Master of Puppets

by Three-Eyed Squirrels

SC. When Sarasael Inari comes to Narnia, the only thing she wants is to find her way home. When she learns that it is no longer an option, she does all she can to reshape the world the way she wants, and the world remembers the Lady of the Green Kirtle.

14. Chapter 14

((If memory serves, this was the first chapter I wrote after graduating high school. Woot))

Sarasael woke up really early in the morning on that third day. Nirisath was still sleeping, which gave Sarasael plenty of time to prepare. She was getting engaged today!

She was incredibly excited for this. She chose exactly the right dress, a pretty red one with silver trim. It was the most expensive thing she owned and she figured it would be right for this occasion. She spent the entire morning attempting to untangle her curly hair, and when she got most of it lying flat, tied it back with a silver ribbon to match the dress. Nirisath was still sleeping by the time she was done. She grinned and twirled around in the mirror, feeling at the same time six years old and far older than seventeen.

Today, like they had planned. Today she was going to be engaged to the person she loved more than anything else in this world, and then everything would work out fine. Then the people would stop calling her a murderer and a witch, and…and she'd have a home. A real home, because anywhere that Rilian was felt like home. She'd be spending the rest of her life with him and it would be marvelous, more than she could have ever asked.

Nirisath woke up just as Sarasael was preparing to leave. "Don't you look nice today," Nirisath said, raising an eyebrow. "Whatever the occasion?"

"Nothing much," Sarasael replied, reaching up to pull on a curl but finding them all tied back. "Just, you know, it's a good day." A brilliant and wonderful day that would be greater than all the other days here.

"And what might…" but before Nirisath could finish there was a frantic tapping on the window. Nirisath opened it and a Kestrel fluttered in, chattering frantically to her. His mother had gotten into a nasty fight with a wild golden eagle, and she was all cut up and her wing was broken. The poor Kestrel was so frantic that Nirisath nodded and told him to wait outside.

"You'll just have to tell me later." Nirisath said breathlessly as she gathered her things together and threw them into a bag. "I've got this urgent call now, poor thing. Be back as soon as possible, don't get into any trouble now." Nirisath left quickly and Sarasael could hear her talking to the Kestrel outside.

See, already things were going well. Now she wouldn't have to explain this whole thing to Nirisath until after it happened. No questions asked, this was working out well. She put the finishing touches on her hair and clasped a sparkly ruby necklace around her neck, one that Rilian had gotten her for her birthday. She took a rare moment to admire herself in a mirror…for once, she actually looked vaguely like a queen, instead of an exhausted healer's apprentice with dirt all over her hands from gathering herbs and hair all messed up from grabbing an hour of sleep on the couch while trying to take care of everyone.

When all that was done, she set out to the castle. A few people called rude things after her along the way, but she completely ignored them. It didn't matter…this would only last a little while longer, and soon they'd be able to fight anything that stood in their way.

She reached the castle and bowed…no, curtsied, because that's what queens did, they curtsied (at least she thought they did) at the two Jaguars guarding the entrance.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully. "I'm expected at the castle."

"Do you have an appointment?" asked one of them coolly.

"Yes, I do."

"With?"

"The prince. He wishes to see me today."

"Ought we to verify that?" whispered the other.

"We should,"

The first turned around and trotted down the path to the castle and then inside. He came out a minute later, and nodded at Sarasael.

"You actually are on the list," the Jaguar said. "So go ahead and go in."

"Thank you." She curtsied again, more gracefully this time. This curtsying thing was kind of awkward and they never did it at home, but this wasn't home. One would have to get used to life like this, if she was going to be queen and everything.

Though secretly, the idea terrified her. She didn't know the first thing about being queen except that usually royalty did it. She'd have all these people looking up to her and expecting her to make good decisions, and she'd have to…well, whatever else queens did. But there was time for that, right? She'd have Rilian and it would always be better when he was there with her. He'd know what to do and would show her. He'd be patient and supportive and she knew she could somehow learn to do this queen thing if she had him by her side. She felt she'd be able to do just about anything if he was there with her.

She walked through the hallways. They were just starting to be familiar to her and she'd have to get used to them now. Would she be living here now, or still staying with Nirisath? Maybe there was one of those things like at home where two people weren't allowed to live together until they were married. Or maybe they did it a different way here? Well, either way it would be fine. It really didn't matter to her because they'd be together in the end.

She stood in front of Rilian's door, both nervous and excited at the same time. She wasn't at all prepared for this, not without telling her mother and her friends…but this was her life now. She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. Why was she so nervous? This was preposterous. She raised her chin and stood straight and tall, like queens were supposed to be. She ran a hand over her hair and smoothed her dress down, not realizing in the back of her mind that she was stalling. Well, there was no turning back now. She'd have to go through with this.

She reached up and knocked several times on the door. Then she waited. The door didn't open immediately…in fact, it didn't open for several moments and she was starting to feel slightly worried and kind of awkward, standing in the middle of the hallway dressed all fancy like. She waited still, shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably. Maybe he was late? Maybe he was still getting ready. After all, engagement was a big deal and he was probably just as nervous as she was. Especially being the prince and all, and the fact that he had to do this in front of his parents, the great king and queen of this world. Surely it wasn't the sort of thing one jumped to immediately, regardless of plans.

Yes, that's why he was taking his time. Just getting ready, that's all. It wouldn't be a problem.

But still nothing. Puzzled, she knocked again. Surely he couldn't have forgotten? Maybe he was in a meeting?

The door finally opened, and she exhaled in relief to see Rilian there. Except he wasn't dressed up at all, and…wasn't even looking at her. He was looking off slightly past her, then down at the floor, then he said,

"Um. I think you should come inside."

She came in and closed the door, and before she could say anything more, Rilian pulled her towards him and kissed her passionately. She threw her arms around him, having missed him these past few days, and was so excited and nervous this day. She returned his kiss, twining her fingers into his long hair that she liked so much, it was so royal, they always had the hair like this.

But as quickly as he started, he pulled away, holding her out at arm's length. She blinked and opened her mouth to say something, but he put a finger on her lips.

"Sara, before I say anything I want to say that I love you, and I always will, and I think you're the most beautiful person in the world and someday you're going to be a great healer. I also wish there was something I could do about your world, if it was up to me I'd find you a way home right now. And it's not my fault, what I'm about to say."

She didn't say anything, only looked questioningly at him.

"Sara…I…" he sighed and looked away for a moment. He wanted to say, to the dark underworld with whatever my parents say, you're staying with me here forever. He wanted to say, I love you more than anyone else I've known in the entire world, and I don't care if they think you'd be a poor queen, you'll be fine with me. I'll show you everything you need to know, and I know you may be terrified, but with me you'll be able to do it. You'll be able to do anything, we both can, together.

He wanted to promise her the world and throw aside the cares and responsibilities of a prince and take her into his arms and say everything he wanted to, ignoring what his parents wanted or what Narnia wanted. And he wanted to apologize for even considering what they said, and for telling them what the two of them had planned together. But all he said was, "Sara, we can't be together anymore."

What?

"What? That's…I could have sworn that you just said…"

"I did say it. And we can't. I'm so sorry, I never wanted that, it's just that I…my father found out and he forbids it. He said we can't ever see each other again, and I tried to talk to him, I really did, but you know he never listens. But he said we can't. I don't know. He probably wants me to marry a queen or something,"

Sarasael stopped, her eyebrows coming together. "Wait, but I thought you said…"

"I know what I said! And if I had my way, you know, we'd be together forever, but…"

"You said this was going to be a rebellion type thing," she said quickly. "I mean, this is what you told me. After all this, you know, that you weren't going to…tell you…tell them that we were going to do this anyway." She giggled and then bit her lip hard to stop. This wasn't going the way it was supposed to.

"I know, and you have to listen…" he took her hands, and logic told her to pull away but she couldn't. "They're my parents, and when they say something I have to listen to them, even though I may not want to."

"But you're the prince! They have to give you what you want and let you make your own decisions! Please don't tell me you're serious. Tell me you're just, what, doing one of those things where you'll laugh at me and say to forget it, it was a stupid joke or something."

He couldn't mean it. The idea was too ridiculous. He loved her and told her that all the time, he promised they'd be married, regardless of what anyone said. They were going to face the world, the entire city that was against her, and prove to them how stupid they were. She'd be with him and have a home at last. He promised and she believed him, he always kept his promises…

"This is what my parents said and I have to listen to them. I know we were going to do this whole rebellion thing, but my father is king so you know, if he doesn't have authority who does? Please, you have to believe me, this wasn't my idea at all. If I had my way…"

"No, no, I'm just not hearing this," she stammered, shaking her head. "It's just not possible. Rilian, you have to tell me it's a joke." She said desperately, her mind racing in panic.

"I'm sorry. I'm not." He turned away from her, looking at the floor.

"Well, then…what do you want me to do?" her voice rose in pitch. "I mean, I can't just go home and stay home and lock myself up with Nirisath forever. Rilian, you promised me this. I don't know what I'd do without you. I don't know Narnia that well."

"And…I know you don't, I'm trying to say, it's just my parents. They told me this, I can't disobey them! The last time I tried, they didn't talk to me for a few days and it was driving me absolutely crazy. I still need them and they're smart and they probably know or something like that, and Sara, you have no idea how sorry I am, and I love you so much and don't want to do this at all."

