The Mirror Cracked

EveningStar

EveningStar

Mage Scribe
Staff member
Knight of the Noble Order
Royal Guard
This is the first fanfic I ever wrote as I went along. I've been known to put them out a chapter or two at a time, but this is really organic, fluid, changeable. To be blatantly honest, I'll finish it if people want to read it. Let me know you're here and what you think. Come on this adventure with me for an imaginative reboot of the Chronicles of Narnia!

THE MIRROR CRACK'D

CHAPTER THE FIRSTE

Out flew the web and floated wide
The mirror crack'd from side to side
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott

-- Alfred, Lord Tennyson

It was an Autumn day that came in the summer of King Peter's life; dry, crisp and clear with a foretaste of fiery leaves on the oak and ash. In short it was the perfect day for a quest, had there been a quest at all, which there had not.

Peter sighed, Lucy drummed her fingers and Susan silently counted the malachite green tiles in the floor and found yet again that there were exactly 68. What Edmund thought we'll never know because just as he was about to say something, in burst old Tumnus in a state of happy agitation. "Your Majesties! Wonderful news! The White Stag is once more upon us!"

"The White Stag?" Edmund asked. "Is he one of our loyal subjects?"

"Yes and no. But he's a very special sort of creature. He has powers and to those lucky enough to detain him, he will grant wishes in exchange for freedom."

"Are you saying we should hold him for ransom?" Lucy said, eyebrows raised. She certainly did not look kindly on the mistreatment of any beast, talking or no.

"Actually," Tumnus said with a coy smile, "the legends say he does not mind granting wishes to those who are worthy. He runs to test you."

Peter brought his fist down on the arm of his throne with resolve. "Then by Jupiter, we'll test it! Tell the groom to saddle our mounts!"

***

Phillip whinnied softly, more in shame than in pain. His long face was pillowed in Peter's lap as the High King stroked him gently. "There's my brave old soldier. Lucy should be back with the cordial presently and we'll mend that shattered leg."

"Brave old soldier," Phillip said with a snort. "Hah! That's a laugh. I saw a snake and upsie-daisy! I'm just glad I didn't break your neck."

"You were startled," Peter said softly. "I think I'm a brave warrior, worthy of his spurs. Still when someone touches me on the back and I'm not expecting it..."

"I've noticed," Phillip said, gently nickering. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For making an old dobbin feel needed."
 
Given that the horse-name Phillip was bestowed in the movie, and in the movie it was Edmund who rode Phillip, do you have a _particular_ reason for saying here that Peter was riding Phillip? Or did you just feel like switching riders for him?

Far more importantly, I liked very much the indication that, in being hunted, the White Stag was _not_ being subjected to the terror felt by a _seriously_ hunted animal.
 
Please tell us more! I like your attention to detail, like the 68 malachite floor tiles, and Lucy's hesitancy. I'm so glad you are writing about the end of the Golden Age. This section of the LWW raises questions for me -- like how was it they were able to semi-forget their earthly family and previous life and live/rule in Narnia for years and years. As I read that passage as a child, of course I had no questions, but now as a parent I wonder about it...)
 
CHAPTER THE SECOND

The Chief Inspector did not come across as the imaginative sort, so Professor Digory Kirke did not dare to speculate on why his young charges were missing. He stuck with the facts, careful to correct that "Pevensie" did not end in "ey".

"The Lads" had been out in the miserable rain searching the surrounding woods with the help of local townsfolk. Rain at Badger's Drift was miserable enough without Constables slogging through mud and vines in search of children who would not be found. And indeed they would not be found since Lucy left a brooch in the floor of the wardrobe in the spare room and did not come back at once to reclaim it. That wardrobe, the one he had made from the wood of a magical tree, still had ties to the far-off land of Narnia. Alas, a piece of furniture he prized though it did not go with anything else he owned, the instrument of his loneliness. Gone, gone, all gone!

Of course he could not tell the Chief Inspector any of this, and so he allowed the pointless search to go on and saved his tears...and the pocketed brooch...until he could have some time alone. Not even Mrs. Macreedy could share in his loss. And so he absent-mindedly felt in his jacket pocket, tracing Lucy's brooch with a fingertip and quietly mouthing, "Aslan, old friend, give them a good life and an easy death."

Aslan, it appears, heard him....

***

King Roderick had a habit of walking among the royal dead when he had a big decision to make. This was not an ordinary decision and hanging about dear Grandpa's statue was not enough. This time he went right to the top, crossing the bridge from the bank of Whispering Creek to the small island where the Pevensie Crypt stood like a silent sentinel. This monument to the founders of the Pevensie Dynasty was not the least bit morbid to Roderick. Indeed, it brought him a deep inner peace. He ruled the rest of Narnia, but there in that one spot by ancient custom Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy not only rested but perpetually ruled. Also by ancient custom Roderick took off his boots and walked barefoot to Peter's crypt where his marble likeness lay in repose, hands clasped in prayer.

"What am I going to do about those Telmarines?" he said with a sigh.

Peter, as expected, did not stir himself to respond.
 
Perhaps Aslan will appear in Britain to testify that the Professor did not murder the Pevensies. :) That's what I would probably resort to if I were writing this story.
 
