Reflections – Chapter Two

Uncontrollable.

My sister, one of the youngest queens in Narnian History, was completely and utterly controllable.

Don't think I haven't spent time and effort to try and teach her about poise and restraint, but it is like my words go through one ear and out the other, especially when I catch her gazing out of the castle windows, watching a pair of seagulls dancing around the sky.

I smiled at the memory.

Lucy had been wild even as a child, always wanted to explore, finding new and exciting things, and none of us had been able to stop her so we simply gave up trying and came to accept that if she was in the mood for listening, we should try and cram as much into her attention span as possible. Not that she isn't clever. Goodness no. She takes her royal duties very seriously and won the hearts of our subjects in a very short amount of time.

Even I, at times, couldn't even pay much attention to our tutors, finding myself imaging dancing with the dryads around Shuddering Woods, listening to ancient tales about their people and more. Now when I was meant to be attending to some dispute between two Hedgehogs about who rolled the perfect ball, I was sitting in my bedchamber in front of my mirror, brushing my hair with my favourite pearl brush. It had grown so long and I loved the feel of the brush running through it. I wasn't vain at all, but no girl can deny a moment of self-pampering after a long morning of work.

I could screams of laughter echoing through the corridors and shouts for my little sister following not long after. I couldn't help but roll my eyes with fondness. No doubt Lucy was now bare-foot and heading quickly down to the beach with her ladies-in-waiting racing to keep up with her and finally giving up the chase out of exhaustion. I knew how they felt. Many times had I chased her through the trees of the forests nearby, allowing myself moments to be younger again and to let my hair down, if you will.

A faint knock at my door turned my head, and I placed my brush down.

"Come in."

Lucy's tutor, Tarnius, popped his head around the door, looking extremely flustered and giving a quick bow.

"I'm sorry, your highness, but Queen Lucy has just ran out of her History class just when we were reaching the Battles of Heen-"

"Tarnius, I apologise for my royal sister. We all know that she has moments and simply have to cope with them. I will talk to her forthwith and I assure you that you will able to continue your lecture on the Battle of...Heena," I explained, walking towards the door and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "It's dinner and I'm sure that you are hungry."

Tarnius sighed and gave me a nod, giving another quick bow and disappearing down the corridor towards the Great Hall, myself following in his footsteps.

Now that I mentioned it, I was rather peckish myself.

I'm not that much of an eater, but the type of meals that are brought can't be ignored and besides, if I didn't get my share of food, Edmund would more than likely stuff the whole feast down.

I headed down the stairs, watching the goings-on in the courtyard with mild interest.

When I first came to Narnia, I was so shocked to discover that such magical creatures even existed, but after ten years, they have become dearest of friends and I wouldn't know what I would do without them.

"Susan, I think Lucy's finally outdone her ladies," muttered a voice from behind me.

It was Peter, leaning against one of the doorways, a smirk plastered on his lips.

"Well...we did warn them that Lucy was a handful at the beginning," I sighed, checking my braids at the back of my hair were still in place.

I could that he was about to reply when suddenly one of the fauns came running quickly towards us and curtsied.

"Sorry to bother you, your highnesses, but Queen Lucy's ladies have lost sight of her on the beach and they are getting rather anxious about her whereabouts," she muttered, biting her lip nervously and moving awkwardly on her hoofs.

Both Peter and I shared a knowing look as we knew very well where are our little sister was likely to be.

"Don't worry, Tessie, we'll find her and please tell the ladies to cease worrying...Lucy disappears all the time."

Tessie gave a small smile and hurried back the way she came.

"Come on then," Peter grinned. "Let's go fetch Lu and then we can get the leftovers from Edmund's attack on dinner."

I returned the smile and started heading towards the East Entrance.

Out of all the places that we feel ourselves in, the cove was our favourite. It had views that took my breath away, calmed the shakened of nerves and it was so very peaceful. I felt my feet take me the whole way, knowing that they remembered the route forwards and backwards. I was about to call for Lucy when my voice died in my throat.

A shine had just reached my eyes.

Lucy's tiara.

She never went away without it. I knew how proud of it she was and that she practically wore it everywhere she went. I slowly moved forwards, my mind going over the facts of where she could possibly have gone and reasons for why she had left it.

Maybe she had gone for a swim?

No, even then she would have found somewhere safe to place it.

I looked around, all the usual hideaways. The rock was perfect for scouting anyone in the Cove.

"Lucy? It's dinner!" I called, hoping that I would hear her giggle and see her appearing from down below.

No answer.

"Lucy! Stop being childish! You're keeping everyone waiting!"

No answer.

"Any sign of her?" Peter called as he came up behind me, a frown clearly etched on his face.

I shook my head, the first spike of fear flooding through me. Lucy knew the dangers of straying far from the castle. I desperately hoped that my worst fears wouldn't appear, but they did. Lying beside a stray branch lay a yellowed piece of parchment. Upon it was: She loves me.

It felt the bottom of my stomach just fell away at those words. My entire body ran cold, all traces of warmth from the sun disappeared. Someone had my little sister. Someone had taken Lucy, the purest, most innocent child that I had ever known.

"Peter," I whispered. "PETER!"

My voice screamed out his name, hands trembling as they picked up the parchment, mind frantic with so many possibilities. Who would take her? Why would they take her? How could they take her?

Eyes scanned around the beach, constantly searching for long, brown hair and a red, velvet dress.

I gazed up at Peter, who I saw was between petrified and cold anger, emotions flickering across his features. He stared right at me, lips tight together, "We find whoever did it this and we find him now!"

A/N: This probably has lots of mistakes, but I did my best to check it all out! ^_^ Please review! I have Edmund giving out cookies!