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bungakertas) wrote2010-12-12 07:53 am
bungakertas) wrote2010-12-12 07:53 am
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The Trials of King Edmund - Chapter Five
The Trials of King Edmund - Chapter Five
Disclaimer and general Author's Notes are in the first entry, which is linked at the bottom.
The next morning was a flurry of activity as they saw the Calormene ambassadors and Prince Rabadash off. And that afternoon, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy all worked feverishly on the enormous number of things that needed their attention but had been put off a bit while the Calormenes were visiting. Peter, who was planning to leave and meet his army the next day, spent the entire afternoon in conference with Haldring, who had returned with a nearly final count on the numbers Peter would have. And the next day, Peter was off before breakfast.
“Well, that’s that,” Lucy sighed, watching him go. “It never seems right here when one of us is gone.”
“Don’t worry, Lu. Giants are never very clever,” Edmund said. “They’ll have size on their side, but not much else.”
Lucy reached out and hugged him with one arm and Susan with the other. “I suppose you’re right. But I’ll miss him all the same.”
“Come have some breakfast, then. That will cheer you up at least a little,” Susan urged.
They spent the morning in court, but a letter came that afternoon from King Lune, saying Prince Corin had started off for Cair Paravel and would arrive the following day or the day after.
This cheered all three of them up immensely as Corin was a favorite of the entire Narnian court, and so they ordered his usual room made ready for his arrival, and Edmund found himself able to get started on more of the mountain of audiences he still had to conduct with relative equanimity. It had been some time since he had last seen Archenland’s prince.
The arrival of Prince Corin was conducted with not nearly so much ceremony as was that of Prince Rabadash. Rather than lining everyone up in the throne room and showing off, Corin was greeted as he dismounted his horse in the courtyard by two Narnian queens who quite forgot their dignity in their haste of running over to him and plastering him with kisses of greeting and exclamations of how tall he had grown in the last year.
Edmund walked out to him more slowly, but with a smile on his face no less broad. “And my greeting to you, your highness,” he said. “I would welcome you to Narnia, but you are already welcomed.”
“Your majesty,” Corin replied, trying to bow, and getting hung up around Susan’s arms. “I…can not offer you nearly the courtesy I ought. I beg your forgiveness, sire.”
“It shall be considered,” Edmund replied in mock-sternness.
Corin grinned in reply. The four of them entered the castle, all talking happily. Mr. Tumnus was equally excited to receive Prince Corin and so the next several days passed cheerfully as they all entertained their guest. In fact, if it weren’t for the letters Peter kept sending them, with news of his battles against the northern giants, they would’ve relaxed almost completely. But Edmund knew it was too good to last, and sure enough, a few days later a letter came from the Tisroc. Prince Rabadash requested they visit and so preparations were duly begun.
While the Calormenes had come over the desert, Edmund pointed out that any idea of their going that way was out of the question.
“We’re not nearly as accustomed to crossing deserts as the Calormenes are, and trying would probably just tire us and put us off our guard,” Edmund said while they were in their sitting room. “We’ll go by ship.”
“I suppose you’re right, Edmund,” Susan agreed, looking up from where she and Corin were playing chess.
“Well, now I suppose we’ll simply have to wait and see what King Lune says about Corin going with you,” Lucy agreed.
“You’ll take me, too?” Corin asked, suddenly perking up.
“You can not have thought we’d just leave you behind, your highness” Edmund laughed. “I sent a letter to your father the day we received the Tisroc’s invitation.”
“His reply should be here any day now,” Susan agreed.
Corin looked very surprised and pleased by this. After several moments he simply said, “Thank you, your majesties,” in a very quiet voice.
Susan gave him a grin and then moved one of her knights. “Check.”
That night, before Edmund went to bed, he asked Dilly to put him in touch with one of the talking birds who worked on their staff. Dilly fetched a raven named Sallowpad to his study within five minutes.
Edmund had never met this bird before, and was a bit worried, before meeting him, that he would have that flighty tendency so many talking birds were prone to. However, the instant Sallowpad came winging through the open window, Edmund knew he needn’t have worried. Ravens were generally steady-tempered, and Sallowpad looked even more steady than most.
He landed on Edmund’s desk, fixed one of his dark eyes on him, and said, “Your majesty?”
