Chapter 2

The two humans thought it was all over, a vital mistake on their behalf.

There was a soft noise from the end of the room that had been left unscathed, causing both Digory and Polly to spin around at a lightening speed to see what it was.

The robed figure at the furthest occupied chair ––the one with the girl in front of her–– was rising from her chair. When standing upright, both children realized she was even taller than they had imagined.

Looking around the room, she immediately took notice of the two, and with only a few long strides, she was in front of them.

"Who has awaken me?" she demanded. "Who has broken the spell?"

"I think it must have been me." Digory said.

Polly rolled her eyes at him and was about to say something, when a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was the girl with dark black hair standing up carefully. One could now see her in greater detail.

She was by no means very pretty, but was rather short compared to the woman (but then again, who wasn't?), possibly a little bit shorter than Polly herself. Her face was long, with a strong chin and high cheekbones. Her grey eyes scanned the room around her in wonder before turning her final attention to the trio in front of her.

The young looking girl opened her mouth and said in a small, slightly high-pitched voice, "They came here by Magic."

"From another world," added Polly, wanting the Queen to finally take notice of her.

Instead, the Queen continued to look at Digory. "Is this true?"

"Yes, it is." He replied.

Both Polly and the girl watched as the Queen carefully studied the boy with a questioning eye.

"You are no magician. "The Queen finally said as she let go of his chin. "The Mark of it is not on you. You are merely a servant of a magician."

"It was my Uncle Andrew. "Digory said.

The floor began to shake as a piece of the masonry fell somewhere nearby.

"There is great peril here," said the Queen. "The whole palace is breaking up. If we are not out of it in a few minutes, we shall be buried under the ruin."

The Queen soon had Polly's left hand and Digory's as she began leading them out of the Hall of Images into a long corridor.

Polly looked behind her to the black haired girl, and to her surprise, she was following them at a rather fast pace, even though her legs were considerably shorter than theirs were.

… … … …

Alta looked at the small male and small female with a questioning eye. She noted that they had rounded ears and that their clothes were like nothing she had ever seen before in Charn.

The boy seemed to be entranced by her master. All men were like that around her for some odd reason. But the girl looked like she just wanted to be noticed.

Alta stifled a giggle when she wriggled her toes for the first time in a long time. Jadis wouldn't have approved of her interrupting a conversation with important guests of the Hall. She almost felt – oh what was that word – happy? again. When the bell didn't die out, now that was a moment to be happy about for that was when Alta knew the Magic had been undone.

"There is great peril here," said Jadis. "The whole palace is breaking up. If we are not out of it in a few minutes, we shall be buried under the ruin."

The young apprentice quickly grabbed the golden bowl from its place near a fallen piece of stone and almost ran to keep up with her master and the two children.

They were then led through a whole maze of halls and stairs and courtyards, the whole time the small girl always seemed to remain close behind.

Throughout the journey, the Queen told certain things as they went along. Like the dungeons, for instance.

"A terrible place," Alta couldn't help but whisper. She saw the young girl turn her head backwards a little, but stopped and continued to look straight, almost as if she had heard her.

The passage to the principal torture chambers was another.

"I've been there," Again, the girl twitched slightly.

And a story about the old banquet hall, where many people were brutally murdered.

"I was there," Instead of twitching, Alta watched as the girl shivered, as if she had just been hit with a cool blast of wind.

At last the group came into a hall much larger and loftier than any they had yet been in. The doors at the end were dead black and looked very hard to open.

Alta tilted her head to one side in wonder as the Queen let the boy's hand go and raised it out in front of her. She drew herself up to her full height and stood rigid. Then she said something the others couldn't understand, making a motion as if she were throwing something towards the doors.

The apprentice quickly clamped her hands over her pointed ears at the sound of the harsh words, though; all she really got out of doing so was a nasty bump on her head due to the bowl she was still holding in her hand.

The high doors quivered as if they were silk curtains and crumbled into a pile of dust on the threshold.

"This is what happens to things, and people, who stand in my way." Jadis said rather calmly, which was accompanied by a long-winded speech that Alta hung onto every word, even though she had been there herself, she looked up to Jadis though. When finally the last sentence of her speech came. "All in one moment one woman blotted it out forever."

"Who?" queried the boy in a faint voice.

"I," said the Queen. "I, Jadis, the last Queen, but the Queen of the World."

After a moment of silence, Jadis continued.

"It was my sister's fault, she drove me to it." She said. "When her armies came half way up these great stairs, that was when I said the Deplorable Word. A moment later, I was the only thing living under the sun –– well, except for a young girl, my apprentice for many years."

"Is that her?" questioned the girl, turning around to face Alta, who had a surprised look on her face.

Jadis whirled around quickly, getting a slightly wicked grin upon her perfect lips. "Why so it is. Alta, come here my child."

Alta came over obediently, looking over the other two with curious eyes.

"But the people?" the male said suddenly, coming back to the topic of Charn.

"What people, boy?" Jadis asked, the thought of Alta gone.

"All those who did you no harm," the girl replied.

"Do you not understand?" asked Jadis. "I was the Queen. They were my people. What else were they there for but to do my will? As a great Queen, the world's weight is upon my shoulders. Freed from all rules. A high and lonely destiny."

Alta continued to listen in on the Queen's rantings, oblivious in Jadis's mind. But when there came mention of another world, and an Uncle of supposed royalty, did Alta begin to creep closer in both wonder and of slight fear.

"Answer me: is that not how it was?" the Queen demanded.

Alta was now almost beside the boy now, as he said, "Well, not exactly."

"Not exactly?" the girl shouted, obviously out of frustration. "Why, it's absolute bosh from beginning to end."

Alta cringed as the Queen cried out "Minions" and seized the girl's hair at the top of her head. The apprentice watched as both the girl and the boy shouted at each other then reached into their left pockets.

Just before the boy's finger brushed the yellow ring, he felt a strong, yet small hand, grip his arm. This was before the whole of that dreary world vanished from their eyes and they were rushing upward and a warm green light was growing overhead.

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Yeah! Another chapter up for yours truly. Hope everyone liked this chapter. Thank you to all those who reviewed, I feel so loved! Now, if you would be so kind as to review once more, it may encourage me to get another chapter up quickly or even give me inspiration for the next chapter. You never know. REVIEW!

∆Eye of Horus∆