Enjoy!

The Water is Wide

Chapter 7

Estelle

I awoke to the sound of singing. The language was one I'd never heard before and I didn't understand the words, but the song was one that didn't require the understanding of words to grasp the beauty behind them. It was soft and serene; each note filled me with the beauty it held. Underneath the serenity though, there was a deep emotional, and almost desperate, plea. A plea for what, I did not know. The voice which sang was just as beautiful as the song itself. It was crisp, clear, and it held complete control over each note. It was a pure voice. In another world it might have been described as angelic. In Narnia, I could only liken it to that of a Narnian Mermaid.

After taking a moment to relish in the sweet sound of singing, a moment more than I really should have, I recalled that I was supposed to be sleeping lightly to keep an eye on the girl. My eyes focused on the bed, on the empty bed. The covers were pushed aside and the bed deserted; the girl was gone!

I sprang from the chairs and let the quilt fall to the floor. If anything happened to the girl, Edmund would not be pleased with me. The cabin was still filled with the sound of song and I turned my head in the direction of the source. It was the girl. She was standing once more on the balcony, but her mannerisms were very different than when she last stood there. Her head was not bowed, but held high, and she did not appear to be upset. Though the song she sang might have been saying otherwise; it's difficult to say without knowing what the words meant.

I did not think she meant any harm by standing on the balcony and so I did not call for Edmund. However, I decided to approach her quietly and get closer to her just in case. I tried to stay alert but as I neared her the song began to entrance me once more and I became lost in words I did not know. Her voice grew thicker with emotion as her pleading grew almost certainly desperate. When she finished and the last note rang softly in the air, my eyes were heavy and moist with tears.

She stayed for a moment with her back towards me before turning around. She seemed only slightly surprised to find me standing there watching her. She looked for a moment as though she were trying to find something to say; I was still entranced with the song and could say nothing. At last she decided on a simple, "Good morning, Lucy."

"G—good morning," I said softly and with great effort.

"You…you do not need to worry. I'm…I'm not going to try anything today."

I realized she was talking about last night, and I quickly came back to myself. "You gave us quite a fright."

"I did not mean to. I was not myself. I was overcome with grief. It is not so now."

"I know it must be hard. I recall times when my brothers were lost, and I feared for them as you fear for your siblings. But things have always worked out as they should."

She nodded slowly.

"I know you probably still grieve for them, but I do not believe they are gone for good. I am sure you will see them again."

"I do not believe they are truly gone either. I will see them again, and when I do they will need me to be strong as I was before."

"I do believe some breakfast will help you with strength," I said, trying to lighten the mood.

"You do like to eat," she replied with a soft laugh.

"As much as I can and as often as I can," I admitted.

"And yet you don't…"

"I don't look like I eat anything? I know. It's a high metabolism, or something. Edmund has the same issue, but you'd never know it because he's always teasing me about how much I eat so no one notices how much he eats."

"Still…it is a little early for breakfast, is it not? The sun only just came up."

"Perhaps it is a bit early for most to eat. Well, how about a tour of the ship then? You haven't left this cabin since you arrived and I know the crew is eager to meet you. And then we can finish with breakfast with Edmund. So either way we will have breakfast before too long, and that makes me happy."

"I suppose it would be nice to see more of the ship and meet the crew. Are there any other Narnians on board? Perhaps a Centaur or a Gryphon?"

"Well Gryphons are a bit big for a ship and Centaurs don't do well at sea; they have terrible sea-sickness. There are, however, a few good Dwarves on board and several Talking Beasts, in addition to our Fauns of course."

"I have always wanted to meet a Talking Beast."

"Then it's settled; a tour it is."

I turned to leave the cabin and begin the tour, but then I realized I was missing one important thing. What would I introduce her as? We still had no name for her, and I couldn't go around introducing her as "The Girl." But then how do I broach the subject of her name without upsetting her?"

"Is something wrong, Lucy? Why did you stop?" she asked.

"No, nothing's wrong…but then again, there is something."

"What?"

"It's just…well, you'll be meeting a lot of new people today and learning their names but…but I still don't know yours."

"My name?" she sounded confused.

I nodded. "Is there perhaps a name you've always wanted to be called or…"

"Estelle."

"Estelle?"

She nodded. "My name is Estelle."

Estelle? It was the first name that came to mind. I had long since remembered my own name, but I had forgotten that I never told them. But why had I just given my mother's name as my own? Suddenly my mother's words echoed in my mind: "My strength is with you, Aaralynn." What better way to be reminded of her strength, than to use her name?

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Estelle. I'm Lucy, and I'm sure we're going to be great friends," Lucy said with a wide smile as she held out her hand. I stared at her hand in confusion. "Oh, you shake it."

"Why?" I asked. Shaking hands in greeting was not a practice I had heard of before.

"I…I don't really know. I don't even know why I did that. It is most unusual." Lucy sounded rather confused herself, but a moment later she shook it off. "Shall we begin the tour now? I'm sure Salinus is up; we should find him and let him know you've remembered your name. Oh! And Mr. Tumnus too! He is very anxious to meet you."

"Yes, we can begin, but first I have a question to ask of you."

"Oh, all right. What is it?"

"It's…it's just something my mother said and it had me confused. She called you and your brother 'The Valiant and The Just.' Why is that?"

