((Hey chaps...sorry for...well, forgetting about this for a time. I pretty much got sick with everything and its mom...mono, panic disorder, asthma attacks, and had to get a root canal Thursday. At this rate, I half expect to walk to the store tomorrow and have someone drop a piano on my head or something. Anyway, because you guys are awesome (and I really don't like this chapter very much), you guys get two chapters today. Hooray!

And now that we're talking about awesome, can I just say how amazing you guys are? Your reviews absolutely boggled my mind and left me quite stunned! You guys are fantastic, let me tell you that. Absolutely amazing. So enjoy the story, I am thrilled you like it!))

The Warden kept his eyes on the floor. "It's the port," he mumbled. "It's not holding. It keeps falling into the sea. The ground needs to be reinforced."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, your majesty. If it's not reinforced, then the port will keep collapsing."

Sara sat back in her throne, allowing one hand to thoughtfully caress the head of one of the two stone snakes that were carved into the armrest of her throne and reached up to join together at the head. Srinia was a benevolent snake, the goddess of her homeland that shone in the night sky and was gracious with knowledge to those born under her. It was always said those with the snake as their starform were more intelligent than the rest, given to more unique ideas. The best people to have by your side in a fight were snakes and cheetahs, and Hylaea had always been amused at that, as the cheetah was her own starform. "We can stand together and take down the entire school," Hylaea had said. "Being good in battle and all. And fights." She had nodded sagely, and she and Sara thought it was the most entertaining idea, for what student didn't at least once in their life think of destroying the school they had to go to?

Srinia was knowledge, and knowledge was power. Sara had ignored her starform for too long, being that the people of Narnia knew very little…no, absolutely nothing…about shapeshifting, and as a result she had almost forgotten about it herself. It was a part of her, just like anything else was, and to ignore it was foolish. Well, as queen of Underland, she couldn't afford to ignore anything. Anything she could do that the rest of the world couldn't was useful, even if her starform was only a benevolent green snake that glimmered in the night sky of her homeworld.

The people of Underland didn't seem to think so. It made them all nervous. Snakes, they reasoned, were lying creatures of the overworld. They spread deceit. Sara didn't know what sort of foolishness made them think so…snakes at home were signs of intelligence, not deceit, and signs of honor, not lies, and signs of determination, not treachery.

She did away with those beliefs straightaway. Now they who once feared snakes carved the images of Srinia upon her throne, carved vast reliefs at the highest reaches of Underland of the ancient snake goddess with her head up, watching over the Underland, with Yarrin at his side, wings outstretched. The reliefs were beautiful. There were none like that at home that anyone created anymore. And the people of Bism no longer feared the snake. If she didn't, neither would they, and so it was done.

"What needs to be done in order to reinforce this?" Sara asked as patiently as she could, though by this point her patience was wearing thin. It should not be this hard, she reasoned, to create a kingdom! And for the most part it wasn't, not with hundreds of thousands of gnomes working around the clock, resting only when they were so exhausted they couldn't continue. They mined, sculpted, and built, and every say Sara would look outside her window and see them working. Her castle was the first thing they built, for every true ruler had to have one. It was a monument of architecture, her castle. She helped carve out the space for it, expanding the Underland so that it reached towards the surface of the world. Her castle was the highest thing in the area, the seat of all power, however much against the regular lives of the gnomes that was. And it was enormous and reached towards where the sky would be, if there was a sky in Underland. The stone was dark, and around the entrance she had carved her name in the old language of Tahalset, the hieroglyphs that every student at home had to learn and hated. The castle had to be vast…greatness like that was intimidating. So it was, made out of dark stone and seemingly growing out of the bottom of the world itself. There were more rooms than she could count, more towers and spirals, as grand as anything that could come out of one's imagination.

The rest of Underland was slowly becoming like that…very slowly. It had been two and a half years and it still wasn't completed. She needed it to be done, damn it! But there was only so much she could do to hurry it along.

It was getting very frustrating of late. The port at the shore of the Sunless Sea still wasn't holding, no matter how often she had it built and rebuilt.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, feeling the beginnings of a headache at the front of her forehead. Maybe she should leave Mullugutherum in charge for a bit and take some time back to Harfang. Gods only knew she needed it, and the giants never objected to her visit.

She had felt bad about that for a bit, leaving Harfang. After she had taken over Underland, it was more than three months before she saw Harfang again. She realized it too late, feeling almost frantic at the time of how the giants had been faring in her absence. She took her numerous maps of all the paths to the surface that Thanagel had drawn up for her, and then ordered him to take her up through the easiest one. Unfortunately that was a mistake, as she had forgotten in her thrill at being on the surface again that Bism gnomes hated the surface more than anything else in the world. She stepped out into clear sunlight, feeling the cold wind of Ettinsmoor on her face and the bright sunlight momentarily blinding her eyes. She had staggered back, squinting furiously, her eyes watering and filled with sunspots. She had been underground so long…three and a half months…and her eyes weren't used to the light. It took her a good ten minutes before her eyes adjusted and she was able to open them and see Harfang once again. The tunnel had let out closer to the castle than the one she had originally fell down months ago. It was perfect.

It was wonderful to be outside again. The sun made everything stand out in clear sharpness, from the crags of the mountains behind Harfang to the castle itself, the windows shining in the sun. The air was crisp, not stale, and the light was true light from the sun, not the foxfire and lamps that she kept lit down in Underland. Both her kingdoms…and two places as different as night and day. Ah, too long she had been away from Harfang! She never imagined she could miss it, but there she was, looking almost longingly at the squat, homey shape of Harfang up on its tall crag. No doubt they had missed her terribly.

