Rilian keeps a mental list of all the things to be done that day. He needs to visit Guhen in the morning, the ships to visit, the training of the troublesome in the afternoon, and…
And he wants to listen to the stars that night. He wants to find peace, since he begins the day with so much in his head already.
He stops at the library before breakfast and peers around the aisles, into armchairs, and finally finds the large Owl standing on a table near the back, with two stacks of books on one end of the table, a pile of scrolls on the other end, and perhaps five or six books opened in the middle. The Owl stands hunched over, his large head poking forward as he reads one of the books—Rilian could not tell which open book the Owl is looking at, and wonders suddenly if the Owl is able to read two at once.
Rilian clears his throat, and the Owl jumps. "Quiet in the library!"
The King wonders if upsetting Owls is a special talent of his, and clears his throat again.
"Go to the healers if you have a cough!"
"I am not seeking healing, good Guhen, merely information."
"Then go find it! You're in a library, there's not a lack of information. Goodness gracious, what problems people cause…"
Rilian waits, but the Owl doesn't seem to realise who he is speaking to, so Rilian tries again. "I think you have the information I need."
The Owl hoots impatiently, white wings flapping. "Then take the book and bring it back when you're done! I can't read all of these at once."
"I believe you were going to do the reading for me, and then tell me what you found."
"Nonsense, I only do that for…the King…who is standing in the library. Dear me, dear me, my apologies, King Rilian. I've had to gather these books from all sorts of odd places, instead of their places on the shelves. Most disconcerting, that someone hasn't been doing their jobs and putting them away. But sit down, sit down—oh, there's a chair over there. Good, good, that will do. This is interesting reading! Which does make me hate interruptions."
"What have you found?" Rilian asks, as soon as there is a break. Guhen flaps his wings and hops over to the edge of the table, curling his claws around it and fixing Rilian with both large eyes.
"Much of what I found is typical, of course—Merfolk are half Son of Adam or Daughter of Eve and half fish. Well, we all knew that. Though the classification isn't quite correct; with the scales covering them from tail-tip to shoulders, I don't believe it's half and half. At least that doesn't fit with what I've observed. But there was a bit more about them, from two Cats who loved the water and studied them; brothers, I think, one to play and one to write. But be that as it may, they found some more interesting things. It is said that tides run in the Merfolk's veins, and the moon rules their sleep. Said quite poetically, of course. Unpoetically, I believe that means water is like blood to them, the source of their life. And since the ebb and flow of water is tied to the skies, the more full the moon, the greater the Merfolk's energy. Of course, all that could be wrong; from what was written, it sounds like the Merfolk are quite secretive. Yes, quite secretive. Which makes this such an interesting challenge!"
"Is there anything about them struggling to breathe?" Rilian asks quietly. He wishes he does not have to be so specific, but he trusts Guhen not to tell others.
"Hmmm, there was a little about that. I doubt it's often a problem. The water soaks in through their scales, so their body takes in oxygen through every part of their bodies except their head and arms, which is quite the interesting reversal."
Rilian listens with a little bit of shock, feeling his own breath come in and out. He wonders how hard it was for Ileana, to learn to breathe through her mouth and nose, and if her body did it on instinct, or if there had been someone there to help her. But Guhen is rambling on.
"Of course, that doesn't work if they're out of the water, so Merfolk must keep at least their tail under the water in order to breathe. I don't know why they wouldn't just try to breathe through their mouths at that point, but the book hasn't gone into that so far."
"What about when they take human form?"
"Hmmmm? I haven't read anything about that so far. It seems to happen quite rarely; the books are full of how much the Merfolk love the sea."
"Ah. I appreciate what you have done so far, my good Owl. In the future, would you focus on the Merfolk being on land, especially in human form? And do not share your results, nor even your search, with any but Drinian," Rilian adds in a whisper, trusting the Owl's keen ears to hear him.
"Very well, very well, my King!" Guhen yawns. "Goodness me, it is late! I'll be off to bed, after a word with the librarians not to put these away, or let them be interfered with. Good rest to you, King Rilian!"
Rilian stands and watches Guhen fly in search of the librarian. He keeps the sigh inside till the Owl is quite far away, and then turns to look at the books. A part of him itches to pick them up, to keep looking where Guhen left off—but a King's time is not his own, and there are other things to do.