"I don't really know to be honest. Those are just nicknames the Narnians have taken to calling us. I can understand it in Edmund's case, and Susan can be gentle. I suppose Peter is a bit magnificent at times. But honestly, I don't know why they consider me valiant; I don't particularly feel exceptionally brave."

Valiant. Just. Gentle. Magnificent. These were all names I'd heard before, but they were used in reference to the Kings and Queens of Narnia. Lucy couldn't be…

"And your siblings…how many do you have?" I asked.

"Three," she replied.

"So there are four of you all together? Only four?"

"Yes…Estelle, what's this all about?"

Four. There were four of them. Four siblings. Four thrones. Four names.

"Estelle?"

Oh! How could I have been so blind? Of all the ships to find me at sea, I was found by a Narnian vessel. It couldn't be just any Narnian vessel though. It was a royal vessel which carried one of Narnia's kings and one of her queens. One of my kings and queens.

"Estelle?"

"Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me…Your Majesty. I did not know…"

"You…you didn't know I was a queen?"

I shook my head. "I…I've never met one before, and you don't particularly act like a Queen. Please forgive me…Your Royal Highness. I…I don't know what to call you; what's proper? I should bow, or curtsey I suppose, right?"

"No! No you most certainly do not need to bow to me," Lucy…Queen Lucy said quickly before I could bow or curtsey. "Unless in certain formal situations which may actually arise while in Redhaven, but we'll talk about that later," she added. "As for what to call me, I was rather hoping you might just call me 'Lucy' as you have been, or 'Lu' if you want, or perhaps even 'friend' if you so desire. I know I desire it."

Friends with Queen Lucy? I could hardly believe it. "And…and your brother, what should I call him?"

"Edmund?" she asked and I nodded. "Well, 'Edmund' will suit him just fine, or 'Ed' if you like. Just, never call him 'Eddie,' he can't stand it and neither can I."

I nodded slowly, trying to take everything in.

"Now, are you ready to begin the tour?"

And so, after a few more moments of pause where I desperately tried to gather my wits, my tour began. The ship's name was the Splendor Hyaline and she was vastly larger than the Estelle. She was a Narnian vessel, but because the human population of Narnia was so low, the humans on board were all of Archen or Galmian descent. As it turns out, the cabin I had been occupying, which was Queen Lucy's cabin, was a stern cabin on the starboard side and it was located just off the main deck. Two other cabins were located above deck. The cabin adjacent to Lucy's belonged to the Splendor's first mate. The Captain's cabin was above us just off the poop deck.

After leaving the cabin we traveled across the main deck to the forecastle and the galley beneath it. Along the way I couldn't help but admire the Narnian craftsmanship of the masts, there were three of them, and the rigging. The braid of the rigging was more intricate than any I had ever seen before, and it looked far stronger than that of the Estelle.

We found Salinus and Mr. Tumnus in the galley, and they both seemed pleased just as Lucy said they would be. We stayed and talked for awhile; I could see the clear friendship Lucy shared with Mr. Tumnus, and I wondered how long they had been friends. Before leaving to continue our tour, Salinus insisted on asking me a few questions and conducting a few tests just to see how well I was recovering. My recovery must have been to his liking because he let me go without any fuss.

Lucy took me below deck next and we explored the bowels of the ship. There were three levels, the lowest of which was the smallest and mostly used as storage for various items. The middle level housed the oar room, the armory, some sleeping quarters, and the food storage. The first level housed the majority of the sleeping quarters for the crew and King Edmund's personal cabin. This is where we ended the tour and when we entered, King Edmund was not there.

The cabin was located in the stern of the ship, just as the ones above deck, and it spread the width of ship. Though it was larger than Lucy's cabin, it felt smaller. The shelves around the room were covered in books and the tables were lined with papers and maps. On the center table I noticed a map very similar to the one that Edmund had brought to Lucy's cabin the other day. The location I had told him and the location of the Splendor at the time were marked with a black 'X.' Surrounding the two X's were various other markings. I could only assume these were the locations where the scouts had looked. I was struck with a sudden bout of despair. They had covered a wide area, but still they had found nothing. When Lucy noticed what I was looking at she walked over and placed a hand on my arm and gave a soft, reassuring smile. Just then the cabin door opened and King Edmund walked in.

"Oh! You're here already," he said. "I apologize for the mess. I was hoping to clean it a bit before you arrived, but I was in a consultation with the Captain and only just left."

Lucy and I said nothing, but I had a feeling that Lucy sent him a look, because he suddenly went quite silent and moved in towards the table. I saw him move to stand across from me, but I kept my eyes on the map.

"I'm sorry, Estelle. I wish there was more I could do."

Hearing the earnestness in his voice I finally lifted my eyes to his. They were still deep with worry and compassion. "You tried," I said at last. "That is all I can ask for."

Before there is any confusion, let me clarify. Yes, our protagonist's name is Aaralynn, but she gives her mother's name Estelle as her own to Lucy. Unfortunately, this will have dire affects much later in the story. To prevent any further confusion, I will hereby refer to Aaralynn, as Estelle.

That being said, as I imagine Estelle to look like Hayley Westenra I also imagine her to have a voice like Hayley. If you have not heard her sing, I highly suggest you do. It's incredible, and she makes it look so effortless. For an example of what the song Estelle sings in this and future chapters might sound like, listen to her sing Pokarekare Ana (you can find it on youtube). It's a Maori song, and very beautiful.