rthstewart | H&M, Chapter 14

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H&M, Chapter 14

I posted chapter 14 of Harold and Morgan early this morning and you can find it here:

Again, my huge thanks to those of you who helped here, first with the block and second with how I crafted Morgan's choices and their relationship. Thank you so much. Coming fresh off of the chapter of AW and the comments about Ed’s very mature conversation with his mother, I had to dial him back years for this chapter and that was really hard. Further, based on comments, I knew there were political and “career” issues I had to pose.

And then there was Edmund’s terrific misunderstanding/jealousy/insecurity with Rishta. I thought of omitting it for several reasons. However, the idea behind it, the epithet and stereotype that a Narnian’s brain is between his legs, is something I’ve had in my head since I started the story. I’ve been paving the way for it a long time, and across stories. On the one hand, I usually present the lustiness of Narnia as humorous and fun -- team Licentious Trees as

anastigmatfic calls it. So it might seem surprising to see it viewed so negatively by some on the outside. Rather like some of my critics, I suppose? Ahem. At the very least, it makes Narnia seem rustic, which as Susan says in chapter 5 of BRD, it is. Narnia is not stupid or uncouth as many assume (the premise of BRD) but neither does she have sophistication of the other lands.

I really wanted to make this more fun and to show some of the good times that Edmund is remembering fondly in AW (

h_dash_h, that was your comment). So, some of that is here even if there is angst as well (I’m tired of angst. Aren’t you? Just shut up and have sex, would you? Stupid characters.) In terms of actual sexual content – by which I mean descriptive, point of view activity – this chapter breaks no new ground. Yet, I’ve come to see that there’s something really important in this journey for some readers that is very adult. This journey can affect readers personally. Morgan’s fierce assertion of her prerogative is one that in an ideal world, someone might imagine saying to a partner. Compromise plays out all the time as people balance career and personal lives.

Goodness, too much navel gazing. We obviously need more Otter and Narnians trying to entertain the King and his consort in trees and marshes. "There are bugs in the honeycomb!" Morgan hissed. "I can't eat this!" Harold, however, had already popped the comb into his mouth as the she-Bear looked on approvingly. (If you have any other ideas, do share).

Clio told me last night that the arc made sense – which I doubted. So thank her because otherwise I would have chucked it and started over. Readers E and Doewe has also provided some wonderful help in email as I've parsed through this relationship. This is all so much better for the thoughtful contributions of readers.

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LOL. We do need more Otters! I am sorry for Jalur that they did not find any in Archenland, so I think Edmund still needs to make it up to him once they return to Narnia.

Hmm. I wonder what Morgan would think of Marshwiggles? Any particular custom among those Northern dwellers, or would they just give very depressing advice to their King and his consort?

I think the conversation with the Tarkaan was a hard lesson for Edmund to learn but one he really needed (not only in how to make his relationship with Morgan work, but also to figure out how to do it in a way that does not degrade Narnia from outsiders' perspective nor complicate the country's relationship with its allies). From an AW point, I could Edmund using this in trying to determine how to deal with his Father and his mistresses (assuming they were to meet in NY).

And in your review, you wrote:
At least Jalur had the sense to have Morgan come and help set things straight even if it did result in an angry argument. Morgan's own words to Edmund was an echo of what occurred when Jalur became Guard - again, Edmund was trying to make the decision for someone else and having it backfire on him.
Proving once again that my readers are sooo much smarter than I am. I had totally forgotten this and you are absolutely right. What would I do without all of you? Really? Seriously?

Story alert arrived right in the middle of orchestra rehearsal yesterday afternoon - was sooo frustrated that I couldn't read the update then and there. So once I got home, I read instead of doing the work that I wAs meant to be doing. Anyway, I digress.... :-)

For all that it's been really hard, it's a really good chapter. I wanted to smack them both and tell them to get a grip. Still, with all the block-headed emotional stupidity on display, I still get the sense that maybe some lightbulbs are starting to go off. It's nowhere near there yet, but it's got the feeling that comprises and resolutions are possible, even if somewhere off in the distance yet.

