Chapter Twenty-one: Unenchantments

Arrani closed the door behind her and leaned heavily on it, feeling faint and breathless, despite the richness of the air around her. She'd flirted with him! Caspian had been on the island – her island – for less than a day and she was already flirting with him! Did she honestly think that she could just pick up from a point that they hadn't even gotten to before his memories had been erased? She must do better. She had to stay in control. Traitorously, her mind replayed the look in his eyes when he'd responded to her unspoken challenge. He'd played back. Much as she enjoyed the sensation, this wasn't how she wanted it. She may have had plenty of time to think about their relationship, but he hadn't. That meant that she would have to start it again from ground zero so that he wouldn't be left wondering how she knew him so well. It had to progress at his pace, not hers. If it even progressed at all. She had to force herself to confront the notion that Caspian might leave her island and never think anything of it.

And Lucy and Edmund! It was so hard seeing them look at her without the faintest sign of recognition. Especially Lucy, who had always known things beyond what she could see. If anyone had the ability to see past the barriers Aslan had placed on their memories, it should be Lucy.

"Arrani?" her father came toward from the darkness of his sleeping chamber.

She took a deep, steadying breath and forced her voice to speak levelly. "I'm here, Father."

His eyes surveyed her keenly. "Are you well, my daughter?"

Of course he'd see right through her façade. "Yes. I just… just need a moment."

"It's them, isn't it?" he asked her, raising her chin so that her eyes met his. "Your Narnian friends are here at last, aren't they?" She could only nod mutely, and he pulled her into his arms. "Aslan is in control, Arrani. Just trust Him to guide your actions with regard to your friends. Perhaps this is what he meant when he said that your choices would bring you great happiness in the future."

"Or it could be a means of punishing me further," she replied, rubbing her temples in an attempt to soothe her mind.

"I don't think you deserve more punishment than you've already borne," Ramandu said gently.

"That's Aslan's decision," she contradicted mildly, "and, with that in mind, I must be prepared to accept all possible options," she added. She started to turn back to open the door, but then stopped and shook her head in frustration. "How am I supposed to behave with people I know and love like family, when they don't know me at all?"

Her father laid a hand on her shoulder and turned her back to face him. "Just be yourself, Arrani. Be the person who managed to win them over in the first place. Perhaps it will be your part to help them remember you." He regarded her lovingly for several long moments. "You have grown greatly in the last few years, my beloved child, but perhaps this is the true test of your maturity. And," he added, allowing a sad smile to cross his face, "if you should handle the events surrounding your friends with the grace and composure that I know you have… I'll relinquish my guardianship over you." His voice faded to a whisper. "You will be allowed to go wherever it is that you wish to go… to choose the life you wish to live."

She couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. Suddenly, the prospects of such a choice seemed more daunting than the situation right outside her door. Impulsively, she threw her arms around her father's neck, knowing how hard it must be for him to let her go. "Thank you," she whispered fervently. "I can't see how I'd ever be able to leave you, but the choice means everything to me."

He chuckled as he pushed her back. "I think you'd be surprised how easy it will be for you to leave me… if the right conditions occur."

"Such as?"

But he only winked mysteriously at her and reached past her to open the door. "Let's go sing in the day and meet these friends of yours."

Still turning his words over in her mind, Arrani followed her father back outside to rejoin the Narnians seated around Aslan's Table. First, she must sing with her father just as they did every morning. A part of her was pleased that her friends would at last get to see what her life at home was really like, and it was that thought that she held onto as she raised her arms and joined her voice to her father's. As they sang, the light grew in the East until the Sun itself peeked over the horizon, casting a long, golden ray along the Table before rising up in its full, blazing glory.

Not long afterward, Arrani heard the familiar answering song of the White Birds as they swept toward them from the East, bearing the precious fire-berry that would take away a little more of her father's age. Their wild voices rose in harmony and descant to the melody she and her father continued to sing, until at last, they all met in a final, resonating note and the birds settled on the table to eat their fill of Aslan's spread. One bird flew up to her father and placed the fire-berry in his mouth. He chewed it carefully and swallowed it while they turned to watch the birds finish eating and gather into the air again. They departed into the East, back to Aslan's country once again, just as they had done every day for as long as Arrani could remember.

Ramandu turned from the Table and addressed the five Narnians, who were still staring at the departing birds with easily recognizable expressions of wonder on their faces. "Welcome, my friends, to the Beginning of the End of the World. My daughter tells me that you have come to these lands on an errand for Narnia." He winked discreetly at Arrani, who could only stare at him open-mouthed. How could she have forgotten to tell him why they were here? Apparently, he had phrased his question well enough to draw additional information from them, because Caspian answered him.

"Sir," he said, getting to his feet and bowing gallantly, "will you tell us how to undo the enchantment which holds these three Narnian Lords asleep?"

Ramandu acknowledged the young King's courtesy with a dignified dip of his head. "Of course. To undo the enchantment, you must travel to the World's End – as near as you can get to it – and you must return, having left at least one of your company behind."

"What will happen to the one left behind?" Reepicheep asked probingly.

"He must go on into Aslan's country and never return to this world," Ramandu replied.

"That is my heart's desire!" Reepicheep exclaimed, sweeping a deep bow in Ramandu's direction.

"Are we far from the World's End?" Caspian asked, looking thoughtful.

"I saw all of these lands long ago, but it was from a great height and I cannot tell you such things as distance or time regarding them."

"Were you flying through the air?" the boy called Eustace asked. Arrani thought he had the look of a boy who had been used to being mean and snappish and had recently had a change of heart. He still retained some of the frown lines that come from not smiling enough, though he appeared to be decent and respectful now.

