King Lune


"The time has come," the walrus said, "to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships - and sealing wax - of cabbages and kings".

~ Lewis Carroll


As Chibb toppled out the window and spread out his stubby, little wings, the courtyard whirled below in a colorful blur of brightly dressed chambermaids airing blankets, stable boys watering horses and gentlemen at arms smoking pipes.

He was terribly dizzy and he came down the way an oak leaf falls in autumn, frantically beating his wings to clear an alcove below. He twirled past a chambermaid, narrowly avoiding a basket of washing.

"Sorry!" he cheeped, then flew headlong into a black wall.

He fell to the cobbles, slightly stunned, his feet quivering above him.

"What's this?"

I really can't describe what it's like to be a bird that has just fallen out a window, avoided washing by a hair's breath, then is promptly picked up by a massive centaur. He saw a great, noble face blur into his vision, topped by curly black hair as the centaur held him up in the palm of his gigantic hand.

"Excuse me?" Chibb piped, "Do you know where I can find King Lune?"

"It's a Robin!" the centaur exclaimed brilliantly. "I'm Flavis. I'm pleased to meet you Master Robin."

"Just Chibb," Chibb scrambled to his feet. "Do you know where I can find King Lune? It's a matter of life and death!"

"The king is in a counsel with Equus," Flavis said. "I'm afraid he's not exactly available at the moment."

"But it's important!" Chibb chirped, hopping up and down on the centaur's outstretched hand. "The four children of the prophecy are in Narnia right now!"

"What children?"

A red centaur had been standing on the other side of the fountain, listening keenly to their conversation, now he came around to them, his hooves ringing on the cobbles.

"What children?" he repeated, eyeing Chibb as if he were a new kind of insect.

"The children must be rescued or Narnia is lost!" Chibb squeaked. His head was hurting and neither of them seemed to be getting the point.

"I'm sorry Chibb," Flavis said comfortingly, fighting an urge to run his finger along the Robin's downy waistcoat, "We would love to rescue your children very much, but we really can't. I'm sure they'll be able to fly soon and rescue themselves."

"They aren't my children!" Chibb was so flustered he fluttered into the air and hovered above Flavis' hand. "It's the four children from the prophecy!"

There was silence as Chibb landed again and looked up at both their silent faces. There was sunlight in their eyes as they looked at him snow was blowing off the ramparts above them, drifting down to make the air sparkle.

"Tell me more," the red centaur said abruptly. "His assistance may prove invaluable."

"Martin, I think he's dazed…" Flavis began, glancing at his friend. "And stop using big words. I'm too young to comprehend them."

"I'm not dazed!" Chibb twittered hopping up and down, his tail quivering in excitement. "There are humans in Narnia! The four from the prophecy that was given long ago! They must have help now!"

Martin looked at him closely, then held out his finger for Chibb to climb on.

"I believe he speaks the truth, Flavis," Martin said, holding the Robin aloft. "Come, we are going to see the king!"

"But Martin!" Flavis exclaimed, "He's in a conference!"

"It matters not!" Martin cried, turning in a rear, "The destiny of the world may rest on our shoulders!"

"Stop being so dramatic!" Flavis yelled, but already sparks were dashing from under Martin's hooves as he thundered across the courtyard and though a side door. Chibb flapped his wings madly, barely managing to balance on Martin's outstretched hand as the centaur galloped down the hallways, everyone in his path plastering themselves against the walls.

"Martin! Slow down!" Flavis yelled, leaping after him. Hurriedly he picked up a man servant who had been knocked spinning. "Sorry about that! He's a little excitable sometimes!"

Martin rounded a corner and exploded through a heavy oak door to rear in the middle of a room.

Light fell from two tall windows overlooking a snow covered garden onto an exotic rug laid across a wood floor. A great desk dominated the room, massively, yet simply made and behind it, a young man with a kind face looked up in surprise. A magnificent gray centaur stood by the open hearth, leaning on the mantle, his face young, but his hair almost white; he crossed his arms and looked disapproving as Martin entered the room.

