Once Kathleen was positive that she had dried off completely, she changed into her new clothes with a bit of confidence. She never knew how comfortable sailors' trousers could be. The shirt and vest had enough room where she can move with ease and yet didn't have to worry about the collar falling off the shoulder. The trousers were slightly tight, enough at the point where she didn't need the belt. Lucy insisted, due to it being uniform to the crew, although Kathleen noticed Lucy making faces at herself while looking through a mirror. Kathleen asked what was the matter, and the answer made her laugh.
"What do you mean? I don't believe it's suppose to be flattering. It's men's clothing."
Lucy groaned at her response. "That's not the point!" she said as she used one of her hands to tighten the back of her vest. "I'm a Queen. I'm supposed to look presentable to the people."
Kathleen screwed her lips, "The whole ship saw you dripping wet from the unplanned swim," she laughed lightly, "I don't think they care if their Queen's vest is tapered or not."
Lucy just let another groan. Lucy was already in her full change of clothing. She was waiting on Kathleen to finish braiding her hair. Kathleen figured if she was going to be on a ship for who knows how long, it would be better to have her hair out of her face. At the moment, she was in the process of putting it on the side of her shoulder. Lucy had thought the same and had put her hair in a low side ponytail.
Once Kathleen had finished, she began to tie the braided piece of leather around the middle of her hair as Edmund called out. "Ready Lu? Kathleen?"
Lucy left out a heavy sighed and turned to Kathleen who said that she'll be right behind her. While Lucy stomped out of the room and made her way down the stairs, Kathleen slowly walked out behind her, she could hear Caspian teasing Lucy, earning a smack on the shoulder. The boys laughed.
"Where's Kathleen?" Edmund asked, once his laughter died down.
"Right here," Kathleen called. She stood on top of the steps, finishing the tie on her hair. Once she was satisfied, she walked down the steps, "Sorry." she said sheepishly, "I don't trust my self to multi-task." Once she reached the bottom of the steps, she felt the ship rock and lost her footing. The front of her newly borrowed boots hit the end of the last step, causing her to stumble slightly. She held on the edge of the railing and straightened herself up, wiping the palm of her hands on her pants as she regained her footing.
"First time on a ship, I take it?" Caspian asked.
Kathleen sunk her neck in her shoulders, "Unfortunately."
Caspian laughed again and took the lead to the door between the stairs as the rest followed behind him. "Come on, you'll get used to it," he said in a chuckle.
Kathleen turned away to try to hide her embarrassment but instead found herself looking towards Edmund, who had his mouth ever so slightly agape. She pressed her lips together in an attempt not to smile. She felt that Edmund looking at her before she was looking at him, almost positive that they were both sharing a memory involving a bowl of soup and a soaked shirt. She will never live it down.
Caspian had led them into a room that seemed to be slightly grander than the room where Lucy and Kathleen were once in. The first thing Kathleen had noticed were the paintings on the walls in the room. They didn't cover every inch of the room, but it did take a good portion of one wall in particular. Kathleen stood right in front of the doors, standing in awe once again. Edmund squeezed right behind her, closing the door behind them. She could hear Lucy whisper at the golden relief image of a lion and watched as she petted it softly.
Kathleen had managed to move her legs to the side with Lucy and admired the craftsmanship. She then took notice of the painted images behind Caspian, walking carefully closer, not entirely trusting paintings at that second. The painting was of four people, assuming some type of royals, riding horseback in a yellow forest. Each figure had a crown placed on top of their heads. One figure was on a bigger scale than the others. He had blonde hair with a golden crown, and in a frame on his own. He seemed to be a small distanced away from the other three that were trailing behind him. One was a man with dark hair and a silver crown, as the other two were women, with features a little harder to describe. Kathleen could feel a presence walking on the side of her as she stared at the artwork.
Edmund had come to see the painting, of what he knew was a small chapter of the story of his siblings and himself. The light from the large windows behind him had cast a shadow on the side of his face that Kathleen was standing next to, making Edmund look as though a painful memory had taken up his mind. He had turned quickly away from it, causing Kathleen to quickly look to the painting once again. She could hear Lucy's voice of happiness upon seeing something that belonged to her older sister. It had given the older girl anxious thoughts. Apparently, it was Lucy's sister's bow and arrows, but there was more than that.
"My healing cordial! And dagger." Lucy said as she walked towards Caspian. Kathleen turned to see the current King presenting the Valiant Queen a wooden box with the interior of blue silk. The contents were just as Lucy said. On one side was a cordial placed inside a leather pouch and belt, while on the other side was a dagger in its sheath. The dagger is what caught Kathleen's attention.
