There is a Tide - for venilia

[nfe-gremlin.livejournal.com]

Title: There is a Tide
Author: tarayith
Recipient: venilia
Rating:G
Possible Spoilers/Warnings:LWW spoilers, wanton destruction of Narnian geography (sorry-I tried my best!)
Summary: Soon after their coronation, Edmund and Lucy discover that there is still a lot about Narnia that they don't know.

There is a Tide

Not even a week had yet passed since the coronation of Narnia's new monarchs when a flock of winged-beasts descended from the sky one morning and proceeded to drop pieces of parchment all over their breakfast table.

"I say," Peter exclaimed from where he was being used as a roost for several exhausted bats after their long journey, "whatever is this?"

Susan reached for one of the papers and unrolled it as the others waited impatiently. "To the newly-crowned Kings and Queens of Narnia, High King Peter the Magnificent, Queen Susan--oh, really," she scoffed, skipping several long lines and picking it up at a later point, "from King Lune of Archenland, High Lord of the--goodness, he has more titles than you, Peter!--" they waited for several long seconds as she skipped more lines, "on the joyous occasion of the release of the lands of Narnia from the Hundred Year Winter and from the reign of the White Witch." She paused and scanned the letter in its entirety, before adding, "It's an offer to re-establish an 'ancient alliance between our two peoples'."

"Trade agreements?" Edmund guessed, frowning as he took the letter from Susan and looked over it himself.

Peter hummed his agreement, taking another letter and slitting it open carefully. "Where is this place anyway?"

"The southern borders," Edmund supplied, "north of the Great Desert. What?" he asked in frustration when he was met with three astonished looks, "so I thought I should do some reading if I'm going to be the 'Just' King!"

"Are they all from other kings or queens?" Lucy asked incredulously, eying the dozen or so letters scattered across the remains of an interrupted breakfast. "I didn't even know there were other kingdoms!"

"No, they're not all like that--whatisname--King of Archerland?" Peter told them.

"Archenland," Edmund corrected absently.

"Right. Well, this one is from a Lord...'Selfren'...who wishes to congratulate us on our historic victory over Jadis and to discuss the return of his lands from Narnian protection."

"What?" Edmund squawked, looking up from King Lune's letter, "Narnia has no protectorates. She has an empire of sorts, but that's mostly just the Lone Islands...what land is he talking about?"

"He doesn't say," Peter answered grimly.

"If I may, sire," interrupted Farseer, a regal golden eagle that had perched precariously atop a soup tureen, "they are testing you. News has spread quickly of the death of the White Witch and the fulfilment of Aslan's prophecy, but men will not want to believe that a land so bountiful as Narnia is ruled by--forgive, my King--human children. So they seek to test your strength and resolve and to get all they can from you."

"Goodness," Susan said in the silence that ensued. "And these are all like this?"

"I suspect they are only the first, my Queen," the eagle replied with a dangerous look in his eye. "From the borderlands. Doubtless, more will come."

Peter sighed. "Wonderful. Well, I guess the holidays are over, chaps."

-----------

Two days later Peter rode out at the insistence of Oreius to the foothills of Glasswater in the shadow of Stormness Head to meet a delegation from Anvard, the capital of Archenland. Susan would be travelling with him as far as the Dancing Lawns which had become a gathering place of sorts for all manner of talking beasts where she and her guard would remain for several days to learn what their people expected of their new monarchs in the coming weeks and months.

"I need you here, Ed," Peter had said softly, when his younger brother had protested at being left behind, "to field all these requests from other lands. You always were much better at strategy than me," he added with a rueful grin. "And besides, I need you to look after Lu."

And so it was, that two days after their departure with neither Susan nor Peter within a day's ride, a dragon was seen over Cair Paravel.

Lucy had seen it first and spent several long minutes watching it duck and weave across the waves far to the east as it flew nearer, early morning light glinting off ruby scales. "Oh, look!" she cried, eventually, turning to her brother, "Edmund, look! Isn't it beautiful?"

