And so two weeks passed. The rebuilding was coming along quite nicely…granted, still more died after the initial collapse, but that was hardly important in the larger scheme of things. The diggings would start again soon, but not in that place…she'd have to find a more stable area for it. She set the Warden on that task, and he was busy with that.
She had forgotten entirely about Brin. He wasn't important to her anymore.
Two weeks passed in a dream. It was her own creation, and she was proud of it and all she had done here. She never looked Rilian directly in the eyes, for fear of seeing the enchantment she still left there, but it soon became a habit to turn away and she thought nothing of it. There was nothing else to think about, when for two weeks things were more wonderful and perfect then they had been in a long time. Every time she was with him, he could only talk to her, and promise her he'd never leave her again. He would stay here forever in this kingdom and stay by her side until the stars rained down from the heavens.
There was nothing greater she could ask for. It was too wonderful to hear him whisper to her again, hold her in his arms and assure her that it would all be fine, that this kingdom was perfect, everything both of them could have wanted. He said he never missed Narnia, never thought of it anymore…what Narnia, he would ask. What world is that?
It is nowhere, she would tell him. Don't worry your mind with it anymore.
And he wouldn't.
Two weeks passed and he hardly mentioned Narnia at all, only when she brought it up, and they would talk as before, about the things that went on back at home, and how much he often detested it all and was so much more at peace here with her.
She didn't keep him enchanted all the time. After all, she was not a goddess, only a great and powerful enchantress. She allowed him time free during the day, time to himself…seven hours seemed about right. She left him in the castle with orders to the guards not to let him out, and she kept herself busy during those hours. She had enough to keep her busy where it didn't matter, and by the time she returned, she renewed the enchantment before he could say anything.
It was only that moment that she felt most unsure, but it passed quickly. For a moment their eyes would meet, and he would open his mouth to demand something of her…but before he could, she refreshed the enchantment, and his eyes would slide away and take on that slightly odd, unfocused look, and then he would forget what he was going to say.
It was wonderful. It was life, it was what she had wanted for the longest time. And two weeks passed without notice.
Two guards stood at the entrance, just as they had every day since he came here.
"I'm sorry, but her majesty's orders," one of them said, shrugging. "You aren't allowed out. This is what she said, and her word is law."
"I don't care about her cursed word!"
The two guards blinked, but were otherwise unfazed by the prince's shouting. He shouted more lately, but it went past them all.
"We obey her word," replied the first guard. "Nothing we can do to change that. Her word is law."
Law. This was utterly absurd. This all was. Rilian didn't know how much time had passed…weeks, he knew, but he didn't know how many, for everyone refused to tell him. They would avert their eyes and change the subject, only telling him that he himself had said he didn't care how much time passed, that he wanted to spend his life in the court of their queen. He insisted that they let him go, that he wanted to get back home…but they never believed him. Why would they, they would all say patiently, when you yourself have told us you desire never to return home?
He never said that. He didn't tell them anything of the sort. Accursed gnomes, why did they want to keep him here?
Sara wouldn't answer any of his questions either. He had tried to get her to say something…anything…but she never did. She would leave, and the entire day he wouldn't be able to find her, no matter where he looked. Then she would return, only for a moment…and then he couldn't remember anything for the longest time, and the next time he opened his eyes she was gone. What was going on? No one told him. And so much time had passed…but how much? And what of back home? Was anyone looking for him? Where was home, from this place? It was all so confused, even more jumbled than back in Narnia.
For a moment he was so sure the strange madness that had afflicted him before was gone. That moment passed…now he was almost certain he was mad. It was the only explanation for having said things he couldn't remember saying, for having entire moments in his mind that he could not recall. It had to be.
The guards knew something. Why else were they refusing to let him out?
"Fine. Fine, it's her orders, whatever you say. At least…do you know one called Brin?"
"Brin? Yes," one of the guards nodded.
"Can you bring him here?"
There was a long pause as the guards stared at each other. Rilian hadn't asked them anything else before this…only if he could leave, which of course they denied. Sara had given them orders on that. But could he ask something else? He had a right to know what was going on, curse them all. He was the prince of Narnia, even if he was losing his mind. He remembered Brin from the first day, and…well, Brin seemed willing to tell him things back then, maybe he could again. It was worth a try, as Sara seemed…never here, as far as he could tell.
"She didn't say not to," the guard whispered.
"But she didn't say we were allowed," replied the other.
"No, she only said he wasn't allowed to leave. She didn't say he couldn't talk to anyone…"
"Should we get Brin, then?"
"You do it."
"No, you do it."
"It was your idea."
"Fine. I'll go." The second guard glared briefly at Rilian and then disappeared down the dark streets. They were lit only by a strange phosphorescent glow that came from something that had the semblance of streetlights. It wasn't enough to fully light the roads, and only made them shine odd and eerie in the night, if this was even night.
The first guard crossed his spear in front of him.
"You don't have to do that," Rilian told the guard. "I'm not going to try and leave. I'm just going to wait for Brin."
The guard didn't believe it, obviously, and remained firmly where he was.
It took awhile before the second guard returned with Brin. Brin didn't look the same…his clothes were tattered, the royal dress he had worn before gone, and so was his three pronged spear and the small cuffs of silver he had around each wrist. His head was down, and his arms were limp at his sides.
"Here is Brin," the guard replied. "But keep it short. We found him in the workers' quarter, or what's left of him." He pushed Brin down, and the earthman fell to his knees and then into a motionless heap on the floor. "All the worst of them are in that quarter. Her majesty's orders. That's where they all go to die." He sounded completely toneless when he said that, as if the death of workers meant very little to him.
"Thank you." Rilian knelt down in front of Brin. "Brin? Brin, are you awake? Can you hear me?"
Brin rolled over, blinking bewildered eyes at the prince.
"What?" Brin's voice was hoarse.
"What did they do to you, Brin?"
"Do I know you?" Brin asked, confused.
"Yes, don't you remember me? Prince Rilian. I was the one that your queen brought back here…"
"I don't remember," Brin sounded despairing.
"You do. Here, it'll just…why don't you come with me? You look terrible. What have they been doing to you?"
The guards stepped away, leaving Brin and Rilian alone. Neither of them wanted to get anywhere close to Brin, knowing that he was one of the ones sentenced to the worker section, and that everyone who went there died sooner or later. It was bad luck to be around people like that for long.
"I work," Brin replied. "What's wrong with that? It is my sentence,"
"What sentence? Brin, you didn't do anything."
Brin's eyes darted around the room, and then he sat up, looking directly at Rilian. He stared for awhile like that, seemingly blank, before his brow furrowed. "Do I know you?"
"Yes, you do. We met before, though I'm unsure of how long ago."
"Oh…you were…" Brin nodded slowly. "You were her majesty's prince,"
"Good! I'm glad you remember me now, Brin. I certainly remember you, and that's why I called you here. I wanted to see you, Brin, as you're one of the few people that I remember."
"That's good," Brin's voice slid away for a moment. "Yes! You were here a long time ago! That's why I was sentenced!" Brin stood up, swaying on his feet. "That's why! I remember!"
Rilian stood as well. Brin's behavior had always been odd, distinctly different from the emotionless faces and expressions of the other earthmen and the blind subservience of Mullugutherum. If there was anyone who could give him an honest answer, it was this strange earthman.
"I'm glad you do, Brin. Why were you sentenced? Who sentenced you?"
