Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia, C.S. Lewis's Stepson does. All I own are the characters that Lewis didn't come up with.

Chapter 21

Amber's Story

Petra suddenly found a mindless centaur on each side of here. Before she could react, they had grabbed her and were carrying her off. She glanced behind her to see Amber following them.

Soon they set her down and pulled her hands behind her and tied her to a wooden post. Amber waved her hand and the two centaurs left. "It's just the two of us, Susan's Heir." She said, nonchalantly as she sat down in a ornate chair opposite the post Petra was tied to. "I'm waiting …"

"For … what?" Petra asked.

"For you to deliver my doom," said Amber, with a fake surprised voice. "Isn't that why you've come here? Oh, you don't know how? That's too bad."

Petra didn't respond, concentrating on trying to pull her hands out of her ropes.

"It seems we're in a stalemate, Susan's Heir," Amber continued. "You can't do anything about me, and, unfortunately, I can do nothing to you directly with my magic."

Petra stopped struggling and looked up with surprise. "You can't …"

"It's unfortunate, isn't it? However, I can still starve you to death. Doesn't that sound fine?"

"I'd die of dehydration first," Petra muttered, returning to her attempt to free herself.

"What's that?" asked Amber. "I didn't quite catch that."

"Why are you doing this, Amber?" Petra asked. "Beyond the obvious 'because you can.'"

"You are a sharp one, Susan's Heir," said Amber. "Why am I doing this, why am I doing this? Well, I've got you tied up because I can't do anything else to you, and it'd be very dangerous for me to just let you run around loose, now wouldn't it? Or are you talking about why I'm here, tormenting this horrid country you call Narnia?"

"That would be a nice explanation," Petra replied.

"Well, you see, I'm taking revenge for my sister, Peridot," Amber said with a wave of her hand. "Rilian killed her, you see. It's only the proper thing to do."

Petra's struggling went slack again. "Your sister?"

"You may know her better by her title," Amber replied. "She hated her name, you see, said it way too boyish for someone of such great beauty, so she went by her title exclusively."

"Her title?"

Amber rested her elbows on the arms of the chair and steepled her fingers. "She was called the Lady of the Green Kirtle. I am called the Lady of the Red Kirtle."

"She kidnapped Rilian and killed his mother!" Petra exclaimed.

"You're familiar with the story, then?" Amber asked, elegantly arching an eyebrow. "Of course, Rilian would have published it and made sure everyone knew how he killed a woman."

"She was a serpent!" Petra exclaimed, pulling against the rope.

"And so was I, at the time," Amber said, simply. "When my sister was killed, her power was transferred to me. Now I am a Dragon."

Petra decided not to respond to that, re-concentrating her attention to the ropes.

"We belong to an old order, Susan's Heir," Amber went on. "It dates back to the days of Jadis herself. You see, she got bored and lonely all alone in those horrid wastlands, so she found and adopted a poor young girl. When Jadis was killed, her magic went to the girl. The girl, now a older woman, adopted another girl, and her magic went to this girl when she died, and on and on it has gone. Unfortunately, the imortality did not The magic has never been quite the same each generation, as you can tell. You may recall that when Rilian's father took the throne, an offer to summon Jadis was made – but it wouldn't have summoned Jadis herself, but the current possessor of her power. My sister and I, coincidentally, are the first to have two of us have the power at the same time, however short it lasted. My sister was just too ambitious, you see."

Amber stood up. "I think I will leave you, now, Susan's Heir. I'm a busy person, and, as enjoyable as it may be, I can't sit around and entertain you all day." Then she swept out of the room, leaving Petra to her thoughts attempts to free herself from her bonds.

Author's Note: And here's chapter 21. And, yes, I completely disregard the movies. They're great on their level, but to me only the books and most of the time-line is cannon. Anyways, please leave a review and tell me what you think!