Lucy looked out across the water. The last time she'd been here he'd stood by her side. He'd called her his princess and placed a crown upon her head. He'd promised to always be there, to stand by her, to never leave. He promised her a castle and a kingdom they'd rule together.

So many promises.

So many lies.

He'd built her a castle and declared her his queen. He'd woven a fairytale around her and made her feel like they were living a happily ever after life. Walking along the sand, their hands swinging between them with the water lapping at their toes, laughing and talking, both so happy just to be in each others company. Lucy was content with her life. She'd thought he was too.

An eternity had passed since then.

'She' had come back into their lives. She'd simply beckoned and he'd gone running to her, leaving Lucy alone to watch their castle, along with their fairytale, slowly crumble. Now as she followed the shoreline she turned her head away from the debris that was all that remained of her happiness. Her heart hurt as the memories taunted her. It hurt too much to even cry. All his promises were as flimsy as the castle that had all but melded back into it's surroundings.

Her crown slipped to one side and Lucy took the thin circlet from her head. Holding it in both hands she stared out to sea, flexing her fingers as she contemplated casting the crown into the waves. It had meant so much when he'd placed it on her curls, but no more. Now she felt nothing but betrayal. She wasn't his princess anymore. She really doubted she ever had been.

"Lucy!"

Lucy spun around at the sound of her own name.

"Come away from the water! It's not safe to paddle alone."

Lucy said nothing, just bending her head to look at the pretty circle she still held in her hands.

"You miss Cam don't you sweetheart?" Her mother knelt on the damp sand before Lucy. "I know Darling-girl but he had to go. It's his mother's weekend."

She could see the unshed tears in her daughter's face. The misery written across her face told her mother everything she needed to know.

"Your brother will be back next weekend." She took the willow-bark coronet from Lucy's unresisting hands and smoothed out the crumpled paper flowers. "There. That's better." She placed it back on Lucy's head and smoothed her hair behind her ears. "I hope you're being careful with that. He made it to remind you that you'll always be his princess. He loves you so much."

Lucy lurched forward and buried her face against her mothers shoulder. Tears soaked into her woollen jumper as Lucy said something in a muffled voice. It took a couple of attempts before she finally made a clear sentence,

"He din't ev'n say g'bye."

"Oh Sweetheart!" She picked Lucy up and adjusted her hold so she could look her in the face. "Is that what's making you sad?"

Lucy nodded as she wiped her sleeves over her face.

"Okay my little love, what say we head home and we call Cam? Will that be okay?"

Lucy nodded again before burying her face against her mother's neck.The crown started to slip again so her mother removed it and handed it to her. Lucy wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and clutched her crown tightly in both hands.

"I'm his princess?"

"Yup. That's what he called you from the day we brought you home from the hospital."

"An' he'll come an' build more san'castles?"

"And he'll come and build you another castle."

"An' we can haff ice cream for dinner?"

This brought a smile to her mother's face.

"And we can have ice cream after dinner."

Lucy giggled and her mother put her down. A watery smile across her face as she walked alongside her mother, her crown clutched in one hand and her mother's hand in her other,

"C'mon Mummy, we gotta call Cam."

The two of them started climbing the stairs on the dunes as the tide behind them slowly rose, washing away the remains of the sand castle Cam had accidentally trampled as he'd run to his mother. The pretty shells and pebbles were slowly buried beneath the shifting sand, ready to be dug up to decorate future castles.