Brin blinked several times. "Can't tell…you…" he glanced towards the guards. "Can't! I can't, I…" He pressed his hands to his head. "Go away!" he almost screeched. "Go away! Go…" his hands fell away, and a smile suddenly crossed his face. "She's not paying attention to me!" he said. He took several steps closer to Rilian, so close they were nearly touching. "She's not thinking of me. She's not noticing me. Let's…walk…somewhere!" Brin's voice was so strangely desperate that Rilian agreed to do that, glancing briefly back at the guards before walking through the lit passageways into different parts of the castle with Brin.
The further they got from the guards, the more Brin spoke. He kept looking at Rilian as if the prince were the only thing in the world keeping Brin from whatever terror he had in his mind.
"Now Brin," Rilian said, slowly, when he figured they were a safe distance from the guard. "Why were you sentenced?"
Brin looked nervously around him. "It was her majesty's decision," he said confidentially. "She saw me talking to you. I disobeyed her orders by taking you to Elder Thanagel…I mean…Thanagel, because there aren't elders anymore. She was very angry because…" he grinned. "Because I remembered to call Thanagel an Elder, and no one is allowed to do that anymore. It's because of you, don't you know. When you're here, I know what I'm talking about. Not all the time…only…only now. She was so angry. She wouldn't let me see anything for days."
"Who, Sara?"
He blinked. "The queen,"
"Her name is Sara. Don't you call her that?"
He looked at Rilian as if calling the queen by her real name was the most absurd thing in the entire Underland. "No," he replied. "Never. She's our queen, that would be…disrespectful. We don't want to make her angry, like I did. She didn't want me doing that to you, and so she put me with the workers when she let me have my sight back. I'm going to die there. Everyone dies when they work on the tunnels…"
"What tunnels?"
"I shouldn't have said that!" Brin clapped his hands over his mouth, his eyes widening in terror. "Forget I mentioned it! She will kill me for sure!"
There was no one else in the entire hall, and it felt like the whole castle was empty when Sara wasn't there. It was his only chance. He gripped Brin's arms, forcing the earthman to look right at him.
"Brin," he said, calmly. "I want you to tell me why you are so afraid of Sara when as far as I've known her, she wasn't given to any cruelties or hurtful actions. I want to know what these tunnels are for, and…you know more than you let on. Why am I here, Brin?"
"Hasn't she told you?" Brin's voice was no more than a terrified whisper.
"No, she hasn't, and that's why I'm asking you. If she won't tell me, I was determined to find someone who would. I'm not a fool, Brin. I know something is wrong."
Brin shivered. "There is," he whispered.
"What? Tell me,"
"No…she'll kill me…"
"I'll tell her not to. Does she listen to me?"
Brin nodded.
"Then you have my word. I won't let her do any of those things. Now tell me…"
Brin's mouth opened and closed, and it seemed an absolute struggle for him to bring the words to his lips. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and shaky and barely audible.
"She's going to keep you here forever," he said. "She's not going to let you go home. She's taking your mind, like she did with all the rest of us. The tunnel is for…your world. Your Narnia. She doesn't like Narnia," Brin shook his head vigorously. "She tells us all the time how much she hates it, and how much better it will be when she takes it over. That's what the tunnel is for. She's ordered us all to dig, and we're going to dig until we reach the surface…in your Narnia…and then…have you seen the army? She has one. It's vast. She's making Elder Virk command it. She's going to use it and take over your world, and kill…the king…and keep you with her forever and rule your world. That's what we're all here doing. She's making a kingdom so she can take yours. And kill everyone in your world so she can make it the way she wants to…" Brin's voice tapered away, and he jerked his arms out of Rilian's grasp. "She's going to work us until we all die, as long as she makes it to the surface. I don't know what lady you know, my lord, but our queen is a vicious tyrant who will kill us all to achieve what she wants…" Brin backed away slowly. "And now she's going to kill me because she doesn't have my mind anymore. If I stay with you I'll keep it, but she's going to find out and she's going to kill me! I don't want to die!" Brin wailed.
Rilian let go of the earthman, and Brin fell to the ground with a wail.
She's making a kingdom so she can take yours. And kill everyone in your world so she can make it the way she wants to.
No, that was completely impossible. Sara was an honest healer, she was a lady who happened to come by a kingdom by whatever strange means brought it to her. She wasn't…a tyrant. Why…why would she want to take over Narnia? She always said how little interest she had in it, how content she was with her Harfang and all that in the north. She wouldn't…kill the king…
He looked back at Brin, who was cringing away from the door in fear. The earthman was so terrified…of what? Sara wasn't a witch.
"I want to be sure you're not lying, Brin," Rilian said slowly. "I don't want you to lie to me."
"Would I lie?" asked Brin. "No. No, I'd never lie."
"Then…"
"You have to get out of here," Brin insisted. "Quickly! If you stay here, she'll make it so that you can never leave. She always told us how important it was to have you here. You have to go. Get past the guards, find a way out right now, before she returns!"
Brin's terror was real. His words may be false, but he seemed to really believe them, with an insistence that was almost impossible and improbable.
"Just go," Brin pointed towards the door. "Go, get out of here!" He sounded too afraid to be lying…but could people be afraid of lies? Of course they could. The gnome had to be lying. Sara would never do any of that.
"What is going on here?"
"Guards!" hissed Brin. "They're coming because I remember! She's going to kill me! You have to go before she finds out…" Brin pushed Rilian with great effort, and he stumbled towards the door.
The guards had reached the door by this point, and both had crossed their spears in front of them, blocking the exit.
"What is going on here?" demanded the first, his voice still toneless but gruff.
"Is Brin causing trouble? No wonder, never trust any of those from the worker district…"
"What lies is he telling you?"
Brin cringed away from the two guards and covered his face. "Don't tell her majesty!" he peeked through two fingers back at Rilian. "Just get out of here before she gets back," he added, trying to be quiet, though the guards obviously noticed.
The guards exchanged glances. One of them hauled Brin to his feet and started marching him out the door, ignoring his violent protests. The other touched the spear lightly to Rilian's back, not enough to cause any damage but enough to be uncomfortable.
"Back to the room with you," he said. Rilian had no choice but to follow him, back up the numerous stairs and into his room. They had already put Brin there by the time Rilian arrived, and Brin's hands and feet were tied.
"What did Brin say to you? Bloody fool he is, you shouldn't listen to anything that he says."
"He lies," agreed the second guard.
Brin only whimpered, struggling in vain against the cords.
"I told him the truth," Brin finally said, withering under the guards' sharp glares. "What her majesty has planned."
"What? Which one of her great plans?" the guard said. "She has many great plans, Brin, and you don't do well to demean them."
"All of them! That she's going to take us…to the Overworld…"
There was a brief shudder as the guards thought of the Overworld, but it quickly passed.
"It is her will," the second guard said. "It is not our job to question her will. If her will is that we tunnel through to the Overworld and kill their lord, then that is what we must do." The guard shrugged. "It is what she wants of us."
"Really," It was obvious that Rilian didn't believe any of them.
"Yes," the first guard nodded sagely. "This is her great plan, and we do not speak up against it, and neither do you. But you won't, because she is going to keep you here forever. Such is her will."
The second guard hauled Brin to his feet. "Now, away with you," the guard said gruffly, waiting for Brin to get his balance before leading him out the door. The other guard rushed after Brin, muttering something about how dangerous people like that should stay in the workers' quarter forever and not bother all the honest folk elsewhere. They closed the door behind them and once again the room was silent.
