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𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑫𝑨𝑹𝑲𝑺𝑰𝑫𝑬
𝑶𝑭 𝑨 𝑵𝑬𝑾 𝑫𝑨𝑾𝑵
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐑 𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐃 𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍, 𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐒 𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐇 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐕𝐈𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐓 𝐈𝐓𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅. The whole hall bathed in warm tones because of it and even the crowns of the King and Queen of Archenland shimmered like gold instead of bronze whereas the golden embroidery on their clothing illuminated like strings of light in the beams that fell through the coloured glass.

Nain and Malandre each sat at the other end of the engraved wooden table that was overloaded with freshly baked bread and pastries, fruit salads, scrambled eggs and roasted bacon. Yet, their plates were still empty and their utensils still unused as they waited for the youngest of their two daughters to arrive.

Alara had entered the hall several minutes prior and she had quickly rebraided her hair on her way to the chair to look a bit more presentable after she'd made a curtsy towards her parents.

'How much longer do we wait? Chances are she won't show up until dinner time,' Alara said, referring to her sister Sionann, and the corners of her mother's mouth twitched to refrain herself from smiling widely.

Malandre had tried to convince her husband that it would be wiser to request their daughters' presence during lunch as one would be outside the castle walls during breakfast and the other would be fast asleep. Nain hadn't heeded her words though, and while Alara had miraculously arrived on time, Sionann was probably unable to hear the loud knocking on her bedroom door through her dreams.

'Patience, Alara,' Nain said. 'She'll be here.'

Alara and her mother crossed eyes, exchanging knowing looks but before the echo of King Nain's words could diminish, the doors swung open with such a massive force that they collided with a bang against the walls. The sound shot through the air like thunder and all three heads turned towards the door opening where Sionann stamped through.

Her dark eyebrows rested in a deep frown while her blue eyes glinted dangerously and her wavy, platinum blonde hair as white as moonlight, pointed in all sorts of directions as if she had been caught in the middle of a storm.

'Mornings are evil,' Sionann grumbled under her breath, trudging towards the last empty chair at the table.

'Is that your nightgown?' Alara asked with a chuckle as she noticed her younger sister wore a silk dark blue dress that fell just over her knees while the see-through white robe reached till her ankles and her bare feet barely made a sound on the wooden flooring.

'It is,' Sionann answered, sitting down on the chair as she rubbed her eyes. 'I am just here to eat and listen, and then I'll roll back to bed.'

'Sleeping will be out of the question for the rest of the day,' Nain said and both sisters cast a curious look at their father.

'That sounds. . . earnest,' Alara said, shortly contemplating what the right word would be. 'Why are we here?'

'I have received word from King Caspian of Narnia,' Nain began. 'We're invited to celebrate the summer's solstice at Cair Paravel.'

Sionann snorted a laugh before reaching over the table to grab a lukewarm bun filled with cherry jam. 'Please, father, you made it sound as if we were at war,' she said, devouring a bite of the bun.

'You have a little something there,' Alara scolded her sister, gesturing at a corner of her mouth and she grimaced when Sionann wiped the jam away with the end of the sleeve of her robe.

'Wait, I thought Cair Paravel laid in ruins? Although, on second thought, that would make an amazing setting for a celebration,' Sionann said, though she was barely audible as her mouth was full with another bite.

Alara rolled her eyes at her sister's poor manners, but that didn't go unnoticed by Sionann.

'What?' she snapped, throwing the half-eaten bun on the plate in front of her and a droplet of jam splattered high up in the air by the force, describing a graceful bow only to land with a thud right next to the plate.

'Your manners are horrible,' Alara simply said.

'We're the only ones here. Who do I need to impress? The tapestries of our ancestors?'

'You're still a princess,' Alara countered, but she swallowed in the rest of her sentence when their father straightened his back and his stern blue eyes travelled between them.

'That's enough,' Nain said, cutting off their argument and the shadows between the lines of his face looked deeper than usual. 'As I was saying, we've been invited to Narnia and I need the two of you to make a good impression. Especially you, Sionann.'

Sionann's shoulders slumped and her heart felt as if it had just sunken a few inches lower in her chest. 'Why?' she asked slowly, already fearing the answer.

