Chapter 12: A Deal with the Witch
I woke up the next morning and stretched, still exhausted from the day before. "Sophie! You're up!" Lucy said cheerfully.
"Ugh," I groaned, attempting to roll over onto my stomach with little success, as I was in a hammock. "I don't want to get up."
"I'm sure you don't," Susan said, "especially if your limbs are aching as badly as mine."
"They hurt," I mumbled into my pillow.
"Mine do, too," Susan said. "Breakfast will be soon, though. You'd better get up."
Reluctantly, I slowly got out of the hammock, feeling an ache in every bone in my body. I got my lavender dress down from where it hung and changed out of my nightgown into the dress. Then Susan braided my auburn hair into two long braids and pinned them elegantly around my head. She also had some leftover sprigs of white forget-me-nots that she'd woven into Lucy's braids, so she wove them into the crown of braids. "You look lovely," Susan said after she'd finished.
"Thank you," I said. "Now let's go to breakfast; I'm starved."
The three of us came out of our tent into the brilliant sunshine of a warm spring day. "I wonder what's for breakfast," Lucy said as we rounded the corner to the space between our tent and the boys' tent, where breakfast had been set out for us. Peter and Edmund were already there, Peter standing by a tent pole and Edmund sitting down at the table.
"We waited for you to eat," Peter said.
"Why thank you, dear brother of mine," Susan said, sitting down at the table. Lucy sat down by Edmund, and I sat in between the two girls. A dryad brought plates of poached eggs, sausage, and toast to the low table we sat at. Edmund immediately began to eat his fill of light, buttered toast.
"Narnia's not going to run out of toast, Ed," Lucy joked.
Edmund smiled, but did not slow down eating.
"We should take some for the journey back," Peter said.
I whirled around. "Journey?"
"Back?" Susan said, confused.
"Why?" Edmund asked.
"We can't just leave now, Peter," Lucy protested.
"It's too dangerous here," Peter said, coming over to the table and sitting down between Susan and me. "I promised Mum I'd keep you safe."
"That promise just so happens to exclude me, which is why I'm staying," I said stubbornly.
"Why do you have to be so stubborn, Sophie?" Peter groaned. "I think you should come back with us."
"Hang on, I never said I was going to listen to you," Edmund said.
"What do you mean?" Peter asked coldly.
"I mean that we can't just leave now!" Edmund exclaimed.
"And what about Mr. Tumnus?" Lucy asked.
"Lucy, it's too dangerous!" Peter insisted. "You almost drowned, and Edmund was almost killed!"
"Which is why we have to stay," Edmund argued. "I've seen what the Witch can do, Pete. We have to stop her."
There was a heavy silence for a few moments in which no one spoke or uttered a sound. Then Susan stood up. "Well, I guess that's it, then," she said, walking over to where she had hung her bow and quiver of arrows the night before.
"Where are you going?" Peter asked.
"To get in some practice," Susan said, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly in the ghost of a smile.
"I'm coming with you!" Lucy exclaimed, jumping up and almost knocking the table over in her excitement. "I'll practice throwing my dagger!"
We all laughed at Lucy's excitement. "In that case, I'm going to ask Oreius to teach me how to swordfight," Peter said, standing up reluctantly.
"So will I," Edmund said, nodding in agreement. "What about you, Sophie?"
"I've never been good at athletics," I said hesitantly. "I've got my invisibility cloak, but I suppose that's not enough of a weapon."
"No, I don't think it is," Peter said. "Especially since Father Christmas said you shouldn't use it except for in times of great need."
"Then I think I'll go with the girls and learn archery," I said.
So it was that only a few short minutes later I found myself with a bow in hand and a quiver of arrows slung over my back. "Don't worry, Sophie; I haven't really done archery myself, except for a little bit in gym at school," Susan said.
"I've never done it at all," I admitted. "I don't think I'll be very good at it."
"Just try," Susan said encouragingly.
So I did, and I don't think I could have done any worse at it. Even though I was able to string the arrow onto the bow and release it, the arrow went into the ground only a few feet away from me. "I don't think that's right," I said, biting my lip.
"Er - no," Susan said. "Here, watch how I do it."
I watched as Susan placed an arrow to the bowstring, drew back, and released, sending the arrow flying gracefully into the outer ring of the target. She frowned, obviously not happy with the way the arrow flew. "Well, that's better than how I did," I said, trying to be encouraging.
