Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.
Summary: Don't judge a book by its cover...or a knight by their rumors... A lesson Peridan and his family learned as they adjusted to their new life in Narnia.
A/N: This is part of my A Light in the Darkness universe. I recommend reading the main story arc (Awakening, Shadowed, and Revealed) first, but you can give this one a whirl on its own too.
Chapter Sixteen
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21 Mayblossom 1006
Katerina jerked upright, gasping. She raised a shaky hand to push the tendrils that had escaped her braid out of her face. Scanning the room, she was thankful that she apparently hadn't screamed in her sleep this time. She flopped back onto the mattress and exhaled heavily; unsurprisingly, the nightmares revolving around not only the Monster but also Heikki and Hendrik had returned with vengeance and with a special focus on Heikki and Hendrik.
She sighed again as she gave up on trying to claim any more sleep. Dressing quickly in a simple tunic and skirt, she unbraided her hair, brushed it, and then put it into a French braid before twisting and pinning it into a bun. Glancing at the water clock, she grimaced at the time. Half past six in the morning and she had intentionally stayed up due to the coffee until just before three. Not bothering to put on her boots or any other type of footwear, she slipped out of her room. She needed to think, and she didn't feel like talking to anyone, not even the Kentauri, at the moment. She knew exactly where to go...
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"Tarrin!"
He squawked and fell out of bed, fighting against the covers, "What? What is it? Is it Mother?" He finally managed to get the covers off his head, so he could see his little sister watching him, brown eyes wide, "Raisa?"
She gave him an impatient look, "Tarrin, you're supposed to walk to the library with me, remember? Father said so last night before he and Mother went to the banquet."
He blinked at her as he rubbed his head, "What time is it?"
"Half past sixth hour."
Tarrin groaned, "Raisa! This is Seventhday, and it's the only day of the week I'm allowed to sleep late. Why do you want to go to the library at this hour anyway? Have you even eaten breakfast? Books are not more important than food."
His sister dismissed his objections out of hand. "Father said-"
He raised a hand, hoping to keep her from talking too much again, "I know, I know, just wait in your room until I dress...go on, Raisa, I'm not going to fall asleep again." He added under his breath as she was leaving, "Not as though you'd let me now."
She sang out, "I heard that, Tarrin!"
"Shh, or you'll wake Shane and Thane up. You'd never get to the library then." He waited until she scurried out of his room and then groaned at the thought of not only getting up, but also having to walk Raisa to the library before breakfast. Girls!
After finally finding his left boot under the bed and blearily taking a comb to his hair, Tarrin stifled a yawn and opened his door only to be pounced on immediately by Raisa. "Finally! Come on, Tarrin, it is going to be wonderful in the library. It is always busier on Seventhdays, sometimes I see the Kings and the Queens come in. Of course, then other times when there is next to no one around. Oh, but I'm meeting all the librarians, of course, not all of them are just librarians, some of them teach the Kings and Queens, which is why they're always in the library. Like Stonebrook, he's a Centaur, have you met him? Oh, and the head librarian is a Badger, his name is Elwood and he is very grumpy. But, Stonebrook says he's been like that for years and years and I should not worry about him because he's not nearly as mean as he seems, just very crotchety. And, then there's this very lovely lady Cat who's married to one of the Cats who's a strategist in the army and her name is Lady-"
Tarrin finally cut off the flow of too many words at that time of day by clapping his hand over Raisa's mouth, "Shh! Raisa, it's too early to talk." She frowned at him, but thank Aslan she didn't say anything when he moved his hand. Instead, she grabbed his sleeve and tugged until he picked up his pace. It seemed to take forever, but they finally reached the library. Raisa looked at him and gave him a half-push, something she would never dare to do if their mother had been nearby, saying something about getting sleep or food...or was it both? After watching her hurry to where a Cat was sitting on a table surrounded by books, Tarrin decided he should get both sleep and food, in no particular order.
