Nimueh leaned against the door frame of the girls' dressing chambers. "You two look beautiful."

The Queens-to-be turned towards her. The dryads had dressed them in graceful velvet gowns, embroidered and perfect for the coronation ceremony. Elijah, Jonah, and a couple of their friends bowed and walked towards the door.

"We'll leave you three to finish getting ready," Elijah smiled. She stopped beside Nimueh, reaching up to brush her cheek, then rested her hands on her bare shoulders. "You're radiant, my dear. I'm so proud of you, and I know Asher would be too if she were here." Nimueh nodded, smiling sadly. Elijah and the other Dryads left, closing the doors softly behind them.

"I never thought you would be one for dresses," Lucy cocked her head to one side, gazing at Nimueh.

"On the contrary," Nimueh swept over to a mannequin stand and slipped a red clock off it. "Where I come from, everyone wears dresses all of the time. I wore one the other night after the battle. And I'm quite fond of them actually, but they aren't practical when it comes to fighting."

"Everyone wears them?" asked Susan. "Even the men?"

"Oh yes. Everyone strives to look more beautiful every day. Of course, we have different styles for different occasions, but all the Elites always looks absolutely royal, and even the People can end up looking pretty spectacular." Nimueh placed the cloak over Lucy's shoulders and carefully fastened the broach at the front. "It may not be obvious, but getting all dressed up is a huge part of the culture there, so I've actually missed that lifestyle a lot."

"I don't think you'll ever cease to surprise me, Nimueh," Susan laughed.

She shrugged. "I suppose I've just had different priorities since we met. Here, let me help you with that." She fastened Susan's broach and pulled some of her hair over her shoulder, straightening her cloak over her arms.

"Do you…miss your friends?" Lucy's words seemed hesitant. "Do you miss getting dressed up and going out with them?"

Nimueh shook her head. "I didn't have any friends, not really. I dressed up to make myself feel good, but it would have been nice to have some friends." She looked up and broke into an embarrassed smile. "That sounds really sad, doesn't it? I'm sure that when I do, that'll more than make up for the little things that I miss."

"What do you mean you haven't any friends? You have us! Right," Susan dragged her in front of one of the long mirrors. "It's your turn."

"Oh no! It's fine." But Susan wasn't having any of her bashful protests. Nimueh found it difficult to look at her reflection; having been raised in a land that had taught her to hate the ugliness of her hair and eyes, it was never easy to see herself as anything other than hideous. But this was a different girl to the one who had arrived in Narnia just a few weeks before, a different girl to the one who lived on the island. Her cheeks were less hollow, her body less painfully thin and willowy. Narnia had changed her once again. The dress she wore was a midnight-blue velvet, long and heavy. A thick, black ribbon of velvet, embroidered with silver curls, looped around her neck, holding up the front of the dress, and coming down and round a little way down her upper arms, leaving her shoulders bare. The same ribbon trimmed the long, flowing sleeves and the hem of the dress. Susan had begun fiddling with her hair, which had been left down in its natural wave. She pinned back the front parts, giving the copper curls a little more control and revealing more of her face.

"See? Now do you see how beautiful you are?" Lucy grinned.

"Oh, I don't know. You think?"

"Yes. Peter's going to love it."

"What?"

"Nothing." The two Pevensie girls laughed. Nimueh frowned, again not understanding their meaning.

"Come on, we'd best not keep Aslan waiting." Nimueh led them out into the entrance hall, the doors to the Great Hall were still closed. Aslan stood with the two boys, Mr Tumnus and the Beavers a little way behind them.

"There you are!" Edmund exclaimed. "Trust girls to take forever to get ready."

Nimueh took her place next to Mr Tumnus, who had donned a new scarf, just as the large wooden doors to the Great Hall slowly opened. Creatures of every shape and size, from mice to centaurs, filled the Great Hall. The entire room seemed a shining marble paradise, pillars reaching up into the sky, piercing the glass roof. The sun blazed through the stained-glass windows, splashing rainbow halos onto the walls and floor. A refreshing sea breeze fluttered in from the open balcony that overlooked the Eastern Sea.

The Great Lion walked up the aisle towards the dais upon which stood the four thrones, the Pevensies followed in a line. When Aslan stopped, they stepped up onto the dais and each took their place in front of one of four thrones. Nimueh had never seen anything so grand in her life, either in Narnia and in her own world. Aslan turned to the spectators, raising his golden head, he lifted his voice to the roof.

