“AH, there you are, Lucy, ” said Caspian. “We were just waiting for you. This is my captain, the Lord Drinian.”
A dark-haired man went down on one knee and kissed her hand. The only others present were Reepicheep and Edmund.
“Where is Eustace? ” asked Lucy.
“In bed, ” said Edmund, “and I don't think we can do anything for him. It only makes him worse if you try to be nice to him.”
“Meanwhile, ” said Caspian, “we want to talk.”
“By Jove, we do, ” said Edmund. “And first, about time. It's a year ago by our time since we left you just before your coronation. How long has it been in Narnia? ”
“Exactly three years, ” said Caspian.
“All going well? ” asked Edmund.
“You don't suppose I'd have left my kingdom and put to sea unless all was well, ” answered the King. “It couldn't be better. There's no trouble at all now between Telmarines, Dwarfs, Talking Beasts, Fauns and the rest. And we gave those troublesome giants on the frontier such a good beating last summer that they pay us tribute now. And I had an excellent person to leave as Regent while I'm away Trumpkin, the Dwarf. You remember him? ”
“Dear Trumpkin, ” said Lucy, “of course I do. You couldn't have made a better choice.”
“Loyal as a badger, Ma'am, and valiant as—as a Mouse, ” said Drinian. He had been going to say “as a lion” but had noticed Reepicheep's eyes fixed on him.
“And where are we heading for? ” asked Edmund.
“Well, ” said Caspian, “that's rather a long story. Perhaps you remember that when I was a child my usurping uncle Miraz got rid of seven friends of my father's (who might have taken my part) by sending them off to explore the unknown , Eastern Seas beyond the Lone Islands.”
“Yes, ” said Lucy, “and none of them ever came back.”
“Right. Well, on, my coronation day, with Aslan's approval, I swore an oath that, if once I established peace in Narnia, I would sail east myself for a year and a day to find my father's friends or to learn of their deaths and avenge them if I could. These were their names—the Lord Revilian, the Lord Bern, the Lord Argoz, the Lord Mavramorn, the Lord Octesian, the Lord Restimar, and—oh, that other one who's so hard to remember.”