Sunshine and the scent of freshly cooked venison greeted Tholyn's waking nostrils. She kept her eyes shut out of aggravation at the midday sun gleaming off the polished red oak floor of her chambers. The temptation to just pull the covers over her eyes was strong – it had been so long since she slept in a real bed, and never had she wrapped herself in silks and satin. If this was a precursor to her relationship with the Pevensie children then Tholyn felt certain that she'd be able to maintain this ally. Already she'd heard of the great library, observatory, and treasure hall from the whispered excitement of passing party guests. Cair Paravel was going to be a difficult place to leave and as she sat up groggily in amidst the lush coverlet and sheets, she rubbed her eyes and forced herself not to accustom herself to anything but the feeling of great roots in her back and the cover of total darkness.
It dawned on her that Edmund hadn't woken her as promised the night before but Tholyn didn't pay much mind to that. He was a king of Narnia now and she was positive that he had other more important things to tend to other than lunch appointments.
Still, with the glorious (yet bright) light glimmering once again in her eyes she had no choice but to swear a little under her breath and rub the sleep from her eyelids. Yawning, stretching, grumping, and then finally slouching out of the heavenly bower, Tholyn's bare feet touched the floorboards and she stood on her own for the first time since she crashed on the bed the night prior. Birds were singing outdoors and there was some music in the front lawn that trickled on the breeze that fluttered the curtains of her bed chambers.
Tholyn walked blearily toward the washroom off to the side of her room when she was suddenly aware of other people in the room with her. She hadn't noticed them last night but now that there was light she could very clearly see two ladies on either side of her door dressed in clean starched linens wearing faces of respect and duty. They did not seem un-human but Tholyn stumbled and stared for a moment before opening her mouth to speak.
"Are you the attendings?" she croaked through a wide yawn. Neither girl nodded but one cleared her throat.
"Yes ma'am."
"What are you supposed to do?" Tholyn asked, still confused. It was not that she hadn't heard of servants in castles before but faced with two at her discretion made Tholyn realize that there was nothing she needed that she couldn't do for herself.
The lady on the left withheld a giggle rather poorly and lowered her head so as not to appear rude.
"We attend to your needs."
Tholyn walked over to them and arched a brow.
"Like what?"
This short remark was mistaken by both ladies as crossness and they fumbled for words.
"Fresh towels – "
"And preparing your wardrobe!"
"Running you a nice hot bath – "
"Fixing your hair!"
Alarmed at the reaction, Tholyn's eyes widened and then shut in polite irritation. The sunlight she could deal with. Even the bird song that would wake her in the forest, but the shrillness of young ladies was intolerable. She held her hand up to let them know she'd got the drift. It was a moment before she spoke again but Tholyn could hear the steady breathing of the ladies before her. Both of the attendings were several years her elder and Tholyn couldn't imagine what she'd need them for at all.
"Thank you both. But I am a girl of privacy. Is it rude to dismiss you?" she asked seriously, unaware of royal protocol.
The ladies exchanged looks and shrugged.
"Its never been done before." The one on the left replied honestly, speaking to Tholyn like a human instead of a superior for the first time that morning.
"Are your rooms close by?" asked Tholyn as she yawned, stretched, and made her way towards the bathroom. "I can handle fresh towels and bath water on my own but perhaps you could help me with formal wear. I've got nothing but Charge clothing, you see."
Both of the young women nodded in unison and pointed to the west wing.
"Right off the end of this hall. We'll have clothes that fit you. Shall it bother you if we're here when you exit the tub?"
Tholyn grinned. These girls were good, obvious well trained to read their client's desires and interpret them with appropriate gumption.
"Not at all. See you shortly."
The bathroom smelled faintly of the sulfur that heated the water but once the stone tub was full Tholyn could smell the thick herbal concoction that rose on the tendrils of stream lying on the water's surface. Every ache washed away as she soaked in the frothy water. Since the winter had been defeated Tholyn realized that she would finally be able to bathe herself in the fresh running water of the Great River, or even the small lakes and ponds where she could make friends with the naiads. She and Blane had simply melted snow in large quantities for their baths in the country and as she became aware of the dirt clumps in the water around her that it had been some time since she'd had a bath at all, let alone a hot one.
