Here's the next chapter :-) An plot ideas and things you want to suggest I am open to it!

I chuckled at my little scheme but checked myself when I noticed the odd look Edmund was giving me.

"What's funny?" he asked, the corner of his mouth twitched into a crooked smile.

"Nothing," I said quickly, "I was just thinking…"

"About what?"

"You're really nosey, you know that?"

"So I've been told."

I had to think of something to say so I feel back on my earlier musings of his age.

"I was just thinking it's funny that you think you can run a country at your age," I giggled to increase the insult. It worked. His half smile faltered and turned down into a slight frown. "I mean, how old ARE you anyway? 19?"

"Actually, yes." He replied simply.

Oh, he was younger than I thought! "Well, I noticed you really don't have much authority…"

His arms, which had been crossed, fell to his sides and his jaw began to work as if he was grinding his teeth, which he probably was.

"Peter IS the High King," he said, his voice sounded calm despite how agitated he looked, "But I am the military mobilizer, the counselor to the High King, Duke of Lantern Waste, Count of the Western March, a Knight of the Order of the Lion, first into battle by the High King's side and the last one to draw back!"

He stopped for a breath and I began to feel a little bit…small because I had clearly hit on a touchy subject.

"I may not be the best at handling the affairs of the Court, but I am a King in every respect of the word."

Without another word, he stared me down for a moment before leaving the room. The air around me seemed thick and I realized I had been holding my breath, so I let it out slowly and felt sorry I had ever said anything about his position. Obviously he realized that people viewed him as the lesser power.

I shook my head. Why should I feel guilty? What did I care about these Narnians? But…I did see that many things I had been told about them were wrong…maybe…

No! No, my queen wouldn't lie to us! She had warned us about the false front the Narnians were famous for! We were trained to look past the obvious and to see the ulterior motives! I would not believe these lies the Narnians were feeding me. After all, why would they care about me?

"Natani?" a whisper cut through my dream. It had been a lovely dream too, all about killing the Narnian Kings and Queens, and I had gotten some wonderful ideas. But I shook my head clear and opened my eyes to find a pair of light brown eyes staring back at me. Queen Lucy's eyes.

"What do you want?" I mumbled, rolling onto my side.

"It's time for you to get us and start your work for the day," Lucy said softly, as if she didn't want to make me, "But I think we need to get you some breakfast first!"

Breakfast? My tummy gurgled its approval of this statement and I was forced to obey it. I sat up and yawned as Lucy threw open the drapes, red sunlight flooded my eyes and I groaned.

"Sorry," Lucy apologized with a giggle, "But I thought maybe you would like to see how BEAUTIFUL it is today!"

I blinked a few times as my eyes adjusted and gazed out the window. Lucy was right, it was lovely. It was obviously very early in the morning because the sun had just rising over the horizon and the sky was still deep red and pink and gold. The birds were already up and about, making a sweet sounding racket as they flew about doing their birdy chores.

"Thank you, Queen Lucy," I remembered to add the title no matter how bitter it tasted on my tongue. I couldn't believe I was a servant.

She told me how to find the dining room, apparently Peter wanted me to eat in their presence to keep an eye on me, and then she skipped out to leave me to get ready for my day. I slipped my dress on. It was a hunting dress, I noticed, dark green and simple but still managed to be very flattering. I slipped on the deer hide shoes that were next to the dress, brushed the braid out of my dirty blonde hair and redid it again to capture the fly-aways, and sighed at my reflection in the mirror. I actually looked…kind of pretty. The green dress made my already green eyes pop out of my pale skin like emeralds in the sand. I gaped at myself for a moment and tried to remember the last time I had worn a dress…but I couldn't remember.

"It looks better on you than it ever did on me," a voice broke into my thoughts and I whipped around to see Queen Susan standing in the doorway. She seemed different than when I had seen her at my trial, she was smiling. The smile was a big improvement, I thought.

"This was yours?" I asked sheepishly, not sure what she wanted.

"Yes," she replied, eyeing the dress fondly, "It was my very first Narnian dress that I wore when I first came here."

"So…why am I wearing it?" I asked, afraid she was upset that Lucy had given it to me to wear.

"Oh I gave it to Lucy to give to you," Susan replied simply, not sounding angry at all, "It looked like your size and you needed something other than that dirty old armour to wear. Plus, it matched your eyes."

Whoa. Susan had even noticed my eyes? She had barely looked at me at the trial.

She sat on my bed and invited me to do the same, which I did only because I was confused. She looked up at me and I thought I saw a tear forming in one of her eyes.

"Natani, I would like to apologize for my brashness the other day at your trial," she said suddenly, as if she was trying to maintain her composure, "I was wrong to treat you so unkindly."

I was shocked! The QUEEN was apologizing to ME?

"It's just that…Edmund is my brother," she moved on quickly, not giving me time to think very much, "When I heard what you had almost done I was so angry. You have no idea how hard it is to sit here in this castle while your brothers ride into battle without you, knowing every second that they could be killed and there is nothing you can do! I just…realized how close I had come to losing Edmund again and it made me lose my head for a while."

I was dumbstruck. Edmund was her brother? What? Lose him again?

"Your brother…?" was all I could manage to say in my confused state.

"Yes, and Peter is my brother as well. And Lucy is my sister."

Four monarchs and all related? How did Narnian government work exactly?

"You see," Susan went on, "We were given the country of Narnia by the King above all Kings, Aslan. We were chosen especially by Him and we take our jobs very seriously. I just wanted what was best for my family and kingdom. But it is Aslan's will that we give you another chance and, Natani, I want you to know that I am giving you one."

I just sat, dumbstruck, on the bed next to her and forced a smile.

She seemed satisfied and took my hands to stand with her.

"Come on," she said, smiling wide, "Let's get you some breakfast and then you can get on your first task of your job here. It'll be the hardest job too."

I sighed. What could she possibly have for me to do?

"What job would that be?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

Susan's eyes glinted with amusement.

"To wake up Edmund."

Well, there you have it : ) Chapter 5! More to come and reviews and suggestions are awesome and I love them!