Disclaimer: The Chronicles of Narnia belong to C.S. Lewis, not me or am I making any profit with this story. I only own Alexandra and her friends/family or any other character you don't recognize.

The camp was all packed and ready to go within twenty minutes. Queen Alexandra, not so much. She was sitting under a majestic tree arguing with her protector.

"Come on Alex, you're being ridiculous." Ninarika tried to reason with her mistress.

"But I'm not Nina, it's a very viable possibility. You've seen how he, the one that was supposed to 'love' me the most, has treated me. Who knows what the others might do! Doesn't running away sound appealing to you?" Alexandra was doing her best in convincing her best friend to flee again.

"No. We are not doing this again. You'll only end up hurting all of them and yourself again, and this time without a good reason! I believe that enough damage has been done already, and that it needs to be fixed." The tigress said and Alex, deep inside of her, knew that she was completely right.

The queen sighed.

"Alright, but if they want to have my head you'll die defending me." She said half joking, half serious.

"As if I wouldn't." Nina rolled her eyes. "Plus, the worst they can do is offer you a warm bed, a fresh change of clothes and food. Maybe a bunch of hugs that you my friend, desperately need. Oh don't they sound like terrible monsters?" The guardian said sarcastically, making Alexandra smile the first true smile since she had woken up that morning.

"You're a joke." Alexandra shook her head, the smile lingering on her lips.

Then someone cleared their throat, making the queen tense and the guardian alert. They were both so relaxed that they had missed whoever had decided to approach.

"Eh…I'm sorry for interrupting. Your majesty, lady Ninarika, his majesty is waiting for you to set off."

"He can wait a little longer." Alexandra quickly thought, but then shook her head and smiled at the shy soldier. "Thank you very much, we'll be on our way now." She said in a soft voice and the poor soldier's cheeks turned bright pink as he bowed quickly and walked back towards the rest of the group.

"Still as charming your majesty." Ninarika snickered.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Not as much as you…Lady Ninarika." The tigress shivered from discomfort.

"Not funny." She thought.

"Nope. Hilarious." Alexandra smiled once again. They were almost in the middle of the clearing, where everyone was indeed waiting.

Edmund had watched Alex as she sat under a tree not too far away from the camp, she was conversing with Nina, who was positioned over a rock, her tail moving back and forth slowly.

Since her arrival he constantly thought that she indisputably looked marvelous in that dress, even though it was kind of dirty on the bottom thanks to all the grass and dirt she must had stepped on and definitely hugged all her curves in the right places, leaving too little not only to his imagination, but the other's too.

He frowned at that particular thought…Did she not realize how beautiful she was?

The queen's body language gave nothing from their conversation away, she looked calm and collected, but then again, she had looked that way since she had returned.

Now that the king thought about it, she hadn't reacted half as bad as when she had lived there, she had always kept her temper under her control, even with Nathan taunting her. She was working so hard to keep a façade.

"But why?" He wondered to himself.

He decided on trying to read her lips, maybe her conversation would give something away. But before he could even concentrate on the task, she smiled. And somehow, that smile meant everything. And at the same time, it made him envious that she wasn't smiling for him.

Edmund Pevensie wasn't a soft guy. Life had made him a little rough around the edges, closed off to himself most of the time, the limits of his trust almost always being his family. But that was until he met Alex.

Even though she was as broken as him when he first visited Narnia, maybe even a bit more, she was something else. As a king he was forced to be polite with the ladies that were part of the court (they were a royal pain in the ass, yes, but he had no other choice), but as a man, he was tired of all the brainless women that wished to become the next 'Queen of Narnia'.

He couldn't fathom the thought of any of them being his wife. Too superficial for that. He wanted someone who he could have long conversations with, and not about gossip or dresses, but about life itself, maybe even history. He needed someone who could think by herself, not use him as her brain.

And somehow, he managed to find all that in Alex Hayward.

She was not only beautiful on the outside, but also a great thinker and a very sweet girl, even if she worked hard to hide it. And even if all that was true and had definitely worked in her favor to get Edmund's attention, her most striking feature were definitely her wits and the fact that she never treated anyone with respect until they proved themselves worthy of it. Not even him.

He smiled slightly at the memory of how the pair had first met.