"Lift your blade a little higher." Edmund coached. "And faster, lighter movements. Your adversary's going to overpower you very easily if you're moving that sluggishly."

"This blade's heavy, you know!" Susan shouted.

"By jove, I keep forgetting how weak your arms are."

"Edmund!" Susan shouted again, but she was laughing now. Her mood had improved significantly ever since they'd found Caspian. Really, all their moods had, but hers the most. Lucy was adamant that the two were romantically involved, but Peter and Edmund were still skeptical.

"What's all this, then?" Caspian entered the courtyard, his sword and spurs jangling. He'd just come back from a horseback ride and his hair was pushed back from his forehead. "Are we trying to teach Susan how to fight with a sword?"

"It would be easier to teach a jellyfish the way of the sword at the rate we're going." Edmund groaned.

"Edmund!"

"Edmund, your sister's talents lie in other areas." Caspian laughed and put a hand on Susan's shoulder. "She's an excellent shot with a bow and arrow. She's the gentle queen and prefers to spend her time showing kindness to her subjects rather than fighting."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Edmund said.

"Look at the way Caspian looks at her." Lucy said to Peter in an undertone. They were both at the edge of the courtyard watching the action. "Tell me that look doesn't signify eros."

"Tell me why I agreed to spy on my own sister." Peter groaned.

"I wanted help spying and Edmund said no. That left you, and you agreed because you're the kindest brother I've got."

"Right."

"Look at the way he puts his hand on her shoulder."

"That means nothing." said Peter. "That's a platonic display of affection. I put my hand on Susan's shoulder all the time as a show of brotherly affection."

"Yeah, but Caspian's not her brother." Lucy squinted in the bright sunlight. "When you do it, there's no doubt that it's platonic. When Caspian does it, it's ambiguous."

"I just don't know." Peter said. "I thought she merely had a girlish crush on him, last time we were here. But she was practically a child then."

"Oh, there's no question about their feelings for each other." Lucy said. "The question is whether they've acted on them."

"Right." Peter squinted across the courtyard. "You know, it ought to be time for lunch soon." He scooted his fishbowl backward. Trumpkin the dwarf had built a new contraption with bigger wheels to help them get around and now they could reach down to push the wheels. "Am I right? Lunch, time for lunch?"

"I think we ought to take lunch as a picnic down to the mermaid cove." said Caspian. "It's a beautiful afternoon for the beach."

Lucy raised her eyebrows at Peter. Caspian had been finding more and more excuses to spend time at their beach lately, and Susan was always hovering at or above the surface. But she only said, "I think a picnic lunch is a lovely idea, Caspian."

"Well it's settled then. I'll go to the kitchen and get everything made up in a basket. Why don't you lot go down to the beach now? I'll meet you there."

The Pevensies nodded and headed toward the balcony, the same one Caspian and Susan had kissed on, but no one knew except those two. There they would shimmy down a rope tied to the railing that let them down to the beach, then crawl to the water and swim back to their cove, which was just south of the castle. This way was a lot easier than trying to bring the fishbowls down to the beach, and they'd all built up a lot of arm strength from scrambling about on land.

Caspian met them down on the beach with a basket of sandwiches and a bottle of mead. The Pevesnies were subsisting on a combination of shrimp off the sea floor and food from the castle, and they found that both diets agreed with them. It was one of the positives of being half human half Caspian came down to the beach they'd sit in the soft sand and watch the ships of the Narnian fleet go by.

"We've been working hard to rebuild the fleet." Caspian said through a mouthful of bread. He'd told them this several times, but he seemed so proud of it that no one had the heart to tell him to be quiet. "Look, there's the Adventurer right now. I believe it's coming back from a trading trip with Archenland. The Dawn Treader's still away at the Lone Islands, but it should be back soon."

"Edmund, do you remember when we saw merpeople from the Dawn Treader?" Lucy asked. "Now we are the merpeople!"

"Like I keep telling you, Lucy," Edmund mumbled around a mouthful, "I think you were the only one who saw them."

