I know I said I would post this on Sunday, but I had family over and I was going non-stop so I didn't get around to it. I'd say I was sorry, but I'm not really because I was with family.

As usual, anything marked with an * is a direct quote. I do apologize if the * makes things hard to read at times, but I feel it is important to set apart the words that are mine and the words that are Lewis'.

We're just moving right along...


The Naiad Trilogy

Part 3: The Naiad Queen

Chapter 28

"Let me go!"

Rilian shouted and pulled on his bonds the same as he did every night for the past…how long has it been? And his captor did the same thing that she always did; she tormented him and laughed at him. Her green eyes were jubilant and merry, but they were also hard and cold, and full of ill-will and deceit. Oh, how he longed to look once more upon the smoky blue eyes that were always filled with gentleness, love, compassion, honesty and everything that was good. How could he have ever thought the green eyes of his captor were beautiful? They were nothing compared to the eyes of his Penelope.

"Release my bonds witch! Or I'll, I'll…" His mind was beginning to grow foggy once more. The hour was almost over, and the renewed enchantment was almost upon him.

"You'll what?" his captor asked? "Kill me?" she laughed. "You cannot kill me, Prince. You are my pet, and one day, very soon, you will be fully mine and we shall rule together."

There was a knock on the door to his prison-like chamber, and the Green Witch was called out. She was not pleased with the interruption, but she left anyway. This was his chance! The enchantment that held him under the witch's power was weakest just before it was renewed. And now she was gone; this was his only chance to call for her. He had to stay strong and fight off the enchantment for as long as he could. And he prayed she would hear.

"Rhea, sister, please help me…Rhea…Rhea…" He closed his eyes and called for her once more. "Rhea."

Suddenly, he felt the air grow warmer and he opened his eyes. His sister stood before him, looking just as she had the day he last saw her. Maybe not much time has passed after all. As he looked closer though, he saw that she appeared to be translucent, as though she weren't really there.

"Rilian?" she asked hesitantly. "Rilian, is that you? Is it really you?"

"Rhea, it's me sister."

"Oh, Rilian! I've longed for this day." Her eyes clouded over with tears.

"Quickly Rhea, we haven't much time. She could return at any moment, and the enchantment…I can't…I…"

"No! Rilian, stay with me. Stay strong!" his sister urged.

"My bonds… release them."

Rhea rushed forward to untie the cords that bound Rilian to a silver chair, but as she reached for him her hands they passed through both Rilian's arm and the chair. She tried again and had the same reaction.

"It appears that I cannot touch you, Rilian," Rhea said sadly.

"Please, help me…" he begged weakly.

"I have." Rilian's eyes shot up to meet his sister's. "Help is coming Rilian. Two children, sent by Aslan, and a Marsh-wiggle are on their way. They are coming for you. Hang in there Rilian. Help is coming."

"Children?" he asked.

"Yes children. One is Eustace, from Father's stories, and the other is his friend Jill. They are coming, Rilian. Rilian?"

Rhea watched fearfully as her brother's demeanor began to change. He heaved a great sigh as his body went limp, and his head lolled forward. Rhea tried to lift his head so she could see into his eyes, but as before, she couldn't touch him.

"Rilian? Rilian, please don't go. Come back. Rilian?"

Suddenly he threw his head back violently. Rhea jumped back in surprise at the sudden movement. Rilian cried out painfully and his eyes flashed a strange and dangerous green, before he was limp once more.

XOXOX

"RILIAN!" Rhea cried out as she sat up in her bed at Cair Paravel. Within moments, she was joined by Penelope.

"My lady?" Penelope asked as she hurried in. She sat on the bed next to Rhea as a rush of emotions broke forth from the Princess and she began to cry. Penelope wrapped her arms around Rhea and tried to comfort her. For several minutes Rhea mumbled incoherently through her tears; the only word Penelope was able to decipher was Rilian.

Though she eventually managed to calm down, Rhea could not bring herself to talk about what she had seen. Was it just another dream? It had been different from her other dreams. This one was more real than any dream she had ever had before. Rilian saw her; he spoke to her, and he heard her when she spoke back. Usually she could not interact with her dreams in any way, but this time she was able to converse with her brother. Did that make it real?

XOXOX

Jill, Eustace, and Puddleglum sat huddled together, shoulder to shoulder, in the dark, endless cavern. They were in a boat on a black river; they were surrounded by shrunken, gloomy faces of the Earthmen. How long they had been on the boat, they could not recall. In fact, they were beginning to feel as if they had always been on that boat rowing down the black river. They were beginning to feel as though things like sunshine, grass, blue skies, and singing birds were only the things of a dream. They were slowly, slowly, beginning to feel as though they had lived their whole lives in the dark underground.

