king caspian x (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
navixator) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sixwordstories2014-01-07 08:09 am
navixator) wrote in sixwordstories2014-01-07 08:09 am
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I just think you should listen.
"And we are open to hearing your request, sir."
Which wasn't necessarily to say it would be granted.
Which wasn't necessarily to say it would be granted.
His father isn't certain this will work. More than that, his uncle is dead certain that it won't. The lack of an entirely warm reception certainly hasn't stabilized his own sense of hope.
But at the end of the day, Caspian is a hopeful young man. It's a touch easier to be hopeful when sitting with just Queen Susan, the quiet reassurances of Queen Lucy still warm in his ear. Easier, mostly, not to have the hard, critical eye of the High King on him, seeming even to pierce through the light armour he had come from Telmar wearing.
He can't quite manage a smile as he shifts slightly forward in his seat. This has to work.
"I cannot imagine you so wholly without knowledge of the world that you don't know of the suffering of the people of Telmar. The famine has-- long since pressed us into desperation, and our attempts to broker a peaceful agreement with Calormen has been... rebuffed."
Which, admittedly, had been expected. The colony had been bucking for freedom for generations now.
But at the end of the day, Caspian is a hopeful young man. It's a touch easier to be hopeful when sitting with just Queen Susan, the quiet reassurances of Queen Lucy still warm in his ear. Easier, mostly, not to have the hard, critical eye of the High King on him, seeming even to pierce through the light armour he had come from Telmar wearing.
He can't quite manage a smile as he shifts slightly forward in his seat. This has to work.
"I cannot imagine you so wholly without knowledge of the world that you don't know of the suffering of the people of Telmar. The famine has-- long since pressed us into desperation, and our attempts to broker a peaceful agreement with Calormen has been... rebuffed."
Which, admittedly, had been expected. The colony had been bucking for freedom for generations now.
Peter doesn't like the young man, but suspicion is typical of the High King. Lucy's heart is moved to show compassion, but that's normal for the Queen. Edmund's reserving his judgment at the moment, but he is the Just and made to do so.
And Susan-- Susan is simply aiming for this to end in a way that is best for Narnia, because other than her family that is all she cares about these days.
"We are well aware of the situation, yes, and we are very sorry to hear of the troubles your people are facing. But I am certain you did not come here to simply tell us of your woes."
Surely they were here to do some asking, as well.
And Susan-- Susan is simply aiming for this to end in a way that is best for Narnia, because other than her family that is all she cares about these days.
"We are well aware of the situation, yes, and we are very sorry to hear of the troubles your people are facing. But I am certain you did not come here to simply tell us of your woes."
Surely they were here to do some asking, as well.
He almost smiles. He almost smiles, because it's such a practical approach--the approach of a proper monarch. It's not at all what the son of a colonial general has been raised to handle, with their own monarch so far away.
It's also too late to entirely shift tacks. There's a tightness in his heart which has to be expressed before he can get to the question. "Our-- people are dying, Highness, and we cannot-- ask them to stay where they cannot feed their children. The Tisroc has been very clear that we will not be welcomed back to our ancestral home." Another slight shift forward. An almost entirely unconscious clasping together of his hands--and there really is less art to the gesture than actual nervous impulse. "And the Kingdom of Archenland has been unwilling to take even a small number of our refugees. Narnia is-- our last hope."
And he almost ends there. He almost stops with the request. But the nerves in his stomach push out the rest of the thought.
"I cannot tell you how much I fear the result of asylum being rejected here as well."
It's also too late to entirely shift tacks. There's a tightness in his heart which has to be expressed before he can get to the question. "Our-- people are dying, Highness, and we cannot-- ask them to stay where they cannot feed their children. The Tisroc has been very clear that we will not be welcomed back to our ancestral home." Another slight shift forward. An almost entirely unconscious clasping together of his hands--and there really is less art to the gesture than actual nervous impulse. "And the Kingdom of Archenland has been unwilling to take even a small number of our refugees. Narnia is-- our last hope."
And he almost ends there. He almost stops with the request. But the nerves in his stomach push out the rest of the thought.
"I cannot tell you how much I fear the result of asylum being rejected here as well."
It's such a reasonable desire for someone in his position to have. It's a request she or one of her siblings would likely have if the situations were ever reversed. The yearning she's just barely catching in his expression and tone tugs at the gentleness within her.
But she cannot immediately jump to aid, not when it is something so weighty as helping a land riddled with famine.