"You wanna go see if we can surprise anyone? Let's swim out to the Adventurer and see if anyone on board notices us!"

"No."

"Edmund, go with her." said Peter. "She's not going alone."

"Fine." Edmund stuffed the last of his sandwich into his mouth and leapt into the water after Lucy.

"Queen Lucy's perfectly able to swim through the harbor by herself." said Caspian mildly. "She'll be fine, especially with her knife."

"I know." said Peter. "I don't doubt she'll be safe. I saw an opportunity to get those two clowns to leave and I took it. I wanted to ask, while they're gone, are the two of you romantically involved?"

Susan turned scarlet. "How—how did you guess?"

"I'm not blind, Susan. And Lucy suspects it too."

"Fine, Caspian and I are dating. We didn't want to tell anyone because, well, Edmund teased me about trying to get my legs back and Lucy won't let me hear the end of how cute we'd be as a couple."

Peter nodded. "That's why I made up an excuse to get rid of them both. Well, congratulations, you two."

"We did have to tell them eventually, sweetbun." said Caspian.

"Sweetbun?" Peter groaned. "Urgh, spare me the pet names. I should have gone into the water with Edmund and Lucy."

Once it became common knowledge that Caspian and Susan were dating, they stopped trying to hide it. Suddenly there was hand-holding in the courtyard, longing gazes at dinner, and whoever was unfortunate enough to venture onto the wisteria balcony might find them clutched in each other's arms, their lips performing their own separate embrace. Lucy looked on with misty eyes and could barely keep from squealing, meanwhile Edmund looked on with barely concealed disgust and Peter watched them all carefully. As the eldest Pevensie he felt a responsibility to protect Susan, though he figured it wasn't so much Caspian he had to protect her from and instead it would be Edmund and Lucy's teasing. And tease her they did.

"I'm opening a betting pool." Edmund said some weeks later, down in their cave where the afternoon sunlight filtered through the water. "On how long it's going to be before Susan turns human again."

"Edmund, first of all, that's unkind." Peter replied. "Secondly, we're still not sure how the curse works. 'Find love' well, Susan's found love. What's the exact timing of this?"

"We all put some money in." Edmund went on. "And whoever's closest gets the lot. I'm putting in five gold coins and saying no more than two weeks."

"Well, I guess I have been wondering how long it might until she turns human again." Peter said. "They do have a solid relationship. Perhaps there's no harm in speculating a little."

"Five coins and within one week." said Lucy. "They're completely smitten and true love can overcome anything, even a curse."

"Fine. Five coins on it being within the month." said Peter. "Look, you're forgetting I have a little more life experience than you do. Love can be a complicated thing sometimes and the curse wasn't very specific about how turning human again really works."

Edmund nodded. "Well, we'll find out when we see how it goes for Susan. Where is she anyway?"

"At the surface." said Lucy. "Waiting for Caspian. He's in a meeting with his advisors. Something about ongoing political tensions." The three Pevensies shared a look. While Caspian was enamored with Susan, the tensions with Calormene were only getting worse. The Calormene government was threatening an embargo with mainland Narnia, which would hurt anyone in Narnia who participated in trade.

Susan waited at the surface, exactly where Lucy had said she would be. She spread her arms and let her body float in the shallow water, bobbing gently with each incoming wave. Ebb and flow, in and out. Here in the warm shallow water she felt a peace she'd never known before, in Narnia or England. For once there was no fighting and she was free to spend time with the people who mattered most to her.

"Susan!"

Susan jerked up, sitting up in the water to see Caspian running down the sand. "What is it?" She pulled herself up onto the beach, confused by the urgency in his voice. "What's happened?"

"Get the others, quickly." Caspian took a moment to compose himself while the rest of the Pevensies surfaced. "Lord Drinian returned from the Lone Islands with grave news." His nostrils flared slightly as he went on. "Word has gotten out about you lot being mermaids, and the Calormene government has put out a reward for anyone who can capture you alive. Ten thousand coins for Peter and Edmund, eight thousand for Susan and Lucy."

