Lucy in Avalon // Lindensea 3

II

The carriage arrived at Castle Avalon at sunset, so they had made it there safely before nightfall. Lucy couldn't help a little twinge of regret at the fact, and wondered if this possibly counted as escaping from bandits? She was forced to admit to herself that it probably didn't.

However, when she looked around at her surroundings, she gave a gasp of wonder. The castle shimmered in the twilight, overlooking a vast lake which glowed pink and silver in the last rays of the setting sun. It looked like Fairyland, Lucy thought.

As the carriage drew up in front of the castle, the first stars were twinkling overhead, mirroring the lanterns that servants carried as they met the carriage, helping Lucy alight from it. It was all perfectly magical, she was absolutely sure.

Once inside, it felt a little bit less magical and more like a normal castle, although such a funny little old-fashioned one, right out of a story book. King Meriadoc was plump and jolly as he welcomed them, apologising that his daughter couldn't join them for supper because she was ill in bed. Lucy wondered if she might be a frail, sickly little girl, and planned to be very kind to her, and play gentle indoor games that wouldn't tire her out, and read to her to spare her weak eyes.

Lucy began feeling as if she might fall asleep at supper, and Bernard took her to the room she had been given. 

"Everything alright, Nurse May?" he asked. "Lucy is tired, and ready for bed now. I'll come and say goodbye before I leave, very early tomorrow morning."

"No, it's not alright, sir!" Nurse complained. "They've put us in such a small chamber I have no room for Miss Lucy's luggage, and there's nowhere to wash." She said the word in a harsh whisper, as if it was something foul and shameful.

"Nonsense, Nurse! It's a lovely little room, and so comfortable," said Bernard. "Look at the pretty blue coverlets on the bed, Lu. And a window, so you can see out when it gets light."

"Hmph, letting in damp night air," said Nurse May rebelliously. "And the washing!"

"Look Nursey darling, there's a room for washing just behind this door," said Lucy. "See? A simply huge bath, and all the usual things."

"I meant nowhere to wash Miss Lucy's clothes!" insisted Nurse May.

"Oh, they'll have a place for that, somewhere or other," Bernard said. "Do we really need to go into this now, Nurse? Lucy doesn't need anything washed right this minute, surely?"

Nurse May muttered darkly about not letting foreigners get their filthy paws on Miss Lucy's clothing, and how washing was her domain, but Bernard persuaded her that Lucy really needed to go to bed. He said Nurse May would no doubt get a good hot meal if she went down to the kitchen.

"And leave Miss Lucy all alone? Never, sir!" said Nurse May in horror. "I would rather starve!"

Bernard put Lucy to bed himself, kissing her goodnight, and promising to come and see her early tomorrow morning to say goodbye. Then he went looking for a servant who could have a light meal sent up to Nurse May, saying the lady was indisposed after her long journey.

She was certainly in a rotten temper, Bernard thought ruefully, and now he thought of it, servants always loathed travel of any kind. It probably tore up all the well-loved schedules and routines they lived by.

Notes

Meriadoc, a variant of a Celtic name meaning "sea brow". The legendary founder of Brittany is Conan Meriadoc; although mythical, nearly everyone seems to have tried to trace their ancestry back to him to prove their nobility or even royalty.