Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and world. They belong to C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 3: Cair Paravel
They were running; someone was trying to catch them from behind. They were casting spells on them as they run. One of the gang unsheathed something. It was a sword. The guy came running faster and he caught Hermione. He placed the blade across her neck, ready to slit it open at any time. Hermione squinted from her position but she couldn't let go of the stranger's grasp.
"No, Hermione! Don't move!" Someone was shouting from behind. Hermione didn't recognize the voice. It wasn't Harry's or Ron's. It was…
Thump!
"Ouch!" Hermione groaned. She opened her eyes and realized that she had fallen from her bed.
'So, that was just a dream,' thought Hermione, knitting her eyebrows; it seemed so true to her.
Hermione got up and stared outside the window. The moon was still high in the dark sky but stars were starting to fade away; it was midnight. Hermione slumped in her bed, hoping she hadn't woken anyone up with the sound she had made. Then, just staring at the big bright moon, her eyelids were getting heavier and heavier and Hermione couldn't bear its weight anymore.
Hermione woke up because a loud ring came echoing around her room. She opened her eyes and found out that the sun was starting to come out.
Someone knocked on the door and a faun peeked inside.
"Dear visitor, kindly go to the dining room now; breakfast is already served." Then, the faun's head disappeared.
'In the royalties' dining room?' Hermione wondered. With her eyebrows linked together in wonder, she began to sat on the edge of the bed slowly.
'It's seems only an hour ago when we were in the Weasley's garden,' Hermione thought. 'Well, time really runs fast.'
Hermione got up, washed her face in the extravagant loo, and went out the room.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the royalties ate in silence. It seemed so awkward because since the first minute- or shall I say, first 30 seconds- of them eating together, no one even spoke and dared to start a conversation.
Then, a badger entered the dining room, holding two large dishes full of food. Its knees were slightly shaking maybe because the weight of the dishes was too heavy for it to carry. Then, with shaking knees, it went toward the monarchs and guests, put the dish on the table and, accidentally, lost hold of the other dish. The food splattered everywhere and the silver dish met the ground with a loud 'BONG, just like a gong's sound.
"Oh, dear, I'm so sorry," said the badger, which was a girl by its voice. She kneeled and desperately scooped up the sauce with her both hands and putting it on the dish. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry." Her voice was shaking like she was about to cry
Hermione lips trembled. 'Oh, poor thing.'
Then, without thinking, she got up and kneeled beside the poor animal.
"Let me help you," offered Hermione kindly but the High King cut off before the badger could say anything.
"No, Ms Granger. No need to help the badger. That is their job, not yours," said Peter, who also stood up but didn't help the two. He turned to the badger and said, "You can go now, Mrs Badger and continue fixing this after we eat."
"Sir, are you going to punish me?" asked the badger. She was shaking and wiping off the tears streaming down its cheeks.
"No, I won't. This was just an accident, after all," said the High King with a smile.
"Oh thank you so much, sire," said the badger with happiness in its voice. Then, the creature bowed down and exited the dining room.
"Ms Granger, no need to clean up the mess. The badger is going to clean it up later," said Peter.
Hermione didn't have a choice; she couldn't just disobey what the High King said. So, she slowly stood up and sat down on her seat.
The others continued eating like nothing had happened but Hermione ate slowly, thinking about the poor badger. Oh, how she wish she could help all the Kings and Queens' servants.
Susan was, again, the first to get up. She awkwardly got out of the dining room. Then, Edmund and Lucy exited the room respectively, leaving the three visitors and Peter alone.
The awkward silence continued until Peter cleared his throat.
"I and my siblings are going to tour you around the castle this morning. After you eat, kindly prepare yourselves; meet with us at the entrance of the castle," announced Peter. He gave the guests a smile before he got up and walk toward the door. Hermione stared at her plate. She wanted to tell the King what she's planning but she's afraid.
Hermione saw Peter only a meter away from the exit and that was when she plucked up the courage to call the King.
"Your majesty!" called Hermione, who stood up. Peter turned around and smiled.
"Ms. Granger. Anything you want to tell me?" asked Peter.
"I… umm… We wanted to help those creatures who serve you, your majesty," said Hermione willingly. She saw Ron shot her a look from the corner of her eye.
"Ummm… Ms Granger, are you sure about that?" asked Peter. "Here in Narnia, we don't force visitors to do chores, well except if they wanted to."
"We want to, your majesty," said Hermione.
"Very well. The earliest time you can start is tomorrow. You can't start this day as you will have your tour," said Peter.
"Thank you, your majesty," said Hermione.
Peter nodded and smiled before he went outside the door.
"Well done, Hermione. You have just ruined our vacation," said Ron ironically.
"Ron, didn't you feel sorry for that poor animal? You are such a heartless person," retorted Hermione.
"I would feel sorry if the King said that he will punish her," returned Ron.
"You two, please stop," said Harry. "Can we just go back to our rooms? We should be preparing ourselves right now."