The giants had been beside themselves with worry, despite the fact that Janile had made numerous attempts to calm them down. The king and queen went back to ruling but everyone had still been lost, wandering around for a bit, not quite having a direction. When she had walked back into the halls, they had all been beside themselves in shock at her return. Immediately they began listing all the things they had done wrong, but she brushed it aside. After all, they had still kept things going despite her absence. She praised the king and queen for doing this, and Janile most of all. Janile ought to be queen, she mused to herself. Someday when she felt like it, she would find a way to do away with the current queen and have Janile sit on the throne herself. Janile kept things running better than any of them.

It had been nice to return. She had missed Harfang and her giants, however foolish they were. During that time she returned, Yarag and Talfa were mourned deeply, both Talfa's dead self and Yarag's living tomb, thousands of feet below the surface.

It was going to be difficult managing two kingdoms. She tried to explain this to Janile the best she could, and Janile listened with a surprising amount of understanding to Sara's plan, her building of Underland and eventual conquering of Narnia. After spending a reasonable amount of time there, Sara put the king and queen back in charge, with Janile as their chief advisor and Fanarg as a lesser one, ensuring that they would be able to maintain everything the way she wanted when she returned to Underland. They had agreed, and she left them again, this time secure in the knowledge that they would be fine without her. They could figure things out. They weren't as stupid as they led people to believe, and she knew it.

Thanagel had not been so lucky. By the time she returned to her kingdom in progress, Thanagel had retreated to the back of the room she had given him and wouldn't come out for anyone. His eyes were tightly closed and he only mumbled and shook his head, refusing to leave, talking constantly of the shallow lands and how he'd never, ever find Bism again.

She had been angry at him for mentioning Bism, but that anger didn't last long when she realized that she had been so grateful to be in sunlight again she had forgotten about Thanagel. That moment he had emerged and seen the sun of the surface had made a lasting imprint on his mind, one that drove him mad in a very short amount of time. She still had him, and he was still alive. She had locked him in one of the prisons she had built at the bottom of her castle. Why she needed prisons, she didn't know, doubting she would ever have prisoners that she would need to truly lock up. But every evil enchantress had prisons, so she figured she ought to go by that. She left Thanagel there until she could figure out what to do with him. It had been two years and she still hadn't figured anything out, still leaving the mad former elder locked up in her prison. Someday she would figure something out. Until then she would leave him there. Mullugutherum enjoyed it, walking past sometimes to peer through the bars at the insane elder and grin before moving about whatever business he was ordered on.

The power had gone to the former thief's head. Sara could see this, the way he strutted about in his armor and carried his three-pronged spear with pride. It annoyed her, but he was loyal, so she ignored it.

The former elder Virk she had made Warden of what she had deemed the Marches of Underland. It was a separate part of Underland, set aside for her own nefarious purposes. The Marches was where she would gather and begin to create her army. She ordered that section to be built up, full of barracks, spears, and weapons. That would take awhile to get off the ground, but it was already starting to look like something. She needed someone to guard it and watch it, as she could not be everywhere at the same time. She had taken Virk, remembering his gruff manner and the way the people respected and feared him when he was elder. Fitting him out with armor and his own spear, he looked every bit the part of a proper warden, a guard to watch over her army. It fit Virk, being warden, even though he was enchanted and his thoughts were never his own. He stood there dressed up and gruff, ordering the people around once she told him to. If one ignored the sad look on his face, the same look that every single enchanted Bism gnome had on their face, one could almost assume that he enjoyed this job and didn't mind at all what he was doing.

It took some time to learn how to balance two kingdoms. But two and a half years passed, and so she learned. It was her belief that anything could be learned with enough time to learn it.

Her kingdom still wasn't done. It would take some time before it was fully finished, and then once it was done she would have to begin the digging. That would be hard, and she still didn't know how to go about doing that. She needed more maps, that's what. Maps of Narnia, a better map of her Underland, maps of the two in relation to each other…if she was going to stage something as grand and preposterous as to dig underneath Narnia and surprise them with her army, she needed a lot more maps and a lot more planning before anything could begin.

"Your majesty?" Virk spoke up again.

"Yes? Sorry, I was distracted."

"If I interrupted you from your thoughts, your majesty, please accept my apology!"

She sighed. Virk only spoke when spoken to, but he still got annoying, too. All these enchanted people did at times, going about their business with the same solemn, sad faces. It was not natural for them to be enchanted, and even less natural for them to be what they considered this close to the surface.

"Accepted. Now, what is it?"

"It is the pier, your majesty, by the sea. It won't hold. I was wondering if…if…"

"Just say it, warden!"

"If you could perhaps look at it? Maybe you will know what to do when none of us will, your majesty. Grace us with your wisdom." And he dropped to his knees again and held his hands over his head, pressing the palms together in a praying position. This was the way people in Tahalset paid their respects to their rulers, and she made them adapt the same mannerisms.

"Very well," Sara rose from her throne. "I am not busy at the moment. Take me there immediately."

She followed the warden out of her castle and onto the streets that wove their way through her city still in progress. The streets were cobbled right now but soon she'd have them paved just like the streets at home. Soon the buildings would be completed…now only some were, and the rest were foundations and half built structures. This was going to take a lot longer than she expected. But when it was completed, it would be the most beautiful thing in all the worlds. It would be…the only world.

