A/N: I'm sorry - I've been neglecting this recently. Thank you to everyone who followed or favourited this story, and thank you to Beneari for the review - I feel like now there are people who are actually reading this, I should update it... Here's Chapter 5!
Annie is stunned by the cold. She gasps and blinks into the steadily gathering darkness and blizzard, her eyes adjusting. The shadows get in the way of her vision and it takes her a while to find Edmund's dark huddled figure, making his way up the side of the valley. She sets off after him, making sure to keep him in her sights. He keeps looking back, but she is always careful to take cover. They walk for a long time, Edmund seeming to know his destination.
Then, Edmund disappears. She looks down for a moment, and when she looks back, he has disappeared. She feels suddenly terrified. Here she is, alone in the woods, with darkness coming. She has no idea where she is, or how to get back to where she had come from. Panicking, she speeds up in the hope of finding Edmund, and then-
"I knew it!"
Annie yelps and loses her footing. She plunges to the ground and falls up to her elbows into the snow.
Edmund stands above her, looking triumphant and faintly relieved.
"I knew that there was someone following me!"
Annie huffs and stands up.
"What are you doing anyway?" Edmund continues.
"Following you." She says. "I wanted to know where you were going."
"Not telling. And no, you can't come."
"I've got to." She replies. "I don't know the way back from here, and I bet that you don't either."
He examines her, and sighs. "Fine. I suppose that I could do with some company anyway."
Annie smiles as they begin to walk. "Admit it, you were scared of walking through the scary woods all on your own."
"Was not!"
"Yes, you were!"
"Well... So were you!"
She nods seriously. "Yes, I was. It's frightening."
Edmund doesn't seem to know what to say to this. "Huh."
"So... Where are we going?"
He shoots her an unreadable look. "It's a surprise."
Annie rolls her eyes, but goes along with this. She crosses her arms over her body, shivering. "It's freezing out here."
He looks at her, an annoyed look on his face. "I'm not cold."
She sighs. "Will you at least tell me how long this is going to take? I'd like to get back before the others notice that we've gone."
Edmund scoffs at that. "They've probably already noticed. They're probably out looking for us."
She shivers again. "We should go back, Edmund. It's getting dark out here, and anything could happen to us... Maisie'll be worried."
"We don't know the way back, remember?" Edmund says. "Anyway, I'm carrying on. Go and lose yourself in the woods if you like. I don't care what you do."
She looked at him as he walked, the waning light casting strange shadows on his face.
"You're not very nice, you know." She says quietly.
Edmund stares straight ahead, refusing to look at her.
"I don't care." He says, sounding less confident in this fact than he had done a moment ago.
Annie glances back into the trees behind her, and shudders at the sight of the menacing shadows. They seem to form shapes - shapes of wolves, tall figures, strange hands reaching out from the branches. At times like this, an imagination is a curse.
Deciding that she has no other choice, she follows Edmund further and further through the woods.
"She's lost!" Michael yells. "Our little sister is out there, in the dark, scared and cold and alone-"
"And Edmund!" Susan joins in.
"We have to find them-" Michael feels sick to his core. How could he stop paying attention? How could he look away? What if something happens to her? He gets up and pulls on his coat, darting towards the door.
"Wait just a minute!" Mrs Beaver calls. She hurries after the children. "It's too dangerous for you to rush off like that!"
"We can't wait!" Peter says.
Michael is outside before anyone can stop him, quickly overtaking everyone else. "Annie!"
His yell echoes off of the valley. Breathing quickly, he looks around in desperation, but there is no trace of Edmund and Annie. The blizzard swirls around him. "Annie!"
"Michael-" Susan emerges from the door.
He turns to her. "There's no footprints or anything - how are we meant to find them?"
"The Beavers have an idea of where they've gone." Her face is stretched with worry.
"Where?" Michael demands.
Maisie and Peter come out onto the snow, Peter answering Michael's question. "They've gone to the Queen's castle."
"But why-" He stops, and realises. "Oh."
Edmund had been to Narnia before.
"There's no time to lose." Maisie looked at her brother, and an unspoken message passed between them. "We have to get them back, or-"
Michael shivers.