Edmund joined her at the window and looked out over the shining sea. "Gosh," he said in quiet amazement. "A dragon. A real life dragon!" The two of them watched in awe for a long moment as it turned cartwheels over the backs of mermaids and then finally made for the castle in earnest.

"I say," Edmund spoke abruptly, drawing back with a worried frown, "I don't suppose dragons are a bad sort here in Narnia, are they?"

Lucy tore her eyes away from the window, a trace of fear on her young face. "Of course not," she reassured, "Aslan wouldn't--"

She was interrupted by the clanging of the castle's warning bells.

-----------

The dragon landed suddenly in a central courtyard, its vast, scaled body shaking loose the mortar in the flagstones. Barely had the dust settled before there arose a great cacophony of howls and the terrible lizard was set upon by dozens of talking beasts with tooth and nail and claw.

Edmund and Lucy ran as fast as they could to the courtyard, but they were still several minutes behind the guards who had first engaged the dragon.

"Oh, Edmund," Lucy cried as she skidded to a halt to see a lioness flung violently against the courtyard wall, "whatever shall we do?"

Edmund cast about for inspiration, but there was little enough that he could see. This battle was in close quarters, the dragon filling the courtyard almost by itself. At least a dozen guards stood between him and the dragon and while he wanted desperately to help, he could at least recognise that a ten year old who barely knew how to wield a sword wouldn't be in the best position to do anything.

But, Aslan, was that Lucy scrambling beneath the legs of centaurs and dogs to reach the fallen lioness?

"Lucy!" he shouted frantically, the thought that Peter was going to kill him flitting through his mind. His shout attracted the attention of Shantli, the centauress that Oreius had left in charge and she followed his gaze to see Lucy dropping to her knees beside the lioness and fumbling at the cordial she always kept about her neck.

Edmund pulled his sword from its sheath and ran wildly forward, joined after a few steps by Shantli and two hounds.

"To the Queen!" Shantli cried and every creature in the courtyard spun around to see the lioness roused from her stupor and standing on swaying legs as she tried to herd Lucy back against the wall in an effort to protect her.

But the dragon had heard Edmund's first cry and its head swung with eerie precision to set golden eyes upon Lucy. The young queen placed one hand on the lioness' back and with the other drew her small knife as the dragon advanced menacingly.

"H-hello," she said loudly, her quavering voice carrying even in the chaos of the courtyard. "My name's Lucy. Who are you?"

The dragon paused in its advance, lowering its snake-like neck so golden eyes were level with the girl's.

"I have no name," it rumbled unexpectedly and everybody in the courtyard froze in shock. "I am from lands far to the east of here."

"Far to the east?" Lucy asked in excitement and lowered her knife. "Oh, do you come from Aslan's country then? Have you seen him?"

The dragon blinked uncertainly, its golden eyes swirling as it thought. "Not since the dawn of time," it said eventually and rose abruptly, shaking its head threateningly as spears and bows raised to sight it.

"Don't, please," Lucy said when she saw this, "lower your weapons. You don't mean to harm us do you, Sir Dragon?"

"Lu," Edmund hissed as he pushed his way through to her side. "It tried to kill our guards!"

"No," Lucy said, frowning, "look."

All about the courtyard, the crumpled bodies of those who had been flung away from the dragon were groaning and rising, but to a beast they were unharmed, save for the bruises of impact with heavy stone.

"I do apologise," the dragon told them in a gravelled voice. "I had not realised how small this courtyard is from they sky and then these beasts attacked...I did try not to inflict too much harm."

"Er," said Edmund into the astonished silence. "That's alright, I suppose." He was suddenly subjected to the stunning force of hypnotism that was the dragon's eyes.

"Yes," the dragon murmured quietly, "you will do. You will both do, quite nicely. King Edmund and Queen Lucy, I presume?" It nodded before they could even reply, "As for the matter of what you may call me," it added haughtily, "I do rather like Sir Dragon."

