Greetings! Welcome to the sequel of In the Name of the Crown. If you have not already read ItNotC, please exit stage left and catch up, so you won't spoil anything and have to stop every five paragraphs to figure out who all these OCs are. If, however, you enjoy spoilers, proceed by all means, but I'll admit that people like you frighten me a little.

This is proving to be a LOT of fun to work on. It's much more lighthearted than its prequel – because Peter Pevensie deserves to be happy, that's why – and so I'm having all kinds of fun with dialogue and such and it's just so great. Edmund and Adeline (though not immediately, just be patient!), and there's a bit more Suspian (because why would you not want that?) and also a lot of fluff because DID I MENTION THAT PETER DESERVES TO BE HAPPY.

Anyway. Please read, and let me know what you think. Thank you!

/

The air smelled like fresh bread, like flowers and like the sea and the herbs that hung from above the merchant stalls. Susan took a deep breath, savoring it. It was an aroma unlike any other, and it was home.

Cair Paravel still bore some scars from the attempted invasion; there were portions of the citadel that hadn't been rebuilt yet, but for the most part the damage had been repaired.

Better yet was the lifted spirits every time a ship pulled into the harbor. Susan smiled at the thought of another such joyous occasion today.

Over a thousand children had been the victims of Xaviar's plot, and slowly but surely they were being brought home again. Shortly after Adeline's return to Anvard, Alvaro had come so they could all decide upon a course of action. It had been discovered that Narnian children were not the only ones to have disappeared; Calormen and the Archenlands had also been raided on their remotest borders.

But the greatest numbers by far were from the Lone Islands. Xaivar had cut off all messenger ships so that the islanders couldn't call for aid, but now that the communication channels were open again, it was obvious that the parents had been on the verge of giving up hope.

Peter especially had been relieved when the governors had told him that detailed records of each child that had gone missing, including their parents, which island they were from, the child's age and physical descriptions, and more information had been kept in hopes that assistance in finding them would come.

Thus begun a long, strenuous process of locating the children. Once found, they were sent to their nation's capital, where the numerous respective officials there would contact their families and arrange passage for the reunions.

Edmund had been the one to set up the whole system, and while it wasn't without its hiccups it did work for the most part. One significant upside to it was the horde of children currently residing in the Cair's guest wing. The servants were kept busy with the added laundry and cooking, but Susan was grateful they could look after these little souls and give them a few days or weeks of fun and safety. A few had been brought to them with fevers, but Lucy had dutifully nursed them back to health.

All in all, it had been a good three months.

Caspian squeezed her hand, bringing her out of her thoughts. "You all right?"

She smiled. "Yes. Just happy. I like these days."

He nodded, understanding. "Me, too. It's…bittersweet, since of course we'd prefer them not to have been taken in the first place, but the relief you see on the parents' faces is all the reward we could ask for."

Yes, she agreed. There were usually very few dry eyes at the docks on days when a ship came in. But the tears were mostly from joy. The rest she supposed were from relief and residual fear.

"Today's different, I suppose. We're sending children back instead of receiving any."

Caspian shrugged. "The islands don't have any groups ready to send here yet, but we're beginning to run out of room in the guest wing. And Felimath was the logical place to start, since it's the largest. We're able to send almost sixty home on this voyage alone."

Susan brushed her hair out of her face; the winds were brutal down here on the docks. "I know it's selfish, but I wish we could see their return home. Think how awful it must have been for their families all this time. And the children are having to wait even longer to see them again."

"Lord Ramandu said his daughter was a favorite with the children there; somehow I think her coming the parents' stead will soften the blow."

He grinned impishly at her. "Peter might have some competition."

She had to chuckle at that. Her brother, having grown up with three younger siblings, was quite the natural with children of all ages, and in a matter of days he'd been unanimously declared the favorite.

At this moment, however, relief was the only emotion Susan could identify as the ship drew closer, the sails billowing in the wind.

/

There was really nothing like watching a sunrise from the quarterdeck, Lilliandil mused. She loved early mornings from her balcony at home, but here, with the sky and the salty air, there was such an ethereal beauty to it all that part of her almost wished she could remain at sea forever. She was glad she'd had such a start to this day, and the pleasant weather had persisted all morning. Even now, with the sun approaching its midday mark, it was not uncomfortably warm.

The scenery, however beautiful it may be, could not save her from the nervous butterflies that were plaguing her stomach. The Narnian docks were close enough she could make out the red banner, emblazoned with the gold lion, beneath which stood two of Narnia's monarchs. It was too far away to tell which ones were there to greet her, nor was Lilliandil familiar enough to recognize them from any distance.

She resisted the urge to fuss with the lace frill that hung about her wrists; her maid Fiona had helped her into her best gown for the last leg of the voyage, but even the pretty lavender silk was failing her now.

"I've heard that Queen Lucy is one of the kindest souls you could ever hope to meet."

Lilliandil smiled despite herself. "I'm sure you're right, Captain."

The round-bellied man looked at her anxiously. "My lady, I'm sorry to say you're trembling like a leaf."

At that she laughed. "Again, you're not mistaken, my dear Captain. But it's only a case of nerves."

"Nerves?"

"I'm sure they're very nice, I've heard wonderful things about all of them, but my goodness I never expected to be the one in charge of sixty children on the way home. And we're not leaving for another three days."

The captain patted her shoulder in an awkward, bumbling sort of way. "I'm certain they'll think you're wonderful, miss. Just like the rest of us do."

She smiled gratefully, but there wasn't time to say anything else because the gangplank was being lowered, and the captain offered her his arm to disembark. She tried not to clutch his sleeve too tightly.

Up close, the Narnian citadel looked vast, and intimidating. Fleetingly Lilliandil thought of the little Felimath marketplace, where the stalls were crowded close together and one could scarcely walk for all the children running through the streets.

At least, it used to be that way. But it would be full of laughter and play once more, thanks to the efforts of Aslan's chosen. The thought made her concentrate on her purpose here – it wasn't to get star-struck over meeting the Four, it was to return her people's children home.

Quite suddenly, she was standing under that red banner, and she curtsied. "Your Majesties."

"Lady Lilliandil." The queen stepped forward and placed on hand on her shoulder. "We have anxiously awaited your arrival. Welcome to Cair Paravel."

"Thank you."

The woman smiled. "I'm Susan, by the way. This is my husband, Caspian."

"Hello," he greeted cheerfully. Lilliandil felt the anxious knot in her stomach loosen.

"Pleased to meet you."

She started to curtsy again, but Caspian stopped her with a laugh. "You won't get away with formality once we get back up to the castle; Lucy absolutely hates for etiquette to get in the way. You can just call us by our names."

She smiled. "I think I'm going to get along smashingly with Lucy."

They walked her off the docks, and started making their way up the streets. Lilliandil noticed there were several portions that looked to be nothing more than piles of rubble; several buildings looked new or recently repaired, and worst of all was the lack of children. There were a few handfuls, but not nearly the number one would expect in a city this size.

"The search is going well," Lilliandil offered. "We've adopted a similar system, bringing them all to one central location before sending them home. The first group of about forty or so was en route to my father's estate when I left Felimath."

Caspian nodded gratefully. "Thank you, my lady. It's been…trying."

That was something she definitely understood, but she smiled nonetheless. "If I'm expected to call you by your names, then you lot have to call me Lilliandil, or Lilly. This 'my lady' business always makes me twitchy."

For a moment the two just stared at her, then identical smiles bloomed on their faces.

"You're right," Caspian declared. He stood between the two women, and he offered his other arm to Lilliandil. "You and Lucy are going to be great friends."

They spoke of other, light hearted things as they made their way up to the castle. There was no rush, but they didn't dawdle. Once they arrived Lilliandil would be taken immediately to see the children, and then lunch. Susan made excuses for her missing siblings.

"Edmund and Adeline are in Anvard for the next week or so, overseeing the returns there. Not to mention Fitz and Izzy were so glad to have Addie back that we couldn't make her leave again just yet. Lucy is currently tending to some of the children, though there's nothing more than a mild fever, and Peter ought to be about elbows deep in paperwork. I imagine we'll have to extricate him for lunch."

Caspian nudged his wife. "Though, to be fair, he's probably got half a dozen children in his study while he works. They can't stay away from him."

Lilliandil smiled. "And unless your brother's heart is made of stone, he can't bring himself to send them away."

The couple gave her rather curious glances.

"That's exactly the way they are at home," she laughed. "A few years ago I had to have a separate table brought into my study for them to play at while I try to be productive. Once they bring out the puppy eyes it's impossible to say no."

"Impossible for Peter, anyway," Caspian muttered. "Big sap that he is."

She laughed harder. "Is he really that bad?"

"We'll let you decide," was Susan's prim response.

Quite suddenly they were at the palace steps; Lilliandil's nerves returned to her, but she swallowed them best she could and followed Susan and Caspian up the massive sandstone entrance, into a grand marble hall that was teeming with servants and shouting children.

She smiled. It might be a huge building, but Cair Paravel was exactly the same as her father's mansion inside. And that was a great comfort.

"Susan!" A slender young woman appeared out of literally nowhere. "I'm so sorry, I wanted to come with you to the docks but the bunch that were brought in last night, from that village out past the Dancing Lawn, they all had raging fevers and I've only just managed to get them under control, they'll need quite a bit of rest before they're fit to travel, and I'm so sorry to ramble like this, you must think I'm awfully rude, I'm Lucy, pleasure to meet you."

This was all said in one large breath, with the last bit directed towards Lilliandil, who blinked and laughed slightly.

"Er…hello. I'm Lilliandil, and I'm so sorry but are any of those children from the Islands?"

Lucy smiled reassuringly. "Oh, no. These poor things are all from Calormen. But they're not well enough to even travel to Anvard, much less Tashbaan and then all the way home."

Lilliandil nodded, relieved.

"Your lot are doing wonderful," Lucy added. She seemed to understand, and Lilliandil smiled gratefully. "Would you like to see them?"

"Very much," was the longest answer Lilliandil trusted herself to give without succumbing to tears. She'd been fighting a good cry – which she knew she needed – ever since their ship left Felimath.

Lucy took her hand, and whirled them up the stairs, down several hallways until Lilliandil truly didn't know where on earth she was, and through a set of double doors that were opened wide.

"Miss Lilly!"

The cry was music to her ears, and even better was the horde of children that stampeded towards her. Long past caring about decorum or propriety, she dropped to her knees and let the arms engulf her, nearly knocking her backwards.

"Oh, children," was all she could say. "I have missed you all so."

They surrounded her, the sheer size of their massive group hug forcing Caspian, Susan and Lucy backwards several feet, but Lilliandil managed to catch their eyes over the throng of chattering voices and reaching hands, and all three wore identical smiles. The awful, knotted pit in her stomach loosened slightly.

She leaned back and smoothed one little girl's hair. "Are you all right? Are all of you here?"

"All but two."

She looked up – and was shocked at how high she had to look up. "My goodness, Issachar. You've gone and gotten taller than me."

"It was about time, too," he grinned teasingly. She rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same.

"Stella, dear, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Miss Lilly." The girl looked tired and in her eyes, Lilliandil could tell they had been through a terrible ordeal.

"Your father is doing well. He's so excited to see you."

The sad look in Stella's eyes lightened considerably. "Thank you, Miss Lilly. I've worried about him."

There was much less shouting now, enough for Caspian to say, "You said there were two of you missing?"

"Andres got up a game of hide and seek," Issachar replied, absently picking up a tot who reached up for him, balancing him on one hip. "I think everyone's been found, except Dani."

"Three guesses as to why," Susan laughed.

"Dani has been almost glued to Peter's side since the moment we met her in Anvard," Caspian explained. "And he hasn't exactly minded."

"You know, I'm not quite sure that's fair," Lucy mused. "He always was the best at hide and seek."

"Not always," Susan reminded her. "You're the one who left England just to win."

"Yes, but I didn't win that game, if you recall." Lucy grabbed Lilliandil's hand again and tugged her out the door.

"Er – what was that all about?" Lilliandil ventured.

"Oh, just an old family joke," Lucy winked conspiratorially. "But Peter won't be hard to find, even if Dani's with him. I know how he thinks, and we're going to give him a scare. Come on."

/

Peter had honest to goodness started out his day with full intentions of reducing the mountain of paperwork on his desk by half. Truly.

But then Dani had tumbled into his office, explaining in rushed, lisping words the game of hide and seek. Andres was it, and he always found her, and it wasn't fair that she was the smallest and couldn't run as fast.

Needless to say, Peter hadn't been able to resist, and so presently he was crammed inside what he was sure was the world's smallest cupboard, sequestered beneath the back stairway. Dani was in his lap, her hair tickling his nose and her sticky fingers wrapped around his.

Footsteps came bounding down the stairs, followed by another lighter, faster tread and shouting that probably could have woken the dead. Andres must have found another of the older boys; Dani's eyes were huge but she played smart, not making a peep.