"So what? What do you want? Should I just, just, go home or something?" she stammered.

"I think so." He still wasn't looking at her. He just sat down on his chair, staring at the floor. "I think that'd be best."

"I can't just leave," she whispered, her voice breaking.

"But I think you have to. I'm sorry." Now he was looking the other way, staring intently at his dresser. "I'll…you'll be fine with Nirisath, I know you'll make a good healer and she's smart and can teach you. I really wish we could stay together, but, we just can't. I'm sorry. I love you, Sara, just don't forget that."

"So I should go?"

"Yeah. Yeah, just, yeah." He didn't know what to say either.

"Oh. Well. Okay. I'll just, you know, go through the front again and…stuff."

"Yeah."

She still stood there, not wanting to move at all. Any second now, he was going to turn around and say something else. He'd tell her to stay and do something funny and sweet and just act the same way he always did. Any second now.

But she stood there for a full minute and he didn't move at all. No, this just wasn't happening. They were going to be engaged today.

"Please, just go,"

He said please.

"Yeah. Okay, I'll, do that." She felt dizzy and numb and confused.

He said please, and so she somehow found her way out of the castle, ignoring anyone who was there, ignoring the Jaguars out front, ignoring everyone who tried to stop her or talk to her. She just had to get to Nirisath's first, and once she did that, she'd…

A large column of smoke erupted into the sky. There were shouts all around her and she was jarred as people called out in alarm or ran towards it. Some house had caught fire, which Sarasael thought was kind of odd being that everyone lived so close to a river. Nevertheless, she ran towards Nirisath's as fast as she could, and as she turned the corner, realized with sudden terror that it was Nirisath's house that was on fire.

The heat struck her in the face and she gasped and nearly passed out as it seared her lungs and made her double over. The entire house was aflame, crackling and roaring as the flames reached into the back of the house. For a second, Sarasael didn't even move...she could only stand at the gates, trying to catch her breath, and stare in mute horror as the fire consumed the only other place she had ever dared to call home.

But…oh, gods, what if Nirisath was still in there?

"Nirisath!" Sarasael cried, and not even thinking she picked up her skirts and ran towards the burning house. No…no, wait, she couldn't just run into a burning house, that was stupid. But she was an enchantress and could give herself at least momentary immunity to fire. She reached frantically for her powders and found the one she was looking for, throwing it over herself and gasping out the proper words. There was a brief flash of even more intense heat as the spell took affect, and then she found she could see clearer and breathe, and the flames were only pleasantly warm.

She staggered inside, looking around frantically. The flames had consumed nearly everything…the couch was nothing but ash, all the other chairs were gone, and smoke filled the room so she couldn't see. "Nirisath!" she shouted again, but there was no response. Wincing, she pulled out a knife from her belt, just a small one used for chopping thick flower stems, and used it to cut off a piece of her dress. She pulled it over her mouth as an attempt to protect from the smoke. The spell only kept the heat and flames off her but did nothing for the rest. And so many things were smoking; the whole room filled with haze. It was unreal.

There was no sign of Nirisath in this room. She ran through the now empty doorways into the workshop where everything was destroyed, all Nirisath's stores were gone. Sarasael ran into her room and it was the same there. No sign of Nirisath anywhere…gods, she couldn't be dead. Naiads didn't just die, they were magical creatures born of the water. A little bit of fire surely couldn't just make them…vanish.

She heard shouting from outside, so she found her way back outside, where she collapsed onto the floor, coughing so hard her whole body shook.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. "You have to get out of here, child!" she heard Nirisath whisper urgently. Sarasael blinked the smoke out of her eyes and peered up at the naiad's face Nirisath was looking oddly concerned and intense, an expression she wasn't used to seeing.

"You're alive," Sarasael said. "I thought you were burned, if that could happen, if…"

"Stop talking!" Nirisath ordered, helping Sarasael to her feet. "I don't know where you were or what's going on, I thought you were the one who had died." The angry shouting increased. "You have to get out of here now. They thought you were here."

"Who?" Sarasael brushed the sooty hair out of her face.

"Those idiots…I'm going to truss up every last one of them and leave them for the northern ghouls if it's the last thing I do," Nirisath growled, and it was the first time Sarasael ever heard her so angry. Nirisath was always annoyed, but hardly ever genuinely furious. "Those idiots who…oh, Aslan, just get out of here! They're looking for you, girl, don't you understand?"

Sarasael felt a wash of fear over her. Those people. Those people who had always glared at her in the street, that Otter who was spreading lies over the entire city about her…the ones Nirisath had cautioned her about. She'd seen them and they'd spoken to her before angrily. But she never thought they would do something like this. Nirisath was innocent. It wasn't Nirisath's fault that everyone thought Sarasael was a witch.

"That's not fair!" Sarasael cried, knowing how childish she sounded. "I didn't do anything! Neither did you!"

"I know, but now isn't the time to debate these things! I'll take care of it, you have to get out of here now before they hurt you."

"Helping your apprentice, healer?" a taunting voice called. Sarasael looked and saw Millie standing there with several of her people around her, looking oddly intimidating despite the fact that she was only around three feet tall. "Unless you're in on it too? We've had evil naiads in the past."

Nirisath straightened and placed a hand on Sarasael's shoulder, moving her slightly behind her. "Speak of me what you want," she said coldly. "It only shows your ignorance and stupidity. And naturally I help my apprentices, as they are my future and will succeed me when I am too old to heal any of you." She gave Sarasael a push, but Sarasael was rooted to the ground in fear and couldn't think. "I'm sure you're ever so wise in doing this, at least you think," Nirisath continued. "Burning down the houses of innocents is only the first step. What's next? Shall you form your own secret police and come for us in the night?"

"How dare you compare us to that!" Millie snapped, equally angry. "We're protecting Narnia! This is for everyone's good, so we can save the world from the tyranny we had years ago!"

"So instead you bring the tyranny here yourself. I'm ashamed, Millie, that you would even think of this." This time, Nirisath gave Sarasael an even more forceful push. "You have to get out of here now, child, or that will be the end of you. I'll hold them off, they won't hurt me. Go! Now!"

The push imbalanced her and she staggered off, nearly falling down to the floor again. The urgency in Nirisath's voice was evident and managed to reach Sarasael's foggy, confused brain, and she ran as fast as she could behind the house where the horses were. Sarasael didn't know how to ride a horse, and the one still left was tied tight to the post, its eyes rolling madly with terror from the fire. She couldn't ride a regular horse, let alone one this terrified that was going to crush her at any second. Yarrin, what am I to do, I can't do this, she thought almost hysterically. The ropes were hard and coarse and tied so tightly that she couldn't get a hold of it properly. Finally she took out her knife and began frantically sawing through them until they came free. The horse bucked and reared and she screamed as the hooves almost came down on her head.

What could she possibly do? She can't ride something like this!

A vague and slightly preposterous idea came to her head. She could enchant this horse. She never made a habit of enchanting things…she only used it for healing, not for other purposes. It came too close to the black area of enchantresses...

But it was the only option here, or she'd die for sure. She blew the powder in the horse's face and said the words. "Calm down," she ordered, her voice raspy and quavering. The horse, enchanted to obey her will, calmed down immediately, though its natural instincts were telling it to do otherwise. Now what the hell was she supposed to do? You had to climb on to it, you had to put a saddle on, and the angry voices were louder and a piercing scream cut through the air. Was that Nirisath? Yarrin, please don't let anything hurt Nirisath…

"Get down!" she said to the horse, who obeyed. She climbed awkwardly onto it, wrapping her arms around its neck and digging her fingers into the mane that hung down. She tightened her legs on the horse's body, knowing she was going to fall off, but the sheer fear and adrenaline that coursed through her body would be enough to keep her on now.

"Now go! Run!"

The horse broke into a gallop, skirting the fire and running into the courtyard. One of the Beasts had fallen, and someone else was standing there with a sword drawn. They were all surrounding Nirisath. She managed to meet the naiad's eyes for one brief second, and Nirisath nodded, her face hard and furious as she tried to defend her attackers. Go, she seemed to say. Let no innocent lives end tonight. The fire was still roaring, and Sarasael wanted to run back with this bloody horse and do anything she could to save Nirisath, but the horse was running too fast down the road, hooves clattering on the cobblestone streets, and no one could stop this horse now, not even Sarasael. It was all she could do to just stay on. The gates were open and the horse ran through the gates without stopping and continued down the river, soon leaving the great city and castle of Cair Paravel far behind.

The horse ran like this for a good hour before it slowed to a trot and finally walked, tossing its head and bucking a few times, trying to throw her off as the enchantment began to fade. Now it was exhausted and afraid and bewildered, having no memory of how it got from its stable behind Nirisath's house to here, riding down the shore of the Great River. And Sarasael didn't know what to do…she didn't know how to ride a horse herself. They had horses in Tahalset but no one actually rode them except as a hobby. They had motorcars, and she could drive one, but driving motorcars weren't horses. Motorcars didn't try to throw you off.

Finally the horse slowed to a walk and then stopped altogether, bending over to drink some water out of the mouth of the river. The horse, no doubt terrified from Millie and her company being all threatening, ran…Sarasael, having closed her eyes somewhere along the ride without realizing it, opened them to see that it ran all the way down the Great River. They were close to Beruna right now.

