Wendy opened her eyes. A dull pain still wracked her brain, but she could deal. A wet cloth dropped off her forehead as she sat up and took a second to recompose, blood rushing through her body, before slowly standing up. She didn't know where she was, but she could tell she was in a home. The question was, whose? The room was cozy, albeit small, and some candles burned for steady light in the otherwise lightless room. There were no windows, which Wendy did find strange, but the room was still bright. She strained her ears, catching the faint sound of voices, and she inched toward the door. For all she knew, they were planning to kill her. Maybe even send her back to the king.

She shuddered at the thought.

She'd left Eunji behind, her friend from birth, and everything else she could've possibly had. Now, she was in some stranger's home potentially waltzing to her death. 

She pushed open the bedroom door and carefully descended the stairs, ducking her head to avoid hitting the low ceiling. Very low, in fact. When Wendy reached the bottom of the staircase, she peeked around the corner and nearly fainted on the spot.

"We can't keep her," the short man complained. "She's a Telmarine, and she nearly got us killed!"

"Now, now," the badger said. Yes, badger. Wendy blinked. Maybe she was seeing things. 

She wasn't.

"Don't you 'now, now' me, Van," the man said, waving the badger off. He took hold of a broom and aggressively swept the ground. "We're better off without her."

"We are not going to kill the girl, Chanyeol," Van said gently. "She's done nothing wrong."

"Nothing wrong?" Chanyeol asked incredulously. He stopped sweeping and squared up with Van, gripping the broom so tight his knuckles turned white. "Kyungsoo was captured, Van, and while he may mean nothing to you," Chanyeol spoke quietly, "I can't say the same for myself. He's gone because of her, Van. She should be gone, too." Chanyeol sighed before brandishing the broom like a sword. "What the -- You!"

Chanyeol growled at Wendy, who had heard enough and attempted to make a run for it before Chanyeol could slit . She clearly hadn't thought her plan out well enough, and now a short man with a broom was about to beat her .

"Chanyeol!" Van barked, attempting to calm the dwarf. "Please!"

"You ungrateful thing," Chanyeol snarled, not taking his eyes off Wendy, who felt like her legs might give out. Who knew a dwarf could be so terrifying? "Lost a friend because of you but still took you in, cared for you, and nursed you back to health!"

"You were going to kill me!" Wendy cried, just barely dodging the broom as it whooshed past her face. "You call that nursing back to health?"

"Kill you?" Van glared at Chanyeol. "See what you've done, Chan? Given her the wrong idea is what! Now please, both of you, be civil! Nobody was getting killed, and nobody is getting killed." Van glared at Chanyeol again, who just rolled his eyes. "But call me 'stupid badger' one more time and someone will." Chanyeol avoided eye contact but shut up just the same, feeling slighted at being caught muttering insults under his breath.

Van triumphantly turned to face Wendy. "I'm sorry about that, dear. Our friend was taken by the other Telmarines, and Chanyeol is still bitter."

"Understandable," said Wendy softly. It was her fault.

"It is not your fault," Van reassured Wendy as if reading her mind. "But if you wouldn't mind telling us, just why were those Telmarines chasing a Telmarine soldier?"

"Soldier?" Wendy repeated. She harrumphed and puffed out her chest, standing as tall as possible without crashing her head into the ceiling. "I am no soldier. I am Princess Wendy."

Chanyeol was unimpressed as the girl very obviously stood taller. He got it, already. He was short. No need to rub it in. "You," Chanyeol looked her up and down, "are Princess Wendy. You are supposed to be the princess?"

"I am the princess, thank you! I have been raised from birth to inherit the throne and rule as all great kings have." Wendy pressed her lips together in a thin line. "But I've run away." The confused looks on Van and Chanyeol's face prompted her to continue, so she cleared and explained, "I am no longer the heir. The king now has a child, a son, and that makes me a threat. For his son to be king with no obstructions, I need to be gone. So I ran away. He tried to kill me."

Chanyeol glanced over at Van, who glanced back. The two nodded at each other, and Van said to Wendy, "You blew the horn. Do you know what that means?"

"Something to do with the Kings and Queens, right?" Wendy answered uncertainly. She remembered how she blew the horn that Eunji had given her, the horn that was supposed to call for help. Reality hit her like a brick. "Oh my god, you're a talking badger."

"Yes, it's astounding," deadpanned Van. He brushed off Wendy's surprise. "We are the remnants of Old Narnia; of times when creatures roamed free until your people, the Telmarines, sent us all underground with death as the only other option. So, here we have hidden. The horn you blew belonged to that of Queen Irene the Peaceful."

"Queen Irene..." Wendy remembered Eunji telling her stories of Irene, a woman who was said to be the most beautiful in the land with archery skills unmatched by any. Beautiful and deadly.

"Long gone missing, yet here you are, a royal, standing in my home with that horn in your possession. Chanyeol, we must gather the Narnians."

"For her?" Chanyeol felt skeptical. This girl was it?

"This is the beginning of something, Chanyeol," Van said firmly. He gave a resounding nod. "I'm sure of it."

"If you help me regain my throne," Wendy began, "I promise to restore Narnia. No more hiding. None of this. I will rule and ensure a place where we can live side-by-side. Please. Help me, and I will help you."

Van averting his gaze from the girl's pleading eyes. He sensed no malice. "Chanyeol, it is time."

"You really are sure?"

Van nodded. "It is time we fight back."

In the castle, the king paced around the large meeting room. The lords were seated at a U-shaped table arrangement in chairs surrounding the king on all sides. There was a heavy silence in the room as everyone waited for the king to speak. He had been pacing for some time, building the suspense and purposely keeping the lords at the edge of his seat. The pacing also helped, in fact, keep him from directing his anger at any of the lords. He was still quite angry at the failed assassination of Wendy. He'd nearly chopped Kai's head right off when the man ducked in to see the king and report that Wendy was missing. Kai and his men had been sent to kill Wendy in the dead of the night after the birth of the new prince. Crossbows had fired into the curtains that surrounded the bed and created a flurry of pillow feathers as the bolts tore up the mattress and pillows, but there was no body. Wendy had at it appeared, escaped.

King Suho was more than angry. He was furious.

With his p