Wow! Finally reached the hundred reviews, thank you guys so much for liking this story, so to reward you here is the longest chapter I ever wrote, hope it explains things.

AlanaFaith2 thank you for your review, you have to read more Lucian fanfics, some are awesome.

S.M.N and LUCYAN FAN: thank you so much for your reviews, I found myself jumping up and down when I read them.

Dragongirl2101 I know right, I'm on cloud nine, thanks

Guest: I am honored for you to think so.

Firdaous: you'll have your answers here.

Brother (Reda): Glad you like it. Merci beaucoup, ton opinion est très precieux. Je t'aime trop ;)

Chapter XXVII

Lucy stood in her balcony watching the dawn arrive. True, she needed to sleep, but couldn't resist contemplating the scenery. Have you ever watched the sunrise? Not when you are groggy, and sleepy, cursing because you have to wake at such an early hour, but just stood there, fully awake, and all you are doing is watching the sun peeking shyly, like a newborn, rising from the glittering eastern sea? That was the valiant queen's case, she needed calm, prosperity, and the heavenly sight gave her just that. The sky was colored with beautiful pastels, a kaleidoscope of colors varying from orange to pink. Those were the colors of a new beginning, when everything alive awoke with harmony from the plants to the animals. She found herself mesmerized, transfixed, while her ears listened to the beautiful melody of bird singing blending with the soft sound of waves crashing on the shore.

Sleep won, and soon Lucy found herself sailing to the land of dreams, leaving all thoughts of war, helplessness and worry behind, only to be awoken by the press of soft lips on her temple, she smiled softly recognizing the all too familiar lips even half asleep.

"Wake up sleeping beauty." Caspian whispered in her ear. She finally opened her big blue green eyes and gave the brightest, loveliest smile he had ever seen.

"Pass me my robe." She said in her husky sleepy voice that could lure any man to which the telmarine was no exception.

"No."

"No?"

"No"

"Why?"

"Because, it's not the first time I've seen you in your night gown, Lucy."

"I guess." She shrugged then got up to the bathroom, washed herself and then came back, while Caspian happily watched her striding around the room with her cotton thin gown barely hiding her figure. Lucy stopped for a second then just rolled her eyes and went behind the dressing screen.

"Caspian?"

"Hm?"

"Some help here?"

"Gladly." He answered mischievously. She gripped her dress tightly to her front, while he did the fastenings, like once before. Their silent moment was interrupted by the sound of heavy steps down running down the corridor.

"One…two…three." The young king said before the door banged open and Peter's angry voice:

"Caspian! Where are you? I told you not to go into her room!" he shouted not seeing the other due to their hidden spot.

"Peter, Can you shut up!" another voice, Susan's said annoyed.

Lucy sighed heavily while Caspian continued what he was doing and at the same time answered: "We are here."

"WE? You better not be doing something or I swe-" for all the threats that he made, the oldest pevensie was not prepared to the sight in front of him, neither was Susan. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" He demanded "WHY ARE YOU UNDOING HER DRESS? Lucy, I TRUSTED YOU."

Lucy rubbed her temples while Caspian didn't stop lacing up the gown, their backs were at her siblings so her brother couldn't see that the telmarine king was trying his hardest not to laugh.

"As much as that would be interesting Peter, you can just actually see what I'm doing before giving judgments."

"And what are you doing? All I see is my little sister's bare back and your hands roaming all over her."

"OH god! Peter! He is lacing my damn dress; Lydia is on her day off! He never saw me naked; he's more honorable than that."

"Oh" was her brother's smart response, while Susan just shook her head.

"Anyway, we're having a meeting, Now, don't be late, we'll be in the throne room." She warned them. Then she turned to her brother "An you, don't ever barge in her room like that" before dragging him out to their destination.

There they found Edmund frowning at a parchment, the peace treaty sent by Calormene Lucy realized. He quickly turned to his brother:

"Peter, when did this arrive?"

"Yesterday morning."

The just king nodded absentmindedly, and Lucy watched him as he connected the dots in less than five minutes, and she had to admit she was impressed by his quick mind.

He turned to his sister who looked at him with understanding while the others looked plain clueless:

"Then this-"

"Exactly." She affirmed.

"Did you tell her?"

"Yes, I'm pretty sure she'll help us the next time we'll visit her."

"What is it? Who is 'she'?" Adam asked even more confused.

"This was meant to be sent before we went to seek help from our alliances, at that time Calormen was preparing for, when the Tisroc heard that we were on our guard, he sent this treaty to seek peace, so then we can lower our defenses, giving them the perfect opportunity to attack. But the messenger got delayed and this arrived only yesterday, at the same time our spies informed us that Calormen was pretty calm, waiting for its opportunity." Edmund explained.

