Disclaimer: I do not the Chronicles of Narnia. C. S. Lewis does.

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Isabela glanced up her face stunned and a disbelieving expression flitting across her worn face.

'Asha.' She whispered. 'What happened to you?'

Asha smiled eerily, her face hungry and somehow barbaric in its beauty. The frightening smile revealed her thinly carved, long fangs extending from her gums to her lips. Her face was pale and white and somehow terrifying in its lost beauty. She was no longer the old Asha. Not from her face nor from the low purring voice that emitted from her.

'Nothing at all, Lia. In fact a very good thing just happened. I was made Queen of the Western Wood.'

'How come this escaped the knowledge of King Edmund who had complete authority over this forest?' Isabela demanded.

'Ah yes your brother-in-law, I believe.' There were collective gasps of surprise and astonishment. Asha glanced at her slyly. 'Maybe he did not feel to share this news with you. After all nobody had to share everything with anybody. And perhaps he was not aware of your and mine acquaintance.'

'Or perhaps he was not informed of this event.' Edmund cut in, his voice uneasy and he exchanged a sharp glance with Isabela.

Asha glanced at him through her veiled eyes, hissing lightly.

'King Edmund?'

There was more muttering, louder and more pronounced and Isabela felt her heartbeat increase dramatically.

'Yes indeed.' The aged centaur said his voice low and wise and somehow penetrating all defences. 'It is King Edmund the Just accompanied by his sister-in-law High Queen Isabela. I do hope you know of them?'

'Of course we do!' A member of Asha's party shot back. He was a short creature barely reaching Isabela's knee with a curly beard and folds upon folds of skin and pointed ears.

Isabela wasn't quite sure if he was an insect or some mythical creature.

She did not care.

'If you do not mind, Queen Asha, now that you have fully interrogated us may we proceed on our journey?'

'Hold it! Her Majesty Queen Asha has no right to let you go according to the Treaty of the Western Wood. You have crossed our boundary not hers and thus it is we who have the right to tell you whether you are free to go or do you have to stay!'

'Beg pardon?' Alvin asked insulted, puffing his chest.

'Well, are we free to go?' Isabela asked impatiently. The creature looked at her shrewdly.

'Not yet! We have to take you back to master for your trial before you can go.'

'There will no need for that, Dirk.' Asha told him, fury lacing her voice. 'As Queen I have right over your master and you and I say that these people be let on their journey!'

'Well break your own laws then.' Dirk sneered. Asha clenched her jaw.

'Well can I at least give them a proper home to stay. Will your master allow them to stay in my abode until the trial?' she asked. Dirk pretended to think.

'I suppose that won't be a problem…' he said finally. 'If, if you swear in blood to not let them escape.'

'Of course.' Asha said frowning deeply. 'And you'd better stay within your limits, Dirk. You are getting increasingly frank and I do not appreciate that! Now away with you and your minions!'

Dirk snarled angrily and hauled up his heavy looking bow from his shoulder.

'Make us.'

'I will not stand your rudeness!' Asha hissed. 'Now go!'

Muttering under their breaths and shooting venomous glares dripping with frostiness the creatures shot away, their hairy heads disappearing in the darkness of the trees. Asha threw back her long mane of chestnut curls and smiled at the Narnian party.

'Come with us.'

'I don't think so, Asha.' Isabela said. 'We are on an important journey and we don't want to pause now.'

Edmund nodded.

'We thank you for your offer, Lady Asha but we are in hurry.'

Asha's expression was dangerous.

'I said, you are to come with us. It will do no harm to you. Besides,' she smiled slyly. 'I believe you are out of supplies and you could do with a good meal.'

Edmund glanced at Isabela, his gaze sharp and calculating.

'It will do no harm.' He said finally, gesturing for Alvin and a centaur to come forward. He leaned over Philip, his mane glistening and whispered lightly in their ears. They nodded and stepped back talking silently to the others.

