[for Anne] went back to what you knew

[navixator]

Being back at all, he knew, was a blessing. Being back and able to hold Anne tight certainly also was. Being back and also on his feet again?

He didn't want to diminish the other two genuine miracles, but he also couldn't help being entirely elated.

The first day, of course, he had been told not to push himself. It had been enough, at least, that he was able to walk through the Cair again--had been able to stand at the tallest spire and make his way down to the shore. It had been enough to stand on the dock and greet the newly returned Lord Drinian. It had been enough to lean on Anne's arm at the end of the day and feel himself fully, properly a King.

The next day saw him rising properly early of his own accord. It saw him strapping on light armour before the morning meal, feeling entirely secure in his own body again.

And meant, at the end of the meal, that his hand found Anne's with an entirely cheerful smile as he pulled her knuckles up for a soft kiss.

"Come. You're a woman of Narnia now. I want to show you what that means."

Comments

[happyfalcon]

Anne had been too thrilled at Caspian's recovery. A true marvel of determination and undoubtedly a bit of stubbornness. She did not scold him as the healers did, did not discourage him from doing as he liked - they did that enough. But Anne did make sure to keep an eye on him, staying by his side when he permitted it and made sure he didn't strain himself without actually saying a word.

But the next day he seemed to be completely recovered. Back to the old Caspian. As Anne ate her breakfast she did happen to see what Caspian was wearing. She couldn't help but pinch the bridge of her nose.

Oh God, why the armor? What was he planning on doing now? He only just recovered from the last battle he was in!

As he approached and took her hand, Anne couldn't help but feel a tremor of fear run down her back. Her dark eyes blinked up at him for a moment before she rose and moved to follow him.

"Should I be worried?"

[navixator]

"I don't think so."

Pulling her arm into his had gotten to be entirely habitual. It felt good to have her at his side, the same way it felt good to have the freedom to stand and walk as he wanted again.

"The daughters of Eve in Narnia have always been warriors. From the very first-- in all the great Queens of every age."

Even during the Telmarine reign, the queens had been as strong and proud as the kings. The lines of warriors had been men, yes, but the art of war had been taught to the women as well.

"I understand it isn't custom for Ladies in England not to lift a sword or a bow?"

[happyfalcon]

Anne loved walking arm in arm with Caspian for particularly different reasons. One, she didn't have to hide anymore, she was free to be as affectionate with him as she liked and he allowed and two, it rather annoyed the other women in court. She couldn't help it, she did find pleasure in the latter. Anne followed after Caspian, or beside him rather, arm in arm, looking to him as he spoke.

"Indeed, certainly not," Anne replied. "I picked up my brother's bow once, father nearly had a fit. It's deemed unladylike in England."

Women stayed home and sewed and kept the home together when men went off the war. Women were never trained in the art of battle. Though Anne was a bit curious, she was also afraid.

"Caspian...what are you planning?" Not that she was reluctant to learn, she was just...nervous.

[navixator]

It was such an odd thing to ponder. It was strange to know that the Kings and Queens of Old had been of the same land Anne was, but had been so quick and natural to lift their defensive arms with sword and bow and dagger for the country they came to call their own.

It did give him hope, really, that Anne might herself be just such a natural.

Besides, there was no need to start her with a heavy sword in her hand. There wasn't even need to start her with the arrows and knives which Susan and Lucy had first been handed upon arriving here.

"I'll not ask you to stand beside me at the front of the line, I assure you." His fingers under hers shifted to squeeze affectionately. "But, if you are to be a Lady here--"

A Queen, although he still did not have the boldness to speak so plainly about it.

"--I would see you learn to defend yourself properly."

[happyfalcon]

A Lady of Narnia? She did indeed find the idea appealing for obvious reasons. In the first place, she knew that the subjects under Caspian's rule would likely not accept an outsider as their Queen. No matter how beloved she may be by their King, they would not see her as one of them. Anne blushed a bit, thinking of the idea.

But she did not want to become a burden. She had asked to learn how to sail and help earn her keep when she'd first stepped aboard the Dawn Treader in France. The same attitude held true here. She wanted to help and pull her own weight any way that she could. Anne did not want to be a screaming damsel at the mercy of a rescuer each time she was in danger.

She wanted to defend herself.

So she nodded, slowly, leaning into him a bit.

"So you mean to teach me the ways of combat?" Anne chuckled a bit at the idea. "Had I known this was what my day held for me, I would have worn more appropriate attire."

[navixator]

"We'll start with what you can accomplish without more than a moment's preparation."

