Hey lovely readers! I appreciate that you're reading this fic. I hope that you continue to read it. And because I know that it's being read, please review. Reviews make me so happy. I hope you all enjoy chapter three! If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

Disclaimer: Narnia is not mine, else I'd be making money off of it.

Chapter Three: Love

I spent the rest of the day wondering about the castle library. I picked out books that dealt with history, economics, statistics, and even poetry. I wanted to get information about the beginning of Narnia, but the earliest history books only summarized the first decade.

Seeing how I wasn't going to find what I needed, I decided to observe the creatures of Narnia. After trying to find my way out of the castle – "Did the Queen call it Cair Paravel?" – but had to ask a large Cheetah for directions. The Cheetah obliged me, and guided me to a door near gardens. While I walked around the gardens, I watched Birds of all sizes and species fly around, helping Dryads plant, trim, and weed. I made my way down to the where the soldiers trained. I couldn't believe that almost any Animal could be in the army. It was fun to watch Centaurs, Fauns, Dwarves and Satyrs duel, and big Cats and Dogs fight.

I made my way back up to the castle when the sun got close to setting. I was going to head for my room, but remembered that I didn't know where it was. Luckily, Deanna was waiting for me when I got back. She led me to my room, and I attempted to remember the way.

"Dinner is in a half hour," Deanna told me.

"Thank you, Deanna." The husky bowed to me, and then left.

I sighed to myself – I still didn't feel like I should be here. "Maybe tomorrow will bring some light."

I found a brush on the dresser, and smoothed my hair. When I was done, I headed for the door, and then paused to look at the bed. "I hope I can sleep tonight. Otherwise, I don't know what I'm going to do."

-x-x-x-x-x-

Bodies were everywhere. Laying in foxhole graves, and scattered on the ground. Some were dead, but most were wounded. Some had belly wounds, others had limbs missing, but they all were bleeding to death or were already dead and reeking because there was no one to save them. I was looking for the one soldier that was my brother, vainly hoping he survived and was fine.

I finally caught sight of him a ways across the field of death. When I got close to him, I saw that he had a leg missing, his left arm was bleeding, and he was clutching his Miraculous Medal I had given him for his birthday.

"Eamon!" I shouted. He turned towards my voice and looked to be in very intense pain.

"Annabelle," came a hoarse whisper. He reached out to me, and I gently took his hand. I knelt down on the bloody grass, and lifted Eamon onto my lap so we could be together.

"Eamon, don't leave me. Please don't leave me," I said through tears that were running down my face. "I need you."

"I'm sorry, Annabelle. Tell Mother and Father . . . that I love them," he babbled. I was losing him; I knew I was – so I cried harder. "I love you, Annabelle. I'm . . ." Eamon stopped mid sentence and went slack.

"No . . . No! NO!" I shouted. "EAMON!"

I woke with a scream. Without opening my eyes, I sat up and came in contact with another body. The other body put their arms around me as I started to cry. Whoever was holding me started rocking slowly back and forth while someone else rubbed soothing circles on my back. As I started to calm down, I wondered who was with me. "Mother? Father?" No, Father was preparing for war, and Mother wouldn't be doing this. Then it hit me that I was in a Castle, and it must've been the King and Queen who were with me. I sighed with relief that nothing happened, and I felt a little voice in my head tell me that Eamon was fine. I let the rocking and rubbing sooth me back to sleep that was, thankfully, free of demons.

-x-x-x-x-x-

The rest of the week I asked questions about Narnia and her history. I asked guards around the castle, servants, soldiers, and even the cooks. I asked everybody from Talking Birds to Talking Elephants, Centaurs, Fauns, Satyrs, and the Merfolk that lived near Cair Paravel. I learned much about Narnia. I learned that the first King and Queen were from a place not of this world. The names "Frank" and "Helen" gave me an idea that they might have been from earth.

I learned that the Great Lion, Aslan, picked two of every animal – one male and one female – to be parents to all of the Talking Animals. When I learned that, it reminded me about the Bible story of Noah's Ark. Strangely enough, every time I heard the name "Aslan" I had a feeling I knew Him, though not by that name. For the life of me, I could not remember.

During the week, King Gabriel, Queen Atarah, and I got to know each other better. I learned that they went out on campaigns together, that they met in Galma; Queen Atarah was a farmer's daughter, and King Gabriel fell in love with her as he watched her work near the palace of the Duke he was visiting with his father the King, while he was still a Prince. Gabriel asked Atarah if he could court her, she accepted, and they fell in love. Atarah went back to Narnia with Gabriel after they got married, and they continued to live with each other happily.

I told the King and Queen about England as best I could without confusing them. I told them that there was a war going on where I was from, and that my Father and elder brother were getting ready in case that it got close to home. When Queen Atarah asked me about my nightmare, I wasn't quite sure how to explain it. Finally I just told it as I remembered it, and let them ask questions about things they didn't understand.

Somehow I managed to keep the tears in, but the Queen noticed how hard I was fighting them, for she came and wrapped me in a warm hug. Again tears pricked my eyes and threatened to spill as she held me. It must've been motherly intuition or something of the like because Atarah whispered into my ear, "It's okay to cry. Let it go, your brother is fine, I know he is." So I wept.

This happened at the end of the week, and I had been debating for a while if I wanted to accept and become Narnia's Princess. After Atarah's mothering of me, I felt the need to be their daughter and Princess. I got more mothering, subtle and not so subtle, from the Queen than I ever got from Mother once Father left. Gabriel acted like he wanted to father me, but wouldn't do so just yet. I felt like I was loved by them, and I wanted to give that love back to them.

I made my decision. I was going to be there daughter . . . and Princess who would rule over Narnia one day.

Hope hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Please leave a review on your way out.

If your looking for more quality fan fiction, Check out Narnia Fan Fiction Revolution! Join in the conversations on the forums, and listen to AsCast - NFFR's podcast. Listen to the hosts discuss the Narnia books, movie versions, fan fictions, and interviews with Narnia Fan Fiction authors! Don't have time to read some fan fics that are in the NFFR directory? Check out Revolution Radio and see if if they've been recorded so you can listen to them! Links are on my profile page!

Also, LitCast's third episode is up. My friends and I would love it if you'd listen and give us feedback. Link is on my profile.

Thanks to Ewcom for betaing. Thanks for listening to me rant! ~Fierce Queen