"The pier," Virk said, pointing. Indeed, the pier had fallen again. The water lapped against the shores and the sand was dark and grainy as she walked down the shore to stand where the water met the sand. There were bits of rock and mortar strewn across the beach and sticking out of the shallower parts of the sea. That was all that was left of the pier. All around her were earthmen, cringing away from their queen, afraid of how angry she would be at them. She never hurt them…no, she never could quite bring herself to do that. Evil enchantresses did all the time, she knew. They would take their anger out on their minions, throw things at them, punish them, kill them for no reason. But in the back of her mind she was still a healer. She could enchant them and force them to do her bidding, but they weren't physically harmed. She never did that to them. All they feared was her words. Plus, dead gnomes didn't solve any problems.

"What did you do this time?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at them. Normally she wouldn't care, but this was the third time they had to rebuild the pier. Was it that hard to get it right the first time? There wasn't enough time for mistakes! She had to create this kingdom, and couldn't do it if these damn gnomes kept doing everything wrong!

"I have the plans!" one of the gnomes said quickly, running forward and pressing the scroll with the plans on it into her hands. "They were Four's idea." The gnome pointed to Four, who was only a foot and a half tall with a single pointed horn jutting from his forehead. He used to be a member of the Bism council, as was apparent by his name of Four. They still used their old names, Sara thought absently. Well, there was no harm in calling him Four. There was no Bism council and no elders, there was only Sara's word, the only law that existed down here. But a name was a name, and Four clearly didn't remember his original name. Ah, well.

"Four, come here,"

Four broke away from the crowd and came to her. Her eyes ran over the plans, and she sighed. "These are yours? When did you come up with these?"

"Two days," Four almost exclaimed. "Just two! The last pier collapsed and you weren't happy. I wanted to make something better but you said make it fast so I came up with this and…and…" Four stammered. "And that's what I did, I thought, and, and I came up with that. It's not good though, isn't it? What's wrong with it?"

"It collapsed!" said the first gnome, glaring at Four. "It's no good! She's going be angry again!"

"Just be quiet for a minute." Sara ordered, holding her hand up, and they all fell silent. She traced the lines of the stones that were to build the base of the dock. "There it is. Four, your plans weren't entirely faulty. Considering you came up with it only two days ago, there is much to be praised. There is where your fault lies." She pointed to where the stone met the wood, and the wood they used was weak and easily broke, which unbalanced the stones and sent them and the wet dirt crumbling into the sea. Once she showed them the fault they were able to do the rest themselves, having a better knowledge of building things than she did.

She didn't intend to stay for the construction, but she ended up doing so anyway, watching until they had finished most of the pier, making sure the wood wasn't weak and the stones were packed enough into the dirt where it wouldn't slide. They were…now there was a proper pier at the shore of the Sunless Sea. There was still much construction to do…she couldn't end with a pier. She'd build on the pier and make it into a wharf, then an entire port. If there was a sea, there had to be a port.

It was so easy, she thought as she walked back to her castle. All she had to do was think of it, and it could come true. She could create anything that came to her mind.

She found her way back to her library. It was in her own section of the castle. She had built the castle large enough for several people, not knowing why, when she was surely to be the only one using it. Her section she had made the grandest, with the best sculpting and newest stones, and her rooms were large and elaborate, and the library especially so. It took trips to Harfang and back several times to make her rooms the way she wanted them to. There was a lot of unused furniture there, and of course the giants still made their cloth, and she managed to take that and use it to build her rooms here. All the more luxuriant items she brought here, figuring she would spend a lot more time here than at Harfang. And eventually she wouldn't be in either world, instead…eventually residing in the great castle of Cair Paravel in Narnia. There, she wouldn't need any of her created luxuries. It would all be there for her already.

Most of the books in Harfang she brought to her library down here…at least the ones she could read. She left all the ones in the archaic language back there and brought the rest here, again by the same logic. The library, which she made the biggest of all rooms and the most purposeful, would also be the seat of her battle plans. She had several rough sketches thrown in the corner already near the fireplace. She had started to make them before she realized she knew absolutely nothing about military design and threw them in the corner, figuring they were more than useless. She needed to learn about battles and actual military workings before devising battle plans of her own. "Dig to the surface and then attack" certainly wasn't going to do well. She needed more.

The last time she had been at Harfang, she requested a history book for the extra price of several rare herbs that she found and sent back. She needed one, figuring if she could learn about ruling from Harfang's history, she could learn about…oh, whatever else she needed to know…from Narnian history. Everything happened in history, she figured.

Thankfully they had not asked why. They had sent her the book and she kept it here. Today seemed like a good enough day to at least look through it. The gnomes had their orders and were busy with the pier right now, as well as the rest of the still incomplete city they had to work on.

Narnian history was interesting. It was mostly peaceful…oddly peaceful for the first nine hundred years of its life. It was strange, she thought, that they categorized the world so well by years. Tahalset didn't ever say "the first eight hundred" in any of their histories. Then there was the coming of the White Witch, though the details of that were very vague.

Then a hundred years of winter.

She remembered Rilian speaking of that before with the deepest fear. It was impressive, though…the idea that anyone could be so powerful as to hold an entire world in winter for that long. Sara remembered her arrival at Harfang years ago…even the words she had read in that book and spoken out loud, the words of a thousand year dead witch whose power had nothing to do with Sara, had still managed to have a momentary effect on her own power. Perhaps in some way Sara admired the witch, for doing what no one else in the world could. In Mayharran, it was only in mythology that people did things like that. In Narnia, it had truly happened.

It was such a shame the witch had to die. Sara would have liked to meet this mysterious figure and express her admiration at the witch's boldness for what she had done.

