Narnian Princess - Caspian

Chapter 2

"Ah yes, the Scrubb household where annoying little cousins and mean uncles reside. Fun." Diana grinned overly wide, causing the pair behind her to laugh. "Well, home sweet home, I suppose."

"Not sure if I would call it home, but welcome, my lady." Edmund bowed opening the door, Both girls giggled before walking in. Diana stopped at the doorway giving Edmund a little curtsy followed by a wink.

Diana was greeted by the familiar furniture and wallpaper she'd grown so used to. If she was being honest, she probably spent more time here than at her own house. She would take grouchy little cousins and constant bickering any day over an empty dinner table. So Diana let herself smile and greet an uncle who didn't even seem to notice her half the time before following Lucy into the kitchen. She was so busy appreciating this chaotic little family, that she didn't even notice them start arguing until Edmund chased Eustace up the stairs.

"Edmund, look!" Squealed a very happy looking Lucy. She enthusiastically waved an envelope at her brother. "It's from Susan."

It was times like this that Diana envied the Pevensie's a little. A sister that was a whole ocean away would make the effort to contact her little siblings, while Diana's parents who lived with her could barley make enough time for the only daughter they had left. But Diana had been blessed for the friends she had made who were always there for her and who she considered to be her family.

Lucy didn't let the girl's thoughts linger too much as she grabbed her hand and, with a force that she didn't look to have, dragged her friend up the stairs. Only stopping once to make sure Edmund was following.

Inside Lucy's room, Diana let herself fall on the bed and close her eyes while her friends fuzzed over their sister's letter, complaining a little bit over their situation and something about being the youngest. Diana understood, though. Back when she was the youngest, her brother was often favored in many ways. Sure, she might have been able to get away with more things, but she always knew she wasn't as important. Never the favorite, at least not to her parents, and that was more than evident now. Diana sighed. She missed her brother. She missed him so much it hurt. What she would give for him to only be thousands and thousands of miles away, sending her letters and studying in a foreign country, rather than six feet under ground.

"Do you think I look anything like Susan?" Diana had been so lost in her thoughts that she almost jumped out of her skin when Lucy spoke again. However she did manage to jump enough to fall off the bed and hit her head against the floor. Edmund was trying hard not to laugh as he tried to held her back up even after she scowled and swatted his hands away.

"I think you do, Lu. The whole lot of you look quite similar." Diana thought for a moment, "Edmund is the most different, I reckon. Still, I would like some of those Pevensie genes please and thank you. It's very unfair how good looking your whole family is. Sharing is caring."

"You think I'm good looking?"

"Shut it, Edmund." Edmund only laughed, ruffling Diana's hair before turning back around.

He walked to the back wall of the room, standing right in front of the painting of a ship. "Lucy, have you seen this ship before?"

"Yes. It's very Narnian looking, isn't it?"

Diana scrunched up her nose. "Narnia, is that in Hungary? I really ought to stop falling asleep during those geography lessons."

Lucy walked to stand next to her brother. "No, Narnia isn't in Hungary. It is-"

"Oh! Is it vikings, then? That looks a lot like a viking ship."

Edmund chuckled and shook his head, "No, Dee. Narnia is-"

"There once were two orphans who wasted their time believing in Narnian nursery rhymes." The trio turned to find Eustace coming into the room.

Diana walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "There's the little cousin, I was wondering when you'd show up, big guy."

Eustace only crossed his arms. He wasn't particularly fond of Diana but he also didn't dislike her. In fact, he sometimes wished his cousins were more like her. More 'normal' as he would say. That being the case, his fight was not with her so he ignored her to continue tormenting his cousins. Eustace walked further into the room and gave the painting an exasperated look.

"What's so fascinating about that picture anyway? It's hideous." Diana turned back to it. She wouldn't say it was a bad painting, but to her it wasn't necessarily special.

"You won't see it from the other side of the door." And just like that Edmund and Eustace were back to arguing. It seemed like they couldn't last more than a few minutes without getting on each others' nerves.

While the boys were bickering like an old married couple, Diana could suddenly not look away from the painting. It had become so captivating that she could not tear her eyes away from it. It sounds silly, but Diana felt like the painting was calling to her. She was so lost in it, that Diana didn't notice when the painting started to seem like it was moving. She didn't notice the strong wind or the spray of water that was coming out of the it. She didn't even notice when water began pouring so fast that the room began to flood. It wasn't until Eustace knocked the painting from the wall that Diana broke from the trance she was in. When she did, however, she realized that she was soaked in a room with rapidly raising water where three people were wrestling over a painting.

Huh, maybe I should have gone home today. Was the last thing Diana thought before she was completely submerged.