As promised, the attendings were present to silently help Tholyn put on the dress they'd found for her. It was orange and flashed silver where the tailor had embroidered an ornate pattern of a dryad on the chest. They also had found her a great brown belt with a fine golden clasp and fitted her feet with doeskin slippers with fine leather on the soles for extra grip. Tholyn had to convince them to let her hair alone but both ladies took long, sorrowful glances at the lovely chocolate locks and the primal trinkets braided in. Tholyn had a good idea that her attendings wanted to remove her braids and take out her colored threads and bones. That was simply out of the question and she sent them away promptly. Instead, Tholyn struggled a minute with a hair clasp with a mesh net until she'd finally gotten her tresses into the net and secured it to her head with a few braided strands hanging out.
The way down to the great hall came to her memory easily and upon entering Tholyn saw Peter and Lucy finishing their lunches. The table was sparse with food, or so it seemed from the entrance but when Tholyn neared their majesties she saw that there was indeed plenty to eat but the lack of people at every inch of the perimeter made the table looked much larger.
"Morning, Rip Van Winkle." Greeted Peter, forgetting that Tholyn would have no clue who that was. She gave him a confused look but said nothing more as she took a seat to Peter's right.
"No one told me there were going to be people in my room this morning. It gave me quite a start." She said, filling her plate with rolls, slices of bear meat, thick loaves of warm bread, leftover fruits and vegetables and finally pouring herself a fine goblet of freshly juiced apples, oranges. Both Peter and Lucy looked at each other as if to question whether or not they'd done something culturally insensitive by not having told the Charge about palace life but when they saw the cheeky look on Tholyn's face, brother and sister began laughing and clapping their ally on the shoulder.
"Gave us a start there, Tholyn!" Peter chortled and patting Tholyn on the shoulder abruptly enough to spill some of the juice from her goblet onto her chin. Pretty soon, all of them were laughing and speaking about the plans they had for Narnia. It was a peculiar sight to behold – these children by all standards speaking candidly about their ideas for ruling an entire country. Their majesties and Tholyn had one thing in common; inexperience.
"I feel it's my priority to scour the lands and erase any remnants of the witch from the face of it." Said Tholyn, her face as grave as her words. Peter instantly agreed and Lucy was excited as well.
"I agree." The king chimed. Already he was transforming steadily into what he thought the High King should be. Narnian weather and food and air and spirit was coursing through his veins; he even looked kinglier than he had when he'd stumbled with his siblings into Narnia through a … wardrobe, was it?
"The woods to the south are probably less of a threat than the wild lands of the north. I say in one moon's time that we ride out and then split up so that we can cover as much land as possible." Tholyn suggested, trying on her new title for size. When the words came out of her mouth she felt the power in them and also the sense. Peter and Lucy were both listening intently, Lucy a little scared at the idea of being alone in the woods for any length of time with expectations for her to kill whatever might be lurking in the dark places.
"Edmund and I will go with you. The girls can keep the castle and deal with foreign affairs. We'll need to send word out to the Lone Islands that they have an Emperor again, not to mention dealings with Archenland and Calormen."
Lucy looked quite relieved. Her face brightened as she saw Edmund and Susan entering the hall. She and Peter shared a knowing look before greeting their siblings and pulling out chairs all around.
"Actually, it's such a lovely day, we should talk at the beach!" suggested Susan, who wanted to be close to the mermaids and their siren song. All of them agreed and set out to the seaside.
Edmund kept characteristically quiet on their trek down to the beach and once he got there he kicked his shoes off immediately and stood knee deep in the tide for a long moment, looking to the east as if to beg Aslan to come back and tell him what to do. The conversation with Idlebeek had definitely helped but now that she was here he didn't know how to act. All he wanted was a bloody friend and he had to go off acting like some suitor. These Narnian ways would grow on him (and had been already for he definitely looked more mature than when he'd fallen through the wardrobe) but he could tell without a shadow of a doubt that his siblings were treading carefully around him and as for Tholyn, well, he just couldn't read her at all.
Tholyn made mention of how much better trousers were for beach excursions and indeed, Susan and Lucy agreed. While the boys could roll up their pants and really get into the tide, the girls had to hold the folds of their skirts so as to avoid making their royal garments heavy with water. Lucy assured the Charge that her clothes would be back from the laundry that night and that they could all be a little better equipped. Tholyn smiled at the young girl. There was courage in her that she'd not seen in another for quite some time.