Jill tried desperately to recall how they had come to be in this situation.

After spotting Harfang, the children realized that they would not be able to reach the gate in time that day; so, they settled down for the night right where they were. The going the next day was by far the hardest traveling they had yet made. First they realized that Harfang was a bit further than they had realized; it was not on the flat hill top, but beyond it. Secondly, though they were no longer surrounded by the towering mountains with the northern wind blowing in their faces, they were now out in the open where there was nothing at all to block the wind. Thirdly, it began to snow.

The snow was light at first, a feathery flake here and there falling on the children's noses, but soon it turned into a full on snow storm. The wind was so heavy, and the falling snow so thick they could hardly see where they were going at all. Before reaching the flat hilltop, or perhaps it was to get to the top of the hill, the children and Puddleglum had to climb up a series of several ledges. Puddleglum had no problem leaping up the ledges with his long legs, and he then turned to help the children up. Once on the hilltop the children found there was even less of a reprieve from the wind and snow. No one talked as they walked for to even be heard they would have to shout over the howling storm.

Only for a moment did Jill and Eustace receive a break from the wind. Jill had slipped down a hole and landed in a deep trench. Thinking it could possibly be a road leading to Harfang, Eustace climbed down too. Together they followed the trench due north. When it turned sharply to their right they followed it. They came to another intersection where they were faced with the choice to go either straight on or turn to their right once more. Turning to the right though would have led them back south, away from Harfang so they went straight on. However, this way led to yet another right turn and when they followed it they found themselves in a dead end. They returned to where they had first entered, and Puddleglum easily pulled them back up into the bitter cold wind and snow.

For the children it was misery going back into the storm, and it did not help when Puddleglum chose that moment to ask, *"Are you still sure of those signs, Pole? What's the one we ought to be after now?"*

*"Oh, come on! Bother the signs. Something about someone mentioning Aslan's name, I think. But I'm jolly well not going to give a recitation here,"* Jill proclaimed angrily.

*"Oh, that was next, was it? Now I wonder, are you right? Got 'em mixed, I shouldn't wonder. It seems to me, this hill, this flat place we're on, is worth stopping to have a look at. Have you noticed—"*

The children didn't want to hear what Puddleglum had noticed at that moment. All they wanted was to reach Harfang before the giants closed the gates. The Green Lady had warned them, before she left, that the gates of Harfang were closed early in the afternoon and once they were closed they would not open again until the next day. Before Puddleglum could share his thoughts on the flat hill top, Eustace and Jill had began walking through the storm towards the string of lights that was Harfang. Puddleglum tried telling them as they walked, but the storm was still howling as before and the children could not have heard him even if they wanted to.

At last they reached the gates of Harfang, after climbing down another series of flat ledges and climbing up the winding road. When they reached the gate, though he had been against going the whole time, it was Puddleglum who was the first to gather up enough courage to knock on the door. The door opened and after telling the giant that they had been sent by the Lady of the Green Kirtle for the Autumn Feast, the children and Puddleglum were ushered inside to warm up by the fire. Word of their arrival was sent to the giant King and in a very short time, Eustace, Jill, and Puddleglum found themselves in the presence of the giant royal court. After telling the giant King and Queen that they had been sent for the feast by the Lady, the children and Puddleglum were given lodgings in regular size beds with hot food and baths, just as they had been dreaming of for weeks.

But their stay in Harfang was not quite what they were expecting it to be after all.

That night Jill had a dream in which Aslan visited her. He asked her to repeat the signs; when she realized she could not remember them she was greatly distressed for it. Then He took her in His mouth to the window. When she looked out she saw a message written either across the sky or across the land, she knew not which. The dream faded away and when she woke, she had forgotten that she had dreamed at all.

Jill woke very late the next morning, but after she had finished her breakfast the nurse who was attending to her let in Eustace and Puddleglum to visit. Eustace immediately spotted the window seat and they all climbed up to look out. During the night the snow had turned to rain and the rain had washed away all the snow that had fallen. From their place at the window, the children and Marsh-wiggle could see the path they had traveled. They saw that the flat hill top was actually, and very clearly, the remains of a giant city, and across the very center of that ruined city, etched deep into the paved stone, were the words UNDER ME.

*"Oh, how perfectly dreadful!"* Jill exclaimed.

Eustace said then what they were all thinking at that moment. Two of the signs had been missed at the same time. Travel north until you find the ruined city of the giants. When you find the message written in stone there, do as it says.

After that, the children realized their mistake. They realized then, that they had been so focused on arriving in Harfang that they had forgot the very reason they were on the journey. It was Puddleglum who pointed out that it was likely the Lady's intention for sending them to Harfang. For a brief moment Jill and Eustace wondered if it were possible that the message hadn't appeared in the stone until after they had passed it. But then Eustace realized that the message had been there, and he pointed out to Jill that the trench they had walked along was actually the E in ME.

