Caspian frowned, puzzled, at the sight of the youngest queen heading towards the practice area close to the How. "My lady?"
Lucy looked up with a bright smile. "Oh, hello Caspian."
"Were you looking for your brothers? Or your sister?" He knew Queen Susan frequently practised her archery, though, in Aslan's name, had little need to; her aim was deadly as it was.
"No, no," she said happily. "I wanted to do some target practice of my own."
His eyebrows raised. "You also are skilled with a bow and arrow?" he queried, vainly looking for some sight of the weapons her sister seemed almost joined to.
Lucy just laughed. "You haven't been reading your history books, Caspian," she teased, with a mock-frown. "I leave archery to Su, and swords to the boys."
"Do you fight in hand-to-hand combat, then?" he asked, mystified.
"No, Caspian. Think. What were my gifts, the magical gifts? The books must say."
"Your healing cordial, of course…" he searched his memory for the other gift; he knew they each had two gifts… his brow cleared. "The dagger. Of course!" He looked at her, astonished. "You are serious? You fight with a dagger? I thought it was… for self-defence, or… or… symbolic of… something."
"Oh, I don't much like fighting," she said, with a disapproving sniff. "But from time to time it's come in handy." She squared up to the target, having done a little stretching to ease her muscles, and took aim. "You see," she smiled, "I couldn't bear to be outdone by Su for long. That's why they called me Queen Lucy the Valiant." With a nonchalant throw, barely looking at the target, she threw the dagger. It hit the bull's-eye, just a little off centre. She frowned, annoyed with what, to her, was a poor throw. "Aslan's Mane, I'm out of practice," she muttered.
Caspian looked startled, both by her skill and the oath she'd just uttered, and made a small, incoherent sound of confusion.
To her credit, Lucy blushed. "Oops, sorry, that sort of slipped out." She smiled. "You see, I was older once – about twenty-three, when we left Narnia – and I sort of forget that I'm still so young now I'm back. I still feel twenty-three, inside."
"Oh," he croaked.
She retrieved the dagger. "Let's try that again." This time, she hit the very centre. She nodded. "Better. But the dagger's not gone in straight."
"It looks straight to me," said Caspian in a strangled voice. He was rapidly re-evaluating Queen Lucy. So far, he'd thought of her as the Little Queen, Valiant and faithful servant to Aslan, a sort of spiritual guide. He'd never thought of her as a warrior in her own right.
"Oh, it looks it, but you see, for a clean, quick kill, it needs to go straight in, hard, fast, and straight," she said with authority.
He winced, suddenly glad that she was on his side. He didn't fancy his chances against the small, fragile-looking girl while she was wielding her dagger. "That you know such things…" he murmured, almost to himself.
She sighed, and turned to look at him. "Look, I don't like fighting, but sometimes it has to be done. I don't like killing people or hurting them, but again, sometimes it has to be done. And if I do have to kill someone, I'd rather it was as quick as possible, so they suffered as little as possible. Does that make sense?"
He nodded; this was more like the compassionate girl he'd come to know. "Yes, of course."
"So, I have to practise." She took aim again, and this time was pleased with her throw. "Twenty or so more that I'm happy with, and I'll be done for the day." She realised he was looking at her curiously. "What? What is it?"
He gave a slight smile. "Your aim is frightening, Queen Lucy. I was wondering if I might ask a favour of you."
She looked suddenly girlish and happy, pleased that she might be able to do something. "Oh, what's that?"
"Your sister will be training some of the archers. There are some knife-throwers amongst the army, though they are not specialised, and there are others who, I think, it would help to learn – an extra weapon in a tight spot is no bad thing. I wonder if you would do likewise, and train them?"
Lucy looked gratified. "I can try."
He was about to ruffle her hair, and stopped himself – it wasn't something you did to a warrior queen who was armed with a dagger – even if she was small and on your side. Instead, he bowed to her, and smiled. "That is all I ask, Your Majesty."
She nodded, drawing herself up to her full height, and he saw again a glimpse of the queenly young woman she must once have been. "Then I will be happy to help," she replied graciously.
It was a while before Caspian shook off his feeling of discomfort.