This was preposterous. That was the only word Rilian could think of…completely preposterous, absurd, and far too strange for his liking. Things in Narnia were always very straightforward…if something was going on, it was obvious to tell. Here he couldn't get a handle on anything. He had barely seen Sara since the first day, and now these gnomes were telling him that she was planning complete domination of Narnia, going to kill his father and keep Rilian himself prisoner here forever.
If there was anything in the world that was absurd, it was certainly that. Sara had always been an odd girl, but she was a healer…and failing that, she was Harfang's lady, the first to tame the wild giants of the north. None of that constituted world domination…it wasn't in her nature to do anything like that. The last time they had met…no, there was still too much of a healer in Sara for her to do anything vicious like that.
Still, she killed someone once.
But he didn't know why, and to this day he didn't. She killed that Shrew back at home, but maybe it was in self defense, maybe it was for some other reason he didn't know. But she looked horrified when she had done it…he could remember her face, white and pale through all the blood…she was terrified of that.
He had perhaps long since put out the quavering words she had said from his mind…her unsure yet thorough insistence of…he deserved it, he deserved to be killed…
Still. She never had any interest in conquering anything. Yet there was a lot she wasn't telling him in this time he had been here, though he didn't know how long that was either.
But that wasn't anything like her. He didn't understand what was wrong with these strange gnomes and their insistence that she was their great queen and they had to obey her every wish.
This was absurd. These gnomes, their blind obedience to her, their boldly telling him preposterous plans that she would never make. It was too strange, it didn't make any sense, and Rilian was very tired of being confused.
He stood up and ran a hand through his hair, thinking. He was going to leave, he decided right there. Surely there had to be a way back to Narnia from here. She mentioned it once…there were numerous tunnels leading back to the surface. Surely there was one she used when she went back to Harfang…that one would be the easiest to find. It would probably be more worn than the others and have some sort of marker to show the way. He could get there…there was a pier, wasn't there? Yes, and boats. He'd take a boat to the other side of the Sea and there he was sure to find the tunnel that would take him home.
It was a simple enough plan. It had to in some way be considered an escape plan, wasn't it? But that too was another equally absurd thought…he wasn't a prisoner here, at least not the way she spoke. Yet the guards treated him as such, saying he belonged to the queen, refusing to let him leave the castle while she was gone, and being so reluctant to let him see Brin.
It all didn't match up.
Either way, he was leaving. He was going to leave before this got any stranger, or, even worse, before it decided to make sense.
She said he wasn't a prisoner, or at least she gave no indication of it. If she was their queen, then it was her words that were truthful, not the words of these obviously mad gnomes. Yes…yes, of course, that was it. It was the gnomes that were mad, not him. They were the ones saying all this nonsense. He was perfectly clearheaded.
Rilian opened the door and started purposefully down the corridor. Several gnomes stopped to stare at him, but none of them moved from their spots or appointed tasks. After all, he was the queen's guest. There was no reason for them to be suspicious of anything. He was thankful he remembered the way to the entrance, and at the moment there were no guards there…they had just left their post, and he could see them walking back to a different part of the castle. He waited patiently while they left, and then opened the doors and walked out into the city.
This was not an escape. He kept telling himself this, over and over, as he walked through the dark streets of the city. He was merely…leaving the city, with the intention perhaps of returning on a different day completely of his own volition.
He'd return once he found his way back home and knew exactly where this was, and was far away from the mad gnomes. He'd write to Sara and apologize for his quick departure and ask if they could meet again under better circumstances. When he got home he would find a genuine healer…maybe even Nirisath…and try to find out the reason for the strange madness that had gripped him for awhile now. He still couldn't place it, and a part of him felt perhaps he didn't want to understand it. Maybe ignorance would be better. Maybe the madness would disappear, maybe it was a momentary thing brought on by the death of his mother…
No! He wouldn't think of her death, not now, not here! Right now he just had to get out of the city. He had to find the path, find the piers, try to get by the gnomes' prying eyes that peered accusingly at him from every corner…
This wasn't an escape. Stop thinking of it like that, he insisted as he found his way through the streets that twisted through the city. They were all dimly lit, the only light coming from streetlights that glimmered with an unnatural white glow not bright enough to see anything more than a few feet in front of you. The earthmen moved past him, carrying lanterns that had the same sickly light to them. From the top of the castle the Underland did look beautiful, with the lights glimmering all over the city, looking just like any city back at home. But the lights that could be seen from the castle were far different here in the actual city…they were dimmer and dull, just as distant as the faces behind them.
The gnomes all ignored him for the most part. They were too busy going about their work to notice him leaving. But there were several others…all with the three-pronged spears…that gave him strange looks as he passed. They whispered to one another, and briefly pointed, and then one of them would vanish on some path that wasn't lit at all and the other would remain where he was.
But for some reason it felt terribly much like escaping…trying to avoid the eyes of the ones he recognized as guards, trying to act purposeful but distant like the rest of them, and trying to pretend that he wasn't going against whatever strange decree they had in this unnatural land.
Most of the roads he found led to the pier. There were several that led to the workers' district, but he was turned from those by the guard informing him in that same flat, dead voice that all the rest of them had that he didn't want to go this way, only the worst and the condemned were put down this road.
The waves lapped on the dock and even that was strangely quiet.
This whole place was. No city in the world should be quiet, especially not at the pier. There should be ships coming and going…which there were, but they were all quiet ships that barely made a noise except when their hulls scraped the dock as they ran aground. They moved about with that same silent purpose, holding their dim lanterns in front of them and unloading the boats. It wasn't right.
A guard looked right at him. The guard's face twitched for a moment and so did its oversized ears, and the he pointed to Rilian and said something to another guard. Then his arm fell back at his side, and he shrugged, and they both seemed to ignore Rilian…but it was obvious he wasn't being ignored. They had seen him, and they knew he wasn't supposed to be out here.
It was preposterous. It still was. But now it was most definitely an escape, albeit a completely ridiculous one that shouldn't even be counted as such…
There was a small boat at the pier, tied up and unused. He climbed into it and untied the knot, and surprisingly the boat shot off across the water completely of its own accord. It must have been spelled, like practically everything else in this kingdom. He looked behind him, clutching the sides of the boat to keep himself from falling out, as he watched the pier quickly vanish into the distance, the lights becoming no more than pin pricks in the darkness. The water was black, and the further he got from shore the more he realized…that…there was nothing else out here. There was only a dim lantern in this boat, and the water…the terribly dark water that was icy cold as it sprayed into his face.
Halfway across the Sea…at least, he assumed it was halfway…the boat started slowing down. Clearly the magic was wearing off the further he got from the shore. It slowed…and slowed even more…and finally it stopped altogether.
Rilian's first instinct was to grab the dim lantern and hold it over his head. The light was still on, though it too was fading fast…was that the magic fading? Or was it the fact that the boat had gone so fast that the water was putting it out? Rilian was wet through by the freezing water, and hoped very much to get to the other side and find the passage soon, before the light went out, and before he caught pneumonia from the cold and the darkness of this place. Did darkness cause pneumonia? No, but the dampness would, and the cold would, didn't it? He couldn't remember.
There was nothing here but water, and the water stretched out into the distance in all directions…he knew the shore was behind him, but how far did he have to go to find the other shore? Was there even a right way? This was stupid, completely idiotic, especially soaking wet and with the lantern about to go out. He should have found a map, who cared if that made other people suspicious.
Was there any way to get the boat moving again? Yes, there was one he could use. But it was still ridiculous, the idea of him rowing a cursed boat this far underground. It was as ridiculous as the twenty armed woman in the tapestry back in that strange dark castle.