Annie is scared. She had the feeling that she'd had when the air raid siren used to go off - how very long ago that seemed. She remembers running down the streets, chaos and light and noise on all sides, broken glass crunching beneath her feet. Then, the dark waiting silence of the shelter - feeling her pulse in her fingertips and a mess of nerves in her stomach.
Now, there is silence. She is surrounded by shadows, and she doesn't want to look behind her - just in case there is something there.
Edmund does not seem at all afraid. He walks boldly in front, his step lighter and lighter as they near their destination. A few times, he throws her an impatient glance, as if to say, 'Hurry up. I've got somewhere to be.'
After what seems like forever, they come out of the trees and begin to walk down hill, along a steep path that joins up with many others on the way and becomes almost a road. After a while, a pair of gates come into view - beyond them, there is a castle, blurred by mist.
Annie stops and stares forwards. She doesn't feel good about this.
"Edmund?" Her voice quavers.
He stops and looks back at her, his irritation now obvious. "What?"
"We should go back. I don't like this."
He shoots her a look of utter disgust. "Fine. Have it your way." With that, he continues, speeding up as he walks ever closer to the gates.
"Edmund!" Annie cries. He doesn't stop, and after a moment, she breaks into a run to catch up with him.
As they near the gates, they swing silently, smoothly open. Edmund walks through without a backwards glance, but Annie stops and hesitates. Behind her; the dark of the trees. Before her; the unknown of the castle.
But there is no choosing in a situation like this, and she stumbles after Edmund, knowing even before they do that the gates will shut behind her. There's no going back now. She expects every moment for the ground to collapse beneath her, or for the sky to fall. This is not a good place; every footstep rattles through her body, sending a chill of foreboding to her trembling hands. Around them there are hundreds of stone statues, their expressions tortured and fearful.
And it is silent; too silent.
In a crunch of teeth and claws and snarling, Edmund is whirled to the ground by a furry streak of lighting. Annie screams and falls backwards - the creature sets its yellow eyes on her.
"Who are you?" The creature - the wolf - growls, looking between the two children. "How dare you intrude upon the home of the queen?"
Edmund's eyes are wide in shock. "We- I- I am Edmund. The queen told me to come here."
Only a moment later, the wolf has leapt from Edmund's chest and is snarling out a smile. "My apologies, fortunate favourites of the Queen. This way."
Edmund scrambles to his feet and looks back at Annie, looking scared for the first time. Her insides twist.
They follow the wolf - what else can they do? Annie keeps close to Edmund's side, looking down at the paw prints beneath her feet. They make their way through the last of the statues and enter the castle through a huge pair of frostily translucent doors that, like the gate, swing open at their approach. It is no warmer inside than out, and she shivers anew as they come into an icy chamber. A raised platform is before them, upon it a throne seemingly made of icicles, covered in silver-white furs. It is gloomy inside, the light coming from below the floor. Shadowy alcoves lead to other rooms, long passages stretching away into the depths of the castle.
The wolf makes a deep bow. "Please wait here." It leaves through one of the doorways, and the children are left alone.
Edmund's mouth is open in wonder. Having forgotten his fright, he looks curiously up at the arched ceiling and runs his hands over the walls, not flinching when his fingers meet the frozen surface. Annie, paralysed, watches him move around the room, only forced into action when he climbs up to the throne and reaches out towards it.
"Edmund!" She hisses. "We'll get into trouble!"
He ignores her and sits down on the furs. Lips quirking up into a disbelieving smile, he places his hands on the arms of the throne and looks around the room, his eyes passing over Annie in an instant.
"Like it?"
At the voice, Annie feels an immobilising wave of fear and nausea, and sways on her feet. Fearful eyes dart towards a woman standing in the corner of the room - startlingly bright, she seems to glow.
Edmund jumps up, stumbling down from the platform. "Y- yes."
The Queen smiles. She steps forward, pulling a slipping white fur up onto her slim shoulder, and sits down on her throne, chin jutted forward. Her face is sharp - the skin white, eyes the very palest blue. She looks at Annie, and the smile widens. Annie trembles.
"Who is your friend, Edmund? Is this one of your sisters?"
"Oh - that's Annie." Edmund says quickly, dismissively. "She's one of the other ones."
"Ah... I understand. And your families, children... Are they in Narnia also?"
The Queen's tone is sweet and deadly. Annie doesn't answer, and gulps.