'You should not whisper when there are other people around.' Asha said coolly.

'Of course, my lady.' Edmund said lightly. 'I simply instructed my fellows to go onward on their journey while I remain here, accompanying the High Queen.'

Isabela bit her lip to keep from protesting because she saw the glint of determination in Edmund's eyes.

Asha's face was a pale colour, white from utter fury and anger. In a barely controlled voice she said.

'Very well then. Come.'

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'It is not polite to sit quietly Lia.'

'Is staying silent, a crime now too?' Isabela asked her sarcastically, glaring directly at the stunning woman sitting cross legged in front of her. 'Or has Her Majesty banned it too?'

Asha laughed her voice high.

'You have changed Lia! Why before you came on your first visit to Narnia you were such a happy go lucky girl.'

'And now?'

'Now you are silent and sharp and somehow….. meaner, not in a bad way.' Asha assured her. 'You are still the kind, gracious Isabela but now you are not as innocent.'

'Yes.' Isabela agreed quietly. 'I do agree with you. Innocence, I have long lost. That was a long time ago. After the deaths of my family.'

'Ah… I am sorry about that.'

'You're late in offering your apologies.' Isabela told her, sitting back and leaning against the wide pillar holding up the tent in the middle of the forest. It was made of purple velvet, softer than fur, and embroidered with exquisite silvery threads made by caterpillars. Plump cushions lined the edge and it was there that Asha ushered her to.

Calling a raven which croaked out twice she instructed the gathering servants to prepare tea and biscuits for the guests.

'There shall be no need for that.' Isabela said. 'We intend to leave soon.'

'I can hardly send you away without giving you proper hospitality.' Asha smiled sweetly and rang a silvery bell for another servant dwarf.

'What do you want, Asha?' Isabela asked bluntly as soon as the dwarf had hastily exited the tent. 'Obviously you want something desperately, desperately enough to bid your own soul.'

Asha inclined her head in a quick dipping movement.

'You know me well.' She leaned back, breathing deeply in the scent of the herbal tea. 'Perhaps it comes from knowing me for ten years.'

'And yet, I feel as if I do not know you at all.' Isabela put in, her voice cold. Asha laughed.

'Time changes people, Lia. You know that as well as I do.'

'It is people who allow time to change them, not time which forces them to change. Can anybody force anybody to change in today's world? I don't think so.'

'You haven't seen all the world yet, Lia.' Asha said oddly gentle. 'When you live as I have then you will realize the truth of the world.'

'Why don't we discuss what you want to discuss rather than you trying to indirectly discuss your true objectives of this meeting with me, Asha?' Isabela asked, pushing back her long ringlets of black waterfall.

'Always the impatient one.'

'Always the sly one.'

'I was never sly nor will I ever be sly.' Asha said seriously. 'I am rather...observant and have quick, sharp reflexes.'

'That is a more positive way to say it.' Isabela muttered. 'It makes no difference.'

'It makes all the difference in the world.'

'Will you just tell me what you have to say?' Isabela asked losing her cool indifference. 'Better than wasting your time as well as mine.'

Asha drew back and studied her for a long time. The stare was uncomfortably familiar, sparking up a memory deep within her mind.

'Very well. I heard you were fighting the giants in the north.'

'You heard correct.'

'Of course I heard correct.' Asha said scornfully. 'My news is most reliable.'

'Don't you mean your spies?' Isabela corrected. She got a dark glare in response.

'I offer you an alliance of sorts. You cannot deal with this threat alone. Humans are vulnerable to the giants and can be easily defeated. But dwarves, elves, nymphs and other creatures of the wood put up a great match for them.'

'What are you offering?'

'Me?' Asha feigned surprise. 'I am offering you the assistance of my army. They are well trained in the arts of combat and are much better than your Narnian soldiers! They will help you defeat the giants and restore peace.'

'And what do you want in return?'

'Its simple. I want your help to ensure my complete authority over the Western Wood under King Edmund of course.' She added.

