Chapter 4
Disclaimer I do not own Narnia, Aslan, or anything C.S. Lewis created. I can only add. It's his work and I'll try my best to make it worthy of being a fanfic of the Chronicles of Narnia.
As we walked through the gates of the castle, I stared in disbelief as I had so many times that day. It was completely made of ice! Justin and I looked back to see Mariel and Peter standing on the other side of the frozen lake. Then the doors shut and we could see them no more. We turned around and just about jumped out of our skin! We were facing a giant! Club raised, teeth bared. He was out to kill. But he did not move! Finally, we realized that he was made of stone. I felt Justin shudder beside me. Just before we reached the steps, a huge wolf jumped out and flattened us both with one paw on each of our chests.
"Be still strangers or you'll never move again! who are you?" the wolf asked.
I said my name. "I met the queen in the woods! She told me to come back here! We're Sons of Adam!"
The wolf got off of us then and let us stand up. "My apologies, fortunate favorites of the queen. Or else, not so fortunate. Right this way."
He led us up a long flight of stairs. When we reached the throne room, the wolf left us waiting at the foot of the stairs that led to the queen's throne. "Wait here." he said before stalking away.
Thoughts of Turkish Delight and golden crowns began to flood my head. Suddenly, I found myself moving up the stairs toward the throne. Justin's sharp whisper didn't even stop me.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"Just trying it out!" I answered simply. I didn't really want him along, so I could treat him with as much contempt as I wanted. He was not, after all, about to be made a prince! I settled myself in the furs on the throne, thinking not at all about how comfortable it was but only about that golden crown and the Turkish Delight.
The next think I knew, the silky voice of the queen sounded in my ears.
"Like it?"
I jumped up, scared to death. "Yes… Your Majesty!"
She just glared at me before taking her seat. "I thought you might. Now who is this? Is this your brother?" she pointed to Justin.
I shook my head. "No, Your Majesty, this is my friend, Justin. He specially requested that he come to meet you."
The queen looked a little startled at this but she soon regained her cold stance. "Tell me, are your sisters deaf?"
I was totally confused now. "Um, no."
"And your brother. Is he… unintelligent?"
I smirked. "Well I think so, but mum says…"
"Then how DARE you come with only your friend! I asked so little of you."
I shrank back as she stood to her feet in righteous rage.
"They just don't listen to me!" I protested, trying to sound as pitiful as I looked. I couldn't believe she was doing this! Now I was realllllly scared.
"Couldn't even do that!" she continued.
"I did bring them half way! They're in the little house on the dam with the Beavers!" I finally managed to get out my information that I was sure would win me at least one piece of Turkish Delight. My hopes were unwarranted.
The witch, for that was what I finally realized she really was, took her seat again. "Well… I guess you're not a total loss then." She looked at Justin. "So, Justin, what business do you have at my castle?"
Justin gulped. "I just came to keep him company. It can get pretty dangerous out there." he said.
"You may find that it can be dangerous anywhere, with or without company." The Witch said coldly.
Finally, I got up my courage just enough to ask the one thing I'd been longing to as ever since she took the Turkish Delight away from me. "I was wondering… could I maybe have some more Turkish Delight now?"
The witch's head snapped back in my direction. Finally she looked to the dwarf. "Our guest is hungry. And take the other with you as well; it might do him some good."
Justin groaned. The dwarf stepped forward and drew his knife. "This way… for your num nums!" as he started to march Justin and I off, I heard the witch behind us calling to the wolf.
"Maugrim! You know what to do."
Justin and I watched in horrid fascination as Maugrim let out a howl and the rest of the wolves entered the throne room. To our horror, the wolves took off at a run toward the castle gates. We knew were they were going; to the Beaver's house. Oh how I wished I had never set foot in Narnia!
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I sat alone in the dark dungeon of the witch's castle. Since the castle was made of ice, it was no surprise to me that the dungeon followed suit. I sat huddled in a corner, trying to keep warm, but with little success. Oh why had I come? Why hadn't I listened to the warning in Justin's voice? Was it out of pure spite that I was willing to give up my family and friends... for this? I couldn't even rightly call them my friends. They were strangers who wished to be friends, but I had shoved them aside. No, if I ever got out of this, I would not, COULD not let them down again! Nothing would stop me. But it all looked quite bleak that I would ever get out. Justin was who knows where and I was locked alone in a dungeon. I could only pray that he was alright. I looked to the food for comfort, but when I tasted it, I nearly choked. I reached for the cup, but it was solid ice. I sighed.
"If you're not going to eat that…"
I nearly jumped out of my skin! There was something else down there with me! I looked up and to my surprise, I saw a faun in the next cell. Slowly, I reached over and handed the faun the bread. He tore hungrily at the bread.
"I'd get up, but… my legs."
I looked at him closer. "Mr… Tumnus."
The faun sighed. "What's left of him." But then he stopped and took a closer look at me. "You're Lucy Pevensie's brother."
I nodded and hugged my knees.
Tumnus smiled. "You have the same nose. Is your sister alright? Is she safe?"