*"So it's no good, Pole,"* Eustace said. *"I know what you were thinking because I was thinking the same. You were thinking how nice it would have been if Aslan hadn't put the instructions on the stones of the ruined city 'til after we'd passed it. And then it would have been his fault, not ours. So likely, isn't it? No. We must just own up. We've only four signs to go by, and we've muffed the first three."*

*"You mean I have,"* Jill said. *"It's quite true. I've spoiled everything ever since you brought me here. All the same—I'm frightfully sorry and all that—all the same, what are the instructions? UNDER ME doesn't seem to make much sense."*

*"Yes it does, though,"* Puddleglum said. *"It means we've got to look for the Prince under that city."*

*"But how can we?"*

*"That's the question. How can we now? No doubt, if we'd had our minds on our job when we were at the Ruinous City, we'd have been shown how—found a little door, or a cave, or a tunnel, met someone to help us. Might have been (you never know) Aslan himself. We'd have got down under those paving-stones somehow or other. Aslan's instructions always work: there are no exceptions. But how to do it now—that's another matter."*

It was Jill who pointed out that they would just have to go back to the ruined city and find their way under, but that was easier said than done. One look at the giant door to Jill's room showed the three of them that none of them could reach the handle, and if somehow they had managed to reach the handle they would have no way of turning it. So long as they were shut up in their rooms they were prisoners. So it was decided that they would have to find a way to sneak out, and the best chance of doing that would be during the day time; that way at least, if they were caught they could simply say they were just taking a stroll about the grounds.

*"We must put them off their guard, though. We must pretend we love being here and are longing for this Autumn Feast,"* Eustace said.

*"That's tomorrow night; I heard one of them say so,"* Puddleglum said. Then he gave a great and deep sigh. *"Gay. That's what we've got to be. Gay. As if we hadn't a care in the world. Frolicsome. You two youngsters haven't always got very high spirits, I've noticed. You must watch me, and do as I do. I'll be gay and frolicsome."*

Just then the nurse returned and asked if they wanted to come see the King and Queen head off for the hunt. The children and Puddleglum immediately jumped at the chance of being let of the room.

Though Puddleglum and Eustace tried to be gay and frolicsome, asking innocent questions without arousing suspicions, they quickly found that no matter how hard they tried they could not do it better than Jill. She ran, or skipped rather, about the castle from one giantess to another rambling on from one question to the next, but though her lips and tongue seemed to be in constant motion she really hardly spoke. She mostly giggled and babbled about nothing at all. All the while though, she gave a rosy, childish smile and she shook her head full of curls as little girls would do. In the process she made friends with the cook and discovered that there was a door in the kitchen that passed right through the outer wall so that it wouldn't be necessary to walk through the courtyard or past the gate house at all. Also, this door was left open in the afternoon so that the cat could come and go as it pleased.

At last there came a time after lunch, when all the giants in the castle settled down for an afternoon's nap, including the cook, and those that had gone on the hunt were still gone. This would be the threesome's best chance of escape! While they waited for the cook to fall into a full and proper sleep, the children and Puddleglum hung about the kitchen. It was during this time that Jill discovered the giant's cookbook. She looked over it curiously to see what sort of food giants liked to eat, and to her horror she found the Green Lady's true intention for sending them to the Autumn Feast. She quietly whispered to Eustace and Puddleglum; they joined her by the book and they too were horrified at what they saw.

It appeared that one of the traditional meals served at the Autumn Feast was Man, and the cookbook showed the best way in which man should be cooked and served, in a pie. They weren't sent to be at the feast, they were sent to be the feast.

A few seconds after making this discovery, the giant cook gave a giant snore. She was asleep. Jill, Eustace, and Puddleglum quietly tiptoed to the open door, hardly breathing at all as they walked, and stepped out into the crisp, sunny winter afternoon. Before them sat the ruined city, but it was a fair bit further than they liked and the land around them provided no cover whatsoever. Furthermore, Eustace and Jill were now dressed in bright clothes and cloaks that the giants had provided for them. Nevertheless though, they walked calmly down the main road. Puddleglum hard warned them not to look over their shoulders or look frightened or in a hurry; if they remained calm they might they might just escape unnoticed. And they did, until the hunting party decided to return early.

All at once there came a great clamoring of voices and shouts as the giant King spotted them. Upon Puddleglum's direction they all began to run for it. The hounds were released; their barks mingled with the ringing of the horns.

*"After them, after them, or we'll have no man-pies tomorrow!"* the giant King shouted.

