Chapter Text
Lucy sat on a step in the courtyard of Cair Paravel. On the small field in front of her stood Peter, Edmund, the centaur Oreius, and the satyr Snix. Snix was the boys’ melee combat instructor, while Oreius was the general of the army and insisted on overseeing any military training any of the Kings or Queens underwent. Lucy sat with her knees drawn up, a book resting open on them, but her focus was on the drill Snix was leading her brothers through. A clatter of hooves tore her attention away from the scene, and she turned just in time to see her dear friend Mr. Tumnus sit down on the step next to her.
“Hello, Mr. Tumnus,” Lucy beamed.
“Hello, Queen Lucy,” Mr. Tumnus replied. No matter how many times she asked him to just call her ‘Lucy’, Mr. Tumnus insisted on sticking her title in front of it, ‘as is only proper’. Well, at least she’d gotten him to stop calling her ‘your majesty’.
“How are you today, Mr. Tumnus?” Lucy asked politely, shutting her book and officially giving up any pretense of reading.
“I am doing quite well,” the faun smiled, ears twitching slightly. “And you?”
“Very well, thank you,” Lucy replied with a giggle, which Mr. Tumnus echoed.
“What brings you out to the training yards when you should be reading your history lesson, Queen Lucy?” Mr. Tumnus asked, taking the book from her lap.
“Well,” Lucy began. “It was such a nice day, I didn’t want to spend the whole thing cooped up inside. And this seemed like a good place to read… at least until the boys came out with their swords and started hacking away at one another.”
Mr. Tumnus smiled. “Is that really what brought you out here?”
Lucy flushed slightly and looked down at her hands. “No,” she admitted.
“Well?” Mr. Tumnus prompted her with a nudge from his elbow.
“It’s just… why do the boys get to train with swords and everything, when all I get to do is learn history and etiquette and diplomacy?” Lucy said crossly. “Even Susan gets to do archery, and sometimes even she trains with Snix, and she doesn’t even like to use a sword! She always complains when Oreius says that she should have a lesson with Snix.”
“I see,” Mr. Tumnus nodded.
“I want to learn how to fight too,” Lucy said earnestly. “It’s not fair that I’m the only one who doesn’t get to. And anyways, wouldn’t it be more practical for me to know how to defend myself?”
.*.*.*.*.*.
That night, as Lucy was getting ready for bed, there was a knock at her door. “Come in!” she called.
The door opened slowly, and Peter stepped in. He was still dressed in his clothes from the day (Peter and Susan often stayed up much later than Edmund and especially Lucy, to manage things that didn’t get done during the day) “Good night, Lu,” he smiled at her.
“Good night, Peter,” Lucy smiled back. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to talk to you,” Peter replied, settling down on the edge of Lucy’s bed and patting it to invite her to sit beside him.
“Is something wrong?” asked Lucy as she settled down next to her brother.
“Well, I had a talk with Mr. Tumnus this afternoon,” Peter explained.
“About what?” asked Lucy.
“If you’d stop interrupting me, I’d tell you,” Peter teased, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and squeezing her close.
“Sorry,” Lucy laughed. “Do go on.”
“Like I was saying, this afternoon, Mr. Tumnus came to me and wanted to talk,” Peter said. “He said that he’d had a talk with you this morning.”
Lucy gulped. She knew where this was going.
“Lucy, did you tell Mr. Tumnus that you wanted to start learning how to fight, like me and Ed?” Peter asked.
Lucy nodded sheepishly. “I’m sorry--I know I should have just talked to you, but I was worried you’d say no.”
“See, that’s the thing, Lu,” Peter said. “I am going to say no.”
Lucy jumped to her feet and spun around to face Peter. “But why? Why can’t I learn to fight just like the rest of you?”
“You’re too little--”
“No, I’m not!” Lucy shouted, stamping her foot. She was fully aware that she was being childish--and proving Peter’s point--but didn’t much care at the moment. “I’m almost as old as Susan was when we came to Narnia, and I’m older than Edmund was!”
“That was different, Lucy!” Peter was on his feet now too, and he reached out to rest his hands on her shoulders. “We were at war then! Susan and Edmund--and even I--didn’t have a choice but to learn to fight.”
“But you all didn’t stop learning after she was killed!” Lucy pushed his hands off her shoulders. “You and Edmund started training with Snix right off, and Susan kept working on her archery with the centauresses. We weren’t at war then!”
Peter sighed and sat back down on the bed, and reached out to take Lucy’s hands in his. “Lucy, there’s no reason for you to learn how to fight. I don’t want you to get hurt. My final decision is no.”