Room 203

[kitchen_maid]

The Ordinary Princess is sitting on the windowsill, knees drawn up to her chin, staring out at the lake, and ignoring her tea. "Does it get easier? Being here?"

Comments

[the_seafarer]

"There was only ever one winged horse in Narnia," Caspian tells him, "that I know of, anyway, and he was a legend and long gone when I lived there. And yet the world that Lucy and her brothers and sister came from had no such creatures. Doubtless your world is one such as that."

[kindred_spirit]

"Plain old Earth, I'm afraid," he says, a little amused, and a little wistful. "Not very glamorous, by the standards of this place, but home. A little town called Avonlea, on Prince Edward Island, in Canada."

[the_seafarer]

The wistfulness in Caspian's eyes might take Gilbert slightly by surprise, then. "I thought you might be from there," he says with an odd smile. "You have that look about you, even though you seem from a different time than Lucy and her family. You are Bound, I think? I am truly sorry. Yours is a world that I have always longed to see more of."

[kindred_spirit]

"Yes, Anne and I are Bound." The "Anne and I" is the important part, in Gil's opinion.

"Are you not from Earth, then?"

[the_seafarer]

"Nay," he says, shaking his head. "When I was mortal man, I was Narnian born and lived there my whole life. I did catch one glimpse of your world, though, and it was quite an experience."

He pauses, thinking.

"I was sorry to hear that Anne was Bound when Amy told me, but now I think it well she has such a friend here with her," he says, carefully. "My first days and weeks here would have been hard indeed if my dearest friends had not been here when I arrived."

[kindred_spirit]

"I can appreciate that," Gil says, thinking about the fact the he marched right past the wonders of Milliways to get to Anne whe he arrived.

"And what did you do in . . . is it Narnian?"

[the_seafarer]

"Narnia," Caspian corrects, with an almost-amused smile.

"I was king. For a good fifty years, or so." Best to let this man know everything up front, he decides, liking Gilbert a great deal.

[kindred_spirit]

Gilbert blinks, not sure what to address first.

"Fifty years? King?"

[the_seafarer]

"Aye," Caspian says, watching Gilbert curiously.

"I won my throne while still a boy, and ruled until my death, at the age of three-score years and six, when I was restored to youth and health by the gift of Aslan."

[kindred_spirit]

"Oh," says Gil. "And Aslan is . . . ?"

[the_seafarer]

"Aslan is King over all Narnia," Caspian says seriously. "He is the great Lion, the son of the Emperor-over-the-Sea."

[kindred_spirit]

Gilbert doesn't quite understand, but suspects that explanations are only going to get more confusing. "Kind of him to do that for you then."

[the_seafarer]

"Aye, it was," Caspian says with a grin. "Bit of a surprise for me though--one minute I'm sixty-six years old and dying, and the next I'm seventeen again and in a completely different place. Quite a shock, really."

[kindred_spirit]

"I would imagine," Gil says, grinning himself. "I found it disconcerting enough to try to go onto Anne's porch and find myself here. I can't imagine changing ages and dying at the same time. At least, I assume I'm not dead."

[the_seafarer]

"Disconcerting, aye, it's a good term for this place, I think," Caspian agrees. "It's been a great comfort to me, though, to meet with friends I'd thought never to see again, in any world. And from what I've heard from your friend, and Amy, and what you told me yourself, I would be very much surprised if you turned out to be dead. Sometimes doors simply lead here, and no one really knows why."

[kindred_spirit]

"Anne mentioned something about it meaning that you needed to realize something." Gil actually sounds oddly hopeful, about that.

"Good to know that I'm probably not dead," says Gil, although the absurdity of the statement makes him smile. "Is Amy? And, is it considered polite to ask?"

[the_seafarer]

"I've heard that, as well." Caspian looks a bit curious, at Gilbert's tone. "There are many here who do not truly understand who they are, or what they want, I think. You don't strike me as one of them."

And there's a question there, yes, that he is perhaps too polite to put into words.

"And I believe it is a necessity to ask, at times. Some of my friends have begun to include in their introductions, just to save time, in fact." He grins, wryly.

[kindred_spirit]

"Yes, I've met some people who rattled off a list of whens and wheres, but I find that makes all the information a little hard to catch."

He doesn't answer the question Caspian doesn't ask. Caspian will just have to ask, if he wants information on that matter. Which is okay, as it's not like Caspian is going to running off to tell Anne without the mun finding out.

[the_seafarer]

Caspian looks amused.

"Ah. You've met Lilly."

[kindred_spirit]

"And Logan."

He liked Lilly better. Lilly didn't flirt with Anne.

[the_seafarer]

"Logan?" Caspian frowns. He doesn't like Logan perhaps even more than Gilbert doesn't like Logan.

"I have yet to meet him, and have business with him when I do. But Lilly is a friend, and a kind girl, though she is a bit hard to take at times."

[kindred_spirit]

"I found her a little hard to understand, honestly, but I liked her."

A pause. "Is there something I should know about Logan? Aside from his willingness to insult a total stranger's clothes? I know he's introduced himself to Anne."

[the_seafarer]

Caspian's expression hardens slightly.

"He's the sort of man who'll take a trusting girl off to some other world without gaining permission or thinking about telling her friends where she is and when she'll be back. I'm afraid my opinion of him is not high."

He raises an eyebrow. "You may want to keep an eye on him around your lady, my friend."

[kindred_spirit]

Gil flushes, slightly. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind, but Anne's not . . . I . . . I don't have any claim on her."

[the_seafarer]

"No?"

Caspian almost looks amused, but thinks better of it and controls his expression, though his eyes still smile.

"Though she has one on you, perhaps."