the hall and spotted Ptah, one of the Leopards who often acted as my guard/escort. Seeing he wasn't busy, or so he told me, I asked him if he knew where I might find drawing materials. He gave me a strange look, but asked me to wait in my parlor while he inquired after the matter. I had a suspicion that he might have been under orders not to let me wander around looking for stuff because who knew what trouble would come after me. Twenty minutes and three slightly nervous Fauns later, the parlor was covered in stacks of paper and other drawing tools. Ptah may have been a tad excessive in his quest for materials, but I was thrilled to have the chance to flesh out an idea that had been brewing since October, or Frostmoon as the Narnians called it. I set to work with a curious (nosy) Ptah looking over my shoulder the entire time.

I was no Da Vinci, but I did have some skill although it would have been easier if I hadn't kept trying to reach out and adjust the paper with my sling-bound left arm. After over four hours' worth of work and several painful reminders of why I was doing this in the first place, I finally had a sketch that I was happy with and I showed it to Ptah. He tilted his head as he peered from my sketch to me. "I see, this is good. But, what exactly do you plan to do with it?"

I couldn't help grinning in satisfaction as I stated, "I'm going to take it to someone who might be able to bring it to life." Ptah had been somewhat dismayed at my decision and I finally pried out of him that both Oreius and Alithia had given him and others the strict instruction that they should discourage me from running off without an escort until I was completely healed. Honestly, I thought he was more afraid of what Alithia would do to him than Oreius...not that I blamed him.

After promising Ptah that I would avoid anything that looked remotely dangerous, such as Alithia and Oreius, I hurried down to the forge, and found Baumur the chief smith muttering over a familiar dented shield. He scowled up at me, "What do you want, girlie? I heard you was told to stay away from here by the general and the healer because you got hurt. Bah, I spend all this time making you the finest armor, and then the girlie gets hurt once and all that work goes to waste."

According to Edmund this was typical Dwarf behavior, especially for a Black Dwarf like Baumur, so I ignored his grumbling and cut to the chase. "Oreius said I couldn't go to the training grounds, he said nothing about the forge. It's a temporary situation by the way, and don't call me 'girlie'. Now, I was going to see if you might be up to a challenge, but now I think I'll just go to Corvin instead."

Drawing on what little Edmund had mentioned about Dwarf politics, I threw out the Red Dwarf smith's name just to see if I could get Baumur's attention. It worked as he immediately threw up a hand, "Wait a moment, girlie, what kind of challenge do you think I wouldn't take but the redbeard would?"

I hid a grin, after all, it wouldn't do to let Baumur know I was bluffing, and casually held up my folded sketch. "I was just wondering if it would be possible to make something like this." I handed him the sketch, which he eagerly spread out on the workbench in front of him and motioned for me to keep talking as he examined it. "I know it's a bit rough, but can you tell me if it's feasible?"

Baumur nodded thoughtfully without ever taking his eyes off the parchment as he answered. "Aye, girlie, this is clear enough to create a real design. Now how long do you need it?"

"About the length of my forearm from the handle to the blade tip, and I need two. If you have time to tinker with such a thing, but if you are too busy..."

Baumur actually looked like he would fight me if I tried to take the sketch back, which he possessively moved further away from me. "No, no, girlie, this be a little diversion but I shall do it anyway. I need to fix some aspects to make it a real design, but I will do it." He stopped and looked me up and down with the same critical eye as when he had been poking and prodding me when determining the type of armor I was best suited for three weeks ago. "I suppose you also want a way to hide these on your person. Because we all know that a girlie can't always have her weapons hanging off her. Another inconvenience brought about by having a human girlie in the army." He scowled at me again and pointed towards the door as he growled, "Bah, be off before the centaur finds you here and I get dragged into more delays to my work."

I turned around to hide my grin as Baumur muttered and complained behind me, but I noticed he had already set the shield aside and pulled out his own tools before I had moved an inch. My mission of getting the chief smith to help bring my idea to life now completed, I quickly headed for the door. For as the good Dwarf had pointed out, I really didn't want to get caught by Oreius inside the forge...I could just picture that scene and it wouldn't be pretty. Walking up the hall from the forge, I remembered that I was supposed to meet Lucy and Edmund in one of the solariums so I picked up my pace in hopes of not being completely late. Then Murphy struck again as I rounded the corner and promptly bounced off someone taller than me.