"Wait, why are we less?" Lucy said. "I know women aren't always treated well in England, but I didn't expect it here too."

"Likely they don't see you as much of a threat compared to your brothers." said Caspian. "But, all of that aside, this is a very serious situation for the lot of you."

"What's our plan of action?" Peter, ever the war general, asked.

"Well, you will have some input on that." said Caspian. "Seeing as you're the ones who are under threat. Lord Drinian offered to start with a naval blockade around this cove and I concur. Beyond that, we're not sure. We will of course be keeping constant watch."

"Are we looking for Calormene ships?" Edmund asked. His fingers opened and closed around handfuls of sand, clearly itching for the notebook and pen he'd left in London.

Caspian shook his head. "Pirate ships, most likely. The government wishes to have those low-lives do the dirty work for them. Because we will give everything we have to keep you safe."

"We'll fight for our own safety, right?" Lucy asked. "We'll keep our weapons on us at all times."

Peter nodded. "We'll get them right now, so we're extra prepared while the fleet gets the blockade in place." He and Lucy disappeared below while Edmund and Susan remained above.

"Hold me." Susan scooted closer to Caspian, not caring that Edmund was there. "Please. I need you."

"I need you too." Caspian wrapped his strong arms around her. "I'm not gonna let you get captured. I promise." He leaned down and planted a kiss on her lips, causing Edmund to sigh and dive back under. "I'll do whatever it takes."

"I know. But I'm still so scared." Susan whispered. "Who know what will happen to us if we're captured? We might get paraded around in a circus, or worse!"

"I told you I'm not gonna let it happen. I'll use the entire Narnian fleet to protect you lot."

"Are you sure? You don't have to put the whole fleet in danger just to save us."

"I told you I would do whatever it takes."

"Right."

Caspian gently pushed her back into the water. "I'll work with the sailors to get everything in order. Go see your brothers and sister. You should be together at a time like this. I'll be back soon. I love you."

"I love you too." Susan looked back up at him for just a moment, feeling her fins rippling in the waves. "Caspian, I—oh!" Susan floundered in the water, realizing that her tail wasn't working right. Her fins were no longer rippling in the waves, and then—"Oh my god!" She shrieked. Her head bobbed beneath the surface and came up again as she kicked her legs to propel herself upward. "I'm human again!"

"Wow, really?" Caspian leaned down and reached for her hand. "This is wonderful! Come on, let's get you dried off and up to the castle. Come on, get out of the water."

"I can't." Susan muttered, turning scarlet again. "I'm not wearing anything. Even my awful seaweed top disappeared when I turned human again."

Caspian grinned. "I don't have a problem with that."

"Yes, but I do."

"Here." Caspian pulled off his shirt. "Put that on, then we can take you up to the castle and get you something that fits." He turned his back for a moment to allow Susan to scramble out of the water and pull on his shirt. Fortunately he was quite a bit larger than she was and the shirt covered most of her body.

"So much for family togetherness." Susan muttered as they scrambled up the beach. "Now I can't even go down to the cave anymore."

Caspian nodded. "I guess you'll move into the castle while they stay up here."

"I guess so. Oh, they're all going to be mad at me now that the pirates won't be after me."

They hurried up the steps to the castle, then down into the cellars. He led her to the castle's store-room. "Here, we've kept all your old things here, just like last time. Your clothes should be there. I'll give you a moment to change. And give me my shirt back when you're done."

"Aww. I liked you without it."

Caspian winked at her. "You can see me without it again later." He laughed as Susan smacked him and pushed him out the door.

"I am still a lady!" Susan shrieked indignantly as she laced up her dress. She flung the door open and tossed Caspian's shirt at him. "We need to go back to the beach and inform the others." She stopped to grab her old bow and quiver and her horn and hurried after Caspian.

They could see Edmund down on the beach, no doubt looking for them. They ran down the steps to meet him.

"No!" Edmund moaned. "You turned human again? Now?"

