Several weeks after the initial visit from the Archenland lords, the four kings and queens sat on their thrones in the great hall of Cair Paravel. The sunshine poured through the great stained glass windows and the open doors leading to the balcony. The sounds and smells of the ocean entered through these doors. Music of the merpeople could be heard in the throne room. Centaurs stood in formal salute as they did on the coronation day. Advisors such as Tumnus, fox and the beavers stood near the thrones.
Lord Darrin entered the throne room accompanied by two dozen people including some children. Two satyrs in armor blew on horns as they entered. The visiting humans looked amazed by the beauty of the throne room and the mix of creatures.
The High King Peter greeted Lord Darrin and welcomed him back to Narnia. The Archenland lord introduced those in his party. The first people introduced were his younger sister Lady Daria and her husband Lord Percivan. The great-grandfather of Lord Percivan had been an advisor to last Narnian rulers and had been killed in battle when Jadis invaded Narnia. They and their children hoped to return to Narnia to live. Peridan was about the same age as Susan and Peter while twins Deidre and Donal were Lucy's age. Another knight had a seven year old daughter named Gwenyth. Lucy's eyes glowed at the sight of children her own age.
Susan smiled at her sister's joy thinking it would be a relief to not always have Lucy begging for her to play a game. Susan had a lot of work to do running the castle.
The ceremony in the throne room ended with those humans who definitely wanted to return to Narnia swearing homage to the royal siblings. The moment the ceremony ended, Lucy got up and walked over Gwenyth. She spoke to the girl for a few minutes and then took her hand and led her to the Deidre and Donal.
"Hello. Would you like to come outside to see the ocean with us? It is my favorite place" said the young queen.
Donal turned to his mother and asked "May we go?"
Lady Daria looked a bit concerned and asked "Is anyone going to go with you, dear, I mean your Majesty?" Lady Daria looked a bit flustered by the concept of a queen the same age as her youngest children.
Lucy smiled merrily and replied "Mr Tumnus will come with us. He always watches out for me."
As she led the way to the door and the steps down to the beach, Lucy thought for a moment that she missed her own mother. It was hard to remember her mother's face. As she stepped outside and saw the beautiful ocean with the merpeople leaping above the waves, Lucy forgot this sad thought about her mother and ran down the stairs. Tumnus followed quickly behind and sat at the bottom of the stairs. Walking on the beach was not a favorite past time of the faun.
Lady Daria walked to the door and watched the scene below. The young queen was still wearing her crown but had take off her long cloak. The four young children had started playing a game of tag and the young queen was laughing in delight. Lady Daria heard a step behind her and turned to see Queen Susan.
Susan said "My sister will be so happy to have some playmates. I am too old and boring for her most days." The lovely teenager had a somewhat wistful smile as she made this comment.
Lady Daria replied "Your majesty, you have a great deal of responsibility at a young age. Perhaps there are some ways myself and the other ladies can assist with your burdens. A castle is a very large responsibility. I was a lady in waiting to the Archenland queen so I have some experience with court life."
Susan smiled again and replied "Perhaps we can talk tomorrow. I would appreciate any advice and assistance you can offer me."
Daria smiled and said "It will be my honor, your Majesty."
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Several days later, it was a beautiful spring day and Susan suggested they go on a picnic. It would be a lovely way to show their new courtiers some of the nearby countryside and the young queen was eager to spend some time outside instead of working inside the castle. It seemed that she and Peter were working constantly – running a kingdom and a castle were hard work. Especially since Narnia had no functioning government or even laws. There was so much to do. Edmund helped but Lucy was too young to do much. Their Narnian advisors were helpful but most Narnians did not want to stay constantly at the castle – they were naturally drawn back to the woods, the glens, the mountains and the caves of Narnia. The new human arrivals were delighted to move into rooms in the large castle and were prepared to help with tasks. Susan was beginning to feel it would be very good to have other humans in Narnia.