"I went to talk to the princess yesterday, gave her a lecture about how to rule a kingdom, and then stated the facts as they were, no more, no less. The only information she gave was that her father was acting strangely but I promised her that I would be back with Annabelle today, expecting her to take out whatever spell her mind is in." the youngest Pevensie just finished her sentence before Edmund took her in bone crashing embrace while whispering his thanks in her ears, relief apparent in his voice.

"H-how did you do that? I couldn't get one word from her." Adam exclaimed.

"I can be very persuasive, and all I did is going straight to the point, truth after truth."

"Thank you, Lucy." Edmund repeated.

"No problem, now you, Caspian, Peter and Adam have better to do."

"Why?" Susan asked.

"I may have forgotten to tell you." Peter said sheepishly.

" .it?"

"Troops from Archenland will be coming in fifteen minutes, they spotted at dawn."

"And no one cared enough to tell me?! How does Lucy know? She just woke up."

"Don't look at me like that Su, Caspian told me before we came in." Lucy said in defense.

"Whatever, just get on with it." she said exasperated.

The men soon found themselves welcoming the soldiers, helping them make camp, and began discussing battle strategies, adding modifications here and there.

While Susan and Lucy checked on Annabelle from time to time, she, of course rewarded them by cursing and swearing.

Evening finally came, and Lucy, true to her word, went into the prisoner's room, followed by Edmund, carrying an unconscious Annabelle, and the rest of the company. Layla looked at them, ignoring Adam completely, and snickered at the valiant queen:

"Guess she didn't behave."

"No she didn't, she can be quite stubborn." She answered as she made her way to the princess, then began undoing the biding surprising not only the prisoner but the other royals as well:

"Even if you try, you can't get out of this room, there are six well trained people here, you have no chance."

At those words, Layla tried to get Lucy into a tight grip, in the hope of bargaining her freedom with Lucy's, but as she found herself flat on the ground, her back aching with the impact, she realized it was not a good idea, especially with someone with reflexes as sharp as queen Lucy's who smirked at her attempt.

"I had to try." She said with a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Right." The other answered while helping her up. They turned their attention to the rest who were gaping at the two of them like fish out of the water.

"Let's get to business, shall we?" Edmund finally said while sitting Annabelle on a chair, and binding her wrists to is arms just in case.

"Let's be clear, I'm doing this for my people, my country and my father, I know that you can save him." They all nodded their understanding before the princess continued "Four years ago, a man with a cape and fake accent came to the Tisroc seeking audience, of course he agreed, that was how it began, he visited regularly until one day he moved into the royal palace, he was tall, with a young voice but that cloak never left him nor did the hood leave his head. The Tisroc became more distant, but nothing more, I thought it was due to my mother's death. But from what queen Lucy told, he fed me lie after lie and naïve as I was, I believed him."

"From your description it's the same man that kidnapped Anne; he is the reason for her condition. Then our theory was right, he's a sorcerer."

"I think so, I only received orders to come to Narnia and meet up with a spy, one that would give us info and help us win, he said he kidnapped her and put a spell on her."

"How does it work?" Edmund asked frowning.

"It's really simple actually; it makes you the exact opposite of who you were. It gets triggered by a key word chosen by the caster."

"So if we use it she can turn back."

"You have to think about whom she was before and say the word, if you say it any other way it doesn't count."

"What is the word?"

"Shit."

"shit?" he asked incredulously.

"Shit, you see the man is sometimes ridiculous, he was thinking along the terms of something more dramatic like evil or metamorphose but one of the kidnappers got too drunk, stumbled on him, and right at the moment he had to chose a word, one fell on him, and he cursed during the fall, so yeah, shit."

"How do you know that?"

"He likes to rumble, I despise the man a lot."

"If you knew your father was under a spell, why didn't you say anything to the council or even the people, they must have suspected something was amiss." Susan asked and right away the princess's expression grew grim.

"I couldn't do that, my little brother's life would be in danger, every time I refuse to do something he gets threatened, he also warned me not to tell anything to my father, I guess, if the Tisroc was really under his influence, it was all for show. Now you have to wake your lady up, king Edmund."

"I'll do it." Lucy chipped.

"NO!" the others all exclaimed at once, and then smiled sheepishly at her.

"Your faith in me is touching, I was just going to use water." The valiant queen said while rolling her eyes.

After a few tries of splashing water on Anne's face, the young lady finally regained consciousness.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" she yelled at Lucy.

"Your cursing is worse than a sailor's. Edmund, you do it."

