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.

"Your majesty?" Ariston, one of the only minotaurs in the group finally managed to catch Edmund's attention.

"Yes?" He asked, still kind of high on the past's memories.

"We're close. Probably arriving in ten to fifteen minutes to the gates of Cair Paravel." The soldier informed the king.

"Thank you." He simply answered and let his horse slow down a little, giving Alexandra's time to catch up.

At first Edmund found weird that Alex wasn't the one in the lead of the group, she and Nina both had a brilliant memory. He was almost certain they could have guided them perfectly. There was that, and also the fact that Alexandra loved horseback riding very much, in all of her time in Narnia, she'd probably rode at least once every day. But later on, the Just King understood the exact reason why she wasn't leading: because he was. And she was trying her best to avoid him.

"…And he had to ruin it." The queen thought to herself as she saw Edmund's horse speed decrease. She had been really trying to avoid him, as she wasn't ready for another fight. But something that undeniably bothered her was how he seemed so calm all the time, it almost didn't seem like himself.

She thought it wasn't fair that she had to be careful all the time on the things she said or did because of the reactions he would have or the slips of information she might commit, while he could be free to say and do as he pleased, not really having anything to hide.

"It's because he doesn't. You do. Now cut him so slack." Ninarika chastised her.

"Wow, really? Coming from you?" Alexandra rolled her eyes but quickly composed as her horse was nearly next to his.

The queen's heart sped up as they were finally side by side. But words were still lacking.

"We're almost there." He simply repeated the information that had been given to him a few moments ago.

"Oh…Alright. Thank you for letting me know." She felt extremely awkward as he only nodded and the silence fell on them like a curse.

Alexandra yearned to hear his voice, that voice she had missed so much, she was dying to have one those never ending talks about basically everything that they had until very late hours of the night. Even if it was only one more. She had missed his sarcasm so much, his intelligence and quick reasoning.

She had missed him so much, period. The thing was that in all of those years they spent apart, she died a little bit more inside every time she remembered him, every time she allowed herself to miss him. So she banned all of those feelings, buried them deep down inside her head, for the sake of those who depended on her.

Alexandra had become so good at closing herself when romance came around in order to avoid reopening the biggest wound in her heart, that it was hard for her to just knock down all those walls at once. That's what she wanted to explain to him, that's exactly what she wished she could explain to him.

"They are all going to be ecstatic when they see you." He surprised her by talking. Or well, by reassuring her. Somehow, he knew she was anxious.

"How'd you…?" She couldn't even finish when he had interrupted her.

"You're a queen Alexandra. You don't look down very often, don't have many reasons to. Plus, you're holding into those reins for dear life." Edmund explained as if it was very simple and even a child could see it.

"Thank you anyway." She said with a half-smile and she sincerely meant it this time, it meant so much to her that even if he wasn't sure on who she was anymore, who had come back to him, he still treated her with such niceness and tenderness…With love.

A love she didn't deserve.

Alexandra immediately looked away and seconds later, looked down. Edmund just frowned in confusion.

He wished so many times he could just read her mind, to know what she was thinking would ease his worries at least a little bit.

"Or maybe not." He thought to himself, showing a half-smile, knowing perfectly that Alexandra's brain went at least ten time faster than anyone he knew in Narnia and its neighboring countries. Even more than Lucy's when she got excited. And boy was that fast. He'd probably only get dizzy and even more confused.

Nevertheless, the Alex he knew was confident on herself, on her beliefs, sometimes even more than she should be, but still. She always irradiated this special kind of light (ironically) her presence always seemed to be strong but not in a bad way, but in a reassuring one, like a mother watching over her child. But in the present moment, Alex's light seemed diminished, opaque for some reason, and that worried him to no end.

Not really knowing how to act, Edmund pushed his horse faster, deciding to just give her her space…At least until they were behind closed doors and could talk about everything properly.

The return to Narnia was like a dream to Alex, but it wasn't in her nature to simply enjoy it, because her sixth sense kept her alert, reminding her over and over again that the dream would turn into nightmare soon enough. And as they came face to face with the doors of the palace, she felt that the nightmare was indeed about to begin.

Both, Ninarika and herself found strange that they were almost in front of the doors of Cair Paravel and that these weren't open yet. Word of their return was delivered a long time ago now, so the doors should have been opened already for Edmund and his party to go through.

As they quickly rode the streets of the village surrounding the castle, Alexandra realized how many looks her presence was attracting, which meant that the secret of her return wouldn't be kept a secret for much longer. But the sound of the doors opening occupied her mind completely after a few seconds, and she remembered what was waiting for her inside.

Or who.

"Ready?" Nina asked.

"We're not doing this again." Alex rolled her eyes.

"Good luck then."

Hello there! I hope you liked this chapter (even though it wasn't as exciting and there's still a lot of secrecy on it) and are liking the story so far...Also, I'd very much like you to tell me what you think, whether it's love or hate and why, which means…Reviews! Please, it'd mean a lot to me and it'd definitely serve as inspiration. I have so many ideas already for this story but if you'd like to give me some theories of what will happen, you're welcome to! Keep checking for new updates!