the golden age

[deepest_magic]

When the party has died down, Isabella, for one, is well and truly exhausted. She explores the palace until she finds a room with a bed in it, and into this bed she flops, still in her clothes and holding her staff and carrying the cordial in her pocket. She sleeps late, because the party kept her up so late and she hadn't really slept the night before; but around noon, she stirs, and gets up, and goes looking for James and wherever her backpack may have got to. The backpack she finds in the great hall where the principal mass of the party was; some enterprising creature took both bags from the battlefield at Beruna up to the castle for them, and she only wishes she knew who it was. She takes her bag to her room and carries James's with her and continues looking for her friend.

Comments

[deepest_magic]

"And today is a special occasion, you may have noticed."

[neverbeatme]

"I had definitely noticed that!"

[deepest_magic]

The next morning, the queen wakes up in the king's bed.

Snuggle.

[neverbeatme]

Royal snuggles. They're very snuggly. James is pretty pleased about them. What a nice way to wake up.

[deepest_magic]

"G'morning."

[neverbeatme]

"Good morning. A viable contender for best morning."

[deepest_magic]

Giggle. "Definitely top five."

[neverbeatme]

"If I've had better mornings, I'm having trouble remembering them." Snuggle.

[deepest_magic]

"Well, there was the morning when we woke up and we'd won a war and we were king and queen, that was pretty great."

[neverbeatme]

"True. But I was eleven and my understanding of kissing was purely theoretical, whereas on this morning," kiss.

[deepest_magic]

Kiss!

[neverbeatme]

What an excellent morning.

[deepest_magic]

Definitely a candidate for best morning.

[neverbeatme]

Eventually they do have to get up and go attend to royal business, but James is in a noticeably cheerful mood all day.

Well, it is the day after Kingsday. People may safely conclude that she liked her presents.

[deepest_magic]

They were pretty good presents.

You know when else they get presents?

They get presents on Christmas, sitting cuddled up by a fireplace at midnight.

[pythbox]

Father Christmas arrives right on schedule.

"Merry Christmas," he says cheerily. "For you, Eve's Daughter, here is a new pocket-knife to replace your old one. It has a few clever little tools tucked away, and you needn't trouble yourself about sharpening it." He hands over a gorgeous little folded knife. "And here also is a new bag, which will carry more than you might think to look at it." He hands her a very tidy and practical messenger bag.

[deepest_magic]

That's good, because the one James got her had an unfortunate accident with a baby griffin four weeks ago. "Thank you! Merry Christmas." The knife is shiny and has mother of pearl worked into the handle.

[pythbox]

"As for you, Son of Eve, I think you will be very happy to hear that the Witch's house has been cleaned out and no bad magic remains to present a danger to the good creatures of Narnia; and here is a bag much like your queen's, in function if not form."

This bag is a sturdy little backpack nearly bristling with pockets and flaps and loops. It has places to hang a sword and shield. It's a little on the plain side, but in perfectly respectable condition.

[neverbeatme]

"Thank you very much," says James. "Merry Christmas."

[deepest_magic]

Isabella tucks her pocketknife into her messenger bag.

[pythbox]

And off goes Father Christmas.

[neverbeatme]

James investigates all the pockets of her new backpack. There are so many. It is pleasing.

But then she yawns. "I'd better go to sleep. I can finish admiring my present in the morning."

[deepest_magic]

"Good plan," yawns Isabella. "Nobody's looking; my room or yours?"

[neverbeatme]

"Mine's closer."

[deepest_magic]

James's room it is.