Title: The Witch's Boy

Author: DeppleICk

Pairings: None (for now…)

Rating: T for occasional violence, bad attitudes, and general not-niceness.

Summary: AU: Edmund goes through the wardrobe first and foolishly closes the door behind him. Found by the White Witch, he wants nothing more than to go home. But when the Witch discovers something about him even he did not know the journey back becomes entirely more complicated...

Disclaimer: General Narnian awesomeness property of Sir C. S. Lewis. Crappy other stuff property of me.

Chapter One: Edmund Steps into a Wardrobe

Posted: 1/1/11

Edmund Pevensie was not been having a pleasant day - or for that matter, a pleasant year. He did not like being sent out to the country with an uncle he had never met before (no matter how nice that uncle was). He did not like leaving his mother alone back home to face the air raids. He especially didn't like his brother, Peter, treating him like he was too stupid to tie his shoes properly and going around pretending to be Edmund's father. Edmund already had a father, even if he was off fighting in the war, and he didn't take kindly to Peter trying to replace him. As far as Edmund was concerned, he could take care of himself, thank you very much. He wasn't a silly, little boy like Peter, Susan, and his mum seemed to think.

So Edmund had been in a rather sour mood ever since arriving in the country and had been snapping at everyone. Peter and Susan, who both fancied themselves mature and far smarter than ten-year-olds like Edmund, hadn't taken to his attitude in the slightest. Susan would roll her eyes whenever he complained about the rain or the wicked Mrs. Macready (even though Edmund knew full well she agreed with him) and tell him to be nice. Peter would just give him a look of annoyance and bark at him to be quiet. Their quick dismissals of all of his remarks only ended up worsening Edmund's already horrid temper.

Then there was Lucy. Lucy was the smallest of the siblings and much considered the baby. She was also, perhaps, one of the smartest, kindest, and intuitive little girls you will ever meet. Nearly everyone who met Lucy loved her instantly and Edmund, who hadn't been feeling very loved at all lately, was green with envy. He often muttered hurtful remarks to Lucy without thinking because he was so jealous. He never meant to hurt her or make her cry, but Peter and Susan would always cause a great deal of fuss whenever he accidentally did so. He would always feel immediately bad afterwards, but not always bad enough to apologize.

This bad situation with his siblings caused Edmund a great deal of grief but it was not his only reason for strife. Sometimes, for no reason at all, even when things were going perfectly and he was getting along fine with everyone, Edmund would get irrationally upset. Things would be going along just as peachy as they like and suddenly, without warning, Edmund would begin to feel terribly hot, like there was a flame burning beneath his skin and in his chest. It didn't hurt exactly but it wasn't very pleasant either. Whenever this happened Edmund would always fall into a fit, yelling and arguing with his siblings or feeling unbelievably sad and curling up into a corner to mope. These fits never lasted long but they always left him feeling out of sorts afterwards.

Edmund never told anyone about the reason for his swift mood changes, but sometimes he would catch the Professor staring at him oddly after such a fit and worry that somehow he knew. He knew it was impossible but the fear still kept him steering clear of the Professor whenever he could.

It was because of one of these fits that Edmund found himself lingering behind in the spare room on that fateful day as his older siblings filed out the door to explore some more. One minute Edmund found himself mildly annoyed the rainy weather and the lack of anything fun to do and the next he was turning away from the door feeling the urge to flop down and cry his eyes out. He screwed up his face and took efforts to control himself only to almost loose it all when he notice Lucy reaching for the door of the wardrobe.

"Lucy!" he snapped, reverting to meanness to cover up his watery eyes. "Get away from there!"

His little sister stopped short and stared up at him. "I just want to see what's inside," she said.

"I said get away!" Edmund ordered. Lucy's eyes widened with hurt and she took a small step back from the wardrobe.

"Don't yell at me! I only meant to look," cried Lucy with tears brimming in her eyes.

"I'm your older brother and I said no," Edmund barked. "Now, go away! Get out of here!"

Lucy stared at him with such hurt that Edmund briefly felt guilt claw through his warring emotions. That just made him angrier though; Peter never apologized when he bossed Edmund around, so Edmund shouldn't have to apologize to Lucy! If she wasn't such a baby and just listened to him...

"You're so mean!" Lucy screamed and ran to the door, slamming it behind her. Edmund was all alone, just as he wanted. This time the sadness in him was brought up on his own accord.

Biting back his tears Edmund quickly went to the wardrobe seeking a place to hide his face while he cried. He flung open the door and stepped inside, barely paying any mind to the lovely fur coats hanging inside.

Then he did something very foolish. He shut the wardrobe door.

To be fair, Edmund was very upset and already crying when he entered the wardrobe and his body was pretty much running itself when he pulled the door shut behind him. Had he been thinking clearly, he might have remembered that shutting oneself into a wardrobe is an especially foolish thing to do, particularly when one does not know what they might find inside.

