It was another day – so Jack thought, anyway, since it was difficult to keep track of time in a lightless dungeon – before anyone came down his way. He had heard a great commotion earlier, soon after his staff had been released from the queen's power, and now he heard one of similar magnitude. He stood and went again as close as was possible to the cell door and looked out, trying desperately to see what was going on.

The timbre of the noise above him was very different from anything he had heard from the queen's palace so far. There were shouts, but they sounded pleased – joyful, even – but without the malicious undertones that he was used to hearing in this place. Before long, he heard distinct voices echoing in the hallway

"Ugh, what a horrible dungeon!"

"What did you expect?"

"It's not about what I expected or didn't expect-"

And another pair:

"Do you suppose anyone is even alive down here?"

"Could be – we don't know what kind of enchantments the witch could have used."

"Me!" Jack cried once he had fully processed what he had just heard. "I'm down here! I'm alive!"

No one responded. Jack stepped back from the door, eyeing it with a look of dawning horror.

"No," he whispered. "No, come on! They have to hear me!" He was yelling again, and soon the sound became inarticulate as he just tried to be heard. It was of no use. He slumped against the side wall, staring at his manacled wrists. Surely he was not going to be trapped down here. Surely the queen was not the only person able to see him.

He knelt there in shock until a voice came from the end of the hallway.

"Has anyone checked down here?" It was a young girl's voice, with the lovely round tones and crisp consonants of a Londoner, and Jack listened with bated breath.

"No? Well, I shall. Leopard, could you come with me please?"

As Jack watched, a girl and a leopard padded carefully down the dim passageway. The girl carried a candle that sent shadows flickering all down the walls, but she did not seem very unnerved. The leopard was looking around with an air of great intelligence. The girl placed a hand on its sleek back when she stumbled on an uneven stone, and the great beast did not even flinch.

"Are you alright?" it asked the girl.

"Yes, quite. Thank you," she replied, unaffected by the speech. Jack, meanwhile, was making undignified sorts of squawks. The girl stopped just before she left his range of vision and turned to look behind her. Jack's breath caught.

"You go ahead," she told the leopard, and he gave a graceful acknowledgement. The girl stepped closer to Jack's cell, squinting in the flickering torchlight. Jack at first held his breath, but then got a hold of himself and tried to get her attention.

"I don't think handcuffs can do that on their own," she muttered in response to Jack's frantic but limited arm gestures. She did not appear to hear his enthusiastic greeting. "You know, I do believe there's someone in them," she said presently.

"Yes!" Jack cried. "I am!"

She jumped back, nearly dropping her candle and squeaking a little.

"Sorry, sorry!" Jack said. "I'm just- excited, you know. No one's noticed me in here for a really long time."

"Are you in there?" the girl asked. "I think, well, I think I can hear you, but I can't quite see you."

"But you can at least hear me?" he asked.

"I can."

"Uh, well, then I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Jack Frost. It's nice to meet you."

"Hullo Jack Frost," the girl said, curtsying a little. "My name's Susan Pevensie- oh I do declare!"

"What?" Jack asked, looking around.

"You must be so cold!" Susan said. "Your poor bare feet!"

Jack looked down at his poor bare feet, then back at Susan, and began to laugh. "You can see me!"

"Why, I suppose I can!" Susan said, laughing after a moment.

"I'm not cold," Jack said excitedly. "I don't need shoes or anything to stay warm."

"Are you magic?" Susan asked, tilting her head.

"I guess so," Jack said. "But the queen took my staff, so I can't use my magic to escape, otherwise I would never have gotten in here in the first place."

"Oh!" Susan cried. "I need to get you out!" She turned and ran a few steps down the way she had first come. "Someone call Aslan down here quick, please! I've found a boy – he's all chained up and I don't have a key!"

There was a chorus of voices to answer her, and soon she was back in front of Jack. "He'll be down here as soon as he can," she explained. "He's very good at this."

"Who's Aslan?" Jack asked, suppressing a shiver of awe as the name passed his lips.

"Don't you know?" Susan said. "Aren't you Narnian?"

"No I'm not!" Jack said. "I don't know anything about this place."

"Oh! Well, Aslan is, well, he's the true king of Narnia and he's come and overthrown the White Witch – and he's a lion!"

"A talking lion?"

"Why, of course!" Susan giggled. Jack smiled. They talked for a few more minutes, until Susan turned and cried "Aslan!"

Aslan was, indeed, a lion. A shudder rolled through Jack, the kind you get when a warm breeze makes you realize how cold you are. He stared for a moment, and then bowed deeply. When he straightened, Aslan was regarding him with a deeply penetrating and uncomfortably knowing stare.

"You have been imprisoned for much too long," he said, and his voice was a low rumble, just a step above a growl. Jack bowed his head in assent.

"Susan, child," Aslan said. "You should run along. There are others to free."

She looked as if she wanted to protest for only a moment, but then nodded and hurried down the hall. She gave Jack one backward glance and a smile, and he grinned back.

"You may wish to cover your ears," Aslan said. Jack saw the playful gleam in his eye and immediately obeyed. It was a struggle with his handcuffs, but he managed it just as Aslan took a great breath to let out an even greater roar. Jack closed his eyes against the overwhelming sound.

As the roar faded away, Jack opened his eyes to see that the cuffs had fallen from his wrists. Looking around the cell, he realized that every scrap of metal had dissolved. The barred cell door had completely collapsed, and Jack felt a momentary stab of fear at the thought of being truly face to face with a lion. The fear passed, and Jack bowed again.

"Thank you," he said, and was surprised to hear that his voice was choked in his throat.

"You are most welcome," Aslan said. "Now, I believe that there is something in the witch's throne room that belongs to you."

Jack's head snapped up. Aslan smiled as much as a lion could be said to smile and nodded. Jack ducked his head again and hurried out of the cell. His every instinct told him to run, run as fast as he could, but his stiff body protested and threatened to drop him onto the floor if he tried something so foolish. He settled for the quickest walk he could manage, and was quickly guided out of the dungeons by the increasing crowds of magical creatures and animals.

He spared them hardly a second glance; although in days past he would have marveled. In times to come he would marvel again, but a part of him had been captive for too long, and the only thing he wanted was to get it back.

The throne room was a chaotic mess of creatures rejoicing at their newfound freedom, and Jack found the smile on his face growing bigger as he danced his way around them. He got to the witch's throne and saw his staff resting against it. He scooped it up with a gleeful whoop, and then he was soaring above the heads of the assembled creatures. He was barely able to contain himself until he was out of the castle. Once entirely free, he called the coolest of the spring breezes to bear him skyward until he could barely breathe. Then he allowed the wind to go and plummeted to the earth.

No one saw Jack swooping and diving above the White Witch's castle that day; no one but Susan Pevensie, who could not spare the unusual boy much of her attention in the rush of the day; and Aslan, who, of course, knew that Jack was in no danger. Once the initial thrill of ecstatic freedom wore off, Jack saw the entire celebratory group in the castle move off to the west. He flew down just above them to follow, curious to see where they were going. Susan and another girl, younger even than her, were clinging to Aslan's back as he led the entire long procession.

He was stunned when they arrived at the battle.