Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing Narnia related (though I wish I did!). Only original characters are mine.
AN: I'm mostly going with the movie versions of our favorite characters, particularly with Caspian. As much as I adore the BBC version, the movies are what really made me believe in Talking Mice and Lions. Thanks so much for reading, and please don't forget to review!
Chapter 7: Fitting In:
While reorganizing a library may be difficult, my job was actually the best job I could have asked for.
For the most part, Professor Cornelius did the hard work of sorting through everything, because he was the only one who knew where every sheet of paper, scroll, wall tapestry, and book was in the library, and what it was about.
Once he gathered something off of the shelves, he remembered exactly where it had been before, and could find something even if it was hidden beneath a sheet of paper or a book. That was why he was the one to fetch the books, bring them over, and hand them to me to shelve in its new spot along the walls. If a book was too heavy for him, or too large, I would be the one to get it, and on the rare occasion that not even the two of us could handle a book or stack of parchment, a servant would be summoned to help us.
About half of my day was dedicated to re-shelving the contents of the library, but after lunch, it was easy going. Once the Professor had his lunch and nap, he sat at his desk and began scribbling things down into a new historical text he was writing, one about the new King, Caspian X. While he worked, I sat nearby, reading anything I pleased until he asked me to fetch him a bit of paper, a quill, or ink.
Now, being someone's "go-fer" was a job that almost no one in my world wanted, but in this case, it wasn't so bad. I got to lounge by a fire, and fetch things about once or twice an hour for a kind old man. In return, I had a nice place to sleep and live, good food several times a day, and best of all, I got a free hour or two every day to take Roan out for a ride, or to go into town on my own. My free time in town, however, was mostly for dress fittings, which would not be fun if it weren't Lily the Faun doing the fitting.
My daily ride was the best time of day; it was only during this time that I could get together with both my animal friends. Fang was thrilled to stretch his legs and run alongside Roan, who in turn was happy to race our canine friend. We would run a mile or two outside the city, pause beside a stream for a break, and turn around and trot slowly back, savoring the warmth of the afternoon sun before returning to the castle. Sometimes we played 'tag' in the open meadows –Fang usually won, since he was faster than me, but able to evade being tagged by Roan.
Not that I ever felt confined or oppressed during the rest of my day. Professor Cornelius had decided early on that it was easier for a young woman to run into town on errands than it was for an older man such as him –thus, I was often called on to race to the local shops for certain items that could not be found in the castle, with Fang always accompanying me on these trips.
I never thought that Fang would be a 'city wolf,' but apparently he liked getting attention from passing children, who insisted on petting the 'doggie' and feeding him treats. My canine friend even enjoyed meeting other talking animals while I shopped, which I thought rather interesting.
And Fang wasn't the only one who accompanied me on my errands for the Professor. Whenever he found out I was going out, Reepicheep, the chivalrous Mouse that he was, sometimes insisted on going with me, explaining that a lady such as myself ought to have an escort, in case someone meant mischief towards me. Narnia seemed hardly the place to have thieves or ruffians, but it was nice having Reepicheep to talk to and joke with, so I let him come along. Besides, my oddly-timed trips to the shops were the only times I could spend time with him, since he did not wish to interrupt my work in the library with the Professor.
Just as I was beginning to settle in and feel as though I 'belonged,' I was able to make another new friend, one that I never thought I'd have the honor of meeting.
Besides Reepicheep, Trumpkin the Dwarf was another favorite of mine from the books. I knew about his gruff demeanor, but I also knew that he was a good friend of Queen Lucy, so he probably wasn't that bad. I had wanted to meet him since I'd started my new job, but with him being a close friend of the King, he was always busy seeing to one task or another. Besides, with me in the library or off on errands for Professor Cornelius, when would I have the time (or opportunity) to meet an advisor of King Caspian?
And as Murphy's Law would dictate, my first meeting with the infamous Dwarf came as a complete shock, when I did not look my best.
It was a bright morning, and as always, I was inside, helping the Professor shelve his books. Actually, today we were shelving scrolls, and since scrolls tend to collect dust, I had dust bunnies in my hair, on my face, stuck to my clothes, and a few clung to my leather slipper-shoes. Professor Cornelius didn't look much better off than I did, but since he was a rather adorable little man, he managed to look relatively decent while I looked like something a cat would chase.
Luckily, the library was looking much more organized –well, in spite of the floating dust particles and such lying around. Still, after a month of effort, almost all of the books had been shelved, and about half of the scrolls were tucked safely in leather tubes, with labels engraved into them for easy locating.