“I am afraid, Sallowpad, that I need to ask you to perform a rather unpleasant task,” Edmund said. “We need someone in Tashbaan who can watch how things there are going, but won’t draw attention to themselves.”
The raven nodded. “And because I am a bird, you think I will be less likely to be watched, your majesty?”
“Exactly so,” Edmund agreed. “But more importantly, you will be able to go just about anywhere, and if you travel to Tashbaan separately from our party, there will be virtually no one who will look twice at you.”
“When would you like me to leave, sire?” Sallowpad asked.
“Any time between now and when the Splendor Hyaline sails,” Edmund answered.
“With your majesty’s permission, I will go at once. I will be in Tashbaan by tomorrow afternoon, and I will await your arrival there,” he answered.
“Very well, Sallowpad. And good luck to you,” Edmund told him.
The raven dipped his head, then took off and soared out the window, making his course south almost immediately.
Edmund watched him disappear into the dark night, worry crowding in on him. With Peter gone off to the north, and now Susan, Tumnus, himself, their largest flagship, and several of the Narnian nobles off to Tashbaan, Narnia was being stretched terribly thin. He listened to the ocean waves crashing on the shore, although the window faced the wrong way for him to see them. Finally, he sighed.
“Aslan, I wish…I wish you would let me know what you’re doing,” he said quietly before turning back to his work.
Lord Peridan conferred with Rence, the captain of the Splendor Hyaline, as it was fitted out for the journey, provisioned, watered, and otherwise stocked to the nines. King Lune sent a letter informing them that Corin was of course permitted to accompany them provided they believed him capable of conducting himself with sufficient decorum on the trip. Edmund got started on picking people for their trip. With Peridan, himself, Rence, and Corin going along with Susan, there was already a sufficient honor guard for Susan, given that Rence would be escorting them in the city, along with captaining the ship. Tumnus would come, since he was indispensable as an advisor. Which left two openings. After some debate, Edmund chose two dwarves. Thornbut, who was practical, if not always polite, and Mikelston, who was quiet, thoughtful, and extremely well-read.
And finally it was the day they left. Edmund hated leave-takings among the four of them, but he especially hated leaving Lucy behind anywhere. She came with them out to the dock hugged and kissed everyone profusely, clearly unhappy at having to stay home without them.
“Now cheer up, Lu,” Edmund admonished, kissing her hand. “We’ll be back before you know it.”
“I’ll miss you all the same,” she returned, now giving Susan a hug. “Now don’t rush into anything, Su. Be certain about what you decide before you do.”
Susan nodded. “Of course, Lucy.”
As Lucy was hugging Tumnus, Peridan came up to them. “Majesties, Captain Rence tells me that the tide is beginning to turn.”
“That’s it then,” Lucy nodded. “Good luck. All of you.”
“And you, Lucy,” Edmund nodded. He gave her one last hug and then turned for the ship. Peridan, Susan, and Corin followed, and last came Tumnus, sniffing a bit. But as soon as he was boarded the plank was drawn in, the lines cast off and the Splendor Hyaline set out of the harbor, farewelled by the song of merpeople under the water. But Edmund could see Lucy stayed on the dock to see them go for a very long time.
Narnia had been, for a very long time, a seafaring nation. Growing up as king, Edmund had learned navigation by the stars from centaurs, how to swim from merpeople, and how to sail from grizzled old fishermen with gnarled hands, most of whom had naiad relatives. If necessary he could have commanded the ship himself, as could Susan. They could both perform any of the jobs the crew engaged in, as well. He could also take the ship’s boat, alone, to the Lone Islands and come ashore exactly where he intended to.
And since Narnia was a nation so marine capable, when they set out to build a ship fit for their monarchs, they did not do the job halfway. The Splendor Hyaline was a large ship, but had been designed with a narrow keel, which made her much faster than most other ships of comparable size. The three tall masts and numerous sails made it almost easy for her to catch the slightest breeze, and so she seemed to pick up speed almost without effort sometimes. Then there were the state chambers that Edmund, Susan, and Corin had for the voyage. Huge rooms with beautifully carved pillars of dark wood and paneling on the walls and thick carpets on the floor.
Edmund could have sailed on this ship for the rest of his life.
