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[It was a long walk to Caer Glaem. Fortunately, Susan was close enough that that the road to it was fairly safe. She would feel better about this whole thing if her brothers and sister were here, or if she had her bow, or even her horn. Instead she was wearing her school clothes, and they were none too clean at this point. Still, Susan was hoping for a better explanation, and from what the friendly fairies and townspeople had to say the castle was the place to get it.

She was hungry. Fruit trees and handouts didn't do much in the way of assuaging hunger when one was walking all day. She hoped there would at least be food in the castle; it was looming large in her vision now and she hoped to get there within the end of the day. It was a good thing, too. She'd bathed in a stream that morning, but--

"Lawkamercyme!" cried a high pitched voice, and Susan turned her head just in time to see a small, green-tinted fairy fall into a faint. A dark shadow globbed its way towards the fairy, Susan was sure it had foul intent. Dark shadows with gleam of teeth almost always did. She wished for her bow more than ever, but didn't hesitate to pick up a large stone at her feet. She was frightened - how did one fight a shadow? Oh, she hated to fight - but she wasn't about to just stand there and watch. She shouted, "You! There! Get away from that fairy!"

The shadow did not seem much impressed. And so Susan threw the stone with impressive aim, clipping the beast right in the mouth. It hissed and abandoned the fairy, heading towards her instead. She bent to pick up another rock.]

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[For a long moment, the locket shows a beautiful face with a furrowed brow, staring intently at its own reflection. Susan has never seen anything like this before. She is at the castle now, clean and clothed and fed, so her image doesn't look quite as dire as it had earlier that day, and her dark hair is swept back neatly in a braid.] Ah - so it does work! At least, I assume it does, and this is a message going out all over the lockets and not just some sort of fancy mirror.

[In either case, she's beginning to feel a little self-conscious. She reaches for easily remembered dignity.] I don't mean to intrude, but I have heard that this is something which happens often. And I wonder, is there anyone from England here? [She misses her family; two weeks of walking among strangers in a strange land was more than enough alone time for now, thanks.] Or even [marked hesitation] Narnia?

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"Oh there is purpose enough - if you consider that we are but their pawns on the board, to fight and die and kill - to be purpose." Maglor sounds grim - he has never shied from a fight, not when kith and kin demanded it so - but to be asked to do it again, to slay his own people, simply for another's war? Oh no. He has had more than enough of kinsblood. There is a reason that he left as soon as feasible and has had little to do with either court since.

"It sounds as if you loved Narnia dearly."

"I do not consider fighting a purpose," Susan said after a moment's consideration, taking in his tone and all that such a tone induced with such a voice. Normally, she would not voice these thoughts to a near-stranger, but there was something about talking with Maglor which made her feel free to speak. She did not know him, nor his history, nor if he was worthy of her trust, but she spoke freely of her heart all the same. Maybe it was because she had been so lonely these past two weeks, or maybe it was the power in his voice, or maybe it was simply that this had been a conversation which was good and true, and holding back now out of caution would be discordant. "It is, unfortunately, often a necessary means to an end. The question, then, is to what end do they wish us to fight?"

That was the purpose to which she referred. When she had fought in Narnia, she had known why - there was a clear purpose. They must overthrow the White Witch and free Narnia from its oppression. They must protect and care for the land and people that had been given into their keeping. They must defeat the Telemarines and restore freedom to Narnia, put Adam's flesh on the throne again. Why must they now fight? Who was the enemy? What was their purpose?

"Narnia is easy to love," Susan said simply. "She is a land of talking beasts and walking trees, fruitful and verdant. It is a good place."

...in other words, yes, this rather reserved young woman loved Narnia dearly.

"In that, you prove wiser than many here." Maglor nods. "As to ends, now, that depends on who you ask, it seems. The Unseelie speak of the Seelie wishing to rule, to bind the wills of all. The Seelie claim the Unseelie wish only for destruction. Both claim that they seek power only to forestall the other. Which is true? I suspect the answer lies somewhere in between."

Maglor is a politician. He has been largely staying apart from the conflict, but so long as Celegorm fought, Maglor watched, his brother's support. So long as the war continues to drag his family into it, he will speak to both sides and see what might be learnt.

"Talking beasts and walking trees?" He asks "Such a marvel! My brother Celegorm was the only one of us who could speak the tongues of bird and beast alike, and I know Ambarussa spoke on the Onodhrim - the Tree Herders - but I have never met them myself."