He goes to Ileana's room; he can hear Peri's chattering voice from the hall. When he knocks, the door flies open, like she's been waiting for him. Ileana beams at him, then rushes back to her bed and scoops up the two blue and white rocks from the table. She sits down and slips her shoes on, right foot and then left. Rilian smiles, for she does that so much more smoothly than her first day, just a week ago. He glances towards the window—open, of course—and walks over to it.
The sea rolls below him, the ships towering on the shore, and the wind whispering its secrets to the Cair's walls. He inhales, tasting the scent of the sea, and lets it back out again.
"You ask him, he likes you better," Rilian hears behind him, Peri's whisper being anything but quiet. He turns before they approach.
"Ready for breakfast, ladies of Narnia?"
"Yes," comes from Peri, and Rilian guesses she is hungry and wants to leave. So he bows, smiling, and opens the doors for them. Ileana waits in the hall, and falls into step once he closes her door.
"What shall we do today?" she asks.
"I'm afraid I have official business to take care of this morning, so you will be left to your own devices till lunch. But after, would you be interested in helping me watch—and perhaps alarm—the guests who will be training with our guard?"
Ileana's grin grows a little sharper, and Rilian guesses she will be very good at this game. "I would love to."
"Then what will you do this morning?"
"Hmmm. The Hedgehogs are leaving the Cair, all but the oldest son, who is going into training as a Squire…Peri doesn't actually like maid work, so I try not to do too much of that…and I'm afraid I'm still not fond of riding," she adds apologetically.
"Would you like to go to the shore?" Rilian slows his steps as a shadow falls over her face. "No?" he asks more quietly.
She glances ahead, making sure Peri too far away to hear her soft words. "It grows more difficult, not to second-guess my decision, when I am in the water. I do not regret it, for I know if I stay in the water for more than a day, I will miss the land and those on it as much as I miss the sea. But the first hour in the water—"
"You taste all you no longer have." Rilian understands, for sometimes rest days are that to him a quick promise of a time when his crown will not weigh heavily, and no one will need his time. He does not regret wearing the crown, but it is hard not to wonder, sometimes, what life would have been like without it.
Lonely, he thinks, but simpler.
I would not trade the life I have either.
He looks over at Ileana, and she takes his hand, gentle touch thanking him for understanding. "Cheer up, lady of the sea. You will return to that world again," he promises. She looks quickly at Peri again, away from him, and he cannot read her profile, nor understand the way his words seem to bounce off her. "But if you would not go to the sea, is there another place you would enjoy spending your morning?"
"The garden!" she says immediately, and some of the tension leaves, her shoulders relaxing.
But Rilian catches that tension, and he stops. He pulls her to face him. "Do not run while you are there," he warns her, and she laughs.
"It is only when I run hard, and for a long time," she says. "I will be careful. I can still run and keep enough air in my body. I will not run for long. But I love it too much to give it up. It is the closest I can feel to shooting from the waves to welcome the sun, before diving back into the waters again. It is speed and feeling alive and nearly flying from one place to another."
"You used to be able to run hard and long," Rilian points out, hoping she'll tell him a little more, and that when she does, he'll have a way to help. "When you first came on land, you could run quite far.'
"I still can!"
"Not without struggling to breathe," Rilian snaps back, fierce but quiet.
She sighs, and starts walking forward. She pulls him along when he does not move. "I have been outside the ocean for eight days, King. My strength begins to fade, just a little. But I am in no danger yet."
Rilian allows her to pull him—noticing her arms are weaker as well. Not weak, but perhaps not the full strength of a Dwarf forger anymore either. The Dwarf on an off-day, perhaps. Still, he accepts what she has told him. "Do not be a danger to yourself, then. Do not overestimate your strength as you run."
Ileana smiles. "I will not. Thank you for caring," she adds softly. Rilian nods.
"I care for all my Narnians," and his voice catches, because it is true, it is true to his core—and he worries that she might be a danger to them. He does not want that; he does not want them on one side, and her on the other.
"Are they in danger?" she asks, for she can read him so well. It warms his soul and chills his heart, that she knows him like this after only a week.
Rilian hesitates. He could tell her, he thinks to himself. She knows so much of the sea. She may have heard of things—other than sea serpents—who leave boats in splinters. But…no. It would be too risky to tell her.
She is still waiting, studying at his face as they walk together. He cannot tell what she sees, but she says, "It is a secret you have, isn't it," and he nods.
"Then I will not ask. I learned that from you," she confides, swinging their hands a little. "You do not break open my secrets, and so I will leave you yours."
