Caspian shifted uneasily, and gazed at the two queens of old. The elder, Queen Susan the Gentle, had captured his heart to such an extent that for a while he had been blinded to everything else, barely even noticing her younger sister. Now, though, watching them covertly as they talked, heads close together, he dragged his eyes from Queen Susan, and turned his attention to Queen Lucy, named the Valiant.

She looked up, and caught him looking. Far from anger or annoyance, she waved and smiled, beckoning him to join them. "We were just talking about some of our adventures here, when we lived here before," she said, her infectious good humour causing him to smile in return. She patted the ground next to her. "Don't sit there all on your own, Caspian, come and join us."

Something in her smile as she talked, chattering enough to keep him amused and cover the fact that Susan was unusually quiet, made his heart clench, and he gasped in a painful breath, feeling as though he'd been punched in the stomach.

"Caspian? What's wrong? Are you ill?" she asked worriedly, already reaching for her bottle of cordial.

He stopped her. "I-I am well, I thank you, Your Majesty," he said, shivering slightly.

"You can call me Lucy, you know," she said. "You don't look well."

"It… it is nothing, Your – Lucy. I… a memory, that is all."

"A memory? Of what?"

"Of whom," he said, a little sadly.

A small hand rested lightly on his arm. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked earnestly.

"Her name… her name is Mirella," he said shakily. "I have tried not to think of her for some time, for the loss of her hurts me."

"What happened to her? Did she die?"

He smiled faintly. "No, no; she is alive and well, as far as I know. Just… somewhere else."

"Was she… was she someone special?"

He blinked; Lucy had thought… "Oh! No, not like that," he laughed. "Special, yes; as special as any little sister could be."

He noticed that Susan had looked up sharply at that, taking a sudden interest, and was gladdened. Lucy, though, smiled comfortingly at him. "You miss her, then?"

He sighed. "Yes, I miss her. She was sent to be educated at a distant court. I have had letters, but few of them. Something in the way you smiled and talked, reminded me of her, that is all." He sighed again. "I hope that when this war is over I will be able to bring her home again."

Lucy hugged him. "Sorry if I upset you."

He shook his head. "No, do not apologise. The memories are not painful, simply unexpected."

"What's she like, then?"

He smiled. "She is merry, as you are. In age, I think, somewhere between yourself and Queen Susan – she is some years younger than me, and I was always pleased to play protector to her." His face clouded for an instant. "I cannot tell you how tall, for it is many years since I have seen her, and perhaps she has changed much." He smiled again. "When I last saw her, she looked very much like my mother had looked; slim and dark and beautiful. It would not surprise me if she was married by now."

"She sounds nice."

He smiled, heart eased by Lucy's naïve earnestness. "I hope you will meet her some day. I think she would like you very much, for in character, you remind me much of her." He turned to speak to Susan, but she had slipped away while they were talking. He was disappointed, until he remembered her reaction to Mirella being his sister.

Lucy scooted over to sit closer to him. "Well, I can't take her place," she said thoughtfully, "and obviously, I wouldn't want to," she added hastily. "But, you know, you could always pretend I was your sister, when you're missing her. I'm used to being a little sister, so I wouldn't mind."

Coming from anyone other than the young queen, the offer would have seemed comical, but somehow, it touched Caspian almost more than he could bear. "Thank you, Lucy," he said, passing an arm around the girl's waist, smiling a little as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I believe that would comfort me."

She laughed. "See? It's not just because of the cordial they say I'm a healer."

He gave a chuckle. "So it would seem."

About to return to her position, Susan glanced at the unlikely tableau, and smiled, guessing what her sister's famed valour had achieved. She slipped quietly away; Lucy was in safe hands, and she had no doubt that so was Caspian.