They first made course for Terebinthia, which was a small island off the coast of Archenland, and landed there late the next day. The Queen Leeria insisted that Edmund, Susan, and Corin take supper with her that night and remain as her guests until the next morning. And while she was an excellent hostess, Edmund was disappointed to see that she was throwing a full court ball after supper and insisted that they all partake. As he suspected, it was an excuse for her to inveigle him into dancing with her several times and drop strong hints about the Narnian succession and who would be king after he and Peter were gone. Having encountered her lures before, Edmund was less-than-excited to be subjected to them again, for all that Susan was sent into fits of giggles, and Corin and Peridan both very unsympathetically made no attempts to rescue him.
The next morning they weren’t able to make their escape back to the ship until after lunchtime, and while Edmund told no one about Leeria’s interest, Corin and Susan had no compunctions about sharing that intelligence, so that by that evening the captain’s table greeted him with unanimous smirks of amusement.
The next day was better, however. The whole day was at sea, and Edmund made himself useful—and ordered Corin to do so as well—by helping the sailors in as many small jobs around the ship as he could discover. Susan declined, immersing herself in a book on Calormene history.
Corin had been, thus far, absolutely useless to the entire crew. Small mishaps and accidents seemed to plague him, and so today, Edmund was hoping he could gain some experience that would keep him out of further trouble.
Unfortunately, what actually happened was so much the opposite it was shocking.
One of the sails had developed a tear, so Rence sent several sailors up in the rigging to bring it down for a repair. They were busy working when two of the lines got snarled on one another. Corin saw the trouble and swarmed up into the rigging himself to help.
Edmund tried shouting at him to come down, but it was too late, and once Corin got an idea into his head, it was nearly impossible to knock it out.
It was actually going all right for a time. Despite all prior experience, Corin managed to do very well getting the two lines untangled, and it seemed he would come down with no more exciting of a tale to tell. Unfortunately, Corin’s balance lasted only two seconds after this thought passed through Edmund’s mind, and he started to fall. So, he reached out to catch himself and managed to snag onto one side of the tear in the sail.
The stressed fabric gave way in his hand, and he pulled the tear into an enormous gash as he fell, and he was saved only from a very unpleasant landing on the deck by the rocking of the ship, which sent him over the rail and into the ocean.
Aside from the trouble of fishing him out, the crew now had to fetch a spare sail from the ship’s supplies, since the original one was quite beyond repair after Corin had finished with it. Fortunately, they all determined the incident to be more funny than troublesome and so Corin had to endure nothing worse than a great deal of being laughed at. As he was inclined to laugh at things himself, he had no trouble joining in. However, his reputation as a terrible sailor was thoroughly established from then on.
The next morning they put in at Narrowhaven in the Lone Islands and were welcomed by Duke Garren with a great deal of pomp and circumstance. He feasted them excellently and Edmund managed to snatch a few minutes to himself that night and he snuck out to a nearby grassy field where he lay on his back and watched the stars for a long quiet time.
The next day, while Peridan topped off their supplies, Edmund and Susan spent with Lord Garren, at his request. Garren did an excellent job administrating the Lone Islands, but every so often he needed one or other of the Narnian monarchs to authorize this or that. It was, of course, a lot of boring paperwork, but, since they were present, Edmund felt it was better to get it all out of the way.
The day after that, they were back on the ship and now, having rounded the desert cape south of Archenland, made straight for Tashbaan. Corin, was still encountering and causing small mishaps around the ship, and had it was beginning to be less funny to some. Edmund was vaguely astonished at the amount of trouble he managed to stir up. The crew had begun to avoid him, and Captain Rence, not realizing Edmund could hear him, even remarked to the mate, “If I didn’t know him for a fact to be the Archenlandish prince, I’d swear he was a saboteur and lock him into the brig. I don’t know how he manages it.”
The result of all of which was that when the Splendor Hyaline at last put into port at Tashbaan, Corin was far happier at making landfall than Tumnus, who had spent most of the voyage being terribly seasick.
No one, however, was happier than Susan, who rushed to greet Rabadash with a great deal of affection. Edmund couldn’t observe this with anything but dismay. In fact, the only thing about the whole arrival that cheered him was the fact that no one else noticed the raven that flew up to land on the top spar of the main-mast.
“Her majesty truly likes him, then,” Tumnus sighed beside Edmund, watching the two speaking as they descended the gangplank themselves.
