The past few days were really taking a toll on me and I was slow to wake up. After eating breakfast everyone packed up. We were marching to Cair Paravel, the castle by the sea. It was a long procession, but everyone was still happy and celebrating and the whole air felt alive. Many were laughing, over who knows what, so even though I was still tired and wanted to sleep, I couldn't help but be happy too.

"Here's the thing," I was walking backward so I could face the siblings while being in front of them. "I'm supposed to stay in Narnia. But I wasn't told much else. So where am I supposed to live? With the Beavers or Mr. Tumnus? In the small town around the castle? Do I get my own house?"

"You can stay with us in Cair Paravel," Peter answered.

"But only royalty and their servants are supposed to permanently live in palaces," I said.

"Says who?" he asked.

"Isn't that how it works?" Now I was doubtful.

"If it's a law we can change it, but I don't think it is." Lucy replied cheerfully.

"Alright..." I faced forward and started walking properly. I felt light and tingly at the same time. Living in a palace! I was going to be living in a palace! It was just another far-fetched dream I had once had that was coming true. I wanted to run and shout. I had wanted to yesterday when we won the battle but there was too much going on then to really celebrate.

I fell into step beside Lucy. "Hey," I whispered. "Do you want to play a game?"

"Yes! I was just now thinking how this crowd and this river-valley would be a good spot to play hide-and-seek."

"Alright, but we're going to need one more person." Two-person-hide-and-seek just wasn't as fun.

Lucy thought for a moment. "I don't think Peter and Susan will want to play. They've been talking all serious-like since we woke up this morning. Perhaps Edmund would-" she was cut off as a bird flew down and landed on my shoulder.

"Blue!" I said and held out my arm so she could perch in front of me instead. She hopped over and I said, "where have you been this whole time?"

"My nest is all the way in Lantern Waste, I didn't even know there was to be a battle until it was already over!" she chirped. "Not that I would have been able to help."
I introduced Lucy and Blue to each other and then said, "She was the bluejay who warned Mr. Tumnus that he was about to be arrested."

"It's always a good day to meet a friend of a friend," Lucy said and politely greeted Blue.

"I say! Did you ever find out how the White Witch knew about the two of you being sheltered at Tumnus's?" Blue asked.

Lucy fell silent. I snuck a glance at Edmund who was walking too far away to possibly hear anything. Lucy had told him about Mr. Tumnus before he came to Narnia the first time, and then he spent his time with the Witch before meeting up with us. Right after that Mr. Tumnus was arrested. So while I didn't know for a fact that he was the one who gave him up, it was still pretty obvious. Lucy's uncharacteristic silence confirmed it.

"Does it matter anymore? He's safe and the Witch is dead. And all her followers are gone," I responded. Before Blue could say anything else I changed the subject, "We were just about to play hide-and-seek, would you like to join us?"

Blue declared that it would be unfair if she played since she was a lot smaller making it a lot easier for her to hide, and she could fly making it a lot easier for her to seek. So instead she went off and found some children who were better suited and willing to play. She ended up finding two dryads, one faun, a teenage deer, and a fully grown badger.

We hid among the travelers, running up ahead or far behind the group, and we also hid in the nearby forests. It was a little unfair whenever the dryads were the seekers, they seemed to be able to use the trees to find those hidden in the forest. But other than that, it was the most exciting game of hide-and-seek I had ever played. It was also the longest.

"Wait, who's seeking now?" I asked the Talking Deer, Silver.

"Badger Jr." he said as he ran by.

I climbed into one of the giant sacks a large centaur was carrying. If he noticed the extra weight on his hindquarters, he didn't say anything.

I won that round.

After that round we decided to make it more interesting, the seeker couldn't just see you and call you out, he or she had to tag you. We knew Silver was going to have an advantage here so we made Lucy the Seeker, even though she hadn't lost the last round. I was about to hide behind some bushes when I saw Lucy in the rows of creatures ahead of me. Not wanting to be the loser, I darted into the crowd.

When I turned back I saw she was after me and so I ran faster. The air was feeling fresher and the crowd more lively, someone had broken out into song, so I felt giddy and started screaming. It wasn't screams of fear but the way kids scream when they're having fun so everyone ignored us as I ran out of the group and towards the east where I saw a hill. I was planning on rolling down the other side. Lucy would have to travel too far away from the others if she wanted to catch me, leaving them even more time to find better hiding spots. But when I got to the top of the small hill, which was a lot further ahead than the group, I stopped.

We were by the ocean already and just a little distance to the north, where the river turned in order to get to the sea, was the peninsula that Cair Paravel rested on. How beautiful it looked up close! The peninsula was hilly on one side, the side where the castle had been built. It looked like the hill had been terraced as the castle had been built in three tiers. But that wasn't all, there were many stained glass windows that shone beautifully in the sunlight, and the castle itself was made out of light grey stone. In contrast to the Witch's dark, shuttered castle this palace looked like something Good resided there.

A cry went out from those at the front of the procession. They could see the Great River widening and knew we had arrived.

I couldn't stop smiling and giggling. Everything that I was seeing was beyond my wildest dreams. Around the entire peninsula was a large stone wall with a single large iron gate facing the rest of the continent. Once we had passed that everything became even more beautiful looking. There was a lot of empty space around the small town and hardly any people lived in it. "Village" seemed like a better word for it actually. Despite their small numbers, the village creatures had prepared everything as best they could for the new kings and queens. Many others from our traveling party asked Peter if they could go into Cair Paravel first to fix it up more. So we had waited around the main street for another hour.

