COMMENTFIC!

[metonomia]

Guys guys guys, so ilysia_039   wrote epic amazingness re: the Duke of Galma's daughter (Isamene), the one who squints and has freckles, and then rthstewart  started shipping Edmund/Isamene because WHO WOULDN'T, and then she wrote AU fan fic for fan fic, and then she said I could put it here and continue it!!!

So, go read this:  http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5450216/14/Singing_Paeans_to_the_Stars

And then...muahahhahaha!



"Really, Caspian, must you be such a complete Telmarine about it?" It was only over fifteen years of self control and that they were in full view of the assembled Galmans on the Great Hall’s dais, that kept Edmund from cuffing the Narnian King on the side of the head.

"What?" Caspian mumbled as bits of stew slid off his trencher to the immaculately scrubbed floor.

With practiced ease, the stiletto slid out of his wrist sheath and into Edmund’s hand. Under the cover of the rough cloth on which they dined, he aimed its point at Caspian’s thigh.

"Our host's daughter has obviously cleansed this Hall and changed the rushes herself. You dishonor her and Narnia eating as a common, dumb swine." He gave Caspian a little jab so the King knew that he too was a King, and rather better at it. "Pick that food up from the floor!"

"Rushes?" Caspian asked stupidly, jerking away and looking about. “Who? Do you mean that creature with the squints and freckles?"

On Caspian's other side, Lucy hissed with anger. Edmund had hoped to keep his sister out of it; in matters such as this, Lucy was even less forgiving than he.

"Caspian, you are such a boor," Lucy huffed and Edmund saw a flash of silver in her hands. “You will cease to embarrass us and our country this instant or I shall teach you better manners at knifepoint.”

A polite cough caught his attention and Edmund looked up to see that the whole of their whispered lesson had been observed by one other. Squints indeed. There was a shrewd intelligence in Isamene’s eyes. With a knowing quirk of her eyebrow, she raised her cup and behind its rim, Edmund caught a whispered “thank you.”

He subtly tilted his head to the other end of the table. “And listen to what happens next,” he told Isamene silently.

Lucy begin in her sweet seeming way that was always a shade too blunt for strict Court politeness. “My Lord Galma, my brother, the Just King, and I are so pleased to see that you have held to the sound laws We enacted so long ago that recognize inheritance by lineal primogeniture regardless of gender. Our fair cousin Caspian told me but today how Narnia most heartily approves of Galma in this and intends to hold her as a model of equity for all her territorial Crown possessions.”

Isamene flushed at Lucy’s words; and it was too bad because those very attractive freckles smattered across her high cheekbones disappeared.

Edmund raised his glass in salute, echoing Lucy with a hearty “To Princess Isamene.” He wondered how he might coerce Drinian into keeping their on Galma a full month.

Comments

[metonomia.livejournal.com]

With Caspian soundly chastised and Isamene's rushes spared any further mindless ruin, the evening progressed quite agreeably. Edmund wondered if Lucy might have seen from the beginning how delightful Isamene was, and blessed his sister in any case for leaving him the seat directly across from the lovely girl.

There was little that Edmund appreciated more than hard work, regardless of whether it is physical or mental, and Isamene seemed to embody both types, sitting quietly in the hall she scrubbed, watching and listening in a way that reminded him of Susan, who never knew anything less than everything about her surroundings. Quite apart from being the possessor of such beautifully constellated freckles, he sensed that she would rule Galma admirably when her time came - probably ten times better than her father, who had been hinting with growing transparency all day that perhaps Caspian is looking for a wife, and who by all accounts has only been refrained from completely bankrupting the island by the hard work of Isamene herself.

The subject of his scrutiny glanced up at him once more and blushed again, but more lightly, and cast him an approving glance that made him think he might be able to get a private tour of her lands the next day. Those vineyards they had passed on the way in were a bit dry, yes, but did look so very delightful, and in need of some close inspection.

[lady_songsmith]

*bounces* MOAR PLZ!!!

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

During some tedious discussion down the table into which Lucy tactfully drew Caspian, the Duke, and his odious wife, Edmund thought to draw Isamene out a little.

"Princess, permit me to compliment you on the management of your household."

"I would not think you would require permission for anything, King Edmund."

Of all the cheek. "So you believe me overbearingly monarchical?"

"I would not be so impertient."

"But if you were?" Edmund countered easily.

Her eyes flitted down toward Caspian. "If I were impertinent, I might say there is considerable posturing Kingliness in the confined space of this humble hall."

"Then it is very good that you are not impertinent and indeed are the very vision of modest, silent womanhood."

