Dearest Ed,
Why so formal, brother mine? This is only communication between us four after all.
Hopefully the library at the university will have something. Tumnus has been going round everybody he could think of but nothing has been found. Even the documents we recovered from the Witch's house have failed to turn up anything. You can imagine how pleased Peter is by the whole situation.
Susan has agreed to begin teaching me archery and Oreius wants to remind you to keep up with your drills. Just because you are away on business does not mean you can slack off.
Finally, if you have a moment do you think you will be able to visit the Grand Market?
I miss you, I hope you can get home soon.
Your loving sister,
Lucy
"Good morning, Adelaide," Dame Vance said.
"Good morning, Ma'am," Ada said as she slipped into the Librarian's Office. She was the first of the Assistants to arrive for the morning's meeting today. That unfortunately meant she had to run all the way across the University to the refectory for their first teapot of the day and by the time she had returned, the other Assistants were there.
"This is usually your job," she hissed playfully at Isaiah, the Third Assistant, as she walked past to pour Dame Vance a cup of tea.
He chose to lean back in his chair and grin innocently at her.
"Is Collin still away?" Dame Vance said as she flicked through her papers.
"Yes. He should be back next week, seas permitting," Hans, the First Assistant, informed her.
"Excellent. Let's begin," she said. "Isaiah, the Jarl no longer needs you to accompany him back to Muil. If you would ensure he has all he needs and then go back to cataloguing the new Terebinthian sonnets."
"Yes, Ma'am," Isaiah said, accepting the docket she offered.
"Adelaide, I believe your uncle took you to meet your new client yesterday?" Dame Vance continued, now turning to her only female assistant. Ada nodded.
"This is your first time dealing with a high-profile client on your own," her mistress warned her. "Narnia is not the power it once was but remember our nation would not exist without theirs. If King Edmund is satisfied with your conduct, then I will begin to give you some more demanding clients.
"Finally, a deputation of the Ta-er are visiting Anvard soon. Officially they are here because Prince Rabadash is considering an education with the University. Hans, I have already assigned you to care for any needs they have - I believe the High Priest needs a few records - but if they approach any of you with a problem you must drop your current task immediately in favour of theirs," she said grimly. "Prince Rabadash will have a much finer education here than in that biased little hovel in Tashbaan and I'll be damned if my staff are the reason why the Ta-er think the University unsuitable."
"Yes, Ma'am," her Assistants murmured.
The rest of the meeting passed with nothing else of note beyond their usual discussions. At its conclusion, Ada was dispatched to the University's Postmaster to collect the Librarian's mail for the day. The quickest route took her through the cloisters of the university. She tipped her head back, as she always did, and looked up at the arches above her. Her heart surged with love for her beloved home and she smiled.
"Lord, let Anvard flourish," she muttered to herself, her hand reaching out to trail across the sandstone columns she knew so well.
"I should warn you, the staff of the University are a little... Eccentric," Peridan said.
"Sir Titus and his niece seemed perfectly fine," Edmund said as they passed under the University's gatehouse.
"Sir Titus is a neurotic overthinker who sees twenty problems where one exists and little Miss Speight and I are still engaging in a trivial feud from my own days as a student here," Peridan replied. "But, um, they really aren't the worst. I suppose we'll meet someone interesting at some point; the Board tends to get a little overexcited by visiting royalty."
The Archenlander noble led the way through the confusing maze of cloisters until they reached the Library. Waiting inside the foyer were the Library staff; two women, one of whom was the girl they had met yesterday, and two men.
All four were dressed in the same clothes; trousers for the men and long skirts for the women in the national blue of Archenland, crisp white shirts, and grey waistcoats. What had to be the coat of arms of the university had been embroidered upon the breast-pocket of their waistcoats in silver for three of them and in gold for the elder of the two women. The keys on the ring at her hip were also gilded with gold, unlike those of the others, and so Edmund assumed her to be superior to the other three – something she soon affirmed.
"Your Majesty," she said, inclining her head. "I am Dame Dorothea Vance, Librarian of the University. These are my Assistants; Mr Dressler, Mr Bennett, and Miss Speight. Miss Speight will take care of you in these halls but don't hesitate to come to any of us with a problem."
"Thank you, Dame Vance," Edmund said. "I'm sure I will feel most at home here."
The Librarian's steely eyes flicked to over one of the King's shoulders and she suddenly took on the grave expression of someone about to go through a great trial.
"Oh, hello, Bursar," she said flatly. "My goodness, is it half nine already?"
Edmund turned and tried not jump back as he realised the Bursar was standing right behind him.
He was a tall, spindly man with a sallow complexion and an expression of eternal disappointment. He looked down at the young Narnian King fiercely and Edmund found himself magically transported back to his schooldays in Spare Oom, where he was certain the Bursar would have made an excellent schoolmaster at Hendon House.
