Speed, bonny boat, like a bird on the wing
Onward! the sailors cry.
Carry the lad that's born to be King
Over the sea to Skye.
~ Skye Boat Song

XIX.
Narnia
The Eleventh Year of King Drake

In Narnia, Queen Althea lived as one who knows her days are counted out, one by one, the last grains running through the hourglass. When Frank searched fruitlessly for his brother, she comforted and diverted him, her lips moving in silent prayer to Aslan. Soon Grubbledelve and Moldywarp finished the tunnel, complete with a hidden trap door to conceal it from casual eyes, and set off, with Althea's thanks and blessing, for the east. Althea crafted careful plans and instructed her son's guardians—Sootquill, Twinkletacks, Clearscry, Nightshadow, and Quicktrack—in her commands if she were to suddenly die; she also told her Centaur advisor of her plans and made arrangements with a certain loyal clan of Badgers who lived east of Ravenswood. When all was done, she searched the flat horizon for smoke and played determinedly with her lonely son.

Once, in the days of Swanwhite Father Christmas would stay the entire twelve days of Yule, but those times were long gone, and that year he came and went in the dead of night. For Frank he left a soft yellow lion, made of cloth and stuffed with wool; for Althea, only a message with Sootquill the Owl: Thy son abideth safe in Archenland, doted upon by Lady Celia and all her family.

When Sootquill repeated the message to the Queen, she covered her face and wept.

Three days after Christmas, Prince Frank celebrated his first birthday—or rather, his father the King threw a great feast to commemorate the first anniversary of the Crown Prince's natal day. The sleepy boy himself made an official appearance in a scarlet velvet doublet. The Queen, desperately wondering if her other son still cried for her and if Lady Celia remembered his birthday, was agonizingly relieved that the King asked only to see his heir and primogeniture.

In Narnia, Christmas lasts for the full twelve days of Yule, and then comes the New Year. King Drake feasted away the days with his swollen court, blind to the state of his country, but Queen Althea and her court stayed away from the revelry. She and Frank strung cranberries and hung star- and flower-shaped biscuits on a small tree in the garden for the wild birds. Then, gathered around the fire, they listened to Mrs. Twinkletacks tell the tale of Narnia's first Christmas, when the young Narnians were frightened by the snow, but King Frank reassured them that it was harmless, and soon Father Christmas came to promise the return of Spring.

"Now a coverlet of snow lies thick and warm over Narnia," said Mrs. Twinkletacks. "Old Father Winter has put all the land to bed and he himself sleeps, wrapped in a white cloak, below the Great Waterfall; but after we have all had our long winter naps, Lady Verna will trip over the hills from the east, wreathed in flowers and the breath of the Lion. From Mount Pire in the southeast and along the river she will wake the land. The Trees will dress themselves, the Waters will skip and laugh, and the Hedgehogs will come out of their burrows. Then Lady Verna will come to Old Father Winter where he sleeps, and she will shake him until he yawns, mumbles into his beard, and wanders away into the North for another summer." Mrs. Twinkletacks yawned herself, covering her mouth delicately with a paw. "My, but I'm sleepy."

The rebellion lulled as many Animals sought their dens and holes and burrows and settled down to their winter's sleep. Dragons do not hibernate, but Milophylax stayed on the warmer southern slopes of Narnia, farther from Ravenswood, and for twelve days there was an almost-peace. Queen Althea wrote a letter to the Centaur Prophet on the ninth day, wishing him and his herd a Happy Christmas. She closed thus:

"My deepest gratitude to thee for thy counsel and friendship when I did most need it. I oft bethink myself of thy words at our last meeting, and I do trust thou wilt remember thy promises to me. I have not seen Aslan since that night, yet constantly do I pray to him; I know he is beside me and I know he will guard my son far better than shall ever be within mine ability to do. May he also be with thee and with all his faithful ones through the winter."

Timeseer paused in his rendition of the tale, and Lucy thought for a moment she saw a tear in his eye, but already she knew that a Centaur never cries.

Then, the day after the New Year, Clearscry came to the Queen and said, "Madam, a foreign queen hath come to Ravenswood."

"Who is she?" asked Althea.

"Queen of the Lands of the North, she says. She is taller than most Humans, pale and—they say—very beautiful. You know I cannot see as you see."

Something stirred in Althea's memory. That evening, King Drake called for his Queen to join him and their honored guest at dinner, in a celebration of the New Year and new friendships. A great calm descended upon Queen Althea as she dressed herself in her most queenly robes, arrayed her hair, and put on her crown. The Prince was already asleep, for in those days the King dined late, after the Calormene fashion, so the Queen lingered only a moment over her son, kissed him, and left all but Nightshadow to watch him. Then, with the Panther at her side, she walked regally through the halls.