Her eyes flashed. "I might be impertient, King Edmund, but you must certainly are."

"Call me Edmund. I say, are you fond of maths?"

[ilysia-039.livejournal.com]

Her lips twitched into what might have been the bare beginnings of a smile, had she not ruthlessly subdued it. Really, he was quite young, too, she thought. "Maths..."- she paused, considered his last words, then added deliberately- "your Majesty?"

He laughed, and suddenly looked much, much older. "Indeed. With the running of such a household firmly in your hands, even one as, ah, impertinent as I can see that there must be quite a few accounts to keep. I was merely inquiring as to whether you found such things a pleasure, as have a few of the more extraordinary women of my acquaintance, or a nuisance."

Older indeed. Really! Isamene raised her cup once more, this time to hide her smile behind it. After a moment, having regained her composure, she said demurely, "Why, I take a particular pride in my accounts, King Edmund."

"I am glad to hear it."

So was she. And now... "I wonder, King Edmund, if abaci were in great use during your own time?"

"Abaci? In Calormen, yes, I believe so."

"Oh, but they are quite indispensable. You must allow me to show you."

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

"Oh, but they are quite indispensable. You must allow me to show you."

With swift fluidity, King Edmund rose and held out his hand. "Shall we go then?"

"To where, King Edmund?" Isamene asked, baffled by his peculiar behavior.

"You offered to show me your abaci."

[lady_songsmith]

*looks innocent*

[ilysia-039.livejournal.com]

*hopes everyone is looking the other way, steals icon*

[lady_songsmith]

I made it to be stolen, klep away! :)

[ilysia-039.livejournal.com]

It was a rather less baffled Isamene who stepped- several hours later- from between two rows of struggling grape vines. A brown patch caught her eye and she paused, frowning; she would have to see to it that this section- and most likely the two on the eastern slope- were watered more often.

A small snort from behind pulled her attention away from her dehydrated grapes. "See, I knew your vineyards were in want of closer inspection."

"Really, your Majesty," she said in not-entirely-mock exasperation as she turned to stare at him, "you are impossible."

"Edmund," he corrected absentmindedly before- rather fruitlessly, she thought- beginning to brush the dust and dry grass from his tunic with his free hand.

"Well, Edmund, you have grape leaves in your hair and-" she froze, staring at the hand that wasn't fighting a losing battle against the dust. No, no; it couldn't be. Surely he would never... "Give me that," she hissed suddenly, lunging forward to rip the abacus from his hand. Her disbelief turned to dismay; Edmund smiled.

After a long moment, she hissed, "That was an account of this month's expenses, which, I feel obligated to add, I will now have to spend hours redoing. You..," she began, and then trailed off, thinking that it might not be diplomatically sound to hit a king, even one like this one.

"Edmund," Edmund supplied helpfully.

Her eyes narrowed. "You are going to help me."

"If the lady insists." There was a brief pause and then... "I don't suppose your store rooms are also in need of such inspection?"

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

"Store rooms?" she repeated. Truly Edmund was a most unconventional King. He was not the least bit abashed over or even repentant at having obliterated her monthly accounts. Though he professed to be unfamiliar with the device, Isamene suspected deliberate tampering.

"There shall be no inspections of the store rooms until you assist in reconstruction of my accounting!" On this, Isamene was prepared to be firm and had still not ruled out hitting the monarch.

Reaching out, he plucked a twig from her own hair and twirled it idly between his fingers. "As you wish. In so pleasant of company, I find accounting can be very stimulating. How much will be involved you think?"

"Hours," she ground out.

"So you say? Well, nothing for it!" he responded cheerfully. "Let us make for your office!"

She could not believe he was acceding so easily. "And what of the store rooms you wish to inspect?"

Edmund tucked the twig behind his ear and carefully cleared away the vine trailing from her skirts.

"A reconstruction of this estate's monthly financials will require frequent forays to the store room to confirm and count inventory."

[metonomia.livejournal.com]

She petted her abacus absentmindedly as she considered what he was clearly intending. They wouldn't get much work done, she guessed, but she could always just do the accounting later. A little holiday could be alright, just for once...

"Very well, Edmund, let us away to the store rooms."

--

An hour later, Isamene found herself wondering why she had ever been angry at him. The man was a god, by the Lion! His style of notation and his mental math and the deft manner in which he shoved the beads of the abacus from side to side, the little furrow in his brow as he concentrated on her numbers...King Edmund was a better financier than anyone Isamene had ever come across, except perhaps, she allowed humbly, herself.