"Tholyn was just telling us how she felt it was important to scour the wild lands to the north and I've got to say, I agree." Peter stated. Susan acquired a motherly look of concern but pursed her lips and kept her ideas to herself. She was a queen now. There was definitely no room for arguing or acting like a wet blanket.
"Yes, the witch's castle must be razed to the ground as well. There are the giants and wolves, the werewolves and hags to think about, not to mention the waking of the old trees. The lands are ripe for the first time in one hundred years. Unfortunately that also means we have one hundred years of damage to undo." said Tholyn gravely. Lucy all of a sudden stopped splashing in the foam and the five of them walked slowly side by side.
"Yes. I've been thinking about how we're going to fix this. Tholyn said she had an army at her disposal. How strong are your numbers?" Peter asked.
"About four hundred men. They're all in Archenland but when I go back to announce my promotion then I can bring them with me." she replied, kicking a bit of sand and wiggling it between her toes. The orange hem of her skirt was encrusted with the beach's warm soft sand but Tholyn was concerned about other things.
"How long do you think it will take you to get there?" Susan inquired.
"It's a five day ride to Arvard. I suggested earlier that we plan to rendezvous on the new moon next month. That will give me time to make arrangements. I can even ask the king for more men if you don't think that my militia is enough." Tholyn offered, gesturing to their majesties with a little shrug.
"That won't be necessary." Edmund answered shortly, joining the conversation for the first time. All of them looked to him instantly but he kept his eyes fixed on the horizon, a stoic expression on his face. "We've got all the Narnian allies, you know. With your militia we should be enough to tackle whatever lies in those wild lands."
No one said anything after this for some time, recognizing the truth in Edmund's words. The whole of Narnia was at their disposal. Centaurs, trees, fauns, giant cats, almost everything that they could think of was ready upon a moment's notice to aid them in battle.
"I think we should consult my father; see what he says." Tholyn added sagely. Though she was the Charge there was undoubtedly something that she'd overlooked in her inexperience.
"Oh, I like the sound of that." Susan chirped, always the one to concede to adult opinion.
"Of course you do." Joked Lucy good-naturedly.
Soon they had all hiked back up to the castle, changed, and were meeting in the courtyard in the dusk to speak with Blane. Also the centaurs, naiads, dwarves and Idlebeek's immediate feathered company had been called to the meeting as well. It felt so formal to Tholyn who had never discussed battle plans with anyone but her father before.
"In Aslan's name we gather here tonight!" thundered Blane's strong baritone voice. There was a ripple of excitement in the way the centaur's hooves kept pawing the dirt, and how the naiads and draiads kept leaning closer and closer to the center of the circle they had made around the courtyard. This was truly a higher calling, and speaking it in Aslan's name tugged on something primal and instinctual inside all of them and soon all members were listening with bated breath.
"The Witch is dead and thank Aslan for it but her terror likely still lingers. The lands to the north are still teeming with her minions. There are the giants and wolves and werewolves to think of now, even the awakening of the ancient trees up there in Hollow Forrest." Tholyn announced, surprised at how easily she commanded their full attention.
Blane watched his daughter, his eyes sparkling with pride. He had sculpted her into a fine young lady who could handle this responsibility. There was never a prouder moment for him as he took a seat next to Tholyn in case she needed any reminders.
"The Charge is correct; those lands have always held treachery." Glenstorm affirmed. "The stars indicate that we can scour these lands soon, within the next full moon. Is that time enough for preparations?"
"Yes dear Glenstorm that is plenty of time. The Charge must ride for her home in these next few days and will be in correspondence with us via message hawk." Said Peter who looked around at his company and felt his chest swell with pride. These allies were ready to march into danger for him even days after such a huge battle.
"I will return no later than one week before the full moon with my militia and we will camp together before setting out for the northern lands." Tholyn promised. Her eyes settled for a moment on Edmund, who was still acting a mystery to her. He caught her gaze and she faltered briefly before sitting down in her chair and letting someone else do the talking.
"What of the throne, Peter? Who is left in charge while you are gone?" Susan asked.
"You and Lucy, of course." He replied with a grin. "I trust that you won't get us into political trouble."