'If all goes well, I want to propose a marriage between you and King Caspian.'

Sionann's expression saddened. 'I don't want to be married off like some object. Why can't Alara marry him?'

Although Alara had looked at her sister with a compassionate look, it now turned sour. 'Who says I want to be married off like an object?'

'What? I thought you were the perfect princess?'

Nain smacked the flat of his hand on the wooden table and the glasses vibrated ominously in the heavy silence that followed after the slap. 'This is not up for debate, Sionann. Alara is my heir, the future Queen of Archenland, if she marries the King of Narnia it wouldn't just strengthen the alliance like with a marriage to you, but it would merge the two kingdoms together like one. That cannot happen; Archenland must remain a kingdom on its own.'

Nain gave his daughter a few moments to let his words sink in before continuing. 'Finish your breakfast. Then, you'll be brushing up on your etiquette skills with the governess all day, every day until we'll set out on the journey.'

'How fun,' Sionann grumbled under her breath, but Nain pretended as if he hadn't heard it and focussed on his other daughter.

'Alara, the royal tailor will arrive in a few hours to measure your new dress, but the rest of the day I expect you to concentrate on your studies like always. We'll depart for Narnia in five days.'

'Yes, father,' Alara answered, looking at her folded hands in her lap until she decided to cast another quick glance at Sionann. Her sister was however too caught up in her own thoughts and the remainder of their breakfast passed in an uncomfortable silence.

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𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐓 𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐊 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐙𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒. The polished wooden flooring of the hallways swam with dark shadows as the sky outside gradually changed to a deep velvet blue with twinkling silver stars, and the faint echo of her footsteps bounced off the walls as she walked towards the southern tower.

Her rumbling stomach tried to convince her to set course for the dining hall though, but Sionann didn't want to face her father yet and she decided she'd sneak to the kitchen when dinner time had passed ─ which wouldn't be for another hour.

The kitchen staff was never surprised when Sionann showed up since she often missed the set meal times as her daily rhythm differed greatly from the other inhabitants of the castle. Oftentimes she woke up an hour after lunch since she'd usually spend all night stargazing at the top of the highest castle tower and went to bed when the birds started singing to announce the oncoming day.

Sionann's eyes felt heavy and her head throbbed due to the short amount of sleep she had today but also due to the fact she had been stuck inside with the governess all, doing boring routines like curtsies, royal dances, tea sipping and knowing which utensils to use first.

A little bit of energy surged back into her body when she rounded a corner and the fresh evening air blew through the arched door opening towards her. Beyond the opening lay a rectangular courtyard where the white tiles formed the shape of the royal crest, but the remaining dark grey tiles could become unbearably hot during summer as the courtyard lay at the southside of the castle.

The cobbled path at Sionann's right led to a spacious flower garden with a gazebo and fountain, but the left path led to the knights' keep and a small skip appeared in Sionann's pace as she bent towards the left.

Her platinum blonde hair danced like liquid moonlight around her shoulders with each step she took, but she slowed to a halt when she noticed the square around the southern tower was empty. The knights of Anvard trained there during the day, sparring with each other in good-willed competitions and Sionann always joined them after she'd woken up. 

Today though, seemed to be the first time in three years she had missed their training session and she muttered some ill words about her father and the governess.

Sionann was about to turn around and leave again when the door of the tower opened and someone appeared in the opening. Despite the fire pits' flickering flames that stood scattered around the square, it took both people a few moments to recognise each other.

'Sionann,' Galen said, stepping out of the shadows of the door opening and into the faint orange light of the flames. 'I didn't think you'd still show up today.'

'Sorry I am late,' Sionann apologised. 'My father wanted me to study with the governess all day.'

'I know,' he said. 'That's why I understand if you'd head straight back to bed. A well-rested knight is a focussed knight.'

They both knew Sionann wasn't an actual knight since King Nain would never allow it, but she trained as hard and fierce as one.

'No, please,' she began. 'I've been cooped up inside all day, I have energy to spare.'

Galen let his eyes wander over her face, the dark circles laying prominent under her eyes while her pale skin seemed to illuminate in the darkness. 'Sure,' he said slowly, the doubt sounding through his voice. 'Go to bed, princess. Tomorrow is a new day.'