“It would seem so, my friend,” Edmund agreed. “This trip will be…interesting, to say the least.”
“Indeed, your majesty,” Tumnus agreed.
Corin, who was looking around interestedly, talking to Lord Peridan, seemed interested in the horses he saw some of the Calormene nobles riding and they began avidly speculating on this one or that one. Edmund suspected that would keep them busy for several moments and so he turned back to Tumnus. “She is seriously considering his suit.”
Tumnus modulated his pace to be slower and Edmund matched him. “I have heard this,” the faun said. “Your majesty…I would like very much to see Queen Susan, and all of your beloved majesties, happy. And closer and friendlier relations with Calormene could only be good. But I am very concerned at a match with Rabadash. He was charming enough to Susan in Narnia, but to everyone else?”
“I agree with you Tumnus, but I think that these are things Susan must discover for herself. His manners were plain enough before, but she did not see them. I am afraid she will not be persuaded,” Edmund said.
Tumnus blinked. “That is distressing indeed, your majesty. Is there anything I may do?”
Edmund shook his head. “The objections to this match have been voiced. Now we must simply await her decision.”
Tumnus nodded, and their feet touched the dock. Their conference was now at an end. Edmund moved to join his sister and made a perfect courtly bow to Prince Rabadash. “Your highness. How excellent to see you again so soon after our parting! And my deepest thanks to you at the kindness of your welcome to us,” Edmund said.
Rabadash offered a bow in response and said, “Your majesty is welcome, of course,” before turning back to face Susan.
Even Susan noted that slight, although she was far too well mannered to make mention of it.
Rabadash led Susan to a litter, the Narnians fell in behind, and they began to move through the city.
Chapter One - A Proposal is Made to Queen Susan
Chapter Two - Prince Rabadash Arrives in Narnia
Chapter Three - Harfang Sends an Envoy
Chapter Four - The Narnians Hold a Tournament
Chapter Six - In the Court of the Tisroc
Chapter Seven - Prince Corin Goes Missing
Chapter Eight - The Plan of Mr. Tumnus
Chapter Nine - Escape to Narnia and the North
Chapter Ten - The Battle of Anvard
Chapter Eleven - King Edmund and Queen Lucy
Chapter Twelve - The Return To Cair Paravel
Disclaimer and general Author's Notes are in the first entry, which is linked at the bottom.
The next morning was a flurry of activity as they saw the Calormene ambassadors and Prince Rabadash off. And that afternoon, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy all worked feverishly on the enormous number of things that needed their attention but had been put off a bit while the Calormenes were visiting. Peter, who was planning to leave and meet his army the next day, spent the entire afternoon in conference with Haldring, who had returned with a nearly final count on the numbers Peter would have. And the next day, Peter was off before breakfast.
“Well, that’s that,” Lucy sighed, watching him go. “It never seems right here when one of us is gone.”
“Don’t worry, Lu. Giants are never very clever,” Edmund said. “They’ll have size on their side, but not much else.”
Lucy reached out and hugged him with one arm and Susan with the other. “I suppose you’re right. But I’ll miss him all the same.”
“Come have some breakfast, then. That will cheer you up at least a little,” Susan urged.
They spent the morning in court, but a letter came that afternoon from King Lune, saying Prince Corin had started off for Cair Paravel and would arrive the following day or the day after.
This cheered all three of them up immensely as Corin was a favorite of the entire Narnian court, and so they ordered his usual room made ready for his arrival, and Edmund found himself able to get started on more of the mountain of audiences he still had to conduct with relative equanimity. It had been some time since he had last seen Archenland’s prince.
The arrival of Prince Corin was conducted with not nearly so much ceremony as was that of Prince Rabadash. Rather than lining everyone up in the throne room and showing off, Corin was greeted as he dismounted his horse in the courtyard by two Narnian queens who quite forgot their dignity in their haste of running over to him and plastering him with kisses of greeting and exclamations of how tall he had grown in the last year.
Edmund walked out to him more slowly, but with a smile on his face no less broad. “And my greeting to you, your highness,” he said. “I would welcome you to Narnia, but you are already welcomed.”
“Your majesty,” Corin replied, trying to bow, and getting hung up around Susan’s arms. “I…can not offer you nearly the courtesy I ought. I beg your forgiveness, sire.”