Tholyn smirked and added that they could send a message hawk to Cair Paravel a couple of times a month to keep the girls updated. This seemed to soothe Susan's worries somewhat but throughout the entire meeting she looked to be uneasy about the whole idea.
Long after the meeting had come to an end and everyone had retired to their chambers, Susan crept down the hall and rapped gently on Tholyn's door. An unceremonious "ENTER!" was shouted through the thick door and Susan laughed in spite of herself as she pushed it open.
Tholyn looked up from her book and shut it right away as she noticed it was Queen Susan.
"My Queen, what is it you need?" she asked militaristically, bringing herself to her knees on the foot of her bed.
Susan waved her arm as if to grant her at ease and slipped further into the room. "Call me Susan. I have to talk to you before you leave and I didn't know a good time to do it so I thought I'd catch you before bed. I'm not interrupting anything am I?" she asked politely as Tholyn got comfortable on her bed again and made room for Susan at the foot of it.
"Books can be paused. What do you need?" she asked the dark haired girl at the foot of her bed.
Susan sighed and crossed her legs and put her clasped hands over them in a very adult manner. Words eluded them for a moment until the queen cleared her throat and looked Tholyn in the eye.
"It's about Edmund. I know he can be a real prat but you must forgive him for the sake of our alliance." Susan pleaded, leaning forward to take Tholyn's hand and hold it between her own. "He has been through some difficult things lately and I'm sure he needs a friend. Ed took a great liking to you immediately which is saying a great bit for him. Ed used to not like anyone."
Tholyn arched her brow, confused as to where this was going.
"So you need me to do what? Play with him?" Tholyn asked sarcastically, somewhat hurting Susan's delicate feelings with her bluntness.
"No, no. I need you to be his friend. Pretend like today never happened and pick right back up where you left off the night of the coronation." Susan clarified, her eyes sparkling brightly.
Tholyn chuckled a bit and shrugged her shoulders. "You're his sister I guess you ought to know how to deal with him. I accept your request but if he shuts inside himself then there's nothing I can do about that." She added with a waggle of her finger.
"Just talk to him when he looks grumpy. Tell him stories, history lessons, riddles, just don't expect him to respond. I know he's a real beast at times but he just needs a stable influence in his life that isn't a family member." Susan finished firmly. Tholyn lounged on the pillows and put her hands behind her head to process what her queen had just asked her.
"He's not the type to tell you what's wrong, is he? Even when it's obvious?" she asked through a thick yawn.
Susan shook her head and almost laughed.
"No. Edmund is a private character. He prefers things to make sense, not to feel right."
Nodding her head, Tholyn shook hands with her queen and sent her from her chambers so that she could get a decent night's rest before she had to prepare for departure.
However, no sooner had she gotten comfortable in her bed did she hear a clicking of talons against the glass window by her basin. Groaning in protest, she threw back the covers and let Idlebeek into the room where he flapped about it in excitement before finally coming to a perch on the four poster bed.
"Charge, I bring new from your legions to the south, east and west! I intercepted their message hawks over the Great River today and flew back as soon as I'd heard their news!" Idlebeek's smooth voice was interrupted by several deep breaths and Tholyn knew instantly that he had flown as fast as he could for the better part of a day. She made him a little nest in her covers and like she had done before, scooped the hawk into her arms and laid him gently on the soft bedding.
"Continue friend. What do they say?" Tholyn urged him onward.
Idlebeek took a long deep breath and relaxed into the nest and began preening himself as per usual.
"They tell of threats to the north. They all got word from Finry that the northern legion needed assistance with some of the woods and they all left to his aid immediately."
"Why did he not inform me?" Tholyn roared outraged that she was not the first to know that one of her captains was in dire trouble.
"I do not know but I flew as fast as I could, milady. Blane suggested that I search the skies for the rest of my company and when I found them I started back here instantly."
She nodded and pursed her lips as she tried to formulate a new plan of action. There was no time to go to Archenland at this rate and inform the king of her promotion; not when she had troops potentially dying that she couldn't get a hold of.
"Idlebeek, I am writing a – Idlebeek?" Tholyn repeated. His little chest was rising and falling with the rhythmic constancy of a bird asleep and she had to chuckle a bit to herself. She blew out the candle on her nightstand and snuggled under the covers ready to tell her father and their majesties of the new plan bright and early in the morning.