"Look, Edmund, I know this is bad timing but—"

"You couldn't have waited a week? Now I've lost our bet!"

Susan bristled. "You bet on my romantic life?! Edmund!"

"Susan." Caspian could sense an argument brewing between the two. "Let's talk about how we continue keeping them safe. We can talk about the bet later. Seriously, though, you took bets on our relationship?"

Lucy and Peter emerged from the water, weapons in hand. Lucy gasped upon seeing Susan and Caspian. "I win! Peter, Edmund, pay up! True love triumphs at last!"

Peter sighed. "Yup. Well, this is a new development. Susan, I guess you won't be needing this anymore." He held out the rusted sword he'd brought up from the cave. "Does this change our plans at all?"

Caspian shook his head. "I don't think so. We'll continue with the naval blockade and we'll continue to be on high alert. We'll continue putting the Narnian forces to work and showing the pirates we aren't to be trifled with."

"I'll use my bow and arrows to help defend you." Susan chimed in. "What? I've had plenty of time to practice. I'm back in top fighting form now."

Edmund raised his eyebrows. "If you say so."

"I am."

That evening Susan left the cove and went up to the castle, this time to stay. She left a piece of her heart beneath the waves, but her energy was focused on what lay ahead. Caspian assured her that the castle staff were busy making the necessary arrangements to make her comfortable. "That leaves just one question." He said as they climbed the steps from the beach. "You're welcome to stay the night in my bedroom, or we can have one of the other chambers made up for you."

Susan turned pink. "I told you, Caspian, I am a lady. All right, well, I am a lady who can be persuaded. What does your bedroom look like?"

Caspian led her into the royal bedchamber, a grand room dominated by a four-poster bed with a large window overlooking the sea. "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful." Susan smiled. "I think I'll stay here."

"The royal dressing room is there." Caspian pointed. "I had the castle staff bring up one of your nightgowns from storage earlier."

"So you planned for me to sleep here before you asked me about it?" Susan slipped behind the door and began changing.

"I wanted you here with me." Caspian said. "I—I've missed your human body."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what that means."

"I do." Susan emerged from the dressing room in her long white nightgown. "I do."

Caspian wrapped his arm around her as she drew near, then steered her toward the bed. "I have the most comfortable bed in the whole of Narnia, my lady."

"Mm. That explains why you wake up late every day." Susan tumbled into the bed after Caspian. "Oh you weren't joking. That is the most comfortable bed I've ever been in."

"Mm." Caspian rolled over and tucked his body close to hers.

When Susan woke the next morning she was still tucked in Caspian's embrace. She exhaled softly and freed one hand to pull her hair out of her face. "So that wasn't a dream."

"Why would it be a dream?" Caspian mumbled sleepily.

"I—I don't know. It feels too good be true, almost. There was war at home, war here, I was told I couldn't come back, I was turned into a mermaid . . . but now everything feels right."

Caspian nodded as he sat up, stretching and rubbing his eyes. "It feels right for me, too." He scrambled out of bed and drew the curtains back from the window.

"I thought you said you didn't like getting out of your comfortable bed."

Caspian turned and grinned at her. "Not normally, but I need to show you how lovely the wisteria balcony is in the morning. Come on."

Susan threw on her dressing gown and hurried after Caspian to the balcony, where they could watch the pink rays of the morning sun stretching across the glittering sea to meet them. "Have I mentioned this is my favorite part of the castle?"

Caspian nodded. "You have."

"Back when my siblings and I ruled, we didn't have the wisteria here." Susan stepped to the edge of the balcony and looked across the sea. "We did have a potted orange tree." She smiled, lost in memories of golden Narnia.

"I studied the golden age intensively with my tutors." Caspian said. "I want Narnia to flourish under my hand the way it flourished under the hands of you and your siblings."

"It will." Susan wrapped an arm around him. "Your hands are some of the best for Narnia."

"I've done so much already." Caspian was looking out at the sea. "Got rid of my uncle, let the talking animals and magic flourish again, cleaned up a lot of nasty business in the Lone Islands. What next?"