The afternoon picnic had been wonderful. They found a wonderful open spot near a small pond surrounded by woods. The packed lunch had been a success. Some of the adult humans and several fauns were playing cards while other fauns were playing pipes. Lucy, Edmund and a few other children were playing a game of tag nearby. Peter was sitting near the pond talking with Percivan, Darrin and Peridan. Susan was sitting on blankets with several ladies including Lady Daria. They were weaving garlands of flowers. Susan was feeling very relaxed.
The calm was broken by the sound of children screaming. Susan looked up and screamed herself as she saw two dozen boggles chasing her younger siblings and the other children. Lucy was running holding the hands of Deidre and Gwyneth. Donal and two other children were right behind them. King Edmund lagged behind a bit and turned to face the boggles with a dagger in his hand.
Lady Daria turned and saw King Peter followed by Percival and Darrin running towards the ugly boggles with drawn swords. To Daria's horror, Peridan followed them although he only had a small dagger. The other male members of their party ran towards the boggles as well. Susan turned and ran back towards the horses. Lady Daria looked at her with some astonishment. It was frightening but she was surprised the queen was running away.
The children stopped running and turned to watch the fight. They were standing near the woods. Orieus and two other centaurs galloped by to join the fight. It appeared that the boggles were going to be quickly defeated and Lady Daria felt relief.
Suddenly there was an awful shrieking sound and two harpies appeared. One harpy grabbed Queen Lucy while the other grabbed Deidre. They flapped their wings to take flight. Daria started running towards the children. Peter turned from the boggles and also ran towards the children.
Daria heard a whizzing sound, followed by another and saw that both harpies had an arrow in their right eyes. Both harpies fell still holding the girls. Daria turned to see Queen Susan holding a bow with another arrow on the string. The young queen looked a bit pale but determined. Daria realized the young queen had gone back to the horses to get her bow and arrows not to flee.
Peter reached the harpies and turned the bodies over. Both girls were unharmed. Percival picked up Deidre while Peter picked up Lucy and carried them back to the blankets.
Daria turned to Queen Susan and knelt before the young queen. She kissed the teenager's hand and said "Thank you for saving my daughter's life. I swear by the Lion, I will be loyal to you for all of my days."
Peter put Lucy on the blanket and Susan rushed over to hug both of them.
Peter grinned at her as he said "Great shooting Su"
After tending to minor injuries, the party returned to Cair Paravel.
Later that night, Peter noticed that Susan was very quiet during dinner. Following dinner, several fauns began to play their pipes and some members of the court began to dance. Peter got up and asked Susan to step outside with him. The siblings walked outside to the balcony facing the ocean.
"What is bothering you, Su?" asked Peter.
"I am just thinking about everything that happened. Will we ever be safe? We keep thinking these creatures have fled but this attack happened just a few miles from the castle" replied Susan.
"We are slowly defeating them but it is clear we have to be more cautious" replied Peter. "Today could have been a disaster. I was pretty nervous when I saw Edmund turn to face a bunch of boggles with only a dagger in his hand. You stayed calm and saved both Lucy and Deidre's lives."
Susan was silent for a moment.
After a moment, Peter said "Lady Daria was certainly grateful to you, Su. You demonstrated great courage as a queen should."
"I am not as brave as you. I was very afraid today. I did what I had to do to protect ones I love but I don't like killing even if they are evil creatures" replied Susan.
"No one likes killing or at least good people and creatures and beasts don't like killing. I suppose boggles and harpies might like killing. The Witch's followers are not capable of changing their ways and living in harmony with others. We have to destroy the Witch's followers. It is necessary for Narnia to be at peace" said Peter.
Susan smiled and said "You sound like a king protecting his country."
Peter chuckled and said "I guess that is a good thing. It has been less than two months, Su, but it feels like we have always been here. It is hard to remember the place we came from."
"It was strange, at first, to have Narnians bow and curtsy but I got used to it pretty quickly" said Susan. "But when human adults kiss my hand, bow and curtsy, treat us like royalty, it feels very strange. I mean we were normal kids back in London, we weren't royal or special. It feels sometimes like we are acting in a play."
"We weren't born royal but Aslan chose us" replied Peter. "And you have become a true queen. You have proved that many times in the past two months including today. Remember what Aslan said: Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia."