17. Are there any alchemists in Narnia? What would they be trying to create?
The sweet scent of crushed flowers filled the cave. Dwarf-made lanterns, hanging in five places from the rocky ceiling, shone like stars in the darkness, making the interior brighter than the sunshine outside. Counters lined every side, with pots, jars, cups, and various other containers scattered on them in no particular order, and in the middle of the chaos a Bear stood frowning.
"I don't understand," he muttered. "I don't understand." He peered at the closest vial, which held an amber coloured liquid. "It's a tea. He won't want tea. It isn't supposed to be tea. I don't understand."
Yawning, the Bear sat down with a thud. "Sleep, then doing what they said." He let himself fall the rest of the way, and curled up on one side.
It was another two days before the Bear woke up, though he wasn't aware of it. He ambled out of the cave, poked his head into a nearby stream (coming up with a fish in his mouth), shook himself, walked to a hedge and pulled a few branches aside to peek at the hives inside the circular grove, shook his head, put the branches back, and went back to the cave.
And his experiments.
I can't give you any details of them, because I'm not an alchemist myself, but I can tell you that, after three-hundred-sixty-seven tries (and over two thousand muttered "I don't understands"), the alchemist finally created what he was attempting.
He took the honey-based milk to Prince Tirian's one-year-old birthday party as a present.
He was fortunately not around to see the Prince spitting it back out after one tiny spoonful.