A new year of studying had begun. 

The Professor was glad to be a teacher once again and explained the different subjects that there were in Narnia - History, Geography, Astronomy, Art, Archery, Alchemy, Cosmography, Rhetoric, Heraldry, Physics and Music. The Professor had opted for her to learn archery but Sophie requested that she learn swordsmanship as well. 

"Oh, I really want to. Archery has always fascinated me but wielding a blade would never go for a waste, right? Especially now that I'm living here."

"Well said, dear. I'll ask Trumpkin today. I'm sure that he would be more than happy to teach you both. Ask Sahil for help to meet Trumpkin in the second stables."

History began with the knowledge that Narnia was formed by Aslan. When Sophie heard the great Lion's name, she met with a positive feeling. It was as though a change had come over her. She thought she could smell petrichor even though there was no rain; experienced warmth and a tingling sensation in her hands. The sound of sea waves crashing against rocks seemed to be right next to her ears.

And when the Professor told her about the First Rulers King Frank and Queen Helen, since they had witnessed the Creation, he mentioned the White Witch overthrowing them. Hearing Jadis' name made Sophie feel sadness and hunger like she had never before. Goosebumps rose across her arm, which she had never felt before. 

Jadis must have been one crazy witch.

Humans were the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve but Jadis was the daughter of Adam and Lilith. Being part giant gave her the powers that she had. Her reign made Narnia cold all the time. It was winter all year long and no Christmas, which made Sophie gasp. No Christmas? She wasn't one to celebrate it as she followed different cultures, but that was a scary thought.

The Professor also started teaching Geography, because both the subjects didn't exist without the other. It wasn't a fun subject for Sophie but the topography of Narnia was certainly different from the world she came from. There were less number of countries to remember, but with less countries came more relations and flags to remember.

When lunch came, he told her to go ahead without him. "Caspian and myself have some work here, dear." And it was one of the utmost importance.

"Could she really be though?" Caspian asked, pacing the room. 

The plate of pie that was brought for him was completely untouched because of his excitement. It was getting cold, yes, and if his mother and Nina were present right then, she would have forced him to eat first. But this wasn't a time to be nostalgic, not in the way he needed anyway. A myth was breathing itself into life, and there was no time to be wasted.

"We can't make any assumptions yet, Caspian. We don't know her story. We cannot dismiss Trumpkin's theory of her being sent for the gathering of intelligence. You'll have to be careful."

But none of that entered the king's head. He stopped hearing after the second sentence. "Isn't there any way of finding out? She may need our help more than we presume. You don't know what....you don't know what I felt when I looked into her eyes."

The Professor sighed. "From what Nina has told me, you may be right. The girl does need our help. I may be able to find the Prophecy soon."

Caspian stopped in the middle of his next step and turned to look at the Professor. "You can?" He sat down on the chair opposite the Professor's then, only believing his trusty teacher's words. "I don't want to lie to her. The way she described her life...." He shook his head, feeling a void in his chest. "I can't lie to her."

"I can assure that you won't have to. But we can't possibly know what would happen if our suspicions come true. We don't know how she will react if it is true. I suggest that we give her some time getting used to her life here while I try to find the truth. Narnia is not the same. She can't trust us nor can we trust her. Time is of the essence here."

Caspian nodded. He could give the distance Miss Sophie Adams would need. But at the same time, he could also try to befriend her, giving her companionship to prevent her from feeling completely alone, which she must be feeling already. After all, she had presented him with a beautiful painting.

Lunch passed by in the blink of an eye, leaving Sophie wondering what the crafts room was that she was accompanying the Professor to. Her curiosity was answered when she entered an oak-walled room with musical instruments hanging from the walls and placed in precision corners. It was the place every monarch learned to play at least two instruments.

He made her play an instrument after she told him that she had been learning to play the violin. "Thank Aslan I have someone who is good at handling instruments. Caspian does not have this skill."

"He doesn't?" Sophie sounded surprised even to herself. After seeing the king, the only lingering thought that was left with her was that he would be a master at everything. He certainly had the confidence and charm about it.

"Oh he's terrible at playing, but he is great at singing, I must say. Why don't you try singing something now?"

"I'm more of a player really."

"Everyone is a singer that they haven't developed. Yet."