In the times she had heard the Pevensie describe Narnia, she had never heard of an instance where Lucy, a younger child then, would require a dagger.
She saw Lucy grab for it but then stopped herself in front of Caspian. "Oh. May I?" she asked.
Caspian gestured the box towards Lucy with one hand, "Of course," he said with a smile, "It's yours." Kathleen tried to get more of a view by standing on her toes, in a pointe, as Lucy handled her weapons. She stopped trying to see when she heard Edmund speak up.
"Peter's sword."
Kathleen dropped back on her feet. A sword? Why on Earth would the eldest Pevensie need a sword? When needing to retrieve something from Eustace's room in the Scrubb house, Kathleen would sometimes eavesdrop to listen to Edmund and Lucy talk about the wonderful place. In those moments, she would hear them speak of their older siblings. The ones who would write to them regularly. Those days, Kathleen would get a pang of jealousy. It would be too hard to hear sometimes, but she would make herself believe that her own brother was receiving the letters that her mother and herself were sending. Kathleen would pretend that he knew everything that she had written, including her listening to the amazing and beautiful world of Narnia.
The young Lewis child would sit at the end of the doorway of Lucy's room, just to the point where she knew she couldn't cast a shadow, but far enough where whispers could still be heard. There were times when listening to Lucy and Edmund talk about Peter and Susan would make her want nothing more than to cry, remembering that her brother wasn't there with her. She would almost want to end those sessions with Eustace early, though she could never bring herself to do so.
Caspian walked to the cabinet next to the door they came through just moments ago. Kathleen took his place next to Lucy as she saw the young girl put the belt around her waist. Kathleen wondered if Lucy put the belt that high to give her the tapered look she wanted. She turned to quietly watch the exchange between Caspian and Edmund.
If she hadn't known any better, she would say that all of Lucy, Edmund, and Caspian were part of the same family. Not only had they had slightly similar features, such as their hair and complexation, but they also may have been related in the way they interact with each other. Bantering, yet still knowing how to make each other laugh. Kathleen's thoughts began to shift to her brother again. She wondered if he would enjoy such a place. Often, when Jacob was still at home, Kathleen would read to her older brother, and he would actually listen, but only to ask about the outrageous laws and rules in order for a fantasy novel to stay consistent. Most times she would tell him to bugger off because she would try to read on to see what would happen next in the story, and at those times he would press on because that's what siblings do.
"Here," Caspian said while holding the sheath of the sword to Edmund, "Hold it if you wish."
"No, no," Edmund opposed, "It's yours." He looked at the sword again then to Caspian. "Peter gave it to you."
Kathleen watched Caspian take a step backward to the cabinet that was next to Lucy and herself. He opened it with his free hand and tossed an object to a surprised Edmund while saying, "I did save this for you, though."
In Edmunds' hand, was a torch. Having seen him shine it in his face made it clear that it worked, making Kathleen give out a small giggle as Edmund said thanks. She saw Lucy still struggling with the belt then turned to Edmund again. He put the torch facing up and placed it between his own belt and his body. Kathleen pondered at the window and thought about the time gap that was from Lucy and Edmund's second visit to now. Lucy had said that the first time gap was over three thousand years in Narnia while they only experienced one, but now it was over a year in their world, and three in the Narnian world. She could just hear her brother in the back of her mind question the lack of consistency in time gaps.
She hummed to herself in thought, which turned to be louder than she intended because Caspian reminded everyone of their first-time Narnia visitor that was in the room. "So, Kathleen, do the clothes fit you all right?"
Being taken away from her timely thoughts, Kathleen inhaled sharply. "Yes, they do, actually." She motioned to her trousers, "I would like to thank the one who let me borrow them."
"I would lead you to the sailor the moment I get a chance." The older man said while putting his sheath on his belt.
"What's the matter?" Lucy asked the other girl in the room.
Kathleen hadn't noticed her mouth scrunch up when Caspian turned away. She didn't know how to act around him, or any other Narnian. She read about these kinds of people in books, but this was different. These people were real and were right in front of her. Just because one character in a book acted one way, doesn't mean someone with the same name will act the same. She had to watch the Narnians from a distance, see what was appropriate and what wasn't.
On goes the mask.
