Many miles away from where she had found Rhindon, Susan was surprised when Zet came flying in to see her with an urgency that made her heart rate hasten.
"Queen Susan! Queen Susan!" She called. Susan and Dawn stopped in their tracks.
"I am over here, my good Zet," Susan greeted, trying to keep how much she hated the edge in Zet's voice out of her tone. Zet flew over, landing on the back of Dawn's head. Anxiety radiated off her.
"My Queen, King Edmund has located the High King. He is being held captive in the White Witch's castle," Zet quickly informed.
No, Peter, what are they doing to you there? Terror trembled into her bones at the mere thought. She had desperately avoided that place under all circumstances. She only dared to go near it with Peter and Oreius by her side, and that was only to reassure her people that they did not have to fear the castle or the White Witch again. At least, one of those fears is still abated, she thought to herself.
As soon as Zet spoke her next words, Susan personally felt like it was the universe's way of punishing her for her previous thought, "Worst of all, Queen Susan, the White Witch herself appears to be the one holding our High King prisoner."
The warmth of the day and the strength of Susan's will drained from her the moment Zet's words finished being said.
The White Witch!? Susan's mind took a few extra seconds to process this. She could not be alive. They defeated her. Aslan killed her. How could she be there to terrorize another one of her brothers? Or to terrorize both of them to tell the truth.
If one of her brothers was suffering, the other one always felt it intensely. They immensely cared for one another. They would do anything to protect the other. This only could mean fool-hearted and desperate plans of rescue.
"Where is Edmund now?"
"He was heading to the Witch's castle to rescue King Peter without delay."
Announcing to her soldiers who were all around her, Susan declared, "Then we shall do the same. Bralen, lead us to the White Witch's castle."
With only taking a few moments to reacquaint with the new direction, Bralen took off slightly north of the direction they had first come from. Dawn and Susan took off to follow.
If Edmund was going to have to deal with the White Witch once more, Susan knew she had to be there. She did not want to leave him alone to face her again. She knew he was not the same boy who had entered her castle all those years ago, but she also knew what this Witch had done to Edmund.
She knew of the nightmares, the dreadful fear, the longing for those memories to go away. She knew how much it would have taken Edmund to gather the courage to go into that castle. The difficulty would have been unimaginable.
She could only think of three reasons on why Edmund would ever venture back into castle, and one of those reasons was trapped inside with his worst enemy.
Please, be careful until I can get there, Edmund, Susan thought to herself. And please, Peter, be alive when we find you.
As they entered further into the courtyard, Edmund remembered walking through there when it was littered with stone statues. Some had their defiance saved in stone. Others were as frightened as Edmund was now. But now, this courtyard was empty. He had dismounted off Phillip before they ever entered the castle, but Phillip had remained close.
It was far more terrifying than when he was a boy. At least then, he foolishly thought that the Witch was a friend of his. This time, he knew who the White Witch was. He knew how difficult this rescue would be. If Peter had not trapped in this castle, Edmund was not sure he would have the courage to travel inside there at all.
Despite how quietly they entered through the gates, the Witch's soldiers were alerted immediately to their presence as soon as they ventured near the throne room. The Witch's soldiers fought against Edmund's troop of soldiers. Amidst the fighting, Edmund noticed that Peter was not in the throne room at all.
Edmund quickly sent Ari and Uven to search the castle for him. Please, let them find him.
Once he sent his scouts to search, that was when he saw her, sitting and calm as she always had been. Cold and calculating. Now looking at the White Witch, he had no idea how he ever thought she was someone to trust. Evil radiated off her, and Edmund should have seen that from the beginning.
"Where is Peter?" Edmund gathered his strength, as he approached her carefully. She just smiled, mockingly sweet at him in return.
"Edmund, dear, I have missed you."
Her voice made his skin crawl. She used that same enchanting tone on him when he was a boy. It just sounded terribly hollow now.
"Where is Peter?" Edmund asked again, trying to keep himself steeled. "What have you done to him?"
"Terrible things, my dear," she replied cruelly. It just felt like she was already twisting a knife in his heart. "I broke him down piece by piece. I brought him down to our level."