The Professor and I were just putting the last of the geography scrolls away when someone entered and exclaimed, "Aslan's Mane, what happened in here?"
Okay, I had to admit that the main table was currently covered in scrolls (both opened and rolled up), as well as empty tubes that needed to be labeled; the occasional wooden box full of odd knickknacks; and a handful of stray quills. It may have looked a right mess, but it was, as the Professor and I called it, an "organized mess."
Both my mentor/employer and I turned around, me blowing a stray wisp of hair out of my eyes as Professor Cornelius grinned. "Trumpkin, my friend!" he cried, "Come in! It's been an age since I've seen you."
Trumpkin huffed a little through his nose. "Don't have much time to spare these days," he complained in a rough voice. "The two of us have got too much work to do, now that the coronation's over."
Professor Cornelius nodded his agreement. "That is true," he agreed, looking over the table and newly organized shelves. "With Caspian on the throne, I can display my full collection, rather than hiding the old Narnian histories as I used to. Perhaps they will do some good for those that follow us."
Trumpkin grunted a little, then turned and spotted me. I had been listening, but I probably looked like a dusty girl with a deer-in-the-headlights look on my face. He gave me a quick scan, while I did the same.
In the movie, Trumpkin had looked gruff and inapproachable, mostly because he was always ready for a fight for survival. He looked much different now, cleaned up and wearing silks and velvet trimmed with gold braid. His orange beard and hair were long and brushed out straight and neatly, following the Dwarf fashion. There was a bald spot on top of his head that was barely covered by a hat with a long feather, and a few gold chains dangled around his neck, making him look official.
The suspicious gleam in his eyes, though, was still there, and there was a slight hardness in them when they looked my way. I found myself swallowing nervously as he looked at me –it reminded me of my mom's favorite crime dramas, where the cops scrutinize someone before they began interrogating them.
"So, this is the new assistant I've heard about," he said, coming to stand at the bottom of the ladder I currently occupied. "Come down here, girl. I want a better look at you."
That made something in me snap to attention, and not in a good way. Rather than being intimidated, I was put off at the tone in his voice. But since I didn't want to offend a friend of the Professor, I decided to step down to the floor and not make a scene. Instead, I took a casual stance, my arms crossed, and let him circle me as though I were a mare or a cow up for inspection.
Trumpkin studied me carefully, and when he came to stand in front of me, he nodded. "Reepicheep was right," he grumbled, "You'd have to be a good woman to win his approval, and if you work for Cornelius here, you have to be clever as well."
He looked me over again. "Doesn't mean I like or trust you, not when you're a newcomer."
I gave him a smile that was half a smirk. "Don't worry, I'll grow on you. It's one of those irritating things about me."
Trumpkin looked at me a minute, then smiled just the tiniest bit. I felt a surge of accomplishment as he replied, "I'm sure you've got plenty of irritating qualities. Just be sure none of them bother Cornelius, or else you'll be facing me."
"And I know better than to cross you, Master Dwarf," I said, smiling as I saluted him and gave a slight bow. "Your ability to wield both sword and sharp tongue are as legendary as Reepicheep's."
Trumpkin actually chuckled a little at that. "Apparently my reputation precedes me. Alright, girl, get back to it. Perhaps I will visit again when you both aren't so consumed with work."
And then it was just the Professor and me, Trumpkin leaving me surprised and rather pleased at having made him laugh. 'I guess he's not so bad after all.'
"Well, what do you think of him?" Professor Cornelius asked, smiling in that jolly way of his.
I returned his smile with one of my own. "I like him, even if he is a bit rough around the edges."
The Professor laughed. "He must like you as well, since he did not curse once at you. Reepicheep has a good judge of character, and Trumpkin values his opinion of people very highly."
I blushed, causing him to smile. With a wave of his hand, he motioned for me to get back to work, while he turned back to his historical book.
True to his word, Trumpkin came to visit us again the next afternoon, when both Professor Cornelius and I had finished shelving for the day. Tea had just been left by the servants, and Trumpkin arrived just as I was pouring the tea into the cups.
"Your impeccable timing always amazes me, my friend," joked my employer. "You always seem to arrive just when food is being served."
Trumpkin glowered at him, but I knew it was only half-hearted, at most. Rather than reply, he sat down and thanked me as I offered him my cup of tea, as we had no third cup to serve him. When he realized this, Trumpkin tried to return it, but I insisted that he have it, and that the two of them sit and talk while I went into town for some supplies the Professor needed.
