"The New Wardrobe"
At the first moment of joy Lucy wanted to jump and shout something like "hooray!" Then she nervously looked around and checked if her room was properly locked. It was. Thanks to Corin, she got used to always lock the door as soon as she entered her bedroom and was now very grateful for that. Now she wondered. What if somebody would knock and wouldn't get any response, although the door was locked from inside? That would bring a lot of questions. Unwillingly, she decided she must leave the door open before entering the portal. Then if Corin or Susan would enter her room and find it empty, they would just assume she must have left. But then, what if somebody would be in the room in the moment of her return? Jadis explained her that nobody could see the portal, but seeing Lucy appearing out of nowhere would be equally strange. She stared at now shimmering, icy mirror, hesitating and feeling the increasing panic that the portal vanishes if unused too long. Then her eyes went to the big wardrobe in the corner and she smiled. That's it! The heavy, wooden wardrobe was big enough to hide five mirrors as big as that one and the thought of coming through a wardrobe to another world was evoking very warm feelings in her. She thought even if somebody would come to her room in the moment of her return, she would have enough time to jump back. A few minutes later she came through.
"Good Evening, Queen Lucy", Asbjørn' greeted her a moment after she crossed the gate. "What brings you here at this time?"
At first she smiled at him happily, but later the embarrassment overwhelmed her as she realized that indeed, it wasn't a proper time for a visit anywhere. Must have been after Midnight! What was she thinking?
"Forgive me," she started and took a step back. "I was merely testing the passage; I didn't mean to bother you at night." She reminded that Asbjørn was the guard over there and he was apparently watching the cave when she appeared.
"You are always welcomed here," he said with a friendly voice. "But the queen must be sleeping. Or should I wake her up?"
"No, no, of course, not!" She started a little bit too loud. Of course the queen must have been sleeping at this time, she criticized herself trying to control her disappointment. How silly it was to not wait till morning and jump through just because she was so excited about creating the gate?
"But since you are here, would you perhaps like to have a little walk with me? It is a bit boring here sometimes," the bear admitted, looking around the silent, icy fields.
"I'd be delighted!" Lucy brightened up, relieved.
They headed down and Lucy kept herself very closely to the bear's soft fur that was giving her a wonderful warmth. Asbjørn understood her emotions better than she suspected. His eyes sparkled with amusement as he gazed at the girl, who was looking impatiently at the distant shape of Jadis' palace every time when she thought he didn't see it.
"If I may ask... Why she can't leave this land?" Lucy didn't manage to hide her curiosity anymore. The bear also turned in the direction of the pyramid-like house.
"In the beginning, everything here was not really about her leaving. More about not letting anybody in."
"I don't understand..."
"See, our queen is really powerful. As soon as she regained her strength, she created the barrier between this place and the rest of the world."
"So she could leave if she wanted to?"
"Well, not exactly. After she created the barrier, someone appeared. Yes, it was Aslan," he added, seeing Lucy's eyes widening in growing amazement turning into anxiety. "Not appeared directly, to be precise. The ice gate appeared in the cave, as it is now. Right in front of our queen passing by. And he was behind it, so she could see him and hear him well, but he couldn't come through. The queen's spell didn't let him.
"So..." Lucy held her breath. "She could make the barrier even from him?"
"Especially from him!" The bear growled. "There, by the cave, the pact was made. Aslan was angry for not letting him in and he made it so that she can't go out. Ever. Then he separated this land from the rest of the world. From that moment on, Queen Jadis' land is not a part of the Wild Lands of the North anymore. It is a separate world itself. But the gate is locked only for her. Not for us."
"So she is a prisoner in this world..."
"I didn't hear her complain. And she can expand it as much as she wants to.
"But the spell... How come Aslan cannot go in? It's Aslan..."
"See, my queen, this is the part that will tell you, why we don't worship Aslan over here. Do you remember how the spell works?"
"Only those who don't hate her can enter," she whispered.
The bear nodded. "Anyway," he cleared his throat. "You must be cold here," he commented watching Lucy clenching her arms together. "You really should dress warmer in this land."
"He is right; you know?" The familiar voice behind them sounded amused.
Lucy jumped. Jadis approached them so unexpectedly, as if she appeared from nowhere. In the light of the stars her dress was as shining as the snow. Lucy couldn't control a wide smile brightening up her face and she didn't know what to say, suddenly feeling again like a little girl. But it took her only a couple of seconds to straighten up and compose herself. 'I am no less a queen,' she thought, as she raised her head and looked directly in Jadis's eyes. Which were gazing at her no less intensely, bright and glowing. Asbjørn coughed discreetly.
"Well, it is time for the old bear to take some rest. Good Night, Your Majesties." And he walked away before any of them replied.
"I was..." Lucy started and hesitated. She wanted to explain herself like she did before Asbjørn, but Jadis didn't let her finish.
"You thought you can sneak here unnoticed? I can sense the gate opening. Especially if it is you." She said lightly and embraced her with one arm.
A soft, white cape surrounded Lucy and she shivered from the sudden wonderful warmth overwhelming her both from out and inside. She could hear her own heart bumping fast and loud.
"Actually I wanted to say thank you." Lucy answered equally brightly. Finally, she reminded what she wanted to say and it gave her a rush of self-confidence.
"For what?" Jadis asked curiously, sounding both surprised and amused.
