This chapter is more of a filler than anything else, and it's also shorter than the last one. Just a few
housekeeping things that need to be established now before we get into the good stuff.
And there is very little action for now; it's hard, trying to mesh two worlds together! But there will be,
I promise.
On that note, I am in the process of getting a map ready for uploading. I've got it drawn out, but
it's not really legible, so I've got some cleaning to do =). Extra points to anyone who has managed to
follow my descriptions.
Once and Future, Chapter Two: Narnia
In which the Magnificent needs a break, the Gentle loathes books, and the Just gets a surprise.
"When will Ed and Lucy be back?" The High King didn't even look up as he asked the question. He couldn't afford to - if he looked up, he would see that there was a perfectly nice She-Badger in front of him, and that she was free to stand and roam about the castle, and even go outside if she so desired - and Peter knew that if he saw that, then he would want to stand up, and walk around, and go outside, as well, and that was something he could not do. At least, not until he had resolved the Galman trade dispute.
"Sometime the day after tomorrow," the She-Badger replied with that husky voice characteristic of members of the Weasel family. "Assuming Her Grace doesn't find another 'worthy cause.'" The Badger laughed good-naturedly, coaxing a soft chuckle out of the High King as well. Lucy was known for putting her plans - and, by default, putting everyone else's plans - on hold for the sake of her 'worthy causes.' And for Lucy, a 'worthy cause' could be anything from a pretty field of flowers to a little girl with a scraped knee to a village plagued by renegade Wolves. Each scenario received equal attention from the youngest Queen of Narnia. And it wasn't really that the Queen lacked the ability to prioritize, which had been a problem for Susan the first year or so, but more like each problem - or opportunity, really - was just as important to Lucy as the next. Lucy would consider a scraped knee just as important to fix as a village under attack, because each life was important - there was no question about it, and that was that.
And Lucy was about the only person in the world who could get away with such a thing. If Peter had been asked, he would have said that Lucy could effectively stop the world turning for just about anything, and he would be glad to make it happen. The High King had often wondered if it were even possible to become angry with Lucy (though Susan had assured him that it was quite possible, and that Peter was just a pushover).
Actually, this most recent excursion was an excellent example. Edmund had gone off to the Western Mountains to collect more books (Susan had been livid), and Lucy had asked if she could please come along because she had been dying to see the Dancing Lawn again, and if only she could go with Edmund she would be positively the happiest Queen in all of Narnia. Peter had no doubt that, at the moment, this would be true, but even if it weren't, he wouldn't have said 'no' to Lucy. Even at eighteen, she had him completely wrapped around her little finger, and Peter imagined that in that respect she would never change.
The High King sighed; it was only eleven in the morning! How was he meant to get these dratted trade agreements authorized if he was already zoning out?
"Perhaps you should take your tea, Sire," the She-Badger suggested. Peter finally gave in and met the kindly housekeeper's eyes. She was watching him intelligently, waiting for a response.
The Badger, whose name was Melina but who was only ever called Mrs. Badger*, was perhaps the closest thing to a mother the siblings had been allowed since their arrival. Mrs. Badger was always the first to notice when one of the Monarchs was coming close to overworking him- or her-self, and she would comment without giving it a second thought. At this moment, Peter could have kissed the matron for her insight. He knew that he wouldn't have been able to justify taking a break on his own account, and Mrs. Badger knew so, as well.
"That sounds lovely," Peter said.
"And ye might want to go ahead down. I'd imagine Queen Susan will be wanting a break, as well. You could stop in and invite her along." Peter nodded, carefully stacking the papers so that they were in proper order, before fairly sprinting toward the solar.
Susan groaned, staring at the piles of books before her. She hated this! It had been ten years and they still hadn't managed to sort through the Library at Cair Paravel - even with Edmund spending all his free time in there. And there was really no one Susan trusted with the restoration besides herself and Edmund - and even he was iffy. The task had become no less daunting during the decade that they'd been working at it. Susan had foolishly made it her personal project to recover and catalog all of the knowledge which hadn't been destroyed by the White Witch. As it turned out, Narnians were ridiculously adept at hiding things from the usurper, including these books and scrolls.
