My Narnian Tale

Chapter 14

One month has passed since Peter and I had talked about marriage. I have finally become used to life in Narnia. That includes bowing to my boyfriend and calling him "Your Highness" when we were in public. That and being referred to as "my lady" or "Lady Elizabeth" were probably the weirdest things. Things had been fairly peaceful in Narnia this past month. Peter has continued training me in sword fighting and I have been practicing archery with Susan almost every day. Seeing as how Peter and I are planning on getting married eventually, he decided to allow me to attend meetings of the court and begin learning about the policies that he and his siblings had enacted. I am currently on my way to a meeting of the court that Peter had called a little while ago. He said that it was an emergency.

I had gotten ready in a rush seeing as how it was only 7 in the morning. I tied the back of my navy blue dress as I raced down the corridor. Peter had offered to place servants in my room so that I would have help getting ready but I turned him down. I arrived at the big oak doors that into the throne room just as I finished tying the back of my dress. The guards opened the doors and I entered, seeing Peter, Edmund, and the knights stand at my arrival. I went and sat in my place in between Lucy and one of the knights. Peter had decided to model the court after Arthurian legend, meaning that we sat at a round table. Even though we sat at a round table, I still didn't get to sit next to Peter. I wouldn't have that honor until we were married and I was coronated. For now, Edmund sat on Peter's right and Oreius was on his left. I smiled at Lucy as I sat down and Peter began speaking.

"Right. So, as you all know, Narnia has seen peace for the past 2 years. However, we still have our enemies. A little after midnight, a messenger arrived at the gates with a letter from the neighboring kingdom of Laighin. Their leader, King Cearul has declared war on Narnia." There was a collective gasp from everyone present and Peter held his hand up for silence.

"I am shocked as well. But Cearul demands Narnian land that is along the edges of our border with Laighin. While I do not wish to go to war, we do not have a choice. The letter said that they would be leaving at dawn, meaning that their troops will arrive here by midday tomorrow. Oreius, will you please gather the troops and inform them. We ride at dawn tomorrow. I wish to meet the Laighins at the same battlefield that we fought the White Witch at. Now, the rest of you may leave. I wish to confer with my siblings and Lady Elizabeth." Peter finished and the knights as well as Oreius stood, bowed to the five of us and left.

"Peter, what shall we do?" Lucy asked.

"Well first of all, Lucy, you will not be coming with us. It is too dangerous." Peter said sternly. Lucy looked at him in shock.

"Peter! You can't be serious! I have to go!" Lucy yelled. Peter stood up and pressed his fingertips into the table.

"Lucy, you are not going and that's final."

"Fine." Lucy said, turning on her heel and leaving. I looked at Peter, concerned. He better not try to keep me from going. I had improved a lot in combat. So much so that I was able to beat Edmund and Oreius as well as the knights a couple of times. There was no way that he could stop me from fighting. Peter must have realized that I was thinking about this because he looked at me like he was about to speak. I shot him one of my death glares and he looked back at me, frightened. Good.

"Peter? What's the plan?" Edmund asked gently, seeing the silent argument between Peter and I.

"I say we take the same ground as we did in our battle with the Witch. Make sure we have the cliff and rocks on our side, that way, we can have the higher ground. We will travel in one column thus..."

"Umm... if I may have a word?" I interrupted Peter. "It would be best if we traveled in two columns. It'll be safer for the troops. That way, if one column is attacked, the other can easily come defend it. It's the same formation the ancient Romans used and it is indeed the strongest. Once there, we can break into smaller formations. And if we implement a shield wall, that will help with defense and our forward advancement." This is what happens when a history major gets to help create a battle plan. The three rulers looked at me in shock. "What? You do remember that I'm a history major, right? I've studied the ancient Romans extensively. I mainly focus on military history. I know a thing or two about battle strategy."

"Well alright then. I guess we'll do that." Susan said. Edmund nodded his head in agreement and Peter crossed his arms, looking at the map that was spread on the table. "Peter? I think we should listen to Elizabeth. Her plan sounds good."

"Elizabeth, can I have a word with you?" Peter finally spoke up. I stood and walked out of the room and into an empty corridor. Here we go...