Peri, hungry and ahead of them by a good few Centaur's lengths, stops with a short exclamation of impatient dismay, and Rilian sees the Calormene coming forward again. The Ambassador ignores Peri completely, Rililan notes with irritation, but bows deeply to the King.
"I thought I might join you at breakfast, O mighty King, as we agreed? It is public, and I will bring up nothing, nothing to displease you, a great and honourable one."
Rilian gives a short bow in return, and feels Ileana copy him. The Calormene falls into step—not beside Rilian, which Rilian realises he'd expected, but beside Ileana.
"I do not believe I have met you, lady so fair and so golden. Are you from Narnia?"
"I am a Narnian," Ileana responds, glancing at Rilian for guidance. Rilian can offer her none but the reassurance that he is listening. The Ambassador has so far shown interest only in those he wants something from. Rilian tries to think of what the Ambassador might want, but Ileana has no money and no land—though she has a knowledge of the sea Calormen might covet. If the Ambassador knew she was a Mermaid. She is also very beautiful, as Drinian has said and Rilian has noticed, and Rilian does not like the thought that the Ambassador has noticed too.
"Then you come from a country rife with magic and mystery! Tales are told of your land in Calormen."
Rilian sees the corners of Ileana's smile begin to curve, and realises that yes, perhaps Calormen tells tales of the Narnian land—but such a phrase is an odd one for a Mermaid. It pleases Rilian to see the Ambassador make such a mistake.
"You say nothing? Surely you could tell tales of your own. Tell me, O beautiful one who is a pure reflection of the sunlight, what is your home like?"
"I am staying in the castle of the King for now, and that is my home." Ileana walks a little closer to Rilian, a little further from the Ambassador, and Rilian likes this too.
"Ah, yes, such a pleasant place! So very very pleasant. And you are enjoying your time with the King?"
"When he has the time to give me, I enjoy being with him very much."
"What a pity, what a pity, that Kings do not have as much time to give! I mean no offence, none at all, O wise King. Truly—I think it was a poet who said it—the demands of the people are a thousand, and of course, only a poor king would not answer his people. Why, the great Tisroc (may he live forever) gives hours of his time each day to his people. Tell me, O glorious vision, what do you do when the King is otherwise busy?"
"Today we are going to the garden."
"We?"
"My friend and I." Ileana's hand begins to lift, as if to wave in Peri'd direction, but it stops a few inches up, and Rilian guesses she does not want to draw attention to the friend the Ambassador hurt.
"Ah, I see. Well, unfortunately Ambassadors are busy as well. Otherwise I might have joined you! But perhaps another day, fair lady of Narnia?"
Ileana smiles, but Rilian is relieved to see it is a polite thing, and not the smile she gave Rilian just that morning when he knocked on her door.
Peri is already inside the breakfast room, and the Calormene enters, bowing and holding the door open, but Rilian waves him forward, and waits for the door to shut, still holding Ileana's hand in his.
"I like 'lady of the sea' far better than what he calls me," Ileana says, and Rilian laughs. The sound surprises him, for he had kept her back to warn her—but somehow she always brings brightness in unexpected ways.
"Glad am I to hear it, lady of the sea. But Ileana—I must ask you to be careful again. If your beauty has caught his attention—make your own decisions about how much time to spend in his company. But do not, please, spend it alone with him?" As he listens to his own words, Rilian cannot tell which is stronger, the unease at what the Calormene might do to a pretty girl, or the unease at the two of them growing closer. He tries not to let his dislike colour his tone. "If he is near, keep someone else near as well."
"But not Peri," Ileana says simply, and Rilian lets out his tension with a sigh. He had not known if she would agree.
"Not Peri; I do not think she would like it."
"I will ask for others to stay with me, then. Drinian, perhaps?"
"That would be well," Rilian says dryly, thinking of Drinian's advice to keep her close. "But do not make him run, either," he adds, half-playing, and she laughs that gloriously clear laugh.
"I will make the Ambassador run instead! And perhaps," and her tone is wistful, "in the freedom of running he will find something to fill the emptiness of his soul."
"Perhaps," Rilian agrees noncommittally. He opens the breakfast door for her, and sees Peri waving her forward; the maid has saved the Mermaid a seat. It is not by the Calormen—and Rilian notices Peri has saved two seats, not one on either side of her, but two together on her left.
