Caspian's birthday was nearing. That was what Evelyn had pointed out when Sophie had suggested that they have a tea party soon. Sophie had set up a surprise party for him since it wasn't that common in Narnia and he had mentioned that he had never really celebrated his birthday before, the day only being a reminder of how blessed he was that the Professor had found him at the right time as his uncle had made his decision.

Everyone was helping Sophie out because this was going to be the first official time that Caspian was spending his birthday, and the reason it would be a surprise was because they were in the midst of shifting, and it wouldn't be ideal to have a small party during that time, now would it?

Well, welcome to Sophie Adams' reign.

The day before his birthday, a dear friend was coming to town - Lady Arya Mirza. 

The invitation to this had been sent almost a month before and Arya was the first to accept and was more than happy to help Sophie out. The Queen greeted the Lady at the castle entrance where they embraced each other into a hug even before they could make their way to the safety of being inside the castle walls. The two of them had grown closer to each other in the letters that they shared, being way beyond what took place between them.

They had been wrong about each other and it was all a big misunderstanding. Arya was a very dear friend. She was Sophie's closest friend really and was grateful for her. "You are getting prettier day by day, Your Majesty!"

"I should be saying that to you, Lady Mirza! You look gorgeous!" She was practically glowing. No wonder Sophie felt slightly intimidated when the two of them first met, but after becoming friends with her, Sophie realised that she was actually the sweetest person ever.

They walked into the castle arm in arm when Caspian greeted them with a bow. "Lady Mirza."

"Your Majesty." She curtsied while Sophie stood by Caspian.

"Thank you for making your visit."

"The pleasure is all mine. Sophie has promised to show me around and I really am looking forward to letting her know all about the Women's Society that I've started."

Sophie smiled quietly because she knew what Arya had meant by that. Although they would talk about the society meant for women empowerment, Arya was also a part of the secret party. 

Sophie, hoping that Caspian wouldn't catch on to her sinister smile, kept the conversation going. "I hope we can let go of all this guest formality. Lady Mirza, you are our friend. We want you to feel at home here. 

"I look forward to spending time together and discussing the new courtesy from your side to allow Miss Dhruvika to stay in your territory," said Caspian.

Arya waved her hand down. "It was my pleasure really. I look forward to talking to you as well. After all, like Sophie pointed out, we are friends."

The three of them started to spend time with each other in the library, letting behind all the politics and formality that they shared while meeting when they were surrounded by people. They were young beings and deserved time getting to know each other out of the rules of being royals. 

"I assume that the planning is stressing you out," Arya pointed out, running her fingers across the spine of the book that she was holding.

Sophie groaned and then looked at Caspian, who was smiling at her. "That we are."

"I might need some time off from this," said Sophie. "Everyone is looking at me like I'm the answer to an unknown question. It's driving me nuts!"

Arya laughed. "Well, it is expected of them. You are the Queen of Narnia. You always were, but this is more of the show, isn't it? This will be the official ceremony to make you known as the Queen in marriage."

Sophie nodded, pursing her lips. "If it wasn't Caspian, I really would be running in the opposite direction."

Caspian reached for her hand from across the table and squeezed it gently. "I should be saying that, love."

Arya lifted her eyebrows at the two of them. "You have taken it to the next step, I see."

Sophie frowned at her. "What next level? There is no next level."

Caspian intervened at the right time. "She is referring to my calling you 'love'."

Sophie blushed almost immediately. "Oh." 

Sophie thought that Arya was referring to the next....but the two of them weren't like that. It wasn't like them to consummate before marriage. Sophie shuddered only thinking about it and feared what would happen.

Thankfully, Caspian filled the silence on her behalf. "It isn't like us to call each other pet names in front of others, I see."

"Your Majesty, it is not like you to steal glances at each other as well."

Sophie realised that Arya was teasing them and her mouth fell open. "What! I didn't...." She looked at Caspian raising his eyebrows at her. "Caspian did it more than me."

Arya laughed once again, grateful to have friends that she would never forget. "That I'm sure he did."

The three started talking about the political issues regarding the army and the navy where Sophie learnt a lot about the management part that she was going to soon have to handle. Arya was kind enough to point her in the right direction when she voiced out an opinion that wouldn't have worked. Sophie may be living in a fantasy world but she had to get over her mindset about the Other World. She wasn't living in a Democracy anymore but Monarchy was hard!

As Sophie started walking Arya to her room, she thanked her once again. "This wouldn't have been possible without your help. I'm so so thankful."

Arya patted her arm. "It was my pleasure, Sophie. I'm really glad that we can be friends."

Sophie nodded. Maybe making girlfriends wasn't that hard. That was when it struck her to ask Arya something important. "Hey, do you think that I can, maybe, not have ladies-in-waiting? I have asked the people that I trust to take that fictional job. Fictional in my opinion." Her eyebrows furrowed. "It is not like me to have anyone in that position because I like getting ready on my own, but Caspian pointed out that-"

"The stupid council needs you to follow the rules of monarchy." Arya completed it for her. "I understand completely. If you ask me, this is your rule. You are free to do what you want. I haven't assigned my ladies-in-waiting, but the Council doesn't interfere with Galma much." 

The council was filled with a bunch of snobs as far as Lady Mirza was concerned. The then-King Miraz had chosen them carefully so that only he would have been benefited by the decisions taken entirely by them. That's why Caspian and Sophie's rule was going to be changing everything for the better. Lady Mirza knew that.

"But is it wise to do it? I don't want to upset anyone because I didn't follow the littlest rule."

Arya patted Sophie's cheek. "Sophie, you are a great person. I don't want you to worry about that. As far as I've seen, the people love you. As do I. If you don't want ladies-in-waiting and would prefer to ask people you trust to take part in that supposed role, you should go ahead with it. Nobody would mind it."

Sophie nodded. She could talk to Caspian then. She was going to tell him what she felt, but that could wait until the next day, for she wasn't going to let anyone get in the way of his birthday.