But Edmund hadn't been thinking and with the door shut behind him he reached out his fingers for the back of the wardrobe so that he might lean against it and sob. Only his fingers didn't meet the back of the wardrobe as expected. He took a step further, then another, and another, and even as upset as he was he was beginning to feel like something odd was going on. His fingers were no longer brushing the soft fur coats but were being tickled by something rather prickly. He found himself cold, too cold for being inside a wardrobe in the middle of summer. He opened his eyes (which had been shut on account of crying) and nearly fell over in astonishment.

He was no longer in the wardrobe. He was in a forest thick with pine trees and heavy with a thick layer of snow upon the ground. It was dark out, the sky above a grey color that concealed the sun, but directly ahead of where he was facing Edmund could make out a light shining through the trees.

His tears forgotten, Edmund began to feel a jumble of new emotions. He pinched himself twice to make sure he wasn't dreaming but the forest firmly there. Then he turned around and looked behind him at where the wardrobe ought to have been.

But the wardrobe wasn't there. Nor were the fur coats or any sign to show Edmund had come from anywhere.

He shivered feeling more than a little bit frightened and even more convinced he was in some strange dream. He pinched himself again but all it did was make a red mark on his arm.

He began walking toward the light hoping it was some friendly person's house who could tell him where exactly he was. Instead, he pushed through the trees only to find himself in a clearing in which the middle boasted a tall lamp post glowing softly. There was no other sign that people had ever been there before.

As he stood looking at it, wondering why there was a lamp post in the middle of the woods and wondering what he was going to do next, he thought he heard a pitter patter of feet coming towards him. Startled, he spun around only to hear the noise stop suddenly. Squinting against the dark shadows of the trees he tried to make out whatever was out there; thoughts of wolves and bears popped into his mind and refused to leave.

"W-Who's out there?" he called, teeth chattering in both cold and fear. The wind was the only answer, blowing through the trees it moaned into his ears like a lonely ghost, raising the hairs on the back of his neck.

"Show yourself!" he commanded, trying not to appear frightened.

There was a snap, like something big stepping on wood, and Edmund whirled around heart pounding towards the noise. He though he could just make out someone standing beside a tree in the shadows and felt relief at the sight of another person.

"Come out, please!" he called to the shadow. "Who are you? I don't mean to bother you but I'm lost! I don't know how I got here! Please! I need help!"

Edmund's plea for help had the opposite effect. The figure vanished, slipping back into the trees as though it was never there. Only the pitter patter of its feet growing softer and softer made Edmund believe the person had ever truly existed. He bit back a sob as hopelessness crashed into him. He was cold and he was lost and he was scared. He wanted to go home; not back to the wardrobe and the spare room but home, back with mum and dad in the days before the war started and before Edmund's siblings began to irritate him with their every word.

But no matter how he wished it, screwed up his eyes and thought of that place his feet remained stuck in the snow.

He gave up and did what he had entered the wardrobe to do. He hung his head and he cried.

A long time later, when Edmund was even more cold and scared but his tears had all dried up he began to hear something. At first he wasn't sure what it was he was hearing. His mind instantly thought of the stranger lurking within the trees and his heart gave a little flutter. Then he remembered the wolves and bears and wasn't so sure. He clamored to his feet (which was hard to do as they were numb from the cold) and got ready to run, but then the sound became clearer and he realized what he was hearing was the sound of bells.

Relief nearly drove Edmund to his knees. Finally, someone was coming who could help him. He felt his spirits rise every second that the bells drew closer until out of the shadows of the trees a sleigh swept into sight, pulled by two magnificent reindeer.

Edmund's first thought was of Santa Clause. At ten, his belief in jolly old Saint Nick was beginning to wane (children believed much longer back then than nowadays, as they should) but with the sight of the sleigh he suddenly had no doubt that Santa did exist. The sleigh itself was bright red and shone with obvious care. The reindeer were whiter than the snow they trotted on and strung with red lines that jingled with golden bells. It was just as the stories told and beautiful.

Then he caught sight of the people in the sleigh and he realized with a disheartening discovery that his rescuer was not in fact Santa. In the front of the sleigh, driving the reindeer with a long whip was a little man who might have passed for an elf had he not been so fierce looking. He was very small (three feet if he had been standing) and dressed in fur. His huge beard covered his knees and most of his face, but suspicious black eyes peered out from behind the layers of hair. But behind him, in a sight that immediately took Edmund's breath away, was a great lady, taller than any woman Edmund had ever seen. She was covered in white fur up to her throat and held a long golden wand in her right hand. A golden crown was perched on her head atop a nest of pale, snow riddled hair. Her face was white, not just pale but white like snow or paper, except for her very red mouth. It was a beautiful face in other respects, but proud and cold and stern.

The sleigh was a fine sight as it came sweeping towards Edmund with the bells jingling and the dwarf cracking his whip and the snow flying up on each side of it.