Her father smiled. "I was far above the air. I am Ramandu, and the days when I was once a star in the Narnian sky are far before your human memories have recorded."

"You're a star?" Edmund asked incredulously, and Arrani had to smile at the look of wonder on his face. It was so different from the skepticism with which he and the others had greeted her claims to starhood when they'd first met. The circumstances lent themselves better to such a claim here, where danger and suspicion were only minor concerns, and she supposed that her father looked considerably more dignified and star-like than she had looked with Nikabrik's knife pressed against her throat.

"Aren't you a star anymore?" Lucy asked, her eyes never straying from Ramandu's.

"I am a star at rest, my daughter," he replied gently. Arrani could detect in his tone some of the affection and endearment he had bestowed upon her when she was Lucy's age. "I lived my life fully, until I was far older and weaker than you can imagine. I was then brought here, where, every morning, a bird brings me a fire-berry from the valleys in the Sun and each fire-berry takes away a little more of my age. When I am as young as newborn babe once more, I shall rise again into the sky and join in the great dance of the stars. But enough of this idle talk," he added as Lucy and Eustace opened their mouths to ask more questions, "Are you determined to sail into the East and break this enchantment, or will you return into the West?"

"How can one even question it!" Reepicheep replied fervently. "I, for one, am determined to fulfill our quest and rescue these three lords from their enchantment."

Arrani thought she saw Caspian's eyes flick in her direction briefly before he turned to concur with Reepicheep. "I think the same, Reepicheep. I could not bear to leave this mission unfulfilled."

"A word of caution," Ramandu added, glancing significantly toward the ship that waited in the harbor. "You cannot sail into the East with men unwilling or deceived. That is not how great unenchantments come to pass. Every man in your crew must know where they go and why."

"And what about Lord Rhoop?" Lucy pointed out, "He is a broken man. Ever since his stay on the Dark Island, his dreams and sleep have been haunted by his memories of that time. If only there was a way to relieve him of that."

"Bring him here," Arrani said, speaking for the first time since she'd sung the morning song. At an approving glance from her father, she added, "We can give him sleep where no dream could ever approach. Let him sleep here, beside his companions until you return from your errand to the World's End."

She watched as Caspian absorbed her words and exchanged glances with Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace before nodding his consent. It felt very different to be in the position of a hostess offering help and aid that was fully in her power to give. During all her time in Narnia, she had never been in a position to give anything besides her own best efforts. Here, she could provide food, peace, shelter, and rest to her travel-worn friends. She liked being able to return the favor at last.

The sounds of many footsteps and muffled talking reached their ears and they turned to find the rest of Caspian's crew joining them. Caspian rose and went to them, presumably to tell them about the part of the voyage still to come. Though she dearly wanted to listen in to his plans, her attention was drawn to a bedraggled, sickly-looking man who lingered at the tail-end of the crew. From Lucy's description, she was fairly certain that this was the Lord Rhoop. He looked the part. Summoning the part of hostess once more, she approached him and swept a modest curtsey before him. "My Lord Rhoop," she said gently, taking his hand in hers, "please, allow me to show you to a seat. You must be tired."

At first, he flinched at her touch, but her efforts at charm were not entirely wasted, and he allowed himself to be led over to a seat next to his three fellow lords. "Thank you, young lady," he mumbled as she helped him settle comfortably in his chair. Seeing them, Ramandu hurried over to her and laid his silvery hands on Rhoop's gray head. The tired old man sighed deeply and sank into peaceful slumber, a lingering smile on his lips as his head fell against his chest.

Arrani, too, touched his head and stroked some of the worry lines out of his cheek. "Be at peace, milord," she whispered.

"Thank you," Caspian said beside her. She jumped slightly and he smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you," he hurried to say.

"Oh, you didn't…" she trailed off, unsure about what exactly to say.

"He needed this," Caspian said to break the silence, gesturing to the now-sleeping Rhoop. "We may never know what horrors he endured on that island, but they were terrifying indeed." He paused. "I don't think I would wish such a fate on even my worst enemies."

"Not even your Uncle Miraz, if he were still alive?"

He looked up at her in surprise. "How did you know about that?"

Realizing that she'd made a slip, she hurried to backtrack. "Even here, we have heard some tell of your doings in Narnia, King Caspian. These three lords spoke enough of Miraz and yourself for my father and me to deduce that your relationship was strained at best."

He chewed on this information for a moment and Arrani started to wonder if he would buy it at all. At last, he answered her initial question. "No, I would not wish a fate like Rhoop's on my uncle, though there was a time when I might have." He glanced at the position of the sun and started. "Forgive me, Lady. I have lingered too long. My quest still awaits." He granted her a small smile and, with a perfunctory bow, hurried away to deal with matters among his crew.

He was almost exactly the same as she remembered. She sighed happily to herself, thinking back on their brief conversation with relief. Despite the fact that he didn't remember her, at least some of their old friendship seemed to linger in the way they talked to each other. He even still had that knack for catching her unawares when she was busy with something else.

Arrani's more of a bystander here (harking back to the first few chapters of this story, eh?) because the dialogue is mainly between Caspian and Co and her father. Although, I did like expounding more on her involvement with Lord Rhoop. I always sort of liked that scene in the book and wished Lewis had said more about it. It shows her nurturing side.

I'm not so sure how I feel about this chapter either. I think it works sometimes, and other times, I just stare at it and try to figure out what I'm trying to say with it. Feedback is appreciated. Is it progressing too fast?

I still have a few chapters before I need to write more, which means I need to write them now before I post any more chapters. All this on top of trying to move back into my apartment! How exciting!

Reviews are lovely and they make me happy. Hint hint nudge nudge

Elena