Susan did not feel comfortable claiming wisdom for herself. All she felt was the yawning gap of knowledge growing ever-wider, and she felt completely out of her depth. She wished her brothers and sister were here, and in the same breath told herself not to wish it. "Perhaps I have simply seen more wars than some," Susan said.

Power to bind the wills of all. Power to stop those who only seek destruction. Power to destroy those who would bind the wills of all... Susan wondered how long they had been fighting.

"I do not know what Tree Herders are," Susan said. Talking of Narnia was far more pleasant than talking of war, but she still wasn't going to try to properly pronounce 'Onodhrim.' "But the dryads and the hamadryads could step out of their trees and be - tree people. Or they could move their trees on their own, often to terrible affect."

There was war again. It seemed she couldn't escape the topic. Susan tried again.

"Not all the beasts could talk, of course, but those that did were citizens of the land. Narnia belongs to them as much as it belongs to anyone."

And it still enraged her, very quietly, to think of what the Telmarines had done. They had set it to right now, yes, but the fact that it had happened at all...

"Mm, I never saw them, but my brother said it was as if a Tree walked - except the longer you spoke to them the more you understood that they were not trees at all. They are the Shepherds of the Trees, and as sheep will grow to resemble their shepherds and the other way around, so also did they. Not quite like your dryads or hamadryads, I think, although those folk are here in this world and might speak to you if asked politely."

A soft wondering noise. "To hear that beasts would be considered of equal status - how strange! But if they spoke with the tongues of Men and reasoned as such, not unseemly, I suppose. It sounds a truly marvellous land. Was it a large one? What of her neighbours?"

"I would be glad to see dryads again," Susan said softly. It was things like that which made this particular adventure seem almost familiar, and therefore more bearable. "The shepherds of trees sound most peculiar. I wonder that normal trees should need shepherds at all. It isn't as though they're about to wander off."

But then he was asking about Narnia, and... well, it had been so long since she'd talked about Narnia in any great detail. She'd found that since she'd started, it was very easy to continue.

"We were a fair sized country. Our border to the west was a great mountain range. To our immediate south was Archenland, and they have always been our allies. We are separated by a mere mountain pass. Our border to the east was the Great Eastern Ocean, and further out was the Silver Sea, all the way to the Lone Islands who were a part of our territory. To the north were the marshes, and beyond that are the giants of Ettinsmoor who needed strict reminders of our borders."

They had a horrible habit of hunting in the north of Narnia and not particularly caring whether or not the beast they caught could talk. Susan did not like them. She also did not feel the need to discuss the empire of Calormen. She did not like thinking of her time there.

"Some of our dearest advisers were beavers," Susan added. "And I had a great friendship with a raven."

And - oh - there were so many more. Her heart ached to think of them.

"They say that Lady Yavanna, who we call Kementari, Earth Queen, who loves all things that grow - whether those that walk or fly or that have their roots planted deep - that she grieved that her trees would have no protection against those who wished for wood. So were the Onodhrim born, Ents, I have heard Men name them.

She sounds a fair country indeed! Ravens are good birds for speech,thry say - cetainly my brother Celegorm said so. You speak of advisors - did you hold positions of power, then?"

Ah, well. Whoops. She hadn't really meant to get into all that as titles seemed to be a Very Big Deal here and she... she wasn't in Narnia. How could she be a queen when she was not responsible, when she had no rule? It gave her a very pretty set of rooms and she hadn't hesitated to take advantage of that, but it didn't make any sense.

But there wasn't much point in keeping it back at this point, she'd gone this far. There was a certain wild joy in telling the truth of it as well, after being silent for so long.

"My brothers, sister, and I were - are - kings and queens of Narnia," she said. "We reigned under the highest of all high kings, Aslan. He gave the country into our keeping, and we did our best with it."

It was hard not to remember now, the ruins of Cair Paravel - the times, good and difficult when the court was alive and whole, and what it had come to in the end. She hoped Caspian would rebuild it, their shining palace by the sea. She hoped he would rule well, and that the forests would once again be filled with talking beasts. She had some faith in him, but she wasn't like Lucy - it was out of her hands now, and maybe it would be better to forget.

An eyebrow crooks up and he sweeps her a bow, courtly and correct.

"Your majesty! Well met, indeed."

Relaxing again he crooks a wry smile at her. "Titles mean little here, I suppose, but I grieve that this place would sunder you from your land, although, your pardon, but you seem passing young for a mortal ruler?"

Aslan, Aslan - to a bard who hears the Music, the Name whispers of something greater.