There was a town. Sarasael didn't feel like going to a town. Instead she waited for the horse to finish drinking and then walked him over to the wood, unhooked the reins, and used it to tie him to a tree.

Then she sat down next to the tree and leaned back against it, feeling the rough bark against her exposed neck, and the realization of the day's events hit her.

This morning, she was going to be engaged. Rilian had promised her that everything would be fine, and he'd take care of it all, and most especially, she'd have a home with him. He promised he would take care of her and find a way for her to be just as at home in Narnia as she was in Tahalset. He swore that he'd give her a home, since she had lost her own maybe forever. And gods, she had believed him. Why not? She loved him so much, she loved everything about him, from the way he grinned at her to that noble way of apologizing for everything, even though that was kind of annoying. That didn't matter, she'd get used to the annoying things just as much as anything else. That's what people did with those that they loved, they'd accept their faults. It was those faults that made her love him even more, especially the fact that he was prince of a whole country yet seemed more naïve than most of the boys from Mayharran Boys' School.

There was no way it could be over, just like that. There was no way he could just look at her and say, that's it, Sara, we can't see each other anymore.

Or ever again.

Then the brilliant and terrifying image of Nirisath's house, engulfed in flames, smoke clouding her vision as she desperately prayed that her teacher wasn't dead. Oh, Nirisath, I never meant to bring you any harm!

Nirisath's house, destroyed. The house that her mentor lived in for gods only knew how many years, the place that Sarasael had come very close to calling home. That was her fault, wasn't it? She was so foolish as to ignore Nirisath's warnings and march out there, tossing her head stupidly and defiantly and thinking she could change the whole world just because she wanted to. Now that brought the destruction of the house…and gods, if Nirisath was dead, then that was also her fault…she should have listened.

It just wasn't possible. None of this.

Rilian was serious. She knew by now the way he acted, the way he looked when he was lying, and he definitely wasn't lying here. She also knew how he acted when he didn't want to do something but had to anyway, and meant it…which he was, today. He hated it but meant it, because Rilian meant everything he said. He never…he never lied about anything to her. He really never wanted to see her again.

The king and queen had decreed it. She was only trying to get by in this strange world, and now they threw her out.

She didn't have a home now, not Tahalset, not Cair Paravel, nothing. Just this tree and this horse and a torn dress.

She could go to Beruna, but they'd probably heard the news already. They wouldn't want a witch to stay in their city.

Sarasael had no idea where to go now. The only place that came to mind was the place where she had started out. Maybe…maybe if she went back there, she could figure out how she got here. Then she could get home. She wanted to be at home so much it made her chest hurt. No matter that many years had already passed since she was last there, and Hylaea was probably done with university by now. But it was home, and she wanted to go back and see her mother and friends again, no matter how much they aged. She wanted her mother and father and even Mordian, though often he drove her crazy. She missed him and all of them horribly.

The Witch's castle…or ruins, as the case may be. In Tahalset the most important information was found in ruins.

Sarasael stood up and untied the reins. She mounted the horse slightly easier this time, though she still felt awkward. She still didn't know how to ride a horse, but remembered vaguely what Rilian showed her awhile ago when she'd ridden with him.

She kicked the sides of the horse and this time it obeyed, going into a trot. Was this how one rode a horse? It seemed to be working. She tugged with her right hand on the rein, and the horse went right. Oh, that's how it worked! It was kind of like a motorcar only more disagreeable.

Now where was the ruins of the White Witch's castle? It was north somewhere. She'd just head north and eventually she should find it. If not, maybe she could keep heading north until she reached the end of the world…there was an end to the east, the utter east, then wouldn't there be an absolute north as well?

She took the time to look at it closely. She was near Beruna right now. She just had to go north somehow.

She didn't remember much about the next few days. She just traveled, stopping when the horse needed it. She ate little, only what she found along the way, and changed dresses when this one was too dirty to use anymore. The only rest she got was when the horse was tired.

She reached the ruins of the Witch's castle days later. She dismounted and took her bag with her and left the horse to himself. It wandered around the castle, putting its head down to eat some much needed grass.

Sarasael picked her way among the rubbish and into the castle itself. The wind blew colder here than in Cair, and Sarasael shivered. She'd forgotten how much she hated the cold and also how cold it was here. That mantle she'd stolen from the dead Witch had been burned by Twitternut when she went to the Shuddering Wood. Well, maybe she'd steal another one. There were plenty of things left in the Witch's room, and Sarasael didn't care if she stole them. Not like it mattered, even though she wasn't anything like that evil Witch, everyone seemed to think she was. So wearing the dead Witch's things wouldn't matter in the least, especially if she found a way home.

Now she had to find her way back to that place where the door was. That was the first room she'd been in, maybe that would hold some sort of clue. It took her a good half hour to find it, because this castle was huge and it was easy to get lost. Most of the corridors were also filled with rubbish, ceilings that had fallen in and walls that looked like they were smashed by something huge. Finally she found the room, and it was exactly how she remembered it. It was still in ruins and the vaulted ceiling opened up in some parts into the cold gray sky.

The strange obsidian doorway stood in the same place and still went nowhere. The obsidian was nice though, and there were several crystals embedded at equally spaced intervals all through it. That she hadn't noticed. She touched each one of the crystals…they weren't any sort of gem she'd seen in Narnia or Tahalset. She rested a finger on one of the crystals and then jerked her hand away sharply. It was ice cold to the touch…but not the normal sort of cold one feels during the winter. It was a different cold, and when she touched it she felt like her hand would never be warm again. She shook her hand vigorously to get rid of the strange sensation.

But there were still no other clues, just the stones she hadn't noticed before. Maybe that cold was some sort of clue, but she couldn't think of what it meant. They were properly aligned…

That was something! It had to be. Perhaps…perhaps if she could properly align…but they were already aligned. Maybe it took a certain kind of magic to ignite the power in those cold stones, and that would make the doorway do something. After all, people didn't simply build doorways out of obsidian that didn't do anything.

She dug through the rubble and went through the whole room vigorously and found nothing, just more broken stones and dust. There had to be a way. She had to find something.

There was still the rest of the castle. Maybe if she looked there.

Most of the rooms were destroyed and anything that might have been in there once was no more. Soon she found her way back in what she figured was the Witch's old room. There was the boudoir she'd stolen the mantle from. She opened it again and found another fur mantle, all white. Sarasael found it kind of odd to limit oneself to only one color, but to each her own. She threw the mantle around her shoulders in order to warm up and went back to searching the room. Most of the things in here had been destroyed, but not by physical force. At each place where something might have been, there was a large, sharp scorch mark. She ran her fingers through the scorch…it didn't wipe off. Death spells, thought Sarasael absently. A lot of magic users did that…they'd weave spells around something so that if they die, the things would be destroyed. It helped keep their things private and out of the wrong hands. That's what this Witch must have done. It made sense. It also meant that there'd be nothing here.

She opened a drawer and found again nothing but scorch marks. But…no, wait, this was something. There was an ornate symbol carved into the wood on the bottom of the drawer. It was a strange symbol and looked like a sun, its rays lancing out to touch the four corners of the drawer.

She touched it with one finger, and for a second felt nothing. Then a cold breeze blew in through the window…it was bitterly cold and for the briefest instant smelled stale and ancient. It reminded her, for some reason, of the stones in the doorway.

Then another drawer opened. It was a smaller one further up and gave the impression of utmost secrecy. Sarasael had found something.

For a second, the excitement of finding anything in this dead castle actually made her smile. Then she remembered what she was doing here and the smile faded. It was her last chance to get home, and if this didn't help, she didn't know what she'd do.

She reached into the drawer and pulled out a small journal. It was bound in leather and tied in gold thread.

She opened the book, and saw a diagram of the door, with all the stones highlighted. There was writing all around the door and arrows pointing towards the different stones. Sarasael couldn't read the words…they were in some sort of strange language and lettering. She looked at the hard, angular script closer to see if she could make sense of them, but no…7

But as she looked, the letters seemed to rearrange themselves from the strange script into…into her own native Tahalset, with all the letters written perfectly. Sarasael knew an enchantment when she saw it, and this was one of the most powerful ones she'd sensed. It held long after the witch's death.

She closed the book and held it to her chest, keeping it there with just the knowledge that it wasn't going to vanish. Then she closed the drawer and went back into the room with the door.

She sat down and crossed her legs in front of it and opened the book in her lap, taking the moment to thank Yarrin for giving this evil witch at least the forethought to put an enchantment on the book, and even for keeping this book in the first place. Sarasael didn't like this witch but if her old writings could help Sarasael in any way, she supposed that the witch couldn't be all that bad.

She opened the book and looked down on the first page with the diagram. Each of the stones had writing next to it, but Sarasael couldn't make much sense of the writing. It was all fancy scientific terms of some sort, things about the alignment and magic that Sarasael knew nothing about. The witch's magic was different than Sarasael's, and she didn't understand how it worked. Then on the bottom it was written, in the same slanted and careful handwriting as the rest of the book,

37.921.4. Last stone aligned to the seventh Narnian star, didn't work until thirty-sixth day, then success. All stones aligned and today the thirty-seventh of the nine-hundred and twenty-first year. The project is a success. Still specifics to work out, as of now the gate only goes to a world of little importance, but this first world shows that my work has not come out as a failure. With more work, I will be able to access other worlds. Tomorrow begins further research on how to attune the gate to the world of my choosing, as First World is only high mountains and seemingly no inhabitation as far as I can tell.

