Demma, who was, in fact, a Calormene, turned out to be a very respectable young man. The royal family entertained Demma as best they could, and found it quite the pleasure to be with him. He spent most of his time with Uncle Peter, talking of hunting, sword fighting, history, politics, and other things that men talk about. At these times, Aunt Susan would sneak Amy where Demma wouldn’t see them and give her archery lessons. “Calormenes don’t understand when a woman learns to defend herself,” she said. “They take it as if we intended to go into battle with the men.”
“Does not Aunt Lucy fight?” asked Amy.
“Your uncle, Peter, allows her to,” Aunt Susan replied, “and I don’t approve of it. What I teach you is strictly for self defense, not battles.”
One day, as the royal family was having supper with Demma, Uncle Edmund asked, “Demma, how did you come to be on our beaches?”
“My king,” said Demma, “if you desire a Calormene story, I am afraid that I cannot give one well at all. However, if you are willing to hear the tale in my own words, I will be willing to do so.”
“Proceed as you wish,” said Uncle Edmund.
“My father is a wealthy man, and he has relatives in different parts of the world. One of these relatives, an uncle of mine, lives in the Lone Islands. I recently came of age, and so my father decided to send me to retrieve some goods from my uncle promised to my father by letter. This letter informed us that my uncle had acquired twice as much as he needed to sell, and so had plenty to give away. I went on my way with an able bodied captain and crew on a ship headed for the Lone Islands, leaving my mother, father, and twin brothers behind.
“When we finally arrived on Avra, we were warmly welcomed by my Uncle Naleed. He insisted that we join him at supper, and he gave us a great feast. When the feast was over, I requested the goods I had been sent to retrieve. My Uncle Naleed said that he had no recollection of the letter my father received. At first, I thought it was a jest or a lie. Then, to my horror, I realized that he truly had not sent such a letter. He did not have twice the goods he needed. In fact, he barely had enough to sell. However, he expressed that he greatly desired that we should spend at least a fortnight with him before returning to Calormen. We stayed only a fortnight, no more and no less. While there, we sought out who might have forged such a letter as was sent to my father. We never found enough evidence to accuse a single soul. On the last day, my Uncle Naleed supplied some goods for us, about half of what had been promised to my father. He said that he would try to collect the other half in order to send it to us that our family not be shamed or embarrassed. We then set sail for Calormen, disappointed.
“After four days of sailing, we were hit by a violent storm. Several men went overboard before the mast finally crashed and destroyed the poop deck. That’s when I went overboard. Thankfully, I caught a bit of driftwood and floated for a day or more. When I caught sight of land, I swam with all my might until I had reached the shore. Once I had kissed the ground, I became unconscious, and did not rouse until evening to find myself on a soft bed in a palace room. I thought I was dreaming, for not only was I in much more comfort than I had expected, but I was being tended to by the oddest looking creature I had ever seen in my life. That odd creature, as I have now discovered from you, was the faun, Tumnus. He cleaned me, provided new clothes for me, and fed me. After my hunger had been somewhat satiated, Tumnus made conversation with me. When he found out that I play the violin, he got up, left the room, and returned with one. After an hour or so, Tumnus left. I, however, couldn’t sleep, so I picked up the violin and began to play. And that is when you, my lady, heard me. I never asked you before, but did I wake you?”
“Oh no, I hadn’t been able to sleep either,” said Amy politely. “And it really was a very lovely song.”
“You mentioned that you had twin brothers,” said Aunt Lucy, “and yet you have never spoken of them before.”
“I rarely reveal something about myself without being asked,” explained Demma.
“What are these brothers like?” asked Aunt Lucy.
“Well,” reminisced Demma, “they are both taller than me, and yet younger. Though they are twins, they don’t look it. Drak, the older of the two, has green eyes and medium-colored hair. He is nearly as tall as Princess Esterami. Drikko, the younger, isn’t quite as tall, has brown eyes, black hair, and is nearly skin and bones. They’re troublemakers, and they fight the way brothers do at times. They never listen to me, either. But, I still love them very much.”
“They sound delightful,” Amy commented playfully. “I should very much like to meet them. How old are they?”
“They’ll soon be thirteen years of age.”
“I see now why they do not listen to you. If you recently came of age, you are no older than I am, am I right?”
“’tis true. Your majesty knows of our customs?”
“I am learning.”
“Why?” inquired Demma.
“Need the question be asked? You yourself have already learned our customs. Why should we not learn your customs as well?”
“You think as a man does.”
Amy sat up straighter and tilted her head to one side with a confused expression on her face. “How do you mean? It seems to me that I simply thought.”
“Ah, you mean that you are educated?”
“I’m a princess. I must be educated in order to fulfill responsibilities of my future position. Has not one of your very poets said… oh, how did he put it. Something about carrying buckets.”
“If a man uses his hands to carry water, he faileth his duty. If he uses buckets, he fulfills what has been asked of him, but no more. If he carries the buckets with a yoke, he carries out his duty more speedily, and receives his reward in full,” quoted Uncle Edmund.
Demma sat a moment or two and thought hard. Amy wasn’t certain if he was disturbed, confused, or trying to decide something. At last, he said, “What you say is true. I had not known that such a thing was in Narnia. If only we had such all across Calormen.”
“All across? Do you mean to say that there are some women who have been educated in your country?” asked Aunt Susan.
“Yes, in Kooradesh, my homeland. We’re a mountain people, and there have been several times where all we had was each other and the mountains. In peaceful times, our upper class found that if the women were educated, they accepted and understood more clearly why the men made the decisions they made. This idea had nearly died out, but it is slowly coming back. The other Calormenes do not pay us any mind, and they hate it when we begin to speak up politically,” Demma replied solemnly.
“I would like to see this land and meet your people,” said Aunt Lucy. “Tell me, do your women learn anything about self defense?”
“Oh yes, every Kooradeshi woman is encouraged to learn how to use a sword or bow. However, even without such encouragement, they learn quickly how to choke people to death,” said Demma.
Amy noticed that Aunt Susan had quickly looked down when Aunt Lucy had asked her question. Once Demma had answered her, though, she slowly looked up. She now knew that all her hiding Amy away for archery practice had been in vain. She was just trying to be sensitive to his culture, Amy reminded herself. She didn’t know, she didn’t know.
A week or so after their dinner, Demma decided that it was time to go home. Uncle Peter provided a ship for him so that it would be easier to travel, and Demma was very grateful. Saying goodbye to their new friend was difficult for the royal family, but they sent their best wishes and promises to write often. With that, Demma set sail for Calormen.
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