The tramp down the stairs finally ended with coming out into the brightness of the training fields. It was early enough that they were largely deserted, only peppered here and there with soldiers beginning to ready themselves for the battery of the day.

"Have you held a crossbow before, Anne?"

Who knew what she might have borrowed off her brother?

[happyfalcon]

She nodded, blinking a bit as they stepped out to the brightness of the training fields. Anne blushed a bit, seeing others there, worried that she'd make a fool of herself. But she tried to ignore them.

"Not a crossbow, no," Anne replied. "My brother's bow was just that, a hunting bow."

Her eyes flickered about the grounds, taking in all the scenery that she could. She actually found herself rather anxious to begin.

[navixator]

His arm untangled carefully from her, hand resting instead for a moment at the small of her back. The affection was as natural as breathing with her these days.

"I think you'll enjoy it. There's a burst of strength at first, to properly set it, but then it's quite easy."

Compared to a huntsman's bow. Compared certainly to a sword.

[happyfalcon]

She still seemed a bit nervous, but she continued, leaning back a little into his touch. It was amazing that she never tired of his touch. Anne's heart always fluttered whenever he touched her, even when it became so natural as it had.

"I hope I have the strength for it..." she mumbled. "But, let's get started then!"

She was indeed excited, anxious to make Caspian proud and prove to the other Narnians that she belonged here.

[navixator]

This wasn't the place to kiss her in reassurance. Thankfully, as a Telmarine Narnian, his attention was easily distracted as they approached the end of the training fields and the start of the shooting range.

His dearest love would always be the sea and the ships on it. His first love would always be to exactly the weapons of war he was leaving Anne's side to reach more quickly. Hopefully, they were loves she could live with.

A moment needed to be spent looking over the bows kept near the line of fire, speaking briefly to the master of armoury before taking one of the smaller frames and a handful of bolts to bring back to Anne.

"These first came from Telmar, you know. Ten generations ago."

[happyfalcon]

Anne paused as he retrieved the frame and came back to her. She tilted her head, examining the crossbow in his hand and listening carefully as he spoke. Anne knew very little about Narnian history, but she recognized one word of that sentence at least from what she'd learned.

"Telmar? That's the land of your ancestors, is it not?" In an effort to learn more about him, she had indeed learned that much.

Anne wanted to show him that she had indeed been paying attention. That she wasn't content to just sit around and lounge in this great paradise. No, she was reading, she was listening, she was learning. She was paying attention.

[navixator]

There was much more ease, since the War of Deliverance and Aslan's blessing, in thinking back on the dark period of Narnia's history his ancestors had ushered in. There was still just a bit of tightness in his jaw, a slight furrow to his brow as he rested the end of the bow on the ground and set his foot thoughtfully against the stirrup.

"It is." And, if he didn't sound proud, he did at least sound comforted by the fact of being known by her. "They brought it when they first breached the borders. But-- the centaurs use it now far better than the Telmarines ever did."

[happyfalcon]

Anne could tell that he wasn't completely pleased by her bringing it up. Sheepishly she bit her lip and instead turned to eyeing his movements. Watching carefully the placement of his foot in the stirrup and every movement after, recording it in her mind that she might repeat the action.

"So it's not...terribly complicated to use?" Anne asked, stepping a bit closer to him.

It looked light, at least. Besides, Anne was no pushover - she could lift heavier weight than most people thought she could manage.

[navixator]

It was wonderful, the way she could do both. On the one hand, she could listen and learn and speak from a place of knowing him; on the other, she could move lightly from subject to subject at the slightest change of his mood.

He couldn't help but glance up at her briefly, a soft smile on his lips and something like wonder in his eyes. How many more blessings could the Lion give him?

"--no. Not terribly complicated. I was using one when I was-- no more than six or seven years of age."

He'd grown enough not to need the rope. Cocking the rope came with an easy enough upward tug. Setting in the bolt came obviously without thinking.

"Did you hear that click?"

[happyfalcon]

It was what a good woman did - queens did it even better. Anne had been tiptoeing around Henry's turbulent mood swings so long, dancing around Caspian's occasional mood changes was simple for her. She couldn't stand the idea of displeasing him. Anne loved Caspian - she wanted him to be happy, always.

Her eyes lit though as he explained.

"So young to learn such things - and you think I can learn it? You flatter me, Majesty," That's what she said, but Anne was confident too. She figured she could learn it as easily as any other skill.

When he had been learning how to fire the crossbow, she had been learning the art of falconry. She wasn't completely feminine in her skills. Anne continued to watch him carefully.

"Yes," she nodded upon hearing the click.

