Now we have to come back to the time when Tom got caught in Cair Paravel. The same day in the morning, Jadis stood over the enchanted map of Narnia, and watched something with attention. She moved her hand over Cair Paravel, first, then, over the sea, as the map showed not only Narnia, but the neighbor lands as well, including a big part of water, reaching beyond the Seven Islands. The queen spent some time staring at the sea, and then, her hand moved South. Something dragged her attention over there, for she made another piece of 'land' grow in her hands and sat comfortably on the snow to observe it longer.

"The map is bigger than before, isn´t it?"

Asbjørn approached her slowly and also stared at the floating ice sculptures. Jadis nodded. For the next minutes they both were sitting in silence and watching, until Jadis snapped and gazed at something so small that for a while Asbjørn couldn´t recognize.

"What the…," she murmured and after the next while he knew. A bunch of moving spots on the map revealed a big group of riders, trespassing the desert between Calormen and Archenland. The queen and the bear exchanged looks.

"Call Tom, immediately! To the gate!" Jadis ordered and her sleigh appeared out of nowhere. A moment later she was rushing through the icy field.

Jadis raised her arms and the floating "map" of Narnia followed her, making a particular impression on those, who saw her. The other bears, foxes, especially the silvery white Silvester, sensed that something was up, and also followed the queen, so by the time she reached the gate, there was a crowd of animals gathering on the snow. The sleigh stopped and Jadis jumped out. The map also slowed down and spread itself between her and all the creatures.

"There are some things as certain as the sun rising in the morning. It´s a miracle that the Calormenes waited fifteen years with the conquest. Putting children in charge of the entire country only to take revenge on me, idiot! The first one has no idea what it means to be an actual king, the second is completely stupid, and despaired to appear better than the older brother, the third one blindly flirts with the enemy and the only one with some potential is too young and unexperienced to handle a war. She is not ready. For heaven´s sake, she is not ready."

"You still care about Narnia after all, don´t you?"

She answered to Asbjørn´s comment with a deadly frown.

"What are you going to do?" He asked.

"What I have to." Jadis replied and looked around. In the next minutes, she was speaking loudly the names of various places in Narnia, and to each of them, one or more creatures stepped forward. Their task was to use the portal and carry the message to the other side. The Calormenes were attacking Archenland. Gather all defense. Jadis had entire net of trees and animals that informed her what was happening on the other side. Now she used that and soon Lucy´s army was joined by wild foxes, bears, dwarves from distant areas, and even giants, not the ones from Ettinsmoor, but the gentle ones from the far North, that swore loyalty to queen Lucy, as "the other queen ordered".

After Tom got back and brought more news, Jadis stayed by the cave only with Asbjørn, and watched, day and night. At the moment of the battle, she didn´t take her eyes from Lucy and with every minute got more concerned.

"There is too many of them and she didn´t take the cover. The archers stopped on top of the hill, how stupid! They will surround them." She was circling the map and talking to herself. And the map was showing the situation getting more serious with every minute. The Archenland was saved, but the narnian troops got involved with a fierce battle and the Calormenes were well trained. So far, Lucy avoided their attention, but Jadis saw how the group of soldiers spotted her and headed towards her, closing her in a little valley. Before Lucy realized, she got attacked. She managed to throw one off his horse, but there were five more approaching. Where were the others? The archers went ahead, no, one of the centaurs just shoot the Calormene that was attacking Lucy. But he also got injured a moment later. From what?

"Bastards," Jadis whispered. She realized the Calormenes were heading for horses, animals and centaurs first. Throwing knives at a great distance, trying to cut the legs. Everything was going on so fast that she could see Lucy getting confused. That could cost her life. Jadis couldn´t stand it any longer. With a flash of light she changed her clothes into the narnian armor, identical with Lucy´s, and headed to the gate.

"You can´t!" Asbjørn shouted with fear.

"Watch me." Jadis touched the necklace taken from Lucy the other day. She concentrated, whispered her name, and jumped. The bear gasped. The ice-wall opened.

Lucy was getting confused indeed. The battle was much more chaotic than she expected and most of her wonderful strategy plans turned out to be impossible. There were too many things going on at the same time and she wasn´t able to think ahead, seeing the Calormenes dividing into wild groups and changing too fast to follow. The ground however was her advantage. It was a rocky valley, full of caves, little, sharp rocks, big enough to hide a centaur, but the little streams with tricky, deeper spots, caused some difficulties to both sides. Lucy fell into one as well, shooting a Calormene successfully with her bow, but fell off the horse a second later. In that moment another attacker showed up from behind and reached her side with his sword. When Lucy screamed with pain and shock, the soldier suddenly fell down. Lucy´s eyes widened, as the shiny silhouette appeared behind his dead body. Before Lucy regained her voice, Jadis pulled her towards herself.

"How…" Lucy managed to whisper as they kneeled to hide in the thick bush.

"I will explain later." And she pressed Lucy´s wound with her hand. Lucy clenched her teeth to not scream with pain, but after a while she felt relief.

"It will close in no time. Now let me finish the fight for you. This goes beyond your trainings." And Jadis kissed her lips and jumped out of the cover. In the next couple of minutes Lucy couldn´t see much, but soon she heard narnian cheers all over. Archenland was saved.

"Lucy? Queen Lucy? Where are you?" Corin´s voice echoed in the valley, now quiet and only blood coloring the stream water was showing the happenings of the day. Corin, who sneaked into the battle and only a miracle or a simple luck let him go through it unharmed, was now the only one who spotted that Lucy was missing and went looking for her. Rabadash and all his people who survived were now tied up, waiting for their trial. But Corin didn´t forget who also was supposed to come with help, and although he didn´t really expect to see the White Witch in person, he was looking around very carefully, wondering, what queen Lucy might have been doing. And so it was that he came across the bush in the moment when Jadis was coming back to the injured queen, and he saw them.

"Great heavens," he sighed with an awe, as Jadis stared at him completely surprised. Lucy grabbed her hand quickly.

"He´s a friend. He also saw the ice. I will explain later." She smirked. The boy was grinning at them joyfully.

"It is really you! I am so happy to meet you! I am Corin. Prince Corin of Archenland." He said so unceremoniously that even Jadis couldn´t refrain a smile. Lucy giggled.

"I am afraid there is no time for further pleasantries." Speaking this, she moved her hand in the air. The shimmering portal, barely visible, appeared instantly.

"Wait!" Lucy jumped with a sudden urge to stop her, she felt as if something heavy moved in her stomach. Jadis turned around and leaned down to kiss her.

"I will be waiting for you, my love," she said unexpectedly. Never before Lucy heard those words. It was painful to watch Jadis disappearing in the gate.

Jadis reappeared in the Sanctuary. In the cave, the bear and the animals were gone. The only thing she saw was a huge lion, standing there and waiting for her.

[Author's Note. Chapter 27 is corrected, sorry for the mistakes. This one is one before the last, the big "finale" will be published on Sunday. Thanks again for all the reviews!]