I am really intrigued by this. I am assuming, since the Pevensies spent little or none of our time in Narnia whilst defeating the White Witch and subsequently reigning for 15 years, that this is an 'alternative timeline'? As for the tomb, I assume this is a memorial erected for them some time after their return to England?
 
Corin, a snake startled the horse who broke his leg. They never chased the white stag into the thicket and therefore never went back through the wardrobe. That leads to what's known as the "domino effect." The four Pevensies married, grew old and died in Narnia. Their descendents are still on the throne. This has had a drastic effect on the rise and fall of great nations like the Telmarines, the Archenlanders and the Calormenes. Just how drastic depends on how strong my coffee is. More anon....
 
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Oh, I get it! Wow, this ought to be interesting. Yes, let's have some more!

"the instrument of his loneliness" -- the wardrobe because it stole the children, or the whole of Narnia because it spoiled him for this earth, where he had to live the rest of his life?
 
CHAPTER THE THIRDE

Had High King Roderick ever heard of Charles Dickens, he might have remembered a telling quote: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

Indeed it was both. War had been expected any moment when the Hadrusians and several small northwestern provinces of Calormen left the Peacock Kingdom without the leave of the Tisroc (May He Live Forever). After the breathless week of silence, the Tisroc told his Privy Council to carefully study these "new developments". Thus far, like most students, they studied quietly.

The fragile status quo had stood through what people were already calling the "Summer of Nerves" and just as folk in Narnia were about ready to redraw the world map to include "Greater Hadrusia", something happened to bring the world to the brink of war once again. The Hadrusians and the Kingdom of Telmar were in talks to move their alliance from an understanding to an imperial union. All that really seemed in dispute was whether to call the nation the Hadrusian Empire or the Telmarine Empire.

The Tisroc, as might be imagined, was absolutely livid. Such an empire would not only place the Hadrusians beyond his grasp, it would become the second largest military unit in the world and a genuine threat.

Members of all stakeholders were planning to meet for talks to avoid a world war. The talks, to have any chance at all, had to be in a neutral location. And that's where Roderick came in, or more precisely the Moot of Beruna where one misstep, one knife in the ribs of a high-ranking dignitary, one show of weakness could drag Narnia into the maelstrom.
 
Copperfox said:
Perhaps Aslan will appear in Britain to testify that the Professor did not murder the Pevensies. :) That's what I would probably resort to if I were writing this story.
Click to expand...

It would be most intriguing to see how the police and others in authority reacted to a Talking Lion! Would they believe Aslan, or put His appearance and counsel down to a 'halucination', and how would they explain things officially? I imagine there would be some kind of cover up!

Copperfox said:
Parallel-time Narnian geo-military history! I love it!
Click to expand...

Rather like the situation in Europe in 1914. Two powerful military alliances, one assassination, and bang! World war!
 
CHAPTER THE FOURTH

Beruna was one of those places that folk think they want to visit. It practically reeked of history and there were indeed places where it was a spiritual experience to stand and watch the sunrise and imagine the gleam of enemy lances and swords along Jadis' Ridge. Orieus' Cairn was built on the place where Narnians who gave their last full measure of devotion were interred in a mass grave. Nearby was Ogre's Field with its ugly trimmed granite boulder marking the place where someone thought the enemy dead were burned. Of course with nearly two centuries intervening, the locals were not quite sure that was the exact spot....

They think they want to visit Beruna until they've been there a while and realize it's a lot more history than hospitality. The only ones that can bear it for long are the locals. And speaking of the locals, there were very few native Berunans. The stony ground was no place to grow crops and the unchecked wind that characterized much of the rolling year made conversation difficult at times. Those who held on were mainly in the tourist trade, leading groups of pilgrims, furninshing them overpriced grub and keeping some semblance of a trails system in passable order.

That's why a steady uptick in visitors really attracted notice in the small village of Beruna Ford. These folk looked like pilgrims and merchants but they were very close with their personal business, not at all chatty like the usual sightseer far from home. They gave no gossip and listened to none. And when the townsfolk woke one morning to see that the visitors were wearing military uniforms and living in canvas pavillions they kept in their "cargo" wagons it was hardly a shock. Something was indeed up--the only question about Beruna was precisely what.

With no tree stands to boast of, these new occupiers brought in logs which they sharpened and threw up into a defensive pallisade and high wall in a thrice. Before the view was completely cut off, a couple of the local talking hares spotted large ornate tents with purple and green and azure panels embroidered with gold and silver lions rampant. This was no ordinary military camp, not at all.

And lest anyone have ideas of having a sneek peek by moonlight, a strict and rather irksome curfew kept curious folk off the streets and out of the fields from sundown to sunrise. No one stated what the penalty would be for violators. No one dared to ask.

And then a very surreal and troubling sight met the townsfolks' eyes. On the tall poles in the center that were high enough to be spied over the wall were hanging several flags...the Narnian Lion, the Tisroc's triple-headed Eagle, the Archenese Gold Crown on azure and the Telmarian crossed lightning bolts and fist. It was clear that for a few awful moments, for some unknown reason, that spot would become the capital of the world.
 
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