[autumnia]

LOVE, love, LOVE this! In my review to ilysia_039's original story, I had wished for Isamene to meet Lucy and here we have it!

Commentfic to fanfic can truly be fabulous, such as this.

... Now, I'm wishing Susan could have met Isamene too; the Queen (at least in rthstewart's universe) could also appreciate such hard work and fine household management.

[metonomia.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think Susan would very much approve of Isamene, and I have little doubt that they could go on for hours bemoaning the boorish men (and stupid women) who undermine all their hard work.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

So, Meto and I have been wondering what is in the store room. We are thinking large pallets of spun cotton, silks, and jugs of honey to which Edmund is curiously resistant. The honey was Lady_Songsmith's idea. Further, there are all the makings for ancient Narnian fertility rites -- Meto says sea salt and sheaves of grain. I think oils as well or stalks of corn. Meto insists they must visit a well.

This is all in the interest of worldbuilding you understand, as Galma has, in your vision, become a repository for remembrance of the ancient Narnian ways.

Oh, and a new pick up line in the new Narnia/Telmar -- "Can I see your abaci?" I've also been investigating other early counting devices. It turns out the slide rule is actually quite ancient and another option is something called Napier's bones.

On this path lies madness.

[ilysia-039.livejournal.com]

Let the records show that I said, from the very beginning that we created a monster.

...

Now that the records show that... Meto, what will we do with a well? I'm all aboard for sea salt and sheaves of grain and oils and stalks of corn. I mean, if we're talking about ensuring that ancient Narnian rituals are not lost, I'm all for the exploration of these rites. Our world-building would not be complete without it.

PICK UP LINE YES. Oh, God, can't you just see it? Tirian approaches Lucy in Aslan's country, quietly and politely askes, "Can I see your abaci?" and then Edmund jumps him...

Please, don't delude yourself: we passed madness miles and miles ago. We have Gone There. What we are doing now...

[metonomia.livejournal.com]

WELL, since you ask...Wells in the Hebrew Scripture are symbols of fertility and, more specifically, of marriage. For a wedding to take place the story has to include a variety of things, one of the most prominent being a well, which, obviously, symbolizes female sexuality (as, by the way, does the vineyard). So depending on where we want it to go, there are a couple of options. Option A is that they have a lovely well and we thus get some sort of wedding. Option B is that the well is old and useless and doesn't actually supply any water anymore, thus symbolizing that there will NOT be a wedding. Basically, since we had the vineyard, I just want more biblical sex symbolism.

[ilysia-039.livejournal.com]

*is hijacking thread*

So, this is a bit related, for, while it's not commentfic, it is clearly world-building, and I'm far too lazy to post in my own journal. So, if you want to see a very glorious bit of under-appreciated, post-Telmarine invasion, pre-Prince Caspian world-building, head right here: Once a Lord of Narnia (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4905598/1/Once_A_Lord_Of_Narnia).

*ends hijacking*

[lady_songsmith]

I just found that this evening, and I second the recommendation! Quite good, well-done worldbuilding - and I recommend other works by the same author, too (even if the poor Duke's daughter doesn't get as good a story as this one!)

[wingedflight21.livejournal.com]

Aslan's Mane, this is absolutely brilliant. Suddenly my entire VoDT mind-canon has changed forever. (What do you mean, they never visited Galma? How else is Edmund supposed to meet Isamene?)

And yes - best pickup line in the history of Narnia.

[keeperofqkeys.livejournal.com]

This may very well be one of the greatest things I've ever read in my life.

And it's taking all of my self control not to burst out in hysterical laughter in the middle of my office....

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

We have been unable to decide if it is K or M rated. Are you sure you are old enough to read it? We have had way too much fun, particularly with the Biblical symbolism of the well and the fertility imagery.

[keeperofqkeys.livejournal.com]

I don't think any of us are old enough to read it. Since we all clearly have the maturity levels of twelve year olds.

I think now that Bacchus has arrived, it can't be anything less than M.....

[metonomia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think the assertion of the Pevensies being 'delicious' just might push the rating over. If people really don't have the ability to see innuendo, then it might be K.

And no, I don't think any of us are old enough to read it. And yet here we are...

[ilysia-039.livejournal.com]

Well, if it wasn't M before Bacchus and the Maenads arrived, I think their presence pushed it clearly and definably into that territory. The 'delicious' comment... yes, well. Ahem.

Not only are we reading it, we're writing it. How terrifying is that?

[lady_songsmith]

As I told Kate when I linked her to is, this is is dirtiest piece of perfectly clean writing it has even been my pleasure to witness.