Disclaimer: the Chronicles of Narnia belong to Jack…(C.S. Lewis) Various ballads, drinking songs and verses will be credited at the end of the tale, so as not to ruin any surprises and because I'm easily amused.

The sea! the sea! the open sea!

The blue, the fresh, the ever free!

Without a mark, without a bound,

It runneth the world's wide regions round;

It plays with the clouds; it mocks the skies;

Or like a cradled creature lies.

The sky was clear, the Dawntreader was sailing swiftly away from the setting sun and Lucy was singing.

The young queen was perched beside the railing on the poop deck, lost in the moment. Caught between sea and sky, the wind slowly teasing her hair from its braids, it was easy to imagine she was back on the Splendour Hyaline. She sang quietly; barely aware that the rest of the world even existed but needing to express the sudden rush of emotion.

The song was old when she'd first learnt it, by now she supposed it counted as truly ancient.

From her perspective it had been almost two years since she'd had reason to sing it but the verses slipped from her lips without hesitation. She sang of a sailor's love of the sea, the happy disregard of storms and tide. She sang of the dullness of life ashore and how the sea was like to a mother.

Lucy took a deep breath after the fourth verse and nearly stumbled over her words when a deeper voice joined her song. Turning so fast her braids slapped her in the face she saw Edmund grinning as he leaned on the railing beside her. She smiled back brilliantly, unable to restrain a little bounce of delight.

Between Lucy's title of Queen of the Eastern Seas and Edmund being their best diplomat, the pair had done a lot of sailing together during the Golden Age of Narnia. As she grew older, Susan had to be careful who she visited in case they thought she was favouring their suit, while Peter never felt quite right leaving the borders of his country (unless it was to defend said borders, which was another thing altogether). In some ways their long exile from Narnia had been the High King's worst nightmare; he'd left Narnia in a Golden Age and came back barely a year later to find it crawling out of a dark age.

Edmund wasn't one to sing as a performance but long hours of sea travel could wear at even his patience and Lucy was a master at getting others to play with her. She'd suspected for years that Edmund actually enjoyed singing with her but she knew he'd never admit it. Lucy's smile took on the hint of a smirk; he wouldn't be Edmund if he was open with his feelings and she liked him just the way he was. They didn't need to speak to communicate.

I 've liv'd since then, in calm and strife,
Full fifty summers, a sailor's life,
With wealth to spend and a power to range,
But never have sought nor sighed for change;
And Death, whenever he comes to me,
Shall come on the wild, unbounded sea!

They finished the song together and spent a moment grinning foolishly at each other. Lucy felt the urge to hug him and he must have seen it in her eyes because he quickly dropped the grin and started talking.

"Not bad for something we haven't sung in over a thousand years," Edmund said, leaning back casually against the railing. "Maeve would be so impressed by our memories."

"Closer to two years," Lucy corrected, "she wouldn't have been impressed by that."

"I don't know…considering how long it took for you to memorise the words…" Edmund smirked, "and all the different ways you messed it up…I'm still not sure how you ended up with a line about juggling bears…"

"It wasn't juggling bears," Lucy said primly, "it was dancing bears riding dolphins." She pulled a face at her now snickering brother. "Oh shut up, Ed. I was only a little girl at the time," she said, ignoring the fact that she still appeared to be a little girl. "And how long did it take for you to stop blushing over the word breast?"

"Why do you keep bringing that up?" Edmund rolled his eyes.

"Because it was funny."

Edmund glared but it was a feeble attempt that did little to hide how much he was enjoying the familiar banter. "I still think you only insisted on learning that song to torment me."

It was Lucy's turn to snicker at the old complaint. "I learnt it because Maeve was always singing it…or humming it. I think it was her favourite…" Her voice trailed off as the memories threatened to swamp her.

"Drinian doesn't sing that much," Edmund mused, his own memories painfully near. How often had he leant upon similar ship railings with Lucy at his side, bantering between songs?

"He doesn't set things on fire either," Lucy noted.

"Well, it's a long voyage, give him a chance," Edmund caught his sister's eye and they shared a half-hearted smirk.

"She would have loved this," Lucy sighed. Gazing out over the waves she watched the rapidly darkening horizon. "Sailing to the utter east."

"The adventure would appeal to her," Edmund said after a moment, "but I don't think she would have ever gone."

His thoughtful, serious tone was so much King Edmund the Just that Lucy was startled to glance at her brother and see him so young. For the space of a heartbeat she was painfully reminded of her own too young body.

Life as an English schoolgirl was so structured and full of expectations that the part was easy to play. Lucy could pretend to be a schoolgirl the way the girls around her pretended to be princesses. Unlike them, she even had prior experience at her role.

The thought of growing up a second time had horrified her at first. With the support of her brothers and sister, and her own cheerful nature, she'd come to see it as a second chance. And this time she wouldn't have a quarter of the weight of an entire nation on her back. It also wouldn't be nearly as lovely or satisfying but she tried not to dwell on that.

"Really?" Lucy cocked a brow, one hand lifted in a vain attempt to brush her hair away from her face.

"Maeve had the sea in her blood but she was married to her duty," Edmund observed. "You remember what she was like. It took a royal order to get her past her borders; we're lucky Cair Paravel was right on the coast or she never would have visited."

"She thought the Terebinthian fleet would flounder without her," Lucy tried to smile but her eyes were sad.

"I wonder…" Edmund trailed off then shook his head sharply as if to cut off his thoughts.

Lucy knew exactly what he'd been wondering. Did the fleet flounder without Maeve? How did she react to their disappearance? How did she die? Was it like in the song 'on the wild unbound sea'?

"I miss her," Lucy whispered, choking back a sob. She still loved Narnia and all of the wonderful new friends she'd made but oh how she missed all of her old friends! The friends she'd spent fifteen years building relationships with.

Edmund bowed his head under the weight of his own memories. All of the members of his Narnian Intelligence Service, the Men and Animals who served with him in battle, his trusted valet, the ancient head cook at the Cair who'd taken his sweet tooth and abhorrence of Turkish Delight as a challenge… He sighed and glanced over at Lucy. His stomach twisted at the sight of his most cheerful sister so near to tears.

"You know," he began, forcing himself into a more upbeat mood. "I don't think 'the Sea' was Maeve's favourite song."

Lucy frowned in puzzlement. She could tell her brother was trying to cheer her up but had no idea where he was going with this.

"There was another song she sang just as often…with a lot more enthusiasm."

"Ed…"

"It was shorter…and it needed props," he looked about briefly and sighed in mock resignation. "Well, no props but I know that you know it."

"Edmund?"

"Oh come on, Lu, you remember," he nudged her and grinned and started to sing.

Ale is both Ceres,
And good Neptune too,
Ale's froth was the sea
From which Venus grew!

Lucy's tears vanished as she choked back a laugh and took up the next verse. Edmund was correct; she did indeed know Maeve's favourite drinking song.

Ale is immortal;
And be there no stops,
In bonny lads quaffing,
Can live without hops!

Both barely restrained their mirth as they sang the last verse together, complete with wild gestures, just as they had in the old days.

Then come, my boon fellows,
Let's drink it around;
It keeps us from the grave,
Though it lays us on ground!

Lucy collapsed into giggles with Edmund chuckling beside her. With skills usually used for diplomacy, the Just King hid his mirth behind a serious expression and turned to his sister.

"You know, I'm suddenly feeling thirsty…"

The pair cracked up.

TBC...