"Caspian was staring at you all night," Marsonia said to Lily from across the chamber, her deep voice light as she teased.

Lily threw a pillow at her dark haired friend as the girls laughed.

They were in the girls' chamber, a round room with six small beds, each with a wooden trunk for their things. The stone room was lit with torches and the Narnian carvings in the walls seemed to dance in the flickering shadows casted by them.

"It's true! It's not difficult to see he missed you. After all you spent every day together."

"Until we were separated."

"What?" Lucy asked, her strange accented voice sincere as she watched Lily from her cot. "You were separated?"

Lily sat on her bed, her fingers wrapping themselves in her cream night gown. Her eyes grew sad as she thought, watching the shadows from the torches flicker on her arm..

"They thought I was a bad influence on him, Miraz and my father, Alvarez… he forbade me to see him. We tried sneaking out at night but Viria always caught us and told Miraz…we even tried writing letters."

"I was their messenger," said Eris with a sweet but sad smile for her friend. "That was the only time I've ever seen you cry."

Lily's cheeks turned rosy, the firelight dancing in her eyes, "he was my truest friend. I… I felt lost without him."

"That's terrible," Lucy said as her eyes filled with sadness for her new friend.

"But now they're together again," Eris said sweetly, sitting behind Lily to brush her hair.

"For now," Lily said the words before she could stop herself.

"What do you mean?" Susan asked, her dark brows knitted together.

Lily met her friends' eyes, all staring at her. She felt the loneliness again as she spoke. "Caspian isn't the friend I used to have. Even though he escaped only a few months ago, for me we were a part for much longer…the isolation from him…I hadn't seen him for weeks before he escaped. Seeing him when I woke up here…he's changed. And soon he'll be King…"

"He'll still be Caspian," Susan said, understanding. "He'll just have a crown on his head."

Lily smiled a little; the thought made her want to laugh.

"And you'll be with him," Lucy said with a bright hopeful look in her eyes. "You'll never be separated again."

Susan smiled at Lily, "Viria won't like that at all."

The girls laughed. Lily shook her head, "I think she would've convinced Miraz to make Caspian marry her."

Genia shook her head, "I would've jumped out that window myself if I had to call her my queen."

The room roared with laughter and they talked for most of the night. The Telmarine girls asked Susan and Lucy about their home, where it was and what it was like. Lucy and Susan tried to explain it as best they could but the girls were confused. Instead, they asked them about their time as Queens. They told them about lands outside of Narnia, about their castle at Cair Paravel, the castle by the sea.

Lily liked how Lucy described Cair Paravel; a beautiful city of bright white stone with white flags waving in the breeze, the sea as vast as the sky.

"I want to see Cair Paravel," she said, imagining the sea as they all climbed into bed.

Susan propped on her elbow, her expression sad, "It's no longer there. We found the ruins when we arrived. It was our home…"

Susan smiled as she remembered, seeing things Lily could not imagine.

"Well, it used to be."

Lily's smile faded, "perhaps Caspian can have it rebuilt when he is King."

The words sounded strange, calling Caspian King.

But Susan smiled, "I hope so."

Genia doused the torches except for one. Its soft flame illuminated the sculpture of Aslan in the wall, his figure watching over them as they fell asleep.