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Queen Lucy the Valiant was pacing. She walked to one end of the small field, and walked back again. She tucked her auburn hair behind her ear, and then untucked it. She even started biting her nails once or twice before she remembered that Susan didn't like it when she did that. Then she remembered that the whole reason she was so jumpy was because of Susan, and that just started the pacing off again. General Orieus had waited patiently with her for the three hours that the battle had raged on. In the first hour, they were told that her sister had received an arrow through the forearm. In the second hour they had waited for the battle to end. The third hour was when Lucy finally started pacing, and performing every other nervous habit known to man and Animal, as they waited anxiously for the lines to clear enough for the Queen to ride through. From the last report that a faun had brought, the Queen Susan was still conscious, but was slowly growing feverish. Lucy's brothers had been able to reach her sister in the second hour, and were anxiously awaiting her arrival. But how could Lucy arrive when the damned lines wouldn't clear? If her sister was feverish, then that was a sign of infection. Once a person developed infection, there was no going back. Even with the cordial.

Finally, after the wait had dragged on for five hours, a Fox came scurrying across the field to meet the General and the Queen. As the fox drew nearer, Lucy recognized Sir Giles. And the grim expression on his face. Every other time that her siblings were in need of her cordial, the person who delivered that news always had the same expression. Worried. Taut. Afraid of her reaction. When Sir Giles reached them, he said in a breathless voice,

"Your Majesty, your royal sister awaits you at the Healer's Camp."

She nodded her head. At least the fox wasn't bringing her the news that her sister was dead, and if infection had developed, that would have been the first thing out of the fox's mouth.

"Any news of her condition?" questioned Lucy.

"She is stabilized, but is now feverish, and is passing in and out of consciousness. She didn't do too well when the pulled out the arrow."

Lucy winced. She knew how it felt to have arrows pulled out of her body, and it was never a pleasant experience. She nodded, thanked Sir Giles, and turned to Orieus.

"General, you know that under normal circumstances I would never ride you, or even consider asking. But these are not normal circumstances, and I am begging you to allow me the honor of riding you to reach my sister in time."

Surprisingly, the General nodded briskly, and lowered his front legs so that she could climb on. Every decent Narnian knew that it was the deepest embarrassment for a centaur to be ridden. But, General Orieus didn't seem to remember that, and helped Lucy clamber onto his back. She positioned herself, wrapped her hands around his waist, and off they went. The wind ripped mercilessly at the Queen's hair, and she ducked her head so that the wind wouldn't make her tear up. Instead of taking hours, in twenty minutes Lucy was at the Healer's camp. She vaulted off of Orieus, stumbling a bit when she landed. She righted herself, and ran towards a massive tent with red and gold draping. She had seen this tent almost every time that her siblings had needed her cordial. The royal medical tent was specially set up in case any of the monarchs were injured in battle. A whole battalion of healers was ready at a moment's notice to tend to broken bones, cuts, bruises, concussions, everything. Lucy raced through the entrance and found two very worried older brothers in armor, and an older sister flittering between consciousness and unconsciousness. When her brothers turned towards her, she was happy to see that they had come out of the battle with relatively no injuries. A cut lip for Edmund, a long, but shallow gash for Peter. And a hole poking straight through her sister's arm. Her brothers stood up when they saw her.

"Lucy, Thank Aslan." Said Edmund in a relieved voice.

Lucy walked quickly to her sister's bed, and opened up her cordial. A single drop passed between Susan's ruby red lips. There was a slight swallow, and then the arrow wound closed up. Lucy and Susan's breathing became easier. Lucy turned around and hugged her brothers. It had been a long day.

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