The first week in Tashbaan was a flurry of settling in and meeting everybody who needed to be met; the second week was unsettling, closed in by the walls of the Tisroc's palace and the stifling crowds of the city; the third week was claustrophobic. Edmund knew that look in Susan's eyes, the one that said Get me out of here!, and so he made haste to procure a set of hooded robes and Calormene pack horses that would transform them into the most inauspicious travelers, and he knew Susan would laugh but that was all right, he hadn't heard her laugh a real laugh all week, and she was just as eager as he to adopt their disguises and ride out from the city.
"What are we seeking?" she asked as soon as they were out of earshot of the guards at the gate, and he told of her of the tales he had heard from the fortune-teller, of the Djinn that inhabited in the pale deserts east of Tashbaan, and the magics that lay hidden there, and Susan's eyes grew wickedly bright at the thought of the adventures that awaited them.
Tashbaan is so different from what they're used to, it makes sense that they'd feel trapped, even before they actually became so! It's so like Edmund to both notice Susan's discomfort and know exactly what will make her happier, AND have the skill to pull it all off!
Now I want to know whatever happened with the Djinn...
“What would you have wished for?” Edmund asks, the last glint of the lamp disappearing beneath the white-hot Calormene sands.
“I don't know,” Susan says thoughtfully, slipping her hand into his, “as I think I already have everything I want.”
“Well, I know what I'd have wished,” Edmund says, and leans close to whisper in her ear; when Susan's cheeks flush pink, the desert sun is not the cause, though her voice is level enough as she swallows and says, “I think that might be arranged, Ed, if you are both very lucky and very good.”
(Nope, not wicked at all, and apologies for the 3am crackiness of this one!)
"I am neither lucky nor good," said Edmund, touching the clasp of her robe and watching it slide to the cooling sands below them, "merely a mortal who wishes to honour the Queen's grace beneath the open skies of Calormen."
"You did not need a Djinn to wish for that," said Susan, adding to the pile as she dispensed with his cloak and furthered the bed of discarded clothes with a graceful tug at his belt, "for it is within my power to grant - thus."
"Oh, but you did not hear the wish I made under my breath," said Edmund with some difficulty, for her hands were instantly upon him and working a magic Calormene could never hope to equal, "that we be shielded from both prying eyes and pervading sands!"
Heeeee!! I love the last part of his wish, as it's definitely something they need if they're going to be so reckless!! Though really, I'm sure Susan would beg to differ with Edmund's characterization of himself as 'neither lucky nor good.'
Well starbrow's fill is already perfect BUT since we were talking yesterday about early love of Susan/Edmund, I can't resist a little homage to that!
Edmund walks into Susan's privy chamber at the Cair to find pots and scarves strewn everywhere, oily scent heavy in the air and the feel of Calormen all throughout. His sister is sitting at the foot of her bed, feet curled beneath her, naked and covered in color -- she doesn't look up as he enters, intent on the lines of saffron she is pulling up her arm toward her heart.
He waits, heart full of sun and sand, and finally she speaks. "It wasn't a summoning, Ed, I just --" She bites her lip and looks at the memories thrown around her, and meets his eyes at last.
"You don't need a spell to bring me to you, not even here," he says.
AUGH yes, this is the perfect little homage to one of my favorite fics ever! Heart full of sun and sand! She wants to remember him as they were!! SHE DOESN'T NEED A SPELL! It's glorious and perfect and you are THE BEST.
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"What are we seeking?" she asked as soon as they were out of earshot of the guards at the gate, and he told of her of the tales he had heard from the fortune-teller, of the Djinn that inhabited in the pale deserts east of Tashbaan, and the magics that lay hidden there, and Susan's eyes grew wickedly bright at the thought of the adventures that awaited them.
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Now I want to know whatever happened with the Djinn...
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Narnia, Edmund/Susan, Djinn
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“What would you have wished for?” Edmund asks, the last glint of the lamp disappearing beneath the white-hot Calormene sands.
“I don't know,” Susan says thoughtfully, slipping her hand into his, “as I think I already have everything I want.”
“Well, I know what I'd have wished,” Edmund says, and leans close to whisper in her ear; when Susan's cheeks flush pink, the desert sun is not the cause, though her voice is level enough as she swallows and says, “I think that might be arranged, Ed, if you are both very lucky and very good.”
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Ahem. But I'm not!
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"I am neither lucky nor good," said Edmund, touching the clasp of her robe and watching it slide to the cooling sands below them, "merely a mortal who wishes to honour the Queen's grace beneath the open skies of Calormen."
"You did not need a Djinn to wish for that," said Susan, adding to the pile as she dispensed with his cloak and furthered the bed of discarded clothes with a graceful tug at his belt, "for it is within my power to grant - thus."
"Oh, but you did not hear the wish I made under my breath," said Edmund with some difficulty, for her hands were instantly upon him and working a magic Calormene could never hope to equal, "that we be shielded from both prying eyes and pervading sands!"
Reply
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Edmund walks into Susan's privy chamber at the Cair to find pots and scarves strewn everywhere, oily scent heavy in the air and the feel of Calormen all throughout. His sister is sitting at the foot of her bed, feet curled beneath her, naked and covered in color -- she doesn't look up as he enters, intent on the lines of saffron she is pulling up her arm toward her heart.
He waits, heart full of sun and sand, and finally she speaks. "It wasn't a summoning, Ed, I just --" She bites her lip and looks at the memories thrown around her, and meets his eyes at last.
"You don't need a spell to bring me to you, not even here," he says.
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