[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]

The girl takes her hand and rises gracefully to her feet, then walks with her back in the direction of the celebration.

[sai_delgado]

They pass near-silently over the soft grass as they climb the little rise to its crest. As they start the descent into the vale below, Susan looks around, trying to spot Caspian.

[the_seafarer]

The dance has gotten even more lively, and the vale is full now of Narnians of all sorts: Dwarves, Fauns, Dryads, Naiads, Centaurs, Talking Animals. And among them all, hair bright under the starlight, Caspian talks and laughs and embraces them as old friends.

Nothing bad could happen to Susan here, and he knows better than most that sometimes Aslan's Country provides that which could not be found anywhere else; both in the form of comfort and answers.

So when he looks up and sees the two girls standing together, hand in hand, one drenched in starlight, one bright as the morning sun, his heart gives a glad leap and he smiles as he lowers his head to them both.

[sai_delgado]

She squeezes the star-queen's hand gently. "Merry see, merry be," Susan murmurs. "He's happy, say true."

[the_seafarer]

"As am I."

She watches with a gentle smile as Caspian extracts himself from the bustle of Narnians and comes toward them with a smile that encompasses them both. The girl releases Susan's hand as he comes near and steps forward, her bare feet soft on the grass, to reach a hand out gently touching his cheek.

For a long moment, they look at one another, and then Caspian opens his arms and the girl folds into his embrace.

[sai_delgado]

For all that she doesn't feel an intruder after Liliandil's assurances, still Susan wants to give them--

(give ye joy of each other)

--a moment of peace and reunion that's theirs alone. A flurry of motion off to the side draws her attention, and Susan seizes her chance and goes a few steps off to kneel down and help a particularly young fawn who's gotten their flower-crown tangled around their neck.

[the_seafarer]

What words they might speak to each other are too quiet to hear, but the way he clasps her to himself and the look they share when finally he lets her go, his hands falling to take hers, are as clear as anything that might be said.

She curls her fingers around his, then lets go, and he watches as she walks gracefully through the ranks of Narnians, who have paused in their merrymaking to bow to her as she passes.

[sai_delgado]

Well-loved indeed, say true, and it's so very clear. Susan curtseys as well as she moves through the crowd, but stays to the outside near the little faun.

[the_seafarer]

She pauses as she reaches the other side of the vale, after stopping to speak with and smile at some of the Narnians, and turns. Across the respectful heads of the people they both loved so much, her glance meets Caspian's.

After a moment's held breath, her smile shines out, and she lifts her hands. The starlight that clings to her strengthens and glows, until she's so bright one can hardly bear to look at her. In the next moment, the glow ascends, and a bright star with clear blue light shines lovingly down upon them all.

[sai_delgado]

Susan stares upward in wonder, then turns to look for Caspian amid the gathered group.

[the_seafarer]

He's standing where the star's daughter left him, his face upturned to the sky. After a moment, he looks back down, and when his glance finds Susan, he gives her a smile of surpassing sweetness and holds out his hand.

[sai_delgado]

She murmurs a word to the little faun and crosses to join him. Susan takes his offered hand and squeezes his fingers. "She's very dear," she says, softly. "I'm glad thee were able to see her."

[the_seafarer]

"She is," he agrees, and laces their fingers together. Beyond them, the tiny faun skips back into the dance and is whirled away on a wave of mirth.

His eyes are alight and his smile for her is warm and fond. "Did you get along?"

[sai_delgado]

"Aye," she assures him. "She were very kind. I'd not have expected to have the chance to meet her, but I'm glad I did, say true."

He looks happy, and she's very glad of that, too.

[the_seafarer]

"She is," he agrees, again, his voice quiet. "Very kind."

Caspian squeezes her hand in his. "I'm happy you had the chance to meet, too."

[sai_delgado]

Her tone shades a little rueful, but there's laughter in her fog-gray glance all the same. "I've never met a star before. Drinian were right."

[the_seafarer]

"Oh?"

He smiles in response to the laughter in her eyes, even without knowing what she means. "What was he right about?"

[sai_delgado]

"That she were wise and kind and beautiful," Susan tells him. "And that I'd like her."

[the_seafarer]

"Drinian can be wise, too."

He lifts her hand and presses a kiss to her knuckles. "Do you want to go back down and join the merrymaking?"

Unspoken, but still clear, is the offer to stay here, or to walk where they will in the starlight, or to return through the door to the place they both, for a while, call home.

[sai_delgado]

Susan searches his expression with care. "Do thee?"

She would, if he'd like, and be glad to, but she'd not mind a bit of quiet now.

[the_seafarer]

If he's truthful, he does – a little – but it's a want based on his own love of this place and these people and the traditions he's missed, and as sweet as those are, he isn't here for them.

He shakes his head. "Let's rest a moment."

[sai_delgado]

"If thee're sure." Her smile is sweet. "It's wonderful to see thee so happy."

[the_seafarer]

"I'm sure," he promises, and starts walking with her a little ways from the vale, in the opposite of the direction from which she came with Liliandil. When he reaches a small slope, he lets go her hand and sets himself down, then lies back on the grass and gives her a smile as he pillows his head on one arm and reaches the other for her in invitation.

[sai_delgado]

She settles carefully next to him, resting her head on his shoulder as she curls into his side.

"Do we have time to stay a little while yet?" she murmurs.

[the_seafarer]

"As long as you like."

He curves his arm around her and looks up at the star-scattered sky. The feelings in his chest are complex and strong, but he can sift through them at his leisure. And they don't hurt, not really. "And when you're ready to leave, we can go."