PROLOGUE

EDITED 1/20/22

This fanfiction is based on the book and film, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The characters' ages follow the film/fanon ages (i.e., Edmund is around 15 years old in this film).

The Brown household was bustling with life on one evening in the year 1941. Though there were only three people living there, they were all busy preparing for their first relatively big event since moving into the quaint district of Finchley, London a couple weeks prior. In just less than an hour, they were going to be having dinner with some old friends.

"Mum, I don't even know those kids. You can't force me to socialize with them."

"Oh, quit your whining, Mary. You'll be alright."

Mary sighed and let her mother continue fixing her hair. Her parents told her that she had to look her best that evening since the people they would be visiting were good friends of theirs. They hadn't seen each other in years especially with the war ongoing, so they had been looking forward to this for the longest time.

"What are their names again?" Mary asked hesitantly.

"The Pevensies, darling. They're wonderful people."

Whereas her parents were clearly ecstatic, Mary was anxious. She was an only child, not used to having that many people to talk to aside from her friends from school, all of whom she left behind when she moved here. The Pevensies, however, consisted of the parents and their four children.

The clock struck six forty-five in the evening, catching the attention of Mary's mother.

"Oh, we best be going. We don't want to be late," she said, pulling back the two simple braids on Mary's rich brown hair. "Tuck in your blouse and shut the lights before going down, okay?"

Mary replied with a small "yes" as her mother left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. She did as her mother said, tucking her white blouse into her light blue skirt and smoothing everything out. She looked decent enough — simple but not plain, and dressed up but not too fancy. Deciding that she looked alright, she gathered some of her belongings before walking out of her bedroom, not forgetting to turn the lights off.

The ride to the Pevensies' wasn't very long. It was almost seven in the evening, so most people had gone home from work and were probably having dinner in their own homes. Exactly a minute after 7:00 pm, the Browns were shutting the car doors and making their way up the porch. The house they parked in front of was of average size, just around the same as Mary's. It looked very cozy, and she wondered what went on with a house with four siblings in it.

Mary's father rang the door bell while her mother held onto the box of pastries she brought. A moment later, the door swung open and revealed a woman around the same age as Mary's mother. She greeted the three with a warm smile.

"Eleanor!" she said, hugging Mary's mother first. "James, how are all of you?"

"Just great," Mary's mother answered. "Everything's settled in our home and James had his first day of work today."

"That's good to hear— oh, Mary," she eventually noticed the teenage girl standing shyly to the side. "You're so beautiful! You've grown so much... I last saw you when you were just a toddler."

Mary awkwardly laughed, softly thanking the woman. In situations like this, you never really know what to do, so you just laugh and nod.

The Browns were invited into the comfortable home of the Pevensies. She could smell the prepared dinner wafting throughout the house, making her stomach grumble. She scanned her surroundings, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. When she passed by the fireplace, though, she spotted some picture frames settled atop it. The one that drew her in was of four children — two boys, and two girls. She was in the middle of observing it when she heard the sounds of shuffling feet from upstairs. It must be them, Mary thought.

"Peter, Susan!" Mrs. Pevensie called out. "Edmund, Lucy! The Browns are here."

Almost immediately, four teenagers made their way down the stairs. The first was a short girl, younger than Mary without a doubt and had a kind face. Next was a much older boy with blonde hair, followed by another girl who was extremely pretty with her striking eyes and wavy hair. Last was a boy with hair so brown it almost looked black— Mary thought that her hair, with the color resembling that of soil, was dark enough, but he proved her wrong. He also had striking dark brown eyes that could probably tell stories if only he didn't look so grumpy.

"These are our children," Mr. Pevensie said. "You can relax in the living room for a few minutes. We'll finish setting up the table."

The adults' chatter lingered as they made their way to the kitchen, leaving the five kids alone by the doorway. Mary coughed awkwardly, not knowing how to begin. Luckily, the oldest boy was brave enough to take initiative.

"I'm Peter," he broke the silence, stepping forward and shaking her hand.

"Marlea— er, just call me Mary," Mary corrected herself. "I have a weird first name."

"Better than mine. It's really common," said the older girl, doing the same as her brother. "I'm Susan."

"Hi, I'm Lucy. Nice to meet you!" the youngest said happily, grasping her hand. Her enthusiasm brought a smile to Mary's face and calmed her nerves just a little.

In unison, Mary and the three siblings who had introduced themselves glanced expectantly at the only person left. He had his arms folded over his chest and was looking distractedly at the old wall clock, almost as if he was dying to get this dinner over with before it even started. Susan nudged him in irritation, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Oh," he said disinterestedly. "Edmund."

"Mary," the brunette repeated just in case he wasn't listening earlier. She held out a hand for him to shake. He simply stared at it for a moment, and just when he was about to give in and take it, Mary dropped her hand. He retracted his own hand as well, slightly embarrassed.

"Well, you didn't want to take it," Mary observed. "I know you want to get this dinner over with, and so did I. But I was hoping I'd end up having more fun than I intended."

"Great, Ed, way to make a first impression," Peter said in annoyance. She knew brothers bickered a lot, and this was exactly how she imagined it.

"Oh, shut up, Peter."

"Sorry, he's grumpy because he wanted to eat earlier," Lucy explained.

"Lucy!"

"What? It's true."

Susan chuckled at her brother and sister. "Look, just restart, the two of you."

Edmund sighed but agreed anyway. He looked back at Mary with a more relaxed posture and said, "Fine. Hello, I'm Edmund."

This time, he raised his hand for her to shake. With an amused smile, Mary took it — which was bigger and softer than she thought — and he shook it gently.

"I'm Mary."

"Congratulations, Edmund, you can shake hands," Susan teased.

Edmund chose not to reply and instead said, "Now that we got that over with, why don't we go somewhere with fresh air? It's cramped in here."

"There's air in here, too," Mary pointed out.

All siblings except for Edmund practically snorted. Mary looked at them in confusion, wondering why they found that so funny.

"What is it?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Susan waved it off. "It's just, Edmund said something like that before."

"We ended up breaking a glass window," Peter added. Mary's eyes widened, but she chose not to ask what happened.

"I'm guessing it's a long story?" she merely said and they all nodded.

"It was basically Edmund's fault," Lucy grinned. "That's all you need to know for now."

"Why does it not surprise me?"

Edmund glared at her, but it wasn't as harsh as he intended.

"Whatever," he mumbled, averting his eyes from hers. "It wasn't entirely my fault."

His siblings giggled at the memory while he blushed in embarrassment. Lucy sighed happily, looking at her brothers and sister and their newfound friend.

"I think we'll all get along great."