Above us, the sound of wolves and gates opening and closing again startled us. I shivered with fear for my little sister. Peter and Susan could take care of themselves, Mariel looked like she could too, but Lucy? I wasn't so sure. "I don't know."
"What about the other two. Justin and Mariel?" Tumnus asked.
"I don't know about Mariel, but Justin is in here somewhere." I shivered again. In here somewhere. Such lonely words. If I ever got out of here… what was I saying? I would never get out!
"What?!" Tumnus nearly freaked out. "He's here? Where?"
"I think the dwarf said something about questioning." I said, very discouraged. From the looks the faun was giving me, I could see that my worst fears were probably way more than justified.
Tumnus groaned. "If he's in questioning, he will probably never make it out alive."
My eyes got big as I stared at the faun. I am ashamed to say that a tear rolled down my cheek as I realized what I had done. I am ashamed because that tear was more for myself and my predicament than any one else's.
Suddenly, my cell door was flung open and the witch herself strode boldly in. The guards were right behind her, dragging Justin. They threw him on the floor next to me.
"We have returned your friend." The witch said coldly. "My Police tore that dam apart. Your little family are nowhere to be found."
"What about the other one, a girl?" Justin asked desperately.
"Her? Your sister, right? Not a sign of her either." Justin sighed with relief. The witch reached for me and lifted me off the floor, chains and all. "Where did they go?"
I Stuttered. "I, I don't know."
The witch dropped me. "Then you are of no further use to me." She said and raised her wand to strike.
I was terrified and burst out, "Wait! The beaver said something about Aslan!"
The witch lowered her wand. "Aslan?... where?
Tumnus attempted to come to my rescue, noble faun that he was. "He's only a stranger here, Your Majesty. He cant be expected to know anything!"
The witch nodded to Ginarrbrick and he knocked Tumnus back with his ax butt. I winced in sympathy.
"I said, where is Aslan?" the witch asked me again. Tumnus and Justin looked imploringly at me, hoping I would not say anything else to give their friends and my family away. Fortunately, I was smart enough to take THAT hint, at least.
"I, I don't know. I left before they said anything… I wanted to see you!" I was glad she could not read my mind then, I was wishing with all my heart that I had never met this hag of a woman. She apparently did not seem impressed with my desire to see her. Ha, desire that had turned to hatred.
"Guard!" the witch called.
"Your Majesty?"
"Release the Faun." The Witch ordered. Tumnus's chains were broken and he was dragged to the witch. "Do you know why you're here, faun?"
"Because I believe in a free Narnia." Tumnus answered.
The witch smiled coldly at him. "You're here, because he turned you in… for sweeties." The witch pointed at me with her wand. The horror of what I had done dawned on me as Tumnus gave me an unbelieving look before the witch continued with her orders. "Take him upstairs… and ready my sleigh. These prisoners miss their families."
Once the witch, guards and Ginarrbrick had left with Tumnus, Justin looked at me.
"You faired worse than I did, and you had nothing happen to you."
I looked at him in amazement. "Are you kidding? Nothing happened? My life was just threatened and I found out that I betrayed my little sister's friend! How could that be nothing??"
"Because you haven't seen what they did to me yet." Justin said and winced from where he was lying on the ice. Only now did I notice that his clothes were soaked in blood and even the ice around him was turning red. Justin's face was twisted in pain and he could barely even move.
"What did they do to you?" I asked, horrified and concerned at the same time.
"You can find out while you help me re-wrap these bandages. Orges aren't really good at that sort of thing. Could you help me sit up and get my shirt off? It's a little difficult." Justin tried to raise his hands to push himself into a sitting position, but failed. He was that weak.
I helped him sit up and take his shirt off. What I saw almost made me faint. Would it please my noble reader to remember that I was only 12 at the time and blood, especially that much blood, and on a friend did not sit very well with me. Blood was coming through the bandage from front and back.
"What did they do to you?" I asked, almost afraid to look as I began to unwrap the bandages.
Justin winced as he tried to form the words through clenched teeth. "They had me spread eagled and whipped face down and face up. I was fortunate I thought of something to say to stop them. One or two more strokes of that whip and I would have been a goner."
I gasped in horror at the deep gory slashes and rents in Justin's back and chest. "How could someone do something like this to a living being?"
"They are evil. Pure evil." Justin said as he tried to finish unwinding the bandage. As I helped him, Justin got to see, not only feel how bad it was.
After rewrapping his back and chest carefully, Justin pulled his shirt back on and started tugging at the bandage on his hand. I noticed his trouble and helped. When I finished unwrapping the arm, I almost had to turn away. Justin's right arm was slit from the knuckles to the elbow and the gore oozed out freely. Once I had regained my stomach, I rewrapped Justin's arm. Just as I finished, Ginarrbrick and some of the guards came down and pushed me and carried Justin up the stairs and out the door to the courtyard.
I stopped when I saw the sleigh. I looked to my left and to my horror, there stood Tumnus, but no longer the living breathing Tumnus. This one was a statue. My blood started to boil with hatred and fear of this witch who had bewitched me so easily. My attention was distracted by the witched from her sleigh.
"When you're ready, sons of Adam."