A knowing smile flickered across Isabela's face and she laughed.

'I see, you have made some serious political opponents have you not? Who is it?'

Asha stiffened and hissed angrily.

'Do you want my help or do you not?'

Isabela made her face impassive and completely blank. She inclined forwards, her hair falling down and covering her face like a dark veil but her green eyes glowed dangerously like a dragon's glittering emerald scales.

'You do know that my father was good friends with the furies?'

All the colour drained from Asha's face.

'You cannot be serious.' She spluttered. 'And they are not known as furies anymore. Nowadays they are called ulfs.'

Isabela dismissed it with a wave of her slender hand.

'I can always support your rivals in this battle.'

'Are you so desperate so as to actually threaten me? What? Have you been given a warrant or some death trap that you are willing to go to any extent to win political support?'

'Yes. Yes. And yes. Yes to all three questions.'

'Technically there were only two.'

'You cannot win the alliance of the ulfs and their trust so easily. It takes years upon years, even centuries, to simply create a bond of harmony with them.'

'But you forget the point, Asha.' She smiled lightly, her voice dripping with honey but mixed with a serpent's venom. 'I'd say I do not need your help.'

Asha did not answer. For a long time she stared straight at Isabela, looking into her eyes.

There was an impregnable silence and no sound could penetrate the glares fixed between the two woman.

'You are not the same Lia.'

Isabela nodded a triumphant smile on her face before she sprang to her feet but as she turned back from the flaps of the tent, her eyes met Asha's for the briefest of the second. There was sadness lurking in them.

'And you are not the Asha I knew. Not anymore.'

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'Come on Ed. We are leaving.'

'Thank Aslan. The food was simply horrible.' He muttered as he swung his lithe form onto Philip in one swift motion. 'Raw leaves boiled in papaya seeds and watermelon meat. Such a disgusting dinner.'

'They are plant creatures,' Isabela said amused. 'They live off natural spices and food. They believe it will bring them immortality and strength.'

'But raw leaves?' Edmund complained, his face disgusted. 'Yck.'

Isabela laughed as they sped on through the thicket of bushes and branches clawing at their faces.

'What did Asha want?' Edmund asked carefully, his voice thin and quiet.

'She wanted to force me to ask for her help. To make an alliance.'

'Why?'

'Because she is facing extreme opposition, I believe. Many people did not want her to become queen because of some….. family matters'

'Family matters?' Edmund asked raising his delicate eyebrows.

'Asha was not on good terms with her mother, the previous late Queen of the Western Wood.'

'Queen Sasha?' Edmund asked surprised. 'But she was such a kind and gracious lady, a miraculous warrior. She seemed to shine like a star on her throne and in the battlefield.'

Isabela nodded smiling wistfully.

'She was almost like a second mother to me. But Asha and her…. They did not get along at all… They had personalities that clashed like lightening and thunder fighting for the sky. Asha's father was…. Against her mother and they fought fiercely until he left in the bitter violence of a summer storm. He never came back. Asha, who was closer to him than anyone, was heartbroken and she blamed her mother for forcing her father to leave. Her mother, tiring of her insolence and reckless blames, punished her severely and this only led to their relationship deteriorated more. Finally Queen Sasha banished Asha from her court because of Asha causing rebellions to grow up throughout the woods against her. Asha was furious and left her mother. They never met again, for hundreds of years they remained apart. And after the Queen's death it was only fitting that her greatest supporter and almost son become the King. But Asha was not going to let her power go away that easily. Now….. they are fighting each other for the throne.'

'So unrest here and unrest in the north.' Edmund said darkly. 'Obviously they have one common reason behind it.'

'Asha or her rival?' Isabela asked.

'Not sure. Both are lethal and vicious and willing to sacrifice anything for the throne.'

Isabela chewed her lip thoughtfully. She was still not quite sure what had happened to Asha to change her so dramatically.