I didn't fall over, but only because the person I had crashed into managed to grab my good arm and pulled me upright. I looked up to see a Centaur who I remembered was a Captain in the army. Actually, if I recalled correctly he was the Centaur Captain who had been there when the Kings came to rescue Lucy from Jannes. He looked amused and never took his eyes off my face as he said, "I see now why you two are so concerned."

I shut my eyes and resisted the sudden impulse to run and hide as I recognized the next voice to speak. "Indeed, Ardon, it seems that Katerina Alambiel has a talent for showing up in unexpected places." I opened my eyes and resigned myself to the fact that my promise to Ptah had just flown out the window and probably the country too as I met the less than thrilled gazes of the two Centaurs on either side of Ardon: Oreius and Alithia. Ardon let go of my arm as Oreius turned his full attention to me, "So, Katerina Alambiel, where were you going in such a hurry?"

I was a little confused that he hadn't immediately called me out for coming out of the forge...after all, the hall I had just run out of only went to the one place. However, if he wanted to ignore my technically non-breach of his specific instructions, I was more than happy to oblige him. "I am supposed to meet Lucy and Edmund in the solarium and I am running a bit late."

Oreius raised an eyebrow at me, "Which solarium are you meeting their majesties in?"

I opened my mouth to answer only to have to shut it again as I realized I had absolutely no idea. "Well, I don't know. Wait, exactly how many solariums are there?"

The three Centaurs exchanged an amused glance before Ardon looked down at me and answered with a low rumble that sounded suspiciously like laughter, "There are twenty-three different solariums in the main palace of Cair Paravel."

The Centaurs were obviously enjoying my shock far too much as I only managed to get out a quiet "Oh." I looked up at the ceiling and muttered, "I am going to be lost for years before I figure out which one is the right one."

Oreius smirked at me as he started down the hall to my left, "Since their majesties are expecting you today and not years from now, Katerina Alambiel, we will make sure you get to the correct solarium. Come on." I decided it was safer to follow Oreius' instructions than to argue and get myself completely lost until the guards finally took pity on me and pointed me in the right direction. The four of us made our way to the solarium and soon I could already hear the sound of Lucy's cheerful chattering filtering out of the room just around the corner from us. I was about to step forward when Oreius clapped a hand onto my shoulder, effectively stopping me in my tracks. I looked up and he gave me the same warning glare he often graced Peter and Edmund with when they were about to do something foolish in his training yard. He kept his voice low as Ardon and Alithia trotted past us. "Katerina Alambiel, I do not know why you were in the forge nor do I feel the need to know. However, until your arm has healed completely, you are to stay out of the training yard and the forge, understood?"

There was no sense in arguing with him, especially since I had already accomplished my goal for the forge, so I nodded. "Of course, Oreius. But, just so you know, it is rather unfair to put so much pressure on Ptah to keep me...out of mischief."

Oreius snorted then gently squeezed my shoulder, "Ptah volunteered to be nearby should you need anything. It is his own fault that he volunteered to do so within Alithia's hearing. All I said was he needed to do his best to keep you relatively secure. It was Alithia who started in on explaining what would happen if you were not encouraged to stay calm and quiet instead of wandering around the Cair getting into mischief. Come, you mustn't keep their majesties waiting any longer." Oreius' comment only served to confirm my suspicion that Alithia was the scarier of the two, but I didn't say anything as I fell into step with him as we walked into the solarium.

Spending time with Lucy and her siblings was always revealing, especially when Edmund was the victim...ahem, guest of her impromptu gatherings. I truly liked Lucy as it would take someone with a true heart of stone to dislike her, but she had absolutely no concept of personal space. If you were her friend, then you had best prepare yourself to be trapped in her touchy-feely ways no matter how unaccustomed to it you might be. Edmund, on the other hand, while he wasn't completely standoffish, he was not nearly as touchy-feely as the rest of his family. I appreciated that and I think he appreciated the way I took care to avoid encroaching on his space, but there was a small elephant in the room every time we were left together. We both had born the name of 'traitor' though mine was solely accusatory in nature and we had both been touched by evil, albeit in completely different ways. I understood him better than even he realized. Edmund hadn't completely relaxed around me, at least not the way his siblings had, and I suspected it was due to the fact he felt I might judge him. It was a misconception I intended to fix as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

Fortunately, the opportunity presented itself at the little get-together. Lucy had been distracted by the presence of one Mr. Tumnus who had come for a surprise visit and I had wandered off to the far side of the solarium to give them some time together. The nice thing about being in a huge palace is most of the rooms are by default very large, so it was easy to put enough space between myself and the small gathering that I could breathe. Crowded situations are definitely not one of my favorite things, but I've gotten use to adapting to such things. As I walked along the far wall, I ran into someone else who had chosen to escape the excitement. Edmund was leaning against the wall watching the activities until he noticed me.

