Ch 22: Soul Of Magic

Saris had gone to the room Susan appointed for him earlier in the evening, and merely stood at the window looking out over the grounds. After a time, he had left the room and gone to the one Susan shared with Queen Lucy. He sat in the hall, discomfited by the idea that other Nazis might come to the house in the night.

A clock ticked somewhere in the silence. He studied the diamond pattern in the walnut paneling on the opposite wall, and let his mind drift.

"What are you doing?" a voice whispered.

He started awake. He had fallen asleep against the wall beside the door. Queen Susan stood over him in a borrowed dressing gown and shawl. "I do not like leaving you alone," he said, standing up.

Her lips curled upward. "Thank you for your chivalry."

"It is not chivalry." When she frowned, he took her hand. "Chivalry is politeness. We are still in danger, my lady. This house is not as secure as a castle, and if harm were to come to you, I would have myself in the way."

She looked downward, then tried to pull her hand from his. "Let me dress in something else—"

He chuckled. "The Tarkheenas of Calormen wear less than what you are wearing now. Do not fear for propriety. What woke you?"

"I left my ..." She sighed. "When you agreed to take me to Tashbaan, I brought my horn with me. I wasn't sure … I thought ..."

"Walk with me," he murmured with a nod at the closed door of the bedroom, where Queen Lucy still slept. Susan did, and he followed half a step behind.

They descended the stairs to the house's silent first floor. She retrieved her horn from the bundle she'd left in the hall. Holding it in her hands, she said, "I'm sorry I didn't trust you."

"I am used to distrust, as I am used to hatred. A Jinn has few allies, my lady."

"Susan," she said quickly. Softer, she added, "Please." She shouldered the horn on its strap and approached him to take his hands. "You have one." She reached up to stroke his face. "Thank you for everything you've done for me."

He couldn't help leaning into the touch. Just as irresistible was the urge to reach up and caress her cheek in return. Her skin was silk-soft under his palm, and her eyes a well in which he wanted to drown. What twist of fate had blessed him with her? How had he deserved this after all the evil things he had done?

Taking her hand, he led her to a sitting room, where he lit a fire in the grate and they sat on a couch before the fireplace. Saris watched her, watched the reddish glow of leaping flame against her face and waist-length hair. "Rabadash is a fool and a coward," he said.

She looked up, surprise evident in her eyes.

He sat back on the couch. "The Tisroc merely saw beauty when he looked at you. It was all he spoke of during my time with him. A prize, he said, to be won by him and desired by others. I think he would not acknowledge everything else you are because he feared you would outshine him." Saris smiled and took her hand, then kissed the back of it. "As well you do. I have known few women with such heart."

Rather than smile at his compliment, she surprised him by lowering her gaze to her lap, where she twisted her fingers in the fabric of her nightdress. "I'm not so courageous."

"I am not speaking only of courage," he said, "though I have seen that in you, too. I mean your capacity to forgive and care. Your Aslan must have seen this in you. I believe he knew Narnia would need the qualities each of its Kings and Queens possesses."

"I'm sure Edmund would be shocked to hear he possesses anything you find admirable," she murmured. "He hates you, and it's my fault. My fault also that he's been torn away from Asha. I began this. I would not forgive me, if I were him."

"Your brother is strong-willed, and he is not without his reasons for disliking me," Saris said. "Aslan himself traveled with you to send us here. Do not blame yourself ... Susan." He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.

She looked up, and he found it difficult to see the sorrow on her face. "Everything I touch goes so wrong," she said. "Peter's so vigilant. Lucy's so brave. Even Ed ... so fair, except to you. But me? What have I done but go along with them?"

"You listened to whatever was inside you that told you your mother and father needed you," Saris said. "You befriended a Jinn, though you cannot abide the chaos of magic. You refuse to see your own power, but it is plain to any who might simply look for it."

She studied his face then, and he wondered what she was looking for. "How many worlds have you seen, Saris?"

"I have lost count," he said. "I remember most the one where I was born. That was Charn, the world the White Witch destroyed before she came to Narnia. You will know something of Charn."

She nodded. "Jadis—did you know her?"

"Yes. It was I who put the sleep on her and the other nobles of that world." Susan's mouth dropped open. When she said nothing, Saris went on. "I was bade to do so by my first master, her sister, Lelene. I could not put the sleep on Jadis without affecting Charn's other nobles, including Lelene—such was the power of that spell—and so it was a last resort. I cast the spell as Jadis spoke the word that destroyed Charn."

"Where is Lelene now?"

"Asleep still, in the ruins of that world, I believe," he said. "The portal is closed now. No one, even myself, may return to it."

"Don't you see?" Susan demanded, her voice sharp with bitterness. "All magic does is devastate and destroy. If we had never gone through the wardrobe—"

"Then Narnia would still be in the grip of the White Witch, and she may have destroyed it, too," Saris said gently. "Even this world has magic. A different kind than Narnia possesses, to be certain. Magic has no one side. It can be as beautiful as it is terrible."

"Funny to hear you say that, when all it has done is bring you pain," she murmured.

"No." He touched her face again. "It brought me you."

They sat together a while longer, hands linked, until the fire died out, then Saris returned her to her room. At the door, he made up his mind, took her face in his hands, and kissed her. He breathed in the scent of her and smiled, wondering at how he could feel so content in the midst of their jeopardy. "Rest well, Gentle Susan."

She smiled back. "Please promise me you won't sit outside my door all night."

He nodded. "It is a promise." He kissed her again, lingering this time.

When she went in and closed the door, he turned and started back to his own room.

Edmund stepped out of the shadows at the end of the hall, and Saris stopped short. Edmund's eyes flashed. "You are treading dangerous waters, Jinn Saris. If I see you lay a hand on her again in any fashion, I will watch you hang." With a last glare, he stalked past Saris down the hall. Leina followed him, a silent lupine shadow.