Rilian raises his eyebrow, for it is not the first time someone at Cair Paravel has tried to matchmake for him, but it is the first time a maid has had such an opportunity. And Rilian, not being one to bend to such things (if Peri truly meant it that way) goes and sits somewhere else.
He leaves before they do, and goes down to the shore. The remains of the ship are a sobering sight; there are no pieces of wood longer than his arm that remain together. Many have been burned as well as shattered, and the sand is streaked with black lumps of charcoal. The sailors are on their hands and knees, crawling about and collecting—nails, Rilian realises. He sees one sailor, a Dwarf, with one hand full of bent or black nails while his other runs through the sand, looking for more.
Drinian is standing under the skeleton of the other ship, watching as boards are beginning to be nailed to the frame. Rilian goes over to him.
"No Mermaid today, Your Majesty?"
"I believe she's in the gardens." Rilian does not feel like joking.
"And I believe I said it'd be good to keep her close. But as Your Majesty thinks best."
"I do not…I do not think I want her to see this."
Drinian turns around, looking at the sailors. The Birds are collecting the wood splinters, swooping down to pick them up and dropping them in a single pile that will probably be burned. When the beach is clean again, the Narnians can build another ship.
"It was hatred that did this." The men stand, watching, for a few minutes before Drinian adds, "We've set a watch at night, both at the ship itself and on the cliff. It's not likely an enchantment would know to do both men at once. This second ship should be all right."
"Good. And well done, Drinian."
"Just doing my job. We've found one puzzling thing, while clearing away the wreckage. And it doesn't give us any answers, but…" Drinian shrugs. "In addition to the sailors' footprints, there was a single track, as if someone had been dragging a rope as thick as a mooring line, dragging it from one end of the ship to the other."
"But nothing where the trail ended?"
"Just a loop, as if the rope had been coiled and picked up."
Rilian thinks this is not helpful, but takes a breath in and lets the worry out. "May Aslan send us answers."
The two men spend the rest of the morning hunting about the ship's remains, but they find nothing.
Rilian eats lunch with the sailors. None of them remember that night, and each has a different explanation for what kind of monster enchanted them—a hag, a siren, a snake, an enchantress. Rilian does not enjoy the memories this stirs up of his own enchantment, but he has dealt with nightmares before, and it is good for him to listen.
He hears nothing that helps.
He leaves with swift, grateful steps and goes straight to the garden. He does not have to look for his Mermaid; he hears her, for Ileana is singing. She is singing the song she sang on that rest day, of the glorious things she loved on land. Rilian wonders who she is singing for. And then he sees the Ambassador standing listening.
Hot anger runs through Rilian, his hands trembling, his heart pounding. The song had been meant for him, had been sung for him, and here she was, singing it for someone else.
Yet the King in him stops the thoughts, checking them with reality. Ileana had sung the song for him; that did not mean it was meant for him alone.
Still, Rilian does not trust himself near the Ambassador. He takes a path around, behind the cherry trees, and searches for Ileana.
He can not see her, and wonders if she is lying down—and if she is, the song is not meant for the Ambassador, he thinks—but he still cannot see her.
A laugh interrupts the song, her laugh, and Rilian finally realises that it's coming from above him. He looks up and sees Ileana laughing at him from her seat in a cherry tree.
"You are perched like a Bird!" he exclaims, moving to the trunk. "The land is not enough for you, you must have the sky as well?"
"We met because both of us sought the sky," she reminds him, smiling.
"So we did." Rilian sobers. "I would we had another night like that. I long to hear the song of the stars right now."
"Then wait till the evening. And I'll take you to them! Tonight we'll listen to them again. But till then—can I do anything?"
"Only come and help me greet our troublemakers, who are no doubt arriving shortly. And tell me, please, why are you in a tree?" He raises his hand to steady her as she begins to climb down, letting her lean down towards him while she places her feet, her other hand still clinging to a sturdy branch.
"I sent Peri away, for I saw the Ambassador coming, and the Squirrels and Birds are busy today, making nests or gathering nuts, and I did not know where Drinian was. So I betook myself to the closest hiding place I could find."
"And then began singing? You know little of hiding!"
"I know much about hiding! But the Ambassador left, and I was comfortable, so I thought to pass the time. And I am quite glad I did, for I had an idea." She sticks her hand in her pocket (for Narnian dresses all have pockets) and brings out her blue and white stones, rolling them in her palm.
Rilian's smile fades. "The Ambassador did not leave."