That wasn't the only thing on her mind. She was still perplexed by the fact that in technicality, Lucy and Edmund as older than a fraction of the shipmates on the Dawn Treader. She knew she couldn't really voice her curiosity for fear of seeing Edmund or Lucy upset. Though, not very good at thinking of a different topic than the one in her head, Kathleen directed her focus on the painting that intrigued her earlier.
"Oh," she said in a pitch, "I was just thinking of the paintings." She motioned to the one behind Lucy and herself. Saying it out loud, she thought again of the painting with four figures. One of the men had dark hair, much like the sixteen-year-old in the room.
Lucy turned to the painting and smiled, "Yes, I remember this day."
Kathleen tensed her shoulders, "So, it is you. And your siblings."
"Yes," Edmund said as he walked to sister, "This is the day we first went back."
Silence. Kathleen's curiosity would sometimes be the doom of her. She would just have a need to know something, but not always for the art of knowing, but to get the facts. For the want of getting the fullest of information. That was one of the reasons she became a tutor. Hoping not only to help others but maybe to see if there was another person, a child even, who shares the same want as she did. That is also why reading is a pleasure for her. A world with different possibilities must have someone who thinks or acts like her. Right?
Kathleen saw how the two siblings Pevensie's were reacting to a painting of a memory, she thought of a way to go around the possible negative memory.
"If you didn't go back that first time," she said carefully, "is it possible you wouldn't have met Caspian?"
The two siblings turned to her then to each other. Lucy gave a sad smile as Edmund spoke up, "In a way, I suppose you're right."
Kathleen turned to Caspian, hoping to find a smile in his face formed by the detour of the first question. To her relief, he was. Looking back at the two siblings, Kathleen let out a breath saying, "Silver lining," At the same time there was a knock a the door.
Caspian didn't hesitate in letting whoever was at the door, in. It was a man. Tall and built with a bald head. He wore a vest similar to Lucy's and herself, but with a shall-coat over his uniform. There was no smile as he entered, but his domineer was not intimidating. It told of cleverness and shared a wise soul. An aura of respect surrounded him. Kathleen guessed who he was before Caspian introduced him.
"Ah, yes." Caspian walked to the older man. "Edmund, Lucy. Kathleen. This is Drinian. He's is the Captian upon the Dawn Treader."
Drinian simply nodded. "Your Majesty, I would think that our newest arrivals would like a tour of the ship."
Caspian smiled and put his hand on Drinian's shoulder. "Great minds think alike, my friend." He turned to the children. "Come, there is much to discuss."
The children followed Caspian as Drinian trailed behind. The King had led them to the decks of the ship, as well as the ports and quarters. The sailors slept next to the port, which was where the sailors rowed the ship to keep it in the right direction. The sleeping quarters were told by the many hammocks lined between the pillars. Some of the men, which Kathleen assumed sailed at night, were fast asleep, making the children keep their distance. Mumbling came from one of the swaying hammocks. A faun was making his way with a tray in hand. The mumbling was becoming clearer.
"Mothe... m... mother?"
It was Eustace, without a doubt. He had begun to toss and turn. The shock of current events may have worn off, but now a new challenge arises. Seasickness.
"Mother?" They could hear Eustace ask. Lucy had made her way towards her cousin.
Kathleen could hear the conversation between them, as well as see Lucy drop a few droplets from her cordial into Eustace's mouth.
Kathleen shook her head, "Poor boy."
"He'll get over it, eventually," Edmund said in a grimace, probably thinking of the dreadful moment the healing cordial would take full effect. He turned to Kathleen, "How come you're not sick?"
She continued to look at the delirious boy. "I could ask you two the same question. Have you been on a ship like this before?"
He watched Lucy make her way towards them, "Something like that. It's complicated. But I can honestly say that a ship like this is somewhat comforting."
So she should have guessed...
Caspian led them up to the map room above deck. He and Drinian cleared a table and unrolled a black and white map of Narnia. The outlines were simple, yet that was the only simple thing about it. The mountain ranges were made in a soft brown color and showed detailed by shadowing and use of various sizes. The landmarks were in a beautiful font while the cities were drawn in, stacked on top of each other, making it seem as though they were on the foothill of the mountains. As for the ocean, other than the drawings of an isolated mermaid and sea monster, it was wide and blank. Islands were placed next to the mainland, but nothing more. About two third's of the map was just the plain ocean.
Kathleen's eyes were glued on the map as the others spoke.
"Since you left, the Giants of the North surrendered unconditionally," Caspian said as he pointed to the Northern land on the map. He moved his hand to the middle-West side of the map. "Then we defeated the Calormen armies in the Great Desert." He looked at the Pevensie children. "There's peace all across Narnia."