"Martin!" the man at the desk exclaimed. "Is the castle on fire?"

"Your majesty!" Martin dropped into a bow, "this young Robin has extremely valuable information!"

"Apologies for the intrusion, your majesty," Flavis said, coming into the room. "He's… well, you know what he's like."

"Yes, I know what he's like," the man said with a laugh. "Well, friend Robin, state your business. I'm listening."

Chibb fluttered over to the desk and perched delicately on the cover of the ink pot. A long curving feather of a dappled goose was laid carelessly across a parchment covered with writing and above him towered a gigantic, flat disk set in a circular frame that allowed it to turn. It was, in fact, a map of the world.

"Please," Chibb cheeped, looking up at the man, "are you King Lune?"

~o*o~

The battle at the oak seemed to go at first in the favor of the Narnians. Twang, at his perch in the tree, fire arrow after perfectly aimed arrow, but his bow was small and his shots did not have the power that he wished for. He aimed for the most vulnerable places on the wolves, their eyes, their noses, their temples, and though he nearly never missed, his shots were more irritating than fatal. Lucy on the other hand, couldn't draw her bow all the way and her arrows went wide, though they did create a disturbance when they landed.

Peter, Edmund and Oakheart battled at the foot of the oak, their swords flashing as they swung at the approaching wolves that seemed to ebb and flow like a silver tide around them.

In the years afterwards, that first battle had sunk into a black struggle in their memories, a horrible surge of gray, snarling fur and the song of steel. Looking back, they often wondered how they managed to keep from cutting off their own legs, much less damage the wolves… and the wolves seemed to grow in their eyes, magnified until they were fierce giants with bloody jaws.

Somewhere beyond the throbbing heat that surrounded them, it began to snow, gently at first, flakes spiraling through the air like tiny white fairies. But soon it came faster, whirling like dervishes, blotting out the world the way an India rubber blots the lines of a pencil, and stinging their faces as they fought.

Lucy had lost sight of Shard. He had vanished into the whiteness like a ghost vanishing into a cloud. The falling snow seemed to form a wall around them, cutting them off from the world, all they saw were the branches of the tree and the wolves, bursting from the blizzard to attack and vanish again.

At last Canis, the most massive of the grey wolves, leapt at Peter, his fangs gleaming in his open mouth as his teeth buried in Peter's arm and pulled him away from the tree. Frantically Edmund stabbed at Canis' writhing body, but the wolf slipped out of his blow and dragged Peter down to his knees. Blood sank, orange, into the snow as more wolves burst out of the white storm and grabbed him, dragging him away until they could see him no longer.

"Peter!" Edmund screamed and though Oakheart called to him, he plunged forward into the whirling snow, vanishing from the sight of those in the tree.

"Lucy!" Susan cried, reaching out to grab her arm. "Blow your horn!"

Lucy was already fumbling for it. She put it to her lips, the cold metal burning her skin, and blew with all her might. It was a cool, clear note, both merry and grave and when she took the horn from her lips the bright voice still hung, shimmering, in the air.

"Stay here Lucy," Susan called, as she twisted down from the tree, landing on her hands and knees in the snow. She struggled to stand, drawing her dagger to hold it before her.

Then a roar shook the earth and they saw the shadow of something huge emerging from the snow. It seemed to be a man, but a massive one, towering like a giant above the earth. Its eyes seemed to glow red like live coals as it swung around, swatting at the shadows that they knew were wolves.

"Edmund!" They heard Peter's voice, very well and full of life. "Get back to the tree!"

Edmund stumbled out of the snow and Susan caught him as he fell. "Are you all right? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, fine," he wiped snow out of his eyes with a gloved hand. The sword drooped in his left.

Peter came next, staggering from the mist to lean against the tree, clutching Rhindon by the hilt. His overcoat was shredded and Susan's stomach tightened as she saw the dull flash of blood on his arm.