“It shall be considered,” Edmund replied in mock-sternness.
Corin grinned in reply. The four of them entered the castle, all talking happily. Mr. Tumnus was equally excited to receive Prince Corin and so the next several days passed cheerfully as they all entertained their guest. In fact, if it weren’t for the letters Peter kept sending them, with news of his battles against the northern giants, they would’ve relaxed almost completely. But Edmund knew it was too good to last, and sure enough, a few days later a letter came from the Tisroc. Prince Rabadash requested they visit and so preparations were duly begun.
While the Calormenes had come over the desert, Edmund pointed out that any idea of their going that way was out of the question.
“We’re not nearly as accustomed to crossing deserts as the Calormenes are, and trying would probably just tire us and put us off our guard,” Edmund said while they were in their sitting room. “We’ll go by ship.”
“I suppose you’re right, Edmund,” Susan agreed, looking up from where she and Corin were playing chess.
“Well, now I suppose we’ll simply have to wait and see what King Lune says about Corin going with you,” Lucy agreed.
“You’ll take me, too?” Corin asked, suddenly perking up.
“You can not have thought we’d just leave you behind, your highness” Edmund laughed. “I sent a letter to your father the day we received the Tisroc’s invitation.”
“His reply should be here any day now,” Susan agreed.
Corin looked very surprised and pleased by this. After several moments he simply said, “Thank you, your majesties,” in a very quiet voice.
Susan gave him a grin and then moved one of her knights. “Check.”
That night, before Edmund went to bed, he asked Dilly to put him in touch with one of the talking birds who worked on their staff. Dilly fetched a raven named Sallowpad to his study within five minutes.
Edmund had never met this bird before, and was a bit worried, before meeting him, that he would have that flighty tendency so many talking birds were prone to. However, the instant Sallowpad came winging through the open window, Edmund knew he needn’t have worried. Ravens were generally steady-tempered, and Sallowpad looked even more steady than most.
He landed on Edmund’s desk, fixed one of his dark eyes on him, and said, “Your majesty?”
“I am afraid, Sallowpad, that I need to ask you to perform a rather unpleasant task,” Edmund said. “We need someone in Tashbaan who can watch how things there are going, but won’t draw attention to themselves.”
The raven nodded. “And because I am a bird, you think I will be less likely to be watched, your majesty?”
“Exactly so,” Edmund agreed. “But more importantly, you will be able to go just about anywhere, and if you travel to Tashbaan separately from our party, there will be virtually no one who will look twice at you.”
“When would you like me to leave, sire?” Sallowpad asked.
“Any time between now and when the Splendor Hyaline sails,” Edmund answered.
“With your majesty’s permission, I will go at once. I will be in Tashbaan by tomorrow afternoon, and I will await your arrival there,” he answered.
“Very well, Sallowpad. And good luck to you,” Edmund told him.
The raven dipped his head, then took off and soared out the window, making his course south almost immediately.
Edmund watched him disappear into the dark night, worry crowding in on him. With Peter gone off to the north, and now Susan, Tumnus, himself, their largest flagship, and several of the Narnian nobles off to Tashbaan, Narnia was being stretched terribly thin. He listened to the ocean waves crashing on the shore, although the window faced the wrong way for him to see them. Finally, he sighed.
“Aslan, I wish…I wish you would let me know what you’re doing,” he said quietly before turning back to his work.
Lord Peridan conferred with Rence, the captain of the Splendor Hyaline, as it was fitted out for the journey, provisioned, watered, and otherwise stocked to the nines. King Lune sent a letter informing them that Corin was of course permitted to accompany them provided they believed him capable of conducting himself with sufficient decorum on the trip. Edmund got started on picking people for their trip. With Peridan, himself, Rence, and Corin going along with Susan, there was already a sufficient honor guard for Susan, given that Rence would be escorting them in the city, along with captaining the ship. Tumnus would come, since he was indispensable as an advisor. Which left two openings. After some debate, Edmund chose two dwarves. Thornbut, who was practical, if not always polite, and Mikelston, who was quiet, thoughtful, and extremely well-read.
And finally it was the day they left. Edmund hated leave-takings among the four of them, but he especially hated leaving Lucy behind anywhere. She came with them out to the dock hugged and kissed everyone profusely, clearly unhappy at having to stay home without them.