"Peace?" Edmund said in surprise.
"In just three years." Caspian leaned back to stand up straight.
"And have you found yourself a Queen in those three years?" Lucy asked as she tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear.
"No," Caspian said in a chuckle. "Not one to compare with your sister."
Kathleen stood between Lucy and Drinian. She raised an eyebrow and smirked at Lucy's comment, but she didn't dare to look up. That is a question to ask about later.
"Hang on," Edmund began, changing the subject to a much more interesting notion, "So if there are no wars to fight, and no one's in trouble, then why are we here?" He looked up to Caspian, hoping he would have the answer.
He didn't. "That's a good question." Caspian, in turn, looked to the map. "I've been asking myself the same thing."
Kathleen scrunched her face in confusion as more questions filled her mind. In a land full of talking animals and what seems to be a kind King, how can there be trouble, much less wars? The Pevensie's had spoken so highly of Narnia. Even Eustace, who complained about his cousins talking about the said magical land, never complained about the land itself, just the repetitive stories. So why would there be such violence in a picturesque world?
"So where are we sailing to?" Edmund asked, trying to see the ship's path on the map.
"Before I took the throne back from my uncle," Caspian said, "he tried to kill my father's closest friends and most loyal supporters," He took a step back from the table and turned to the wall behind him, revealing a board with seven drawings of seven different men. "The seven Lords of Telmar." The seven men were various of ages. The youngest looking early thirties, the eldest late sixties.
Edmund walked around the table to get a closer look.
Caspian continued. "They fled to the Lone Islands." He briefly pointed out the marking of the map that said so. "No one's heard from them since."
Kathleen quickly calculated in her head. Caspian had said that once the Pevensie's had left, he worked to bring peace throughout all of Narnia. That had been three years ago. Yet he also said the seven Lords of Telmar fled before he took the throne back from his uncle, which Kathleen had made a mental note to ask when that had happened. If Caspian took the throne back after the Pevensie's had left, that means those seven men might have had been missing for over three years. If no one has heard anything thing now, it's possible that no one will ever hear from them later. The thought made Kathleen's stomach drop, or it could be the seasickness finally getting to her.
Edmund stared at the drawings, "So you think something has happened to them?"
"Well, if it has, it's my duty to find out." The determinedness of his voice echoed in the cabin. The voice that no one would dare question. If he was determined to find his people, then Kathleen will want to do everything she can to help. They were all on the same ship anyway. Though the idea of trying to find people who have been missing for possibly three years or more, and not finding them, made her stomach drop even more.
"Well, what's east of the Lone Islands?" Lucy asked, brushing her hand against the most empty part of the map.
"Uncharted waters," Drinian said coyly. "Things you can barely imagine." Kathleen raised her eyebrows at his words. "Tales of sea serpents and worse."
Kathleen finally looked up to the others. "Sea serpents?" She at Caspian then Drinian, "And Giants? They're all real?"
"Giants, yes," Edmund said, calling attention. "But sea serpents?" He said in a chuckle when looking back to the older man in the cabin, who didn't say anything. Edmunds dropped his smile that came with the chuckle.
Caspian smirked, "All right, Captain," he grabbed an apple then took a bite after his words. "That's enough of your tall tales."
Kathleen laughed through her nose, then coughed once. Twice.
"Are you alright?" Lucy asked.
The older girl cleared her throat, trying to suppress another cough, "Yeah," she straightened her back, "I think the sea is finally getting to me." She chuckles and noticed the concerned looks, "I'll be fine."
Though she knew that the truth would make the others worry about her, she'd rather lie about her than ignore the reason why Caspian is sailing. And still, she wanted to know more.
She cleared her throat again before Lucy could say anything, possibly to insist to her to take the healing cordial. Kathleen thought the feeling was not formed by the sea, but of the thoughts of the seven men.
Thinking that maybe she could be wrong, she asked Caspian who long has he been King. The answer is what she feared.
"About three years now."
She could feel nausea build in her throat and up to her head. Just what she thought. Caspian still had hope that after all this time. That those men were still alive, or else he wouldn't be searching for them, right? In the moments she has meet Caspian, he has been nothing but kind and considerate. These people were his father's friends and people that he ruled. He was right in saying it was his duty to find them, but not as a King, as a son. Kathleen knew that if it was her father's friends, or her mothers, or her brothers, she would want them to be found. But she was an outsider in a magical world. Yet she still wanted to help. She will help. But first, she will have to deal with the horrible feeling in her stomach.
