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

[neverbeatme]

James likewise.

[pythbox]

Between the gossipy creatures and the excitable ones like Flit, the news is well on its way to all corners of the kingdom by midday.

[deepest_magic]

And Isabella writes a proclamation:

Be it known,

That Queen Isabella and King James are engaged to be married on the eleventh of July in the year 1008.

Narnian citizens are welcome to hold celebrations of the event in every settlement in the land. A copy of the wedding's intended menu, musical selections, and decoration scheme will be provided closer to the date for any organizers who would find this useful. A transcript of the ceremony will be distributed after the King and Queen have exchanged vows.

[neverbeatme]

It's a good proclamation. James sends it out after a few days, when she judges the time is right.

Many creatures are delighted to congratulate their majesties on their engagement.

[deepest_magic]

Which is quite delighting itself.

[neverbeatme]

Delight abounds.

[deepest_magic]

And except for the small forest fire in the west (addressed by a river-god and local knightly help), an ideological squabble between some pine dryads and some oak dryads (settled by deploying a dwarven philosopher and some placating chocolate), and a very nearly violent confrontation between a griffin and a rat he mistook for a non-speaking prey creature (which has to be brought to royal mediation), the year is otherwise pretty uneventful.

[pythbox]

Time passes. Christmas arrives.

"Merry Christmas, and congratulations," says Father Christmas. "For you both, here is a pair of magic rings that each know the way to the other, and whose wearers can take comfort in each other's presence even from very far away. And the old summer palace south of the Western Woods has been restored as well."

He offers each monarch a small red velvet bag, suitably sized to contain a magic ring.

[deepest_magic]

"Thank you! Merry Christmas."

[pythbox]

"Indeed, indeed."

He departs, smiling.

[neverbeatme]

"Magic rings! I guess we get engagement rings after all, in a sense. Have I mentioned how much I like Father Christmas?"

[deepest_magic]

"You have mentioned it, but this seems like the right day of year to mention it again." Isabella tries her ring on; it fits perfectly, of course. Silver almost-Celtic knotwork with appropriately shaped diamonds throwing fire from the gaps. "Oh, pretty."

[neverbeatme]

"Very!"

James's ring matches. She puts it on. It fits her perfectly, too.

"I like Father Christmas a lot!"

[deepest_magic]

"He's pretty great." The ring sparkles in the firelight.

[neverbeatme]

Sparkle, sparkle.

"I love you," yawns James. "Let's go to bed."

[deepest_magic]

"I love you too. My room tonight?"

[neverbeatme]

"Sounds good."

[deepest_magic]

Snuggly sleepy monarchs.

[neverbeatme]

So sleepy and snuggly. What a good Christmas. It is much like other Narnian Christmases in that way.

[deepest_magic]

Narnia has wedding customs, but they are between various creatures, and would not apply (for example, neither ruler is planning to give her affianced a heap of wood, as is customary among beavers). So they import some Earth things - Isabella's dress, though it is in full Narnian fashion all over leaves and flowers, is white. There is a cake, with some local chocolate (much nicer quality by now) adorning the frosting. There will be dancing while a small orchestra of creatures accompanies them with traditional Narnian songs and a little Bach Isabella pried out of the bookshelf.

There is an excitable rumor going about that Aslan will appear to marry them, but they can't really plan on that or even get an invitation to him (people who do get invitations: knights, Cair Paravel householders, important personages from the neighboring lands, holders of various honors from the war, other individuals who they like personally). So they plan on Mr. Tumnus conducting the ceremony, and they write themselves some vows, and the whole thing is held on the beach in high summer with the breeze blowing blessedly cool over them all from the sea.

Aslan does not appear to serve as celebrant, so Tumnus does it, and he does a perfectly lovely job, and the king and queen kiss one another.

[neverbeatme]

It is a beautiful ceremony, and after that there is a delicious feast, and the dancing is fun, and then the King and Queen of Narnia are married and this is an excellent thing to be.

[deepest_magic]

So excellent! Most excellent.

[neverbeatme]

And now that they are married they can go on a Royal Progress and visit the towns and villages of Narnia and meet with their subjects and attend lots of parties and stay in their new summer palace.

[deepest_magic]

All of which traveling is made more comfortable with Isabella's pocket house, although the summer palace is roomier and prettier than the pocket house and some creatures are so woeful at the prospect of the king and queen not staying in their home that the pocket house must occasionally be foregone.

[neverbeatme]

The king is perfectly content to stay in the homes of various creatures, and also perfectly delighted by Isabella's pocket house. There is a lot to be delighted about. They are the King and Queen of Narnia, and they have a beautiful and prosperous kingdom, and they are married.