With slight nod, he shifted over creating more than enough room for me to join him. I accepted the unspoken invitation. We watched the room's occupants visiting with one another in silence for several minutes until Edmund broke the silence in a low almost-whisper. "So, you managed to get yourself broken and banned from training almost faster than Peter did. How long?"

I glanced over at where Alithia had now joined the conversation between Lucy and Tumnus and fiddled with the edge of my sling as I replied in an equally low tone. "Two weeks of no training and six for complete healing. So, I have to get through one week, four days and ten, no, nine hours before I can do something again."

As I had hoped, Edmund smirked and shook his head in mock-disbelief. "You are actually keeping that close a watch on how long before you can harass the sword masters of Cair Paravel again? You really are as bad as Peter." I thought that might have been a compliment and took it as such, even though I just shrugged. Edmund was relaxing a little more around me than he usually did and suddenly he whispered, "Why were you so easy on Alaois? I admire what you did, but I don't completely understand why you chose to show him so much mercy."

I glanced around but the only people remotely close to us were Oreius and Ardon, who seemed to be deep in their own conversation. I turned to face the too-old eyes of an eleven-year-old boy who was the Just King of Narnia. "I'm quite familiar with both justice tempered by mercy and justice without such temperance. I have found that it is harder for a person to endure justice with mercy than without because they know they deserved worse. This fact troubles them far more than accepting the harsher justice they know they earned, so in reality, I didn't go easy on Alaois at all." I paused as I touched the two pendants of cross and lion hanging from my necklace then continued in an even quieter voice, "I believe mercy allows people to see more clearly than even justice alone. Everyone has failings, Edmund, it's just that some people's failings are more public than others. I will not judge a person solely by their failings but by what they do in the aftermath. The aftermath proves their character far more than the actual failing, no matter how terrible that failing might have been."

Edmund looked at me in stunned silence as I prayed he understood everything I had said and left unsaid. Then, he slowly nodded and I saw the acknowledgment of the dual meaning contained in my words in his dark gaze. I watched the residual tension drain from this boy, this King, and he grinned at me as he asked in a much louder tone, "And, just how did you manage break your own arm with your own shield, Kat?"

I blinked at him and then I realized his question had echoed loudly during a brief lull in the conversations occupying everybody else in the room. Everyone's eyes immediately swung to us, okay me, and I glared at the eleven-year-old imp staring at me with an innocent face and eyes full of silent laughter. I answered in the clearest and driest voice I could muster, "With talent."

There was a beat and then Lucy's giggles filled the air until nearly everyone in the solarium was laughing with her. Edmund was nearly bent double from his laughter and I looked over to see all three Centaurs were grinning. I rolled my eyes at them and their grins widened. Oreius gave a slight nod and I could see approval mixed in with the amusement in his gaze. I had a feeling Oreius, at least, had overheard my conversation with Edmund and had conveniently positioned himself and Ardon where they could shield us from sight for most of the room until our conversation had returned to lighter topics.

Of course, my brilliant retort to Edmund's teasing circled around the entirety of Cair Paravel by evening meal so, starting the next morning, whenever someone was asked how he or she had managed to accomplish something a bit unbelievable, they invariably answered "With talent." I could only marvel at how fast the Narnian grapevine worked and later laughed, well, smiled, along when someone had the audacity to say it in my presence...usually Edmund and Peter. Aside from my soon-to-be revealed legacy, I left the solarium pleased that I had managed to pull down one of the last barriers between Edmund and myself while reminding him of the far-reaching effects of mercy. As a wise man had once told me, "Mercy is one of the most effective shields against hate and even guilt that we have been granted. We just have to know how to use it properly."

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A/N: Please Read and Review! Hopefully, y'all enjoyed this chapter. The quote at the end is one I made up, hence no extra disclaimer for this chapter. Virtual cupcakes to anyone who happens to guess which old man Kat is referring to here. :) I'm still working on the next chapter of Revealed, promise, it's just proving a mite difficult to hammer out the kinks before I post it. Look for more chapters coming soon. Click the little button below and let me know what y'all think. Also, if there's anything you would like to see show up in this story, let me know and I'll do my best to include it.