And foolishness. The Witch had been foolish to ignore the prophecy made against her. If only she had acknowledged it as truth, she could have prevented her own demise. If only she had killed that child she had seen that one time, then it would have been impossible for the four thrones to be filled and impossible for the prophecy to come true. But the Witch had been so confident in her own abilities that she had thought she could outwit a prophecy. It didn't work, the Witch was killed and her winter ended. Sara thought it was a shame that someone so great could be brought down by a simple matter of overconfidence.

Three years ago she wouldn't have thought that. She remembered a day when the thought of the White Witch horrified her, when she was absolutely appalled that anyone could inflict such cruelty upon a world like that.

Sara flipped the page. That was another time and place, a time when it actually mattered to her, when thoughts of good and evil were boundaries that she knew she had to stay within the tight confines of.

The Battle of Beruna. That looked useful.

The final battle against the Witch. Two armies, one being the Witch's army, full of terrible, powerful creatures and the Witch herself at its head, her head high and her wand at the ready, turning creatures to stone left and right. And the second, the Narnian army…the people who had dared stand against the Witch, brave but foolish souls who accepted the fact that with Aslan dead they had not a chance against the Witch, even with their prophesized kings fighting with them.

The diagrams showed the obvious divide between the forces. The Narnians were a ragtag army, people who didn't fully believe that they were capable of winning. The Witch's army was at full strength, and the Witch herself was filled with confidence that if he could defeat Aslan, all she had left to do was finish off the Narnians and then the world would belong to her forever. Overconfidence on the Witch's part.

Or…confidence on the Narnian side?

Sara skimmed the diagram and then the writing that accompanied it. Narnia was facing overwhelming odds, odds that in any other world would have incited the people to give up before the battle even began. It was clear they would be crushed in an instant, facing a humiliating defeat against a foe they had tried for so long to rise up against. They had no hope, no promise of actually surviving this.

But they fought.

Sara's hand froze above the page as she read of the words King Peter had said to his army beforehand. They had no chance. They were all going to die. But they fought. They battled the Witch's army, words of freedom for Narnia…cries of "For Narnia, and for Aslan" filling the air even though there was no Aslan and soon there would be no Narnia. It was hopeless. Yet they were determined to make one final attempt to try and save their world, even when they knew it would soon die.

Sara stood up, reading over that passage several more times.

They still fought. They were all going to die, but rather…rather die than…than leave their country in the hands of a witch.

Of course they would.

She had been in Narnia. She had seen the people for herself, seen the bold determination and nationalistic pride in each of their eyes. They would sooner die than give up their kingdom.

This had not been the first time. They fought against the White Witch, that was the first thing. Then…then she remembered later from Rilian's tales of his father, back when Rilian's wicked great uncle Miraz had taken Narnia himself and all of old Narnia, the dwarves, the naiads, the Talking Beasts…had gone into hiding. Caspian had defied that as well and set off in a desperate search of old Narnia, and in the end brought it back.

Narnia was not foolish. They may sometimes act the part, but in truth, they were no more of fools than she was. They would fight for their country.

She threw the history book down, watching it land in an awkward position, the pages splayed open on the ground. Of course they would fight! Now she was the fool, thinking that they would simply roll over and let her take over their country. Thinking that the king and queen would beg for mercy! Gods, it was a nice image, a pretty fantasy…but the reality! It was more likely that the king and queen would take up arms against her and fight back. She'd surprise them with her army, but before long they would have an army of their own and fight her. They wouldn't lie down. She wouldn't easily take over their country.

The Witch and her army were destroyed, King Miraz was defeated.

She realized then, with disgust, that if she did what she had intended on doing…marching forth and taking Narnia and forcing the king and queen to kneel to her…she too would be defeated. They would crush her army, and perhaps they would take her prisoner in their dungeons, if they had any. Either way, they showed in the past they had no tolerance for someone they believed was a witch…what would they show to Sara who know was truly a witch, and an evil one at that? No mercy, certainly. And her name would be in the history books as a fool who hadn't thought enough and had her entire army, and however many years of work it would take, destroyed for that mistake. And what would that be? A waste.

And then…

Narnia would fight back. And her army she had enchanted, and by then…two years…they were so enchanted that they would indeed do whatever she said. She would have ordered them to attack Narnia and its people. They would do that. And Narnia would fight them…

The king and queen weren't the type to sit back while their country was under attack. Hell, the entire royalty in Cair Paravel wasn't. They would fight too. They proved in the past that they would.

That meant Rilian would.

Oh, that she didn't mind. A faint smile came to her face at that image…he was so brave, and he would be standing at the head of that army, dressed all in…whatever knights wore, she still wasn't certain because they didn't have knights in Mayharran…and he would make stirring speeches of some kind and lead the army forward. He would fight for his country that he cared about so much, in that stupid noble way that he always did.

And he would die…

He would advance with his army, and they would meet hers. They would have orders to kill everyone in Narnia. They would kill him. There were so many Bism gnomes here, there would be too many for him to fight.

The smile faded from her face at the thought of that, and the vivid image that it conjured. He would fight bravely, but there would be too many…he would fall beneath their three-pronged spears, and no doubt one of those gnomes, so blindly obedient to her orders, would…

No!

She kicked the history book and then strode across the room, fisting her fingers in her curly hair in an attempt to drive out the sudden image. No, he couldn't die! He would not die because of something she did. She hated his damned fiancée (she couldn't even remember the name now), she hated what he did to her, promises broken after being so solemnly sworn…but she didn't want him to die. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if her own army took his life. And then what would the use be? She had no interest in ruling Narnia other than that, other than to see the king and queen fall and take Rilian's hand at last. When she stood as queen of Narnia, he would stand by her side, with one arm on her shoulders the way he used to do and they would rule the entire world. He would love her again.