Near the beginning of their reign, Lucy had asked Mr. Tumnus why he had so many books when Cair Paravel had none. The Faun had explained that, when the Narnians caught wind of the Witch's impending attack, Queen Swanwhite** requested that her subjects each take as many books as could fit into their homes, and to keep them safe. An indignant Peter had wanted to know why she wasted time on books when she could have been defending Narnia.
"Because," the Faun explained, "Queen Swanwhite knew that she couldn't stop the Witch. She didn't want to waste precious lives on a losing battle - no, don't say it, King Peter. I know what you're thinking, that as long as there is a Narnian who draws breath, there is hope. And today, that is true. But you don't understand what it was like then. The Tree of Protection had fallen into the Wilderness - the Narnians had grown complacent. They failed to keep the Tree, as Aslan charged them in the Beginning. And Swanwhite knew that - that's why the Witch was so powerful, you see? Narnia was weak because her people forgot Aslan's command. Instead of fighting, the Queen ordered that the Narnians hide, and that they take Narnia's precious knowledge with them. She knew that someday they Witch would be defeated, and that when that happened, Narnia would have to start over. Swanwhite knew that never again could Narnia be allowed to make the mistakes which led to the Witch's uprising. History had to be preserved so that Narnia's future rulers could learn from it. So she ordered that the entire library be emptied."
After hearing this, Edmund had been nearly ecstatic. He had called for all of the Narnians who had protected Queen Swanwhite's books to bring them back to Cair Paravel.
Many of his subjects complied gladly. At first, all of the siblings were eager to begin the task of renewing some of the culture Narnia had lost. The job had been daunting, yes, but also exciting. They dove into the books, glad to learn about the kingdom which they would now serve.
Their system, though, had proven most ineffective. They soon discovered that it would be ridiculous to try and read each and every book before putting it somewhere logical. It had been Susan's idea to utilize the rows upon rows of shelves at their disposal and create a sort of crude decimal system. The books were sorted by topic, and each section was labeled. There were ten classifications, and the books upon arrival were to be skimmed (here Edmund had received a very pointed look from his older sister) to determine the topic, and placed on the corresponding shelf. Then the book was cataloged. After all of the books had been labeled, they were divided into sub-topics. This was the most difficult and trying task. It required a different kind of patience than what Susan possessed. Unfortunately, since she was the one to suggest the idea, it was she who was primarily responsible for its execution. And of course, her obsessive personality had kicked in and she would only be satisfied once she knew that every book was exactly where it belonged.
Another issue which had nearly caused Susan to give up on the spot was that not all the books had arrived. There were many Narnians who had taken years to get to a point where they could in good conscience give up the books to which they had become attached. Then there were the hundreds of homes which had been abandoned, due to either the death or relocation of their tenants. And since a Narnian was just as likely to live in a burrow or cave as in a house, it was nigh impossible to locate all of the books which were hidden in said dwellings. There was a near-constant flow of incoming tomes and scrolls, and Susan was quite at her wits' end as to how to handle it.
Another invention of Susan's - though the Queen wasn't sure she could call it hers, as it was just another thing which had come from libraries in that Other Place - was a kind of shelf with wheels, which was for books that had yet to be given a place. She had ten such shelves - one for each classification - and had worked them into her organization system quite seamlessly. About every hour, she would rise to stretch her back and rest her eyes, and at this point she would wheel the little shelves over to their corresponding sections in the library, and place the books on one row of shelves which was set aside specifically for books which needed to be sub-divided. She would then purposefully walk away from the section - otherwise, she would feel the annoying need to organize these books further, as well, and she knew that if she started on that, she would never get around to the dozens of piles of books still waiting for her attention.
It was during one such break that a page tentatively knocked on the doors, sending a muted thump through the room.
"Back here," Susan called, poking her head around to see her guest.
"If it please your Majesty, High King Peter has requested your company for afternoon tea."
Susan nearly sighed aloud. At that moment, surrounded by the latest shipment of Narnian treasure, Susan had never seen a more welcome messenger. She said noting, but smiled sweetly, gave the boy three golden Lions^, and all but skipped from the enormous library.