Suddenly a dagger flew through the air and landed straight in the bullseye. We turned to Lucy, who was giggling. "That's not fair," Susan exclaimed.
We stopped practicing for a moment as Peter and Edmund galloped nearby on their horses, swinging their swords at each other. "Keep the blade up, Ed," Peter shouted to Edmund, "just like Oreius told us!"
We stood and watched the boys practice their swordfighting, and I couldn't help but notice how much more Peter looked like a young man than a boy with sword in hand. I kept my eyes on him, admiring the way the sun glinted off his golden hair and - I shook my head. Peter and I were merely friends for now. I would not let myself fall for a boy I'd known less than two weeks.
Fortunately, at that moment Mr. Beaver came scurrying through the grass and up to Edmund's horse, who reared upwards and nearly threw Edmund off. "Woah, boy!" Edmund exclaimed.
"My name is Phillip," the horse grunted.
"Oh!" Edmund said in surprise, obviously not realizing that the horse was a Talking Horse. "Sorry." The rest of us snickered at Edmund's mistake, but our laughter was short-lived.
"The Witch," Mr. Beaver panted. "The Witch is here, at Aslan's camp. She's got a message for him!"
I suddenly felt cold all over, although the day was warm, as I realized it would now only be a matter of time until the battle against the Witch. "I suppose we should go back to camp," I said impassively.
"We'll meet you back there," Peter said somberly, and he and Edmund began to ride back.
The walk back to camp was a silent one. I didn't know what was running through Susan or Lucy's head, but all I could think of was that the Witch would want to take back Edmund and a bloody fight would break out as a result. That family just reunited, I thought. Why? Why must this happen? Why can't they be together and happy without anyone interfering?
We arrived back at camp just in time to see the Witch arrive. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, but her beauty was cold and unsettling. Her tight blonde curls were gathered up on top of her head and stiffened to a point. Her dress was white and also stiff, and she walked in a chilly but regal manner. She glared briefly at Edmund as she passed us, but her attention was focused on Aslan, who stood on the lower part of the hill outside of his tent, just as he had when we met him.
"You have a traitor in your midst, Aslan." Even her voice was ice-cold, and I shivered.
"His offense was not against you," Aslan replied evenly.
"Even so," the Witch continued, "the Law gives me right to the blood of traitors."
"Do not cite the Deep Magic to me, Witch," Aslan said. "I was there when it was written."
"Then you are aware that the boy belongs to me? His blood is my property," the Witch said, almost triumphantly.
"Try and take him then," Peter said, unsheathing his sword and stepping out into the path the Witch stood upon.
"Do you think that mere force will deny me my right, Little King?" she said condescendingly. Peter bit his lip and stepped backwards. Then she turned to the crowd that had gathered behind her. "If I don't have blood, as the Law demands, all of Narnia will be overturned, and perish in fire and water." The crowd gasped as she uttered these words. "That boy," she declared, "will die on the Stone Table."
"Enough, Witch!" Aslan growled. "We shall speak of it alone."
The Witch hesitated, and then followed Aslan into his tent. Lucy began to cry. "What's going to happen to Edmund?" she asked.
"Don't cry, Lucy," Susan said, putting an arm around her sister.
I sat down on the grass, and the other four followed my lead. Nobody felt like talking, but I kept stealing glances around at the Pevenies, and especially towards Aslan's tent. It seemed like hours had gone by before the Witch and Aslan finally came out of the tent. We all stood up, waiting with baited breath of what was to become of Edmund. The Witch walked down the little hill and glanced over at Edmund with a smirk. I felt my heart sink into my stomach, sure that she had won her claim over Edmund.
Then Aslan spoke. "She has renounced her claim on the Son of Adam's blood."
I gasped and looked at Edmund, who looked incredibly relieved beyond words. Then the Witch spoke again, saying, "How do I know your promise will be kept?" Aslan roared loudly and the Witch nearly ran for her life. The crowd began to cheer, and everyone started congratulating Edmund and telling him how glad they were his life was spared. In the midst of all the joy and excitement, however, I caught a glimpse of Aslan, who looked very disconsolate and padded back into his tent. The coldness I felt earlier returned, replacing all my exuberance at Edmund's life being spared. What had Aslan done to protect Edmund?
Review please! ~ The authoress