Caspian, the Professor, Trumpkin and Sophie ate lunch together while asking questions to each other, and answering whatever they could while leaving the rest for the lessons that she was going to be taking. She was off to a great start as the Professor had pointed out. When the topic came to Beruna, Trumpkin revealed that the river water had healed Sophie's hand. 

"Did it now?" The Professor asked, sharing a look with Caspian. 

"Did I say something wrong?" Sophie asked, confused at their reaction.

"No." Caspian looked at her as if he were trying to get answers out of her. The facts weren't matching up, but that didn't mean that what they suspected was what they feared.

"Also Thomas woke up," Trumpkin revealed after some time, as if to remind the two of them that there was another factor that they needed to keep in mind, which Sophie was completely unaware of. "He seemed really in a mood to go for a ride around her." 

Another look was shared between the Professor and Caspian. "What happened?" Caspian asked her, not wanting to make her feel left out. She must have been feeling that enough already and he didn't want to contribute to that.

But before she could answer, there was a slight interruption. "Oh, look at the time!" The Professor exclaimed suddenly. "We need to go, Your Majesty. We have to finish the treaty to be sent to Duke Jeremiah, and Sophie needs to get back to her lessons."

Caspian nodded, understanding the message. They needed to talk to Glenstorm about their suspicions, for it was the centaurs who had foretold him that a change was coming about and this was a change that would be both unifying and destructive.

"Do you think he'll have the answer?" Caspian asked the Professor as they used the secret passageway to get to the stables, not wanting anyone to know that they would be leaving the castle at that time. 

It was vital that no one suspected what they did for the safety of all their lives.

"I only hope that he does."

Meanwhile, Sophie's training took a great start at archery. She was able to hit the bulls-eye almost every time. Trumpkin even complimented her and taught her the correct stance for drawing a bow. 

By the time evening came, he finished teaching her the parts of a bow and an arrow and had drawn some sketches as a part of her homework. "Theory is just as important as the practical. Do not let it be as though you are giving on books just as your arm starts to work for you. The Professor better not blame me for it."

The Professor and Caspian did not show up for dinner, having been engrossed in conversation with the centaurs who were waiting for that night's reading. This drove Sophie to have dinner with everyone in the kitchen. Nina's daughter, Rumira had also joined them for the meal. They were a few months older than her but that didn't affect how they had started to get to know each other. There was something between Rumira and Sahil that Sophie noticed but didn't want to place, not wanting to be judgemental.

The next few days were spent completely on lessons, but one interesting thing that happened during Geography - which had always been Sophie's least favourite subject - was that she and the Professor found the similarities and differences between the Narnian maps and the map of the Other World.

A week after that, Sophie decided to take Nina's advice to explore the castle. On the floor that she stayed at, a door stood at the end of the corridor, which nobody accessed, that seemed to call to her. What could possibly be behind that door that they would lock it up?

The ground floor of the castle didn't lead any place she wasn't met with guards. There was no point feeling trapped when she was the intruder after all. But turning a corner, she found herself standing in the throne room, which would have been hard to recognise if it wasn't for the throne. Seeing it so empty, it didn't seem so scary anymore. 

The tapestry that had caught her eye on the first day flashed before her eyes and her legs immediately led her towards it. Four people were illustrated in it - two boys and two girls - standing beside four thrones. The thrones looked identical except for some markings on the headstones. They were wearing crowns of different elements, probably of different precious metals, and in front of them stood a lion in all the might of the world.

"Aslan," she whispered as her hand moved forward to touch the cloth.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice came out of nowhere, startling her.

Sophie couldn't see who had spoken but when she looked down, everything became clear. "Sir Reepicheep!"

"'Reepicheep' would do Sophie Adams."

"Sorry. I've got used to calling you that."

"Yes, the king mentioned something like that." He started climbing up a few stones protruding from the wall so that the two of them were eye-to-eye.

Sophie beckoned to the cloth, careful not to touch it. "Who are they?"

"Those are the Kings and Queens of the Old. Wonderful people really. They helped us win the war, which I am assuming the Professor would cover when the time comes. I wouldn't want to be the one to give out spoilers."

"The king's family hasn't ruled Narnia forever?"

"The king is a born Telmarine. The Old Rulers left Narnia during the Golden Age." Sophie frowned, confused at that possibility because who would have wanted to leave Narnia. "I think, perhaps, it would be for the best if you could ask the Professor about this. He can explain it better than I."

So who were the actual rulers then, she thought.

"Oh that reminds me! Welcome to Narnia, Sophie Adams."

"Thank you." She bowed to him and laughed.

"Trumpkin told me that you woke Thomas up."