Well, there was no other way to get this boat moving. As long as he got out and back home safely, they didn't have to know how. After all, it would most likely be told in some ridiculously heroic manner, because that's what they did in Narnia. No one had to know. He had to get out of here, and if that involved paddling, then so be it.
He glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see a boat approaching, or someone else coming…anything. A guard. Several guards. A whole plethora of guards chasing after him, their muttered words turning into full shouts. What would they do? Would they do anything? Either way…oh they were certainly coming after him, he was sure of it at that moment…and when they found him, maybe they would kill him…they'd be so angry they'd drive their three pronged spears into his heart and leave him to die on the shore…
That image was so vivid and terrifying that he immediately stuck the oar in the water and started rowing, trying to get away from the shore, as far away into the blackness that would cover him and let him get out of here as soon as possible…
But after an hour of this, he had to stop. He was exhausted, and there was a huge difference between lifting a sword and fighting with it and rowing a small boat in a lake for an extended period of time. He collapsed back into the boat, lying on his back, soaking wet by this point, with the lantern flickering madly in the darkness as the boat rocked back and forth.
Where was this, even? Was he finding his way to the opposite shore, or was he getting lost…terribly lost, doomed to wander forever in a black lake until he died of thirst or starvation? Maybe that's what the guards wanted. They were whispering to each other, telling each other to leave him alone and let him get so lost he'd die out on this terrible dark lake.
He wanted to keep moving, but he was too tired. There was no shore in sight, and he didn't have a compass that could help him somehow determine the right way.
Well, this was stupid. So much for Narnian heroism. Narnian prince died underground in a mysterious black lake because he forgot to take a map or a compass or anything useful. Wouldn't Stalis be proud…Stalis was a great tracker, and he would shake his head sadly and say something about how disappointed he was that Rilian forgot all of his training and perished in a black lake. That was, if they ever found him. Or he could just die in the lake and his body would rot in the boat until someone found it…probably one of those mad gnomes…and then they'd go ahead and burn it and no one would ever find anything of what happened to him.
No, such thoughts had to stop. Being morbid did absolutely nothing. Sitting here thinking morose things wouldn't help this attempted escape. There was still a chance. He had to keep trying.
He sat back up and renewed his rowing.
A half hour later, there was still nothing. He was no more close to his goal than he was before. He still couldn't see anything and now…and now there was still nothing. The nothing was even more bothersome than the paddling. Wasn't someone supposed to be chasing after him? That's what they looked like they were going to do! Before they forbid him even to leave the castle, and now that they didn't…ought they to be chasing? Some sort of pursuit, even? The lack of pursuit was ten times worse than if it actually happened…the waiting, the wondering, the…the strange hope that it would, just to give direction and some semblance of normalcy! It was too dark and quiet here, and he felt he was the only person alive in this entire Underland.
And after another half hour of this, and still nothing, he was completely lost, and now almost wanting an escape just to give him direction. And bored.
The boredom made no sense, really. But it was as if all the adrenaline had been entirely depleted by the bleak scene and left him sitting in a boat with no idea where he was, tired from paddling, drenched with all the water, and bored. Bored with waiting and not having any idea where to go. Bored because…this was an escape! Escapes were supposed to be daring and exciting and have people to run away from, to evade capture, to hide from…it didn't involve sitting in a boat in the middle of a lake with nothing else around!
The shore had to be there somewhere. It had to be…
He had to keep going.
Twenty minutes later, the boat ran aground.
Rilian didn't move for a minute once he felt the boat scrape the shore and heard the familiar sound of gravel against wood. He only closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath, and then groped for the lantern which was now almost completely out and stood up. There. He had found something. There was a shore, and no one was chasing after him. He didn't even know if this was the right way, but it was a shore, it had to count for something!
He stepped out of the boat and onto the ground. He had to get out of this preposterous land before anything stranger happened, even though he had no idea where to go from here.
There had to be a tunnel. He held the lantern up in front of him, but it barely gave off any light. Maybe this was the wrong shore. Maybe he had drifted and hit the western shore instead of the furthest one from the pier. He reached out a hand in front of him and took several steps, and then more, and then…then he felt his hand brush cold stone. Oh, maybe it was the wrong shore, and there weren't any tunnels here at all, just a blank stone face and nothing else to be found. And no way to get the lantern started again! Curse this all!
A light went on. Then another. Then several more.
Rilian squinted as the light came on, startled and blinded by the sudden brightness after all that darkness. His eyes watered in the light and for a moment he couldn't see anything.
Then several faces came into view…guards. Gnomes, with their spears and their solemn, expressionless faces…twenty of them, perhaps, all giving him the same look. Guards. People.
For an even stranger moment he felt relieved, almost thankful that there was someone here! Guards, real guards, with lanterns and their spears…now this was an escape! A proper escape. He breathed a sigh of relief, because this could be dealt with…fighting the guards off, taking their lanterns and maybe searching for a map. Surely they had one on them.
"You're to come with us," the first guard said, leaving no room for Rilian to say anything else. "You are under arrest for attempting to escape against Her Majesty's orders, and we must bring you back to the queen immediately."
"I'm afraid that will not be possible," Rilian replied as calmly as possible. "I have no intention of returning. Now if you would be so kind as to give me one of your lanterns and show me a way out of here, I will be glad to depart before any harm comes to you and your people."
"I repeat, we have orders." The guard stepped forward, bringing the spear in front of him and at the ready. "We are to bring you back immediately."
"And I have no intention of cooperating."
The guard nodded at two of the others. "Then we will have no choice but to bring you back by force."
For some reason, this made Rilian more furious than anything else they had done so far. They thought they could bring him back against his will! He was the prince of Narnia, and was not someone to be dragged about by gnomes in a land he didn't even know how he got to! He wouldn't take this anymore!
"Then come and try!" he snarled, drawing his sword.
Three guards rushed forward with their spears immediately. He swung forward, striking one of the guards on the back of the head with the flat of his sword. He wouldn't kill any of them. A second came and he ducked under the spear that was aimed at his head and instead dodged to the left and sliced, managing to cut behind the knee tendons of one of them. But there were so many guards, and they all came forward at once…he managed to take another one down, and then a third, a fourth…and then he felt the dull side of the spear connect with the base of his neck.
All at once, the guards' faces swam before him. He fell to the ground, the sword clattering next to him, all ideas of fighting forgotten in an instant. He felt dizzy and faint, and now it was just a struggle to stay upright…a struggle that failed. His arms were too tired to support his weight as he tried to push himself up off the ground, and he collapsed, feeling only the cold stone beneath his cheek. Curse this. Curse this, he failed, he couldn't escape now…but maybe he could at least…just sleep…
He felt rough hands pulling him up.
"Take him," the guard ordered. "We have to take him before the queen straightaway. Put him in the boat."
"But look," a hand touched the back of his head, and he felt a horrible shattering pain lance through his skill. He closed his eyes tight, but that did absolutely nothing to stop it. He tried to protest, but didn't even have the strength to do that, and the pain was too horrible that all he could manage was a weak choking sound.
"That's not good," the guard said.
"Then get him to the queen faster. She'll know what to do."
"Fine."
Rilian wasn't entirely sure what happened next. He knew he was moving, but by this point he was fading in and out of consciousness and could barely grasp what was happening in front of him. There were guards and occasionally they would talk, but for the most part only remained deathly silent. Too quiet. Never a good thing. And he was cold. The guards never spoke now. Silence. Too much silence. And they were moving, and he wished they would stop moving. They didn't. They kept moving.
