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rthstewart) wrote2010-08-24 10:08 pm
What I did over my summer vacation, Part 1
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autumnia started, so I've been playing there. And then I ended up posting a snippet of what I'd been working on in keeperofqkeys LJ. So, I figured I might as well post a bit more. There's a beginning to this, involving sending spies to the Lone Islands and the census and an end I still need to write where Peter returns with some alarming news which sets the Lone Island part of the story in motion. This and my 16,000 word NFE represent WEEKS of hand wringing and whining. The only condition is that should I ever actually complete this and post it, that some of you drop a line over on FF.net to drown out the Rthstewart as purveyor of smut chorus.
The census was, Edmund came to see, really not a bad idea at all. He and Susan were engrossed in the tax code revisions, regardless, and so the census occupied Morgan and the Crows and the Physician. It was not that he mistrusted Morgan, exactly. But, he did not wish to test her loyalties, for he did not trust the House to which she belonged. Morgan said she had invested in Narnia, but Edmund was unclear whether Morgan had expended the monies of her House, or her own – which were, he had come to understand, considerable of themselves.
Susan had worried that Morgan might be offended at this exclusion from their councils, but this the banker had greeted with (another) eyeroll. “I’m not here officially. I don’t represent Narnia.” This really did not explain it to them, but Edmund speculated that a duty of loyalty and confidentiality would accompany such representation. In the absence of such a formal relationship, she had no expectation of being admitted into their confidences and in fact assumed they were foolish to do so. These were distinctions that mattered under the practices of the banking syndicates, and so they continued to tread cautiously.
Regardless, the examination of the policies underlying the tax code and the necessary revisions were the business of the Narnia monarchy. He and Susan would both ask Morgan specific questions, which she would answer. Her answers were sometimes discursive or digressive but once provided and sorted, they were always illuminating.
Morgan was, simply put, helpful and her contributions saved him and Susan countless hours. The expertise was such that he and Susan began to entertain the possibility of actually retaining her in an “official” capacity. A decision of that magnitude, however, required Peter’s participation as well.
The weather grew warmer, the pollen lessened, and Cair Paravel settled into its peaceful, summer rhythm. To the surprise of no one, Peter’s journey South to Archenland became another ten-day with Lune, then another after that, and finally a trip to Calormen and a visit with the Tisroc. His tournament armor was sent for. Then, upon receiving a message about brigands in the mountain passes of Archenland, Lucy rode out with an Army unit, a Gryphon Wing, Peter’s battle armor, and his war horse. Whether the brigands actually materialized or fled in the face of such daunting force did not really matter. Lucy, Peter, and their soldiers romped through the cool southern mountains and if they tarried there longer than was necessary, the good company, fine weather, and lack of other pressing business were to blame.
One morning, Susan announced that she had had quite enough – cryptically observing that if Lucy and Peter were off in the mountains and as Edmund was having a very pleasant summer indeed, that she too would see a respite. She rode off the next day on the Hell Bitch with Lambert and a light guard to visit the slopes of the Faun winemakers. She would return to the dragon of the tax code when, and not until, Peter did.
And then, Edmund found he was a King alone in his normally bustling castle, with no business other than the tax code and only his lover for company.
He continued to toil on with the code, coming to understand better why tradesmen preferred operating under the generous and forgiving provisions of the Lone Island laws – leaving aside their questionable authority in enacting them in the first instance, as Narnia law should, but in fact did not, apply to much of anything at all in their Island protectorate. After wearying of his summonses for “just one more question, if you will, Banker Morgan,” she joined him in the Tower Library for good. And so, they would work together, he with Narnia’s business, and Morgan with hers.
This pattern persisted except when Leszi’s threats become too dire and the Sword Master summoned the King for regular trouncings on the training ground. Edmund’s ego was not wholly satisfied – Morgan had no interest at all in watching his drills and martial practices and it would have been gratifying if she appreciated his prowess at arms as she admired his intellect, contracting draftsmanship, and person. It was probably just as well, as Leszi was eager to extract revenge for his recent injuries suffered at Edmund’s own hand. However, the Sword Master also sent a huge bouquet of lilies to Morgan with his compliments; the flowers made Morgan sneeze.
The sneezing was really what started it. The flowers stayed in her room and Morgan and then her belongings began to appear in his rooms. Edmund found that it was not the imposition he had expected. Previous lovers had never persisted beyond a few days and once the passion was spent, his interest had waned. The Code and her knowledge provided a framework for their interaction beyond the initial attraction. Edmund also found he slept more soundly when Morgan shared his bed.
So, they would wake, break fast together, and then work. In the afternoons, they might swim, or sail, or ride. She was awkward at so many things, but she truly enjoyed sailing, and it pleased him to tack about the inlet in a little skiff and introduce Morgan to the seabirds and Mer-people. In the evenings, they would read, talk, and walk about.
He learned she had one younger brother and that she had been given her first investments and positions to manage at the same age he had ascended to the Narnian throne. He learned of the role of the House of Linch as compared to the other houses and that the families grew, expanded and profited through “joint ventures” with other houses. How a House managed its financial empire for generation upon generation was a complex matter of blood, marriage, and dynastic inheritance as complex as any Caloremen succession.
Appalled at his self-taught skills, Morgan began teaching him how to conduct financial analyses with a more critical eye, and provided a foundation and formal language for things he had struggled to master on his own – balance sheets and income statements, marginal and fixed costs, gross and net income, leveraging, returns on investment and management of assets, borrowing and debt.
Edmund never felt he was a particularly demanding person (Jalur disagreed), but really, the things he wanted, he found he had. He did not want the Palace staff to fuss and he wanted everyone to enjoy the summer as he was. Everything moved slowly and became simpler, every day seemed more Narnian. They settled for stale bread or none at all because really, why should the bakers not sleep in? Why bother with heating the ovens or turning the spit for just the two of them when something could be had from the cold larder and the garden? Why make the mess of table settings and linens for two when he and Morgan could just sit side by side, ankles locked together, and share a plate and a mug, or go on to the lawns or down to the beach? He and Morgan wished for no evening entertainment than what they themselves provided, especially once they began working through her volume of Calormene erotic poetry (and the numbered illustrations).
In that regard, she was as concerned as he was to avoid consequences and so Jina was always consulted. They erred on the side of caution and that was no imposition at all – particularly with the Calormene suggested alternatives. Something in this regard nagged at the corner of his mind, something that was unusual, but not concerning; they were of one mind and that was all that mattered.
Even the official correspondence lessened and his briefings shortened. It seemed no one made any demands on him at all. It was so peaceful, he suspected that perhaps all of Narnia was conspiring to leave him to enjoy the lazy summer days and nights with Morgan.
Something was occurring, and Edmund really could not name it. For the first time ever, his active imagination was sated. His intellect found a new, appreciative audience and foil. They argued, because really, Morgan was so peculiar and wrong-headed sometimes. But, there was no rancor. He was content, as he had never been before.
He found himself trying to compare the situation to his own observations and previous experiences and found them all irrelevant and uninformative. None of his siblings had been in such an association; the courtships, love affairs, arrangements, and sundry he had seen in other human courts and households did not cover the situation in which he found himself. It felt Narnian, but he knew of no Narnian whose course would have been similar. No other lover had provided so much, demanded so little, and lasted for so long. Uncomfortably, he tried to recall what he knew of such things from the place they had come from, but the views of the child he had been were too hazy in detail and too distant from the man he was in the situation in which he found himself.
It was new and without precedent.
And Part 2 here
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