Puddleglum was the first to reach the lowest ledge of the ruined city, which was really a giant step. Instead of climbing up it he looked about, and there, just to his right, he saw a small hole or a crack in the stones. He quickly slipped through the hole and disappeared from sight. Eustace was the next to arrive and then Jill; they slipped into the hole after Puddleglum. Together they filled the hole with stones and slowly, but surly, moved away from the opening.

The cave was completely black; there was no light from anywhere, especially now that the mouth of the cave had been filled in, but still the children and Puddleglum walked, with hands clasped to each other, further into the cave. They followed it for many paces and around many twists and turns until none of them knew the direction back to the mouth. Then suddenly, the ground gave out beneath them and they found themselves sliding down, down, down. As they slid down the slope they dislodged stones and dirt everywhere, and their speed increased. When they landed at the bottom they found themselves buried beneath the dirt and falling stones, but miraculously they received only minor cuts and bruises.

It was there at the bottom of that slope where they first came upon the group of gloomy Earthmen. They sat for a long while at the bottom, trying to figure out what to do, when suddenly a voice spoke to them. They all knew at once that it was not Aslan speaking to them, as they were hoping He would. The voiced identified itself as the Warden of the Marches of Underland and demanded to know why the children and Puddleglum where there.

*"We fell down by accident,"* Puddleglum replied truthfully.

*"Many fall down, and few return to the sunlit lands,"* the Warden said. *"Make ready now to come with me to the Queen of the Deep Realm."*

*"What does she want with us?"* Eustace asked.

*"I do not know. Her will is not to be questioned but obeyed."*

After the Warden finished speaking a light flooded the cavern. It was a dull, blue light positioned on the top of a staff held by the tallest Earthman, but it was enough to illuminate the children's surroundings. They were surrounded by a whole league of Earthmen. They were of varying sizes and no two were alike, but they all shared a common feature: their faces were all very, very sad. The Warden of the Marches gave them hardly any time to look though. The children and Puddleglum were ordered to their feet and made to march, and so they did.

They passed from one cavern to the next, going deeper and deeper, until they had lost count as to how far they had traveled or how many caves they went through. There were some passages where they had to go in a single file crawling on their stomachs, and there were some caverns that held strange sleeping animals. When asked about them, the Warden simply said they were beasts from Overland that had found their way down into the Deep Realm. *"Many come down, and few return to the sunlit lands."*

At last they came upon a vast cavern, the biggest they had yet been in. It, like the first one, was completely black and when the blue light was lit again, the children saw that the cavern contained a small strip of sand that led down to a black river and a boat with many oars but no sails. This was how Jill, Eustace, and Puddleglum came to be on that boat.

*"Oh, whatever will become of us?"* Jill suddenly whispered despairingly.

*"Now don't you let your spirits down, Pole,"* Puddleglum said. *"There's one thing you've got to remember. We're back on the right lines. We were to go under the Ruined City, and we are under it. We're following the instructions again."*

They were given some food, it was shapeless and tasteless lumps but it was food at least, and they drifted off to sleep. When they awoke they found they were still on the boat and still on the river. They ate and slept many times until they had lost track of that too. At last they passed by another ship, and then another, and another. The children and Puddleglum looked over the bow of the ship and saw what looked to be the makings of an underground city and a port, and better yet, they were rowing into it. Before long they docked at the quay and unloaded. There were hundreds more Earthmen, all different but all with the same sad demeanor; yet, for all the creatures there were moving about there was no noise. No one spoke. There was only the soft shuffling of their feet.

The children and Puddleglum were ushered through the silent crowd; no one seemed to take any notice of the children or the Marsh-wiggle. They weaved their way through silent, dark streets until they reached a dark castle. Here they passed through courtyards, up staircases, down corridors, and up more staircases. They stopped at the end of a dimly lit hall where in one corner two more Earthmen stood watch at the foot of a winding staircase lit by a warm yellowish light, quite different from the dim blue light they had become used to.

The Warden approached the Earthmen and requested that he, the children, and Puddleglum be let up, but the Earthmen refused their entrance. A quiet argument broke out among them until another voice, a voice from the top of the staircase, a merry and cheerful voice, interrupted them. This voice requested, or rather demanded, that the (as he called them) Overworlders be brought up at once. Eustace, Jill, and Puddleglum climbed the stone, spiral staircase and with each step the light grew brighter and warmer, until at last they stood at the top. Waiting for them in the room at the top was a young man, a human man, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and dressed in all black.

*"Welcome, Overworlders!"* the man exclaimed.


Yup, we're moving right along. Chapter 29 will be up on Friday and we'll slow things down just a bit.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving (or a great November 24). Mine was great. I had lots of fun with family and enjoyed a lot of good cookin'. Now it's time to set up for Christmas! YAY! I LOVE the Christmas season!

Thanks for all the reviews and thanks for sticking around for so long.