Hermione's and Ron's face had a scowl etched upon their faces. Then, they headed toward the exit together, with Harry between the ginger and the brunette.
"Now, shall we start?" asked Peter, beaming at the visitors and his sibling. They were already at the entrance, all ready for the tour. "We won't be using the carriage as the area is too small for us to use it."
The three nodded and they set off.
"That sea over there is the Eastern Sea. Queen Lucy, my youngest sister, is crowned to the said sea," said Peter, pointing toward the sea across the castle. The sea was glinting under the sun and waves were dancing with the breeze.
Then, they turned to left and saw an open field. It was wider than the field where they fell.
"This open field is where many activities and games were held like archery, sword fighting, and such," continued Peter, gesturing his hand toward the field. Hermione remembered Quidditch, the most popular sport in the Wizarding World. And then Peter added, "This is where we also practice horseback riding sometimes."
"Horseback riding? I always wanted to learn how to ride a horse without falling off," Ron said.
"Well, you have the permission to practice. If you want to ride some time, just tell me or my brother, King Edmund," said Peter, smiling kindly.
Then, they went on until they reached the stables. They went inside and, surprisingly, the stable didn't smell.
"This is one extraordinary stable," said Harry.
"Why?" asked Peter curiously.
"Your stables don't smell," replied Harry. "Stables usually smell, you know."
"Well, we have good caretakers here in the castle. They clean these stables five to seven times a day," explained Peter.
A horse caught Hermione's attention. The horse was brown and had a little white crescent-shaped spot in the middle of its forehead. Hermione patted its head and said, smiling, "Good horsie."
"My name is Philip," the horse suddenly said that Hermione jumped.
"T-The horse can talk!" exclaimed Hermione, both in surprise and amazement.
"Well, yes. That's my horse, by the way," said Edmund. He smiled at her and she smiled back. Hermione could feel her ears heating up.
They went out of the stables and proceeded to the garden. The garden was full of trees that it looked like a mini forest. There were yellow, violet, and white flowers. Dewy grasses were everywhere. In the middle of the garden stands a statue of a lion. It was surrounded with bushes filled with colourful flowers.
"Who is this lion?" Ron asked.
"That's Aslan, the creator of Narnia," answered Peter.
"I haven't seen him yet," said Harry.
"Well, we haven't seen him for a long time," sighed the High King.
"But maybe we will someday," said Susan.
And so, they walked and walked and walked until they're back to the "starting point" of their tour. They've seen many other beautiful places that weren't mentioned above, like meadows, lakes and other woods. (Yes, there were so many woods in Narnia)
"Now that we're already through with the outdoors, let's go indoors," said Peter. They went inside, passed the throne room, and entered a corridor opposite to the dining room. Peter opened the first door they encountered and they went inside.
The room was intended for archery lessons. Several bows and targets were hanged and there were dozens of arrows lined up along the walls.
"This is where you can usually find my sister, Queen Susan, practicing with her bow and arrows," said Peter.
"Why are there so many bows here?" asked Hermione.
"I actually don't know. These bows have been here since our first day of being the Kings and Queens," said Susan. "I haven't tried them yet. Not a single one. I'm used with my old bow; the one Father Christmas gave to me."
They stayed there for a moment and then went inside. They passed five more doors and Peter opened the next door. It was filled with swords, though there were half a dozen chairs and one table on one corner and two bookshelves on the other.
"This is the sword room where we practice our swordsmanship," said Peter. "The room is quite unoccupied these days. I haven't practiced with swords for a week now."
"Because you're too professional to practice anymore," said Lucy, giggling.
"Shut up, Lu," snapped Peter but he was rather flattered than annoyed.
They'd already visited many rooms after the sword room. And then, they already reached the last door and the High King opened it. When Hermione saw what's inside the room, her eyes dilated and mouth opened widely.
"A library!" exclaimed Hermione.
"Oh, you're fascinated with your books, too?" Susan asked.
"Oh, yes. I love reading," replied Hermione, grinning.
"Come inside. There are a lot of books to read here," said Peter.
They went inside. Hermione started to search for stories in the fictional area. She touched every spine of the book, picking some books she hadn't read yet.
"This is the best place ever," Hermione whispered. Then she carried a dozen of books and put them on the nearest table. She began shifting through pages, whispering some words like "wonderful" and "wow" and "cool".
"Well, you can enter this library every time," said Peter.
"Thank you, your majesty," said Hermione, grinning.
Hermione was reading the summaries of the books she picked while Harry and Ron was in the History area. They saw a book about wizards and they were affected to read. The four Pevensies watched the three visitors as they scanned through pages of books. They saw that they're still enjoying so the four monarchs decided to leave them in the library.
"After all, the tour is finished. After you read, kindly go to your rooms and rest," said Peter. He smiled at the visitors and then the four of them left Harry, Ron, and Hermione who were too soaked in books to hear what the High King had just said.
End of Chapter 3
Author's note: Tell me your insights by reviewing this chapter! ^~^