AN: This one's mostly about Althea. Odd as may be, I'm really admiring this woman I imagined. Thanks for reading!

She left the web, she left the loom.
She made three paces through the room.
"The curse is come upon me!" cried
The Lady of Shalott.
~ Tennyson

Narnia
The Eleventh Year of King Drake

After that, the Queen no longer went out of the castle, for the tide of revolt flooded the country, and those who resisted were drowned. The fall of the Tree was only the beginning. Milophylax flew from one end of Narnia to the other, trailing vultures and wolves and discontented Animals, as well as animals not before seen in the land—foul women with skin like scales, man-wolves, and giants larger and uglier than those of Narnia.

Together they called themselves the Freed Narnians, and they terrorized families of Narnian Humans who had lived in their homes for centuries. What Milophylax wanted, whether shiny heirlooms or family livestock, he took, blasting with fire those who stood in his way. After two weeks, King Drake finally could no longer ignore it, and sent a band of thirteen to kill the Dragon. None returned. But the Dragon stayed away from Ravenswood itself, and so King Drake did not overly concern himself.

It was only due to his Queen's wisdom that Drake's palace still stood, though he did not know it. She, remembering something her mother had once told her, sent a servant to gather what remained of the silver apples the night the Tree was cut down; when she set them in windows on every side of the castle, none who had eaten of the apples that night dared come near. The Narnian Humans saw that Ravenswood stood untouched, and the King's court swelled larger than ever before.

It was a little over a fortnight after that dreadful day that the Centaur who had blessed the Princes received a new message from Aslan especially for the Queen. This is what it said:

With winter comes the pallid Queen
And your good grace no more is seen
For dark and clouded is the sun.
Then many from this land shall flee
For Men harassed by Beasts shall be
As cowards swagger and strong men run.
But when Adam's flesh and Adam's bone
Sits at Cair Paravel in throne
The evil time will be over and done.

Thrice did the Queen read the parchment on which the Centaur wrote the message, first in the ancient Centaur runes and then in looping Human script. Then she laid it down and looked at her young sons where they toddled, shrieking with laughter, after Quicktrack, and in her heart she pondered what course to take.

The next afternoon one of the Queen's maidens came to speak with her. Melina was a young woman with honey-brown hair, the eldest daughter of Althea's good friend Lady Celia, of a family descended from Prince Thomas, the sixth son of King Frank the First.

"Madam," she said, twisting her hands nervously, "Papa and Mama talked low after bed every night this week, and now Papa says we're to leave Narnia. Mama says we're just as Narnian as the Talking Animals, but she's sure she doesn't feel safe around here any longer, what with the Freed Narnians burning down Harthorn and the Weland family just barely getting out. Papa says times change, and maybe 'tis better that Narnia be for the Beasts and Archenland for the Men. Bram—that's my elder brother, Your Majesty—he's always been rather keen to visit Telmar someday, and I reckon we're moving south."

Queen Althea listened. Many from this land shall flee."I shall be sorry to lose thee from among my maidens, Melina," said she. "Aslan bless thee and thy family in Archenland and the South. Wouldst kindly ask thy mother to visit me ere ye go?"

XIV.
England
The Fifth Year of King Edward VII

By the time tea was over, the windows were all dark. Aunt 'Ears'ry and Uncle Pewiwig slept at night, but Frank usually slept all day, like Mrs. 'Winklewacks and the Badgers. Now he felt wide-awake and ready to play. He wanted Aunt 'Ears'ry to come and tell him a story before she went to bed. He wanted to play with Ruffle'nout and Scufflebrock. He wanted gruff old Uncle Pewiwig to take him down in the mines, where they could look for more pretty rocks.

Instead, there was Aunt Susie, who gave him a bath, dressed him in new and itchy clothes, and then wanted him to go to bed. In the middle of the evening! Bed! But it had been almost dawn, almost bedtime, back in the sett, before the wolves came . . . and that was a long time ago.

" 'M not tired," he said, but a great big yawn interrupted him, and Aunt Susie laughed again. He liked her, even if she made him wear itchy clothes and even if she looked at his eyes too much, because she also smiled at him and laughed a lot, like Mrs. 'Winklewacks, and gave him extra honey on his toast. So he followed her into what she called the "guest room"

"You may sleep here," said she, "and you may stay as long as you need."

"Thankee," he said. He could almost hear Mrs. 'Winklewacks and Mrs. 'Nuffleroot in his head, reminding him of his manners.

Stripetail leaped up on the foot of the bed, turned around, and lay down. Frank set Yi next to Stripetail and started to climb up after them, but—

"Aren't you going to say your prayers, Frank?"

He stopped and looked up at her. "Why?"

"Haven't you been taught to say your prayers before bed?"

He thought about that. Sometimes if someone—maybe his Centaur uncle who visited now and then—wanted to ask for something in a special, fancy way, he could say "I pray thee." A prayer was when you asked for something. They called it a prayer if the bad woman and her wolves were chasing you and you called on Aslan for help. He could hear you, even if he was far away, across the sea. Frank had never seen the sea, but he knew Aslan lived over it in his own country, with his father the Emperor-over-the-Sea. But prayer. How could a prayer belong to someone? How could there be Frank's Prayers?

He shook his head.