Thank the Lion for hungry brothers, she thought.
Edmund leaned back, lacing his fingers behind his hands. It felt good to be back on the beaten path, where the mud wasn't treacherous for the wagon's wheels. The sun was shining merrily and he was on his way back to Cair Paravel with a cartload of books - real treasures, too, by the looks of them. He had seen a few law books, at least one tome full of magic theory, and - the crown jewel: a scroll with at least a six-inch diameter and the Narnian seal keeping it closed. It was an official document, likely drawn up by a royal. Perhaps it was a treaty, or a written account of proceedings. The Just King hoped it was the latter. Narnian history was far more interesting than the history of - that Other Place, from before he came to Narnia. Narnian history was a thing brought to life. It was either told by written, first-hand accounts or it was relayed by word of mouth - great-grandmothers who whispered stories around the fire during the long winter nights.
Of course, he thought, Susan will be beside herself with fury... This load had been twice the size of the last one he'd brought, and she still hadn't finished sorting through it. Apparently, a group of Narnians had come together to put all of their books in one location - a series of hidden caves underneath the mountain range - and then forgotten all about them, so that they were still there when a young Bear mother had stumbled across them years and years later.
Edmund had been sure that the frazzled She-Bear was exaggerating. She'd said that there were over a hundred books piled into this cave. Edmund hadn't really expected the number to be so high, but when he and the Dwarf Duffle (who had only agreed to go because he owed Edmund a favor) arrived, they counted one hundred and eighty-one tomes and scrolls.
Lucy had come along, so that she could stop at the Dancing Lawn and visit with a Dwarf family she had befriended. Without her, Edmund would have reached the den in a little over a day - but Lucy often caused a trip to take much longer than was ever planned (she stopped frequently to check on people as she met them. Once, she put her whole company three days behind schedule, much to Susan's chagrin), Edmund and Duffle had been obliged to stay overnight with the Dancing Lawn Black Dwarfs. Neither could wait to get away; Edmund was too lanky to be anywhere near comfortable in a tiny Dwarf home and Duffle, who was a Red Dwarf, tired quickly of his hosts' sullen attitudes. Between the delay and the rain, Edmund and Duffle weren't able make it to the cave until the next night. Rather than attempt a journey in the dark, the two had decided to hunker down in the cave, and head out at first light.
Now they were on the road, meandering at a relatively relaxed pace. Duffle was driving, so Edmund stretched and laced his hands behind his head. They weren't pushing the horse anywhere near his endurance level, reluctant to burden him too much on the muddy road still slick from the rain.
The sun had been up for about two hours when the skin on the back of Edmund's neck began to prickle. He immediately sat up, alert for anything that would cause alarm. Duffle, attuned to is King's nerves, halted the horse with a gentle word and looked around.
"I know you're there," Edmund called. "Show yourselves. As long as you mean no harm to Narnia, you have nothing to fear from me."
A/N: *Mrs. Badger is not a replacement or bastardization of Mrs. Beaver. There won't be an opportunity to explain this in the text, but Mrs. Beaver still lives with Mr. Beaver at their dam. In relation to the Pevensies, she's more the sweet old grandmother who always has good food ready for you when you visit, even if you come over unannounced. Mrs. Badger is the head of the household at Cair Paravel, and she's more like the older mother who chastises her fully-grown children for overworking themselves. Does that make sense?
**C.S. Lewis didn't make it clear who was the last ruler before Jadis, but one of the only other monarchs he does mention is Swanwhite; I'm going on that in Susan's little story.
Lions are the main form of Narnian currency, according to the Dawn Treader.
I've always been curious about Cair Paravel. A lot of the questions I've had about Narnia's Capitol will be answered in this fic, so if you have any questions about it, ask and I'll see what I can come up with! I've got a few that I've already answered for myself, the book thing being one of them.
Okay, so the Author's Notes may have been longer than the actual chapter, but there you have it.
P.S. I'm not sure how often or how predictable my updates will be, so don't get too used to the whole "two chapters in one week" thing.