"For the help in the woods. With the giants." Lucy added, seeing the queen raising her eyebrow in question. "I have heard about the bears. And the trees." She continued, seeing to her delight, how Jadis' lips corners slightly moved up.
"I don't know what you are talking about. But if my bears were so bored that they went to look for some action... it would be cruel to deny them that."
Something in her voice made Lucy think that not only bears were bored over there.
"I wanted to ask for more of your help." She said quickly and instantly got scared of her own boldness. Was it really a good idea? But Jadis stared at her astonished and there was no going back anymore.
Before they reached the palace, Lucy told her about the incoming tournament and her archery ideas. She also mentioned the two new ships and the baptism Susan and her performed. Jadis listened to all this with a growing interest, smiling and hardly interrupting and finally Lucy ended up even talking about Corin and Susan's love letters. At that Jadis laughed loudly and long and Lucy joined her. Somehow all those so well-known phrases were again ten times more hilarious.
"Even I got a love letter from a Calormene one day. It was at the very beginning of my times as the queen of Narnia, over a hundred years ago. If you find comparing your sister to a horse ridiculous, I think you shall love that one."
"Oh please, tell me!" Lucy begged, shaking from laughter.
"I don't remember the entire letter, but he wrote something about a cold fish to find a rhyme to "wish you were mine".
Lucy laughed so hard she had to stop walking.
"Did you reply to him?"
"I did," Jadis admitted.
"Really?! What did you write?"
"Well, I didn't exactly write. I turned the messenger into a stone and sent the pieces back to his homeland.
"Oh..." Lucy stopped laughing. For the next minutes they walked in silence.
"How do you feel, Little Queen?" Jadis asked finally. Lucy wasn't sure what to say to that.
"I am fine." She hesitated.
Jadis shook her head.
"The last time you were here my spell almost killed you. How much do you remember?
The white hand touched Lucy's forehead as if checking the girl's fever. Lucy's body thrilled at this touch.
"I feel your magic again," she whispered. She covered Jadis' hand with her own and something in her didn't want to let it go. The queen didn't oppose. She took a step closer and gently embraced her shoulders. Lucy felt the visions from the scrolls coming back. But this time she was only an observer, not feeling pain. "What happened later?" She asked, shivering from the queen's embrace. She wanted to cling to her and it took her entire strength to stay still. The feeling of magic surrounding her was overwhelming.
"Later after what?" Jadis whispered as well.
"After everything was created. What did you do?"
Jadis took the hand away and stepped back.
"I ran away." The queen didn't look at her. Was she ashamed? Lucy controlled the urge to step closer again. "I was a prisoner of a strange, new world, ruled by a creature I despised. Nothing that happened later is a story I want to talk about." Her voice got sharp.
Lucy sighed. The magic was gone, she thought after every time when Jadis seemed to open up a little bit more, she seemed to regret it a moment later. But she didn't want to let it go so easily.
"Then why did you let me find the scrolls?" She asked, observing the queen twitching her lips in irritation.
"Frankly speaking I just very much wanted them back." Jadis replied stiffly. "And you were the perfect person to bring them to me... I couldn't ask Sylvester for the favor, could I? Now, don't look like that." Jadis's softened again, seeing Lucy tensing and looking away. "You said yourself you wanted to learn about Narnia. Isn't the creation of the world a perfect start?"
"It is," Lucy admitted after long hesitation, too curious to argue. "But there are other things I want to know, too. Why? Why did you come back over one hundred years ago? Why didn't you take over Narnia before?
"Oh, I wanted to. But I needed to wait."
"For what?" Lucy insisted.
Jadis turned back to her and the irritation in her voice turned to anger.
"What do you think? I thought you are clever enough to figure it out. I needed to get more power!" She burst. "To not let your beloved Aslan enslave me!"
"Aslan wouldn't enslave anybody! He is just!" Lucy shouted back.
Jadis was glowing with fury. "He divided this world long ago. Turned these talking creatures into walking idiots that would never grow smart enough to question him. Once in a while he needed a king, or a queen, so just took random children out of their worlds to make them fight his battles and rule for him, in his name. Everybody must love him. Only, nobody asks, what the great lion does to those, who refuse."
"Stop that... It is not truth. Stop that..." Lucy started to cry. Jadis stopped indeed. She walked to her and before Lucy managed to speak more, she felt the strong arms closing around her. She hid her face on the queen's chest.
"Poor child. This is too much for you."
"There must be a way. There must be a way to convince... Things are different now. Aren't they?" Lucy kept asking, looking desperately for comfort. Where was she right now and what she was doing? What if Aslan would appear on the other side and asked for her? Lucy sobbed.
"Hush." She felt the soft hand stroking her hair. "Dear Lucy, there are things I cannot tell you, not now at least. But I can still help and teach you how to get stronger, if you want me to. Just don't ask me about the lion anymore. Alright?" Jadis gently caressed her cheek.
"Alright." Lucy raised her head to look at the queen. There was a stubbornness in her now, in the way she pulled up her chin and stood more firmly, leaning her hands on Jadis' shoulders. "But the next time you want something from the other side, you can just ask me. No more riddles. Alright?"
For a moment Jadis looked surprised. And then she smiled and nodded. Lucy relaxed and felt the strange warmth coming back. How could it be that hearing those terrible things, she felt so good around her?
