Hello to you all! I'm so happy because I was indeed able to update soon and also because this is the longest chapter so far! 2,000 words! Maybe I'll try to keep the next chapters about this same lenght :)

And I don't know you might be wondering how old the characters are in the story, but just in case there are doubts, here you go:

Bridget - 16 years old

Fevian - 19 years old (soon to be 20)

Melvus - 52 years old

King Tavian VII - 44 years old

Queen Alva - 40 years old

Lady Isicara (Cara) - 18 years old

So, same as always, I hope you enojoy this chapter. There is a little something that happens in this chapter that will later lead to the start of the adventure! Yay! :)

Chapter 8

"Dinner"

The young man she had met a few days ago was now wearing the appropriate attire for a prince. He no longer wore the brown worn-out trousers and the dirty white shirt she had seen him using when she met him.

Fevian was wearing a shirt in a deep wine red color, which was made of what could be the most expensive-looking fabric the girl had ever laid eyes on. It was a beautiful shirt, and the color suited him really well, a great contrast against his tanned skin.

He had some dark trousers and black boots, but clean ones, not like the ridding boots he had been using for the past few days. His hair was still a little messy, but that seemed to be the trademark of the prince, who apparently refused to comb his hair like his father or Melvus did and preferred to have it in a much more natural way.

"For Aslan's mane, Bridget" he barely managed to say as the girl opened the door. "You look great. Narnian dresses definitely suit you"

She accepted the compliment without voicing her inner thoughts about what she really believed about Narnian dresses suiting her. She didn't want to look good in Narnian dresses, she didn't want to be in a Narnian castle and even less to have a Narnian dinner with the king and queen of Narnia! Especially the Narnian queen! It was just too much Narnia for her! She desperately wanted some England! Some home.

But in the middle of all those thoughts, some remorse reached Bridget and she felt bad about complaining so much about Narnia. No matter how badly she wanted to go home, she wasn't having such a hard time in Narnia. Fevian was doing all in his power to make it a good experience for her and they barely knew each other! His kindness was something Bridget was beginning to appreciate greatly, even though his boldness and cheeky attitude had bothered her at the beginning.

She managed to smile in reply for the prince's compliment, because she was very nervous about the dinner they were about to go. Bridget had never had such a feeling before. It felt almost as if she was heading directly to a snake pitch.

"But you seem somehow…" he paused, trying to find the right that could best describe her at the moment. "Disturbed"

Tell him you're sick or tired and want to rest! Tell him any bloody thing… but don't go!

Fevian looked at her expecting an answer. And she provided him one. The real one.

"I don't know how to act around royalty!" she whispered, because she couldn't find it in herself to speak louder. All the resolve and courage she had inside herself all the time seemed to have vanished entirely.

Perfect timing! She thought ironically.

"You don't have to act, just be you" Fevian told her encouragingly. "Besides, they won't be expecting you to behave as if you were royalty. They know you're not, so they won't be expecting great manners or extreme politeness as they do from the rest of the guests"

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Just do whatever you see me do. Except from the bowing, don't copy that. Women do curtsies" he said with a charming smile.

"All right" she said, even thought she wasn't really convinced that was going to work as good as the prince believed it would.

Fevian bent his arm for her to take, gave her another of his charming smiles and said jokingly, trying to imitate her accent:

"It is a pleasure to escort you, my lady"

Well, at least he had managed to make her smile now. Bridget played along, did a little curtsy and put her arm around his.

"Not bad. That was one fine curtsy, my lady."

It was the largest table Bridget had ever seen in her life! There were about 30 guests, which Fevian had introduced to her as Lord Whatever-his-name-was from Telmar, his wife and two sons, another young lord from some other land in the south, a woman coming from Archenland to visit the queen, and so on. But every single people sitting at that table had at least one drop of noble or royal blood.

And then there was this lady Isicara from Telmar. She was the daughter of a nobleman who apparently was a close friend to the king of Telmar. She had lived her entire life in the castle and she was raised by the same governess who had raised the two daughters of the king. She was practically a princess. And Bridget had noticed the way Fevian had looked at her.

Now she understood why the queen had mentioned this particular guest above all the others and why Fevian had been interested when his mother mentioned her. It was obvious she was an extreme beauty, with very exotic features. She had big brown eyes, long chestnut hair cascading down her shoulders and her back in long, loose curls. But it was her gaze the most attractive feature from the lady. At least that was what seemed to captivate every single man in that room. Or the unmarried ones, at least.

Fortunately for Bridget, the beautiful lady was sitting on the other side, near the head of the table, where the king was sitting. After talking with Fevian a little about themselves, she was able to ask the prince a some questions about lady Isicara.

"Cara and I have been friends for as long as I can remember" the prince answered. "Her family lives in Telmar, but they always come during summer and at New Year's Eve to visit us. Do you see that lord there, with the big dark beard? That is lord Bazar, Cara's father. And the woman in front him, the one with the curly hair, is her mother, lady Eilana"

Bridget was starting to feel nosey, asking the prince so much about lady "Cara", but for some reason she wanted to keep asking about her. But the prince didn't give her the chance to come up with another question, because he began to ask her what she thought of the food.