“Now cheer up, Lu,” Edmund admonished, kissing her hand. “We’ll be back before you know it.”
“I’ll miss you all the same,” she returned, now giving Susan a hug. “Now don’t rush into anything, Su. Be certain about what you decide before you do.”
Susan nodded. “Of course, Lucy.”
As Lucy was hugging Tumnus, Peridan came up to them. “Majesties, Captain Rence tells me that the tide is beginning to turn.”
“That’s it then,” Lucy nodded. “Good luck. All of you.”
“And you, Lucy,” Edmund nodded. He gave her one last hug and then turned for the ship. Peridan, Susan, and Corin followed, and last came Tumnus, sniffing a bit. But as soon as he was boarded the plank was drawn in, the lines cast off and the Splendor Hyaline set out of the harbor, farewelled by the song of merpeople under the water. But Edmund could see Lucy stayed on the dock to see them go for a very long time.
Narnia had been, for a very long time, a seafaring nation. Growing up as king, Edmund had learned navigation by the stars from centaurs, how to swim from merpeople, and how to sail from grizzled old fishermen with gnarled hands, most of whom had naiad relatives. If necessary he could have commanded the ship himself, as could Susan. They could both perform any of the jobs the crew engaged in, as well. He could also take the ship’s boat, alone, to the Lone Islands and come ashore exactly where he intended to.
And since Narnia was a nation so marine capable, when they set out to build a ship fit for their monarchs, they did not do the job halfway. The Splendor Hyaline was a large ship, but had been designed with a narrow keel, which made her much faster than most other ships of comparable size. The three tall masts and numerous sails made it almost easy for her to catch the slightest breeze, and so she seemed to pick up speed almost without effort sometimes. Then there were the state chambers that Edmund, Susan, and Corin had for the voyage. Huge rooms with beautifully carved pillars of dark wood and paneling on the walls and thick carpets on the floor.
Edmund could have sailed on this ship for the rest of his life.
They first made course for Terebinthia, which was a small island off the coast of Archenland, and landed there late the next day. The Queen Leeria insisted that Edmund, Susan, and Corin take supper with her that night and remain as her guests until the next morning. And while she was an excellent hostess, Edmund was disappointed to see that she was throwing a full court ball after supper and insisted that they all partake. As he suspected, it was an excuse for her to inveigle him into dancing with her several times and drop strong hints about the Narnian succession and who would be king after he and Peter were gone. Having encountered her lures before, Edmund was less-than-excited to be subjected to them again, for all that Susan was sent into fits of giggles, and Corin and Peridan both very unsympathetically made no attempts to rescue him.
The next morning they weren’t able to make their escape back to the ship until after lunchtime, and while Edmund told no one about Leeria’s interest, Corin and Susan had no compunctions about sharing that intelligence, so that by that evening the captain’s table greeted him with unanimous smirks of amusement.
The next day was better, however. The whole day was at sea, and Edmund made himself useful—and ordered Corin to do so as well—by helping the sailors in as many small jobs around the ship as he could discover. Susan declined, immersing herself in a book on Calormene history.
Corin had been, thus far, absolutely useless to the entire crew. Small mishaps and accidents seemed to plague him, and so today, Edmund was hoping he could gain some experience that would keep him out of further trouble.
Unfortunately, what actually happened was so much the opposite it was shocking.
One of the sails had developed a tear, so Rence sent several sailors up in the rigging to bring it down for a repair. They were busy working when two of the lines got snarled on one another. Corin saw the trouble and swarmed up into the rigging himself to help.
Edmund tried shouting at him to come down, but it was too late, and once Corin got an idea into his head, it was nearly impossible to knock it out.
It was actually going all right for a time. Despite all prior experience, Corin managed to do very well getting the two lines untangled, and it seemed he would come down with no more exciting of a tale to tell. Unfortunately, Corin’s balance lasted only two seconds after this thought passed through Edmund’s mind, and he started to fall. So, he reached out to catch himself and managed to snag onto one side of the tear in the sail.
The stressed fabric gave way in his hand, and he pulled the tear into an enormous gash as he fell, and he was saved only from a very unpleasant landing on the deck by the rocking of the ship, which sent him over the rail and into the ocean.