Lucy giggled and then frowned when Edmund nudged her hard. "Oh, Ed," she told him angrily. "Must you always be like this? Please, Sir Dragon," she added, turning to the beast in question, "won't you please have tea with us?"

-----------

An impromptu picnic breakfast was set up within the confines of the courtyard, for the dragon was too large to set foot into any of the castle's halls or indeed to fit through the large open windows in the throne room. Sir Dragon himself sat on his haunches, wings tightly furled as he watched in amusement as Lucy endeavoured to properly serve him tea.

"Oh, bother! I suppose we'll need a whole bucket of tea," she eventually exclaimed in frustration.

Sir Dragon merely chuckled indulgently and reached forward to gracefully hook the tip of a long pointed claw around the handle of the teacup. He raised it to his snout and proceeded to pour the liquid all at once into his mouth. "Thank you, that was most refreshing" he said with a serpentine smile as he set the cup down.

"If you meant no harm," Edmund started, "why were the warning bells sounded?"

"Ah," Sir Dragon said with a sigh, "because not all dragons are good. Ever since Aslan created us we have lived isolated lives in the lands far to the east. I am sorry to say that the only contact your people have had with mine is with dumb dragons."

"I think I've read about that," Edmund mused, munching on a piece of toast. "In 302, King Gale slew a dragon that was terrorizing the Lone Islands."

"Hmm, we had wondered what had become of that one," the dragon mused.

"Why have you come here now?" Lucy asked.

Sir Dragon levelled them with a stony look. "You called," he said simply.

Edmund and Lucy shared a confused glance. "Er," said Edmund, "I don't think we did."

"Oh, not in so many words," the dragon said cryptically, "but you did all the same."

While Edmund and Lucy were staring at him in disbelief, a crow alighted on Edmund's shoulder.

"Sire," it said breathlessly, "my Queen," it added with a bow to Lucy, "a group of Telmarines has been sighted fifty leagues to the west as I fly. They have already passed the Shuddering Woods. Neither King Peter nor Queen Susan will be able to intercept them before they reach the River Rush."

The dragon smiled as it lifted another cup of tea to its snout. "You see? You called."

-----------

"There are at least two-dozen, sire, mounted and with weapons" Farseer said, peering into the distance from atop the watch tower. "Judging by their speed and course, they will reach the Stone Table by late afternoon."

Edmund nodded absently. "We should meet them on our own terms," he mused. "They can't be allowed to trespass on Narnian lands without consequence." He looked back into the castle courtyard to see Sir Dragon looking up at them. "Lu, think Sir Dragon will let us take a ride?"

-----------

They landed less than a hundred yards from the Stone Table which still stood broken and cracked atop the hill which some beasts had started to call Aslan's How. A half-squadron of centaurs led by Shantli arrived shortly after, followed by half a dozen of the swiftest of beasts that had been able to depart immediately from Cair Paravel.

"Take care," Shantli cautioned them all as they climbed the hill under the cover of thick trees, "there may still be some of the Witch's supporters in these woods that we have yet to roust."

Edmund nodded as they reached the clearing and the Table itself, his jaw tight as one of the hounds let out a soft growl to let them know there were others approaching.

The Telmarines stepped from the woods and came to an abrupt halt, seeing the group waiting for them at the Stone Table. There were near-thirty of them, as Farseer had identified, astride dark horses and bristling with weaponry. Edmund noted they were clad in the sort of mail armour that knights of the middle ages had worn back on Earth and he mentally ran through all he could remember of the strengths and weaknesses of such armour.

"Hail, friends," he called out, "what brings you into our lands of Narnia?"

One of the Telmarines drew his sword and kicked his horse forward, stopping warily a few feet away when one of the centaurs hefted his bow in warning. "I am Lord Jairo, of the Court of King Faron II of Telmar," he announced, throwing a disgusted look at the centaur. "I seek audience with the King of Narnia, boy."

Edmund could sense the Narnians seething in anger, but silenced them with a wave of his hand. "I am King Edmund of Narnia," he told the man quietly, "Speak your piece."

