[Meme] Turn Left

[edenfalling]

Found via askerian over on Tumblr.

Inspired by Doctor Who's "Turn Left": Pick one of my stories and tell me a point in the tale that you'd change. Something tiny (e.g. "and then Fay chose silver glitter instead of gold") or big (e.g. "and then Rose was arrested instead of Jack") and I'll tell you how that one difference would have altered the course of the entire story.

I am bored. Play with me?

Comments

[edenfalling]

If Shezan tells her underlings, the information stays within Achadith's temple and the priestesses have a long debate over their theological obligations that ends with the collective decision that they can't have an eagle -- a symbol of their goddess -- be seen aiding a demon. So Shezan lets Marigold Beaver know they're aware of the plot and tells her to call it off or they'll kill her would-be rescuers. Marigold does so, the Narnians can't think of an alternate plan in time, and the sacrifice goes off without a hitch. The guards haven't been put on high alert, so Axartha is able to stop Rabadash without anyone else noticing.

However, there is no plausible reason to send Rabadash away and he makes another attempt a couple weeks later. This one is much less dramatic and therefore less obvious, and he gets away with it. He takes over Calormen, but without the curse binding him to Tashbaan and thus forcing him to find creative ways around traditional problems (and without the loss of half his sworn companions -- specifically the ones who tend to encourage his worst tendencies), he's not a very good ruler.

Ilgamuth doesn't come apologize to Shezan after the sacrifice, since the assassination plot was still running, but he does apologize after Rishti's death. They don't start courting at that point, but they do become more friendly, particularly in the wake of Axartha's death from old age and their shared and growing realization that Rabadash is never going to live up to his better qualities and instead is quite possibly going to tip Calormen into a broad-based civil war -- not just isolated provincial rebellions, or rival claimants fighting for the throne, but full-scale social revolution. Around this time, Malindra Takhun comes to Shezan to request sanctuary from Rabadash, who intends to execute her.

Long story short, Shezan, Ilgamuth, and Malindra form the core of a new assassination plot, which results in Rabadash's death after barely one year on the throne. Prince Ilragesh is long-since dead by this point, but he had a son of his own whom Malindra was able to rescue. They set him up as Tisroc and rule in his name until he comes of age. Shezan and Ilgamuth fall in love and get married a few years into the regency, and when the new Tisroc officially takes power in his own right, they get out of Tashbaan as quickly as possible to avoid any political repercussions. (This does not work; they get killed within a couple years as part of the backlash over an event I will describe below.)

Rabadash kills Ahoshta upon his accession to the throne, so when Kidrash goes husband-shopping for Aravis, he intends to marry her to Anradin. Aravis runs away, as per canon, but she and Hwin don't encounter Shasta and Bree. They head northwest instead, and cross the desert on the Great Oasis route that ends in the land of Mergandy. From there they make their way to Narnia, where Hwin finds a herd of Talking Horses to join and Aravis falls under Lucy's wing at Cair Paravel. After the Pevensies vanish, she is one of Peridan's chief supporters, and later marries into one of Narnia's minor human noble houses.

Bree never escapes.

Shasta gets sold to pirates, as in the scenario above, and ends up saving Archenland nearly twenty years later, from the consequences of Corin's rash decision to invade Calormen in retaliation for... I don't even know what, but I'm sure Corin could find something to take offense at, particularly in the immediate wake of Lune's death. Once again, he helps win a decisive naval battle, only this time he does get recognized as Corin's twin -- Corin being the sort of king who is personally present for the fighting -- and may be said to save Archenland a second time by promptly abdicating so as not to be the cause of potential civil war.

That naval battle, of course, is the incident over which Shezan and Ilgamuth lose their lives.

(More to come in further comments...)

[hungrytiger11.livejournal.com]

Ah! All of these are so interesting to me- I am particularly interested in the fact that Ilgamuth would choose to break his oath as a sworn brother, because that seems like it would have been such a hard decision for him even knowing that Rabadash is a bad ruler.

Malindra also seems like such an interesting character... but then, all your Out of Season verse characters do, and are so interesting to read about (even Rabadash is more interesting in your stories.)

[edenfalling]

Ilgamuth was a little uncertain about Rabadash from their first meeting, but yeah, breaking his sworn oath is a huge move. Even just letting Malindra and Shezan plot while doing nothing to either help or hinder them would have been difficult. Actively working against his lord... that's drastic. But he has moral lines in the sand past which he can't continue supporting Rabadash, and in this scenario, they get crossed with extreme prejudice.

He deals with the whole situation very badly, emotionally speaking, and never feels properly honorable again. Of course, Shezan is suffering her own crisis over betraying and working against her might-as-well-be-brother, so they have that in common... which actually delays their eventual romance, because they remind each other of their own shortcomings.

Malindra Takhun is going to have (I hope) a larger role in the sequel to "Out of Season" and HHB that I will write one of these days. That story is nothing but politics and people dealing badly with massive life changes. And then more politics, because I can. *evil smile*