Since the Pevensies have very little role in HHB I decided to do a mini-series here instead of a new book. So there'll be multiple parts to this story as well. Enjoy!

Summary: The High King prepares for battle with the Ettins while the Just King makes plans to depart for Tashbaan.

~Part One of The Horse and His Boy~

"I want to come with you," Ana pleaded with the High King.

He was traveling North, to Ettinsmoor, to take care of the giants. Ever since the Pevensies had taken the throne, the Ettins had been testing the borders. Efforts had been made to make peace with them but they had been unsuccessful. After they began raiding areas in the northern part of the country, Peter had declared war on Ettinsmoor.

"I have Orieus and several hundred of our best warriors," Peter told her. "I need you to stay here, and look after my brother and sisters."
"But they're Giants! My duty is to protect the Crown. You're part of that! And you know I'm just as skilled of a warrior as any in your company!" Ana countered. She knew the real reason he was insistent on her staying behind.
"But you can better protect the Crown by staying here."
"No one has ever tried to attack Cair Paravel. It's the safest place they could be. You're the one heading into danger!"

Peter barely held in a sigh. He didn't know how to tell Ana the truth. She was right on several points. He was heading into battle and leaving one of his best warriors behind. She was also a good companion to have. Ana was always ready to listen if he needed someone to talk to. But she never hovered or pushed him to speak when he wasn't ready. Deep down he knew he should bring her along.

The problem was he didn't want her there. He wanted her in the castle, safe. Battles were ugly affairs and she seemed to young, too innocent to be involved. He knew she wasn't, but neither could help how she appeared to others. Even sweet Lucy was older than her now. But he was a coward and couldn't admit such a thing to Ana. It would only cease to make her more upset.

Resigned, Peter stood straighter and pulled his shoulders back to look more regal. Using his most authoritative voice, he decided to command Ana to stay behind. She very rarely, if ever, disobeyed a direct order.

"You are to remain here! In Narnia!" he commanded. "That's an order!"

Several expressions crossed Ana's face in that brief moment. At first, she had been pleading with him, but the change in his voice shocked her. Then she was angry before becoming resigned and wiping all emotion from her face. Her eyes betrayed her though. She was hurt by the order.

"As you wish..." her voice was soft yet there was an edge of bitterness to it. "...Your Majesty." She bowed low and then turned away, preparing to leave.
Peter reached out to halt her. "Ana..."
"My lord?" she asked, turning just enough to watch him out of the corner of her eye.
His hand fell to his side. "I just wanted to say... I um...er..."

He didn't know what he wanted to say. To apologize? To promise to be careful? He felt he needed to say something but all words had left him. This was no longer a conversation between friends—no, he corrected himself—family. Ana rarely used titles outside of a formal occasion. It was one of her tells that something was wrong. He didn't know how to react now that she was using them here. But he supposed it was his fault. When he pulled rank and acted like her superior, Ana became nothing more than his subject. A loyal but almost submissive one at that.

"Will that be all, sire?" Ana spoke again, pulling him from his thoughts.
"What?" he stuttered before processing her question. Oh! Yes, that will be all, Ana." Damn titles!

At his dismissal, Ana hurried from his presence. She walked slowly at first, not wanting to seem rude. But she couldn't wait to get away from him. She was furious but also felt as though she might cry. Peter may not have said it, but she knew. She knew the real reason he didn't want her going into battle. One of her greatest fears was coming true. She would never truly be accepted for who she was. No matter what she did, they couldn't see a warrior. Only a child. And that hurt more than she thought it would.

I thought they had accepted me, Ana thought bitterly. But they haven't... I suppose they never really did.

Thinking back, Ana realized this wasn't the first time she had been left out because of her appearance. It wasn't something she noticed at first. Just an off-handed comment here and there about how young she looked or how she was far too innocent to have seen battle. Things anyone might think if they did not know her, the real Ana. But the royals did and there was no excuse for it, though she made one up anyway. If only to make her feel better.

But in the past few years, their treatment of her was starting to become more prominent. Peter and Susan were the worst, often lightening any duties she took on. Or coming up with excuses so she didn't have to go with them on diplomatic missions. Something about them being a bore and no reason to believe there was danger. But no one expects danger. It sometimes just finds you. How was she supposed to protect them if she couldn't even be there?

