I woke up very early in the morning but according to Nina, I didn't go to sleep in the first place. All of us had a laugh about this as we started arguing while taking part in the preparations. I was the youngest in the room but everyone gave me the respect that I gave them. I felt wanted, and that was everything.

"Evelyn, could you please cut it even finer?" I requested.

"Of course."

"Where did you learn to cook like this?" Mark asked me as I slid the butter from the tray inside the huge pot.

"I wanted to impress a family that I was staying with and I thought it best to cook tomato soup for them, that's all."

We were having a good time. I found out that people usually sang while working and Nina told me that I'll learn it eventually. Oliver was the best at tasting and when I handed him a spoon for the tasting, I crossed my fingers. 

He was also the most hard-to-please. Evelyn had warned me about that. "And?" She asked him.

Oliver looked at me and started clapping, very impressed by whatever I had made. "Yes!" I exclaimed as he hugged me.

He started to wipe his eyes and I grew worried. He could see it and held my hands as if to protect them. "It reminds me of my old mum's special soup." 

"Oh my God! I am so sorry." 

"No. Thank you!"

Right then, Mark entered the room with that day's basket of bread. "Sophie?" He called out to me as people started pouring soup in bowls and serving themselves. "Trumpkin wants you for practice immediately after breakfast."

"Oh." Nina looked at me. She knew that I wanted to serve the Professor and the King myself. I also wanted to talk to the King about Thomas but I guessed that I had to wait for another opportunity.

"It's okay, dear. I'll be sure to tell them." She said as we all sat down to eat. 

I ran down to the stables and I thanked myself for wearing joggers. It would make it easier for training. When I got down the last step, I didn't find anyone there. So, I did the better thing and checked up on Thomas.

It looked like he had been crying all night. It was just as Mr. Henry said it to be. I went inside his stall and started to calm him down. He opened eyes and stood up so suddenly that made me fall to the ground. He never moved and he startled my to shock. I started moving outside the stall as he kicked his legs in the air. I hit someone and when I looked around, it was Trumpkin.

"Whistles and whirligigs! What are you doing here?" He calmed Thomas down by shouting at him as he started galloping towards me. Trumpkin tied him down but Thomas was moving his head towards me.

"Mr. Trumpkin...." I stood up with great difficulty but managed to do it.

"Just Trumpkin is enough. What did you do to him?" He asked, pointing to the horse.

"I don't know. He was crying and I wanted to help him and he sort of just jumped on me." I started blabbering. 

"He has never done that before."

"I didn't do anything, I swear!"

Trumpkin stared at me changed the topic. "The Professor told me that you were staying in Narnia." I nodded. "Why?"

My eyebrows furrowed together. "What do you mean?"

"Why do you want to stay here?" 

"Why wouldn't I?" I asked as we started walking out of the stables.

"When we met the first time, I asked you who you were running from."

"I remember." He raised his eyebrows at me. "I was running from some boys from my school."

"Why? Did you punch one of them?"

"Exactly that." He looked at me in surprise. "What?"

"What did you mean by the river healing your hand?" I forgot to tell that to the Professor and the King. Dang my memory.

"My hand was bruised after the punch. I wanted to wash it and then when I looked at it, it was gone." I said. "The river isn't magical then."

"No. It isn't." He started walking to the fountain. There was a sack there that wasn't there when I came, which only meant that he had brought it with him. He pulled two swords from there and handed me one. "Swordsmanship isn't a joke."

"Never took it to be." I said as I weighed the sword in my hand. It was a little heavy but I was holding one in my hand.

He gave me a couple more and asked me to use the one that I was comfortable with. After checking all of them, I chose the sword that had an engravement of a lion's face on its hilt. Trumpkin looked at me questioningly after I chose that one. 

"What?"

"Nothing." He said. "Just your choice of sword."

I looked at the hilt and the engravement. "What's wrong with this sword?"

"Nothing." He said as he picked his sword up from the ground.

"What is it?" I was stubborn and needed answers. 

He sighed. "That is one of the oldest swords in Narnia. It dates back till the First Rulers."

"King Frank and Queen Helen?"

He nodded. "Now, I'm not here to teach you History." He showed me the correct position of holding a sword and we started to fight.

We practiced until lunch. I was actually learning a lot from him. It was hard at first and I lost a lot. But only if I fall will I learn to stand up again. "You need to build some muscle." Trumpkin told me when I lost for the twentieth time that day.

"Thanks for the tip." I picked my sword up once again.

"Hopefully you are better at archery than this." He said and when I stood in the en garde position, he was at ease. "Let's take a break."

His gaze was behind me and when I turned around, I saw the King climbing down the steps. "Will you join us for lunch in the castle?" I asked as I handed him my sword.

"I will. I just have to set some things up before for your archery lessons." He didn't make any snarky side remarks, which I found surprising.

"Okay." I said and started making my way back to the castle. I was twiddling my thumbs the entire time. My wrist was killing me but it was a good pain. I would get used to it eventually.

"Miss Sophie." The King stopped me. Oh, he wanted to talk to me then. I was expecting him to have a talk with Trumpkin and thought that was why my teacher had ended the lesson.

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty." I bowed my head down.

"I was coming over to have a word with you." He said. "And please, call me Caspian."

"Caspian." I nodded. "Only if you call me Sophie." 

He nodded with a smile on his face. "Please." He gestured for us to walk together towards the castle. "I wanted to thank you for your painting." 

"I apologise for slipping it under your door but I didn't know how else to give it to you."

"I completely understand."

"Thank you. I hope you liked it." Why was I feeling nervous?

"I did. It was very beautiful. Thank you." He gave me a small nod.

"You're welcome. And thank you once again." 

We walked in silence for some time before he spoke. "Nina told me that you made breakfast today." 

"I did." I didn't know what he was going to tell me. It was hard to read him despite his eyes speaking for him.

"You didn't have to take any trouble."

"I didn't. I wanted to do it." I shrugged as we entered the castle.

"How did you make Oliver cry?" He asked after some time.

"Oh man." I closed my eyes with my right hand. If that was going to embarrass me, I could forget all about the curtsy incident.

"I apologise. I didn't mean to embarrass you." He said. "It's just that he is one of the strongest people that I know." I explained to him what it was that made Oliver cry. "Ah, I see. He is very emotional when it comes to family."

"I hope it was okay." I said. "Breakfast, I mean."

"It was very delicious. Thank you once again."

We looked at each other for a few seconds, thinking about what we could talk about. "I have to go change." I told him as we neared the main stairwell.

"I'll wait in the dining room, then."

I started climbing up the stairs as he headed for the dining room. I wanted to tell him something and was playing with the dilemma in my head. "You didn't." I said, stopping halfway up the stairs. 

I looked down at him and saw him turn around, looking confused as to what I meant. "What?"

"You didn't embarrass me." I confessed and he smiled at me before we went our way.