[navixator]

It was likely lucky for him that this sort of thing sparked her smile the way it did. Beyond lucky, really, to have fallen in love with a woman who didn't mind exactly the challenges he most enjoyed to embrace.

"That means it's safe." This bow was far lighter than the one he was used to, so hefting it to his shoulder came much more abruptly, pointed down the range. "Or-- somewhat safe. I'd still not point it at anyone you didn't want dead, but-- it shouldn't fire without your intention."

Sighting was difficult to explain. Sighting was something he'd learned with his uncle's hand on the back of his neck. Squinting down the range now wasn't even an entirely conscious action.

"Even with a light bolt like this one. You understand?"

[happyfalcon]

Anne always enjoyed challenges. Well, she enjoyed proving that she could overcome them. Especially to people like her brother and father who said she couldn't.

She nodded, understanding him. Obviously pointing any weapon, regardless of whether it was sheathed or loaded, posed a danger. Accidents happened. So that lesson made rudimentary sense to her. But it was still necessary.

The ease with which he lifted the weapon, as if he'd been doing it all his life, and this one was not the weapon he usually used (at least not the same model). He just made it look so easy. It was difficult for Anne not to swoon, watching his movements.

But no, she had to focus, and pay attention.

"Yes, I think so."

[navixator]

There would be time for swooning later, surely. There would be raw, adrenaline-filled energy to be used for passionate purposes when they reached the end of their practice.

For now, it simply felt good to have her proper attention on him, taking in the workings of his favoured weapon.

"Make certain, when you load the bolt," and he tilted the foregrip slightly to let her see the top of the crossbow properly, "that one of the fletchings is down in the groove, yes? Otherwise it won't fly straight."

[happyfalcon]

Anne leaned a bit to observe the position of the crossbow, specifically the fletchings. She nodded slowly, her mind committing the image to memory.

"Understood, so the fletchings need to be placed properly for accuracy," Anne spoke the words but really for her own benefit. Just to make sure she'd remember. "You make it look so easy..."

[navixator]

"It is, I swear it." Holding the bow properly upright again, eye squinting just slightly to sight down the range again, he took a beat to ponder the truth of that. "It's more a matter of strength and practice than complicated skill."

Unlike a sword. Unlike knives and daggers. Unlike being face to face with the enemy in close combat--which he hoped, even in the darkest days, Anne would be able to avoid if she could master defense with ranged weapons such as this.

"This comes off." He tapped the safely lightly for her to see before unlatching it. "And you fire here."

The trigger was tapped lightly without firing. He had to still properly for a moment sighting the target before actually firing with barely any kick. The bolt flew straight and true, just a few hairs shy of hitting the centre of the target.

[happyfalcon]

Anne nodded, anxious and excited. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to hold the weapon herself, that she would be able to fire it. Still, even in her excitement Anne paid close attention. Noting the position of the safety and the trigger.

Then Caspian fired. Anne's eyes flew wide as she followed the bolt's direction. When it hit the target almost dead center, Anne gave a soft sound of delight before clapping her hands together.

"Caspian that was wonderful!" Anne exclaimed.

[navixator]

It always felt good, on a deep primal level, to fire off a weapon he'd learned from such a young age. It couldn't help but also feel good to have such a happy little noise from Anne in his ear egging on the slight endorphin rush.

His own smile was slightly crooked, but still entirely bright and pleased as he squinted to study the target. "It just takes practice."

And he'd been practicing for over a decade, now.

"You'll try?"

[happyfalcon]

Anne's elation turned to anxiety again, looking from Caspian to the bow. She knew even with her determination that she wouldn't be able to hit the center of the target as he had. But she wanted to try, wanted to prove that she could do it.

She reached for the bow, adjusted to the feeling of it in her hands. Anne held it down as she had, pulling her skirts back to settle her foot in the stirrup and holding her hand out to him for a bolt to load it with. 

[navixator]

The shift in her features was noticeable, of course, but nothing he didn't actually admire in its own way. There was no cockiness in her, no hubris to be contended with when handing over the crossbow.

It would take time, likely, but it would also serve her well to approach the weapon with humbleness and determination.

"--here."

The bolt was handed over, but his arms also slipped under hers to catch at the string. Tugging it up into place wasn't, after all, a matter of practice but of strength.

"Let me. We'll get you a rope for the next round."

[happyfalcon]

Anne blushed as he guided her, as she watched his strong arms pull back on the string with such ease. She watched the movements close enough, but glanced over her shoulder to him.

"Thank you, Majesty," her voice was soft. Dark eyes shifted back to the weapon.

Bolt in hand, keeping in mind to put one of the fletchings into the groove, as he'd instructed. "Like this?"