XXIII.
Telmar

All afternoon, Peter and Lucy told Peridan and Gree tales of Narnia and of Aslan, and there was much laughter in the little cabin, especially once the remains of the roast beaver tail were cleared away. In the evening, Peter began to feel lightheaded and queasy.

"Ah, the marrow of your bones is too thick, King Peter," said Lady Gree. "When the hunters sleep high in the western mountains and drink not enough water, their marrow thickens and they grow ill. Drink more and rest." She made him drink nearly a quart of water and then lie down.

Then sun was still above the mountains and it was too early to go to bed, so Peridan and Lucy walked down to the pasture together. The Wolves were snoozing near the remains of a large deer, and several wild foxes were feasting on the scraps. Clearscry was far away, soaring through the sky and seeing all that passed beneath; the Winged Horses were grazing well aloof of the Telmarine ponies.

"Queen Lucy!" called Chrysophylax. "Queen Lucy, come and see!"

He was curled proudly around a little pile of glittering gray-gold stones, like the ones Lucy had seen the girls wearing in their hair, and Peridan laughed. Lucy remembered Lady Gree's story of Erimon with the laugh like a spring brook, and she thought Peridan must have his grandfather's laugh.

"That's not real, Dragon," said Peridan. "That's mountain gold."

Chrysophylax drew himself up. "Mountain gold? Whatever is that?"

Peridan laughed again. "They're just pretty rocks, of no worth otherwise."

Lucy could tell that the Dragon really was disappointed, but he hid it well with his arch response. "Did I say it was gold? I simply called the Queen to come see the glittery rocks I had gathered."

"They are pretty, Chrys," she said. "Where did you find it?"

"There's piles of it by the stream," he said, mollified. "Want me to show you?"

"I know the place," said Peridan. "We're going that way anyhow."

"Why do you call it mountain gold?" she asked as he led her away from the Dragon.

"I imagine when the Telmarines came here from, well from wherever they came from, they thought it was gold. It looks real enough if you haven't anything to put next to it. They must've tried to trade it and had rather a shock."

She smiled. "I suppose my brother and I shall negotiate a treaty tomorrow with Chief Belisan."

He bent down and picked up something from the stones of the river. "See?" It was one of the sparkling rocks, as large as a hummingbird's egg. "What sort of treaty?"

"Trade and export, likely, now that we have peace. We've few cows in Narnia. Perhaps we shall buy some from you, even trade horses for them and improve your stock."

"Might be good. What else?"

"Well . . . Felimathian wool is the best, but your leather seems very fine, and I should like to have more of those turquoise stones. 'Twould be simply stunning in Susan's hair."

"Queen Susan is your sister?"

"Yes."

"What is she like?"

"Quite beautiful, really, with terribly long black hair and dozens of suitors. King Aran of Terebinthia is courting her presently. What is your brother like?"

He picked up another piece of mountain gold and gave it to her. "Casp? He likes cattle and farming. I'd rather go hunting in the mountains, but I'm the elder, so what's left of the fields and cows is supposed to be mine. But come on, there's a big rock on the other side of the brook where we can watch the sun set. Won't you tell me more about knights?"

The rock was pleasantly warm from the sun, and as they sat on it she told him about how Aslan knighted Peter, and about the jousting. "All the knights carry handkerchiefs or tokens from their ladies when they fight. They believe it aids them to be braver and more courtly and honorable."

"Does anyone carry your handkerchief?"

She laughed. His tanned, freckled face looked oddly familiar, as if she had once known a person very like him. "Usually Peter carries Susan's token and Edmund carries mine, but before the Midsummer joust King Edmund said he would not be fighting, and then Susan gave hers to King Aran of Terebinthia. When I discovered that, I ran to Peter and begged him to take mine. The knight is supposed to ask the lady, but I feared Lord Shar would request mine, and then I should feel as if I had to grant it."

"Lord Shar?"

"He's an Archen lord who thinks me terribly beautiful, and whenever he's in Narnia he tries to speak with me, and says he thinks me fairer than my sister. 'Tis amusing on the whole, yet I do not think I should like to give him my handkerchief."

"Should you allow me to carry your token?" he asked, half-laughing.

"Not unless you were a knight," she replied in the same half-jesting tone.

"I'd like to be a knight," said he, more seriously.

"If you came and trained at Cair Paravel, then perhaps my brother would dub you a knight."

He jumped up and stood before her. "By the gods my people worship, I would like to do that. Would you allow it?"

Just out of reach behind him, a prairie dog popped out of its hole and stood, listening for her answer.

