The Seventh Wonder

There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.

~ Walt Streightiff

The Black Swan rode quietly on her anchor, swinging with the rolling tide. Her sails were furled and stowed and the sailors washed down the decks, then holystoned and pitched them.

It was perhaps three hours after the harbormaster had departed that a great throng gathered on the wharves and the sound of trumpets echoed through the quiet air. Brightly painted barges embarked and rowed across the harbor, lying gently alongside the Swan, careful not to mar her smooth black paint.

Susan, Edmund, Corin and thirty others were brought with great pomp and ceremony onto the barges and were sat in velvet and satin chairs, heavily perfumed. They didn't know what to do with the talking animals, but Shard insisted in sitting in a chair. Then the slaves bent their backs to the oars and the barges moved back across the harbor. A blind bard sang them a song in a strange language, strumming a minor arpeggio on his harp at intervals.

When they landed on shore Edmund, Susan and Corin found themselves confronted by the prospect of a ride in the palanquin of an elephant. Brightly painted flowers spiraled up the trunk of the elephant, across its great ears and over its forehead. Edmund, Susan and Corin found the palanquin heavily scented, with an odd veil of bright gold disks hung on strings, which tinkled in the slightest breeze. The boy who steered the elephant sat on its neck, holding a long rod with a blade at the end.

The rest, including the talking animals, were put on litters (After some argument they decided to let Flavis walk). Then they were carried up the hill and across a bridge over the river, which looked like a Roman aqueduct leading to the gates of the city. They were huge, easily able to accommodate several elephants under its great intricately carved arches. The guards reined their small, fiery horses back and watched with wonder while the barbarian king and queen went by.

The procession moved slowly through the city, through the press of the crowd, through the streets. The buildings towered imposingly one either side; they were of beautiful and delicate architecture, intricate and golden, complex as lace in the shimmering air. Yet the beautiful façade gave way to a dark and sadness as the tall buildings opened to dirty side streets and beggars kneeling in the dust. Ahead of them always were the great domes of the Tisroc's palace, and beyond them, like a great shining pearl, the temple of Tash itself, with its golden dome rising like the sun.

"I can certainly see why Tashbaan is called one of the Seven Wonders of the World." Susan commented to her companions as the elephant swayed rhythmically beneath them.

The streets were filled with people. Shrouded women hastening to and fro with baskets balanced on their heads, men leading pack horses, Tarkaans on their great war horses and Tarkheenas in litters, slaves before and behind. There were shouts of criers, the bray of donkeys, the dull bellow of camels, the noble trumpeting of their own elephant.

They came to a quieter part of the city, a residential part, where both sides of the street were lined with white palaces. Very soon they turned under a lacy archway and found themselves in a cool hushed courtyard. Here, under the command of the boy, the elephant lowered itself to the ground and the litter bearers set their burdens down.

A man, a hunchback, well advanced in years, approached them and bowed.

"Welcome," he said, "I am Ahoshta, Grand Vizier of Calormen." He bowed again, "This palace has been provided for your comfort as long as you stay in Tashbaan." Again, he bowed, "Welcome."

Edmund glanced at Susan, then inclined his head to Ahoshta.

"Thank you for your generous hospitality."

~o*o~

Corin had been the last out of the palanquin. He had enjoyed his trip immensely and his imagination had run away with him, he had been any number of people he had seen. He had been a dirty faced boy, poor, but oh so free. He had been a crimson bearded Tarkaan, a man selling melons, a little lad with one leg, a camel driver, even the boy driving their own elephant.

Corin slid out of the palanquin to the ground, glad to be rid of the stiff, scented satin, velvet and silk. The elephant eyed him and flapped an ear, heavily caked with bright painted flowers. Corin reached out and scratched the rough, stiff haired skin in a place without paint. The elephant's trunk wondered over to him, touched his face and Corin received a blast of elephant breath. On impulse, Corin touched the smooth ivory tusks, tipped with gold and tassels, then looked around to see what the others were doing.

Ahoshta seemed to Corin a singularly uninteresting person, so he decided to explore on his own. It wasn't hard to get away without being noticed; just slipping around to the other side of the elephant hid him from view. Then all he had to do was decide where to go from there.

The courtyard was large, very large. There were palm trees, snow-white peacocks strutting about, those shy four horned deer called chital, with coats dappled like newborn fawns, tiny langur monkeys swinging on palm fronds and to the right a tall hedge, making within itself a smaller courtyard. Corin made his way there.

The hedge had been grown in such a way that it had its own arching gate of green. Corin walked under it into warm dappled light. Directly in front of him was a large cage fantastically wrought. Sitting inside of it was a large tiger.

Intrigued, Corin walked over to it and stared. He had seen plenty of talking tigers, but never a real live wild one in a cage. This was a new thing.

"How do you like being in there, old chap?" Corin asked.

The tiger yawned impressively, then turned so his tail was to Corin.

"Well be that way, then!" Corin exclaimed, "I was only trying to be friendly!"

The next cage over was even larger than the first, complete with a sunken pool. Corin stared through the bars for a moment before he saw the culprit. It was fat, shiny and almost adorable. It was lying in the middle of the pool and it flapped its tiny ears at Corin. It was in fact a pigmy hippopotamus; beside it was an even smaller, fatter and cuter version, which Corin assumed to be its baby.

Corin was certainly fascinated with the zoological garden. Most of the animals he had never seen in his life and stared long at them through the bars of their cages. Some seemed just as fascinated with him as he was with them, like the red panda, the macaws, the fennec, the mongoose and the macaque. Some just ignored him like the jerboa and the cobra.

In the very middle of the garden was the most fascinating thing of all. It was a very large, deep pool with a real live porpoise. It was a very little porpoise, only about five feet long, but it came right up to him and started chirping inquisitively. Corin patted its smooth wet head and it came closer to him, moving its tail back and forth in the water so strongly that it came most of the way out of the water.

Corin was startled by the quick sound of footsteps behind him. He turned to see a house slave, a mere girl, dressed in saffron. She bowed deeply.

"Your majesty, Prince Corin," She said, her voice barely above a whisper, "Her majesty Queen Susan wishes to see you as soon as is convenient."

"Oh, of course," Corin stood up, "Where is she?"

"If it pleases you, I will show you."

"Of course!"

"Your wish is my command."

"Well," Corin said, "If you'd rather not, then I can find her myself."

The slave girl looked startled and Corin grinned at her, which made her even more startled.

"All right, just show me where she is," Corin laughed.

The girl turned and led him out of the small green courtyard into the larger one. The palace was quite like a maze and Corin decided that he would explore it on the morrow. The girl came to a tall door and knocked. It was opened from the inside by a slave and Corin was ushered into the room.

It was a large room. One end of it was lined by tall wide windows, opening to a tremendous view of the river. The walls were a buff color and the trim was a little darker, the floor was paved with white and black octagons. There was a large octagonal pool with a fountain, lined with purple tiles, in the middle of the room. Palm trees in pots were in each corner of the room.

To the right Susan and Edmund sat at a low table on low stools.

"Food!" Corin exclaimed.

"Where were you, Corin!" Susan exclaimed, "Sometimes you have me so worried!"

"They have a zoological garden in the courtyard," Corin said simply, then pointed to small reddish things in a bowl on the table, "What are those?"

"I believe they are pickled onions," Edmund said.

"Trust you to know." Susan laughed.