"Well." Aunt Susie's voice wasn't laughing anymore. "Someone's been filling your head with a lot of nonsense. Kneel down by your bed, like so." She knelt, a little stiffly, at the bedside. He mimicked her.

"Close your eyes and fold your hands."

There was that again.

"Then, you say—oh, repeat after me: Now I lay me down to sleep."

"Now I way me down to sweep." He was, even if it was the wrong time of day.

"I pray the Lord my soul to keep."

"I pway the Word my soul to teep." I ask the Lord. . . a lord was a Man who lived in a castle. There weren't many lords left in Narnia, because all the Mans had left, but he had heard stories, and Aunt Susie and Mr. Man lived in a castle, so maybe Mr. Man was a lord.

"If I should die before I wake,"

"If I should die before I wate," Would the bad woman and her Wolves come while he was sleeping?

"I pray the Lord my soul to take."

"I pway the Word my soul to tate. Why?" He opened his eyes and looked at Aunt Susie.

"Well—" she said. "You'd have to ask . . . Uncle Colin, about that. Time for bed, dear."

Why? Why did Mans sleep at night and not during the day? Why was Mr. Man—Uncle Colin, was he now?—why was he going to take Frank's soul? "What's a soul, Aunt Thuthie?"

"Your soul is your spirit."

"My 'pirit?" Frank hadn't known he had a spirit.

"Yes. And no, you can't see it."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Hop in bed, now, that's a good boy."

He climbed onto the bed. It would make a lot more sense to sleep under the bed, but there were lots of burrowy bedclothes on the bed, so he and Yi burrowed down among them. Together they thought about Aunt 'Ears'ry and Uncle Pewiwig and—

"Good night, Frank."

—And Mrs. 'Winklewacks and Mr. and Mrs. 'Nuffleroot and Ruffle'nout and Tusslebrock, and Aslan, and that green place, where everything was so quiet and sleepy. . . .

XV.
Narnia

When Melina departed, Queen Althea took her younger son, with Nightshadow the Panther to guard them, and came to the Centaur prophet, leaving her elder son in the care of his guardians. She told the Prophet of Melina's news and begged his counsel. Plainly and earnestly did he speak with her, and when darkness fell and the danger grew greater, he laid his hands on young Prince Glen and blessed him. Then the Queen returned with her son and her guard.

All that night, she kept watch at her eastern window, and at the darkest hour, when the night was chill and silent, Aslan came to her and comforted her. When the clouded sky lightened, she rose, washed herself, and put away her cares to play in the southern garden with the Princes and six-year-old Khesa, their half-sister. Quicktrack the Hound was away, visiting his family, Sootquill and Mrs. Twinketacks were asleep, and Clearscry stood guard, but Nightshadow the Panther played a fine game of Tig with the Humans, stalking and leaping and tickling with his tail until they all were laughing.

The Queen had just caught Prince Glen and was tickling him when a patch of ground by the wall seemed to swell, and then two Talking Moles burst out of the ground, blinking and squinting in the sunshine.

"Greetings, cousins!" called the Queen, setting Prince Glen down and motioning for Clearscry and Nightshadow to remain where they were. "What brings ye to Castle Ravenswood?"

The Moles jumped. "Now look what you've done, Moldywarp!" said the second Mole to the first one. "Beg pardon, beg pardon, ma'am. I shouldn'ta let my brother lead. Ruddy chap can't dig straight." He pushed Moldywarp back down the hole and prepared to follow, but the Queen, her face still flushed from exercise, cried,

"Wait! Please, wait."

He turned back, "Yes, ma'am?"

"Good cousin Mole, I am Queen Althea. Might I know thy name?"

"Oh!" said the Mole, bowing several times. " Grubbledelve, and right sorry for disturbin' Your Majesty. My brother, he don't tell direction so well, but he's a good digger and sometimes I let him go first. Beg pardon for disturbin' you."

"Nay," said the Queen. "Hast disturbed me not. Might I ask whither this tunnel leads?"

Grubbledelve rubbed the dirt off his hands. "Under the wall and away west, it did, but we filled it behind us as we came. You see, ma'am—Your Majesty, that is—begging your pardon, but a lot of Beasts are spouting a lot of poppycock about driving Humans from Narnia and making it a land only of Beasts, but we—my brother and me—we don't hold with that rot (don't believe Aslan would approve, if you take my meaning), and we thought mebbe if we went east we could live in a little peace."

"I fear there is little peace to be found in Narnia, good cousin. Yet it seems you might be loyal to Aslan. Mayhap you are willing to do a deed for me."

He said nothing, and she went on.

"Good Mole, couldst thou and thy brother dig a tunnel from this very spot, under yonder wall, and away to the south and east, and couldst thou dig it large enough for a loyal Hedgehog and for one of my young sons to pass through?"

Grubbledelve blinked once or twice. Then he bowed again, awkwardly. "That we could, ma'am. That we could." He turned to his brother, who had slid back up to listen while they were talking. "This time, I go first, hear?"

Moldywarp mumbled something and shuffled around behind Grubbledelve; then they plunged into the earth and dirt flew out behind them.

Althea watched them for a moment, her face suddenly careworn and sad, but she roused at Khesa's touch on her arm.

"A lady is here to speak with you, madam."