[for Jon--Narnia homeplot]
They were back in Narnia.
It was different than the last time, and not only because now they were married with a son. This time, Edmund and Peter were along too, and that changed things. Sansa didn't come along, but Caspian was here, and not the Caspian Susan had got to know. She mostly avoided him when she could so she didn't say anything strange and made a mental note to herself to omit anything that had to do with Caspian when she told Sansa about this later.
That was made easier by the fact that she'd had to chase Rickon down all over the castle more times than she wanted to admit. The Narnian air had done nothing for his behaviour, but it had strengthened him and made his little legs like tiny pistons of energy that propelled him up and down the marble corridors at what seemed to Susan like lightning speeds. He flirted awfully with the Dryads and Maenads, played hide-and-seek with the Fauns (which only worked because they let Rickon find them and win--he was really too young for it otherwise), and generally charmed anyone within ten feet.
Of course that meant when it was evening, he was exhausted and over-excited. There was a grand banquet, which he mostly behaved for and then cried because Susan wouldn't let him have her glass of wine. That was it for Susan, who excused herself and Rickon and carried him out into one of the gardens. Caspian hadn't quite finished restoring everything but it was expertly done and close enough to the old Cair Paravel that Susan felt right at home.
"I know you're having fun," Susan told her son, kissing his cheek as she carried him through the garden, hoping the shadows and the scents of the blossoms there would help calm him, "but it's soon time for bed, and you'll miss tomorrow's fun if you don't sleep now."
"Noseep," said Rickon, but tiredly, like a wind-up toy who had very little wind-up left.
It was different than the last time, and not only because now they were married with a son. This time, Edmund and Peter were along too, and that changed things. Sansa didn't come along, but Caspian was here, and not the Caspian Susan had got to know. She mostly avoided him when she could so she didn't say anything strange and made a mental note to herself to omit anything that had to do with Caspian when she told Sansa about this later.
That was made easier by the fact that she'd had to chase Rickon down all over the castle more times than she wanted to admit. The Narnian air had done nothing for his behaviour, but it had strengthened him and made his little legs like tiny pistons of energy that propelled him up and down the marble corridors at what seemed to Susan like lightning speeds. He flirted awfully with the Dryads and Maenads, played hide-and-seek with the Fauns (which only worked because they let Rickon find them and win--he was really too young for it otherwise), and generally charmed anyone within ten feet.
Of course that meant when it was evening, he was exhausted and over-excited. There was a grand banquet, which he mostly behaved for and then cried because Susan wouldn't let him have her glass of wine. That was it for Susan, who excused herself and Rickon and carried him out into one of the gardens. Caspian hadn't quite finished restoring everything but it was expertly done and close enough to the old Cair Paravel that Susan felt right at home.
"I know you're having fun," Susan told her son, kissing his cheek as she carried him through the garden, hoping the shadows and the scents of the blossoms there would help calm him, "but it's soon time for bed, and you'll miss tomorrow's fun if you don't sleep now."
"Noseep," said Rickon, but tiredly, like a wind-up toy who had very little wind-up left.