"Now get up," something pushed him to his feet and he staggered and was about to fall again when whoever it was grabbed his shoulders and held him upright. "Don't fall. Her Majesty will not be happy if you are harmed further in any way."
As long as they helped him move. He couldn't walk. Didn't want to. Wasn't he trying to escape? Yes, he should try that again…for a moment he managed to tear himself from their grasp, the remembrance of escaping so strong in his mind that he forgot the horrible pain. He only took a few steps before nearly falling again, unable to figure out which was the ground and which was the sky, and they all melted together in a horrible way that made him ill.
Then there were lights. Lights, moving through something large, and too many colors…he closed his eyes because the lights were too painful and so were the colors. That many colors shouldn't be allowed. Get rid of them.
The door opened. That was good. Maybe then he could escape, once the door was…opened…or something.
"What is it, Morpal?" a voice floated out of the room. It was a lovely voice, melodious, and that person had to be a good singer, surely. "I'm busy, if you can't already tell. Ican needs ten stitches and I'm almost done, unless you want this head wound to gape right open and bleed all over the floor, which is what will happen unless I finish these stitches. Want that to happen, Morpal? I certainly don't. So let me finish before you come to me."
"It's urgent, your majesty."
"Well, then tell me quickly. But…ah, hold on, and don't you move, Ican, I'm almost done." There was a long pause, and the colors were all blending together with the light in some horrible way and they wouldn't stop. He was tired. They wouldn't let him sleep. They kept holding him upright. It was ridiculous. They should just let him go and let him escape.
"There. Ican, you're done. Come back to me in a week and I will take the stitches out."
There was a soft sound as someone brushed past Rilian, nearly knocking him to the ground. Then he was being moved again by someone…and then the hands let him go. He tried to stand on his feet, but that didn't seem to be working. He collapsed onto the floor, which was richly carpeted, and the carpet was so soft and the color was dark and soothing. Now he would sleep, if they let him.
Then he heard her speak again.
"What…what is this?" her voice was a whisper, but he could still hear it.
"He was trying to escape, your majesty," the guard said. "He stole a boat from the dock and was trying to get to the tunnels on the other side. We caught him before he could do that and brought him back to you. He was trying to fight off all of us and was very nearly succeeding him, and it was all quite dangerous. But we brought him to you, your majesty."
"Escape?" she sounded disbelieving. "And…what have you done to him, Morpal? If you have harmed him, I shall have to kill you, you know."
Rilian struggled to sit up again, and this time managed to, with the help of what he assumed was the queen they were talking about. He could barely see her through the dizziness, and the sudden movement made him sick. She moved too fast and all he could tell was she was a blotch of green on his vision.
"Oh dear," she said. "Morpal, I am afraid that I will have to have you killed anyway."
"I brought him back to you!" protested Morpal.
"Yes, but he has a terrible concussion, and he would have died if you hadn't brought him to me immediately. I cannot allow that, Morpal. Stand over there."
Then he felt her hand touch the back of his head, and it sent a shock of dizziness through his body. He couldn't see anything anymore, and a wave of nausea clenched at his stomach. He leaned to the side and vomited over the carpet, feeling dreadful and wanting so desperately to sleep but no one was letting him, and now he was shaking so violently he couldn't control it. Was he going to die? Yes…yes he was…he struggled to draw a breath but all he could taste was the sour taste of vomit.
"I shall have them killed," he heard the queen whisper. "Every one of them. My poor dear, look at what they did to you, and for no reason, either! Here, let me help you." She touched his head again, and this time…and said something…and he felt the dizziness abate, the clarity return to his vision…gradually the sickness stopped too, and everything was there again. The horrible stabbing pain and vanished from his head, and all he could see was the dark maroon carpet and the queen's green dress.
He looked up, able to see properly again…and Sara's dress was an unnatural green color, so vivid and impossible that it seemed to…put the grass to shame…
"It will take several days for that to heal," she said, pushing the wet hair out of his face. "I am sorry that had to happen to you, Rilian, but those guards can be completely unreasonable, no matter what I do. Here, they strike you with a spear…and what for!" he saw her hands and they were bloody, covered in his blood…he had seen her bloody hands before…there was something…wrong…
How did he remember that?
On the grass, outside. She was laughing and saying something…and he could just make out the words if he thought hard enough…
"Now what made them do this?" she asked. "And why are you so wet? Going down to the Sea, are you? Has the pier fallen in?"
"No," he was surprised to hear his voice. It sounded strange to his ears, harsh and very present. "No. I did…I did…"
He struggled to form the thoughts, and was surprised to find now they actually came clear to his mind. Oh, she would never take him seriously now. He was a complete mess. But he had to try.
"No, I did steal a boat," he said finally. "I went down to the pier and stole a boat and I was going to the other side to find the tunnel you spoke of that led to the surface. I do not know what is going on, Sara, and I wasn't intending to stay around and find out. I never see you here, yet you seemed on that first day…whenever that was…so adamant on having me here. And then the guards were saying something so utterly preposterous about you planning to take over Narnia, and kill my father, and keep me here…it made absolutely no sense. I know you're a healer and Harfang's lady, and now you have this kingdom here, but you…I can't ever see you doing something like that. I told them you were a healer but none of them believed me. I don't even know how long I've been here, but none of this made sense and I was not going to stay and wait for it to do so. I was going home, Sara, even though I was foolish and didn't bring a map and find out how exactly I could get home. Yes. I was leaving."
As soon as he said that, she drew away from him. He swayed for a moment, terribly exhausted, going to fall over and sleep this time. There was surprise in her eyes, shock and some sort of sadness…or at least that's what he thought it might be.
She looked familiar. And it wasn't just the fact that he knew her…it was another sort of familiarity that he couldn't place, and he had to think of it, lest he lose it…
"You were going to leave?" she asked. "Why would you do that, my dear, after all that I have done for you? Have I not made this kingdom to your liking and provided you with everything you could have wished for? Is this not suitable for you?"
"Sara, it's beautiful, really, but I don't understand what's going on and none of it makes sense. The gnomes were being preposterous, I didn't…"
"And you were going to leave. Without saying goodbye." She shook her head slowly. "Why, when I have provided everything for you, when I have given you all you could have wanted? Why would you leave me like that?"
"I was intending to…"
"You always did that, you know. You left me, you never said anything else…always just leaving! And look, would anyone else do for you what I have done? I healed you when my gnomes didn't even know what a concussion was. You are here on my floor, soaking wet and vomiting on the ground, and I have stayed with you. And you were going to leave! Without a goodbye, without a single explanation…oh, Rilian." she turned away, her lips pressed tight together. "I am very tired of it. I simply cannot have it anymore." She waved her hand in the air.
"Sara, I have no idea…what are you talking about?"
Lightly, she reached out a hand and laid it on his forehead. "I can't let this happen anymore," she said softly. "I will not allow it, not here." Then he smelled something sweet and drowsy, something that spoke all too quickly to the part of him desperate to sleep. His muscles ached with exhaustion and he felt empty and dead, and the smell called him into a sweet sleep, without dreams. "Let this be the end. Go to sleep, my prince. You are still terribly sick and need time to heal. And then I will fix this. It is in my power to do, and then you will not have any of these worries again, any of these unfortunate thoughts of escape. Sleep now, Rilian."