"That seems to be the talk of town." 

Rumira had told her one day that the news spread like wildfire. Mr. Zahair was extremely happy that Thomas' condition was improving, even if he only ate whenever Sophie was around. But she didn't mind helping the old caretaker out.

"There is actually a conspiracy about Thomas," whispered Reepicheep. "But I can't tell you that."

"Why not?" Sophie asked, but knew the answer almost immediately. "I'd rather hear it from the Professor?"

He nodded in agreement. "I'm afraid I must take my leave now. It was nice to talk to you. I wish your new life in Narnia brings you joy in abundance. I hope to take you on a tour around this world. We could travel by the sea and enjoy the sunlight as per our wishes. I bid you adieu now. Farewell, Sophie Adams."

That was it. Sophie was tired of the conspiracy theories. She had to know who the real rulers of Narnia were and met the Professor at his study a lot earlier than her class timings. "Good morning, Professor. I know that I'm a lot early but I couldn't resist asking you my next set of questions."

"Well, I'm guessing that you're here because of something important then." He closed the book that he was reading, resting it on the table with the page opening up to where he had stopped.

Sophie let out a breath through her mouth, building up to the question that no one seemed to want to answer. "Who are the Kings and Queens of the Old?"

He removed his glasses, having expected that question hours ago. It was only time before someone let slip about the Pevensies. "Where did you hear about them, dear?"

"Just someone. I heard that they left Narnia, which doesn't seem like an intentional action to do. Unless it was and I'm forgetting my place. Why?"

The Professor pushed his chair back and stood up. He pulled some books off of the shelves and laid them open in front of Sophie after ruffling through the pages. "I was going to start this today anyway but it looks like it would be better if I did it now."

"Thank you, Professor. Apologies for coming early."

"My dear, never apologise for being curious."

He opened the book to a page with a poem written on it and I read it out aloud.

When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone
Sits at Cair Paravel in throne
The evil time be over and done.

Sophie's smile vanished into an oblivious shock. "This is a prophecy!" It was an actual real life prophecy that was in front of her, probably written by the stars themselves. He started taking some things from his cupboard while she looked through the book, gawking at the several illustrations that she recognised from the stories that she was hearing about. "This looks like a children's book." 

"That's because it is, my dear." Sophie looked up at him holding a horn in his hands with a lion's face on one end. "Lets take you on a journey to the Golden Age of Narnia."

"They actually came back a year ago?"

"They saved Narnia once again."

"I can't believe that the Telmarines were the villains in the story! I mean, not villains, but you know what I'm trying to say. The fact that they would turn on their own people only for power....although it's not hard to believe. My world wasn't any better. Wars were more common there than you think."

"Not all of them prayed for power." 

The Professor did not leave out any detail. If Sophie was to live in Narnia, she had a right to know about the past. She had to know that Caspian was an exception because he couldn't have her hating the thought of his people having displaced many settlements. Many tribes had lost their homelands because of the invaders. Lives that can never be replaced were lost. 

But Caspian was working towards earning the forgiveness that he would need. He would do what was right. 

"That would mean that Caspian is the Telmarine who saved Narnia!"

The Professor noticed that Sophie had called the king by his name, which wasn't a treason as such. He was only glad that she was starting to adjust well to her new life. "He is, my dear."

"Wow." She leaned back on her chair, finally resting her shoulders down. "And they didn't age at all? They were kids."

"Yes. They were some of the wisest and fairest rulers that Narnia had seen after King Frank and Queen Helen. The people loved them but they did leave unexpectedly. They wanted to come back. After all, this is their world as well."

"Why did they leave then? After the Second Battle of Beruna, I mean."

"That is a question that only Aslan Himself can answer. The Kings and Queens of the Old had their own life in the other world. It is only safe to assume that He wanted them to live their life there to the fullest. Maybe their time here was to teach them about themselves that they would need to survive there in a better life. Life is full of mysteries that we won't be able to solve, which is a shame for curious minds like ours."

Sophie nodded. "So....are the Telmarines descendants of King Frank and Queen Helen then?"

"Now, that was a mystery for some time but Aslan told us the past of how Telmarines came to be." The Professor pulled out one more book, this one different from the others. The pages themselves were made from the oak tree that was said to have protected Narnia from evil forces, planted by Aslan Himself. "The Telmarines are descendants of pirates who were driven by storm on an island. They fell through magical chasms that connected our two worlds together. They inhabited the then empty land of Telmar."

"If they had their own land, why did they invade Narnia?"