He would not die.

But if she did this, then it was very likely that he would.

She could not let that happen.

But what could she do? She already began creating the army. She had to change her plans. She couldn't let him die. She would have to conquer Narnia…some…some other way? Or do things a different way.

She sat back down by the fire and took several deep breaths. She had to do something. But what was there that she could do? She already began everything. But there was a way. She could always find a way. After all, this was her own kingdom…and everything that she thought up could be created. All she had to do was think of something else and it would be done. But what? What could she do? There weren't any ideas coming to her mind.

She closed her eyes and thought of her army again the way she had envisioned it. She was standing at its head, was she not? Yes, of course. That would strike fear into their hearts. That was what the White Witch did. Maybe if she did that, Sara thought dryly, they would even go so far as to in their fear imagine her as the reincarnation of that vicious witch of the past…hah, wouldn't that be entertaining! But it wouldn't go far. She'd die. Her army would die. Rilian would die.

She couldn't think of anything right now. She was focusing so hard that it left nothing, that it was only making her frustrated as she came up with no ideas. Ideas took longer to come, didn't they? She could remember years ago sitting at home, trying to come up with an idea for a paper. Nothing came…what did she do? Nothing, usually. Went over to Hylaea's house and they would stay out all night having ice cream.

A walk ought to do it.

No, more like…oh, forget it. She would figure something out. She had to. Maybe…ah, some time at Harfang, perhaps. Some place out in the open where she could see Ettinsmoor and realize just how vast the world was. It was hard to come up with brilliant ideas when all you were looking at was your own ideas. Ettinsmoor was hers, but she did not create it. She was only good enough to rule it. A week at Harfang…there. She would do that.

She prepared for several days for her departure. It was getting annoying, this constant preparation to switch between the two places, but she would get used to it. She left for Harfang, a journey that took over a day to do. She would have to find a way to create a more direct route to the surface if she wanted it to take less time. But the change of scenery, she determined, would do her good, and perhaps help her to come up with an idea before everything got too far and she couldn't reverse her army and what they were doing.

Either way, it was the best thing to do.

She left for Harfang and found it somewhat of a relief staying there. The giants were obedient as they always were, but it was…it was refreshing, the fact that their obedience came of their own free will. Janile was proud of running the castle as well as she was. It was a shame, really, that the queen hadn't died yet, Sara thought. Janile would be an ideal queen of Harfang. Maybe someday.

She still couldn't come up with any ideas. It was ridiculous.

Finally deciding that staying at Harfang wouldn't do anything, she decided to ride through Ettinsmoor. She hadn't done that in awhile, and it was a nice spring day. The air was pleasant, still having the bite of winter but warming up enough where a ride would be comfortable. She hadn't rode through her northern territory in a long time and even though Janile said everything was fine, she still felt like she ought to see for herself. Plus, the ride would be nice. It was a large amount of territory, and the movement would hopefully give her an idea.

The territory was vast, and it was wonderful to be out in the open again, and there were few places in the world as open as Ettinsmoor. She rode through the first quarter belonging to Harfang in a few days, stopping when the horse needed to and sleeping among the rocks. It was a far cry from her castle in Underland, or from Harfang itself, but it certainly a change of scenery.

She didn't know what led her to a small, pretty glade on the border of Narnia and Ettinsmoor. It was not on either territory, technically. It rested right on the border, though it was closer to Narnian territory, that much was certain. The grass was greener here than Ettinsmoor, and it was growing new in the spring air. Several flowers had come up around a small fountain that flowed out of the earth. The fountain was pleasant, and the water was crystal clear and ice cold, having come from the underground passages that carried water throughout Ettinsmoor. It was an odd spot for a glade, resting in the cold northern parts of the world, but it was there nevertheless. It was exceptionally nice on this warm spring day, when winter was thawing and everything was just starting to come to life once again.

Sara found it odd that there was a glade here that she had never noticed before. It was most likely because it was so close to Narnia's territory that for all purposes it was Narnia's territory, and just a small part of it belonged to her. It wasn't anywhere near the marshes, which belonged to the marsh-wiggles and not to her. A strange spot, certainly, but it was a pretty one. She rather liked it.

She dismounted and tied the horse to a nearby tree. There were enough trees, sheltering the glade and overhanging, covering it in just enough shade to be comfortable but letting enough light through to keep it warm. She made a note to put this down on the map once she got home, and to see if there were other glades around this area as well she hadn't noticed until now. Clearly she hadn't explored her territory enough until now, or maybe it was just because it was so close to Narnia that she hadn't bothered to look at it. Either way, it made a nice rest spot.

The water was cool and refreshing, no doubt coming from the mountains and cooled by the chill of the northern moors. It would be interesting to see where the source of this pool was. Maybe it had a source in Underland? That was a possibility. She'd set several gnomes on looking for it the moment she got back.

It was terribly peaceful here, more than she anticipated. She left the horse where it was and sat underneath one of the trees, leaning back against it and closing her eyes. The sunlight felt warmer here than it did anywhere else she had ridden these weeks. It was pleasant, and the air was still crisp from winter but the coming of spring was evident. It was the ideal spot to relax, and she definitely had to see if there were more glades like this. Sara put her arms behind her head and leaned back, dozing off under the trees, knowing it really wouldn't do that much but it was nice to relax at least for a moment.

"What glade, sir? Is this the one?"

