AN: Thank you so much for the reviews, guys! Keep 'em coming :)

'Did something happen between you and Caspian?'

Susan stiffened and continued braiding Lucy's hair. 'Why do you ask?'

Lucy fiddled with a loose thread on her robe. Dinner was a tense affair, with the King and her brothers trying hard to draw Susan out of her shell. Nobody, not even Susan, could have missed the glances that Caspian frequently threw her way, glances that alternated between pining adoration and glum confusion. By the end of dinner, Susan had developed various creative manoeuvers to avoid him each time he tried to approach her. One even involved talking to Lilliandil who, Susan was dismayed to discover, was perfectly pleasant and well-mannered. After getting to know the daughter of the star and discovering that they shared similar literary interests, in the Narnian world at least, Susan couldn't even work up any female jealousy towards her. At least Caspian had wisely kept his distance then.

'You seemed like you wanted to avoid him,' Lucy murmured.

Susan took her time tying a length of satin ribbon around the tail of the braid. 'I think we should leave, Lu.'

'Leave?' Lucy turned around, aghast. 'Why?' she demanded. 'We haven't been here in ages and you want to leave now?'

'I just don't think-'

'You are avoiding him!' Lucy grasped Susan's hands. 'Why, Su? Can't you see he's in love with you?'

No, he's not, Susan thought miserably. 'I don't want to encourage him.'

'Encourage him?' Lucy's voice became louder with disbelief. 'Susan Pevensie-'

'I don't want another James, Lucy,' Susan whispered. She couldn't bring herself to openly admit that she was jealous, it was too pathetic, so Susan gave her the other truth behind her refusal to allow Caspian any closer to her. Besides, Lucy was the only person she could ever talk to freely about James and she'd understand. 'I can't…I won't live with myself if that happened again.'

'Oh, Susan.' Lucy crawled onto the bed and wrapped her arms around Susan's thin waist. She could feel her ribs through the thin nightgown and Lucy sighed. Susan wasn't eating again. 'It won't happen. Caspian is a gentleman. We know what he's like, Su!'

'I know. I know that.' Susan shook her head. 'But I can't. I'm too…frightened. Whenever he gets close to me, I see James and I...' She laughed mirthlessly at the irony. 'Isn't it funny? I couldn't love James because of Caspian and now I can't love Caspian because of James.'

'No.' Lucy tugged at Susan's sleeve, trying to get her sister to meet her gaze. 'You couldn't love James because he was a bastard and a bloody coward-'

'Language,' Susan warned her half-heartedly.

'-and you can love Caspian because you're both meant to be together!'

'You're quite...determined to match us, aren't you, Little Lulu?' Susan teased her affectionately, eager to divert the conversation.

Lucy blushed. 'Of course, I am. And don't call me that. I'm not a child anymore,' she huffed, crossing her arms on her chest.

'Alright. Little Lulu.'

Lucy smiled at seeing the darkness fade slightly in her sister's blue eyes. Too often she'd seen exhaustion and misery in those young eyes and Lucy's graceful fingers immediately stroked Susan's thin wrists soothingly, gliding over the garish scars that marred her perfect skin. It was an old habit, one she cultivated back home when she would lie beside Susan and imagine she still had her healing draught to chase the scars away. 'I wish you'd let me heal this for you.'

'No.' Susan gazed down at the ugly cuts; a painful reminder of the one time she tried to love. 'No, I need them.'

Lucy leaned back and cupped her older sister's face in her hands, noting that her cheekbones seemed so much sharper, more prominent. 'I hate him for what he did to you.'

A lone tear spilled down Susan's cheek and she let the tears fall unchecked. 'So do I.'

'Has something occurred between you and Susan?'

The hour was late and the three men were ensconced in Caspian's private study, where he had shown them some of the newly drawn up reconstruction plans for Cair Paravel. Edmund had noted the beautiful rosewood chess table and promptly challenged the King into a match.

Caspian looked up from the chessboard at Edmund, who steadily maintained his gaze on the game. Across the room, Peter looked up from the book in his hands and watched his younger brother cunningly steal another piece. Caspian knew, despite their composure, the brothers were tensed like coiled springs, ready to protect their sister.

'Every time you come into the conversation, she shuts up.' Edmund rested his chin on his hands, eyeing the board with that strange wisdom in his young eyes. 'Every time you enter a room, she leaves. Surely, you've noticed this.' He looked up. 'Your move.'

Caspian had the odd feeling that he wasn't talking about the chess match, but he dutifully moved another piece. Truthfully, his heart was not in the game anymore. When he next spoke, he chose his words carefully. 'I've tried to let her know of my affections, but Queen Susan refuses to talk to me and I'm not at all certain why.'

Peter stood up and promptly carried a small stool over to the table. The match resumed in silence. 'Remember when you came back from Narnia with Lucy and Eustace, Ed?' He suddenly spoke and Caspian almost jumped from the tension.

'Hmm,' the Just King replied. He obviously knew where this conversation was going but Caspian, kept in the dark, rolled his shoulders uncomfortably.

'And you told me that you had a guide, a beautiful woman.' Peter made a sound of disapproval as he watched Edmund move a piece on the board. 'The daughter of a star, you said. I've seen her in the castle. She is rather lovely. And it seemed like you, Caspian, were also taken by her beauty.'

Caspian stiffened, feeling a strange flash of anger. 'What are you implying?'

'You came back for her, didn't you?' Edmund had abandoned any pretense of playing chess. 'After we left, you came back for her.'

'I couldn't leave her there,' Caspian replied curtly.

'Of course not.'

'What are you implying?' he repeated forcefully.

'You're a man; we understand.' Peter raised his hands in a pacifying gesture. 'And when Susan and I left Narnia, we weren't supposed to come back. I understand if you've transferred your affections to someone else-'

'I haven't.' Caspian's nails dug into his palms.

'Caspian, please.' Peter sighed, running his hands through his hair. 'All we're saying is, it's perfectly alright if you love another woman now. You're a king, you need a family, an heir.' His kindly eyes suddenly darkened with fury. 'But do not tell Susan you still love her when you love another. You are free to court one or the other, not both, and if ever we find out that you've been doing this…' Peter let his threat hang in the air.

'You must understand something, Caspian.' Caspian looked at the younger brother now, feeling trapped by these two young men. 'Susan, she has been through too much for a young woman. She isn't the same girl you met ages ago. She finds difficulty in placing her trust in anyone, especially men.' Edmund toyed with one of his captured pieces. 'If she decides to place her trust in you and you ruin that, know that we will protect our sister.'

'I've tried to talk to her but she won't listen.' Caspian found himself gesturing wildly with his hands to portray his desperation. 'She told me that we can't…we can't be together but she refuses to tell me why. You've seen how she avoids me. I sent her flowers but she refuses to even look at me and I'm-' He broke off, exhausted. 'I've tried everything. What else can I do?'

'Try harder,' Peter supplied bluntly, showing a frightening glimpse of the High King.

'Oh, and uh...checkmate.' Edmund grinned proudly, easily cutting through the thick tension. 'That's three games in a row now, Your Majesty.'

Peter chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. 'Here's hoping you're not as unlucky in love as you are in chess,' he remarked, all traces of anger gone from his demeanour.

Yes, Caspian thought, knowing he was safe, for now. Here's hoping.