Eventually the footsteps and the shouting faded away, and Peter was just about to suggest they venture forth – his legs were starting to cramp – when the door was flung open. Dani shrieked and tried to climb behind him, resulting in one of her elbows in his eye.

"See? I told you, he always looks for the out of the way places." Lucy grinned, smug, then horrified. "Peter, your shirt – "

Miraculously, he managed to squeeze out of the cupboard without straining a muscle; he glanced down at his tunic and winced at the cobwebs and dust that coated the fabric.

"Er…sorry…"

He glanced up apologetically, but then he noticed the woman standing beside Lucy, and he trailed off. He wasn't quite sure what she was doing here, or even who she was. All he knew was he'd never seen hair that exact shade of white-gold, or eyes so blue they looked purple.

Those eyes weren't looking at him, though. They were glued to the back of Dani's head, which was all that was currently visible since she had burrowed her face into his shoulder, presumably to avoid the shame of Andres catching her.

He cleared his throat. "Dani…er, there's…there's someone here to see you."

Cautiously, the head of dark brown curls lifted.

"Miss Lilly!"

Instantly Dani launched herself towards the woman, so fast and so exuberantly that Peter almost dropped her. 'Miss Lilly' rushed forward and pulled her close, and Peter stepped back, surprised at the emotion on her face, as well as the ferocity with which Dani clung to her.

"Dani," he heard in a choked voice. "Oh Dani, I think I missed your hugs most of all."

Dani leaned back, and put both pudgy hands on her friend's smooth cheeks. "Mama comin'?"

"Soon." A kiss was pressed to the small fingertips. "But she sends her love. Do you know, she made this dress for me to wear when I saw you again?"

"It pu'ple," Dani said happily. She stroked the lace frills.

"Purple," Miss Lilly agreed, "Your favorite color."

Peter stood as if in a trance, completely aware of the fact that he was staring, but he couldn't bring himself to look away. Miss Lilly glanced up and caught his eye, and instantly the spell was broken.

"Oh goodness, I'm so – do forgive me, it's just that she…"

"It's fine," he hastened to say. "Are…are you family?"

"Oh, no," she shook her head. Dani was playing with one blond curl. "I'm Lilliandil, of Felimath."

Peter's eyes widened. "Er…Ramandu's daughter?"

"The very same," Lucy chirped. He started, having forgotten all about her presence.

"That…that ship was today, then?"

"It was," Lilliandil laughed. "But I understand having the castle full of children would distract anyone."

He couldn't help but smile at her laugh. "Still, I hope…er, someone was there to greet you, then?"

"Oh, yes," she nodded. "Susan and Caspian, actually."

"Good." What was he supposed to do with his hands? "So…so you've met everyone, then, save for Edmund and Adeline."

"Miss Addie come?"

Lilliandil hugged Dani closer. "Yes, sweet. She and King Edmund will be here within a fortnight, and soon after that they will be married, and do you know what means?"

Dani, eyes wide, shook her head.

"It means your mama will be coming here for the wedding."

The little mouth dropped open. "Mama come? Here? Weddin'?"

"Yes," Lilliandil laughed. "All because you were such a brave, strong girl and helped Miss Adeline escape the bad men. You and your mama are guests of honor."

Dani's brow wrinkled slightly, and she looked to Peter in confusion. He smiled.

"Er…it means you get to sit near me when we eat dinner."

Her face brightened. "Dance?"

Some of his nerves melted away under her hopeful gaze. "Of course; any self-respecting gentleman would ask a lovely lady such as you to dance."

Dani giggled, and unexpectedly he glanced up to meet Lilliandil's eyes; he thought he caught approval there but he couldn't be sure. After all, he met her barely five minutes ago.

He cleared his throat again. "Right, then I probably ought to find some clean clothes before lunch."

Lucy quirked an eyebrow. "Actually you probably ought to take a bath. You've got cobwebs in your hair, too."

He felt his face heat; Lilliandil smiled and Dani giggled again.

"Right." He turned to leave. "Oh…erm, it was nice to meet you, Lady Lilliandil."

"The pleasure was mine, Your Majesty," she said with a curtsy.

He left them in the corridor, desperately hoping that Lucy hadn't noticed any of the hundred embarrassing things he had done or said during the exchange, and also hoping that Miss Lilly would eat with the adults rather than the children.

/

Edmund and Addie return in the next chapter! Stay tuned!