The Poetry of Morning
Author's note: A little offering in honor of the first day of spring. Even though there are a few inches of snow on the ground at my house, I found myself waking up to a beautiful bright sunrise, and had to share it with my readers. Enjoy!
The days leading up to the Pevensies' coronation had been full of hustle and bustle. There was so much to be done, especially if you were one of the stars of the show. Lucy had endured dress fittings, rehearsals, and lectures from her tutor until she thought she would scream.
It wasn't that she minded the excitement. But sometimes it was equally lovely to be alone, particularly in a new place that begged to be explored. Lucy desperately wanted to investigate the vast gardens surrounding Cair Paravel, but even after the fervor of the coronation died down, it had been impossible.
She didn't know why Aslan had sent such weather during the past week. Every day had been cloudy or raining, discussion of which usually prompted a remark from Susan that Lucy should attend to her lessons or find some other indoor activity. Susan was determined to be everything a queen should be, and that included learning about her new country, meeting with her subjects, and trying to keep the rest of her siblings in line. It did not include dancing in the rain or seeing which hall floor was best for sliding on in one's stocking feet. Lucy had been caught and scolded for engaging in both activities. Because, she didn't want to endure Susan's admonishments, Edmund's smirks, or, worst of all, Peter's disappointed looks, Lucy had remained quietly inside, steadily growing more bored.
So, when she awoke to the pale gray sky of a clear dawn, Lucy resolved to enjoy the day. Outside, if it was at all possible. After all, what was the point of being a queen, if she couldn't go out and play on a beautiful day?
With that thought, she slid out of bed and found her slippers. The servants had been working nonstop for the past week to get the castle ready for its new occupants, but they hadn't yet been able to procure rugs for the bedrooms. The stone floors could be quite chilly in the mornings, so she wasn't inclined to go barefoot.
Lucy made a momentary stop at the privy, then went to her wardrobe. It was full of beautiful dresses, all suitable for the fanciest parties, but she reached for a plain frock hanging on the inside of the door. It was dark green, to set off her golden hair, and almost completely undecorated.
She loved this new dress. It was far prettier than her England clothes, as she called them, and more comfortable than the dresses that she'd wore when she first came to Narnia. It was Susan who noticed that Lucy needed help to get into these complicated clothes, so she had asked the castle dressmakers to make Lucy a loose frock that she could simply pull over her head and belt at the waist. More of these would be made later, but the tailors were so busy with the coronation, it was all they could do to deliver this one dress. Consequently, Lucy had practically lived in it for the past few days, except when more formal attire was needed.
Thankfully, exploring the garden was not a formal occasion, so Lucy dressed swiftly and brushed her hair. Finding shoes and stockings took only a minute, and then she was off.
The garden wasn't far from her rooms, and she entered it just as the sun crept over the horizon, bathing everything in a golden haze. Lucy couldn't stop the grin spreading across her face at the sight. A fine mist began to burn off the plants, and the flowers seemed to turn toward the warmth. It was so very peaceful and calm, and Lucy felt her spirits soar. Nothing in the world could be too bad, not if there were places like this.
She wandered happily through the new flowers and shrubs, occasionally stopping to sniff at a particularly fragrant bloom or examine an unfamiliar plant. And there were many of those. Her mother had taught her the names of some flowers, but Lucy found that a Narnian garden only contained a few of these. She recognized lily-of-the-valley, rosemary, and lavender, as well as a bush that might be a later-blooming rose, but most of the inhabitants of these gardens were strangers to her. She made a mental note to ask one of the dryads to identify the plants and tell her their Narnian names.
After a while, Lucy's stomach began to remind her most insistently that she had not yet eaten breakfast. With a sigh, she made her way back to the gate. It was so hard to break the spell of the morning, but if she didn't hurry, Susan would have much to say on the subject of promptness and a queen's attention to duty.
As she exited the garden, Lucy looked back just one more time, determined to capture and remember all she could of her early morning jaunt. The day would be filled with lessons and duties, but at least she could hold onto this moment of perfect bliss, until she had time to find another.
Author's note: I hope this little piece lifted everyone's spirits a bit. I know it did mine.
I really do like Susan. I don't mean to give the impression that I don't. She's a bit harsh in this story because I think it's in her personality to act like 'team mom', so she deals with new situations by slipping into that persona. I expect a free spirit like Lucy would find that somewhat tiresome, but she is willing to live with Susan's coping mechanism because she loves her sister.