"I think so. I don't know, someone from the south told me, I don't know what they were doing this far north, but…"

Sara's eyes snapped open and she sat straight up, hearing the voices. Those weren't any of her voices, she knew by now what her giants sounded like. These were normal voices, which meant…oh, blast it all, there were Narnians here! What the hell were they doing here? Who came by this glade anyway? Who even knew it was here?

The Narnians, obviously. Maybe they came here all the time while she was just finding out of its existence. Damn it all. She hadn't thought of that. There she went with the not thinking again, what nonsense.

She stood up and took several steps back. How close were they? Could she get her horse untied and riding away before they actually entered the glade and saw her?

Then her hand fell away from the tree and she mentally scolded herself for thinking that. Why would she need to run away? Running away was for people who were afraid. She couldn't be afraid of Narnians, not when she would eventually be the ruler of them all.

Maybe it would be best just to observe them. It would make sense…maybe they would say something that would be useful to her. Any information was good when it came from one's enemies, no matter what it was.

"I didn't even know this was here," said another voice.

"Neither did I. Other people do, though, they told me it was here, do you want to come see? I'm going to take a look around and see if that Sparrow was right."

She'd do her own spying. The grass was green, and there were several bushes and trees…with all this green, she'd be able to blend in no problem. Now she'd just have to hurry…she took off her coat and her boots as quick as she could and threw them under a bush, leaving her only in a dress. It wasn't tight enough, it would take more concentration, but it would do. She hadn't expected to be transforming at all, and any proper enchanter knew it was easier to transform in tight clothing. Left less to worry about, and less to think about when transforming back. Hylaea had forgotten that once and was wearing a dress and a pretty shawl and scarf, and she thought so much about it when she was trying to transform back that she ended up forgetting entirely and transforming back only wearing underpants. Sara had giggled about it for days, though Hylaea never thought it funny at all.

"It's just around the corner, here,"

Quickly! They were nearly there! Sara pressed her hands together and her back against the tree. The stars, were they still here? No. No, she couldn't see the stars anymore. She hadn't seen the Mayharran stars in years and barely remembered them anymore. How could she transform if she didn't remember what her own stars looked like? Not easily, not easily at all.

It was harder to do it that way. But she had done it before, hadn't she? She closed her eyes and tried to see the stars in her mind, but the form was vague, the light wasn't familiar anymore. What could she do? There was, there were…her reliefs.

She had many reliefs of Srinia carved into her Underland, at least what was done so far. There were those. She had them all done, and the largest one, the one in the main room of her castle, she ordered…she ordered the stars carved there, right above Srinia's image. She had that done early on, when she still remembered the stars, so she would keep remembering them. Good.

It wasn't the same as home. Using stone stars for pinpoints instead of the real ones wasn't easy…it took so much extra effort, because the form itself responded to real stars, not images of them. It took so much longer now, even as she focused and reached for the innate power that bound her other form to her. It went slowly…her limbs melted together, reluctantly, and the skin and hair replaced with shining green scales. It didn't normally take this long. She'd have to work on it when she returned…

Thankfully it worked, and she collapsed into a coiled heap once the transformation was complete. She flicked her tongue in and out, tasting the cool air. She couldn't see very well anymore…the grass blades were clear in front of her, but beyond that it gradually blurred so all she could see where vague outlines and shapes. But she could taste them, everyone there. There was her horse, and there were three…four…five other horses on the outskirts of the glade. There were five people, too, but she couldn't tell. Who were they? Narnians, that's all she knew. They were people, not Beasts, she could tell that immediately.

"Here it is,"

She curled up tighter and her tail twitched as she sensed them enter the glade. Five people. Two of them had heavy footsteps.

"This is the glade, sire? It's not on the map."

"Well, Drinian, I guess we'll just have to put it on the map."

Drinian. The name sounded familiar. Maybe because it was similar to Rilian's?

"Very well, but I didn't bring any maps with me."

"That's fine," said the female voice. "I'm sure we can all remember where it is, right?"

"Remember?" asked a fourth voice. "Oh, absolutely. People memorize places for their maps all the time. No one actually maps it out, they just remember and then write it down later, and hope that it's going to be the same…"

"Oh, leave her alone,"

"Yes, you shouldn't make remarks about your future queen, you know." Scolded a different voice. "Or else she could exile you to the farthest reaches of…help me out here…"

"Calormen?" the female voice replied. "Yes, and make you live with the…the…whatever they have in Calormen."

"That would be Calormenes, dear."

"Oh. Well. Whatever else they have there that's absolutely horrendous."

"That would still be Calormenes."

Then there was laughter, and further words that Sara couldn't quite make out.

Sara's head came up, though she was careful still to stay hidden and not exhibit any behavior that wasn't natural for a snake. Well, this…this was certainly information if it was anything. But what information! Damn it all, there were hundreds of people in the world that could be in this glade at that moment, and the future queen of Narnia, oh, what was her name, had to be among them. Did the gods ever tire of doing this to her? Clearly not, though the gods were all a world away and shouldn't be wanting to bother with a lost enchantress anymore. But it was irony, no doubt, and the one thing all gods loved was irony.

She couldn't see very well and could just make out the outlines, but that girl's voice still reverberated in her mind. She knew that voice. She had liked that girl, too…the two of them had shared tea once a long time ago, and she had even gone so far as to say she reminded her of Hylaea. But that was before she learned who the girl was, and had long since vowed to somehow destroy that damned Archenland noble, someday to see the girl bowing to her and pressing her hands over her head in submission. But hearing her voice was all the worse…how could Sara ever have thought her pleasant? Maybe it was the snake's hearing that did it, that made Sal's voice suddenly grating on every nerve in Sara's small body. She bared her fangs, useless as they were except but to bite and startle one's victims, in an instinctive attempt to scare away her enemy.