"Finish up this bit with Calormen, obviously."

Caspian didn't seem to have heard her, or if he had, he didn't respond. "Every good king leaves a legacy after he's gone, an heir. And every king needs a queen." He turned and looked at her.

. . . .

Later that afternoon Lucy surfaced to collect sea shells. She was lonely now without Susan below the waves, and would come up for any news of the outside world and to get away from Peter and Edmund talking about subjects she wasn't interested in. Right now they were rehashing battle strategy from one of the old wars with the giants.

As if on cue, Susan came striding down the beach, arrayed in a new burgundy red gown. Her brow was furrowed slightly.

"Afternoon." Lucy closed her hands around the clam shells she was holding, listening as they clacked together.

"Hello." Susan sat down in the sand opposite Lucy.

"How's life as a human again?"

"Caspian has the most wonderful bedroom." Susan smiled. "I love it. I can spend as much time with him as I want, go wherever I want, do whatever I want."

Lucy smirked. "Already sharing a bed, huh? I suppose we ought to start taking bets on when the wedding will be." She glanced at Susan, who hadn't responded. "Susan? Oh, don't tell me he's actually made wedding plans."

"Well . . ." Susan squinted as she gazed out at the ships in the harbor. The sky was cloudy today, a resolute layer of gray blocking the light. "Life is so wonderful and terrifying all at once, isn't it?"

"It's only terrifying." said Lucy, returning to the matter at hand. "There are people trying to capture us, remember?" When Susan didn't respond for several seconds she added, "What are you talking about, Susan?"

"Caspian and I were talking earlier. Glasses of mead, on the balcony that overlooks the beach. The wisteria gardens are almost overgrown now."

Lucy waited for Susan to continue. Whatever it was she wanted to talk about, she seemed almost afraid to reveal it.

"Caspian told me he needs a queen someday, and then after that an heir. He asked me if I want to fulfill those needs for him."

Lucy squealed. "Is that a proposal?"

"No!" Susan turned pink. "He was just talking. It was all hypothetical. But . . ."

"But what? Susan, do you want to marry him?"

"Yes. But . . . but it's all so sudden, and so terrifying. I still feel so young." She leaned back a little. "I suppose I would have been headed down this path anyway, had we stayed in England. People were getting engaged left and right now that the war's over. Robbie Heatherwick kissed me once. But now that it may happen soon, it all feels so sudden."

Lucy rolled over on the sand so she could look up at the gray sky, the forgotten shells tumbling to the sand. "But you want Caspian. Even after you left Narnia the second time, you never really forgot him."

Susan smiled. "No. Not even Robbie Heatherwick, sweet soul that he was, could make me fully forget Caspian."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Lucy asked. "You've already turned human; you know your love is pure and true. Just marry him already!"

"I can't do that! I have to wait until he asks, it's not proper. Besides, we haven't talked seriously about it, only in hypotheticals."

"But you have talked about it."

"Lucy—" Susan sat up. Caspian was striding down the beach toward them, his brow taut with worry and his right hand moving for the hilt of his sword.

"Lucy! Susan!" He stopped, panting. "I need to inform you. There's been an unfamiliar ship spotted, heading towards Cair Paravel. Lucy, would you please go below and inform Peter and Edmund?"

Lucy nodded and slipped back into the sea.

"Susan, you ought to come up inside the castle. You'll be safest there." Caspian extended a hand and pulled Susan to her feet.

"No." She took his other hand. "This is my family. I'm not going to hide up in a castle while they fight for their lives."

"Fine." A muscle twitched in Caspian's jaw. "I'll take you on board the Dawn Treader. Lord Drinian will have instructions for you there. The rest of you, go below and stay there." He led Susan down to where a row boat was waiting to take them aboard. On board the ship sailors were bustling about, readying the canons for a fight.

"You highnesses." Lord Drinian didn't look away from his telescope. "Ship heading our way. Not a Narnian ship."