Sarasael froze.

This was a gate into other worlds.

If this Witch had done it, there was no reason she couldn't, and no reason the people in her world couldn't, either. She rose and pressed a hand to the cold obsidian, trying not to get her hopes up. But this was here. And if she could figure out how to use the door…

Sarasael took several deep breaths to calm her building excitement. She'd have to read more of this journal first. But there was potential, and that very thought, that potential made the breath catch in her throat.

She spent the next hour reading it. The Witch had calibrated each of the stones to different stars in Narnia, using both her own magic and the power of the stars to make the gate work. The stones itself were magic and tied to a place beyond Narnia. The Witch made several oblique references to a place called Charn, and Sarasael guessed that that was the world that the Witch had come from. The stones were from that world and carried some of its magic. Most of the magic the Witch used she had learned there, along with what she had learned on her own here in Narnia. There wasn't much about that in there…this was more a log of all her experiments with this door, and really didn't say much else. There weren't any explanations of things as Sarasael would have wished…she didn't know a thing about the Witch's magic or about the magic from her world, but the Witch wasn't writing this as a reference for strange enchantresses from the future.

The Witch used her magic in some way that Sarasael didn't understand to make the gate work. It took her a few years to figure out how to get all the worlds to change…most of her early entries were about First World and how she managed both to look around in that world, and eventually, managed to make the gateway do more than view the world…a very triumphant sounding entry was when the Witch did something and was able to reach her arm through the doorway and into the world, and took a stone from there and pulled it into Narnia. So obviously the gate worked…the Witch mentioned that with more power, she would be able to get through the gate entirely herself and into these other worlds. It was part of a "larger plan" that she mentioned often, one that would lead to what she referred to as her "great empire". The Witch talked about that a lot, the fact that she was going to eventually conquer all the worlds and bring them under her dominion, and be queen not only of Narnia but of all the worlds in existence. She mentioned, only once, that she would be uniting the worlds under the crown of Charn and do greater than any of her ancestors had. Right now she was just observing each of the worlds and testing them and seeing which ones would be a good addition to the empire.

Some worlds wouldn't. An entry dated 9.942.26 spoke with annoyance about a world composed "primarily of chlorine and nitrogen, making it unbreathable for myself and for the others that would exist in the empire. World Forty Nine is a failure and of no further use for the potential of the empire, and therefore must be disregarded from now on." A few others were labeled as a high success, some easier to conquer than others. Either way, this part wasn't helping Sarasael all that much. She wanted to know how to make the gate work, not how to take over worlds. She didn't care about making an empire or anything.

She reached the end of the journal. The last page was short, and said only,

17.999.57. Complications. Nine hundred and ninety-ninth year nearly over. Son of Adam resides in my throne room, guarded by Maugrim. Gate opened to World Fifteen, the first world I have decided to conquer after Narnia is completed. Narnia complications arising, therefore the project must be suspended for the moment. Maugrim brings news, gate will be sealed until further notice. Project should be completed and gate stabilized after this task is finished.

That was all it said.

Sarasael flipped that page several more times, like she was expecting more to appear. That was all. She vaguely knew what happened after that…Rilian mentioned it once. Soon after that there was some sort of huge battle and the Witch died, and therefore her project was never completed. The gate still stood, and since the Witch didn't finish it, it should mean that Sarasael should be able to. She could try and work it herself. It probably wasn't fully calibrated to the Witch's magic or something.

Well, how did it work? Frantically, she went back over the book, searching for at least some sort of clue.

1.970.23. Difficult to hold on to each world longer than an hour. Gate acting sporadic of late, answer is clearly to a miscalculation I made on 29.968.322. Unless I finish the second terminal before lining up the first and the fourth, the gate won't be able to hold on to one world for a lengthy amount of time. Near afternoon, due to this mistake, it jumped from World Nine to worlds Fifteen, Eighty-Three, and Twenty all in quick succession. Taking steps to fix this problem, will use Perenn's law to align seventh at sundown.

Half the things the Witch said, Sarasael didn't understand. It was all some sort of strange scientific other world magic, nothing like that they used in Tahalset. But there had to be something there.

45.975.3. Only way to stabilize the gates was to tie it to my own Power. An idea I am not too fond of, as it could cause complications should anything happen to me before this project is completed. But Perenn's law holds, and as long as I live, the gate works as I will it. World Fifty-Seven shows promise, and tomorrow will send through the Chipmunk I captured in order to test the atmosphere and terrain.

There was a sudden noise in front of Sarasael. She looked up and closed the book with a jolt, nearly falling backwards in shock. The gate in front of her shimmered, and then she had the clear view of a world where two figures were sitting together in a swamp, talking in low voices about something. The first showed a wand to the second, who glanced nervously around the swamp for a moment before looking at the wand. Sarasael stood up and cautiously reached out, touching the face of the image. The two figures looked up at her for a brief second before the image vanished.

Sarasael clutched the book to her in shock. For a moment, she had seen into another world entirely. And two people in that world had seen her, too. Oh, if only she could figure out how the gate worked!

Then she looked back at the page in the book she had marked and read it over again. Then again, then three more times.

The gate was calibrated to the Witch's magic.

No. She could use it, too. She was a great…or at least on her way to being a great Tahalset enchantress. And she wasn't too shabby a healer either. She could make it work.

So she went back into the book, reading it over several more times, and each time realized more and more of how little this would actually work. From what the Witch said, the gate had difficulty holding on to a world for a long time at first. Then sometimes it would stop at one world and take something from it and bring it here before shooting off to another. It took great effort on the Witch's part for the gate to actually obey her, and only after she tied it to her magic was she able to control the gate. Gates, the Witch had written, did not like to open into other worlds. There was something that did…the Witch wrote about a place she might have been but can't quite remember, a terrible place that liked to lead to other worlds. But the gate was having trouble.

The day ended when Sarasael closed the book fully, lowering it slowly into her lap and realizing what must have happened. Once the Witch had died, the gate had fluctuated, not breaking but not being here nor there. It would open to any place in any world, even for an instant (the Witch had trouble with this at first), and sometimes it would take something and sometimes not.

That, Sarasael realized with a shudder, was what must have happened to her. The gate had rested for a moment on her unfortunate location in Tahalset and in a desperate attempt to obey its long dead master, had brought her into Narnia.

It obeyed the Witch, it listened to the Witch's magic and commands. Nothing, short of bringing the Witch back from the dead, could make this gate obey her and be able to send her back to her world.

This last attempt was hopeless. She wasn't going home. And she couldn't bring the Witch back from the dead…she didn't know how (that was left to the necromancers), and even if she did, what good would that do her if there was an evil revenant witch coming back to take over the world or something. Plus, the Witch probably wouldn't help her anyway.

Sarasael stood up and threw the Witch's book hard across the room, watching with some strange satisfaction as it struck a ruined wall and a few of the pages fell out. She'd come all this way in hopes of finding something…and she got her answer. She found out how she got here and yet again, how she was still never going back.

She sat back down on the dirty ground, ignoring the pointy rock that dug into her thigh. It was still hopeless, even worse than before. Now she had no home and no one to speak of, only a hostile world and no way of getting back.

She shivered and pulled the fur tighter around her. It was so cold here, so lonely. Maybe she should stay here. There wasn't any food or water, just ruins, but it was somewhere. Not a home, but a place to stay. No one was going to chase her out. She rested her head on another stone and felt the soft fur against her cheek. It wasn't like she had anywhere else to go. She decided to just stay here, stay here until maybe she felt hungry enough to eat something or drink something, and then just…just get by, until maybe eventually the gate would work again. At least then she would have a faint chance at finding her way home. Shivering and alone, she closed her eyes and fell into a strange and fitful sleep.

---

The plan lasted a good week. She lived half in a dream, not thinking about anything except a distant life in this old ruined castle. She let the horse go, figuring she wouldn't need it anymore. It seemed glad for that and ran back in the direction of Narnia in general.

Sarasael figured she'd live out her life here in these ruins. Maybe if she felt like it, she'd try and rebuild some of this castle. Not that it would mean much, but it would give her something to do. Then maybe she'd look around the countryside and see if there were any plants here that weren't in that book she read back at Cair. It was possible, though she didn't particularly care. For now she just lived here. The first day she looked around the castle to see if there was anything else of the Witch's left over she could learn from, but there wasn't. All signs of life here had been gone for hundreds of years. Sarasael had to admit she was vaguely curious, that this evil person might have been sort of interesting in life. But for the most part she was glad that the witch was dead, if just because it gave her a castle to stay until…until maybe something happened.

Soon into her second week, she decided to leave the ruin. She threw the mantle around herself and stepped out into the surrounding area. She wandered out onto the plains, looking absently at the plantlife. It gave her something to do, as she tried to name every single plant she looked at. She picked a hyacinth and crushed the scented flower between her fingers. Nothing she could make at the moment required hyacinth, but she liked the way it smelled.

But then she was bored. There wasn't anything to do here, she'd seen it all and suddenly didn't feel like she wanted any part of the ruins anymore. All it did was show her that she was trapped here with no way of going home. She didn't even know why she was staying here in the first place. Frustrated, she gathered all her things from the room she'd chosen and decided, for no particular reason, to keep going further north. She felt restless and wondered if she'd find something somewhere else.