"And how many of your people would you have us giving asylum to, sir? All of them? Narnia is but a small land, after all."
A small land that is bountiful thanks to those who live in it, yes, but a small land nonetheless. One she is not certain can host every Telmarine.
But she cannot immediately jump to aid, not when it is something so weighty as helping a land riddled with famine.
"And how many of your people would you have us giving asylum to, sir? All of them? Narnia is but a small land, after all."
A small land that is bountiful thanks to those who live in it, yes, but a small land nonetheless. One she is not certain can host every Telmarine.
With time, he could grow to be a very competent statesman. With guidance and training, his passion could be settled into an entirely productive course for setting action, laying plans, building bridges between kingdoms.
He isn't there yet. He's a boy barely turning into a man, wearing armour which weighs heavily on his shoulders because he feels the heft of a nation upon him.
"Would-- you ask us to pick who we save, Queen Susan?"
He isn't there yet. He's a boy barely turning into a man, wearing armour which weighs heavily on his shoulders because he feels the heft of a nation upon him.
"Would-- you ask us to pick who we save, Queen Susan?"
He's so young-- and she wonders, when she became old enough to think that of someone older than she when she took the throne. But he's still so young ot be carrying such a load.
"We would not be so cruel as to ask that of you, Caspian of Telmar." Not like Carlomen might have, had they been willing to even offer aid, "But I hope you understand the difficulty of the request you put before us."
"We would not be so cruel as to ask that of you, Caspian of Telmar." Not like Carlomen might have, had they been willing to even offer aid, "But I hope you understand the difficulty of the request you put before us."
They had been young. It helped to know, to have spoken quietly on the way here about the history of the Kings and Queens who were his last hope. It helped to sit before her now and know Susan and Lucy and their brothers had faced hardships at ages when the entire world was already overwhelming.
"Where would you have us go?"
And it's a completely genuine question. It's entirely coming from an overwhelmed place he's certain she understands.
"The sea will not hold us all. And if Narnia will not, death will."
"Where would you have us go?"
And it's a completely genuine question. It's entirely coming from an overwhelmed place he's certain she understands.
"The sea will not hold us all. And if Narnia will not, death will."
She does understand. It's why she allows her expression to be sympathetic when she replies.
"We do not want your people's deaths, I assure you." And it's entirely earnest-- and entirely honest, "But I also doubt it will end well for anyone if we attempt to house you all."
Which is also entirely honest.
"My siblings and I will discuss our options, and I sincerely hope we can come up with something to aid your people."
"We do not want your people's deaths, I assure you." And it's entirely earnest-- and entirely honest, "But I also doubt it will end well for anyone if we attempt to house you all."
Which is also entirely honest.
"My siblings and I will discuss our options, and I sincerely hope we can come up with something to aid your people."
He has to hope. He has to latch tightly on to the sympathy in her eyes; the measure reason in her voice. He has to have faith in the goodness of the men and women leading this kingdom in a golden age while the other great nations begin the obvious slide toward dark ages.
There's obvious tension in his shoulders as he briefly ducks his head and leans back again.
"And I do appreciate that, Highness. That-- you've had audience with me at all. It's... I do also hope, Highness, that you... keep in mind that you discuss options for a desperate people."
He doesn't mean it to sound threatening. He can only hope it catches enough at the meaning he'd heard in his uncle's certainty that this wouldn't end in success.
There's obvious tension in his shoulders as he briefly ducks his head and leans back again.
"And I do appreciate that, Highness. That-- you've had audience with me at all. It's... I do also hope, Highness, that you... keep in mind that you discuss options for a desperate people."
He doesn't mean it to sound threatening. He can only hope it catches enough at the meaning he'd heard in his uncle's certainty that this wouldn't end in success.
The distant hint at a threat develops a furrow in her brow, though she doesn't indicate her displeasure at the statement beyond that.
"It is something I am certain we will remember, sir Caspian. We would hate for your people to have to do anything desperate."
"It is something I am certain we will remember, sir Caspian. We would hate for your people to have to do anything desperate."
"As would I."
But it's likely clear he's in the minority of Telmarines who feel that way. The reputation of the colony had grown even beyond the reputation of their original native land. Nations, even small ones, that made a point of raising warriors were nations much closer to the tipping point than kingdoms like Narnia.
"And... thank you, Queen Susan. For-- hearing our plea, no... matter how things have to end."