This Asha was not the Asha she had known.

But on the other hand her rival, Galvin, was also a jerk, cold and ruthless and a changed man, but one with honour and sometimes even honesty. And he had been loyal to the queen.

'Anyways, what did you say to her in answer to her generous offer?' Edmund asked.

'I told her that if I wanted support I could easily get it from the ulfs and furthermore Narnia does not need support from her.'

'You were ruthless, weren't you?'

'I wouldn't call it ruthless, rather passionate and zealous.'

'Sure.' Edmund snorted. 'Whatever you say, Lia.'

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Peter gritted his teeth, his cape flying around in the ferocious wind as it shrieked and moaned, groaning and screaming. His ears were sore and his cheek white from cold and the high wind.

Behind him he could hear the echoes of the battle, swords howling, arrows whizzing and friends and foes alike screaming for help. Blood splattered the ground and torn patches of clothing lay everywhere. It was a horrifying scene and Peter thanked his lucky stars that he had refused to eat dinner before going out.

He swung Rhindon around and lunged forward ending his enemy's clumsy movements.

A new warrior.

Obviously he had no experience in combat yet.

He slumped to his feet, blood gurgling from his open mouth as he breathed his last. Peter was already moving on. He could not allow himself to feel pity and exhibit his weakness now.

He slashed and hacked him way through until he stood surrounded by either the dead or the dying. His soldiers crowded around him and he felt a sense of triumph.

The entire enemy was dead.

All killed.

No survivors.

What a victory for them!

He knew that the Narnians felt it too. For the first time since the last three weeks happiness lit up their faces and a strong desire for revenge for their fallen comrades. Orieus came up to him, his helmet scratched in various places and he accompanied Peter to the headquarters flanked by Lord Peridan, exhausted but grinning and other Narnian lords and the major commanders.

They crowded around the large table, all ready to fight further. Now they had a chance

Thank you, Aslan. Peter thought. For giving us hope and the will to keep fighting and for granting us this victory.

'My king, do we now proceed to the occupied villages?' Peridan asked, leaning against the table top. 'I think it would be the best. To go out and attack rather than waiting to be attacked.'

'I agree with Peridan, King Peter.' Adrian agreed. 'It is our best chance.'

Peter nodded.

'What of the reinforcements?' He turned to Mr. Tumnus.

'My lord I was told that the Narnian party have reached Cair Paravel but without King Edmund and High Queen Lia. But Alvin, the squirrel, assured me that we had nothing to worry. Queen Susan and Queen Lucy have instructed the soldiers what to do. They left a few days ago.'

'Which means that they will reach by tomorrow evening.' Orieus finished. 'They can join us in the fighting.'

Peter nodded again, his azure eyes scanning the map laid out before him. His gaze dropped on Cern, a deserted village closer to the camp than the others.

'Then by tomorrow evening we will free Cern of its occupation.' He said silently. 'Prepare yourselves.'

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'My lady, my lady! My lady Susan! My queen!' A faun scampered across the balcony to the slender figure standing along the railing leaning against it.

Susan looked up, hr face paling and her heart thumping loudly. Why, it must be about Peter! Or Edmund and Lia!

'What is it?' she asked calmly, smoothing out her long embroidered dress. A curious Lucy wandered in, her face eager and inquisitive, the red curls flowing fluffily around her innocent face.

'My lady, you must see this!' He said in between panting breaths, leaning down, struggling to talk properly. 'Come quickly, my queens!'

Her heart in her throat Susan stepped out to the main doors, her eyes narrowing. Lucy followed, hot on her trail, her nightgown flying behind her. Suddenly she stopped, her face stunned and Lucy nearly bumped into her.

Dear Aslan…

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And done! I am terribly sorry for keeping you all waiting but I had a lot to do! Anyways enjoy! And please do leave your comments, thoughts and ideas and of course your wonderful suggestions which always help me to improve and write on!

A. L. Potter