It was harder without a horse. She wandered absently through the northern area. It was harsh and wild and cold, and she hated the cold but for the most part ignored it. Maybe she'd end up becoming one of those wandering nomads, those people who'd just keep traveling because they had nothing better to do. She certainly did it. Maybe she'd be a hermit. They had no interest in company, and she wanted people to stay as far away from her as possible.

There was a river she found one day. It was smaller than the Great River but reminded her of that anyway, just because it was a river. There was no noolu moss or fireweed growing along these banks. Nirisath always would yell at her to go gather that, they were for some reason always running low on fireweed. Probably because noolu moss and fireweed mixed together was an excellent solution for severe sore throats. That all seemed like years ago to Sarasael, though in reality it was only a little over two weeks. It felt like an entirely different life, that time in Cair. So did that time in Tahalset. She felt as if she wasn't anyone, just something composed of different lives of different people put together, and none of those lives had yet to define her as a person, but just existed, and when each of them ended it left her standing on the banks of a new river that probably couldn't be crossed.

"Not lost, are you, dearie?"

Sarasael startled, hearing a voice. It was the first voice she heard in two weeks, and for a minute she had to process it. What was someone doing this far north?

She looked up…and saw a leg.

She looked further up and saw an arm. Then she craned her neck all the way back to see a large, ugly face looking down at her.

Giants!

She took several steps back from the giant. All the stories she could recall about giants were bad ones. Northern giants, at least. They all had to be driven north because they were fierce and brutish creatures who would eat practically anything that got in their way. This giant was certainly no exception…she was smiling down at Sarasael with all her huge rotten teeth showing, and her grubby unwashed hair complemented her dirty fingernails and…ugh…the smell.

Still, she was speaking to Sarasael.

"I'm not lost," she said, and her own voice seemed to startle her. It didn't sound much like her voice. But she hadn't heard it very much lately.

"Where are you going, then? Pretty thing like you shouldn't be wandering out this far north." The giant said. Her voice was gravelly, and it was only due to the ancient and seemingly falling apart dress she wore that Sarasael even recognized it as a female. She suddenly felt self conscious of her own appearance, which no doubt looked horrid. She hadn't even bothered to take care of herself since she arrived in the Witch's castle. There was no reason to, no one was going to see her anyway.

"I'm just…" where was she going? Nowhere in particular. "I'm a nomad," she said finally, saying the first word that came into her mind.

"A nomad?" the giant looked puzzled. "What's that?"

Sarasael wanted the giant to go away and leave her alone. She didn't want to talk to anyone, much less smelly, ugly giants. "It's someone who lives without a home. Someone who wanders and lives away from sentient company. Kind of like a hermit, only they move," She explained, wondering why she was explaining this at all. Now maybe the giant would leave her alone, and she could get on with her nomad life. She didn't want people around anymore.

"Well that's odd," the giant said, wrinkling her nose. "It's dangerous this far north. Something could happen to a pretty girl like you."

If she looked pretty to a giant, she must look worse than she thought. She reached up to run her fingers through her hair. It was beyond tangled and matted and disgusting.

"I can take care of myself," Sarasael said, annoyed that the giant was still staying there. She wanted to be left alone.

"Doesn't look much like that," the giant mused. "You look tired and hungry."

"Why do you care?" she snapped. Her fingers went to her belt as she ran through all the powders that she had. Maybe one could be used to get the giant to leave her alone. Her fingers rested on the embroidered figure of Yarrin. What did he want out of her anyway? He hadn't done anything to help her since they forced her out of Cair Paravel.

"Oh, I care," the giant said wisely. "I don't like seeing creatures like you all hungry and alone. Something could happen to you."

"Good." She said, letting her hand fall away. There was nothing here that could help.

"Not good," the giant shook her large head. "Definitely not good. This is dangerous ground, girl. You don't want to be out here at night."

"Well, I do, so you can go back to wherever you live now." She said.

The giant smiled. "Why don't you come with me?"

Sarasael looked up at the giant and raised an eyebrow. "Come with you? Why?"

"You're hungry and look tired. You should come with me. It'll take a little while but I can take you to Harfang. There you can sleep and eat and get fixed up pretty, how's that sound?" The giant's smile wasn't very nice, but Sarasael didn't notice.

Harfang. The name sounded vaguely familiar, and she might have heard it before. She couldn't remember where…probably someone in Cair mentioned it. She tried to think of what else was said about it, but it all slipped her mind. Harfang wasn't a good thing, though, she knew that. Harfang was somewhere far north, not even in Narnia anymore.

Not even in Narnia. That realization struck her with a jolt. She'd heard people talking about the "wild lands of the north," an untamed country that everyone only knew to keep out of. It wasn't in the Narnian empire…it wasn't part of any empire. It was just there.

Harfang was about as far from Narnia as one could be without actually leaving the world altogether. She was being invited, too, and that was more than anyone else had done.

Sarasael didn't have anywhere to go, and she certainly never wanted to go back to Narnia again. This giant was offering to take her to Harfang, which at least was somewhere, because Sarasael had been anywhere but somewhere for the past two weeks. Maybe she could stay there and they'd leave her alone. It would give her somewhere to be.

"Well, fine," she said. "I'll come with you to your Harfang."

The giant's smile broadened. "How lovely," she said. "You'll like it there, dearie. You're nearly in time for the autumn feast. It's the best time of the year, don't you know, and someone like you will be greatly appreciated."

This was autumn? It was so cold here already, and it wasn't even winter. Further north it would be worse. At least the fur offered her some protection from the biting wind.

"Great," she said, shrugging her bag back onto her shoulder.

Then, much to her shock, the giant reached down and scooped her up in one enormous hand. Sarasael couldn't restrain a small, shrill scream of alarm.

"Put me down!" she cried.

"Not to worry, dearie," the giant said. Her voice was low now, and just as gravelly. "I'm going to carry you to Harfang. It'll take no time at all with me, but if you walk, it'll take you much longer, someone so small and bony as you. Hm, but you're not too bony, are you?" a finger poked her in the thigh. "No, you'll do just fine."

The giant's hand was warm and hairy, and also very smelly. She felt squashed and uncomfortable, not to mention thoroughly undignified. Though what was dignity to her at this point, it didn't matter that much at all. No one was here to see her. No one would ever be.

"We'll just be going then. Nanny's got you, poppet, so don't worry." The giant started moving, and Sarasael wrapped her arms around her bag and tried not to think about what was actually going on.

---

Harfang.

The name was misleading. It sounded fierce and terrible, and one would expect Harfang to be an enormous dark castle with pointed turrets and a drawbridge and siege towers.

Instead, all Sarasael saw was something that looked like an oversized house. A mansion, really…a large mansion sitting on top of a crag. The backdrop looked more frightening than the actual castle. Behind it were more mountains and sharp rocks, and the grey sky that showed the coming of winter and the promise of snow. The castle itself just looked dilapidated. There were odd windows and doors here and there and it looked rather drab against the dark sky. The ground all around Harfang was littered with stones. Half the stones seemed to come from Harfang itself…there were bits broken off the top of the castle and all around it. It didn't look all that impressive…in fact, it looked rather run down, from where Sarasael was seeing it.

It had taken three days to get there. That was a lot longer than Sarasael had thought, from the way the giant was talking, but she really didn't care either way. They crossed a lot of countryside but that didn't interest her all that much either.

"There we are," the giant said cheerfully. "The gates close a little after noon, so it's a good thing we got here now or we'd have to wait out all night. They'll let me in." and the giant reached out with her other hand and pulled the gates open. "Welcome to Harfang,"

Sarasael watched as they walked down the path approaching the castle. All around it were ruins, even worse than the ruins of the Witch's castle.

"What are all these ruins?" she asked. It was the first time she spoke since they left.

"Don't know," said the giant. "They've been here a good long time. Don't mean much to us." What was strangest, Sarasael thought, was how there were no plants growing among the ruins. Usually there were. Here, it seemed that all plantlife stopped at the gates of Harfang.

The giant set Sarasael down when they reached the main entrance. This castle was designed for twenty foot high giants, and Sarasael was only a little over five feet. It made absolutely no sense why they'd want her here at all; she couldn't do much for them, except maybe heal injuries or something. Each one of their stones was practically her height.

The giant knocked three times on the main door and waited. Then finally the door creaked open. Sarasael wasn't thinking very much, but this did not bode well. She wouldn't be surprised if the castle was haunted. Haunted and with giants.

The giant at the entrance was wearing an enormous sparkly dress and a crown, and that was about all that was nice about this giant. She was fat and stuffed into her dress, and had a wide face with a double chin that wobbled when she walked. Overweight, thought Sarasael. That caused problems. Stress on the heart and circulation system, she was very likely to have a heart attack or problems with her legs from the excess weight. There was also the potential for diabetes…Sarasael heard no one in Narnia mention diabetes but they did have it in Mayharran and it happened a lot with overweight people. She remembered that now. Maybe even back then she still had the mind of a healer.

"My queen," said this giant. Sarasael couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. This was the giant queen? She wasn't going to last much longer if she was that fat.

"You're late," the queen said curtly. "We sent you out to do a simple look around the countryside and you come back late. What's keeping you?"

