[au] Narnia and the North

[the_seafarer]

There's a chill bite to the air, these days. The horses have been growing out their winter coats, and they look shaggy and plump as Caspian turns them out into the paddocks. Behind the stables, in the makeshift woodshop he'd cobbled together, the sleigh from his drawings is starting to come together. 

He hopes he'll have it finished by Christmas. With a little luck, and maybe some assistance, he thinks it should be possible. The tack, he's largely left up to Susan's devices, though he'd commission Gimli the dwarf for the various buckles and other metal pieces they'll need.

Once the horses are turned out, he gets to his other morning chores with a will, whistling cheerfully as he does. The stable stays strangely quiet around him. It takes him the better part of an hour to realize the strangeness is because he's become accustomed to Susan's cheerful presence working alongside him, talking or humming or simply working in companionable silence. 

Caspian pauses in his task – refilling the grain chest – and looks around. Susan's nowhere to be seen, and when he later wanders through the stables, checking each stall and outside, he can't find her there, either.

Comments

[the_seafarer]

"May I escort you outside?" Reepicheep asks, gallantry and consternation mixing freely.

But it's cold outside, and though she has a coat, she lacks his soft and insulating fur. "Or to your rooms – somewhere you can open a window – "

[sai_delgado]

He'll feel better if she lets him, she's certain-sure of it, and although she thinks longingly of the rose by the lakeshore Susan's not sure if it yet blooms... and if it doesn't, she might well weep over it, the state she's in, which would upset Reepicheep and Caspian both.

"My room, an'ye'd not mind it," she decides. It's lost the menace it had for her before, after all, and with his escort she'll likely be safe from the ka that befell Joe. "But would'ee tell 'Bert and Alain first?"

[the_seafarer]

"Yes, of course."

He checks to make sure she'll be alright for the few moments that will take, then goes hurrying across the room in a flash of dark fur and a flick of long tail, making his way to the gunslingers.

[sai_delgado]

"Blankets and bedrolls both," Alain tells Cuthbert, before his glance flicks to the approaching Mouse, then to Susan beyond, where she's leaning her head on her arm, eyes closed.

'Bert's turned on the instant at Reepicheep's approach, and concern flashes through his eyes. "Something wrong?"

[the_seafarer]

"The lady assures me not, but – "

The Mouse is clearly distressed, though he has himself under admirable control. "She wishes for some fresh air and requested I escort her to her rooms. She asked me to notify you both."

[sai_delgado]

"Ah," murmurs Alain. "I expect she didn't want us to worry."

Cuthbert is practically vibrating, but he hears the caution under Alain's words. Reassuring. Right. He can be reassuring. "Probably," he agrees. "Still - Alain, why don't you keep on with that list, and I'll just have a word with Susan." He nods to the Mouse, and starts over to her.

[the_seafarer]

Reepicheep comes along, certain now that there's more happening than the lady had wished to share. He doesn't take it personally, but he does hope his King has a better understanding of all this than he does.

Moving quickly on all four paws, he gets back to Susan before the gunslinger does. "Cuthbert will accompany us," he tells her, hoping she's awake enough to make it back to her rooms. "If it please you."

[sai_delgado]

"Nay," Susan says, firmly, raising her head from her arm. She gives Cuthbert a quick smile as he approaches, but her attention is on Reepicheep.

"He's busy with Alain, and I'm all right and more than, with yer kind escort. I'd only wanted them not to worry over where I'd gone."

[the_seafarer]

Reepicheep looks up at Cuthbert. "With your permission, Son of Adam, I will do as she asks."

[sai_delgado]

"I'd take it as a kindness, Sai Mouse," Cuthbert says, perfectly aware of the quick flash in Susan's glance at the thought of needing his permission. He'd far rather see even her full temper than the soft, weary daze she's shown all too much of late. "We'll meet there later, Sue, if that's all right with thee."

"'Tis," she says, and starts to climb to her feet. He reaches to give her a hand up.

[the_seafarer]

Reepicheep hovers by her knees, aware that he won't be able to help her up, until she's on her feet. Once she's upright, he gives her space but stays near enough for assistance, should any be required.

"Allow me, madam," he tells her, offering to walk at her side.

[sai_delgado]

"Thankee-sai," she tells him, sincerely. Susan gives Cuthbert a quick, reassuring smile, then starts toward her quarters.

It helps to move; it helps more to move away from the front door, she realizes.

[the_seafarer]

He escorts her to her rooms; once there, he moves ahead and runs lightly up to the window, throwing it open to allow some fresh cold air to blow in.

"You won't be too chilled, will you?" he asks, all solicitous concern.

[sai_delgado]

Susan shakes her head and moves to sit on the sofa. "I won't. It's refreshing, say true."

[the_seafarer]

Reepicheep comes near and perches on the arm of the sofa, considering her. "Shall I entertain you?" he asks, polite. "Sing you a song, or tell you a tale?"

[sai_delgado]

Fog-gray eyes widen in real delight. "Ye sing?"

[the_seafarer]

"Yes, of course," the Mouse tells her, "and though I don't pretend to have any real talent at it, I flatter myself my voice is not painful to the ears. Would you like a song, Daughter of Eve?"

[sai_delgado]

"Aye, I would, very much," she tells him, "and to sing with ye, if ye'd allow it."

Her da' had always said her voice were gifted of her gramma, and the warmth of simple happiness spreads through her at the thought.

[the_seafarer]

"My lady, I would be honored."

He thinks for a moment, then stands and sings in his sweet, chirruping voice:

O sailor, where are you bound?
I'm bound across that eastern sea.
Tell my love I'm gone to roam,
and bring her home a pearl or two.

[sai_delgado]

She slips off her boots and tucks her feet up under her in the corner of the little sofa, listening with every sign of contentment. It's easy enough for her to pick up the melody, and she hums a very soft counterpoint beneath it.

[the_seafarer]

The Mouse, seeing that she's in no mind to stop him, continues.

O sailor, what have you seen?
I spied a green and faroff shore.
A year and more since I've seen home,
and looked to see her smile at me.

[sai_delgado]

It reminds her a little of the song Charlie Pace had taught her, months ago.

(the water is wide, I cannot cross o'er
and neither have I wings to fly
build me a boat that will carry two
and both shall row, my love and I)

Susan keeps up her soft harmony while Reepicheep sings, then offers a song of her own for him in turn.

In this way, time passes.

[the_seafarer]

Having heard her woes and what she battles against – and knowing full well what his king would think of him abandoning her – Reepicheep gently but firmly rebuffs any and all attempts by her to consider his own time as anything other than well-spent. When she grows too weary to sing, he tells her stories, instead, and is even now relating the tale of the dryad who sang over his cradle and the destiny he'd always sought.

[sai_delgado]

She leans against the back of the couch, head pillowed on her arm, and listens carefully, fighting to show no more weariness than that. Reepicheep is worried enough as things are.

“Caspian says they’re a bit like the tree-folken here,” she murmurs. “But not, too. I can’t explain it. How did she ken what yer ka were to be?”

[the_seafarer]

Reepicheep shakes his darkly-furred head, the feather in his headband waving gently with the motion. "That, I could not begin to guess," he tells her. "I know that she must have been old, and wise, and powerful, because almost all of the other dryads of Narnia had hidden themselves away, sleeping in their trees while the Conquerors reigned."

A light step sounds in the hall, and a gentle rap at the door before it opens and Caspian steps inside. "Hullo," he says, cheerfully. He's come straight from the stables, and some bits of straw and hay-dust on his clothes confirm it. "Is Reep telling you stories, Susan? He's quite good at it, isn't he?"