Her voice was just as drowsy as the smell, and his eyelids drooped and his head fell forward. He still had to ask her questions and demand she answer them, and he still had to try and leave, but he was just too exhausted to fight and fell into a deep…and dreamless…sleep.
Never before had she been so consumed by a project. Once she had started, it left no time for sleeping, for eating, for anything.
It was only a momentary idea, but of the sort that immediately took over, leaving no room for anything else but the fulfillment of that sole idea, that sole purpose, the final answer to everything she had planned.
Still, she had to do this. She had enough of it. She couldn't let this go on any longer.
It was impossible to be there with him every moment of the day. There were times that she would be busy, times she couldn't get back to the castle in order to renew the enchantment. And the moment she let it go, he ran away. He'd never stay with her any other way…well, then, so be it. Let there be no other way.
She hadn't intended to do this, to go this far. It was only his doing…he brought this down upon them both, she reasoned. If he only stayed in the castle and didn't try that escape, she wouldn't have to do this. But he left her no option.
He was still sleeping right now. She had put him into a deep sleep, though it was mostly just to allow the concussion to heal. She had partially healed it, but head wounds mostly had to be left on their own once the healing process began, or else she risked damaging important nerve centers in the brain.
The room in the castle she had used was on the lower levels, right above the dungeons. The only people she allowed in were several gnomes to help her, for she could not do this alone. It took too many hands.
For three days she did little else but work. In a strange way it had claim on her own body and soul, and she couldn't even bear to turn away once she had began. Every ounce of her strength went into this project, every bit of her magic, until the entire room glimmered with the shine of molten silver and smelled the sickly sweet, drowsy smell of enchantment. It was something she had been playing with successfully for years now, with the knowledge from her homeworld that silver was always the best to use with magical workings. It was a naturally conductive metal to magic and at home was most often used in flutes.
She had taken that over the years, trying to blend her powders with molten silver and trapping them inside. It worked, and was so much easier than using her powders and having to renew them constantly. She wore several silver necklaces and bracelets, each of which held a different powder and spell she could use. Granted in small things such as jewelry, it wasn't as effective as casting the spell the normal way. But in larger things, it would work.
Silver was the only thing that she could use and not have to worry anymore. And once she implemented the rest of her plan, she'd never have to worry again. The earthmen always followed her orders without question.
She would put Mullugutherum in charge of the project. He was the only one she would trust to enforce the new orders.
Three days with no sleep, and only a little food and water in order to keep her going when her power was completely drained. She put too much into this, so much that she was sure it would kill any other enchantress. There were times when she believed it would kill her…she stood with two hands in the molten silver, only a thin layer of her power protecting her hands from being destroyed by the hot metal. And all around her was an unnatural green haze, and by the end she felt that it had been burned into her skin forever, that she'd never be able to escape that cloying smell of enchantment. She had passed out several times from putting too much power at once into the silver, and had to wait with great frustration as her magic renewed itself. That was the worst of all, for then all she could do was sit there and watch while her gnomes handled her silver and her magic and thought nothing of it.
She was sleeping now, drained in body and soul from this all-consuming work, this last desperate attempt that she knew would last forever. She sat at the table and had her head in her arms, feeling more exhausted than ever before in her life. The only other time that she came close was during her alteration of her starform, but that had gone beyond exhaustion…then, while her body was getting used to the poison, she had been paralyzed for several days. This…now she wanted nothing more than to sleep for days on end until her tired body renewed the power that she had abused and drained time and again. The only bit she had left was that tenuous bit that still held all of Bism in her grasp. If she used any more power, that connection would be lost…then she would be dead, and Bism was free.
It was dangerous to take on a project like this. She could die at any time from overusing her power, but it didn't matter. It was all she could do.
And then it was done.
She hadn't thought of it. All she had done was watched as the gnomes finished, and then she staggered to the table and was too tired even to make it to bed. She fell asleep there, and slept, and kept sleeping…
When she woke up, the room was empty and cold. The fire had long gone out, and after all this work, it was likely that this fireplace would never be used again.
Sara raised her head, her hair clinging to her face in odd places, her muscles sore and stiff from sleeping in an unnatural position, and her body protesting the movement as she rose from the chair, her movements slow and jerky as an old woman's. She rested one hand heavily on the table…she was awake but her power hadn't fully regenerated yet.
"Your majesty," Mullugutherum was at her side almost immediately, providing a shoulder for her to lean on when it was too hard to walk. "Your project?"
"Yes?" Sara said.
"They have finished it."
"Let me see it."
Mullugutherum hesitated. "It is upstairs," he said "In…in the prince's apartments, as you said."
"Then take me there."
"It is up many stairs, your majesty, are you sure…"
"Yes," her voice was hard and determined despite her weakness. She rested her hand on Mullugutherum's shoulder and let him lead her up the flights of stairs, not caring of how tired she was. She only wanted to see her project completed.
They went down a corridor, and he pushed the door open.
She let go of Mullugutherum's shoulder and stepped forward, laying one hand on her completed project. It was cold to the touch, the silver taking on the dark chill of the Underland.
"This is it?" Mullugutherum whispered. He felt he should whisper in a time like this, in this place.
All she could do was nod.
"Your majesty, the prince is awake. He is asking for you." Said a guard, opening the door and looking in briefly.
"Very well. Let him come."
She waited while he entered. She had put him into a very deep sleep, and right now he was still enchanted. She could tell by the glazed look in his eyes and the way he walked and came to her, looking at her as if she were the first and last thing on earth. She had not intended to enchant him, but it was the only way to get him to sleep and let the wound heal.
"Good afternoon," she said.
He bowed rather shakily. "Good afternoon, my lady. What are you doing here at such an odd hour? You are not usually here now."
"No," she shook her head slowly. "No. But I am glad you are here, for…for I have something very important to tell you."
"What is that?"
She had to have a way that he would come here every day or else it would be useless. She couldn't have the guards dragging him into this room every night. He had to come himself.
"I have found," she said, speaking clearly now. "Through all of my great power that you are under a most unfortunate affliction. You have worried so long about madness, haven't you?"
"Yes," he said, nodding unsurely. "In Narnia, I have…I remember…something of madness."
"I have found the problem, my dear. This unfortunate affliction…you have been put under a terrible enchantment, my dear. I have found this by my own magic, and I have taken great steps in order to free you from it."
"Then…there is no madness?"
"Of course not, my dear, there is only this horrible enchantment that has taken you over. But you must not fear. I have discovered a way of stopping it, but it will not be easy. The only possible way that you can be freed…is once we have found our way to the surface again, where the sun shines upon our faces and the snow can fall clearly and cold on the ground, and you…and there, you and I shall rule as king and queen of Overland. And only then, when they have named you king above all else, shall this enchantment be lifted. Do you understand me?"
He nodded.
"I have taken steps to do this already, for it pains me so to see you like this. I have already begun to dig towards the Overland. But it will take some time, and until then…there has been an equally unfortunate side effect of this enchantment that I had to work at great lengths to overcome."
"But you…you have?"
"Of course. You know I do not want you to suffer like this, my dear."
"You…you are truly too kind to me," he whispered.
"Yes." She agreed. "But every night…I had not known this until only recently…you become changed in such a manner…the likes of which I have never seen before. You turn away from friends and those willing to help you, from the people in the world who are dearest to you…and if they dare approach, you rush upon them and try to kill them. This is what you have done last night, and I can say it was terrible to witness. But again be thankful to me, for I have found a way to counter this…"
"Yes…"
"It is only for an hour…" she licked her lips, which were suddenly dry. "But you must come here, every night, when the hour chimes seven in the evening. And this chair, here…of silver, that stands before you…I have created it so that it may save you. My guards shall bind you to this chair, every night, but fear not…it is only so that you do not try and harm anyone in this hour of madness that comes upon you. There is the true madness you have seen, my dear. When it overtakes you, you know nothing of who you are, who I am…and it is only by spending that dark hour in this chair that you will not harm yourself or anyone else. It is for your safety…do you understand?"