But it's likely clear he's in the minority of Telmarines who feel that way. The reputation of the colony had grown even beyond the reputation of their original native land. Nations, even small ones, that made a point of raising warriors were nations much closer to the tipping point than kingdoms like Narnia.
"And... thank you, Queen Susan. For-- hearing our plea, no... matter how things have to end."
"You are quite welcome," she responds, a gentle smile on her face.
"Now-- please. Let our people tend to your needs. I'm certain you must be wearied after such a journey."
"Now-- please. Let our people tend to your needs. I'm certain you must be wearied after such a journey."
It's as if the words release something onto his shoulders. As if the last few weeks finally slam down onto him and put the slump in his shoulders.
A laugh, exhausted and nervous, pops to his lips--and seems to surprise him more than anyone else in the room.
"I doubt I'll be able to sleep a wink."
A laugh, exhausted and nervous, pops to his lips--and seems to surprise him more than anyone else in the room.
"I doubt I'll be able to sleep a wink."
It's a kind of exhaustion she's not unfamiliar with. It only gets her smile even more gentler.
"Well, I doubt it would hurt you to try."
"Well, I doubt it would hurt you to try."
And now clearly we need to a) continue this and b) do the one where poofled back in time
callmegentle
2014-01-08 03:23 am (UTC)(link)
"Rest well."
And it's she genuinely means that. Genuinely hopes to see some of the strain gone from his shoulders when next they meet.
And it's she genuinely means that. Genuinely hopes to see some of the strain gone from his shoulders when next they meet.
It's so much better, dealing with someone friendly. It's also so much better dealing with a person who speaks in such a quiet genuine fashion. Archenland hadn't been nearly this kind in its reception.
"Deliberate well, my Lady."
"Deliberate well, my Lady."
Poofled back for now, and then the other one in a bit /o/
callmegentle
2014-01-08 04:13 am (UTC)(link)
"Then by all means, please feel free to speak."
She wants people to feel as though the monarchs of Narnia are people who listen, after all.
She wants people to feel as though the monarchs of Narnia are people who listen, after all.
He's shaking. It's strange, to be shaking. Just a little bit, just in his hands, but it's been so long since he's ironed himself from an uncertain prince into a steadfast king that the sensation feels almost overwhelming.
His laugh is soft, just a bit breathless. The woman standing before him isn't the young one who had been called to the Horn, but he'd recognize her just the same--even if her image hadn't been set in the rebuilt Cair. Her eyes are absolutely eyes he knows.
"It's-- quite a tale, you understand."
His laugh is soft, just a bit breathless. The woman standing before him isn't the young one who had been called to the Horn, but he'd recognize her just the same--even if her image hadn't been set in the rebuilt Cair. Her eyes are absolutely eyes he knows.
"It's-- quite a tale, you understand."
[OOC: And also boop!]
There's such an odd aura to the man that she can just barely make sense of. She doesn't understand the buzz of excitement around him, the expression in his eyes.
But she smiles nonetheless, "Then it is a good ting I am rather fond of interesting tales."
Having lived one.
There's such an odd aura to the man that she can just barely make sense of. She doesn't understand the buzz of excitement around him, the expression in his eyes.
But she smiles nonetheless, "Then it is a good ting I am rather fond of interesting tales."
Having lived one.
"Promise you'll do your best to believe it."
Because, really, in the moment even he couldn't believe it. Couldn't understand the blessing which had been gifted to him in the full wisdom and grace of the Lion.
"And that you'll believe me when I swear I'm telling the truth."
Because, really, in the moment even he couldn't believe it. Couldn't understand the blessing which had been gifted to him in the full wisdom and grace of the Lion.
"And that you'll believe me when I swear I'm telling the truth."
She raises her brow in curiosity, but nods.
"I promise you, I will make my best attempt."
"I promise you, I will make my best attempt."
It feels odd to say. It feels odd to even think of saying it. But it's a gift from Aslan. It ought to be treated as such, not hidden from as he almost is.
"After... after your reign, Queen Susan, there's-- a time of darkness. Across Narnia and-- across the lands surrounding. There's a centuries of foreign rule here."
"After... after your reign, Queen Susan, there's-- a time of darkness. Across Narnia and-- across the lands surrounding. There's a centuries of foreign rule here."
It's an odd way to begin a story. Certainly a more grim one than she had imagined he would start. The tilt to her head is intrigued, a little worried.
"You say this like it's something you know with certainty."
"You say this like it's something you know with certainty."
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