"I see no reason against it. Yet you should ask the blessing of you mother and your chief." She pondered it a moment. "The young men of Telmar yearn for adventure, do they not? Is that why they hunt in the Western March? Perhaps . . . my brother will invite them to Narnia, that they may see more of the world and be trained in knighthood. Think you the plan is good?"

"I do," he said, seating himself once more. "And I shall be the first among them."

XXIV.
Narnia

The King was dining privately that eve, with only his chief councilor and the two Queens. Althea reached the chamber, was announced, and went in. The foreign queen was the first person she saw—very tall and very pale, her lips very red and her hair very black. The second was the King, already drunk.

"Ah!" he cried as Althea was seated. "My Queen hath deigned to grace us with her face—no longer young, perhaps, but still, as she herself hath told me, a 'very Narnian Queen.' " He laughed. "And our most distinguished guest—Queen Jadis, from the Lands of the North!"

The two Queens nodded stiffly to each other, and smoothly the pale one said, "Your Narnian forefathers were enemies of my land, but 'tis not a day for war. I have come to your fair land with pleasanter aims: that peaceful relations might be established between our countries."

At that moment, (I believe) Queen Althea knew, for Nightshadow smelled the sudden fear run over her.

But just then the King noticed the Panther and said, "What, a wild beast here to sup? This may not be. Let the Queen's great kitten be sent away. If she wisheth to while away the hours in taming him, I care not, but let him not join us at table."

So Nightshadow was turned out of the room, and though he tried to listen at the door, the guards forced him away, and he returned to the Queen's apartments, where all was quiet. Sootquill stood guard, Mrs. Twinkletacks sat by Frank's bed, mending a tear in his breeches, Clearscry's head was under her wing, and Quicktrack snoozed by the fire. Nightshadow paced. It was two or three hours before the Queen returned, staggering a little though not drunk on wine. "He sayeth . . . more beautiful than Swanwhite," she said. "Aslan save Narnia." And without even removing her crown, she lay down on her bed and closed her eyes.

It was several minutes before Nightshadow realized he could no longer hear her heartbeat.

He pawed at her arm and licked her face, but she did not move—and "If I die," she had said more than once, "do not pause to grieve me until my son is safe." So Nightshadow woke the others. "Oh my!" said Mrs. Twinkletacks, and began to dress Frank for the snow, hushing him so he would not cry out; Sootquill flew through the window to see how the moonlight lay in the garden; but Quicktrack the Hound sat up on his haunches and slowly licked his nose. "The Queen dead? Then we must get ourselves gone from this place. Two days ago I destroyed the last of the silver apples. Milophylax will soon return to finish off this last Human stronghold, and Narnia will belong wholly to the Beasts, her free and rightful citizens."

And he loped off down the corridors. At last the Panther and the Eagle recovered their wits enough to rush after him. Turning several times, they rounded a corner and stopped, for there he was, detained by the small, determined figure of Khesa, who demanded,

"But where is Queen Althea?"

"I told you, I don't know. Listen, girl, run along to your Calormene bitch. The Animals are kidnapping the prince and I must alert someone."

He pushed past. The little girl watched him for a moment, then ran off the other way. Nightshadow followed her, between the tapestries and the walls. Clearscry kept after Quicktrack, who soon located some guards and barked, "The Queen's beasts are kidnapping the Prince!"

One of the soldiers yawned and said, "Aw, it's just another of those talking critters," but another sat up. "And whose head will roll if the King's heir is kidnapped?" So they got up and followed the traitorous Dog.

Meanwhile, though, Khesa had run to her mother. "O-my-mother-and-o-the-delight-of-my-eyes, Quicktrack the Hound hath said unto your daughter that the Queen is away and her courtiers, the Talking Beasts which she keepeth, are stealing Prince Frank in the dead of night. O my mother, may it please you to go and stop them."

"Nay, o my daughter and o the thorn in my side," said her mother. "For am I not also mother to the King's children? and was not my son born first? And if the barbarian prince is stolen by wild beasts, shall not thy father the King make thy brother his heir?"

Thus the King's mistress hurried by another way, and met the guards as they came to the Queen's chambers. "Guards!" she called. " 'Tis a false alarm. Pay no heed to the words of the creature, but begone from these corridors, for our beloved Prince sleeps safe in his bed." And because she was the King's favorite lady, they listened to her.

In this strange way, Aslan watched over the Prince. Mrs. Twinkletacks bundled him safely—if sleepily—out into the garden and down the Mole's tunnel, lowering the cover behind them; then it was under the castle wall and away east and south until they came to the warm, cozy, lamplit sett of the Badgers. All the Badgers were awake (because Badgers, of course, sleep during the day) and they were warmly welcomed. Clearscry the Eagle, Sootquill the Owl, and Nightshadow the Panther arrived not long after, and for two years they stayed with the Prince.