Aside from the trouble of fishing him out, the crew now had to fetch a spare sail from the ship’s supplies, since the original one was quite beyond repair after Corin had finished with it. Fortunately, they all determined the incident to be more funny than troublesome and so Corin had to endure nothing worse than a great deal of being laughed at. As he was inclined to laugh at things himself, he had no trouble joining in. However, his reputation as a terrible sailor was thoroughly established from then on.
The next morning they put in at Narrowhaven in the Lone Islands and were welcomed by Duke Garren with a great deal of pomp and circumstance. He feasted them excellently and Edmund managed to snatch a few minutes to himself that night and he snuck out to a nearby grassy field where he lay on his back and watched the stars for a long quiet time.
The next day, while Peridan topped off their supplies, Edmund and Susan spent with Lord Garren, at his request. Garren did an excellent job administrating the Lone Islands, but every so often he needed one or other of the Narnian monarchs to authorize this or that. It was, of course, a lot of boring paperwork, but, since they were present, Edmund felt it was better to get it all out of the way.
The day after that, they were back on the ship and now, having rounded the desert cape south of Archenland, made straight for Tashbaan. Corin, was still encountering and causing small mishaps around the ship, and had it was beginning to be less funny to some. Edmund was vaguely astonished at the amount of trouble he managed to stir up. The crew had begun to avoid him, and Captain Rence, not realizing Edmund could hear him, even remarked to the mate, “If I didn’t know him for a fact to be the Archenlandish prince, I’d swear he was a saboteur and lock him into the brig. I don’t know how he manages it.”
The result of all of which was that when the Splendor Hyaline at last put into port at Tashbaan, Corin was far happier at making landfall than Tumnus, who had spent most of the voyage being terribly seasick.
No one, however, was happier than Susan, who rushed to greet Rabadash with a great deal of affection. Edmund couldn’t observe this with anything but dismay. In fact, the only thing about the whole arrival that cheered him was the fact that no one else noticed the raven that flew up to land on the top spar of the main-mast.
“Her majesty truly likes him, then,” Tumnus sighed beside Edmund, watching the two speaking as they descended the gangplank themselves.
“It would seem so, my friend,” Edmund agreed. “This trip will be…interesting, to say the least.”
“Indeed, your majesty,” Tumnus agreed.
Corin, who was looking around interestedly, talking to Lord Peridan, seemed interested in the horses he saw some of the Calormene nobles riding and they began avidly speculating on this one or that one. Edmund suspected that would keep them busy for several moments and so he turned back to Tumnus. “She is seriously considering his suit.”
Tumnus modulated his pace to be slower and Edmund matched him. “I have heard this,” the faun said. “Your majesty…I would like very much to see Queen Susan, and all of your beloved majesties, happy. And closer and friendlier relations with Calormene could only be good. But I am very concerned at a match with Rabadash. He was charming enough to Susan in Narnia, but to everyone else?”
“I agree with you Tumnus, but I think that these are things Susan must discover for herself. His manners were plain enough before, but she did not see them. I am afraid she will not be persuaded,” Edmund said.
Tumnus blinked. “That is distressing indeed, your majesty. Is there anything I may do?”
Edmund shook his head. “The objections to this match have been voiced. Now we must simply await her decision.”
Tumnus nodded, and their feet touched the dock. Their conference was now at an end. Edmund moved to join his sister and made a perfect courtly bow to Prince Rabadash. “Your highness. How excellent to see you again so soon after our parting! And my deepest thanks to you at the kindness of your welcome to us,” Edmund said.
Rabadash offered a bow in response and said, “Your majesty is welcome, of course,” before turning back to face Susan.
Even Susan noted that slight, although she was far too well mannered to make mention of it.
Rabadash led Susan to a litter, the Narnians fell in behind, and they began to move through the city.
Chapter One - A Proposal is Made to Queen Susan
Chapter Two - Prince Rabadash Arrives in Narnia
Chapter Three - Harfang Sends an Envoy
Chapter Four - The Narnians Hold a Tournament
Chapter Six - In the Court of the Tisroc
Chapter Seven - Prince Corin Goes Missing
Chapter Eight - The Plan of Mr. Tumnus
Chapter Nine - Escape to Narnia and the North
Chapter Ten - The Battle of Anvard
Chapter Eleven - King Edmund and Queen Lucy
Chapter Twelve - The Return To Cair Paravel