He wandered away from the library, still half-asleep and barely registering the amused glances various Narnians cast at him. Yawning, he finally stopped in a corridor and forced his eyes to open, trying to decide if his bed or breakfast was closer. He frowned in confusion as he looked around and didn't recognize anything...and his feet were hurting. Tarrin was no longer tired. He also couldn't spot any guards...but there was a door standing halfway open a little further down.
Hoping someone was in there who could tell him how to get back to his family's quarters, Tarrin hurried to the door and peeked in. His jaw dropped as he took in the room. It looked like a slightly smaller version of the great hall, but it only had one throne on the dais instead of four and it didn't have a glass roof. He took a half-step inside but stopped when he saw Dame Sepphora sitting on the floor with her back against one of the columns closest to the dais. Tarrin carefully backed up, not wanting to disturb her...honestly, she scared him a little even though he really only saw her during training and he still wasn't sure if the General or Dame Sepphora intimidated him more. He froze again as he heard another door open and close followed by the sound of hooves echoing closer.
Dame Sepphora didn't move from where she was sitting, even as the owner of the hooves came closer until Tarrin could see it was a Centaur. Instead, she waited until he was standing next to her before asking, "Do you think my father would be proud of what I have become? After all, it is not exactly what he was raising me to be."
"Yes, little one, I do. They would all be proud of you, even if they occasionally questioned your methods." Tarrin watched in silent bewilderment as the Centaur pulled Dame Sepphora up and hugged her before continuing, "And, you should know that Tuulea and I are as proud of you as if you were our own. Come now, Tuulea expects you to join the family for the morning meal. But, you should change if you do not wish Tuulea to lecture you...again."
Tarrin blinked in surprise when Dame Sepphora responded by laughing softly, "Yes, Stonebrook." And then his heart nearly stopped when Dame Sepphora turned to look at him, "Are you lost, Peridanson? Or do you merely make a habit of eavesdropping on others' conversations?"
He felt his face warm and he just knew he was probably blushing to the roots of his hair, "Well, I- That is- I, um, I didn't, that is I wasn't planning- Mylittlesisterdraggedmeoutofbedinordertowalkwithhe rtothelibrarybutIdidn'tevengettoeatorsleepinandthi sismyonlydaytosleepinand..."
He trailed off as Dame Sepphora held up a hand, "Calm down, Peridanson. You aren't in trouble. Now, can you tell us all that again? But, this time put spaces between the words and remember to breathe."
Tarrin glanced from her to Stonebrook then back before he took a deep breath and slowly repeated himself, "My little sister dragged me out of bed in order to walk with her to the library but I didn't even get a chance to eat or sleep in and this is my only day to sleep in...so...so I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going and I ended up in the hall." He gestured at the open door behind him and continued, "But, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, Dame Sepphora. I was just coming in here to see if there was someone who could tell me how to get back to my family's quarters."
She nodded, "I believe you, Tarrin. The Four and I get lost on a fairly regular basis depending on which part of the Cair we are in and we've lived here a fair sight longer than yourself. Next time though, simply go ahead and declare yourself. A suspicion of eavesdropping is far more detrimental to your perceived character than the truthful admittance of getting lost." She gave him a friendly smile and nodded to Stonebrook, "I'll tell Tuulea why you're late if you don't finish up before I do." And then, she left before Tarrin could apologize again.
Stonebrook chuckled, "Come, Tarrin Peridanson, I will escort you back to your quarters."
Tarrin nodded silently before following Stonebrook, once again not paying any attention to the way they went until Stonebrook called his attention. He was too busy trying to decide if he was still intimidated by Dame Sepphora or just confused. He didn't know...