"And who is Aslan, majesty?"

Oh dear.

"It's Susan, please. I suppose I am here as Queen Susan, that's what they put me down as, but it doesn't feel quite right." It didn't feel quite right out of Narnia and alone. "And I suppose all mortal rulers must seem young to someone upwards of several thousand years old."

But there was a more important question than explaining about her age, or what exactly had sundered her from her land - it was a somewhat difficult story to tell, regardless.

"Aslan is... is Aslan. He is a very difficult sort of person to explain, he simply... is." She tried again, "He's very much himself."

A breath, and a strange strength grew in her as she began to speak the words, "He's The Lion. He's the son of the great Emperor over the sea. According to the beasts and the songs of the fauns, he's the one who sang the world into being from nothing."

Edited 2014-09-03 02:07 (UTC)

He smiles gently and nods. "Lady Susan then. Mm, I suppose you are, a little. But you have a good head on your shoulders, and in that you do better than some much older."

"Sung the world..." Maglor murmurs softly, watching her with bright eyes. "I wonder... they say Eru has many names amongst the peoples of the world, although we know only those the Valar name Him by. But He too, they say, He Is. That is what 'Eru' means, you see. 'The One' or 'Alone' - for He Was, before all else."

"I... have heard similar things said," Susan said slowly. Hadn't Aslan, in that private discussion she and Peter shared, mentioned something about finding him in their own world? Sometimes the words were lost to the tone when she spoke with him and the tone had been one of comfort, confidence, and hope. "I have certainly never heard of any other world being sung into being until now."

"Nor I, although, in fairness, I do not often ask."

Maglor shrugs and smiles a little. "Tis a little comforting, I confess, to know that there are, perhaps, other lights, other places, which hold a thread of kinship."

...a thread of kinship. Well. As Susan was currently feeling quite alone, that certainly was something. She had become somewhat reserved in the year since they had left Narnia, and the diplomat's skill with words sometimes fell flat when she most needed it. Instead, she was left with a simple sort of honesty.

"Yes. It is comforting."

Maglor tips his head in a small bow.

"Then I am glad to bring you even this small glimpse of light in the shadows."

She smiled slightly, and then because she had already said so much, she ventured, "It is very - strange - to be on an adventure such as this without my brothers and sister. They enjoy adventures so much more than I do."

"If you had always been four, together, I can see how it would be hard." Maglor nods. "I am the second of seven, myself - and we had been so long together it was difficult to imagine a world without." Until time and doom stole us all says Curufin sadly.

"And enjoying a thing does not necessarily mean that they would have been suited eh? I grieve that you must be separate from them, however. What are they like, your siblings?"

Seven! Well, that was quite a family. On the other hand, she was not quite so far gone that she didn't hear the word 'was.' He was either there very much alone or had suffered loss. Either way, a comment on the size of his family would be tactless and probably rude regardless.

"Then I see you know what I mean," she said simply. "Though I'd say they are as well suited for it as I am." More so, maybe. Susan just wanted to be one place or another, really. "And I suppose - when you know people so well, they're somewhat difficult to explain. Lucy is the youngest. She's - brave. Brave enough to see things first that other people don't, and she's a very sweet girl, very kind."

"Perhaps, and perhaps not." He shrugs a little wryly "We can only guess, I suppose - for I would not wish them here to find out."

"Ah." A soft amused sound. "You speak truly there, but equally, who would know them so well as you, their sister, who has been there with them all this time? A sister with clear eyes and a strong spirit. She must be grateful of an elder sister to stand with her."

Was Lucy grateful? It was hard to imagine, really. Lucy was always so sure, so confident in what she believed... and Susan hadn't exactly been very supportive when it mattered most, at least recently.

"I have heard that it is not exactly a safe place to wish people to be," Susan said. Still, she was lonely and she missed her brothers and sister and - to be honest - this whole thing was more than a little overwhelming. She would have felt much better if they were here. At least then that would be something familiar.

"I wish I could tell you otherwise, Lady Susan, but you are correct." Maglor answers somberly. "Worse still, there are far too many here who seem too eager to throw themselves headlong into this fight without thought of consequence or cost. To be fair, the rulers offer great benefits in fighting, and I begin to think they manipulate things deliberately to encourage such fights."

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.001 Action | Video [ Open to All ]

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XD things that happen when two authors are best friends who pinch ideas from each other

True that XD I think playing off of it is really neat

^_^ me too

<3

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sorry, work went crazy and I kind of got buried

sob I know this feel, this was me today/yesterday