"Yes…"
"Good. Now go. You are still tired and need more rest…I just must impress upon you the urgency of this, or else you will not come, and this enchantment and madness will never be lifted from you."
"Oh, thank you, my lady," He took her hand and bowed over it. "I am eternally grateful for this, for your everlasting wisdom, your grace, your kindness to me, your understanding…truly, no one else in the world would do something like this for me,"
"No," she replied with a faint smile. "No one would."
She waited until he left, and then ran her hand along the cold metal of the chair. This was it, this was the final step in her plan. He would never leave her now.
"Sness," she said quietly, the sibilant sound of the southern snake's name hanging in the air. "Give me strength to do this…" Strength! She didn't need strength. She needed…
"Give me the power to do this, to do what no other enchantress before me has done. Give me the power so that this chair may hold captive forever the mind and body of my Rilian, so that he may never again leave me…and so that one day we shall stand in the great castle of Cair Paravel and rule as king and queen, uncontested, forever."
The chair glimmered in the bright light of the room, the relief of Srinia in the far back reflecting the light off the silver.
She had put so much of her power into the chair so that the enchantment was permanently burned into the shining silver. Every night during that hour he would be in his right mind. The enchantment would fall away and he would be left as only Rilian, with a full knowledge of all that he was. She had to allow that…if she enchanted him every minute of the day, sooner or later the part of him that was truly Rilian would be burned away, leaving nothing but an empty shell, a puppet of a man who lived only for her and had no thoughts of his own. She did not want to lose every bit of who he was…she only wanted to capture it, make it part of her, forever entwine their destinies where the only way to separate them would be death. She wanted to make that part all of her, keep it for herself, as it was meant to be. He belonged to her, and this was the only way to ensure that he knew it.
At the end of that hour, the enchantment and magic she had put into that chair would renew itself, and once again ensnare his mind and body, leaving him once again enchanted and in her power. Now she would never have to worry about arriving too late and not being able to renew it herself…the chair would do that work for her. And now he would never escape.
Sara drew her hand away from the chair. There was nothing more to be done.
She turned and left the room, closing the door tight behind her.
Rilian awoke what he assumed was days later. He sat up in the bed, blinking vigorously and trying to shake the sleep from his head.
"Good morning,"
He saw Sara sitting there, holding a cup of tea. She held the tea out to him. "Willowbark," she said. "You had a concussion, but I'm glad to see it's almost healed. Drink this, it'll lessen the headache."
"Thank you," he said, taking the tea from her. It was dreadful, but willowbark tea always tasted horrid…well, at least it worked. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Quite awhile." She replied. "It was a concussion, and though I healed some of it, I had to let you sleep and your body heal the rest. Working too much healing on a person leaves their body's immune system compromised, always figuring that it will be healed by someone else instead of fighting for itself. But I am glad that you are awake now and alright. I was beginning to worry."
"I'll be fine."
She nodded in agreement. "Finish your tea."
He did so, downing the rest of the tea in one gulp, making a face at the bitter taste. "I'm sorry,"
"For what?"
"For leaving," he said, setting the cup down on the table. "I did mean to tell you, but I couldn't find you anywhere, and it seemed the only time I'd be able to do it. Those gnomes…they're utterly ridiculous and kept telling me all these inane things about you, though I didn't believe any of them."
"Good." was all she said.
He didn't say anything, only noticed how terribly hungry he was all of a sudden. Maybe he had been out longer than he thought.
"Here, come with me," she stood up and offered him her hand. "You must be hungry, after sleeping and healing for so long. I had a lunch prepared for us on the terrace."
"It's like you read my mind," he said, standing up.
She smiled. "I was a healer," she replied. "I know what it's like for people after a bad injury and a period of recovery."
"Ah. Yes, of course. That's what I told the gnomes, that you were a healer, but they didn't listen."
"They don't listen to most people, no."
She wasn't very talkative that day during lunch, not like she normally was. She stared past him, looking distant, and didn't even mention his attempted escape, as he thought she would. It seemed as if that didn't matter at all anymore. Maybe it didn't? He hoped at least he would give him the chance to explain further…he had tried, but was nearly unconscious with a concussion at the time and that didn't give him much of a chance to formulate any logical sentences.
When lunch was finished, she ordered him to follow her back through the castle, and this time a different way…it was down several of the corridors and one of the rooms that he knew was part of his apartments.
"Listen, Sara," he said as she was about to open the door. "Will you at least let me explain myself? I know you weren't expecting me to leave and that was all so sudden. But at least let me say why."
She nodded. "Yes, I will give you that. But come in here, it hardly does to speak out in an empty corridor, yes?"
"Yes…"
"Then come inside," she pushed open the door and walked inside. This was a room he had only been in a few times…there was a fireplace, a table, a cushioned chair that she immediately sat in, and a curious silver chair next to that. It was odd looking, and he didn't remember seeing it before. But he had overlooked a lot of things in this castle…maybe this was just another one of them.
"Now sit, and then you may speak."
He went to sit down next to her, but she gave a small shake of her head. "There," she indicated the chair.
He shrugged, figuring it was some odd whim of hers that he didn't understand. He sat down in the chair, for a moment thinking how uncomfortable it was and how it must certainly be an odd decoration…
And then cords, thin and whiplike, suddenly twisted around his wrists, his ankles, his knees, and his waist. They were tight and pulled him against the chair, not tight enough to cut off circulation but enough to make any escape impossible. For a moment he was too surprised, and jerked in the chair, but the ropes held him tight to it.
"Sara, what in Aslan's name is this?" he demanded as he struggled against the tight bonds, not understanding at all what the purpose for this was.
"Aslan?" she laughed softly. "You think your Aslan is here? No, my dear, he has left you and Narnia all years ago." She smiled, and he suddenly felt…fear. Was it possible to fear her? Sara was not a frightening person…
"He left you when he allowed your parents to turn you from me. He left you when he closed this world and made it impossible for me to ever leave. Do you think I would want to spend the rest of my life in this horrid Narnia, in this Underland that I have created? No, I wanted to go home, and leave you all at peace…but he denied me even that. This is your Aslan's fault, and he could have rectified this at any time but chose not to."
"Sara…"
"And now…" she shook her head, still smiling. "And so many times you have left me before, my dear, no matter what I did to have you stay. Oh, I have grown so tired of that." Her voice was soft now, and…and…familiar. "I've had enough of that as well."
She was wearing a green dress.
He had a sudden, horrible memory of sitting in a glade with a woman there, a beautiful woman in a green dress who spoke of things like this, of taking him away from Narnia, of showing him a beautiful world beyond Aslan's power. He had thought he was going mad, he had…
And then he remembered.
All at once, he remembered…the enchantment, the time spent in the glade, her insistent voice weaving into his thoughts and mind and forcing him to return day after day, insisting that one day he would come with her to stay. She had made him turn from his family, from…he remembered also that last conversation with Sal when he had so rudely brushed her off…and he recognized the enchantment, and at that terrible moment thought…and realized…that maybe she was the cause of that strange madness that he was unable to place…
"Sara, what is going on?"