"Brought a girl for the autumn feast," the giant said, bowing even lower.

"A girl? Let me see."

And the giant nudged Sarasael forward with one large toe. She almost fell over, and righted herself just in time to look into the giant queen's oversized face. People with double chins were all the worse to look at when they were only inches from your own face. Sarasael winced and turned away to avoid the eyes that were squished above fat cheeks. If she were still a healer's apprentice, she'd prescribe a very steady diet of…of…oh, damn, she forgot what Nirisath used for diets already.

Instead, Sarasael curtsied. "Good afternoon," she said politely.

The queen smiled now. "Come inside now, and let me look at you." The queen started walking, and Sarasael ran to keep up with her. These giants were so inconsiderate, they didn't think about anyone who was of lesser size than them. The halls were clean, at least. She looked critically at the inside of this castle. It was nowhere near as glorious as castle Cair Paravel. It was more sinister and cold. The walls were bare except for a few tapestries, and the rooms she glanced into looked messy and unkempt. Giants had no hygiene to speak of, it was ghastly. No wonder they were driven so far north.

Finally, the queen stopped in a huge room. It had a high ceiling and many tables and chairs, and at the head of it all was a table with two thrones in front of it. A male giant was sitting in one of those thrones, picking his teeth with something. He wore a bigger crown than the queen did…this was the giant king, in his…throne room. That looked sort of like a dining hall as well.

The king noticed their arrival and threw aside the toothpick. "What is it now? Have you brought something to eat?" The king looked nicer than the queen. He was a good normal weight and had a curly beard, and if he wasn't so large, tall, and picking his teeth with what looked like a thigh bone, he might have reminded her a little of her old history teacher.

The queen reached down and picked up Sarasael, dropping her hard on the table in front of the king. She heard a crunch and realized something in her bag must have broken when she was dropped. These giants were rude and despicable and she hated them already. Now she really wanted them to leave her alone, if all they were going to do was pick her up and drop her places.

"This is a girl that Nanny found," the queen said. "Look at her." And an enormous finger came out of the sky and poked Sarasael in the side, rolling her over.

That was too much. She stood up and dropped her bag, facing the two giants. She had been through a lot and was tired of people treating her like a sideshow exhibit. She was a certified Tahalset enchantress, not something to be stared at and thrown around.

"Leave me alone," she said forcefully to the two giant rulers. "I didn't even want to come with you, but that other giant said I should. I just want a place to stay until I find out where I'm going. So if you would stop poking me and dropping me everyplace you feel like it. I can walk, you know."

The two giants looked taken aback at her sudden outburst.

"Well, poppet, we're not used to having company," the queen said. "And this close to the autumn feast, no less."

"Terrible shame," the king shook his head. "She's a feisty one, that's for sure."

"Makes all the better." Said a cheery voice from another direction. Sarasael turned to see another giant coming to them, wearing an apron and carrying a big spoon. A giant chef. Sarasael was starting to regret coming here at all, with everyone being twenty feet tall, and if that was a normal sized spoon…

The giant squinted over at her. "What are you?" the cook demanded.

"I'm an enchantress," she said.

"What's that?"

"It's…exactly what it is."

"You're a girl."

"Yeah, I guess so." She wasn't a girl, she was seventeen, and in one more year she'd be a legal adult in Mayharran. But to these giants she must look like a girl, less than that, considering her minimal height here.

"Oh how lovely!" the cook clapped his hands together. "This will be the best feast we've had in years. We're so glad to have you here, poppet." And she got another poke, this time by the spoon.

"I said stop that!" she reached for her third pouch and pulled out a sprinkling of orange powder and threw it at the chef. She said the word and then the spoon suddenly caught fire.

The cook dropped the spoon with a pained yelp. The fire flared and then vanished, leaving behind only ashes and the smell of burnt wood. The cook rubbed his hand and looked at her with shock.

"I told you to leave me alone," Sarasael said, crossing her arms. "And I meant it. I'm only staying here because I have nowhere else to stay, and if you want I'll just leave because I really don't care and I just want everyone to go away, so don't try and poke me again or I'll set you all on fire." And she really meant it, because right now she had no patience for all these giants being annoying like this and getting on her nerves and bothering her. Was it that hard for them to just leave her alone? She'd get out of everyone's way. And she didn't want to hurt anyone else, and was afraid if they kept doing this she would. They'd leave her no choice.

The cook looked at the king and queen. "Well, she's feisty alright," the cook grumbled. "This better be worth all the trouble I'll have to go through."

"It's the feast," the king said. "It's always worth the trouble when we have opportunities like this."

She had no idea what they were talking about, but it didn't matter.

The queen turned back to her. "And look at you," the queen's voice was suddenly nice and sweet, or as sweet as a giant could make their voice. "You must be tired and hungry. Nanny here…" she indicated the first giant who had changed into a much nicer dress but was still as smelly as when Sarasael first met her. "Will take you to your room. You can have a nice hot bath there and put on some clothes and then we'll give you a nice dinner!" the king nodded his assent, and the first giant…Nanny…went to take Sarasael in her hands, but stopped.

"Why don't you just walk with me, poppet," Nanny said, having seen what happened to the cook.

"Thank you." Sarasael nodded to the king and queen and then followed Nanny back through the castle.

It was difficult to keep up, and the giants didn't bother to wait for her. She was out of breath by the time she reached the room Nanny was giving her.

"There you go," the giant gave her a little push and sent her sprawling into her room. "Now I'll just make you a bath." And Nanny walked away quickly before she got set on fire.

Sarasael got to her feet and looked around what would be her room. It was the same as all the other rooms…dismal, bare, and enormous. There was a huge window with shabby curtains to the left of her bed. The bed alone she'd have to climb into and wouldn't be surprised if she got lost in it. The dressers were too big, and so was the wardrobe. Everything was ten times her size and she had no idea how she would be able to live here. Well, it would be temporary, until she could find something better. At least she wasn't in Narnia anymore, and that was most important.

There was nothing on any of the walls except that one window, and it opened out into the courtyard of Harfang, giving Sarasael a nice view of the ruins. This was the most depressing castle in the universe, in all the universes. She figured she'd end up staying here anyway.

She climbed up into the bed…it wasn't that hard…and lie down on it. It looked and felt practically the size of half of Nirisath's house. She doubted she'd ever be able to sleep in it.

She felt she should be thinking of how strange this all was, that she just got picked up by a giant who carried her across a country to a castle called Harfang, but somehow it just didn't seem strange anymore. It seemed part of life, to have all this happening. Nothing ever happened back at home except for school and more school, definitely not giant kidnappings, if that's what this was. At least she had no complaints about a boring life. But she'd rather have boredom than have this.

She felt a light touch on her shoulder.

"Go away," she snapped, wanting to be left alone. What did they want with her? She wasn't anybody important, didn't they know that?

"It's just Nanny, poppet," she heard the gravely voice say. "Bath's all ready for you."

Damn these giants. They wouldn't leave her alone, and she so wanted to be.

"And I found you some pretty dresses, too."

Go away. Just go away.

But the giant didn't. She stood there, obnoxious and large, towering over Sarasael and looking expectant. Sarasael only wanted to sleep, she felt so tired, more tired than she had in weeks.

Finally she stood up with a sigh, figuring the giant wouldn't go away until she did what the giant wanted. A bath would be nice anyway, so she followed Nanny into the other room where there was an equally enormous bathroom and a bathtub large enough to stick half of Mayharran Girls' School into. This would be difficult.

But she managed. And it was nice to have a bath, her first in a long time, she realized with disgust. How had she allowed herself to get like this? She washed all the dirt out of her hair and struggled with her own brush to get the tangles out, but it was mostly hopeless. The giants actually had clothes that would fit her, another thing she found surprising. Nanny had left a wide array of dresses back in her room, all sorts of colors. It looks like they were finally now taking some care of her.

"There you go," Nanny said cheerfully. "Glad to have you here. Want anything to eat, you just give Nanny a call, won't you?"

She shrugged and ignored the giant, instead sitting down with her bag and going through it.

"Rude one, this," she heard Nanny remark. "Well at least it won't be too bad when the feast finally comes around."

Sarasael continued to ignore her, and Nanny left the room with a loud harrumph.

---

The week before the autumn feast passed surprisingly quickly. She stayed in her room and would occasionally wander the halls just to see what was there. The giants mostly stayed out of her way except for Nanny and that cook fellow who kept looking critically at her. But thankfully she was ignored all the rest of the time and allowed to get on with what reasonably passed for her life. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Finally the day of the autumn feast arrived. Nanny woke her cheerfully, a wide grin displaying all her mostly rotten teeth. "Morning, poppet," Nanny caroled, opening the curtains to let the sun in. "Day of the feast, you'll be wanting to look your best!"

Sarasael woke up as usual and combed her hair. The giants had been talking practically nonstop about this feast thing of theirs since she had arrived. It was this big important event in Harfang, and from what she gathered, she was going to be an important part of it. No idea why, and she rather hoped she wouldn't. She didn't feel important, here she just felt short.

When she finished washing, she found a pretty green dress to wear. It was a forest green kirtle that Nanny had left out for her today. She liked green, it was the color of her star form and of her eyes, and…she tried to shove the thought out of her mind as she remembered that Rilian always loved her eyes. She put the dress on, deciding for once to look her best at this fancy feast of theirs.