"Yes, yes, this is King Edmund," Dame Vance said crossly. The Bursar moved his intense scrutiny to her and she sighed deeply.
"Quinten, I really haven't got the time. Have you finalised my budget for the next semester or not?" she asked.
Before he could respond, she had rolled her eyes and stormed off back towards her office. "Of course not, it was just too much to ask! I bet you have given Varrick his and in full too!" she shouted back over her shoulder.
The Bursar merely glided after her as silently as he had appeared, leaving the others behind in a stunned silence.
"Does he make anyone else uncomfortable?" Ada asked with a shudder.
"The University would be in chaos without him," Hans said, clapping a hand on her shoulder. "He's amazingly shrewd and he has the most fantastic stories I've ever heard."
He turned back to Edmund and bowed his head.
"Please excuse us, sire, but the day is already slipping away from us," he said and he and Isaiah vanished into the depths of the library.
Ada was left alone for the first time with her new clients. Even here where she would be most comfortable, she was still apprehensive as to how things would progress. The Narnian King, however, broke the tension by smiling warmly at her.
"Miss Speight, I do hope you will be able to help me," he said.
"Oh, please call me Ada, sire," she said. "I only get called Miss Speight when everything is strict and formal and I cannot bear working like that."
He blinked and then laughed. "I will call you Ada if you will call me Edmund, then."
His young face suddenly turned grave and he looked around carefully as if he expected to see someone loitering in the shadows, eavesdropping.
"Is there somewhere private we can go while I explain my situation? I wish to be completely honest with you but by doing so I will be trusting you with a Narnian state-secret," he said. "You cannot breathe a word of what I tell you today to anybody; not even Dame Vance."
"Of course, sire," she said. "I mean Edmund. I mean… please, this way."
There was a little-used corridor on the ground floor of the library. At the far end was the room the Assistants were supposed to use as their office but only the Second Assistant, Collin, particularly liked it. The other three all preferred to find a nook somewhere in the rest of the library to work and with Collin away, Ada knew no one else would pass by them.
Peridan moved to the windows lining one wall, presumably to watch for more imaginary eavesdroppers, while Edmund explained his case to Ada.
"Almost two weeks ago," he began, "an agent of the White Witch appeared in my sister Lucy's bedroom. It was the middle of the night and he no doubt expected to catch her off guard. However, Lu being Lu, she had him subdued and trussed up ready to be carted away even before the guards came rushing to her aid."
"Thank Aslan!" Ada breathed, her face white.
"Yes," Edmund said. "We were perplexed as to how he not only infiltrated Cair Paravel but also managed to make his way to Lucy's chambers without being discovered sooner. After investigating her room, we eventually found a hidden passageway. And here is the mystery; none of our people knew about the existence of this passageway and it does not appear in any of the plans we have."
Ada thought for a moment. "Intriguing," she said. "I trust Witch's crony has said nothing."
"Not a word," Edmund confirmed. "You understand the gravity of the situation, though. The Cair is supposed to be nigh impregnable and yet a would-be-assassin was able to walk undisturbed into a queen's bedroom. We have no idea how many of these passages there are and we have no idea where they are, and this is information we simply cannot afford to be without. So, I have been sent here to search for answers. Can the University of Anvard provide?"
Ada tapped her fingers against her arms as she quickly ran the library's catalogue in her head.
"There are some places we could look," she said eventually, "but I obviously cannot guarantee that the answers you seek are here. I am certain we have some books and papers on the history of the Cair and there are maybe some blueprints somewhere too."
"That sounds like an excellent start," Edmund said. "Lead on."
Thank you to JubileeKnight and JustValiant1717 for your kind words in the first chapter. I hope you have enjoyed this too! If anyone is at all interested by faceclaims, I have updated my profile to include the characters so far introduced and I will continue to update as more appear.
For clarity's sake, I consider this fic taking place maybe three years into the Pevensies' reign. By this time, they have either overcome or made peace with the majority of the Witch's followers and Lucy's would-be assassin was a last ditch attempt by those still in hiding.
And now on to a little further explanation!
As I said in the previous chapter, the University of Anvard is heavily inspired by the University of Glasgow. The head of GU is known as the Principal and the post of Rector is one elected by the student body; the current Rector being Aamer Anwar, a prominent human rights lawyer. However, a rector can also be the head of a university and so I chose this title for Ada's uncle's role. (As a side-note, the headmaster or principal of my secondary school was known as the Rector.)
The Bursar is in charge of the financial matters of a university. I am also heavily inspired by Unseen University from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. As Edmund meets more of Anvard's faculty, I hope anyone familiar with Pratchett will see my inspiration come through.
Leave me a review and I will see you in the next chapter!