Did that mean Rilian was here with her?

Oh gods, it did. Please let him speak again.

"I'm going to sit down. And then think of how I'm going to exile Fan to Calormen. Maybe I'll do it in an elaborate manner, you know, I can make him dress up and do that…didn't someone do that once? Dress someone up in Calormen robes and look…oh…ridiculous?" She felt the rustling of the grass as Sal sat down.

"That would be Rabadash. He was an extremely foolish Calormen who staged a war to win the hand of Queen Susan the Gentle, hundreds of years ago."

"Oh. Well, then. Look who doesn't know Narnian history as well as I should. Sorry, Lord Drinian, don't give me that look, I'll study as soon as we get back…"

That girl's voice, and…and that was Rilian's voice, speaking with her. She wasn't used to hearing it in this form, hence why she didn't recognize it sooner…but she knew his voice, she knew it immediately now that she was certain. Oh, he was here! She had to see him. If just to…to…to see him.

Knowing the risks, as always, she slithered forward and remained low in the grass. She could hear better, and even the outlines seemed a little clearer now. She could see the girl, though she obviously was a woman now, in the grass, lying on her back by the spring.

"Well, I know the names of all the kings and queens dating back to the first king and queen, Frank and Helen. That's a good thing, I'm sure. But I don't see why it's so important to know when you can just look it up in a book."

A sound of displeasure came from Drinian.

She heard laughter…Rilian's laughter, clear as the sunlight that filtered through the trees into the glade. The grass rustled as he sat down.

"Drinian likes his history far too much, Sal, just ignore him when he gets like this." he said to the woman…oh, right, Sal was her name…in a quiet voice. "Thinks it's absolutely important we memorize every bit of it. It's far more interesting to see it, though…remind me to take you to Beruna again, where the final battle was fought against the White Witch. Rumors have it that if you stand there on that summer day the battle took place and put your head to the ground, you can still hear the ghosts of all those who died there."

"Sounds mysterious." replied Sal in a dreamy voice.

"I'll take you there."

"I'll go with you."

"I'll just go see if there are any other glades." came Drinian's voice. "We'll go scout around and make ourselves useful, as the queen seems to think that we're still babysitters." Drinian added as an afterthought to the other men. Sara felt the, mount their horses and ride off. Well, they were gone, maybe she could get a little closer…just…just a little, enough to see…

"And how old do they think we are?" Sal asked.

"I'd say about…oh…thirteen, maybe," Rilian replied.

"Maybe we secretly are thirteen."

"Maybe. We just don't know it yet."

"They'll let us know in a few years."

"Then…well, by then we won't be thirteen anymore. They'll have to let us know now."

"Ah. Good point. Maybe they'll tell us when we get back. Unless they find this glade so fascinating that it'll distract them from letting us in on their deep, well-kept secret."

Just a little closer, she still couldn't see. There…there, she could see! The colors weren't there, everything was in a somewhat hazy black and white, but she could see now that she was close enough. Sal was still lying on the ground and Rilian was next to her, sitting up with one knee up and his hands resting on it, looking so relaxed, an amused smile on his face.

Sara put her head on the grass. He hadn't seen her, that was good. Did he even remember she had a starform? She had only transformed in front of him once, and it was so long ago even she didn't fully recall it. Surely he had forgotten.

He was looking comfortable, resting on the grass like that, his face turned slightly to catch the sun. She wanted to reach out and press her hand to his cheek and see him smile at her, though she didn't have hands right now…it was nearly overpowering, and she had to turn away for fear that she'd transform into her natural form if just to sit with him in the sun. Sal was, and…damned ungrateful girl! She didn't seem to appreciate it, sitting on her back and staring at the sky with her eyes half closed. It didn't seem to matter to her the fact that Rilian was next to her, talking to her and laughing. Did she even care? Foolish girl! He didn't deserve her, this idiot Archenland princess who didn't fully appreciate him and everything that he was! Sara curled her tail around and rested her head on it, fixing one eye on Sal. How she hated that girl, how she wished she could tell Rilian what a mistake he was making…this girl obviously didn't care about him. She was only a princess, wanting the same thing every princess wanted…access to the true power of the world, of course. Was she using him? Oh yes, that was entirely a possibility! The only possibility, really. Why else would she be here? She couldn't love him. Not the way Sara did…no one could, especially not this girl! This girl didn't know Rilian at all, she only shook her hair out and laughed in the sun and wanted Narnia. This girl only claimed to love him. She couldn't really, it had to be a lie, anything the girl said. Oh Rilian, why are you listening to her? She doesn't really love you. She doesn't understand you the way I do. Can't you see that?

But she was only a snake; she couldn't say anything. Snakes didn't speak.

If only Sara had the power to do away with her right here…hah, enchanting an entire Underland with nothing but power in her hands, yet she could not do this one simple thing. She couldn't kill the bloody foolish girl, for despite it all, she knew how he would look…oh, it would be a hundred times worse than when Sara killed the Shrew. She could never erase that look from her mind…such horror! Such utter shock that she would be capable of murder…oh, Rilian, I am capable of so much more than that, but I'll never show you. You don't need to see that. But I can't kill her…can I? It…wouldn't be too hard, a simple extract of deadly nightshade in the princess's tea and that would be the last they'd see of her.