The Telmarines startled visibly and Lord Jairo let out a loud boom of laughter. "You are not a King," he sneered, "but a boy. You will take me at once to your King."

A cheetah stepped forward, snarling, and Edmund remembered vaguely that they had been introduced at the coronation. Lefah, wasn't it? "Watch your tongue, human," Lefah growled. "You speak to royalty."

The reaction was instantaneous, all of the enemy soldiers raising weapons aimed at the big cat.

"What manner of witchcraft is this?" Lord Jairo hissed, "a talking beast? Bad enough that your land is polluted by abominations like these," he spat, indicating the centaurs, "but to bespell dumb animals--"

Edmund opened his mouth to reply, but before anyone could say anything, Lucy had pushed forward, her face red with fury as she stared the man down. "They are not dumb animals," she told him firmly, "and they are not abominations. They are our citizens and our friends and you will treat them with the respect they deserve."

Lord Jairo snorted. "And you would be Queen of this forsaken land, I take it? I see now! Narnia has fallen under the rule of an even greater evil than the Witch. Telmar will purge these lands of all your abominations."

Lefah made to leap at the man but was stopped by Edmund wrapping a firm arm around his neck. "Peace, friend," he whispered into the cat's twitching ears and then louder, "You insult my sister, Queen Lucy of Narnia and trespass in our lands. Be very careful you do not incite a war, Telmarine."

Jairo glared and for a long moment all was still and silent until Edmund began to think maybe this would be the end of it, but then the older man spat upon the ground before Lucy's feet. "Telmar will deliver Narnia in the name of Tash!" He gestured violently with his sword and all at once the air was filled with a chilling battlecry.

"Tash, preserve us," thundered through the air as more than two dozen men raced up the hill towards them, steel glinting in the afternoon light.

Half a dozen of them never even reached the summit of the hill, picked off by centaur archers as they came, but their horses, panicked by the noises and scents of battle plunged into the fray all the same and added to the confusion.

"Damn," Edmund cursed loudly as he watched three centaurs plunge into the oncoming mass of horseflesh and steel. "For Aslan," he cried and drew his own sword, planting his feet firmly in the ground and wishing all the while that he had Phillip here with him. He blocked the downward swipe of a passing Telmarine sword clumsily with his own, pivoted and ducked under the blow of an axe, using the momentum to surge upwards and sink his sword into the soft space between metal plates. There was a soft gasp above him, barely heard over the din of clashing metal and the rider toppled over onto the neck of his prancing horse. Edmund pushed the man bodily out of the saddle and mounted himself, taking up the reins and forcing the horse's head around.

"Lucy! Lucy?" he called, "Where are you?" Another soldier aimed for his head, but he was better positioned to block this one and the other's sword went spinning off away from the two of them in a wide arc to clatter against the remnants of the cracked Table.

The sea of bodies parted suddenly and Edmund saw through a multitude of horses' legs the form of Lucy crouched low over the neck of the cheetah, brandishing her knife with deadly accuracy as they darted amongst stamping hooves and cut the girths from under the horses' bellies. He laughed and swivelled to dodge another sword.

Then, with a great roar, Sir Dragon rose from over the treetops, the beat of his wings causing the trees to sway in his passing. He plunged down from the sky to the top of the hill and with claws outstretched, deftly plucked one of the soldiers from the seat of his horse with a bloodcurdling scream.

It was over almost as soon as it had started. Edmund wheeled his horse around once more to find all of the Telmarines slumped upon the ground with varying injuries as their horses bolted in panic into the woods beyond. Shantli disarmed Jairo with a final push and sent him sprawling. The man looked up in fear and scrambled backwards, fumbling for a talisman around his neck that looked to Edmund like the curve of a vulture's beak. "Devils," he cried, "unnatural beasts! You shall be wiped from the face of this land. You shall--"

"Please, somebody knock him out," Edmund said irritably.

"Gladly, sire," Shantli grinned and kicked him in the head.

