AN ENCHANTER'S FORETELLING. [NARNIA]

CHAPTER NINETEEN | ANNE

CHAPTER NINETEEN
ANNE

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It had been nearly three days till the day of the masquerade arrived, and the whole castle could not be more thrilled. The anticipated Ladies of Archenland had been on their way to the majestic Cair Paravel; and the Lady Rose had been waiting patiently by the wide entrance of the castle with two guards by her side. For young Queen Susan and Queen Lucy had been occupied with a council meeting that'd unexpectedly surged that very same morning. And unfortunately, very soon after the four monarchs had finished their breakfast, too.

And so, for that reason, the Gentle's Lady had been waiting by the entrance, awaiting for the first sighting of the carriage hopefully not too far away.

However, just as she had felt when she first met the foreign Ladies, she had been feeling somewhat nervous for their second visit: she would pick at her nails, and bite her lower pink lip as she occasionally glanced in direction of the front golden gates. And not just because she would be seeing them again, she would be seeing Anne Ripley after they had met back in September that same year; and frankly, they had grown to be friends over the little spare time they had to exchange letters.

But soon, however, one of the army's gryphon had spotted the shimmering carriage not too far away from the gates. It caused Lady Rose's lips to contort in a smile as she moved to stand in between the two centaurs just by the stone steps, her gaze quickly setting on the gates.

Rose had been fortunate that the unusually long council meeting had finished just before the carriage had even stepped through the gates, and they had arrived to her side by the time the carriage had taken a stop in front of the stone steps. The Archen Ladies had descended down the short steps from the coach, and as swiftly as they had done so, Lady Rose had bolted to their side and wrapped her arms around Anne Ripley, grins plastered on both of their faces.

Soon after the two young girls had exchanged pleasantries and plenty of smiles, Rose had been quick to show her to her private bedrooms in the East wing. And although her room had not been too far from Lucy Pevensie's – which was the closest to the entrance – and from the rest of the fellow ladies, it had taken them quite a bit to actually find it.

But while the queens showed the other ladies to their respective bedrooms, Rose had helped Anne Ripley get settled inside the East wing's no longer vacant room.

—

Not soon after Anne Ripley got settled that the two young ladies found themselves in the Ladies-in-waiting's lounge room during their spare time after lunch had culminated. The lounge room had been silent, except for the comforting crackles of the small fire and the warmth it radiated, and flooded the room. The golden curtains had been drawn, making the room appear a bit more darkened than it's usual lighting. And the only source of light had been from the two small torches hanging on the stone wall on either side of the fireplace.