"He did not?" Ileana asks, startled.
"No."
"Ah." She pauses. "I will be more careful, then. I did not think him much of a hunter."
"You think he hunts you?"
"I think I am something he desires, and that he is cruel to the things he desires. I think he would corral me like the sharks do the shoals."
Rilian pauses, for—he is jealous, he admits it. He had hoped his jealousy was baseless, that Ileana would be only a passing fancy for their guest. But if the Ambassador is hunting her, rather than pursuing her…her words make him rethink, for she has seen other people very clearly, since coming ashore. Perhaps she sees more clearly than his jealousy. And he must do something about it.
"Would you like a guard assigned to you?"
"A guard?"
"Someone to stay with you, who is able to protect you."
She thinks that over, walking with him towards the tower she'd been arrested in. "No," she says at last. "Not when there are other things they may be needed for; not when my own care may take that burden off someone. I will take care. You need not worry."
Rilian thinks of all he worries about and wishes that were true; he wishes he were strong enough to trust Aslan and not worry.
He opens the door to the guardroom and sees the five children are already there, against the far wall, looking at the shields. The captain of the guard stands by the door, watching them. Rilian goes to stand beside him.
"Your plans for their hours here?" he asks, voice low.
"Keep them here, for the day. We'll practise dodges inside here, when I don't have to worry about one of them making an escape of it. Tomorrow we'll go over the Cair."
"Ah. Then I shall introduce myself—and Ileana, this lady here—and then tomorrow, here's what I've been thinking…" Rilian moves so his back is to the five—he can feel both Sons of Adam watching him—and tells the Captain some of his plans for the afternoon tomorrow. The Captain nods, and Rilian turns to the five.
"I'm very glad you've kept your word," he tells them. "This is Lady Ileana, who may or may not be a part of your training. Ileana, this," and he nods to the black-striped Kitten, "is Carmi, this" to the white Kitten, "is Bethava, and these three Dogs are Zabi, Serchi, and Terchi. The red-haired lad is Piram, and his cousin is Jarmu."
"It is good to meet you," she says from beside him, and they nod or bow back, and then Rilian turns and leaves. He knows Ileana will follow.
"Not today?" she asks curiously.
"I'll let the Captain determine the time. Tomorrow, though, I think. So what would you like to do today?"
She glances around, and then back at the closed door. "Are those the weapons your people use?" she asks, and Rilian feels a little cold.
"Yes…"
She grins at him, and it's not enchanting, it's not magical, except it is, for it's the grin of one mischief-maker to another. "Teach me."
Rilian does—in part. He teaches her how to use a dagger, to defend herself, he tells his mind, just in case the Ambassador gets too close. They spend all afternoon training in lunges, parries, and stabs, and Rilian shows her form after form, arranging her strong arms and pulling them through the strikes. She does not lose her breath once, and he wonders if he is overreacting. She is also distracted by constant glances at the sky and the sun as it sets.
They eat dinner together, though Ileana keeps glancing out the window. She finishes much sooner than he does, and the instant he sets his fork down she is standing, reaching for his hand and pulling him after her. Rilian excuses himself to the others at the table and then lets her pull him through the corridors.
She goes straight to her room. Once they open the door—Rilian leaves it open, to stop any talk—she goes to the wide-open window. She sits on the sill, and pulls him to sit on the other side. When he watches her, waiting, she sweeps her hand through the outside air. "Listen," she tells him. "Remember the light."
Rilian looks outside—and sees the ships, as tiny as toys, and the cliff, and the sea. He raises his head and looks at the sky.
The stars are still shining. White and small, steady and beautiful, they are where they have been all his life. He listens, slowing his breathing, and he can hear them, he can hear the song of the stars. High and piercingly sweet, someone had said once, and Rilian remembers it, and lets it pierce his heart. He closes his eyes, shutting out the ships, the window, even the Mermaid across from him, and listens to the song of the stars.
Even with his eyes closed, he knows Ileana is listening as well.
A/N: Guys, it's 4,600 words, and we didn't even get to the scare with the kids. Seriously?
Beta'd by trustingHim17!
There's been a long train of added events in my life this week—trying to get a plane ticket to CA to see my sister's wedding later this year means I'm taking a temporary third job. Between that and other real-life things, I am not sure I'm going to be able to write enough to post twice a week. I will finish this one, though! I'm enjoying it. And then I'll get back to The Walker.