Edited 2012-05-20 20:59 (UTC)

Glad for the distraction and thank you so very, very much for all the reviews, both for Rat and Sword and now for this. I so very much appreciate your thoughts and comments. It means a lot to me.

They've actually moved a fair bit. Morgan has, for the moment, made her decision and Edmund is waiting for Aslan's go ahead,
"What more do you want my King?”

It came out before he could censor it, stated baldly and selfishly. “I want her to return to Narnia with me. To stay with me for as long as her work allows.”

The Lion said nothing. They continued to walk.

“So you think that inadvisable,” Edmund finally said, feeling terribly deflated.

“I said nothing at all,” Aslan replied

Thank you - I loved Corin. I'm now wondering if Edmund taught him how to climb, or if (in a few years' time) it somehow wound up being the other way around?

I really want to thank you for all the wonderful thoughts and help on Morgan and the relationship. I hugely appreciate it and it all really worked its way into my thinking on the chapter.

:) Don't doubt yourself - it was as good as always.

Thank you!

Yea for more Harald and Morgan! I really enjoyed this chapter. I'm glad they're starting to talk.

Thanks for writing!

Thank you so much!!

Yay! A new chapter! Wonderful use of the Calormene who wished to "acquire" Morgan. So easily misunderstood, and it played into one of Our Heroes actually falling into a bit of prejudice for a change. And I love that you used the whole thing to get Morgan to actually blurt out how she feels. Edmund is so terrified that he's forcing her into something that he's usurping her independence in the opposite direction. And really, Edmund, she pursues volumes of exotic sexual positions with you. Are you really going to let some Tarkaan's absurd views on the incompatibility of female intelligence and sexuality influence you here? Of course you are, because the only person you can't judge properly is yourself.

Also- favorite line: "I shall be inclusive for your Northern preferences and include any being"

:-)

Thank you. I've had my doubts about this chapter and still do so I appreciate you weighing in. I feel routinely that all of you have a better handle on what is going on here than I do. Also, I've been whacked over the head a lot by the Narnia fen the last week or two and I'm in that mode of OMG time to take everything down and run away.

It is hard to have one of Our Heroes make mistakes. Readers don't like it, often. I did wonder if it was too big a thing, too dramatic, too out of character. I've wondered if I went too far and people are too polite to say.

Pierce did make the same assumptions about Narnia and Edmund is, with reason, concerned. He knows Morgan is better there; Morgan isn't sure what she wants; Edmund still has these doubts that something makes him happy must be wrong/bad/evil/flawed.

He is getting better, he is working it out. He is listening to her, he is acting more appropriately and Morgan is getting better too. And... I WROTE FLUFF. FLUFF. Did you see that? FLUFF?!!

FLUFF! Yes, and yay!

Edmund's sufficiently unsure of himself, and he and Morgan had not yet established a "new normal", that him kind of panicking is not out of the question. If the Tarkaan had argued the Morgan didn't really love him, or that it was a politically impractical arrangement, then Edmund would have told him to go hang. But since he instead pushed the button that Edmund had *just* been concerned about (pushing Morgan into a relationship she doesn't really want where she may feel coerced, particularly sexually), *and* Edmund has to deal with having totally overreacted to a misunderstanding, yes, I think you can justify panic here :-P

Also, I love Lucy's wholehearted endorsement of Morgan and support of Edmund. And that she won't led Edmund protest referring to Morgan as his consort.

Oh, and Morgan's way of teaching maths to Corin! :-)

Don't let the haters get you down. If you're getting them all worked up you're probably doing something right.

Read it, loved it, will leave a longer review when I am not on a mobile hotspot on vacation :)

doctor dolly

Wow--I didn't see that coming! What a great chapter! There we are with Morgan and Edmund finally starting to work things out, with Lucy's whole-hearted endorsement and even some romantic interludes (as you say FLUFF!) and then bang, a major upset. I think I read that bit three times, with my mouth hanging open. Still I think they are finally starting to get to the nub of the problems with their relationship. At least Edmund is admitting it is a relationship.