Now, we were waiting in the palace's grand entrance hall. The rest of our travel companions were visiting outside. Only a dozen or so, not including we five humans, stood in the entry, staring at the things around us. I had always thought Medieval castles would be a bit drafty in the hallways and well insulated in their rooms, and darkly lit unless one was by a window during the day. I thought they would feel cozy but also a bit spooky and give me the feeling of secret magic and adventure. But Cair Paravel was different. We weren't in a room but there was no draft. The ceiling went all the way up to the third floor and at its top was an all glass dome that allowed the sun to shine through. It didn't feel cozy or spooky but like a place of great spiritual importance.

The walls were a soft beige, almost white in color, and there were suits of armor for humans, centaurs, fauns, dwarves, griffins, and many others lining them all the way across. Higher up near the second and third floors, many colored banners hung.

"Past Narnian kings and queens have always kept at least one suit of armor to represent each species in Narnia on display here,"the centaur named Elochis explained. She wasn't from the village or the court and army Aslan had gathered, or even one freed from being a statue. Blue and the others I had played hide-and-seek with weren't the only ones who had joined our traveling party. By the time we had reached the Gates of Cair Paravel our little parade had grown to nearly twice its size.

"They did this so all Narnians would feel united as one, despite our differences. And as a show of unity and power to those from other kingdoms. Narnia is one of only two known kingdoms where so many different creatures, from Humans, to Talking Beasts, and those like myself, live together in harmony," she continued.

Water, Earth, Fire, Air. Long ago the four nations lived together in harmony, then everything changed when the Ice Witch attacked, I thought, making a parody out of the intro to one of my favorite cartoons.

"Narnia and Archenland are the only two countries to have Talking Beasts," Mr. Beaver corrected.

"Correct," Elochis gave a small smile. "But there are some who live in the Northern Wilds and are greatly oppressed by those who rule."

It really hit me then that I was in an entirely different world. I knew it before then, obviously, but I didn't realize how different. It wasn't like this whole new world consisted of Narnia and some unexplored lands beyond its borders. An entire planet filled with kingdoms and people existed, and who knew if it was bigger than Earth or not? Not the centaurs, as Elochis said "known kingdoms", and they were the scholars! That meant the world was still unexplored!

True, I hadn't traveled much back home, and my adventures had consisted of exploring the creek near my grandma's house. I lived a sheltered life and knew of most things through books or TV. But here I could be different if I wanted to. I could be a brand new person. There were no rules as there were no (human) adults, and-

The history lesson was cut short when Aslan walked through the doors. I had seen him in the village talking to the crying Narnians who were very grateful for his return. "Your coronation is tomorrow afternoon," he addressed the four siblings. "Come, Peter and Susan. There are still matters of great importance that must be discussed."

Susan seemed surprised that he had called for her, but she quickly hid it and went with him and her older brother to the next hallway.

At that same moment, one of the leopards came bounding in from the other side. "Your Majesties, and My Lady, if you would like to have a brief tour of the castle and be shown your rooms, they're now ready," she said, looking at us younger humans.

My Lady?

Mrs. Beaver asked if anyone else could come too and the leopard said with the permission of Lucy and Edmund. Of course, they said yes and Mrs. Beaver, Mr. Tumnus, Blue, and Leonard the Other Lion came with us while the rest stayed back for more history lessons.

The first floor of the first tier was pretty simple. There was the entrance hall that led to the grand banquet hall. On one side were the kitchens, pantries, and storage rooms. On the other were guardrooms and, thankfully, indoor restrooms. At the end of the banquet hall was the grand staircase. We were told, even if we didn't see, there were two small staircases on each side of the outer-back wall.

The second floor was also for the entertainment of guests and included a restroom and mini kitchen. The third floor was still "off-bounds". From there we had to quickly go to the walkway that took us to the first floor of the second tier, which was technically still the third floor and also "off-bounds". As we entered the new area Lucy tried to sneak back to the temporarily forbidden floor to goof around and see what was there.

"Don't!" I whispered, trying to grab her arm, but she moved too fast. I ended up grabbing the skirt of her dress. "Let's stop playing. This is a serious place," I continued.

"It's our home now. We'll be playing around here all the time," she replied, pulling against my grip.

"Yes, but," I looked around at the nearby stained-glass windows. They didn't depict people or scenes; they were multi-colored and without a pattern, but it still felt like a church. "Try enjoying it in a different way today." I didn't know how I was going to live in a place like this. With majestic archways and marble floors of many colors and velvet chairs, this castle didn't seem like a place that should be played in, even if it was our new home.

"Try enjoying it like how a queen appreciates her kingdom," I said, hoping she would understand what I meant. I mean, that is what she would be now.

"Alright," Lucy replied. As she said it I noticed that Edmund was looking toward us with an upset look on his face. Then I realized I was still trying to pull her back in the hallway by the hem of her skirt. I quickly dropped it. Some people can be so touchy when it comes to others interacting with their siblings.

Lucy started to walk back towards the group as they all went off to the next room. But I stood there in the hallway looking around at the rainbows of light that filtered in. It was like being in a dream.