Sophie was grateful to him for pushing her into singing. She had needed someone like that back in her world; someone that would motivate her to try new hobbies that she may grow to like. "Can I take that?" She pointed to the guitar-like instrument, and once she became familiar with the notes, she sang a classic song. 

Wise men say only fools rush in

But I can't help falling in love with you.

The Professor started clapping at the final notes. He knew that the girl could sing simply by looking at her. "I told you, dear. Everyone has a singer inside them. You should be proud at yourself."

Sophie smiled, feeling confidence that she had done a good job. "I was in the band in school, but our teacher wasn't a good one."

"It was her mistake because she has overlooked someone with great talent."

She gave him a polite smile. "Thank you, Professor. Really."

Narnia was becoming a fairytale come true. Even if Sophie was dreaming about it somehow, she never wanted to open her eyes to reality. This was the place that she wanted to be in. This would be the place she could belong to.

At dinner, the questions continued where everyone in the kitchen got to know her. She thanked Nina for helping her with all that she needed. "Can I make breakfast tomorrow?" She addressed all the staff members, who were slowly warming up to her.

"Can you cook?" Alexandre, the head chef asked.

"Only one thing. I need your help as well, obviously."

"What is it that you will be cooking?" Evelyn asked.

A small smile grew on Sophie's face. "Soup."

The next morning, Sophie woke up really early, for it was another chance for her to thank everyone for their kindness. She was the youngest in the kitchen but everyone gave her the respect that she gave them. It was all she had ever wanted. 

"Evelyn, could you please cut it even finer?"

"Where did you learn to cook like this?" Evelyn asked Sophie as she slid the butter from the tray inside the huge pot according to the instructions that were written down the previous night.

"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." 

It was the first time Sophie had felt close to any culture because they had been the most accepting family that she had stayed with. They had been the one to gift her the kalamkari skirt. The couple weren't married to each other but they had a son. They had told her that they had come from a different country and needed a place to stay. It had taken a long time for them to settle but they were glad to take her in when she needed a home. 

The entire staff was having a good time. They started singing at one point and Sophie found herself dancing to the tune. 

Once her soup was done, she handed the ladle to Alexandre, who was the taster and the most hard-to-please. Evelyn had warned Sophie about that. "And?" Sophie asked him after he tasted it.

Alexandre looked at her and started clapping, very impressed because she had gotten the key to making a good soup - a great amount of butter. He hugged her really quickly, having grown emotional because her soup tasted like his old mum's family recipe.

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

"Oh." Nina looked at Sophie, knowing that she had wanted to serve the king and the Professor herself. "It's okay, dear. I'll be sure to tell them."

Sophie ran down to the stables for her first day of wielding a weapon, glad that she had worn her joggers when she almost tripped against the marble floor. When she jumped off the last step, she came to face an empty square. The only sound was of the water flowing inside the fountain. 

Trumpkin must have been packing, if he wasn't here. Not wanting to waste any time with her lone thoughts, she marched into the stables to check up on Thomas, who wasn't getting any better, having been crying all night. 

When Sophie walked inside his stall to pat him down, something miraculous happened. Thomas stood up so fiercely that Sophie fell to the ground because of the sudden movement. Fear rushed through her veins when the horse kicked his legs in the air. 

She crawled backwards and her back hit someone. When she looked up, she saw her new teacher. "Whistles and whirligigs! What are you doing here?" 

Trumpkin pulled her aside and calmed Thomas down by shouting at him when he started galloping towards the two humans. The dwarf tied the horse down but Thomas was moving his head towards Sophie, as if wanting to catch her attention. 

"Mr. Trumpkin...." Sophie stood up with great difficulty as fear threatened to let black spots dance before her eyes.

"'Trumpkin' is enough. What did you do to him?" 

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

Trumpkin frowned. He finally started understanding what the king had meant by the girl not being an ordinary one. There were stories that he had heard, but never one to answer the questions that he was facing now on behalf of the kingdom. 

"He has never done that before."

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

Trumpkin stared at her and decided to change the topic. He was under oath to protect her and he wouldn't go back on it. Well, he couldn't. "The Professor told me that you were staying in Narnia. Why?"

Sophie's eyebrows furrowed together. It was a question that she hadn't been expecting. "What do you mean?"

"Why do you want to stay here?"

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

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

"I remember. I was running from some boys in my school."

"Why? Did you punch one of them?"

"Exactly that." He looked at her in surprise now. "What?"

