We got on our horses and hurried to the castle. My eyes were feeling droopy. Trumpkin yawned and looking at him, I yawned. There was a drowsy feeling in the air. While we were passing through the familiar foliage near Beruna, I spoke. "Should we inform the Narnians first?"

"Not a bad idea, Adams. Not a bad idea at all."

We turned around and rushed to Glenstorm's place, who was awake and alert as we reached there. "What happened?" He asked us.

"Why are you awake?" I asked him. He was a very strict person when it came to sleeping. Thunderride had told me about how he never let anyone stay up late and how he knew if you did.

"The same reason you are." He said. "Evil lurks in the corner. I can feel it. All of us can."

"The White Witch." Trumpkin said.

"She's back."

"I'll get everyone ready as soon as the first light of dawn breaks." He said.

They were planning everything so fast that I almost forgot to inform them about the harsh truth. "But the Council has not agreed for an attack." 

Glenstorm looked at me, his eyebrows drawn together. "I don't understand how the Council should take decisions when they turned the people against us. They may make their decisions but you need to make yours."

"Again, I'm very sorry about that-"

"We know that everyone is sorry, Your Majesty." He said and I winced a bit. "But you are the rightful Heir. And we will follow you."

"I cannot take that away from Caspian." 

"What are your orders?" He wasn't going to listen to me or let me talk.

I looked at Trumpkin but he was on Glenstorm's side. They wanted me to lead the attack. But they did not realise that I didn't know anything about battle strategies. I was only a girl from the Other World. I had barely spent time in Narnia to know what was best for everyone. I didn't know anything about being a leader in the time of war.

Trumpkin knew what I was thinking. "It doesn't have to lead to a war right away."

And I knew what he meant. "All right." I sighed. "Surveillance." I said. "Send two of our men near the border of the camp. Even the littlest information that they are able to hear will be helpful in figuring out what she is planning."

Glenstorm smiled when I said 'our people'. "No one's ever said that before." Trumpkin told me later.

"No one engages with anyone." I stressed. "It is only surveillance. We cannot afford to let her know that we are aware of her position."

Glenstorm bowed down and I felt like I had betrayed Caspian. A heavy feeling rose up in my chest. But he did the same when he decided to trust the Council and not me and Trumpkin.

We rushed to the castle and on our way, the sun rose up. I asked whether we should stay back with everyone but Reepicheep wanted us to get back to the castle and take care of the people in the city. "Just in case the worst-case scenario happens." He reassured me that it may not even come to that, but we knew that that was not going to be any true than it raining in the upward direction.

Just as we entered the throne room, the Council meeting was in session. "What is this?" One of the Lords asked.

"Proof." I said with my head held high. I threw the staff in the middle of the room and looked directly at Caspian. I couldn't do it as I entered but he had to believe me then.

"What?" He looked hurt. Good, I thought.

"In case I am not wrong, that would be the same staff that was used against you during the Second War." I said looking at Caspian. "Your Majesty." 

Caspian looked at the staff and then at me. His eyes begged for apology. "In case all of you are done being against me," I spoke as I looked at the Lords around the room. "We have a battle to prepare for." 

I rushed to go to the library to meet the Professor when Reepicheep came running towards me. "Your Majesty." He said.

"Reep!" I said, surprised at his presence as he was going to go to the Witch's camp. What was he doing in the castle?

"The enemy has taken over Aslan's How."

"What!"

We ran to the library and explained everything to the Professor. "We need to evacuate the city. I'll get His Majesty right away." Reepicheep was about to leave the room when the door opened.

"What happened?" Caspian himself had come at that time.

"We went to get proof. What does it look like?" Trumpkin said. He kept the humour going on and I was glad for that.

I knew that Caspian wanted to talk with me. It was pretty obvious. "Can we talk?" He asked me. "Alone?"

I walked out the door and he followed me. We went to the Professor's room and Caspian closed the door behind him after we entered. "Why did you leave the castle unsupervised?"

"Is that what you are worried about right now? The Witch can attack us any moment. It's bad enough that she has the How! She had the strategic advantage."

I guessed that she wanted to feel symbolic. That was the place where she thought that she had defeated Aslan and the place where she was defeated the second time by someone whom she had brainwashed into betraying his own family in the past.

"Sophie." He whispered, closing his eyes. "I think we should appoint our head guards. I don't know if I could live with myself if anything happened to you."

"Is that why you didn't believe me at first?"

I didn't even know why we were fighting. It had only started since the Witch was back. "Why are we arguing?" He asked, realising the same.

"I don't know." I whispered, calming down. I walked closer to him. "I'm sorry for storming out and for running away in the middle of the night. I'm sorry for leaving you in our place alone."

"I apologise for not believing you, Sophie. I-" I closed his mouth with my hand.

"We apologise to each other a lot." I said, trying to change the atmosphere of the room.

He smiled and I could see it in his eyes that he really did regret not trusting me for one moment. I took my hand away and sighed. "We need to get ready for battle."

"We do." I said.

"Sophie...."

"Narnia is my home, Caspian. Exactly as it is yours." I poked him in the chest. "I'm not going to sit still and let everyone else fight the war for my home."

Caspian knew there was no point arguing. "All right. But promise me that you will be safe. If there is any sign of danger, you will protect yourself." 

I nodded. "We will do everything in our power to keep Narnia from getting into evil's hands." 

Caspian pulled me into a kiss. It was urgent but I knew what it meant. We were going to battle together. A lot of things could go wrong. As he let me go, I looked into his eyes and he looked into mine. "Sophie, I-"

Right then, the door opened. "Your Majesties-"

Caspian let me go. Both of us were annoyed at that interruption. We couldn't have a moment of peace in that castle! "Yes, Reepicheep?" 

How was it that Reep managed to interrupt us just before we could tell each other what we wanted to tell each other? "I apologise for-"

"Reep?" I stressed, trying to make him get to the point.

"There is some bad news."

"What is it?" Caspian asked.

"Someone from the enemy camp is approaching the castle with a white flag in hand."