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Marsalla took care not to be too agitated as she held Maisee. Her poor piccolla dolcezza had had the colic all through the night and had only just dropped into a light sleep. Still, she couldn't help fearing what would happen. Peridan had been summoned to a private audience with the Four at the early hour of six in the morning and he had not even been able to sleep more than an hour all together since they had taken turns pacing with Maisee. Oh, how she wished she had a better grasp of the current court intrigue at Cair Paravel. Then, perhaps she would have a better idea of the punishment the Four would surely hand down for deceiving them. Oh, please let them understand enough to lighten the sentence. She prayed fervently as she stroked her youngest child's hair.
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Peridan took a single calming breath before he stepped from the little alcove his escort had left him in and immediately bowed to the Four. Straightening, he fought the urge to cringe under the force of the impassive look, tinged with just a hint of warning, being directed at him by the General. Instead, he inclined his head again, "Your majesties, General Oreius, though I do not deserve it, I request your patient indulgence so that I might explain the circumstances brought to light during last night's banquet."
The Four looked at him in silence before the High King gave a single curt nod. "Speak, Lord Peridan."
"Your majesties, General Oreius, I know it did not look...well when Duke Toomas mentioned the position held by members of my wife's family in the Sisemaalian court. However, I can explain why we kept our silence. It is true that both Marsalla's father and mother were involved in the Sisemaalian court to an extent, but this we told you. Marsalla was raised as the daughter of a diplomat, an ambassador, and she was trained in the court intrigues, how to recognize them, how to tread the careful path to avoid bringing shame or even doom upon her family no matter whether they were in the court at Anvard or at Mägi, and she has never forgotten her parents' wisdom. Our ties to her family are strong and we had a good position within King Lune's court, so we knew from both Sisemaal and reports that reached King Lune about the way Sisemaal had been disgraced by the conduct of one of its own noblemen toward King Edmund not quite two years ago." Peridan didn't miss the slight tightening of the High King's jaw nor the way the Queens exchanged concerned looks, and he most certainly did not miss how the General and King Edmund remained still and seemingly unmoved though King Edmund looked ever so slightly paler than his natural coloring. Still, he pressed on. "Marsalla was concerned that revealing the full specifics of her family's ties to Sisemaal, especially that her uncle was a high advisor to King Jukka, before we had a chance to familiarize ourselves with the court intrigues present in Cair Paravel would be...detrimental to our hopes to be established here and give our children good futures. I agreed because I did not want Marsalla to upset herself since, as you are aware, her health is not at its best though she has been recovering since we came to Narnia. We intended to inform you of the full details about the ties between the Sisemaalian court and our family. I swear before Aslan that it was not our intention to deceive you, especially not out of questionable loyalties and motives."
The Four exchanged looks with each other and then with the General before turning back to him. King Edmund leaned forward slightly, "And if your wife's kin, such as this Teppo, were to ask you for a favor as family that would potentially cause harm to Narnia, would you keep your oath of fealty to Us or would you be swayed by family ties?"
Peridan was careful to hide how taken aback he was not only by the question, but also by how the boy not much older than his Tarrin had most firmly embodied the very aura of a king much wiser than his years. "I will honor my oath of fealty, my King. If I thought any favor asked might cause harm to Narnia or you and your royal siblings, I would bring to your attention and allow you to judge whether the favor is harmful or not since I am at least somewhat biased."
Though, he wondered if they somehow knew that Teppo had indeed asked a favor, Peridan did not mention it since that favor did not imply harm to Narnia or their majesties. A long moment of silence stretched between them until finally the High King spoke, "Lord Peridan, while We understand your caution in a new country, We expect you and yours to be forthright with Us from this point forward. We also wish to impress upon you that Our court does not engage in the political intrigue you are accustomed to in Sisemaal or even Archenland. However, we know that is something you must experience before it is easily believed. Please go and enjoy spending Seventhday with your family."
Peridan bowed and fervently prayed as he walked back to his family's quarters that the visit from the Sisemaalian party would progress smoothly from that point forward.
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A/N: Please Read and Review! Okay, more to come soon. Any guesses as to how the rest of the visit is going to go? Leave a review and let me know what y'all thought about this one.