232 - Is there a situation where it's appropriate to be unkind?
They called Queen Susan the Gentle, and the title fit her well. When she was still a child Lucy sometimes wondered, in private, if it should not have been Susan to receive the cordial, not her.
When she was a young woman, just barely so and yet no longer a child, Lucy realized that Father Christmas had given the gifts more wisely than an eleven-year-old girl had thought. Susan’s skin pales at the sight of blood, and there’s no shame in that; Susan is strong in her gentleness; for Susan, lessons in diplomacy were as easy as archery.
But Lucy was called the Valiant, and there were reasons for that too. When the Narnian’s flight home from the South failed-when they learned of Rabadash’s plan to attack Anvard-it was Lucy who rose and walked with Edmund to the armory, as Susan sank into her throne and began giving orders to assemble a second line of defense at home.
Kindness is irrelevant in the middle of a battle. You fight, and you live or you don’t. There are many things that you can learn from battle, in the midst of it, but kindness isn’t one.
Afterward, though-after the dust settles and the son of the Tisroc is captured-then there was time to think on other things. To argue for the most kind fate for victims, even treacherous ones, to talk about the fate of three lands over a table that later might be circled by merry-makers.
For all their discussions and disagreements over what to do with the fool of a prince, it was the Lion who made the decision in the end, his golden mane and features appearing out of woodwork. The prince’s dark features turned more grey, fur grew from skin, and where there had been a man moments ago a donkey-a jackass-now stood. Many tried not to laugh, but even those who did realized it was a very dark humor they shared.
Lucy was already called Valiant when that happened, and she had already learned what it was to fight in battle with all you are, to push aside emotions when you have a duty that must be done despite them. But that day drove home a lesson she’d already begun to know; justice is not always kind, and gentleness can be as dangerous as cruelty.
Muse: Lucy Pevensie
Fandom: The Chronicles of Narnia
Word Count: 394
When she was a young woman, just barely so and yet no longer a child, Lucy realized that Father Christmas had given the gifts more wisely than an eleven-year-old girl had thought. Susan’s skin pales at the sight of blood, and there’s no shame in that; Susan is strong in her gentleness; for Susan, lessons in diplomacy were as easy as archery.
But Lucy was called the Valiant, and there were reasons for that too. When the Narnian’s flight home from the South failed-when they learned of Rabadash’s plan to attack Anvard-it was Lucy who rose and walked with Edmund to the armory, as Susan sank into her throne and began giving orders to assemble a second line of defense at home.
Kindness is irrelevant in the middle of a battle. You fight, and you live or you don’t. There are many things that you can learn from battle, in the midst of it, but kindness isn’t one.
Afterward, though-after the dust settles and the son of the Tisroc is captured-then there was time to think on other things. To argue for the most kind fate for victims, even treacherous ones, to talk about the fate of three lands over a table that later might be circled by merry-makers.
For all their discussions and disagreements over what to do with the fool of a prince, it was the Lion who made the decision in the end, his golden mane and features appearing out of woodwork. The prince’s dark features turned more grey, fur grew from skin, and where there had been a man moments ago a donkey-a jackass-now stood. Many tried not to laugh, but even those who did realized it was a very dark humor they shared.
Lucy was already called Valiant when that happened, and she had already learned what it was to fight in battle with all you are, to push aside emotions when you have a duty that must be done despite them. But that day drove home a lesson she’d already begun to know; justice is not always kind, and gentleness can be as dangerous as cruelty.
Muse: Lucy Pevensie
Fandom: The Chronicles of Narnia
Word Count: 394