What that truly meant terrified Edmund to his bone. He readjusted his hold on the hilt of his sword.
"Why?" Edmund barely choked out.
"I chose Peter because he was the best of you. The mighty High King. The great king who saved Narnia," she explained as she rose to her feet. Her hatred for Edmund and Peter was seeping through her smugness as she spoke, "And I broke him down to be like you and me. The brother you cherish died within these walls long before you ever got here."
No, no, she had to be lying. Peter could not be dead. Not like this. No, Peter had to still be alive. He did not endure all of this just to die now. She had to be lying.
Edmund's heart constricted on him, and his vision was whitening. His heart pounded in his ears. Peter could not be dead; he could not be.
As she took hold of her stone knife that was covered in dried blood—Peter's blood, Edmund quickly realized—Edmund swallowed hard. "And you know I would never lie to you."
For the chance that Peter was alive, Edmund had to defeat her. It was the only way he could take Peter home, alive—or dead. It was all he could do.
Then, she charged right at him.
Edmund blocked her first strike and responded with one of his own before he registered what was happening. She just smirked at him, as she came at him once more.
They parried until one of her strikes nearly took his head off his shoulders.
Despite her evident skill, she was sluggish with her strikes. For some reason, she was weaker than she was five years ago.
She still had the experience that made her more than just a challenge for him. She anticipated his attacks. She blocked precisely. It did not seem to matter that she was slower.
She seemed to know this too, for she took another angle for strategy.
As they partly circled each other, taking a minor respite, she said, "I want you to know that I enjoyed watching your brother suffer by my hand. To know that I snuffed out that precious light of his." Venom dripped from her tone.
The weight of her words was sinking in when she came at him once again. He blocked her attacks a few times before they broke off once more.
"You will pay for what you have done to him," Edmund swore.
"You will have to survive long enough for that," she smirked. This time, when she lunged for him, he was ready.
He not only blocked her strike, but also then swung at her side, making contact. His slash cut straight through her dress.
Edmund expected blood to come from her wound. Oddly enough, it was snow. Although, he knew it made no sense, he still was puzzled by it for a moment too long.
This time, she was the one to make contact. Her stone knife slashed his upper left arm. Foolishly, he released his sword. It clattered on the ground, the echoes of the sound bouncing off the iced walls.
The two made eye contact, looked at his fallen sword, and then back at each other. There was a pause on both of their actions.
Then they both scrambled forward. Edmund tried to bend down to reach his sword as she advanced quickly. He realized only a second in his attempt that he would not be able to pull his sword up in time.
Yanking the dagger from his boot, he fired the blade at the White Witch. Catching her off-guard, the dagger landed in her leg. While it did not stop her, the new wound allowed him the time to retrieve his sword.
As more snow poured from her wound, Edmund fought on against her. The more time passed, the more he realized he was losing.
Just as she was pressing him in battle and he was becoming late on his blocks, he heard the cheers of his own people filling the halls.
Bursting through the gates were their reinforcements. Captain Ver led the charge. They had arrived just in time to turn the tide.
The cheers of his people offered a fraction of a distraction. It was just barely enough time.
Edmund struck at the White Witch; she was late on her block. His next strike came high. She barely blocked him. His final strike was at her middle, and with a twist of his wrist, he took the sword right out of her hand.
It landed a few feet away. She was now weaponless. Surprise took over her face. He had outmaneuvered her. He had defeated her.
"Now, where is Peter?"
"I already gave you the answer," Jadis answered wickedly.
As Edmund eyed around them, he noticed that most of her followers had been killed or they had surrendered.
This fight was over. And he needed to find Peter. His own focus on Peter foolishly distracted him for a moment.
"King Edmund, watch out!" Someone called out.
Jadis had been lunging right at him with an iced dagger, one she must have made. All Edmund had to do was holding up his sword, and the blade pierced her charging form clean through. It halted all of her advance.
The dagger dropped from her hand, becoming snow when it touched the ground. She staggered back as he stumbled forward. He yanked his blade from her.
She took another step back, her face becoming whiter.
"We will see each other again," she promised.
She collapsed to the ground. The moment she landed on the ground, her body crumbled into snow.
The White Witch was gone from Narnia once more.
