[Fic] sketch of a Narnia story I probably won't ever write
If I had the time, the focus, and a whole bunch more knowledge about sailing than I do, here is a story I would like to write:
In the first chaotic year of the Telmarine conquest of Narnia, a young woman -- Margaret, called Maggie -- of Fensmouth (the small port at the mouth of the Shribble) decides that her country is dying and if Aslan won't come on his own to save it, she will go find him. After all, the gods help those who help themselves, right? And if something is blocking him, perhaps he needs a mortal to lend a hand, the way the Pevensies helped bring down the White Witch.
So she gets into a boat and heads east. Probably she has a few companions at the start, but one by one they drop away -- maybe one stays in the Seven Isles, maybe another one is caught by slavers in the Lone Islands, maybe one gets eaten by a dragon; maybe some mutiny and turn back and Maggie has to build herself a new, smaller, less seaworthy boat and continue alone. It is an impossible quest. But she keeps going out of sheer bloody-mindedness, until she reaches the uttermost east, where the waters turn sweet and strange new stars appear in the sky: the eternal stars of Aslan's country shining through the border into the mundane world.
She lands on Ramandu's island.
Ramandu tells her Aslan won't come until the appointed time. And Maggie, who has come all this long way, clinging to the hope that she can save her country, clinging to her faith, despairs.
It's a very long winter.
But spring comes again, and though Ramandu is very strange and inhuman, he does his best to be kind. He asks Maggie what stories humans tell about the stars and their dance (navigators have to know a fair bit of practical astronomy), and tells her what the heavens are like from a first-person perspective. She asks him how the stars know what future to foreshadow in their patterns, and tells him what the earth and sea are like for the people who live there instead of seeing the world whole and peaceful from miles in the air.
I don't think they actually have sex. Probably Maggie has some kind of grievous accident while working to repair her boat and/or going diving in the shoals around the island. Maybe some kind of encounter with the fierce sea people? Anyway, Ramandu heals her via sharing some of his light, and he misjudges slightly since he's not used to working with humans. Hey presto, one mystical pregnancy.
Maggie is extremely ambivalent about the whole thing. Ramandu is also extremely ambivalent, but he's pretty sure there must be a reason behind it. They have a bunch of arguments on the subject.
Eventually Maggie gives birth to a daughter, whom Ramandu names Tarazeth. (I think Maggie asked him to provide the name, so she wouldn't have to deal with that emotional morass.) She's a strange child, only half-human. She knows things without being taught, and she grows to maturity within a month. (Stars, you see, are born at a certain age and only change very gradually thereafter. Ramandu was created old.) Maggie finds her daughter unnerving, does her best to love her anyway, and eventually concludes that she has to leave the island.
"Will you return to Narnia and work for its freedom?" Tarazeth asks.
"Don't you and your father already know the answer?" Maggie says.
Tarazeth shakes her head. "Mortals are of the world and so follow its patterns, but your great gift and curse is the ability to choose your own steps and so refashion the dance."
"Your gift as well," Maggie says. "Don't forget. You're my daughter as much as his. You get to choose your own path, too."
Tarazeth nods silently.
"I sail east," Maggie says after a minute. "There's nothing I can do in Narnia that a hundred other people aren't already doing. There's no telling if I'd even reach its shores; getting here should have killed me a dozen times over. But I can sail east and remind Aslan that the world isn't pure and whole when you're living on the ground, that grand plans grind people to dust no matter how elegant or necessary they may be.
"They say that before the Witch grew proud and usurped the throne, she was Narnia's hangman, the accuser who brought traitors to court. Well, I say I'll step into her shoes and hold Aslan to account until the day my people breathe free once more. And if he won't let me into his land, knowing what I mean to say, then he's no god of mine and I'll take whatever fate I find beyond the edge of the world."
She pauses. "Do you hate me for that? Trusting in plans, as you and your father do?"
"Someday I hope to be half as brave as you," Tarazeth says instead of answering directly, and tucks her head into her mother's shoulder to hide the tears as they embrace one last time.
Maggie sets sail to the east. Tarazeth watches until her ship fades into the dazzle of sun on the silver lilies.
