The next stretch of time – he could not positively identify minutes or hours – passed in a blur. The taste of the stew in his mouth drove nearly everything else from his mind, and he answered the queen's endless questions impatiently. Had he been paying more attention, he might have noticed how she looked at him with eyes sharpened by greed, how she pressed incessantly on his ability to control the weather. Had he been paying more attention, he would have been wary of her insistence that he visit and study with her in her own home - a castle across the hills.
Unfortunately, he was not paying attention, and he found himself gaping at the high arches of a castle without any particularly clear memory of agreeing to see them. The queen's palace was absolutely covered in snow and ice – spires on towers thrust just as proudly into the night air as icicles hung menacingly down. Jack was being ushered out of the sleigh and nearly stepped on a large gray wolf. He stiffened, readying his staff in self-defense, but the queen gave the wolf a command and he left the boy alone. Jack could have sworn the beast was muttering something insulting as it left, however.
"Now Jack, child," the queen purred as she walked around the sleigh to his side. Jack started and had to force himself not to stare; the queen was tall, much taller than he had expected, and certainly taller than any human he had seen. Unconcerned with his shock, she continued. "You must be tired. I shall have a room prepared for you and you may rest for the night. We will speak in the morning."
"Yes, your majesty," Jack said automatically. He had briefly considered telling her that he did not need sleep, but thought it safer to accept her offer and take whatever time he could away from her presence.
She clapped, and the dwarf who had been driving the sleigh grunted. He gestured for Jack to follow him and he did, glancing backward only once to see the queen looking after him with calculating eyes. He did not look back after that.
Jack spent a very restless night in the palace. His room was opulent and well-furnished. He was sure the bed would have been delightfully warm to sleep in, but he only ever lay on top of the fur cover. Instead, he spent the night feeling uncomfortable in such a small space for a long period of time and wondering what, exactly, he had gotten himself into.
When the dawn came, Jack was greeted by the same dwarf who had taken him to his room last night.
"Her Majesty will see you now," he said roughly.
"Alright," Jack said gamely, taking his staff firmly.
Their trek through the palace was quiet, and Jack itched to fly instead. When they finally arrived in the queen's presence, it was in a large hall with arched ceilings and frosted windows. It was a beautiful room, and the queen seemed to know it. She smiled at Jack's wondering gaze.
"Do you like my dining hall?" she asked sweetly. Jack noticed the elegantly laid table.
"It's beautiful, your majesty," Jack said.
"Do sit," she said. "I can have anything you wish prepared for your breakfast."
"Actually ma'am," Jack said, irrationally embarrassed, "I'm not hungry."
"Nonsense," the queen said. "You must eat."
"Honestly, I'm not hungry. I haven't been hungry in-" he stopped "-in a long time."
The queen's eyes narrowed. "Are you sick?"
"Oh no, your majesty," Jack hastened to assure her. "I just don't need to eat."
She considered that for a moment and then tossed her fur cloak. "Very well then," she said. "We shall commence with today's work at once."
Jack followed her as she swept down her stone corridors. Her strides were very long, and soon he found it difficult to keep up the pace. He started to float, just slightly, hoping the light breezes he was using were not noticeable. The queen turned her head at once to look at him.
"What are you doing?" she asked harshly.
"Flying, your majesty," Jack sputtered, dropping back to the floor as she halted. "I meant no disrespect – I was trying to keep up with you."
"Well, continue," she said impatiently. Jack blinked and called the wind back, lifting himself a few inches off the ground.
"And you use the staff to help you with that?" the queen asked.
"Yes ma'am," Jack said hurriedly.
"Can you do it without your staff?" she asked.
"I, well, I don't know," Jack said.
"Show me."
Startled, he dropped the staff. He fell to the floor and just barely managed to not crash onto his back.
"Interesting," the queen said. "Come, we will continue studying outside."
Over the next few days, Jack demonstrated his abilities beneath the queen's watchful eye. He was not allowed to see anyone else besides her and her dwarf, although he could hear others visiting the palace. The wolves came frequently, bringing reports of rebellion and chaos that he overheard on the wind. He could never spy for long, however, as the queen was alert to his breezes.
It was not until he had been with her nearly a week that the queen first turned someone to stone. A beautiful woman, with hair like moss and skin like smooth bark, had come to beg for springtime, lamenting the loss of her sisters to bitter cold. The queen barely allowed her to finish her plea before lashing out with her golden wand. The poor woman was frozen where she stood.
"Why did you do that?" he cried, swooping down from the high window where he had perched. "She had done nothing wrong!"
"Now Jack," the queen said cloyingly, after a moment of dark rage swept across her face, "don't be upset. You don't know the history of these dryads and their insubordination. She was asking me to change the balance of the seasons – and if I refused, she would have used it as an excuse to start a rebellion."
"Change the seasons?" Jack asked.
"Seasons in Narnia are quite erratic," the queen said. "No one knows their true cycle – this winter had lasted a very, very long time already. Who knows what could happen if I made it end?"
Jack frowned, but ultimately backed off. What did he know about ruling a country?