Other times, Susan would chastise her when she tried to practice. "Someone like you mustn't practice so much. It's improper for a lady to be so willing to go into battle when there's an army of men waiting to go themselves," she would say. Or, "Can't you find some other hobby? It's not good for one to spend some much time around weapons..." However, Ana wasn't sure how much of that had to do with her being childlike and Susan wanting her to be more ladylike.

Archery was one of the few useful things Ana could do in her free time. And it helped to have something to take her anger out on. She didn't want to accidentally take her frustrations out on the unsuspecting palace staff. It was hardly their fault. If it was taken away from her, Ana wasn't sure what she would have left.

"I'm not a child!" Ana groaned, slamming the doors to her chambers. The sound reverberated off the walls from the force.

She removed her quiver from her back and tossed it aside, too frustrated to bother being gentle. It clattered noisily on the stone floor. She cast her eyes around her room until they fell on the bags she had been packing. They were only half full near the end of her bed. Normally, she would pack them with maps, armor, some clothes, and any supplies she thought would be useful for traveling. But Peter had already told her that she would not be coming with him and Ana had stopped packing when she heard him about to leave. She had made one last futile effort before he left for the courtyard where the army had gathered. But she had been denied.

Staring at the bags, Ana approached to begin unpacking. But the moment she reached to pick one up, she grew angry. Furiously she grabbed items from the bags and tossed them, not caring where they landed. When that didn't relieve her frustration she went for the wardrobe. She began tearing clothes out and throwing them over her shoulder.

A thought of "For not being a child, you sure are acting like one," crossed her mind.

With a scream of frustration, Ana made her way to the window. She flung open the heavy curtains and undid the latch on the windows. The sights and sounds of nature usually cleared her head and helped her focus. This time, they only seemed to aggravate her more as she could hear the crowd in the courtyard, saying goodbye. She knew the other royals were there as well, wishing their brother off. Making promises to be careful as they always did before heading off to war. It just served as another reminder that she wasn't going with them. Ana was grateful that her room didn't overlook the courtyard so she didn't have to watch them leave without her too.

Her room was located Southeast so that she could still smell the sea and hear the water. It also gave her a decent view of the sunrise and she often would rise just to watch it. At night, if the weather was nice, she would make her way towards the west balcony and watch it set. It had a calming effect. She found herself doing both more than usual nowadays and briefly wondered if it had anything to do with feeling left out. She had more free time recently since they kept lightening her duties so Ana had to find other things to do.

She had no idea how long she had been standing there, but enough time had passed that the crowd had dispersed. Things were quieting down and she took a deep breath. She realized there were the beginnings of tears in her eyes and she reached up to wipe them away when there was a knock. Ana jumped, startled by the sound. She hadn't heard anyone approaching. Immediately, she was chastised herself for letting her guard down. Anything could've happened when she wasn't paying attention, although she doubted it.

She must have taken too long to respond as the person knocked again. "Ana?" they said.
Great... Ana thought. What does he want? She was still angry with Peter and not in the mood to deal with any more royals. "It's open," she called, not turning away from the window.
"Ana," Edmund began, voice becoming clearer as he opened the door. "We didn't see you down there to see Peter off and— Woah! What happened here?"

Confused by his sudden change, Ana turned to look at him. Edmund stood not two feet from the open door, clad in his royal attire, clearly having just returned from the courtyard. He didn't even stop to remove his crown that stood out from his dark hair. While he scanned the room, she too was surveying it, finally seeing her room for the mess it was. Books, papers, clothes, boots, and several other things were strewn across the room. Her quiver lay at Edmund's feet—it was a good thing he stopped after opening the door or he would've stepped on it. A few arrows had fallen out. The bags she had used for packing were also scattered about the room. Her room looked like it had been ransacked—except for the bed which was still made up nicely.

Their gazes met, both surprised by the sight before them. Ana bit her lip and looked away in embarrassment.