They were all almost flattened by the force of air pressure as Sir Dragon descended once more to the hilltop, a gibbering but still very much alive man clutched in his claws. The man crumpled where he was dropped and the dragon settled nearby, grinning at him with a smug look. "Terribly sorry, old chap," he purred, "thought you were dinner. I'm short-sighted, you see."

Edmund had to stifle a laugh at the terrified looks the Telmarines all gave the dragon.

Lucy leapt from her position on Lefah's back and hurried to the still-gibbering man. "Here," she said gently, tipping a drop of cordial into his mouth, "you'll feel better soon enough."

Edmund sighed. "Lu, you're not supposed to go around healing the enemy."

She whirled on him with an angry expression. "If I didn't, that would make us no better than them."

Edmund sighed again and gave it up for a lost cause. "Shantli, report," he ordered and the centauress trotted to his side.

"No injuries on our side, sire," she reported, "and Queen Lucy has healed all of their injuries," she spat with a dark glare at Jairo which had the man cowering and mumbling fervently to his talisman. "Eleven of their horses have bolted into the woods, but all of the humans are accounted for. What would you have us do with them, sire?"

Edmund surveyed the scene briefly before coming to a decision. "Lu!" he called and his sister looked up from where she had been calming one of the Telmarine's horses. "You think you could ask the dryads to return their horses to us?"

She nodded excitedly and turned to vanish into the woods.

"Lefah, Skoll," he ordered tersely and the cheetah and hound bowed minutely before scampering after her to ensure she came to no harm. He turned to watch the dragon who was having an enormous amount of fun leering at the terrified Telmarine soldiers. "Sir Dragon," he called, feeling smug when the soldiers stared at him as if he were insane to talk to such a beast, "might I trouble you for a favour?"

-----------

The horses returned in less than half an hour, herded by an impenetrable wall of forest that the dryads weaved about them. The eleven beasts plodded from the woods up to the top of the hill calmly, their manes and tails entwined with flowers and vines, much to the disgust of the Telmarines, though to a man they noted that those horses who had been lost in the woods seemed suddenly years younger.

"You will return to your King in Telmar," Edmund told the assembled men once they were all mounted and mostly conscious, "and tell him that if he wishes to establish formal correspondence, he is welcome to send our royal selves an appropriate delegation of no more than five men. Any more will be seen as an act of war upon our people and our lands and as you have seen, justice will be handed out swiftly."

Lord Jairo fumed silently from where he sat atop his be-flowered warhorse. "Telmar will one day rule Narnia," he told them furiously, "and we will wipe your unholy magic from the face of the earth."

Lucy's dagger embedded itself with stunning accuracy in the centre of the man's shield, cleaving the image of a vulture's head in two. "Not during our time, you won't," she told the man with icy certainty as the two halves of metal slipped to the ground. "And not in yours, either."

"I'd suggest you go now," Edmund told them, a hint of a smile stretching the corners of his mouth. "You will be escorted from Narnian lands by the naiads and the dryads as well as by Sir Dragon, should you think about trying anything. It would not be prudent to do so."

They left through a gap in the trees which parted as they approached and formed a tunnel to enclose them. At every stream they forded, they were met by the cool gazes of beautiful women in the waters and shuddered in fear and revulsion. And throughout their journey, the shadow of a dragon in flight fell upon them.

-----------

When Peter and Susan returned to Cair Paravel two days later, they were met at the gates by the smiling faces of their siblings as well as by the sight of a ruby-red dragon sitting like a sentinel on the approach to the castle.

"Sir Dragon," Peter addressed him cautiously as he signalled his unicorn mount Flit to a halt. "Lucy has told me much of you."

The dragon smiled around disturbingly sharp teeth. "As she has told me much of the two of you, King Peter, Queen Susan" he returned with two small bows, "I am afraid I must take my leave," he told them gravely with a quick glance at a heavy sky that promised rain.

"Oh, must you?" Lucy asked. "So soon? We haven't even managed to tell them all about the battle at the Stone Table!"

