"Not always," he admits, laughing. "But a good part of the time."

"Sire, please," Reepicheep says, pained. "Yes, we had some hard days – I seem to recall a certain giant ruining our carefully laid plans – "

He stills sounds somewhat crisp at the mention of Giant Wimbleweather, who, though a very good sort, was not at all clever and had in fact ruined their best chance at routing the enemy simply by not remembering the timing of the attack correctly. " – But we fought bravely and with honor, which is more than your Majesty's uncle could say, and prevailed in the end."