"Ana?" he questioned, concerned. He didn't come by Ana's room often, but he had never seen it in such a state.
"I... erm..." She didn't know what to say, what excuse to give. "In hindsight, I probably should've gone to the practice field instead." Ana looked at him to gauge his reaction.
"You did this?" he asked, clearly shocked.
"Well, it certainly wasn't one of the castle staff," she stated, crossing her arms. Her tone was harsher than she meant.
Edmund was taken aback. "Right... um... I was just coming to check and see if you were alright." Ana furrowed her brows a bit and he elaborated. "We didn't see you in the courtyard. Peter said you seemed upset when he last saw you."
"He would know," she muttered under her breath.
"What?"
"I'm fine," she said instead.
"Clearly." His tone said he didn't believe her and his eyes roamed the mess for emphasis.
"I was just... uh... sorting things?" That's a lame excuse.
"Sorting things? I thought you couldn't work in chaos."
"In disorganized chaos," she emphasized. "This is organized."
"Is it?"
"Was there something you wanted, Sire?" Ana asked, changing the subject. He didn't normally come to just check on her.
"What?" Edmund asked. His brows furrowed a little and she suspected it was because she was so formal.
"No offense, my lord, but you're not one to check if someone is alright. That would be your sister's job."
"Which one?" he asked, avoiding Ana's original question.
"Either." She stared him down, careful not to glare. It wasn't his fault she was in a sour mood. "Is there something you wanted, Sire?"
"What—" Edmund began but cut himself off. He sighed and held up his arms in surrender. "Alright, you've caught me... I'll admit I have another reason for coming."

He stepped around the mess of her room, being careful of her weapons. He closed the distance between them so they could speak more comfortably. Ana relaxed a little so as not to offend him. He wasn't the royal she was angry with.
"Susan has received a letter from Prince Rabadash of Tashbaan asking her to come visit. He wishes for her to see the palace and is insistent on an answer to his proposal," he explained.

Ana frowned a little. She didn't like that particular prince. Sure, some princes had a tendency to be pompous or a little arrogant. Most were infatuated with Susan's beauty and wanted to win her hand. Some were a bit shallow but kind. She didn't have anything particularly bad to say about them. But the Prince of Tashbaan really put her off. There was just something about him she didn't like but she couldn't quite put her finger on what.

"I remember him..." she told Edmund. "And his slew of ambassadors he sent beforehand. There's something about him..."
"I agree... Nonetheless, Su insisted on going so we shall be sailing for Tashbaan by the end of the week. I've already decided that Tumnus and Sallowpad will be coming with us. I've also reached out to King Lune to see if our guests from Archenland may join us."
"All of them?" Ana asked. "Even young Prince Corin?"
"I think it'll be good for him to see some of the other countries. He'll hardly have another opportunity to see Calormen. At least until he becomes King. And it might do him some good to experience what it means to be a diplomat with foreign Kings or even one's enemies."
"Could be a teachable moment provided the boy listens," Ana agreed. "But why is Your Majesty telling me this?" She didn't yet hope that he was inviting her.
"This is meant to be a small party. And seeing as we're supposed to be their guests, we can hardly bring our strongest warriors. I need you."
Ana blinked in shock. "Y-you need me?"
"Of course!" he exclaimed as if it was obvious. "Peter may be a fool to leave his best warrior behind, but I am not. Peridan has agreed to come along but I would feel safer if you were there to watch our backs as well. Should anyone question it, we will say you are a guest from Archenland."
"Be that as it may, I'm afraid Prince Rabadash and his ambassadors would recognize me as a member of the Narnian court."
"I doubt they paid you much mind. Prince Rabadash was too busy trying to win Susan's favor to pay attention to any other members of the court. His ambassadors... well, they likely forgot about you as soon as they returned home. You were just another member of the court to them."

Ana nodded in agreement and moved to gather her weapons from the floor. It was the first move she had made to clean up the mess. Edmund watched her as she tucked the arrows back into the quiver and placed them on the bed. She looked away again in embarrassment.

"Make sure you have those with you," he said, gesturing towards her bow. "But keep them hidden. It is meant to be a friendly visit after all."
Ana nodded. "I'll be ready."
"I'm sure you will," Edmund responded, heading for the door.
"May I make a suggestion?" Ana began but paused to wait for permission. "I think we should bring Thrudle and Bregle as well. They could prove useful should the situation become dangerous. Aslan willing, it won't happen."
He nodded. "Of course. It's a logical choice. The Archenlanders can all defend themselves well enough too. So if King Lune is willing, we shall have plenty of men—and women—to defend our house."

Silence fell for a brief moment and again Edmund made to leave. Ana halted him once more.
"Edmund... T-thank you."

She didn't have to explain why. He already knew. Smiling brightly, Edmund nodded and left the room, pulling the door quietly behind him. Ana couldn't help the small smile that graced her lips. It seems she wasn't as forgotten as she thought.

Ana immediately went to pack and remembered the state of her room. Sighing she realized she had some other matters to attend to first. She had certainly made a mess of things.