"To the glistening eastern sea, I give you Queen Lucy, the Valiant." Mr Tumnus took a silver crown from one of the cushions that the Beavers were carrying and, careful not to let his hooves slip on the marble floor, he placed the crown ever so gently onto her head.

"To the great western wood, King Edmund, the Just." Nimueh picked up a second silver crown and stepped up onto the dais to approach a grinning Edmund. He tilted his head forward slightly so that she could more easily reach. Standing back, she smiled and bowed to him.

"To the radiant southern sun, Queen Susan, the Gentle." Mr Tumnus came forward again, and Nimueh caught Susan's eye very briefly. They shared a quiet smile.

"And to the clear northern sky, I give you King Peter, the Magnificent." Aslan's words sent goose bumps up her arms. Taking the golden crown from its cushion, Nimueh came to stand in front of the High King. Placing to crown on his head, she wasn't sure whether to feel daunted or proud. As his head rose once more, she thought he looked so much older than he had done only a few days ago.

He was a little flushed, beaming out across the hall. Nimueh couldn't help but smile. She had been afraid before, that she would have to live in the service of a King that she could never follow, that she would lose more than she had lost already. But he had given her all the proof that she needed; she could follow him the ends of the earth if he asked her to.

Aslan spoke again as the Kings and Queens sat down on their thrones. "Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen. May your wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the heavens."

A cheer arose from the spectators. "Long live King Peter! Long live King Edmund! Long live Queen Susan! Long live Queen Lucy!"


Nimueh swept out onto the balcony. The daylight had begun to wane, but there was no sign of the party dying down. She had never had so many people who wanted to speak to her, acknowledge her, before. And though she thought she wouldn't be able to get enough of the attention, it had quickly become extremely overwhelming.

Breathing in the scent of the sea breeze, she felt at peace for the first time in many years. Her curls brushed over her shoulders, and she had to tuck them behind her ears to keep them from covering her face. The sun gently warmed her skin. No matter what happened from this point onwards, Nimueh thought, nothing could take this moment away from her.

"You left," came a familiar voice.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty. It was not on your account, but that I needed some air."

"You don't have to talk to me like that." Peter came to lean on the balcony balustrade next to her. "I'm still the same person. I just have a crown and a fancy title now. That doesn't mean I want you to treat me any different to how you did before."

Nimueh smiled. "But you see, Your Majesty, that is exactly what it means."

"But you are still, in so many ways, my superior."

"I'm not sure how I feel about that, Your Majesty."

"Please, just call me Peter. And if you don't like it, then you'll just have to stick around and work to make me just as good as you are."

"You really want me to stay?"

"Do you have somewhere else you're rather be?"

Nimueh shook her head, looking over the ocean. "Thank you, for asking me to stay. That means more to me than you'll ever know." Suddenly afraid that she had made their conversation far too heavy, she turned to face to King. "You should be getting back to the party, Your Majesty. You will be missed."

"I suppose I should." Nimueh bowed ever so slightly and gestured from him to proceed her, and as she did so, Peter caught her hand. "I meant to say this before, but with everything that was going on and my siblings being around, I couldn't. And you'll have to help me become better at speaking, because I'm not very good with words yet." He paused, and Nimueh tried to look as calm as possible as she stare at their hands, not daring look into the King's eyes as he found his next words.

"You once made me a promise that you would stand by me for as long as I needed you. Now, I don't know a great deal about you or the world that you come from, but let me return your gift to me by making you a promise. As long as you live in our kingdom, you will never be made to feel ugly or lesser than anyone else."

Nimueh, once again, felt as though she could cry. This kind of promise, she felt she would never be able to repay. Taking a deep breath to bury her true gratitude, she only offered him another smile. "Thank you very much, Your Majesty."

Peter shook his head as if it was nothing. "Well, Lady Firesong, would you do me the honour of the next dance?"

"Ooh, I don't know." Nimueh tried her best to shake off her feelings with a joke. "You're still not very good."

Peter laughed. "You taught me to ride; how much harder could this be?"

"You'd be surprised." But, of course, she obliged, taking the offer of his arm and walking with him back into the Great Hall.

The sun sank lower and lower in the sky, and if one had looked out from the balcony, one would have seen Aslan pacing up the beach, casting a great shadow onto the sand. Soon the sun would set on one era, and the dawn would bring with it a Golden Age, one that would grant Nimueh everything she could ever wish for.