"What did you mean by the river healing your hand?"

This was the information that he needed to give the Professor for whatever theory that he and the king had in mind. This was just another Sunday for Trumpkin; chasing wild gooses, and in this case, a five-foot six girl. He hated how tall and clueless she was.

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

"No. It isn't." He started walking to the fountain and pulled two swords out from the sack that was resting on the floor. "Swordsmanship isn't a joke."

She huffed, taking one of the swords from him as he rotated the other in his hand. "Never took it to be."

Trumpkin gave her a few more swords to check when she found it to be heavy. A good swordsman was only as good as the sword and since they were training, Sophie needed one that she was comfortable with.

"That one," she said, picking up a dagger with the engravement of a lion's face on his hilt.

Trumpkin recognised it right away and looked at Sophie in disbelief. Coincidence via coincidence, he thought. "That is one of the oldest daggers 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. Lets start."

Practice was heinous until lunch, and that's when they took their break. Sophie was learning a lot from Trumpkin, she had to admit. He wasn't a soft teacher and she realised that she didn't need one either. "You need to build some muscle," he told her when she lost for the twentieth time that day. "Your flabby arms won't be of any use to you until you start eating properly....since you want to stay here."

Sophie picked her sword up once again because only if she fell twice, she would be able to rise up....or something like that she had heard in school. "Thanks for the tip."

"Hopefully you are better at archery than this. Let's take a break." 

Trumpkin rested his arm down to let her know that he was at ease. He turned his head to look around for any threat like he always did and that's when he saw the king climbing down the steps.

"Will you join us for lunch in the castle?" Sophie asked him.

"I will. I only need to set some things up before for your archery lessons." 

Sophie started to make her way back to the castle, rotating her wrists the entire time. The sword she used really was heavy but with practice, she wouldn't have a problem handling it. 

Right as she neared the king, he stopped walking and so did she. "Miss Sophie."

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty." She bowed her head down. She had expected the king to have wanted to have a word with Trumpkin and not her, but she hid her curiosity well.

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

"Only if you call me Sophie."

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

He had really admired it the night he found it. Nina was the only one who could have left it at his door. She never let him forget that there was always hope even when you were living with a sword right above your head. She had helped him escape the night of the second prince's birth - his cousin that he never got to meet, unfortunately.

"I apologise for slipping it under your door but I didn't know how else to give it to you," Sophie said, scratching her right eyebrow. "I hope you liked it. I didn't know when we were going to have a talk, and I needed to let my gratitude be known."

"It was very beautiful. Thank you for the lovely gift." 

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

They walked in silence for some time. Caspian was thinking about how he could talk to her without sounding like his younger self who loved listening to the Professor's tales. "Nina told me that you made breakfast today. You didn't have to take any trouble." 

 She really didn't have to. Caspian felt as though she was trying hard to prove that she could be a part of Narnia, but if meeting Aslan had taught him anything, it was that people were not bad. Only situations were. "I didn't. I wanted to do it." 

There was nothing he could say to do. He would not control her life here like his once had been. She was free to make any decision. 

"How did you make Alexandre cry, if I may ask? He has a will that is stronger than my sword, I suppose."

"Oh man." She closed her eyes with her dominant hand. "He tasted the soup and began praising it to be close to his mother's recipe. It was really not my intention to do so but I take that as a huge compliment."

"He is quite emotional when the topic comes to family," said Caspian. "I apologise. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

Sophie spoke again only when they entered through the palace gates again. "I hope it was okay. Breakfast, I mean."

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

The two of them looked at each for a few seconds, thinking about what they could say next. "I have to go change." Sophie broke the ice as they neared the main stairwell.

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

Sophie nodded and then started climbing up the stairs as Caspian headed for the dining room. Both of them were drowning in the words that they couldn't speak out loud.

"You didn't," Sophie said, stopping halfway up the stairs.

Caspian looked around to see her look down at him his eyebrows furrowing. "What?"

"You didn't embarrass me." She confessed and he smiled at her before they went their way.

It was only a matter of time before all was revealed.

*****
If my Physics and Geography teacher was the Professor, I would never procrastinate studying. I just have a feeling he will make me understand the subject.

Kindly comment your thoughts. It has been a tough few months because I've been so close to deleting wattpad forever because of silent readers. It would really mean a lot to know what your feelings are for this story.