Snippet: Lucy and a Hag
Dec. 18th, 2010 02:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lady_songsmithBecause I can either rant or post fic, and posting fic is more productive.
The elders shared looks she couldn't read, which unnerved her almost as much as the haggish charms outside. Then an orc said, "There was word of a party like your first brother had."
"Really?" Lucy clasped her hands together, nearly bouncing on her toes. "Where? Are they all right?"
"They met the dwarves we chased off," said a wolf, watching her intently. "They all turned for the border, fortunate souls." He dropped his jaw in a lupine grin, giving her a very good look at his teeth. Lucy was vividly reminded of Maugrim, and it was all she could do not to flinch away.
"But they didn't get back to Narnia," she protested. "The Hawk said they were attacked."
"Not by us," snarled the wolf.
"I'm not accusing you!" She put her hands out, palms down, in a calming gesture. "You say you want to be left alone, and I believe you." How she wished Edmund were here, or Susan! They were much better with words. "But if there's something out there that can beat Narnian soliders, surely you know about it? Even if it hasn't attacked you, it'd be a potential threat, and you must keep track of those." She gazed around the circle. Impassive faces stared back at her, and she suddenly felt very small. "Please," she begged, hating how scared she sounded. "I just want to find my family."
"And then?" a Hag's whining voice asked. The creature came swaying toward Lucy, her movements oddly hypnotic. "The little girl and her little family, the Narnian creatures with them, all together where poor folk hide. What will they do, the little family?"
"Not hurt you!" Lucy protested, turning to keep the woman in sight as she circled. "We only came for our sister; we don't want to hurt any one."
"Not hurt us? Little girl, little Narnian, little liar --"
"I'm not!"
"-- comes to us with the smell of fire and summer on her, comes with magic on her skin, tricking poor hidden folk."
"No! That's not -- I didn't--" She was anxiously aware of the others massed at her back, but she couldn't take her eyes from the circling Hag.
"Little girl is cruel, tricking an old woman," the hag whined. "cruel like her steel." Lucy's hand fell to her knife without thought. "Cruel like her lion-lord."
"I--"
"We know what you carry," said a minotaur behind her. She spun, eyes wide, trying to watch
them both. At her feet Sirene hissed, all her fur standing straight up. "You reek of magic, girl. You smell of summer (fire? sun?), and you wear one of the blades of prophecy." Her fingers tightened around the hilt of her dagger. She'd always thought its resemblance to Rhindon merely a matter of style. Yes, the blade had a certain magic about it, like all their gifts, but she'd never heard anything about it being part of the prophecy.
She swallowed hard. "Sirene? I don't suppose we have much choice."
The leopard skinned her lips back, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. "We could leave."
"I'm not sure we could," Lucy said ruefully, noting Tarva's alarmed expression and that the hag was between them and the door. Her guard hissed miserable, a futile defiance and they both knew it.
"Very well," Lucy said, looking at the elders straightly. "I think you already know who I am, but if you want to hear me say it -- My name is Lucy, and I am a queen of Narnia."
"And why have you come here, little queen?"
Lucy was heartily sick of the word 'little', especially since she could hear Jadis's mocking tones in it every time these folk spoke it. "I've told you that already. I'm looking for my sister and brothers. I came for them, and for no other reason."
"She spared my life," Tarva pointed out. "That isn't the act of the cruel Narnians we've been told of."
Watching the wolf and the dryad, two species she actually had experience reading, Lucy thought Tarva's assistance more likely to hinder than help.
"Tarva said you want to be left in peace," she interjected quickly. "So do we. It takes all four of us to approve a treaty, but I can promise you, if you're willing my siblings and I will be happy to negotiate a peace between us."
"And what will this peace cost us?" snarled the wolf. "Shall we pay tribute to our Narnina overlords? Shall we all bare our throats to our conquerors like dogs?"
"We don't want tribute," Lucy said sternly. "And we're not..." She faltered, remembering that indeed they claimed Narnia by election *and* by conquest, which all sounded very grand until you were facing the people you'd conquered. "I suppose you would see us as conquerors. I can't help that. But we don't want to take any of this from you." She spread her hands, encompassing the camp and the woods around it in the gesture. "If you don't menace Narnia, we've no reason to fight with you. A treaty would just put that in writing. And keep any Narnians who do wander across the border -- like those miners -- from attacking you in ignorance."