He nodded uneasy then made his way towards her. His gaze held hers as he thought of every aspect he loved about her, pouring all his hope in that one word. Then just like that he finally uttered the magic word:

"Shit." And then the others couldn't help it, they all cracked to the floor laughing, while the just king found himself in a dilemma of choosing to be serious or laugh, but one had to admit that as serious as the mood was, that one word ruined it all. But he resisted the urge and watched as Annabelle abruptly closed her eyes, then opened them. Her orbs were the clean jade green he remembered, not clouded like they used to be a minute ago.

"E-Ed." She said in a shaky voice.

"Annabelle." He whispered before taking her lips in a long passionate kiss while the others instantly stopped their fit of laughter and smiled in relief and joy of seeing the just king finally happy. Lucy turned to thank the princess but found she was already gone. Cursing under her breath, the valiant queen went to track down the stubborn woman followed by Caspian and Adam and both her siblings. The latest did it to give their brother privacy with his Lady.

"Edmund what happened, why am I tied?" she asked panicked.

"Do you remember anything?" Edmund asked confused while untying her.

"W-What do you mean, Edmund, is this some kind of joke?"

"Where do your memories stop?"

"I-I went to the forest, met up with someone. It's weird it's like I'm watching through someone else's eyes. Why?" she raised her teary eyes to the man she loved.

"You are under a spell cast by the person that kidnapped you previously; it gets trigged by one word, and then turns you into the exact opposite of who you are. Can you please tell me all you remember?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment, before her eyes rounded in horror. Her hands went to her head as if she was experiencing a serious migraine. Then she started to mutter something hysterically. The just king panicked and caught her wrists when screams tore from her mouth.

"NO!NO!NO! TELL ME IT'S NOT TRUE, I WASN'T THE ONE TO DISLODGE THAT INFORMATION, SO MANY FAMILIES, SO MANY INNOCENTS DEAD BECAUSE OF ME!" She sobbed while he tried to sooth her, taking in her into a tight embrace.

"LET ME GO! I TRIED TO KILL YOU!" She yelled while pounding her tiny fists on his chest, trying to escape his firm grip.

"It wasn't you, Anne, look at me! ANNE!"When he finally got her attention he continued in a soft voice like he was talking to child "It wasn't you, Annabelle, you were under a spell, you would never hurt me consciously."

"I know that! But who says when I'll turn into that… that monster?!I'm scared, Edmund." She said the last part with a barely there whisper, while her eyes, her beautiful jade eyes, looked as hysterical as she felt, letting down pools of salty tears.

"It's okay, everything is going to be okay, I understand."

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! YOU CAN'T BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND HOW IT FEELS TO NOT BEING ABLE TO CONTROL YOUR OWN BODY! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT FEELS LIKE WHEN YOUR OWN BODY, YOUR OWN WORDS AND ACTIONs HURT THE PEOPLE YOU CHERISH MOST! You can't understand how it feels when you're trying to KILL the person you love and watching helpless, and can't do anything to stop It." she looked into his warm brown eyes and hissed the words that she never imagined herself to utter: "I am dangerous, Edmund, I AM THE ONE PERSON YOU CAN' HURT, and he knows that, THAT bastard knows it, so as long as I am not in full control, I can't be with you, I can't STAND to be near you. So let go of me and get out of this room."

"That's bullshit."

Edmund didn't believe all that nonsense, not for a second. He wasn't hurt, he wasn't sad, no, the only emotion he felt was pure rage, an emotion he never thought he would feel towards Annabelle. The same emotion caused him to pin her against the wall, one hand holding both her hand above her head while the other gripped her neck, forcing her to face him. Then, with no second thought, he kissed her like there was no tomorrow, thirsty for the taste of her lips. He claimed her mouth like never before, ravishing every corner with his own lips, tongue and teeth. Annabelle tried desperately to get out of his grip but soon gave up, and kissed him with the same ferocity while their tongues dueled for dominance. Losing control was never a trait associated with the just king, but all the stress, the helplessness that building up from these last days, earned for release. So he continued his passionate ravishing, moving his mouth skillfully, hungry for her lips, coaxing moans from her with the delicate ministrations of his tongue, and Annabelle's world soon grew hazy when he trailed those same lip down her jaw to her cheek, the nibbled her ear and continued south to the hollow of her neck, driving her wild with the pleasure of his kisses, of his touch, of the feel of his dominant hand guiding her where he wanted her to be, and just like that she surrendered completely.

