Chapter One

There was yelling coming from beyond the doors of the prison. Edmund was too frightened to move. He hadn't yet been fed, and the yelling was getting closer. He listened close, one voice seemed to be that of the white witch, but the other…Edmund had never heard that voice before. It was a girl…probably around Peter's age, he guessed. The witch was yelling very loudly…something about stones?

Then a loud smack resonated throughout the castle, followed by a body hitting the floor. Edmund tried to get up, to see what was happening, but the bonds around his ankles didn't leave much room for movement of any kind.

There was quiet for a moment or two before Edmund heard footsteps nearing the door, "…and let that be a lesson to you…" Jadis said to some unknown person. Ginarrbrik hobbled into the prison carrying a plate with a small wooden cup and a lump of what appeared to be bread. He hobbled out just as fast when Jadis called, "Ginarrbrik, take this disgrace to her chambers…NOW!"

Edmund just stared at the bread, not hungry. He laid down and tried to sleep…

Edmund shot bolt upright, a noise had awoken him. Someone was opening the door to the prison! He laid back down, pretending to be asleep.

The door creaked open slowly, soft foot steps followed. Edmund cracked an eye, someone was moving to the cell next to his. A large cloak hid most of the person's figure, he couldn't quite see who it was.

The figure knelt down next to a dark lump on the floor. A soft gasp escaped. The figure reached out, hands hovering above the lump, a soft white glow emanating from its hands. Edmund stifled a gasp as the lump spoke, "A…are you an avris?" a weak voice asked.

The figure shook its head lightly as a feminine voice replied, "No, I'm afraid not...you must be still, I'm going to help you…" The glow traveled from what must have been the legs of the lump to the chest. "Your legs were broke, as is your arm, and you bruised 2 ribs and your cheek…"

The glow traveled from the chest to the right arm, when the lump spoke again, "W…were?"

The figure seemed to nod, "Yes, were…I…I heale…" Her sentence was cut off when a loud bang of a door closing, echoed through the halls. The glow diminished as the figure turned suddenly. The next things said were spoken very fast and panicked, "I…I'm sorry, I must go!"

The figure leapt up and ran out of the room, much to the despair of the lump. The door shut and soft footsteps fled down the hall…and nothing more was heard.

The next day, Edmund sat next to his small plate of burnt bread and now frozen water. His stomach growled as he picked up the bread and tasted it. It was disgusting! He coughed slightly, putting the bread down, picking up the small cup to try and rid himself of the horrid taste. He remembered that he water had frozen overnight, and threw the cup down.

"If you're not going to eat that…" A small weak voice said from the cell next to his. Edmund looked over to see that the lump from last night was none other than a faun…a faun that looked very beat up…Edmund moved across the floor, as much as his shackles would allow, to hand the bread to the faun… "Mr…Tumnus?" Edmund asked, growing sick to his stomach.

The faun nodded, "You're Lucy Pevensie's brother."

The guilt grew in Edmund's stomach as he nodded, "I'm Edmund."

The faun gave a small smile, "You have the same nose…Is your sister alright…is she safe?"

He hated himself, here the faun was giving up his life for his sister and he had betrayed her to a Witch. "I…I don't know…"

Suddenly the doors to the prison were thrown open as Edmund and Mr. Tumnus quickly moved back. Jadis stood in the doorway a moment longer before walking angrily up to Edmund.

"My wolves torn that little dam apart, your family was nowhere to be found!" She yelled as she lifted Edmund off the ground, "Where are they!"

"I don't know!" Edmund yelled.

"Then you are of no use to me…" She raised her wand…

"Wait! They…they said something about Aslan…"

"Aslan? ASLAN!" The witch yelled, "Where is Aslan?" Edmund didn't answer.

"I…I don't know" he looked at Tumnus, who looked down, "…I left before they said anything…"

"What do you know about Aslan?" The witch asked, lifting Edmund up.

"I…"

"He doesn't know anything…" Mr. Tumnus cut in, "He's not from here, what could he know…" Ginarrbrik walked over to him, smashing him in the face, effectively shutting him up.

The witch dropped Edmund to glare at Tumnus, before an idea struck. "Guard!" she called. An ugly fat troll stomped into the cell, "Release the prisoner." The troll stomped over to Mr. Tumnus, withdrawing a hammer. He beat against the shackles on Mr. Tumnus' ankles, breaking them. He grabbed the faun by the scarf, dragging him over to the witch.

Mr. Tumnus whimpered at the pain of the hammer, he could tell that his legs were no longer searing with the pain of being broken. His Avris had truly healed him. True, his legs were still sore, but they felt much better…at least they had before they were beaten on with the hammer.

His thoughts were cut off when Jadis spoke, "Faun, do you know why you are here?"

"Because I believe in a free Narnia." He spoke boldly.

Jadis stared at him coldly, "You're here because he turned you in..." Tumnus stared at Edmund, betrayal evident in his eyes, "…for sweeties." She turned to the guard, "Take him…"

The guard grabbed Tumnus, dragging him out of the room as Jadis spoke again, "Ready my sleigh, Edmund misses his family."

The doors shut as Edmund was left by himself…his only thought that Tumnus' Avris…what ever that was…could save him.

A/N – So…that was my first chapter of a Narnia fic…just so you know this will probably be a Peter/OC (the avris) story…the meaning of Avris, and who she is, will be defined later.