[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

[sai_delgado]

"Thee mischief," she teases. "Will'ee not give me a hint as to who?"

[the_seafarer]

"I'll offer a hint," he laughs. "It's not likely to be someone small."

In fact, as they come closer, the horses start dancing as the ground trembles underfoot. Another turn in the path, and a line of trees becomes visible – along with a large brown bear, scratching its back luxuriously against a gnarled trunk, and a small giant shaking another, sending a storm of apples pattering down onto the grass.

[sai_delgado]

"Hush, thee silly," she coaxes the mare, trying to reassure her and get her to stand. "They'll not harm thee, never in life."

She raises her voice, then, and calls out, "Long days and pleasant nights." They'll likely both recognize Caspian, but that's no reason for her not to make her manners proper, not for Pat Delgado's daughter.

[the_seafarer]

Wimbleweather looks slowly around and then down, scanning the ground for the source of the voice. "Greetings, Daughter of Eve," he says, in his rumbling voice, each word ponderous and deliberate.

The Bear stops his scratching and squints nearsightedly at them, then gets up and lumbers over. "It isn't," it says, in a growly voice. "Oh, it is. Good day, sire. Have you seen any beehives on your way?"

"Good day, my friends," Caspian laughs. "I'm afraid not, good Bear. But this is my dear friend, Susan. Won't you make her welcome?"

"Yes, of course," the Bear responds. "Only will you check? About the hives? These apples would be just right with a bit of honey."

[sai_delgado]

"We'll keep a sharp eye out," Susan promises, beaming at the Bear. "It's lovely to meet ye both. His Majesty's told me of ye, and I'm delighted to have the chance, say true."

[the_seafarer]

The giant ponders for a moment. "Apples?" he wonders aloud, then turns back to the tree.

"Oh, Wimbleweather, no – " Caspian begins but it's too late: the giant gives the tree a good shake and apples fly off in all directions, thudding to the ground at the horses feet and zooming past their heads.

[sai_delgado]

The mare shies at the storm of apples, half-rearing and letting out a shrill whinny. Susan balances with her with graceful ease, bringing her back down to all four hooves and turning her in a large circle. "There, now," she praises, low and soothing. "It's all right, there's naught to fear."

She throws Caspian a laughing glance, then looks up at the giant. "Thankee-sai," she calls, "we've enough now and to spare, so no more, I beg."

[the_seafarer]

Caspian gives her a half-wry, half-amused glance and smoothly dismounts from Destrier as Wimbleweather visibly thinks through Susan's response. Eventually, the giant arrives at an understanding of her thanks, and smiles beatifically at her.

The Bear, meanwhile, ambles through the fallen apples, picking carefully through them with one paw while sucking distractedly on the other, like a baby with a pacifier.

[sai_delgado]

She can tell when it sinks in for Wimbleweather what she'd meant, and beams back at him. Susan dismounts and leads the mare to the side of the little clearing, where there's plenty of grass and shade, and piles up several apples for her. Once she's contentedly munching, Susan leaves her there with a pat and comes back to join Caspian.

"How goes the day?" she asks the Bear. Susan's not entirely sure of what sort of conversation they'd like, but that'll not stop her from trying all the same.

[the_seafarer]

The Bear sits heavily in the shade of another apple tree and mumbles something impossible to decipher around the paw in its mouth. Caspian clears his throat, politely gazing up at the sky, and the Bear whips its paw out of its mouth and puts it behind its back guiltily.

"Oh, fine, fine, Daughter of Eve," it tells her. "Though it may rain to-night."

"It looks clear thus far," Caspian opines, and the Bear nods comfortably along. "Yes, yes it does. It does look clear. So perhaps it won't, after all."

[sai_delgado]

Laughter sparkles in her glance at the way Caspian so gently and deftly manages the Bear, but she keeps it inside, not wanting to offend the dear creature. Susan bends down and scoops up a particularly nice apple, which she offers to Caspian before she observes, cheerfully, "Mayhap not. But rain helps the apples grow, so it'll all be to the good any road."

[the_seafarer]

"And flowers," Caspian agrees, accepting the apple with a twinkle in his eye. Destrier is moving from apple to apple on the ground, munching away, and Susan's mare seems to be equally enjoying herself. "Which is good for the bees. And therefore, for the honey."

The Bear brightens. "What a good point, sire. Daughter of Eve. Aren't you clever. I do like honey. And apples."

[sai_delgado]

"I knew someone once who made a mead of apples brewed with honey," she muses. "It were always welcome at the Fair-Days."

[the_seafarer]

"Oh, that does sound nice," the Bear muses. "I shall have to tell the Dwarves. They'd like that, very much."

"I'm certain they would," Caspian agrees, then points out a wandering honeybee that's alighted on a crushed apple and is sipping at its juice. "I suppose you could try following that bee, if you'd like to find some honey."

[sai_delgado]

While Caspian's pointing out the bee to the Bear, Susan peers up at the giant, who's alternating between looking down at them and watching out over the trees into the distance. "Is there something to see, sai Wimbleweather?" she asks, politely.

[the_seafarer]

The giant looks down at her, then shakes his head. "But it's worth looking."

"It often is," Caspian agrees, and catches Susan's glance with his own merry one. "Well, Su, shall we leave them to their apple-picking and go tour the castle?"

[sai_delgado]

She beams a sweet smile at him in answer. "Aye, let's do."

[the_seafarer]

He waves farewell to the Bear and to Giant Wimbleweather, then clucks to Destrier, who lifts his head from an apple and jogs over. "We're close enough to walk," he tells Susan. "But we may want to bring the horses with us anyway."

[sai_delgado]

“He’s trained a treat,” she approves, even as she nods agreement with his suggestion. “Such a beauty!”

Susan goes to claim her mare’s rein for a lead, picking up a few more apples on the way to stash in the saddlebag.

“Which way?”

[the_seafarer]

"He had to be, for battle."

He collects the stallion's reins and follows suit with a few apples of his own, then bites into the one Susan had given him. It tastes crisp and sweet and juicy and for a moment he's transported back in time to those first harvests in Narnia after the Telmarines had been driven out. "This way," he tells her, tipping his head toward a path that leads away at an angle from the spot where they came in.

[sai_delgado]

"Aye, and he would," she agrees. "Like Boukephalos."

Susan draws the mare to one side, a little, so she can walk beside Caspian. "Yer friends are nice."

[the_seafarer]

"Aye," he agrees, affection and amusement mixed. "They weren't the most effective soldiers, but they're good folk. Both the Bear and Wimbleweather were Marshals of the List when High King Peter dueled my uncle, you know."

[sai_delgado]

She makes a curious sound, and gives him a look that's equally curious, at that. "What would'ee have marshals for, in a duel? Not that I ken duels much, save for Anthy's, and it's not - that were before--"

She's a little flustered as she tries to explain, and leaves off.

[the_seafarer]

He gives her a quizzical glance, but answers easily. "They stand at the four corners and the mid-points of the field," he tells her. "To ensure no rules are broken, and that no duelist cheats."

[sai_delgado]

"Oh." Susan considers that for a second, then gives a small shrug. "Seems practical, mayhap?"

And she catches that glance, indeed she does, and determinedly sets herself to try to explain. "As I said, I've not had knowing of such things. Except for when Anthy were the Rose Bride, and that were different, I wot. Did'ee ken all of that?"