"Don't you look pretty," Nanny said, looking over Sarasael.

"Everyone says it's so important," she replied with a shrug, tucking a piece of hair behind her ears. This made Nanny smile even more, because Sarasael hadn't talked much this whole time, and some of the giants thought it was odd and too bad they didn't get to know this strange little girl before the feast.

"Oh it is," Nanny nodded. "Most important feast of the year. Come along now," and Nanny ushered Sarasael out of her room and down the hall. As usual, Sarasael had to run to keep up, and was getting thoroughly tired of this. She was surprised when they passed the dining hall and Nanny was pushing her in the direction of the kitchens.

"What's this for?" she asked.

"Nothing, poppet, don't you worry now." Then with a hard boot, she kicked Sarasael into the kitchen and slammed the door.

Sarasael sprawled out on the floor, getting dust all over her dress and a large scrape on her knee. She immediately pushed herself back onto her feet, intending to turn around and yell at Nanny and do something for the absolute rudeness of that. But Nanny was gone, and the door was shut. What were these giants playing at, anyway? Did they expect her to find her way to the dining hall?

She looked around at the kitchen, which was most definitely a kitchen. It smelled like one and the whole room shook with the booming footsteps as the cook approached. He arrived and squatted down, looking Sarasael straight in the eye.

"Look at you," he said, and gave her a prod with the spoon. "Not a lot of fat on you. Best save you for the king and queen. Grumpy thing too. Won't miss you sulking around the castle all the time, no." Prod, prod.

"I told you not to poke me with that spoon again," Sarasael said as coldly as she could manage.

"Oh well. Too late for all that, eh?" Then she got picked up and dropped on a table.

This was all too much. She was tired of being treated like luggage by everyone in this bloody castle.

She stood up, facing the cook, who was humming and dropping herbs into a boiling pot.

"I told you never to do that to me again," she repeated, her voice low.

The cook glanced at her. "But it's too late, poppet. Terribly sorry, though." The cook leaned over and sniffed the pot. "Good, it's ready." His hand reached for Sarasael again.

She took several steps back. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

"No use talking me out of it," the cook said with a firm shake of his head. "We had a big old Bear who told us all about how fat he was in an effort not to get us to eat him, didn't work, but most people here don't like Bears so it doesn't matter anyway."

Sarasael stopped walking, the words taking a moment to sink in. Bears. Talking bears, that meant…

The words came back to her, from a long time ago. She remembered where she had last heard of Harfang. It was that day she first met Rilian, and they were sitting under a tree, barely having known each other. He was showing her a map of the world, the same map that she had stuffed in her bag right now. He was explaining each of the different countries to her, and he had pointed to the northern area and said,

"It's the wild lands of the north…we have no idea what's there. Just Harfang, the giant's city, but no one ever goes there. Harfang giants are nasty. They eat people…and Animals."

That's where the name came from. And it took her this whole time to remember that…and why she also felt so wary of these giants the whole time. This was it, this was what they were going to do. They were going to eat her!

No, that was ridiculous. No one ate other people. But these were giants, giants lived by different rules, and they were all so awful and barbaric in this bare castle of theirs. And they ate people and Animals, just like Rilian said, and she could tell now by the looks on all their faces when they had seen her that they were planning on doing this since the very beginning. That was why Nanny had brought her here in the first place. It was all part of their plan from the beginning. No doubt girls were some sort of delicacy, especially ones from other worlds, and she was such an idiot not to notice…

The giant's hand came to her again. "Now, none of that," the cook said.

She didn't want to be eaten.

She wanted something to happen to her…for the past few weeks she thought of nothing but having something bad happen so that she would die once and for all, and be free of this horrible land that was so far away from her family. But now in the face of death…if she was going to die, it wasn't going to be cooked and eaten at some feast by giants! That wasn't the way for an enchantress to die, they all died noble deaths, or at least…not death by eating!

"You can't do that," she stammered. "You can't. Leave me alone."

"Sorry," was all the cook said, but he didn't sound sorry.

Her hands went to her belt pouches again, searching frantically…there was the fire again. She scooped out a large amount of it, enough to start a small forest fire, and threw it at the giant. Desperately she shouted the words…and the whole cook erupted in flame. He screamed as the fire consumed his arms body. He dropped the spoon and staggered back, clawing madly at his face, as if that would stop the fire.

She took that time to run.

Without thinking that she was on a high table, she ran right off the edge of it. It wasn't that far to fall…the pot was on a higher area than this. She hit the floor with a jarring shock, but the terror that they were going to catch her and eat her was too great and her adrenaline made her stand up and keep running. She felt a pain in her ankle and knew she must have sprained it and would have to worry about that later. This wasn't time for that, right now if she was killed she wouldn't have to worry about a sprained ankle. It hurt when she ran, but the pain was only a distant thing on her mind. She mustn't let them catch her!

Where was the way out?

She hadn't paid attention. She only knew the way to her room. The kitchen was behind her, and…and…where was the entrance? That way? No, she didn't remember ever being down that hallway. To the left? No, that led…she forgot where it led but it wasn't to the exit. Where was the damn exit? She had to find it and find it now.

This way. Maybe it was this way. Blindly she ran down that hallway. There! There was a large door, she couldn't remember if it was the main door or not. She ran through it anyway.

And it was definitely not the main door. Giant faces, more than she could count, were staring down at her from different places in the room. The king and queen sat at the head of everything, and the king was pointing her.

Just her luck. Just her damn stupid luck she ran into the dining hall. Could it get any worse?

"What's that fool cook up to?" said the king. "Letting our dinner go running around the castle like this?" The nearest giant picked her up and walked forward, dropping her on the table in front of the king and queen. The queen looked down her nose at Sarasael.

"Go see what the cook's gone ahead and done," the queen said directed the other giant to do. "And what're you running from? Too late for you, dearie. Should have left when you had the chance."

"Cook's dead," said the first giant, coming back into the room with a face white as chalk. "Burned to death."

The queen pressed her hands to her mouth in shock.

"Eh? How'd that happen?" demanded the king. "Cooks don't set themselves on fire."

"I don't know," said the first with a shrug. Giants seemed not to care all that much if one of their own died.

"I did it," Sarasael spoke up.

They all turned to stare at her. For a second she was terrified that she had spoken, but then realized she had nothing to lose. They were planning on eating her, the least she could do was make them afraid of her before they did. If she was going to die a death such as this, at least try her best to go down as an enchantress and not a scared, displaced girl.

"You did?" the king asked.

"Yes, I did." She raised her chin defiantly. "I told you to leave me alone, and that cook didn't listen. He had every intention of throwing me into a pot and cooking me like some common animal. I told you all not to touch me and he made that mistake, and he paid the price of that mistake." Wow, she even sounded like an enchantress, too. That's how all the real ones talked, and when they talked like that, people listened. At least she was going to die as one, then.

"We've brought you here to eat," the queen growled.

The king reached for her again.

If she was going to die, she'd take one or two of them with her.

She reached for her powders again, this time pulling out a large handful of her generic spell powder. An idea came to her…she didn't know if it would work, and didn't even know where it came from. But there was nothing to lose. She threw the powder in the air above her and spoke a word. It was a harsh word that caused the giants nearest to her to wince and cover their ears. It was a word that she'd seen in the Witch's journal, one of the fancy magical and scientific terms she was using when talking about how to activate her gate. It was just a word, just an idea, but it was better than nothing.

It was better than nothing.

It was something.

Maybe it was the air of this world that made it work. Maybe it was the power of Narnia and the fact that the Witch did exist at one point years ago, and therefore the magic was still someone's to call if they found a way to call it. Maybe it was her own innate talent as an enchantress that caused it to actually work.

But it did.

Immediately, the powder fell around her, covering her in frenzied sparks. Each of the sparks struck her skin and exploded into a thousand more sparks, yet it didn't hurt at all. Instead she felt exhilarated and dizzy. The sparks flew all around and she was blinded by the intensity of it. She staggered back a few stops and could hear the faint gasps of the giants beyond.

"Don't touch me," she said again, and her voice echoed oddly around the high dining hall of Harfang. She looked at the outstretched hand of the king and pointed. Normally nothing would happen, her magic was strictly confined to the usage of her powders. But instead, a streak of lightning erupted from her hand and struck the king on his arm. "And you, too." The first giant…she could see several sparks strike him, and he clutched his throat and convulsed before falling over, dead. "All of you. Never touch me again." Impulsively she held out her hands and sparks shot all over the room. She could hear them hitting other giants and hear their cries of terror, and several chinks of plaster fell from the ceiling.

A hand reached for her, but it stopped short and jerked away. She could see blisters forming across the outstretched palm. The queen even tried, their giant minds not processing all that was taking place. The queen tried to close both hands around Sarasael, and screamed as the flesh was seared off her fingertips.

"What is this?" the queen cried, her injured hands hanging limply from her arms.

Sarasael wasn't even noticing them. She was standing there with her arms up and her face turned towards the sky, the brilliant sparks surrounding her body, and she felt as powerful as Yarrin himself. No Tahalset enchantress would have this much power. And for the first time, she felt exhilarated and fierce, and on some level, actually happy. That Witch's word worked. She didn't know how long it would last, or what the exact effects were, but right now it didn't matter.