She tapped her fingers on the chair, and then looked at him. There was no mercy in her green eyes, none of that depth of compassion he remembered seeing during her time spent with Nirisath.
"Sara, come on, this is ridiculous. Let me go."
She only smiled, and there was no compassion in that smile, either.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," she said, shrugging. "I'm afraid it's out of my hands. I have given you a kingdom and anything you could possibly want, but you chose instead to leave, to try and escape instead of staying here with what I gave you. You left me no choice, really…this was all I could do. I didn't want it to come to this. But what else would I do?"
"Let me go back home, that's what," he replied. "I don't understand what you're doing here, but it's preposterous, all of this. Just let me go."
She shook her head. "I can't do that. I already told you, and I do quite dislike repeating myself. I'm afraid your land…your dear, beloved land of Narnia…will have to learn how to live without their prince." She chuckled. "And I'm sure your father will come to terms with it eventually. At first, naturally, he'll be devastated…imagine that, the look on his face when his only son does not return to the castle, and nothing of him is ever found! But I'm sure he'll be over it in due time, perhaps find a new person to become prince in your place…ah, but it doesn't matter." She waved her hand dismissively. "Even if he finds another, once I have completed my work it will not matter how many kings and princes exist in Narnia. They will all be dead anyway."
"Sara, what are you saying? Talk sense, for Aslan's sake."
"All the gnomes, you think they are lying to you? No, they only lie when I tell them to. They were telling you the truth, my dear, and you…ever so smart, so daring…were right to try and escape. But it's too late, you'll never be given that opportunity again." Her fingers stopped their insistent tapping and she leaned forward. "Yes. I have my gnomes set all day digging towards the surface, and one day they shall break through and…isn't this brilliant? We will advance across the plains and take over your Narnia. I know…I'm impressed at this plan myself. Imagine that! None of them…" she waved her hand over her head. "Have any idea that any of this exists! And then one day they shall wake up, and I will march my army forward, and kill all those who stand against us. Eventually we shall claim the throne for ourselves, and the king…he will be the last to die. I will kill him myself. And when all that is finished, then Narnia will be mine…no, no, it will be ours. And if you are there with me, what would they say? Nothing…which makes this all the more brilliant. They won't be able to fight my army if you are with me, and with you standing next to me when they name me queen…" she laughed. "They won't be able to do anything about it. We will rule unopposed, and even if there are enemies, it won't matter…they will be killed anyway. It's a perfect plan, isn't it? It took me a great amount of time to come up with it, and I am ever so proud of it."
Rilian for a moment didn't even know what to say. It was so unlike her, and sounded so completely absurd…and she looked thoroughly proud of it. He knew when she was lying, and knew…now…she wasn't lying. Not when she sat there looking almost elated, triumphant at her perfected plan.
"Lion's mane, Sara, you can't be serious."
"Oh, I am," now she turned back to him, her green eyes meeting his blue ones unfailingly. "I am quite serious, I assure you."
It was entirely wrong…
But he couldn't move, no matter how hard he tried. The bonds held him too tight, and the more he struggled, the more they cut painfully into his wrists and ankles. He looked to see if there were any knots he could possibly undo, but there was nothing as far as he could see…only a smooth, seamless rope, tightly binding him to this strange chair. This was not happening. This had to be a dream, a terrible nightmare that sooner or later would clear…more madness, perhaps, a madness that would eventually fade or be replaced with a different sort of vision…
"Why would you do this?"
"You ask me why? Ask them why," she indicated again the land far above their heads. "Ask them. I'm sure they'll tell you, if they remember at all, which by now they don't. Ask them what my name is…they'll be unable to say. Nirisath's apprentice, that's what I always was. That girl from the other world. That witch…who…wants to enchant our prince and take over our land, yes, that's what they always said. You know, it is a terribly good idea, and if that's what they want, then why not?" she let her hand fall back down onto the arm rest. "And I assure you, it is so much easier this way. There are no boundaries, no worries, no constant fear that you've crossed some invisible line that will make people think otherwise of you. No, Rilian, I have no lines anymore, and the only rules that exist are the ones I make. And you…" she rested her chin in her hands. "I did love you, though no one ever believed me. And I still do, though even you may not think so...Yarrin be blessed, I love you more than anyone else in the world, perhaps in all the worlds..." Her voice faded off for a moment, but quickly recovered.
"So in truth it is perhaps their fault, perhaps yours, maybe even mine…maybe it is all our fault. Either way, it is unimportant. Either way, I am quite tired of this."
This was all too much. It was too absurd, too much for his mind to grasp. It made no sense. This wasn't Sara, these couldn't possibly be her intentions. Yet she never denied anything, she only spoke…and she was never one to lie about anything, so if she said something like this…surely it had to be true.
"My family…" he finally managed to say. "My father. Lord Drinian. Lady Sal, Mien, Toire, and…"
She chuckled. "Worried about friends? Family? People you can't get back?" she said, looking at him, her gaze piercing. "People who don't know where you are and will never know? Oh, to them you disappeared one day for reasons unknown and no clues to your disappearance will ever be found in Narnia. After of course a period of time in which you were acting very strangely…" she smiled. "A mystery they'll never be able to solve. And it's horrible, isn't it? Always wondering what happened to them, always thinking about if they still think about you. Oh, at first you never notice it. It is only a small bother. But as the time passes, and you never see them…and they never see you…and you spend every day wondering, wondering if they remember, wondering if they will vanish entirely the moment you forget their faces. Eventually it consumes you until all you think about is everything you lost. The wondering is the worst, my dear. Dreaming that during the dying hours of those you most loved, perhaps they will ask for you. It keeps you awake nights, nights in a row, for fear that as soon as you sleep you'll see all their faces and wake up then to find them vanished again with the sunrise. But…but it doesn't last forever, eventually…eventually you have to forget…" she glanced away. "It is unfortunate, isn't it? Soon they will vanish when the sun comes. But fear not, here, there is no sun. Here they are only the dreams we create for ourselves, yes?"
She stood and walked over to him, resting one arm on his shoulder. At that moment, the clock chimed…once…twice…and finally settled on eight times, the eighth chime ringing throughout the castle and then fading away.
"Eight," she said. "I'm afraid that's it," she sounded almost sad.
Maybe then…well, maybe at least she'd let him go now, because this was ridiculous. But she didn't make any moves to do this…only looked at her pocket watch before tossing it back over onto her chair. It bounced and then lay there, and he found himself staring at it, staring, because there was…really nothing else interesting happening except…the pocket watch…
He blinked several times. It was too hard to focus now on anything else but the watch, but Sara, but this room…he had still more questions he wanted to ask of her. He had a lot to say, but it was too hard, for some reason, to form logical thoughts anymore. The ideas and questions slipped from his mind, one by one, until he forgot what he was going to ask, forgot the demands, forgot why he was in this chair…it all faded away in a sudden thick, cloying fog that ensnared his mind and covered his senses.
All he could hear then was her voice, her lovely voice weaving in through the cloudiness of his mind to settle in a far corner of his consciousness that he felt he could never drive off. "Narnia wanted their witch, and I will be their witch. But here, here they call me queen. And you, Rilian…you will be my king."
He turned his face upward to look at her. She ran a finger down his cheek and took his chin in her hand, forcing him to look her in the eyes. And this wasn't a problem, because she was all that existed, all that filled his thoughts and mind.
"And now…" she whispered into his ear, her voice being the only real thing in this dim, foggy world.
"Now you'll never leave me."