"It's a simply massive bear," Peter said, breathing hard. "She just came out of nowhere, swatted all the wolves that had me and told me to go back. She's fighting like a maniac."

"What was the sound?" Edmund asked. "That clear, high sound?"

"Lucy's horn," Susan said. "She blew it a bit ago, when all seemed to be lost."

"And help came," Oakheart said. "Next time, young sir, don't leave your post."

"But, Peter…" Edmund trailed off.

"With your skill, or lack thereof, you wouldn't have been able to help him," Oakheart said. "You're both a couple of fine lummoxes."

The snow was lessening now and they saw the shadow of the bear more clearly as she swung around with slow, horrifying grace; her great, heavy clawed paws sending wolves spinning through the air.

Three quick yips echoed towards them and suddenly all the wolves vanished back into the snow. The bear roared, charging after them, then slowly swung around, eyes burning, to inspect the mismatched assortment of creatures by the oak.

~o*o~

"What a remarkable story!" King Lune said, crossing his hands behind his head after Chibb had left the room, "What do you propose we do about it?"

"I'm going to fetch them," Martin said, a spark leaping as he stamped the stone floor.

"Well, I'll come too, then," Flavis said, crossing his arms. "You might get yourself into trouble."

Martin ignored him.

"But how do you know the little robin is telling the truth?" King Lune asked, leaning foward. "I've found Robins to be a bit scatterbrained in the past."

"The time is ripe," the gray haired centaur spoke for the first time, gazing into the fireplace as the flames licked up towards the flu, many colored sparks leaping from a copper nail stuck in one of the logs. "I have watched the stars for years; they foretell the coming of the four. The prophecy will be fulfilled soon."

"Yes I remember that," King Lune said quietly, glancing up at him. "You think that Chibb is telling the truth, Equus?"

"I do," Equus said, turning to look at him, "and furthermore, I will go with Martin and Flavis."

"But children…" King Lune trailed off. "I didn't expect them to be children."

"We can never know what to expect," Equus replied.

King Lune sat back in his chair, his eyes twinkling as he gazed at them. They were young, all three of them, but no one could match Equus' wisdom, or Martin's martial prowess, or Flavis' general good temper. He had grown up with them; riding to the hunt, or flying falcons on sunny afternoons. He knew them as well as he knew himself, but they were Narnians and he had been the crown prince of Archenland, there were things that they could never share.

"I have no power over you; you are free Narnians. You may come and go as you please. Bring back these four children and I will give them my friendship. If…" King Lune leaned forward, looking at them levelly, "…if there are four children and if it will rid us of this Witch, it is a great 'if' gentlemen."

"So, do we go with your blessing?" Equus asked.

"I ought to have your blessing! You're the prophet," King Lune laughed, swinging out of his chair to clasp them each by the hand. "But if I wasn't tied up with kingship I'd go too, old friend. When will you leave?"

"Now." Martin said abruptly. He glanced at Flavis and Equus, "Coming?"

"Let's go!" Flavis said.

"I will have provisions prepared for your journey," King Lune said, turning to pull a bell rope behind his chair, "Go now, Aslan's blessings upon you."

The three centaurs bowed, leaving the chamber and King Lune stood listening as the ringing of their hooves echoed down the corridor and vanished into the stillness.


Author's Note: We had a proper blizzard yesterday. I'm going to have a lot of shoveling to do today. ;) King Lune has always been one of my favorite characters; who says he was old? He might very well have been in his late thirties or early forties in The Horse and His Boy. He might have been 'fat', but he was still spry enough to ride a horse and fight in a battle.

A quick note on Fenris (which you might already know): In early American additions of LWW, Lewis changed Maugrim's name to Fenris Ulf, which of course, is a nod to Fenris Wolf, or Fenrir of Norse Mythology, the son of Loki, who is foretold to kill Odin. I wonder if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles has any roots in the mythology about this monster?

~Psyche

Production Note: The wolves are threatening to sue for damages. They say they had the distinct impression that Peter and Edmund were really trying to kill them. They think that sort of realism is too real.