[Open Post] ..like the bird that you can't see..

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot is in a very good mood indeed. He feels settled, assured. He feels as he did, he thinks, back when he first found his feet at court -- he is someplace he belongs, he can be assured that people will treat him with respect, if not kindness or welcoming. He lets himself revel in it, a little, as it's been a long while since he felt anywhere near as nice as this.

The weather is good: sunny, crisp, the familiar feeling of autumn as winter is hovering close by. He goes to his own room and fetches his sword. He runs his usual drills, though with a kind of ease and almost carelessness he hasn't had since he was young. (Perhaps he is young enough, still. He can't be sure. He has already lived past the age his father was when he died, but that means almost nothing. His father died in battle and Lancelot is, now, no longer likely to ever see such a fate.)

Afterwards, he showers and decides he might as well find breakfast. So he's now heading toward one of the kitchens, looking cheerful for once.

Comments

[lanselos_du_lac]

"What was it about?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"French Indochina, which is in the far East, foreign interests, and war. Not pleasant lunch-time conversation, I'm afraid."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Ah, no," as he sorts his way through her description. He finds he has questions for her about war -- is there less of it, in her time? It must be different from how things are in his own -- but her indication that this is unpleasant means he keeps them to himself. Instead, he asks, "Is there still a king? In your Britain?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Yes, George VI," says Susan. "He's ill, though; there is speculation that soon his daughter Elizabeth will take the throne."

[lanselos_du_lac]

He looks a little puzzled but after a second he says, "A queen regnant?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Yes; we've had several."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Oh," then another moment's thought, and he says easily, "Now and then, yes, there have been others. It's not the usual expectation, but I see the sense in it."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan laughs. "Perhaps it should be the expectation," she says.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He smiles, "I'll not argue. I've as much respect for women as for men, it's only that-- I suppose it's that we get bound up in what we're used to."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Tell me about what you're used to?" The look Susan is giving Lancelot is a soft one. "I wonder how much overlap we've got."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Well-- I suppose there have been Queens Regnant in Britain before my time, but it would not be usual for a woman to hold the throne. She may act as regent. The way things are now, at home, I cannot imagine the petty kings would allow it. The High King has enough trouble, and he is well-established." He considers, then adds, "The crown can pass to sons, under the law, but not to daughters. I would have been a king, myself, except that my father's lands were lost, despite his allies and their efforts. And so I went in service to Camelot."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Ah, yes; I'd forgotten the shifts in the role of the... landed gentry, I suppose," Susan says. She's forgotten the specifics of the terminology, but that seems as accurate as anything. "In Narnia, Peter was the High King, but the four of us truly ruled equally, and essentially from the same seat. There weren't any others within Narnia itself who held power, besides Aslan, of course, and his was of a different nature. There were other kingdoms in that world, with their own systems - Archenland, Calormen, et cetera. In Britain it's a good deal more complicated. We've got the king, of course, and the monarchy is still inherited, but we've also got a prime minister and a parliament, and most of those positions are elected by the people."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I see," thoughtfully. He's not sure he understands how all of that might work -- how would most folk know what ought to be done? But he sets that aside as well. "What was ruling like, for thee?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan pauses, sipping from her fresh mug of tea while she gathers her thoughts. "A great deal of learning on the job," she decides. "I was twelve, when we first entered Narnia. There had been a prophesy that two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve would defeat the White Witch and take the thrones at Cair Paravel, and we managed that in considerably less than a month. Peter was thirteen; Edmund was barely ten and Lucy was almost nine. What little we knew of the world! Peter and I were, of course, used to minding the littler ones." This is said modestly; Susan had been the little mother and the primary caretaker of her whole family.

"But a fantastical world like Narnia, whose populations were more talking beasts, and fauns and dryads and river-gods, and dwarfs and giants and centaurs, with not a single human? I don't know; perhaps only a child could wrap his mind around that sort of responsibility." Her gaze is very faraway indeed. "By the time we left, we were quite good at it, I believe. It really does take considerably more hard, thankless work than one might imagine."

[lanselos_du_lac]

He nods, "This much, I know well. I have seen it." But he'd rather move away from discussing Arthur so he goes on, "Thou hast still the bearing of a queen, though I think perhaps that's something thou know'st well."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"You mightn't be able to answer this question," Susan says. "But did I still, before I remembered Narnia?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot thinks back to their first meeting, and how he very quickly felt comfortable with her, felt he understood something of her. (He has been trying not to look closely at this; his interest in Susan has nothing to do with her past as a ruler, or even really with her sometimes queenly bearing, but he is aware that that is a something she holds in common with Guinever and he'd rather not think on it too much.)

"Yes," he says, "I think so. Thou know'st thyself, even before those memories returned. That I have seen, at times, in other queens."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan nods, accepting this even though it does surprise her a little. There is a strange look on his face, so she reaches across the table and touches his hand.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He glances up, smiling again, though it's a little more restrained. He clasps her hand gently.

"I like that certainty in thee. I like to see it," he lowers his voice, "I liked it very well last night."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan's eyes gleam. "I do know what I like," she agrees, and jokes: "Especially in that sort of court."

[lanselos_du_lac]

His smile broadens, "Aye, so I saw. I'm well pleased to grant it to thee, an it's in my power."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"You'll find I can get creative if granted the leeway," Susan warns.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Thou might find the same to be true of me," grinning at her, "though I'm happy to take direction."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I'm happy to give it." Susan's gaze keeps flicking over Lancelot's face, heated, before she turns her attention back to her sandwich. She'd known that she liked him and that she wanted him, but didn't quite expect to feel this much compatibility with him.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He notices, of course he notices, but he politely doesn't mention it; he sets to finishing his own sandwich, companionably. When he's done he says, "Dost need more tea?"