She had just finished eating some fancy soup made out of a weird vegetable, but now the next course was a fish Fevian told her would be one of the best meals she would ever have. Obviously, she thought he was being a tad exaggerated.

Bridget quickly looked to her side to see which fork out of the three that lay next to the plate was the one the prince took to eat his own fish. She took the same fork Fevian had taken and then tasted the fish.

"My God, this is delicious!" she smiled, and the chewed some more. "What did you said this is?"

"It is Goldenfish, from the shores of the Great Eastern Ocean. So, is it as good as I told you it was?" he spoke looking at her, as if wanting to confirm she had the same opinion he had about the taste of the Goldenfish.

It seemed the prince had the ability to express the true greatness of things moderately. It first appeared as if he was bragging about it, and other people wouldn't believe it really was half as great as he said it was. But then he proved the others it was better than he had described it. First it had been the sight of Cair Paravel and then the marvelous taste of the Goldenfish. Bridget couldn't wait what was going to be next.

"You said it yourself, Fevian." she smiled, still enjoying the taste of the fish lingering in her mouth. "It really was the best meal I've ever tasted"

Bridget couldn't believe she was actually having a great time, opposite to the nightmare she feared that dinner would be. But unfortunately for her, she was sitting near the other head of the table, where the queen was sitting.

"So…" the queen spoke for what seemed to be the first time during dinner. Both Fevian and Bridget looked at the queen, as if wanting to figure out what she wanted. "Oh, I forgot your name" she said, this time speaking to Bridget.

"Bridget, your highness"

"Yes, Bridget. How old are you?"

"Sixteen"

"Oh, you are very young!" Bridget didn't know if being young was something positive or negative, but by the way the queen said it, it sounded as if it was a flaw. "You look a bit older. For a moment I thought you were"

Again it sounded as another flaw.

"No"

"For the appearance you have and they way you speak and move I reckon your mother never hired a nurse or governess to teach you to be a lady. Am I right?"

Bridget didn't know where the queen was heading to with this conversation, but she sensed nothing good was coming from it. And even worse, there were no other people talking around them anymore. Only the voices of the queen and the girl were hear there.

"Yes…"

"You were raised by your own mother, then?

"Yes"

"What an atrocity!" she almost yelled. Bridget might as well have told the queen she was about to murder someone and she was sure she would have gotten the same reaction from Queen Alva. "Young ladies should be raised by nurses and governesses to acquire decency and etiquette"

"Well…" she whispered. She had no idea what to answer.

"They also learn to be more eloquent. And tell me, darling; are you at all able to answer with more than one word?"

"Yes…" she whispered again, and immediately got a teasing look from the queen. She had to speak more. "I am able to do so, your highness"

"You speak so little and so quietly I did not notice until now that strange accent of yours, child. What part of Narnia are you from?"

"Well, I'm not from Narnia, your highn…" she began to explain, but was interrupted by the queen.

"Do not beat around the bush. Where do you come from?"

Never in her life had she felt such an urge to run away from a room. She was nervous, hesitant and felt she would soon start to cry if the queen didn't quit asking her so many questions. Even thought it wasn't really the questions what bothered her, it was the way they were being asked.

"I come from a place called London. It's in England"

"That is very odd. I have never heard of such a country. Where is this Igland of yours exactly?" she spoke trying to imitate the way Bridget had pronounced the name of her homeland. Also she said it as if she didn't believe this country was real.

"I… hmm- Well…" Who to explain where England was in reference to Narnia? Not even she knew that!

"Speak at once, girl!"

Bridget felt she wasn't even able to speak anymore. Everybody in the table was staring at her and she couldn't find it in herself to say anything else to the queen.

Fortunately for her she didn't need to, because someone else spoke for her.

"Mother, they must have given me the wrong invitation. I had no idea we had come here for an interrogatory, I thought we had come here for dinner" the prince spoke to his mother, looking straight into her eyes, with a defiance Bridget hadn't seen in him before.

"I just want to get to know your guest" Queen Alva said, as if she was innocent of whatever her son was accusing her of.

"No, you are investigating her" Fevian scolded, his voice losing its usual charm, gaining more sternness, maybe even some hint of anger. And his dark eyes, more fierce than ever. "You want to find out what is it about this commoner that I could have found interesting enough to bring her here. You say she is the impolite one, mother, but look at yourself… hear the way you speak to her"

Queen Alva was outraged about what her son just said to her. And he had done it in front of all their guests!

The prince didn't even wait to hear any reply from his mother. Then he looked at Bridget, who sat next to him in utter shock, same as the rest of the people sitting in that table.

Fevian took Bridget's hand to help her up.

"Come on, Bridget. It's our time to go" he said only to her, and then faced all the other people reunited there for dinner. "It was a pleasure sharing dinner with all of you, we will see you tomorrow. Good night"

And they both left the great dinning room.

So, what do you think?

When I think of Queen Alva in this chapter, I personally think I've created a b-i-t-c-h, don't you think? But I love the way Fevian stood up for Bee :)

And lady Isicara was finally introducted into the story. Now she is just the pretty girl, but later she will get bigger role.

Please tell me what you think. What you loved. What you hated. Ideas. Whatever, just comment!