The whole thing is affecting Edmund's judgement though. The misinterpretation of Rishta's proposal was a reasonable mistake I think, but Edmund's reaction to try to dump Morgan (for her own good!) and slam out of Anvard, just shows how off balance he is. Hanging around Anvard with nothing to do but play with Corin and watch Morgan add up other people's sums is not good for him.

Once again I love how you put in the little details:
-Morgan as a great math tutor!
-The letter from the Cair Paravel staff
-Edmund intensely curious about Lune's finances but heroically refraining from sneaking a look
-Royal guards eavesdropping on courting scenes

They are like splashes of colour which illuminate the scenes.

I have to say that I disagree with Jalur about Rishta not meaning to be insulting. His initial proposal may not been meant as an insult but then there is this final comment.

"Yes, I see that now," Rishta said. "It had never entered my mind to consider Morgan of Linch for pleasure as you did." He even grimaced, as if the very notion were distasteful.

"King Edmund, you are fortunately a man of the greater world and so we can overcome this misunderstanding and ill beginning." Rishta waved a ringed hand and the nauseating odor of his perfume intensified. "Any woman, indeed, I shall be inclusive for your Northern preferences and include any being, might sate our passions. Whatever fleeting pleasures others provide, AD Morgan is so far above such common lusts, she brooks no comparison. AD Morgan can spin gold from straw."

If Rishta has been in Anvard for several days he must have heard the gossip about Edmund and Morgan. So he knows that they are lovers. His comment is at best a rebuke, and one from a minor lord to a foreign monarch. However given that snide bit about "your Northern preferences", I think it's a dammed insult!

Ahem...getting carried away here. I find I am very protective of Edmund and Morgan.

I'm looking forward to the next chapter: meeting Aslan and hearing Morgan's list of questions! Getting Susan's reaction to it all! Catching dumb otters en route!

Thank you very much for continuing this story.
ClaireI

Thank you so much! Edmund is carrying some residual guilt and Morgan isn't helping the situation. I've been working on another scene in the next chapter where, instead of them both doing stupid things, they actually understand each other before there is a blow up. I did wonder about including the scene with Rishta. Sometimes things that have been in my head for so long really don't need to be there; similarly there is an exchange of lines that bothers me a little, too. But they need to have a good argument and then resolve it and move on and get the heck out of Anvard.

Director Linch expressed much the same thoughts as Rishta does -- that to keep Morgan as a toy for a King doesn't recognize her worth -- that anyone can be a King's mistress, but Morgan is a supremely valuable asset. And the idea that that wild Northerner is just sleeping with this valued treasure underscores the rumors and prejudices they have about the North -- they are bunch of uncouth, uncultured wild animals, children and savages who sleep with trees and things with hooves as Pierce thinks.

And as for Jalur, well, he's a tricky cat:

Jalur was, finally, able to lie down in the sitting room and relax. He found his favorite spot on the rug and stretched out. King Edmund and Banker Morgan had finally begun their usual courtship and mating and so he could just ignore them and the ruckus of leaving of Anvard for a little while. He smelled and heard Jina approach; the Hound had joined Harah for a turn outside once the rain had stopped and everyone had calmed down.

Jina pushed open the door, Harah flew in and Jina then pushed the door closed again.

Harah landed on a chair and Jina settled across from Jalur with a sigh.

“That was close,” Harah said. “Quick thinking, Jalur, to have me go find Morgan.”

“Yes,” Jina said. “Thank you. What happened?”

Jalur didn’t want to talk to anyone. He wanted to take a nap, bite into the flesh of some struggling game, preferably otter, and he wanted to criticize his Monarch and his Monarch’s lady.

He rested his head between his paws and sighed. “Tarkaan Rishta was very rude and said things that made King Edmund think Morgan was a slave and that he wanted to buy Morgan to mate with her.”

“But that is not what Rishta wanted at all!” Jina said. “King Edmund misunderstood.”

