Hello again! Once again, I claim no ownership to dialogue, characters, settings, or situations, and my disclaimer can be found in chapter one, because it was rather long, wasn't it? I hope you enjoy this next chapter; please drop a line when you've finished!

Chapter Two

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

"Edmund, your majesty," he told her, as the dwarf left off trying to decapitate him. He struggled to his feet, and the Queen looked down at him with a very superior expression.

"And how was it, Edmund, that you came to enter my dominion?"

Yes, it was fine. He was only a visitor, just passing through. He could not have known if he'd broken a law, he was only a traveler. He'd sort things out with this Queen, get Lucy, and they'd never come back to this terrifying Wood.

"I walked through a wardrobe following my sister."

This seemed to greatly interest the Queen. She leaned forward very slightly as if to hear better, and her eyes were sharp and perceptive. "Your sister? How many are you?"

There's Peter, then Susan, then me, then Lucy, Edmund counted, a little shaken. He was in a Wood in a Wardrobe. At least there was something he knew for sure.

"Four."

Something changed in the Queen's eyes, but it flashed away and was replaced by a very benevolent expression. Her smile was frosty, as was her demeanor, but she spread one side of her ermine fur cloak aside and addressed him. "Edmund! You look so cold! Come and sit with me here on my sledge. Come, come on."

Edmund was more than reluctant at first, particularly as Ginarrbrik was still glowering at him, but the promise of warmth was too good to ignore. Besides, he had no idea what this Queen would do to him if he refused.

"Now, would you like something warm to drink?" she asked him, as they settled together into the sleigh and she wrapped her stole around his shoulders. It was surprising how quickly he warmed. It wasn't a complete warmth, as though there was still something cold underneath, but it was good enough, better than shivering to death in the snow.

"Yes!" he said. "Your majesty," he was quick to add.

She smiled the same benign but chill smile at him and took a vial from her cloak. She dribbled just a drop, an emerald sparkling in the freezing sky, to the snow. Instantly, it began to grow and form into a large goblet, steaming and melting the snow around it. She recapped her vial and Ginarrbrik handed up the cup, which the Queen passed to Edmund. He grabbed it and drank greedily, the hot drink warming his cold insides. He couldn't help but notice that it wasn't a penetrating warmth like a hot tea by the fire in Christmastime, but it did its job.

"How did you do that?" he asked her between sips.

"I can make you anything you like," she told him in a promising tone, a leading one.

"Can you make me taller?" Edmund asked cleverly.

She chuckled, a laugh that excluded her eyes.

"I can make anything you'd like to eat."

Edmund thought about that. What did he like best? "Turkish Delight," he challenged.

Once again she poured a drop of her vial into the snow, and where the cup had appeared grew a shining silver box with an almost silver-lace cover. Royal Turkish Delight. Ginarrbrik grudgingly handed it to Edmund.

"I'd love to see your family," the Queen told Edmund as he began eating the Turkish Delight. Her words were temporarily lost on him. These weren't English Turkish Delight. These were bursting with flavor, centers so gummy his mouth made a tackytacky sound with every greedy bite and the powder wafted around, puffing onto his face, but he didn't care.

"They're nothing special," he told her, eating steadily through the sweets.

The Queen looked into his face deeply, though he practically ignored her in favor of the Turkish Delight. "I have no children of my own and you are such a fine young man that I could see, one day, you becoming prince of Narnia. Maybe even King."

That caught Edmund's attention. He looked up sharply with his mouth full of Turkish Delight. "Really?" It was almost disconcerting looking into the Queen's eyes. They were icy and powerful, and looked almost dishonest, though they promised him everything he would ever want. He couldn't help but notice that she appeared to have snowflakes clinging to her eyelashes, as though she wasn't warm enough to melt them, though he could feel the heat radiating from her beside him under the ermine stole. She made a noise of confirmation, carefully dabbing the smudge of powder off his face.

She nodded, more to herself than him. "Of course, you'd have to bring your family."

There was the catch. Edmund returned his attention to his Turkish Delight. There was no way he'd be a King of Narnia if Peter was around. Brilliant Peter, always so special, always so perfect.

"Oh, Peter will be King, too?"

"No! Oh no," the Queen laughed to him, so that he was immediately reassured. "But a King needs servants."

"I-I guess I could bring 'em," Edmund said noncommittally, his mind still enraptured by the Turkish Delight, because he'd never tasted anything so good. He was afraid they'd run out, and he'd be left without forever. What a sad existence that would be!

Did you enjoy it? Did you stop reading? Please leave a review and let me know. If you have any advice on how I could make it better, I'd so greatly appreciate your comments! Many thanks for reading. For Narnia, and for Aslan!