"A famine broke out in Telmar, leaving them with no choice but invade. The Olden Rulers had magically vanished, leaving the lands in turmoil. A lovely fawn volunteered to take the job of protecting the people, but that only gave the pirates a perfect opportunity to do what they did."

Sophie nodded once again. Isn't that what the Britishers did to the Indians in her world? She wouldn't be half of both if she did not acknowledge her own past. "And how did the First Rulers come to Narnia?"

"It is said that after Aslan brought the king and the queen to this world, he wondered whether he should bring more humans to Narnia. He wanted to provide second chances, which is a generosity that I've seen with my own two eyes. Keeping that in mind, he gave the rulers something, a magical object of sorts. Legend says that this object had the power to allow people to move in between our two worlds. He wanted some more families to take residence here for Narnia to prosper. There are evidences that the king and queen brought their closest friends to Narnia, building a prosperous kingdom in these very lands. Narnia has been inhabited by their descendants till now.

"That is, until, the White Witch brought her wrath on them and killed them mercilessly, wanting the object that Aslan had given them. But the rulers were smart themselves, having destroyed the object in time. In that anger, she killed them."

Sophie's jaw fell open. "That's horrible!"

"Would they have rather given her the ring and put the Other World in danger?"

Oh, she realised. They did it to save her world. "Right." 

"Anyone who knew King Frank and Queen Helen is not alive to tell the tale." 

But he knew that wasn't the entire truth. The Professor was a clever fox and chose his words carefully because by revealing about the original rulers, he could be messing with fate itself.

Sophie was given an assignment to do for the week, which she managed to finish it by midnight that day. It would have taken the entire night but she got it done sooner than she had imagined. Her mind was thinking about prophecies the entire time, the words dancing in front of her as she tried to sleep. 

But curiosity killed the cat after all as there was one place she needed to explore.

The tower.

The lamp from the dresser should have been enough to guide her through the dark towers, the only other source of light coming from the moonlight dancing on the floor. The white gown she was wearing reached the floor, probably trailing behind her and erasing the mark of her ever walking through these hallways.

She tip-toed one flight of stairs upwards towards the door that she had come across. Standing before the door, she bit her lower lip wondering how she would get inside. But one try to open it revealed that it had been open all along. She must have missed the latch the last time she had tried it. 

Cold air swept past her face and took over the heat inside the castle, which looked even more beautiful during the night. The moon was right over the highest tower and illuminated the palace grounds. The light that the fountain in the lower stable was reflecting looked like a bunch of diamonds having been dropped in it, being a sister to the lake she had thought of in the same way.

Sophie held her breath as she walked in the tower. She noticed that it was the tallest one and took a few steps back from the edge, being afraid of heights as such. She took a deep breath to calm herself and set the lamp on the ground. "Now what?"

She hadn't thought this through, having assumed that having answers would have given her a change of mind, but she felt lonelier in the northern tower than she had felt inside her room. If she had stayed there in the first place, at least she could have drawn something. But high up in the tower, all she could hear was the thumping of her own heartbeat and the swaying of the trees in the cool midnight breeze.

Sophie realised that she should have brought something to wrap around herself. But somehow, she wanted to feel cold. Maybe it had to do something with the fact that she had never gotten wet in the rain or played in snowfall before. 

But she was in Narnia now. Maybe she could change her fate.

Sophie wondered how it was for her friend, Cas back home. She had left her behind without a note or any warning. Sophie's foster family must have been worried sick searching for her, that is, only if the agency would come looking for her. Melody as well, she realised. Sophie was supposed to be helping her out but had been selfish to choose her own life over everyone else's.

A gasp left her throat as a horrid realisation washed over her. The police would be searching for her. Had she made a mistake by staying in Narnia? Should she have at least thought about searching for a way back? But how could she have done that? 

This had been the wrong choice. Whether it was searching for the tower or staying in Narnia would only be answered with the days to come, but the tower was making her think too much. She needed to head back. 

But right as turned around to leave, she heard a creaking outside the door.

Someone was coming there.

Sophie's eyes widened as she reached for the lamp to defend herself with. The left side of the door gave her the protection in shadows that she needed for the surprise element. All she had to do was wait for the person to walk inside.

And when they did, it left both of them startled. She screamed but the person closed her mouth with his hand. She was breathing heavily as her eyes widened seeing the man in front of her. Even in dark, she could make out the lines of his gorgeous hair.

Caspian shushed her as he held the back of her neck to calm her down. "What're you doing here?" 

*****
Ahhhhh they are meeting each other!

Cast

Sophie Cookson as Rumira Walter

Ahhhh Sahil and Rumira my babies!!!!
SAMIRA SUPREMACY
(Thank you to MilaBlue05 )