Early the next morning, Esterami prepared to go meet some of the nearby Narnians with her aunts and uncles. Aunt Lucy gave her a few instructions and corrections as to how to control her horse better (of course, it wasn’t a talking horse). Amy had already had a little riding experience, so it came easily to her. When all were ready, Uncle Peter said, “We shall start at the woods and go on to the Ford of Beruna. Then we’ll return going along the river. That should allow for many meetings to fill the next two days.” And thus the five set off.
Just before reaching the woods, they came to a field with horses dotting the ground. Uncle Edmund whistled, and two foals, one a palomino and the other a buckskin, came trotting over. They gracefully bowed their necks to their majesties. “Juwy! Peahs! Good to see you, friends,” greeted Uncle Edmund.
“Good to see you too,” the foals whinnied.
“Amy, this is Juwy,” said Uncle Edmund, directing Esterami to the palomino.
“Pleased to meet you,” said Amy, dismounting.
“And this is Peahs,” continued Uncle Edmund, referring to the buckskin.
“Pleased to meet you,” said Amy.
“Juwy, Peahs, this is Esterami, our princess,” said Uncle Edmund.
“Pleased to met you, your highness,” the two foals replied with another bow.
Curtsying, Amy said, “I don’t know much about horse customs, so please excuse me if I do something wrong. If you don’t mind it, might I stroke your necks? You’re both so beautiful.”
Smiling, Juwy tossed her neck and whinnied, “Of course!” So Amy gently stroked the lovely cream-colored neck in awe of its satin texture.
“Me too! Me too!” cried the other foal. Sensing that it was the younger, Amy stroked the second foal as well.
The two foals were overjoyed when they were told that they were the first Narnians to meet Amy that day. They insisted on being allowed to introduce Amy to the rest of the talking horses, and the five consented. Every horse that Amy met was graceful, respectful, and beautiful. She decided that she would like to frequent this place, and asked the foals if they would be her playfellows, to which they accepted. Once finished with their visit with the horses, the aunts and uncles declared it was time to move on. Amy patted the foals goodbye, and the five headed for the woods.
The woods were very peaceful, full of talking trees, animals, and flowers. A river ran through it, and creatures inhabited it as well. Aunt Susan made a stop at the riverbed, and called. Up from it came a young naiad, only a few years younger than Amy. She was slender and lovely, and she moved through the water as smoothly as a dancer across a stage. Her skin was white as pearls, and her straight hair light brown.
“Good morning, Pearl,” greeted Aunt Susan.
“Good morning, your majesties. And is this the… new princess?” replied naiad.
“Yes, Pearl, this is Esterami,” said Uncle Peter.
Pearl pushed herself out of the water with ease, revealing a dress of river plants dripping with water. Now seeing her closer, the young naiad’s bright blue eyes caught Amy’s attention. They were like the sky: big, blue, and beautiful. “My family is coming. They had to stop and deal with stubborn ‘you-know-who’.”
“Her youngest brother,” whispered Aunt Lucy to Amy.
Soon, three river gods and two naiads came swimming up. The first river god was tall, clean-shaven, had a big head, was jolly, and appeared to be the father. The second was not quite as tall, but very slender, and looked like a thinner version of the first. The third was much smaller, and very thin, with a scowl on his face. The first naiad was tall with red hair, and appeared to be the mother. The second naiad was very small with round cheeks and long red hair, and seemed like a nautical version of a cherub. All had blue eyes, and the children’s were like Pearl’s. They pushed themselves out of the water, and greeted the kings and queens. Amy met them each in turn. The biggest two water folk were Aras and Linte, father and mother of the family. The other children were the younger brothers and sister of Pearl. The river gods were Claviner and Masea, and the youngest naiad was Amethyst. After a good talk, the five moved on.
Next were the owls, the badgers, and the roses. The owls, of course, were sleeping, but a few of them got up out of courtesy. One particular barn owl caught Amy’s attention, for it seemed more alert than the others, and so Amy went to go talk to it. She found out that the owl’s name was Cara, and that she liked “staying up late,” even though she would have to sleep in on occasion. Amy had a little trouble understanding Cara at times, for she hooted quite a bit. However, they began to see that they enjoyed one another’s company. The badgers were very hospitable, and Amy absolutely adored the children. The father was quiet with a dry humor, while the mother was demonstrative and wore little spectacles on the end of her nose. They all had a bit of an accent that was lovely to hear. The roses were absolutely beautiful. Their faces were in the middle of all the petals. Two of these roses were Gwela and Sunshine. Gwela was a quiet rose with mostly white petals with a red fringe, while Sunshine was a social butterfly with peach petals.
After these were the black dwarves. One, named Miggle, boldly approached the royal family and announced that he had something prepared for the new princess. Esterami was a little suspicious, since she had heard that many of the black dwarves had been on the White Witch’s side. However, her aunts and uncles seemed to trust this one, so she let him proceed. With a magic trick, he whipped out a carefully crafted pendant in the shape of a heart made of opal. Amy bashfully accepted the gift, and put it in her pocket. Another dwarf, named Cassakin, gleefully greeted their majesties. She had a youthful bounce in her step, like a dance, and it put a constant smile on Amy’s face.
When the five were done at the dwarves, they headed on. As they rode, they heard the wind softly whistling through the trees and the birds singing. They each listened to different birds, trying to understand their songs. Amy heard most distinctly a starling, which was making quite a ruckus. She looked about to see where it was, and found him perched on a nearby tree. However, she rode on, trying to keep up with her aunts and uncles. The starling followed, perched on another branch, and squawked again. He proceeded to do this for the next few minutes. Becoming just the slightest bit uncomfortable, Amy addressed the starling, saying, “Please, if you have something to say to me, please do so, and stop that incessant squawking.”
The starling swooped down and landed on her shoulder. With a bow, he said, “Hullo, there. You’re new in the neighborhood, aren’t you? You seem to be well acquainted with their majesties. Where are you from? What’s your name?”
“One thing at a time, Mr. Starling. Yes, I’m new here, and I am indeed well acquainted with their majesties; but that’s because I’m the new princess,” Amy replied.
“Princess? Princess?! Oh! Of course, you’re that lass that they said was sent from Fazcan, and so no miniscupation could be made against you.”
“Pardon?”
“Well, I thought that that was what they’d said at the presentation.”
“You were there? Oh, well that explains it. No it’s not Fazcan, it’s Aslan. And Uncle Peter said that no discrimination, not miniscupation, could be made against me,” explained Amy.
“Is that it, eh?” said Mr. Starling. “I think that my hearing is a bit off. I like to go to Cauldron Pool and listen to the falls.”
The two talked for a bit, and Mr. Starling seemed to take a liking to Amy. However, Amy felt no special feeling toward the loud bird, and simply humored him in hopes that he’d eventually go away. Finally, he bid adieu with a bow, and flew off.
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