Nobody ever hears from her again.
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In the first chaotic year of the Telmarine conquest of Narnia, a young woman -- Margaret, called Maggie -- of Fensmouth (the small port at the mouth of the Shribble) decides that her country is dying and if Aslan won't come on his own to save it, she will go find him. After all, the gods help those who help themselves, right? And if something is blocking him, perhaps he needs a mortal to lend a hand, the way the Pevensies helped bring down the White Witch.
So she gets into a boat and heads east. Probably she has a few companions at the start, but one by one they drop away -- maybe one stays in the Seven Isles, maybe another one is caught by slavers in the Lone Islands, maybe one gets eaten by a dragon; maybe some mutiny and turn back and Maggie has to build herself a new, smaller, less seaworthy boat and continue alone. It is an impossible quest. But she keeps going out of sheer bloody-mindedness, until she reaches the uttermost east, where the waters turn sweet and strange new stars appear in the sky: the eternal stars of Aslan's country shining through the border into the mundane world.
She lands on Ramandu's island.
Ramandu tells her Aslan won't come until the appointed time. And Maggie, who has come all this long way, clinging to the hope that she can save her country, clinging to her faith, despairs.
It's a very long winter.
But spring comes again, and though Ramandu is very strange and inhuman, he does his best to be kind. He asks Maggie what stories humans tell about the stars and their dance (navigators have to know a fair bit of practical astronomy), and tells her what the heavens are like from a first-person perspective. She asks him how the stars know what future to foreshadow in their patterns, and tells him what the earth and sea are like for the people who live there instead of seeing the world whole and peaceful from miles in the air.
I don't think they actually have sex. Probably Maggie has some kind of grievous accident while working to repair her boat and/or going diving in the shoals around the island. Maybe some kind of encounter with the fierce sea people? Anyway, Ramandu heals her via sharing some of his light, and he misjudges slightly since he's not used to working with humans. Hey presto, one mystical pregnancy.
Maggie is extremely ambivalent about the whole thing. Ramandu is also extremely ambivalent, but he's pretty sure there must be a reason behind it. They have a bunch of arguments on the subject.
Eventually Maggie gives birth to a daughter, whom Ramandu names Tarazeth. (I think Maggie asked him to provide the name, so she wouldn't have to deal with that emotional morass.) She's a strange child, only half-human. She knows things without being taught, and she grows to maturity within a month. (Stars, you see, are born at a certain age and only change very gradually thereafter. Ramandu was created old.) Maggie finds her daughter unnerving, does her best to love her anyway, and eventually concludes that she has to leave the island.
"Will you return to Narnia and work for its freedom?" Tarazeth asks.
"Don't you and your father already know the answer?" Maggie says.
Tarazeth shakes her head. "Mortals are of the world and so follow its patterns, but your great gift and curse is the ability to choose your own steps and so refashion the dance."
"Your gift as well," Maggie says. "Don't forget. You're my daughter as much as his. You get to choose your own path, too."
Tarazeth nods silently.
"I sail east," Maggie says after a minute. "There's nothing I can do in Narnia that a hundred other people aren't already doing. There's no telling if I'd even reach its shores; getting here should have killed me a dozen times over. But I can sail east and remind Aslan that the world isn't pure and whole when you're living on the ground, that grand plans grind people to dust no matter how elegant or necessary they may be.
"They say that before the Witch grew proud and usurped the throne, she was Narnia's hangman, the accuser who brought traitors to court. Well, I say I'll step into her shoes and hold Aslan to account until the day my people breathe free once more. And if he won't let me into his land, knowing what I mean to say, then he's no god of mine and I'll take whatever fate I find beyond the edge of the world."
She pauses. "Do you hate me for that? Trusting in plans, as you and your father do?"
"Someday I hope to be half as brave as you," Tarazeth says instead of answering directly, and tucks her head into her mother's shoulder to hide the tears as they embrace one last time.
Maggie sets sail to the east. Tarazeth watches until her ship fades into the dazzle of sun on the silver lilies.
Nobody ever hears from her again.
If you want to comment on this post, you can do so over here on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)