"I insist," I told them both when they began to protest. "It seems that you haven't had much time to spend together as friends, and it would be rather awkward for all of us if I were to sit here and listen to you talk about people or things I don't know much about."
They accepted that, and agreed to let me go off on my errand. Leaving them to it, I ran up to my rooms to change and grab a few things. Like always, I put a long skirt on over my breeches –Professor Cornelius had insisted that, whenever I went into town, I go out in a skirt, so that I wouldn't "scandalize" anyone with my choice of attire. It was a constant joke between us, because I always rolled my eyes and made a face whenever I had to put on a skirt.
'Not that I have anything against wearing a dress, but when I have to go trekking through a town market, I'd rather do it in pants.'
I quickly picked up the list of things that were needed for the library, a small pouch of coins, and a basket. Ready to head out, I turned and found Fang waiting for me at the door. He looked eager to get out, and happily ran down the steps in an effort to race me. Laughing, I followed, calling out that I hadn't been ready and that he was cheating.
Our "races" downstairs was a new game that we'd invented, and the winner always got the loser a reward of some kind. If I won, Fang would spend an hour or two fetching things for me if I needed them; if he won, I bought him a few tidbits in town. Mostly, Fang won, but I did manage to outmaneuver him once and a while, so it wasn't entirely a one-sided race.
Unfortunately for me, this time I ended up coming to a halt when I ran smack into a tall man with dark hair at the foot of the steps. Just as I was about to fall flat on my butt, he reached out and caught me, helping me to get steady on my feet.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" I cried, righting myself. "Are you alright? You aren't hurt, are you?"
"No, I'm well," the fellow replied, his smile reaching from his eyes down to his mouth. "And you? You are not hurt, are you? You should be more careful, when you are in a rush to be somewhere."
I flushed. "Actually, I was racing my friend down from my rooms." Looking around, I called, "Fang, where are you?"
"Here," he said, coming up a nearby flight of stairs. "You lose, by the way. I made it all the way to the main floor, and here you are, still beside the library. You owe me a beef bone, this time."
The man beside me looked a bit remorseful. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to cause you to lose your race." He reached inside a pouch on his belt and pulled out a silver coin. "Here, it is the least I can do."
"Oh, no, it's alright," I said, motioning for him to put the coin back. "I would have lost anyway. Besides, Professor Cornelius doesn't mind my buying Fang something from the market, once and a while."
As the man smiled, I studied him a bit closer. He was very handsome, with a clean-shaven, youthful face that had a cleft chin which made it a bit more manly, rather than boyish. He had set of dark brown eyes that glittered down at me, wide and soulful, as though he had seen more in his life than other young men should. His dark hair was longish and wavy, very suitable for his age and face, and it went well with the blue velvets and silks he wore. Most of the other men I had seen had shorter hair, making this fellow stand out.
Actually, he looked familiar, though I couldn't quite place it…
"You know Professor Cornelius?" he asked, delighted.
I nodded. "I work for him. My name is Alandra, but most call me Ali, for short."
He grinned. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ali," he said, taking my hand and pressing a kiss to it. "I have heard of you from Professor Cornelius. If you are as clever and hardworking as he's told me, I could not imagine a more suitable assistant for him."
Of course, that was when Professor Cornelius appeared from the library, and cried, "Caspian, my boy! It's been too long since you've come to see me at my library." He turned to me and smiled. "And I see that you have met my new assistant, Ali."
All at once, I felt my face go pale. Well, now I knew why he looked so familiar –he looked like the actor from the movies! It seems that Lewis wasn't the only creative mind Aslan has been messing with, if the actor from the film so closely resembled the actual King himself! It also made me wonder how else this might resemble the film, or the books –or neither one.
Snapping back to the present, I murmured, "Your Majesty," immediately sinking into a proper curtsy.
Yes, I know how to curtsy. It was something I'd taught myself when I was little, doing what little girls did best: pretending I was a princess and very much needing to know how to curtsy whenever I met another royal personage.
This, however, I had not imagined. Running into the King of Narnia in the hallway was not part of the plan, and I couldn't be more embarrassed. My cheeks had gone from pale to flaming red, and my stomach was doing flips as I rose from my curtsy. Professor Cornelius looked surprised, as though he didn't expect me to know how to bow to royalty, while Fang looked rather impressed. The King, however, seemed rather sad at my knowing who he was.