Such a nice idea. Then she would die, and Rilian would realize his mistake…realize that he didn't love the princess anymore, that it was only a momentary thing…that's what he had said to Sara, momentary thing…and then he would come to her and take her hand and apologize, and say, I didn't mean what I said before, Sara, don't you know I have always loved you…

Then Drinian returned and she had to get back to the deeper cover of trees and grass. Sara couldn't see anymore, and she had to strain to hear their voices. Eventually she gave up but stayed there the whole afternoon anyway, watching them and trying to understand them.

No. No, Sara had been wrong. What was she thinking? Sal was selfish? No, of course not. The damnable princess loved Rilian every bit as much as she had. She remembered the way Sal had been when she went to visit in Cair and knew that she wouldn't lie and wouldn't manipulate anyone for selfish reasons.

And it wasn't right, none of this! It should be her in that glade, sitting next to him by the spring staring at the sky. She should be there, letting him play with her hair, laughing, telling ridiculous stories like that and commenting about the world and how preposterous it could be, just like they used to.

What did she think, that he would turn away from his princess and look at Sara again that same way? That he would take Sara's hand willingly in the face of the world? No. He never would. He'd come with her as a friend, perhaps, if he ever got over his terror of seeing her as a murderer. But he'd never do anything further. She had always seen in her mind him coming to her after she had taken Narnia, but no…no, he never would. He would never come to her voluntarily.

She closed her eyes and drifted off, a mere reptile soaking in the sun, until the sun set below the trees and they left the glade.

He'd never come to her again. He would sooner die than see his country taken over. And she still wanted him.

Sara transformed back into her natural form and took the jacket and boots that she had cast aside earlier, pulling them on and going back to her impatient horse. She kept fooling herself, thinking he would go back to her. That would never happen. He would die, she would die, nothing would work out. And the only reason she was doing any of this was to have him with her again…

No! She wasn't going to give up!

She jerked hard on the horse's reigns, and the horse let out a neigh of protest. What, was she just going to give up because of one setback? The Archenland princess she wouldn't have to worry about…that princess was only a normal princess, and Sara was a genuine evil enchantress, one with power enough to create a kingdom where no one else could. What threat could one princess be? None at all. She could find something to do to get rid of her, she could no doubt devise some plan. And…hadn't she come out here to change her plans, change her way of going about the conquest of the world? That was the original purpose for the ride out. And…and maybe…

Rilian would never stand with her voluntarily.

Maybe then he would stand with her involuntarily…

She mounted the horse and kicked it furiously in the sides. "Come on now, Thalia, hurry up now. Let's go home."

The horse bucked its head and set off at a slow trot, then gradually she sped it up to a gallop. She passed by several other glades like this one before breaking into open moor territory. The light was fading from the sky, casting long shadows from the rocks on the moor. The air was chilly now, and she was grateful for her coat. The sun continued to set, and there…there…she found her idea.

It came to her so suddenly that she pulled the horse to a stop, jerking on the reins and sending it skidding to a halt. The horse protested and whinnied angrily, staggering and throwing up showers of loose gravel and dirt as it tried to right itself. Stupid horse.

It was so clear that she couldn't see why she hadn't thought of it before.

She was only doing this to have him with her…she didn't particularly care about Narnia, it was only the means which would achieve the end. Well, she still wanted Narnia, if just to take the damnable land she had once lived in and shape it the way she wanted to, like she could do with anything, to show them that she had every bit the power that they believed she did and was no longer afraid to use it. But she knew she'd be defeated if she came alone with only her army. Well…

Years ago, they had often said with much suspicion that she was there only to enchant their prince and use him to take over the throne.

Well, why not?

It was so perfect, so brilliant, she scolded herself for not coming up with it earlier. It wasn't that hard to enchant people, she found. She had the whole Underland in her power, she took every single one of them and bent them to her will. They did nothing except what she put into their heads. How hard would it be to do the same thing to only one person? There would be difficulties, as she knew Rilian…he was nowhere near as submissive and bewildered as the people of the Underland would be. She would have to be careful.

It would be ideal. He belonged to her, he always did. She would find him and enchant him until he did, until he bowed over her hand and followed her wherever she asked.

Narnia couldn't do a damned thing then. Ah, she could see the surprise on their faces clear as day, the look on the king's face as he saw his son standing with her, sword drawn, prepared to fight the very country he came from. And the rest of Narnia would be helpless and shocked, knowing that their precious heir belonged, as he always had, to the same foreign enchantress they had cursed years before.

She wouldn't have to keep him enchanted forever. Only until she finished her work. And when it was over they would be married, and she would have…ah, what was the word? Legitimacy. It was the easiest way to join oneself to a country. If she married him, then it would be ten times easier to take over Narnia, for not only would she have her own army, but she would have true access to the throne and legitimacy over it.

Why hadn't she thought of this before? It was so simple. Then once enchanted, she would…she could truly make him hers, and he would again stand with her and promise her the universe.

It would have to be flawless. She knew by now what it was like to have plans that fell through, ones that crashed into nothing. Ah, but she wouldn't let that happen here! She'd create a plan, a grand master plan, and go through it until she was absolutely sure nothing would go wrong. Then she would start it…

It took a week to return to Harfang, and then several days to get back to Underland. They were all anxious for her return, naturally, since she had enchanted them to be loyal to her. And finally she was back in her castle, sitting in the throne she had carved for herself, one hand resting on the armrest and the other hand flipping idly through her book, which still worked, even after all these years. Perhaps that was a small mercy from the gods back at home, allowing at least the enchanted book to stay as such.

It would not be easy. There would be so much that could go wrong, as there always was. But there was time now. Sara smiled. She had all the time in the universe.