“He had reason to misunderstand,” Jalur replied.

“But why did King Edmund suddenly decide he was going to leave without Morgan?” Harah asked. “If another Crow wants to steal your Shiny, you hide it; you don’t leave it behind for someone to take.”

“I do not know,” Jalur said. “King Edmund was very angry. I tried to calm him. I told him it was all a mistake.”

“So you lied?” Harah asked. “Well done!”

Jalur growled at the Bird. He was tired of words, he didn’t like them, and all this speaking was making him irritable all over again. Well, even more irritable. He hadn’t lied. Not exactly. It was just more of this tedious Human business where they never said what they meant. “When King Edmund began preparations for leaving without Morgan, I thought it would be the mistake of Narrowhaven again. I did not want more months of that. They need to come back to Narnia.”

“Smart work, Jalur,” Harah. “But I still don’t see why he would leave Morgan behind.”

“Rishta likes Morgan very much,” Jina said. “King Edmund knew this and was jealous. Rishta made King Edmund think that he and Narnia were not fine enough for Morgan.”

Jalur growled again.

“That’s silly,” Harah said. “I shouldn’t have that fine silver knife from the dining room table, but I wanted it so I took it.” The Crow rustled her feathers. “Why does it matter if a Shiny’s too fine for me if I like it?”

Jina looked at him. Jalur turned his head to the side and closed his eyes. If Jina wanted to explain stealing to a Crow, she was welcome to try. He was going to take a nap.

Oh --Jalur is having to manage his King a great deal lately. I bet he never envisioned all this emotional messiness when he first made his Guard's vow! But he is proving very adaptable and flexible. As you say, a very sneaky cat. I don't why I am surprised. In my limited experience cats are very good at managing humans. And you can see how Jalur is evolving into that big softie who gives away his precious otter chew toy to Edmund's cub.

Thanks again for the preview.

ClaireI

Sneaky, suspicious person that I am, I wondered whether or not Rishta was deliberately pushing Edmund's buttons as part of a Calormen intelligence work.

For the rest of the review - it was a hard read and I understand why this was difficult to write. At the end of the day relationships are hard work and if everything goes perfectly all the time, then you have a Mary Sue.

So let the chapter be a bridge to what comes next, congratulate yourself on getting the icky stuff finished, and enjoy writing what comes next.

doctor dolly

I second that notion! Wouldn't be at all surprised. In any case, I don't think Rishta should undertake any diplomatic or trade missions to Narnia in the near future. The Just King may forgive him ( after all that is what he does), but he sure isn't going to forget!

ClaireI

uhmmmm. yes? Maybe? If Rishta shows up in Narnia, someone is going to dump him down a well. Thanks so much to both of you!! Clairel and Doctor Dolly, you both really need to get LJ accounts.

Edited 2012-05-30 02:21 (UTC)

Time: The Golden Age, just before "Horse and His Boy."
Place: Tashbaan

Rabadash: Ah Rishta, I am going to send you on a diplomatic mission to Narnia. I wish to marry Queen Susan and you will take my initial salutations and gifts to her.

Rishta: Oh my beloved and sagacious prince, I don't think that is a good idea.

Rabadash: And why not? After all, you are famous for being able to speak in their blunt, uncomplicated Northern fashion.

Rishta: Er...well a few years ago I accidentally insulted King Edmund. Badly.

Rabadash: Insulted King Edmund? How? About what?

Rishta: Er..over a lady.

Rabadash: What lady?

Rishta: Morgan of Linch.

Rabadash: Morgan of Linch! I want to marry Queen Susan and you insulted her royal brother about his wife!!!

Rishta. (Wailing) He wasn't married to her at the time! And it was unintentional!

Rabadash: Assorted grisly threats and much enraged shrieking.

Moral: Justice may be delayed, but it is sweet.

ClaireI

Brilliant!

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H&M, Chapter 14

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Wonderful stuff!

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Rishta as spy

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Re: Rishta as Diplomatic Envoy

Re: Rishta as Diplomatic Envoy