"Really, Lord Zulum, that's quite enough." Unknown to Peter until she had spoken, Queen Susan had swept right by him into the courtroom. Every man and Beast in the court jumped to their feet at the arrival of their Lady Queen. The dryad, Peter noticed, had leapt up, a look of relief on her face, and then curtsied towards Susan, who walked to stand beside her.
Zulum straightened himself from Edmund, then faced the Queen and bowed again, a look of surprise on his dark face that he was able to mask fairly quickly. "Your Majesty, it is always a pleasure."
Susan, gracious as always, nodded. "Thank you, My Lord. Please forgive my lateness," she directed toward the people of the court. "I got lost. Again." she added in an undertone to the dryad, smiling. "I'm sorry – can you forgive me?"
Zulum was speaking again. "Your Majesty, we had only just begun. I was just in the middle of questioning the dryad-"
"If you want to call it 'questioning.' " Susan interrupted. "I'd say it's about time this 'dryad,' who believe it or not, Zulum, has a name, stated her case." She looked at him, one of her eyebrows raised.
Zulum looked for a moment as if he had another argument contrary to this point, however, his face relaxed, and he said softly, bowing again, "Oh, of course, Your Majesty…"
"Lord Zulum!" Susan cut in, her pale face flushing red with annoyance. "I don't believe you have been listening to one word of what Evren has said! She clearly stated-"
Edmund looked at the dryad. She lowered her eyes in respect, but then glanced back up at him quickly. Nothing in her small frame betrayed any inclination towards violence; she seemed to prefer quiet peace more than anything. And Edmund knew, as he thought about her tale and the way she acted, that she was innocent of any suspicious intentions. He turned to his elder sister and the advisor.
"I believe her," he said simply.
"Lord Zulum, I appreciate your dedication and foresight in this matter," Edmund continued, surprising himself with his own eloquence. "But I truly feel that her story is true. The White Witch's reign was detrimental to the dryads, of course she would be opposed. But we hope to rule in a way that makes all Narnians happy and at peace. I think Evren will find that here. She won't be unhappy. Furthermore," he said, looking towards Susan and Evren, "she has the trust and friendship of my sister, and that is good enough for me."
Susan beamed at Edmund, tears sparkling in her eyes. Edmund was back with them, and his trust in her was the most important thing in the world to Susan.