"Yes, dear one, I must," the dragon said and lowered its head to butt her gently with its snout. It straightened and regarded the four Pevensies with satisfaction. "I do not think you will have trouble with Telmar again for a long time," it said with an evil glint in its eye, "the tale of the battle of the How has already spread into foreign borders, so there may yet be some respite on those fronts as well. But I think the four of you will do very well, very well indeed." It spread its wings and curled them, crouching as if to leap into the air. "Oh and Lucy?" it paused craning its neck around to see the sad face of the small girl. "This will not be the last time you see a dragon," it told her with a wink, "and you may have been more correct in naming me 'Lady Dragon'." With a flurry of displaced air, the dragon was airborne, her great leathery wings carrying her high into the sky. She let out a trumpet-like call and then was gone, a distant red speck dwindling far into the east over the great sea.

"Oh, I wonder if we'll ever sail that far," Lucy sighed. "Maybe we would sail to her country! Though, gosh, it feels odd to think of her as a she after all this time calling her Sir!"

Edmund laughed and wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulders. "Maybe we will, Lu. We might even sail to Aslan's country one day."

"Oh, I would like that!" she replied enthusiastically.

"Come along, you lot," Susan chivvied. "It's long past time for lunch and I'm starving!"

"Yes," Peter told them softly, kicking Flit onwards, "let's go home." And in passing his two younger siblings, he drew them into awkward hugs from atop the unicorn. "Well done," he told them both gently.


The End.

AN: Thanks go out to my beta, who looked this over in record time! I'm afraid I have no idea of how large a country Narnia is supposed to be, much less of how long it would conceivably take to travel any length of distance, so you'll have to suspend disbelief on that front. I couldn't find any definitive answers as to whether there is an organised religion in early Telmar, but seeing as they were originally a Calormen colony, I thought it made sense to make them worship Tash. Plus, that had the rather nice bonus of fitting in with the plot :D If I am wrong in any of my research, please feel free to correct me and I will try my best to change it :)


Original Prompt:
What I want : Edmund/Lucy or Edmund-Lucy. Background Peter/Susan ok, or overall gen with focus on friendship. Just so long as the main feature is the combined awesomeness of Edmund and Lucy.
Prompt words/objects/quotes/whatever: "With all the wonder of birds." If that fails to inspire, just something happy and magical and adventurous.
What I definitely don't want in my fic: Aslan-bashing, extreme angst (minor angst ok, but please, this is my happy place), Caspian/anyone, Tumnus/anyone, White Witch/Edmund.

Comments

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Here be DRAGONS! I adore dragons. Nicely done to tie the Telmarine culture in with the Calormene culture as well. I rather liked the wanton destruction of Narnian geography and the opening scenes with all the messages and those, OMG what have we gotten ourselves into moments.

And yes, Edmund and Lucy were awesome.

[angel-in-tears.livejournal.com]

Dragons! Eeee! That's awesome :) And I love Edmund and Lucy and how awesome they are! It's good to see a fic in which they are the main characters and have more of a hand in settling things! Nice work :)

[min023.livejournal.com]

Dragons, girl dragons at that. Foreshadowing of VoDT, warrior/healer Lucy, diplomat/warrior Edmund. Yay for the younger sibs : )

[wingedflight21.livejournal.com]

Dragons! Or, dragon singular. But in any case, I loved this, especially how the dragon ends up a female, and she can see bits of the future, and Lucy is already fighting in battle, and Edmund is already so very clever, and of course Telmar is already pushing to own Narnia. Wonderful!

[snacky]

Aw, yay, a dragon! And Lucy and Edmund being so awesome! I really liked the nice foreshadowing there with the Telmarines, and the dragon's last words to Lucy as she flew away.

[ilysia-039.livejournal.com]

Oh, I do love Sir Dragon! And the reality of being set upon by supplicants and enemies and would-be allies within the first few days... poor Pevensies.

[venilia.livejournal.com]

OMG, I COMPLETELY FAIL FOR NOT COMMENTING EARLIER, BECAUSE THIS IS SO MUCH FUN! Thank you, thank you! :)