"Yes. All of them."
"Tell me, Edmund... Is your brother... unintelligent?"
At that, Edmund becomes conversational. "Well, I think so, but Mum says-"
The Queen stands up, that carefully painted expression melting away to fury. "Then why have you returned alone? I told you to bring the others, did I not?"
He steps back. "I meant to, honest - but I wanted to see you!" He seems desperate for a redeeming statement, and, to Annie's horror, says: "I brought them halfway! They're at the Beavers'!"
She looks at him in disdain, her head raised high. "You have very much disappointed me, Edmund."
He looks hesitant. "Could- could I have some more Turkish delight? Please?" He adds as an afterthought.
The Queen scoffs. "No." Cold eyes glaring down, she says: "Take them to the dungeons. Maugrim - ready the pack. We have some children to find... At the Beavers', did you say?"
Edmund's eyes are wide - this is clearly not what he had expected. Annie's head is swimming - something is wrong with her. She lurches forward and clutches Edmund's arm, clinging to it - if she lets go, she will fall.
The wolf reenters the chamber, and smirks its cruel smile. Giving a howl, it runs from sight, and Annie soon hears the sound of others following it away from the castle. She is too dizzy now to focus, and sees only the flashes of teeth and claws, streaks of grey and silver passing the chamber. She thinks of her family, and wants to cry.
Someone is beside them, a small man with a knife in his belt and ropes in his hands. Cackling, he wrestles Edmund away from her and begins to tie his wrists. Only just staying standing, she allows him to tie her hands too before they are shoved towards a downwards staircase. She clatters into the walls, delirious. The dwarf's rough and impatient hands push them into a cell and slam a barred door behind them. He leaves, the sound of jingling keys reverberating inside Annie's head. She falls, whimpering as her body hits the floor.
"Annie?" Edmund sounds terrified, and very far away. "Annie? Are you all right? Annie?"
She tries to open her eyes and fails. Her fists clench. She will not slip away, she will not give in, she will not...
The world fades to black.
His throat hoarse from shouting, Michael slumps back against a tree. Two small, dark figures disappear into the grey beyond the castle gates.
"They're gone." Maisie says, blankly. He looks at her, and sees the pain in her face, hidden away. She will not show it. He knows her too well to believe that she will.
Susan turns hopelessly to the Beavers. "What will she do to them?"
"How can we get them out?" Michael cuts in.
Mr Beaver looks solemn. "You know what they say... Them that go in there, often don't come back out."
"We should go after them." Michael says.
"You'd be falling straight into her trap!" Mr Beaver shouts. "She wants all of you!"
"We've got to rescue them!" Peter says, frustration evident on his face. "You think we can just leave them?"
"Of course not!" Mrs Beaver glances at her husband. "It's just that- well, perhaps there is a way..."
"How?" Michael speaks for them all.
"It's a chance." Mrs Beaver says. "We've got no solid facts - there's only rumours, but-"
"What is it?" Susan demands.
"Aslan." Mrs Beaver whispers, glancing twitchily back into the trees. "His camp is at the Stone Table, so they say."
Michael pushes himself off of the tree, unfolding his arms. He glances back at the castle, shut up like a fortress, and thinks of his little sister, within those walls.
"All right. We'll go."
The others look at him. The Beavers look worried.
"Even if it's just's a chance," He continues, "We've got to take it. The alternative is breaking in there on our own. I mean, I'll do it if it comes to it - but we don't have a chance if it's just us. If this Aslan is as great as you say he is-"
At this, the Beaver scowls. "He's greater."
A hint of a smile on his face, he goes on. "If he's as great as you say - sorry, greater - then we could definitely use his help."
Peter looks at Michael with a sort of approval on his face. "So, Mr Beaver, could you show us the way to the Stone Table?"
"How far is it to go?" Susan asks. "How long will it take?"
"A few days, maybe less." The Beaver looks around at them all. "I can show you the way."
"We'll have to go back to the Dam first." Mrs Beaver cuts in. "To get supplies."
"What are we waiting for?" Maisie says. Michael looks at her; she gives him a quick nod. "Let's get going."
The snow still falling around them, they turn and follow their fading footprints, back the way they came, unnoticing of the wolf howls that grow ever closer as they move towards their destination.