"Let me see." Caspian took the telescope and pressed it to his eye. "The Princess Anne. Never heard of it."

"Pirate ship." Drinian said. "Likely coming up from down south. That figurehead on the mast looks distinctly Calormene." He took the telescope back from Caspian. "Queen Susan, stay on board the ship. Bow and arrows at the ready."

Susan nodded and joined the other archers at the prow of the ship. The Princess Anne was fast approaching now. She was a fairly small ship rigged with many sails, built for speed rather than might. Even so, canons peered out from the portholes on her sides.

The Princess Anne stopped several hundred feet away, as if reluctant to engage in direct combat with the Narnian fleet. Instead the crew released several small rowboats approached in those.

"Oh, this is going to be easy." The sailor next to Susan said. "They're not even willing to engage us. They're coming in row boats. Take your bow and help me pick them off one by one."

"But they'll die." Susan was squinting at the pirates down below. They were women.

"That's the point." The sailor leaned forward. "I take that boat on the left, you take that boat on the right. Haven't you fought in battle?"

Susan sighed and notched an arrow. She'd fought in battles, yes, but against hulking minotaurs and enemies who hid their faces behind bright helmets. This was different. These pirates, well, they reminded her of herself and Lucy. She looked down at the nearest boat and realized she was making eye contact with the tallest pirate, a girl with a hard gaze and red hair that tumbled down her shoulders. She looked at Susan and raised an eyebrow as if to ask, well? Susan hesitated a second too long. The arrow flew from her bow and buried itself in the side of their boat, missing all the pirates inside.

Susan had just reached for another arrow when a loud boom echoed across the cove.

"Canons!" Caspian shouted. "They brought the canons! Crew, ready! Fire!" The Dawn Treader rocked as its canons fired. "All hands, to the canons!" As the canons on all ships thundered Susan grabbed for the railing. Sailors were running everywhere now, reloading canons and taking more gunpowder and canon balls from below. In all the chaos Susan remembered the little row boats she'd shot at and ran for the railing to look for them.

"Distress signal from the Adventurer!" Lord Drinian pushed past her to get to Caspian. "They're taking on water!"

Susan finally looked over the railing and gasped in horror. "Caspian!" She screamed at the tope of her lungs. "It's a trap!" The canons had merely been a diversion. While the crew had been preoccupied with the canons, the pirates had been using their little rowboats to slip past the Narnian fleet. When Susan had hesitated to shoot that boat had slipped past the Dawn Treader and was now bearing down on—was now bearing down on Peter, Edmund, and Lucy, who, bless their stupid noble souls, had surfaced to help in the fight.

"Launch the rowboats!" Caspian called.

Susan slung her bow over her shoulder and leapt into the first boat as soon as it touched the water. Another sailor jumped in next to her and they began rowing into the cove. As she pulled the oars, Susan wished she was still a mermaid and could swim to her siblings with just a few flicks of her tail.

As their boat bumped alongside the pirates' boat, Susan pulled a small knife from her belt. She didn't like hand-to-hand combat, but she was also unwilling to stand safely on the ship and let her siblings be captured.

"Lucy, get below!" Susan leapt into the other rowboat and grabbed the pirate who was sparring with Lucy. The pirate hadn't seen Susan coming from behind and was caught off guard, shrieking and toppling into the water.

"I'm not some damsel in distress!" Lucy shouted back, moving to engage another pirate in combat. "I can hold my own just fine in battle."

"Really, Su, you didn't expect us to just hide below while the Narnian fleet risked their lives for us, now did you?" Edmund shouted. He, too, was fighting a pirate.

A burst of screams and shouts echoed from the Adventurer. Susan whirled around and saw the ship listing sideways: it had been badly damaged by canon fire and was now taking on too much water. She stood watching in horror as sailors scrambled to unleash the lifeboats.

"Susan!" Lucy screamed.

Susan turned a second too late. The tall pirate girl with the red hair swung the hilt of her sword towards Susan's head, and everything went dark.