The elders shared looks she couldn't read, which unnerved her almost as much as the haggish charms outside. Then an orc said, "There was word of a party like your first brother had."
"Really?" Lucy clasped her hands together, nearly bouncing on her toes. "Where? Are they all right?"
"They met the dwarves we chased off," said a wolf, watching her intently. "They all turned for the border, fortunate souls." He dropped his jaw in a lupine grin, giving her a very good look at his teeth. Lucy was vividly reminded of Maugrim, and it was all she could do not to flinch away.
"But they didn't get back to Narnia," she protested. "The Hawk said they were attacked."
"Not by us," snarled the wolf.
"I'm not accusing you!" She put her hands out, palms down, in a calming gesture. "You say you want to be left alone, and I believe you." How she wished Edmund were here, or Susan! They were much better with words. "But if there's something out there that can beat Narnian soliders, surely you know about it? Even if it hasn't attacked you, it'd be a potential threat, and you must keep track of those." She gazed around the circle. Impassive faces stared back at her, and she suddenly felt very small. "Please," she begged, hating how scared she sounded. "I just want to find my family."
"And then?" a Hag's whining voice asked. The creature came swaying toward Lucy, her movements oddly hypnotic. "The little girl and her little family, the Narnian creatures with them, all together where poor folk hide. What will they do, the little family?"
"Not hurt you!" Lucy protested, turning to keep the woman in sight as she circled. "We only came for our sister; we don't want to hurt any one."
"Not hurt us? Little girl, little Narnian, little liar --"
"I'm not!"
"-- comes to us with the smell of fire and summer on her, comes with magic on her skin, tricking poor hidden folk."
"No! That's not -- I didn't--" She was anxiously aware of the others massed at her back, but she couldn't take her eyes from the circling Hag.
"Little girl is cruel, tricking an old woman," the hag whined. "cruel like her steel." Lucy's hand fell to her knife without thought. "Cruel like her lion-lord."
"I--"
"We know what you carry," said a minotaur behind her. She spun, eyes wide, trying to watch
them both. At her feet Sirene hissed, all her fur standing straight up. "You reek of magic, girl. You smell of summer (fire? sun?), and you wear one of the blades of prophecy." Her fingers tightened around the hilt of her dagger. She'd always thought its resemblance to Rhindon merely a matter of style. Yes, the blade had a certain magic about it, like all their gifts, but she'd never heard anything about it being part of the prophecy.
She swallowed hard. "Sirene? I don't suppose we have much choice."
The leopard skinned her lips back, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. "We could leave."
"I'm not sure we could," Lucy said ruefully, noting Tarva's alarmed expression and that the hag was between them and the door. Her guard hissed miserable, a futile defiance and they both knew it.
"Very well," Lucy said, looking at the elders straightly. "I think you already know who I am, but if you want to hear me say it -- My name is Lucy, and I am a queen of Narnia."
"And why have you come here, little queen?"
Lucy was heartily sick of the word 'little', especially since she could hear Jadis's mocking tones in it every time these folk spoke it. "I've told you that already. I'm looking for my sister and brothers. I came for them, and for no other reason."
"She spared my life," Tarva pointed out. "That isn't the act of the cruel Narnians we've been told of."
Watching the wolf and the dryad, two species she actually had experience reading, Lucy thought Tarva's assistance more likely to hinder than help.
"Tarva said you want to be left in peace," she interjected quickly. "So do we. It takes all four of us to approve a treaty, but I can promise you, if you're willing my siblings and I will be happy to negotiate a peace between us."
"And what will this peace cost us?" snarled the wolf. "Shall we pay tribute to our Narnina overlords? Shall we all bare our throats to our conquerors like dogs?"
"We don't want tribute," Lucy said sternly. "And we're not..." She faltered, remembering that indeed they claimed Narnia by election *and* by conquest, which all sounded very grand until you were facing the people you'd conquered. "I suppose you would see us as conquerors. I can't help that. But we don't want to take any of this from you." She spread her hands, encompassing the camp and the woods around it in the gesture. "If you don't menace Narnia, we've no reason to fight with you. A treaty would just put that in writing. And keep any Narnians who do wander across the border -- like those miners -- from attacking you in ignorance."