The just king finally regained his senses and with one last lingering kiss on her lips, they broke apart, breathless, with their blood pulsing through their veins guided by their hammering hearts. He leaned his forehead on hers, and when she tried to speak of her former intentions, he hushed her with his own words:

"I love you, Annabelle, you don't how much. My feelings for you are much deeper than I thought, and this, this only made me realize how much I love you, a love that some spend years to reach. So believe me when I say that I don't care whether you're my biggest foe, I'll always love you. Even if you beg me to stay away from you I won't, if you try to kill me, I'll fight you, knock you out, then tie you and find a way to get you back. I am not helpless, Annabelle, I am a man who knows what he wants, and I want you. I'll never be a pawn to that bastard's game."

The young lady found herself lost at such a proclamation. She could honestly say that her feelings were nowhere near his, but she was still young, and he much more mature. And what she failed to consider, is how strong the man standing before her really was, he was a king, a seasoned warrior, who knows how to keep himself and her safe. She felt ashamed at her vanity, that she thought for one second that he'll just stand there when she tries to hurt him. So leaving those insecurities behind, she aimed all her raging emotions towards the one person who did that to her: hatred, loathing, disgust. She swore to herself that she'll do anything to get out of the chains that spell tied her with. Her reverie was interrupted by her man's strong arms:

"Don't worry, I'll kill that monster, I'll make him feel pain like he never felt before. Then he'll learn too late to never cross me nor my family ever again." He said in a low, threatening voice that left Annabelle shivering, but also ecstatic that he called her family. Suddenly she remembered something:

"What is the triggering word? How does it work?"

"It only works when you're willing for it, and it's shit."

"Yes this situation is really like crap."

"No actually, the triggering word is SHIT."

"WHAT? Couldn't he choose something better? I don't know, more evil?"

"My thoughts exactly, but all the more reason to kill him."

"Right." She smiled at him, her lovely warm smile.

"I missed you, welcome back."

"Glad to be back." She answered before he leaned to claim her lips once more. Of course, neither was aware of the magnificent king nor of the gentle queen spying on them from the other side of the door.

Meanwhile, in a narrow hall leading to the eastern gates, the valiant queen finally found her target. With quiet steps worthy of the deadliest predator, she approached the princess from behind, and then pounced on her.

"Found yah" she yelled while Layla lied, groaning, on the cold hard ground with Lucy sitting on her back.

"I didn't know we were playing hide and seek, Lu." Caspian teased joining her with Adam flanking his side.

"OH, admit it, it was fun." She said while hearing the princess mutter under her breath "Damn it, I was so close."

"You were far from close, princess, there at least eight soldiers guarding those gates and if you managed to get past them, you would have been caught by the patrol." Lucy said while getting up.

"Really, your majesty, your lack of training is far worse from what I imagined, guess when you spend all your time in a castle, it doesn't help." Adam interjected with false sympathy.

"Go to hell." She hissed.

"Ladies first."

"You see Caspian, this is the beginning of a new romance." The valiant queen whispered

"All I can say Lucy, is that you spent too much time under the sun today,"

"Maybe." She shrugged, then turned to Layla and said seriously.

"Look princess, even if you escape us, you would only put yourself in danger, the secret camp, which is not secret anymore thanks to our patrol, where you hid is not there anymore, they abandoned you. So either you stay with us and help us defeat that damn sorcerer, at the same time releasing both your father and Anne from the enchantment, or you can go ahead and travel through the forest, mountains and desert, and bandit infested territories. In the meantime, we'll just stay here, digging your grave, and then burry your cold dead body, if we find it that is."

"You have such a way with words, your highness."

"I know, but again, I'm only stating a fact, what is your choice princess? With us or against us?"

"To get to the sorcerer, we need o breech Calormen defenses, and I can't be the cause for my own people's deaths."

"If you do not, then all our countries will leave years of war, Calormene hasn't made any moves for a month now, so either we move now or many innocents will die in this non ending war."

"Fine." Layla finally agreed after ten minutes of silence. "But I have conditions, I am to be treated like I deserve, I want to save my brother so this stays secret, don't bound me, and the most important, HE," she pointed towards Adam "doesn't come near me."

"I am not the one who tried to kill you, princess."

"You killed my brother."

"I certainly know, as you keep reminding me every second." He tried to hide his pain behind his dry words but Lucy could see it nonetheless.

"ENOUGH!" She interrupted "you two behave or I'll send you both to the stables, I think they need some help in mucking out, and then to the wet closet, I heard there was a problem in there, it began to smell." They both rolled their eyes, not believing her, before seeing the knowing smirk Caspian sent them:

"Believe me she is always true to her word"

"And what did you do to earn such a punishment?" Layla asked curiously.

"Caught in a compromising situation with the daughter of one of the visiting nobles, in the corridors." She gave him THE look as she added the last bit while Adam only mirrored the telmarine king's smirk:

"Man, you were bad."

"I know."

"Men." Lucy sighed exasperated before making her way to the kitchen to order food to be served in Annabelle's chambers.

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