Sionann set her jaw by hearing her title, but instead of letting the annoyance get the best of her, she went for a different approach. 'Fine, I understand how it is, cousin. We both know I see better in the dark, you're afraid I'll beat you.'

He let out a short chuckle as he understood what she was trying to accomplish, but Galen had faced worse fires than a hurt princess. Still, he decided to play along and walked towards the rank where the wooden training swords stood in their rack against the side.

'One match,' Galen said, grabbing two swords and throwing one towards Sionann who caught it out of the air and gave it a few twirls to test the weight and balance. The wood felt cold and rough from the night air against the palm of her hand but she clenched her fingers a few times around the handle to get used to it and she turned her body to face him sideways.

'If I win,' he continued, mirroring her stance and holding up his sword, 'you go to bed immediately.'

'And what if I win?'

'Then we'll fight the next match with real swords,' he answered.

Sionann grinned, she had been begging Galen to train with iron swords for weeks now but he had refused every time. 'Deal.'

The word had barely left her lips when Galen lashed out with such a force that Sionann's arms trembled as she caught the attack just in time. She stumbled backwards, thrown out of balance by the collision and her heart hammered in her throat when Galen lashed out again and again without pausing.

Pain soared through her arms as she struggled to parry and block each attack, and he forced her farther and farther back until she was about to be cornered between him and the castle wall.

Sionann gasped for air, her chest heaving up and down while her arms tensed up and became heavier after each block. She searched desperately for an opening between his attacks to wriggle her way out of her defensive position to an offensive one, but while his movements remained as strong and unwavering as ever, hers became sloppy and weak as her energy flowed out of her.

In a last attempt to get the upper hand, Sionann waved her sword wildly around and while Galen could have easily parried her flabby effort, he simply stepped aside.

Sionann fell half a step forward, struggling to keep standing as she hadn't expected her sword to meet nothing but air and before she fully understood what was happening, Galen stuck out his foot. 

He hooked the top of his boot around her ankle when she tried to take another step to regain her balance and with a yelp, Sionann fell towards the ground.

The wooden sword launched out of her hand when she collided with the tiles and the palm of her other hand scraped over the stones as she attempted to catch herself. A stinging pain shot up through her hand and she blinked rapidly to fight the tears that sprung involuntarily in her eyes. 

She tried to reach the sword by pushing herself halfway up, but Galen had run around her and kicked it out of her reach before pointing the wooden end of his sword at her chest.

'You lose,' Galen said, tapping the sword softly against her.

Sionann still struggled to breathe, the exhaustion soaring through her body while her limbs trembled uncontrollably. She let herself fall back on her knees and pushed Galen's sword roughly away, the tears stinging in her eyes.

'Every time we sparred,' Sionann began between heavy breaths, 'you've held back?' She knew she was tired but she had never had her butt kicked this fast.

'Well,' Galen said, kneeling down in front of her, 'I can't teach you anything if I fight with everything I got.'

Sionann rubbed her cheek to wipe away the lone tear that had escaped the corner of her eye. 'Then what was today's lesson?' she asked with a small sniffle.

Galen rose back to his full length, offering her a hand to pull her back on her feet as well. 'That it's alright to rest when your body is tired instead of trying to prove yourself.'

Sionann took her cousin's hand and smiled through the misty haze of her tears. 'I suppose that makes sense.'

'Of course it makes sense, I'm the teacher. Now, off to bed. That was the deal.'

'Alright, alright,' Sionann said, hesitating for a moment before inclining her head towards him; a form of respect she rarely showed. 'Good night.'

Galen smiled, giving the wooden sword a few twirls before resting the flat blade against the shoulder of his non-sword hand and bowing towards her in a knight's greeting. 'Good night, princess.'

As Sionann set course to her chambers, she understood that while her ego was still hurt by the fact she had lost their match, the defeat also made her more determined to become a sword master as great as Galen. Deep within, she acknowledged she had barely reached the tip of that skill and knowledge, and she knew she had a long way to go, but someday, she'd get there. She vowed that to herself and no marriage to a King could stop her. . .

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