"Stop!" said the Lady, and the dwarf pulled the reindeer up sharply. The sleigh halted directly in front of Edmund, so close he would only have to take a step and reach out his arm to touch its gleaming surface. Edmund's attention immediately went to the Lady who stared down at him with no expression save coldness on her face. Edmund felt the power radiating off of the great Lady raise the hairs on his arm and neck.

"And what, pray tell, are you?" the Lady questioned, looking hard at Edmund. The ten-year-old felt his breath leave him at such a powerful stare.

"I'm – I'm – my name is Edmund," said Edmund finally, having trouble getting his mouth to function the way he wanted. Hours in the cold and being questioned by such a commanding woman could do that to anyone, but Edmund still felt heat rise up in his face.

The Lady frowned at him. "Is that how you address a Queen?" she asked, looking sterner than ever.

Edmund felt his blush increase. He forced himself into an awkward bow, something he had never done beyond playing make-believe with his sibling before.

"I beg your pardon, your Majesty," he said, doing his best to be respectful. The words felt strange in his mouth. "I didn't know. I'm lost."

"Not know the Queen of Narnia!" she cried, growing fierce. "Preposterous! You lie!" Her golden wand was suddenly leveled at Edmund's despairing face.

"Narnia!" he exclaimed, panicked. "What's Narnia? I've never heard of such a place before! I'm from England!" As he spoke he felt the heat of another fit rise up in his chest. Unlike other fits which usually made him angry or sad this one filled him with panic. His heart felt like it was beating much too fast and hard and his limbs felt like jelly. His head spun as his breathing edged into hyperventilating. His eyes focused completely on the golden wand point at his head as it seemed to spell out his doom.

And then, just as suddenly as the panic came, it faded. Edmund caught his breath and sucked in a gulp of air deeply. His body felt abruptly drained of what little energy he had.

A curious expression came over the Queen's pale features. Her eyes widened just the smallest of fractions and her lips tightened. It was as though she was caught between surprise and suspicion. A moment passed before she spoke and by then the look was gone and her face was blank.

"England, you say? I've been to such a place before. A place full of the vilest of creatures – humans!"

Edmund couldn't help but feel so relieved she knew of England he didn't comprehend the last of her words. "Then you can help me get back? I mean – your Majesty, if you could please help me. I'm very lost."

"And why would I, a Queen, do that?" she asked sardonically. "And for that matter, just how, pray, did you come to enter my dominions?"

Edmund felt desperate. "Please, your Majesty, I came in through a wardrobe."

"A wardrobe?" the Queen repeated. "What do you mean?"

"I – I opened a door and just found myself here, your Majesty," said Edmund, "I'm afraid that I must have shut the door behind me. I can't find my way back."

"A door. A door to the world of men! I have heard of such things," the Queen said, speaking more to herself than to him. She turned to him and stared down at him once more. Edmund had no choice but stand there scared and awkward as she studied him intently.

At last, she spoke and her voice was empty. "You are a boy," she said, causing Edmund to look up at her frightened. "A Son of Adam as is foretold. But you are alone and pose no threat to me. I could deal with you here and now, but something tells me to wait, perhaps you can be useful. I sense that you are different than most others of your kind. Perhaps…" The Queen trailed off and her expression was of one thinking very hard about something very serious.

Edmund was so confused he had nothing to say in return. He shivered and the Queen noticed.

"Come here, child," she said, in an entirely different tone. "I will wrap my fur around you and take you back to my palace. There we will talk."

Edmund did not like this idea at all but he was very afraid that if he refused she would be angry with him again. He dared not disobey and stepped onto the sleigh. She opened her fur cloak and he sat down at her side. She wrapped him in tightly with her fur and Edmund did admittedly begin to feel better with the warmth. A quick glance at the Queen revealed her watching Edmund with a look close to hunger on her white face.

"Forward!" she commanded to the dwarf as soon as they were settled. The little man grunted and cracked his whip. At once the reindeer sprang forward, powerful muscles put to work. Edmund felt his stomach drop as they swiftly left the lamp post, and, he thought miserably, his way home.

AN/ Ta-dah! As my new year's resolution I vow to finish this damn story. You, my dear readers, have my permission to badger, attack, mob and flame in the spirit of updating – presuming anyone reads this at all. As a writer stuck on one-shots finishing this is going to be terribly difficult so Make. Me. Do. It!

You might've noticed that some lines of this chapter were taken directly from the book or tweaked a little bit. I do this sometimes so don't be surprised to see a little bit more.

Also, I tend to adopt the author's 'voice' when I begin writing a story. This may or may not fade later on as I take it farther away from the canon. Be prepared for the writing style to change a little bit to accommodate this. After all, I certainly didn't grow up talking like they did in the forties…or around royalty for that matter.

So, I hope you liked the first chapter and I'll hopefully have the second one up by next week. It's already written but I'd like to get the third done (read: started) before I post it.