And just when I needed it most, Professor Cornelius saved me. "Ali, my dear, you might want to run into town before it gets dark," he said, giving me a gentle push towards the steps going down.
Nodding, I gave the King one last curtsy and made a break for it, Fang running along beside me.
Once I was out in the marketplace, I was able to wipe my unfortunate encounter with King Caspian from my brain, at least for a little while. The buzz of people around me was a good distraction, and my shopping for the Professor was a much needed bit of "retail therapy."
As promised, I bought Fang a nice beef bone from a butcher, as well as some parchment, special quills for the Professor's desk, and a knife for cutting the pens. There was also a bakery in town that made little tea cakes the Professor adored, and so I bought a few of those as well.
When my list was checked off, I turned and made for the castle, walking slowly in the hopes that I would get there after the King had left the Professor, therefore avoiding any possible encounters with him.
'That was so not how I planned to meet the great Caspian X!' I silently groaned to myself.
To be honest, I'd really had no plans or expectations of meeting the King. I hadn't thought at all about how I would be introduced to him, or what I would end up saying to him on that meeting. Running smack into him like that had been a trip, but at least I now knew what he looked like, so that if we met again, I would know how to greet him.
"You're very quiet," Fang said as we entered the castle. "Is it because of your meeting with the King? He seemed to rather like you, even if you did run into him in an ungraceful way."
I blushed. "Don't make it worse than it actually is," I grumbled, approaching the steps leading up to my rooms. "Come on, I need to change and get back to the library for dinner."
Twenty minutes later, I was at the open library door, where to my relief, Professor Cornelius was alone. He looked up at my knock, and smiled.
"You should not be so intimidated by the King, my dear," he said, coming to take the basket from me. "He's a good man, and was rather hurt when you became so formal with him. He does not care much for ceremony, unless it is necessary, and I think he would like to get to know you better."
He hesitated a moment. "Ali, I must admit something to you. Fang, please close the door, would you?"
When Fang had done as asked, Professor Cornelius sat me down in a chair and looked intensely at me with his blue eyes. "Ali, I have not known you long, but from what I have been able to gather about you, I have guessed that you are not someone who is from Narnia, or its neighbors."
Swallowing hard, I looked down at my hands, wondering what to say next. I guess the cat was out of the bag, and it was time to confess everything.
"I do not think less of you for hiding this fact from me, though I do find it rather puzzling," he said, reaching under my chin to make me look up. "If you have been sent here as the old Kings and Queens were, you must have a purpose, and should be brought before the King."
I panicked. "No, please don't," I begged, wringing my hands.
He looked shocked, but allowed me to continue. I told him of my being brought here by Aslan himself, and of the task that had been set upon me. That only made the Professor want to bring me to the King's attention even more, but I refused.
"I do not want to become the King's friend and confidant merely because Aslan sent me," I firmly told him. "I want to be liked for myself, and earn his trust rather than have it handed to me based on my connection to the Great Lion."
The Professor was clearly unhappy with this, but he reluctantly agreed to it. "Your desire to prove yourself is an admirable trait, and one that nearly matches the nature of Caspian himself," he said, smiling slightly in spite of himself. "Very well, we will try this your way. But I should warn you, my dear Ali, that Caspian already has it in mind to meet you again tomorrow, if only because he wishes to remain on good terms with my new assistant."
Sighing, I shook my head. This was definitely not how I pictured things, but since the proverbial 'can of worms' had been opened, I suppose I might as well get started on the task Aslan had set on me.
"Alright, I'll meet with him," I grudgingly acquiesced. "But promise that you won't say a word about why I'm here!"
He promised, and went to ring for dinner from the palace kitchens, leaving me to my thoughts. This was either all a coincidence, or it was some deeper power working at throwing me together with Caspian today in the hallway. I didn't know whether to call it Fate or Aslan's Will, but whatever it was, today I was clearly meant to meet Caspian and start our journey together as friends.
'I guess I put it off long enough,' I thought, biting back a sigh. 'I've been here for weeks already, and hadn't even tried to meet the King. Perhaps I was hiding too much here in the library, and now it's time to get this show on the road.'
As dinner was brought in and served, I barely managed to choke down the delicious meal and somehow was able to keep it down even as I went up to my room to get ready for bed. As I lay there, staring at the stone ceiling, I couldn't help but think how I was definitely not looking forward to my next run-in with the king!
AN: Yes, she's met Caspian! Now the fun can begin. Thanks so much for reading, and please don't forget to review!