"I told you not to touch me," she said, and even her voice sounded different. It was louder and sharper than before, and rang through the whole hall. "And I meant it. Touch me again and I'll kill you all. Try to eat me again and I'll raze this castle to the ground." She felt she could, too. All it would take was a touch and the thought, and the whole of Harfang could be ignited. It would burst into flames that would rise higher than those that consumed Nirisath's house. Nirisath did nothing to her, she didn't deserve what happened, but these giants did, these filthy giants. She would just have to point at one of the giants and kill him, just like the other one who had tried. She'd keep the queen alive for now, and the king, too.

She could hear exclamations of terror as several other giants put their hands too close to her and pulled away, either burned or blistered or any number of injuries. None of them she'd kill, she didn't feel like it.

Just as suddenly, all activity stopped. She felt all the giants draw away from her and smiled with satisfaction. There, they finally listened to her. Giants were just as stubborn as they were rude, and it took them a good long time before they finally learned their lesson. Now they'd leave her alone. Or she'd burn their castle entirely.

There were loud noises all around her, and so she decided to open her eyes. The sparks cleared, though they still danced around her arms head, swirling faintly and igniting on her dress, making it glow a brighter green color than it was. She lowered her head and looked out among the dining hall.

Every single giant there had gone to their knees and were pressing their foreheads to the floor in supplication. Even behind her, the king and queen were bowing low, their hands clasped together.

"My lady," the queen said reverently.

Sarasael lowered her arms now and turned around. "What?"

"My lady," the queen repeated. "You've arrived at last."

"What are you talking about?" Sarasael shook her head to rid it of the sparks that had settled in her hair. They flashed about and then faded. Slowly the other sparks faded, too, and the spell was over. Sarasael was now standing on a tabletop, looking every bit her normal self, just dirtier and with a sprained ankle. The spell and that brief moment of absolute power was gone…she didn't even know how it worked in the first place. Now she was just Sarasael the enchantress, and every single giant in the hall was bowing to her.

"What are you bowing for?" she demanded, brushing the hair out of her face and looking up at the queen.

The queen, surprisingly, went to her knees and down to Sarasael's level. "Because you have finally arrived to us," the queen said, her voice still soft.

"I don't understand."

"Find Garal." The queen said, and one giant got up and ran out of the room. "Garal will explain everything to you. He is the one who knows."

Garal was an old giant, and looked to be the oldest one there. He wore a fraying, patched robe and had scraggly gray hair hanging down to his shoulders.

"Eh? What does everyone want?" Garal asked, looking around in bewilderment. He was nearly blind with age.

"Come and see our lady." The queen said. Everyone in the room who was still on the ground scooted aside to make room for the old giant to come through. Garal was guided down the aisle, and the other giant nudged his arm and pointed in Sarasael's direction.

Garal reached out, and his hand stopped several feet from Sarasael's head. "I can't touch her." Garal said.

"None of us can." The queen held out her blistered hands, even though Garal couldn't see.

Garal focused in her direction the best he could. "What happened?" he asked.

Sarasael glared at him. "Your Nanny brought me all the way here." She said accusingly. "With the intention of cooking and eating me for their autumn feast, which is positively barbaric and disgusting. They tricked me, leaving me to think that I'm a guest when in reality I'm no better than some common cow or deer to be fed and then thrown aside." She couldn't keep the sneer out of her voice. "And I want to be left alone, that's all. I was not going to suffer the indignity of being eaten. I give you the same advice. Don't touch me or I'll kill you." She didn't know if she could, now that the power was gone. But they didn't know that.

"Then it is true,"

"What is true?"

Garal looked distantly past Sarasael and at the queen, who nodded somberly.

"There was a prophecy," Garal said hoarsely. "It was made years ago by one who was descended from those who…used to…the ruins outside. The one who was descended from the great ruler who built the buildings that are now ruins. He looked out at our castle and shook his head and said…that…someday we would be in ruins too." There was a murmur from all the other giants. "He promised us…he made…they call it a prophecy. That someday Harfang would be great again, like it was once. It used to rule the entire northern country, both the uncivilized giants and all of Ettinsmoor. That someday even Narnia would respect us again. That's never happened." He said wistfully. "But he promised us Harfang would be great again, and that one to lead us would come someday. She would be from far away, and…" he focused on her, his eyes wide. "She would wear green, and we could not touch her." He reached forward, and to Sarasael's surprise, a burn spread across his hand where he was too close to her. "She would not be a giant but would lead us to greatness. She would make Harfang feared and respected again. She would be Harfang's lady." He turned his burned hand upside down and took it away from Sarasael's area. "You are our lady. The Lady of the Green Kirtle."

All the others took up the murmur, still staying in their bowing position. Even the king and queen bowed to her, their eyes lowered respectfully.

"That's absurd," Sarasael said, shaking her head. "Absolutely ridiculous. You put faith in prophecies? I'm just a schoolgirl from another world." But at the same time as she said it, she knew how ridiculous she sounded. It was very difficult to convince someone you weren't special after you were just surrounded by glittering sparks and could set anything on fire with only a touch, and burn the flesh off one's hand with a glance.

Maybe she wasn't just a Mayharran schoolgirl.

Maybe she was destined to be something greater…

No, she was a healer. She was Nirisath's apprentice. She was a schoolgirl who thought she had the right to fall in love with a prince and was thrown out of the city for her foolishness, turned away by the one she loved, called a witch and a murderer.

That's what they said in Cair Paravel. That's what they thought of her in Narnia, no matter how hard she tried to do good. She had healed and learned and loved, and worked with Nirisath to help all those in Cair. And they had thrown her out, despite all that, thinking nothing of what she was doing and only what they wanted to think of her. That's where all that had gotten her, absolutely nowhere.

Now these giants…they were disgusting and rude creatures. Their castle was bare and cold, the giants disrespectful and ugly. Worse, they ate people and Talking Beasts. There were few things in the world that could be worse than that, than this place that Sarasael was right now.

All she had done the past week was ignore everyone. She'd stayed in her room, and now when they tried to eat her, she'd hurt them all and proclaimed for them never to touch her, and now they couldn't. Their hands were burned and blistered and two of them were dead. She had harmed them…and now they were all bowing down to the floor and called her their lady.

It didn't make sense. It went against everything she had ever learned.

But since when had that helped her? She was worlds away from her real home, from her family and all who had cared about her, and who she cared about. And in Cair Paravel…Rilian wasn't going to come after her and hold her and tell her it was fine, Nirisath wasn't going to sigh with annoyance and tell her to get more fireweed. She was on her own now.

What did she care about Harfang? Why would she even want to make a place like this great? Why, even more, should she even believe this strange prophecy?

Giant prophecies were simple. They didn't happen very often, and they were always short and easy to understand when they did. Giants were simple and couldn't understand fancy words and complications. And now the king and queen were looking at Sarasael expectantly, wondering why she didn't understand it as well.

Why shouldn't she be their lady…

She pressed her hands together and raised her head to look at Garal. She didn't know the first thing about ruling or helping a country, and didn't know what she could do. She was a simple enchantress, what could she do to make an entire castle of these giants actually respected in Narnia. She'd seen what Narnia was like…they were all advanced and civilized and nothing like the giants here.

Yet they had thrown her out, while these giants…they were…respecting her.

She wasn't used to being looked at with respect. She didn't deserve it, not after all she had brought. But still they bowed.

"My lady," the queen said. "Guide us and teach us. We live for you to command, so you can raise us up again and make us respected and feared. You are our lady, the lady of Harfang, and we live to serve you. In your wisdom we are led."

The other giants took up the chant, their low voices rumbling through the hall.

There was no reason she couldn't do it.

"Very well." She held her hand out, and they all stopped. It sounded so strange to her, to be speaking this way. "I accept your prophecy, and this position."

"Thank you," said the queen, pressing her forehead to the table before Sarasael.

It was something to do. These people…to her surprise, they wanted her. They needed her, and that was more than what could be said of anyone else.

"You want me to be your lady, and I will do that." Was she supposed to make a speech? She didn't know what else to say. "And you want me to make Harfang great, and I will do that, too. Right now Harfang is only this castle, far to the north, known for nothing but uncivilized behavior and slow, stupid giants who know nothing and exist only to eat. Ettinsmoor is a wild land, and in Narnia, they speak very poorly of it. There's hardly a difference between you and the giants in the rest of the moor. Narnia does not respect you, they look down on you. I will change that."

The king and queen rose, and smiles broke out across their ugly faces.

"Harfang is not known for anything. It does nothing for others, and as a result, people only look down on this castle here. This castle itself is falling apart, in no better state than the ruins outside. I will change that, too. If Harfang wants to be feared and respected, we must first change here. You want me to be your lady? Then I will change all that needs to be changed, and eventually the name of Harfang will be woven forever into the tapestry of this world, and Aresia herself won't be able to remove the thread."

It wasn't much of a speech, and Sarasael wasn't much of a person to make speeches. But the giants seemed to like it. They all rose to their feet and took up a cheer that shook the very foundation of Harfang. The king and queen pumped their fists in the air and even Garal joined in, hooting to the ceiling in his old, scratchy voice.

All of these giants were chanting for her.

She couldn't believe this, couldn't believe she was agreeing to their prophecy when she didn't like anything about these giants. But she had no home, no family, no teachers and no one to love…

Harfang needed a lady to make them great.

She would be their lady.