When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle. ~ Edmund Burke

Disclaimer: I do not own The Chronicles of Narnia, be it book or movie. I only own Arielle and any deviation from the established plot.

When Winter holds its breath

and Spring begins anew

a Sacrificial death

upon the Table entombed

Last Time:

Peter frantically looked at Arielle, desperately trying to keep his fear from showing. She glanced at him for the briefest of moments, a tumult of emotions passing through them, before addressing the muttering soldiers. "Enough." Her voice, calm and strong, swiftly brought silence once more. "Stay your weapons, all of you. I will speak to Jadis. Alone." Then Arielle turned, and the two Queens retreated into Arielle's tent.

Susan placed a great deal of faith in the idea that logic and fact could explain everything she would ever need to know. Objective judgements had always favored her over sentimental thoughts, and her cool headed, factual approach to decision making had never failed her.

Until Narnia, that is.

This entire place defied all logical thinking, and no matter how long Susan put her mind to solving this enormous enigma, she could not come up with a rational answer.

After all, by no means should it be possible to step into a wardrobe in a country mansion during the summer and find oneself in the middle of a snowy forest. Nor should animals, beavers no less, be able to understand english and reply in kind. Hell, she'd even met Father Christmas, who she had believed to be nothing more than a child's tale since she turned seven.

And Susan couldn't do anything about it.

Sure, she could shoot an arrow into the middle of a target, but that wouldn't help her against someone like the Witch. The sight of Mr. Beaver's friends as statues still haunted her. Nightmares of the same fate befalling her and her family woke her in a cold sweat more often than not.

If she were to be logical, it made no sense for them to be there. They'd only arrived a couple weeks ago, after being sent away from a war. What obligation did they have - other than a prophecy that didn't even rhyme - to fight in a war for a country they'd never heard of and, frankly, should not even exist?

But like everything else in this impossible place, her emotional and rather irrational side won out. She'd seen what the Witch could do. She'd feared that she wouldn't see her little brother ever again. She'd seen the cruelty of the Witch, and heard the soldiers' hope for a better Narnia, a peaceful Narnia. How could she turn her back on them?

They'd helped her and her family. First, Mr. Tumnus, who turned traitor to the Witch just to save Susan's little sister, a human he barely knew. The Beaver's, who lost their dam, and nearly their lives, to bring them to their allies. And Arielle, the only other human Susan had seen so far, who'd taught them to defend themselves so that they might live to see the end of the war.

Susan owed a lot to Arielle. She knew that. Arielle rescued Edmund, taught them. Then, when it looked like they would still lose Edmund, she convinced the Witch to let him go. How, she had no idea, but that question she shoved to the back of her mind with all the other things she'd noticed about the Faithful Queen.

The girl - no, woman, for no girl could have such a weariness about her - knew the Witch. Everyone in the camp, and she meant everyone, called the false queen 'the Witch.' Susan hadn't even known the Witch had a name until Arielle used it, and Susan had only ever heard Arielle, and only Arielle, call the Witch by her name, nothing else. The two Queens had a past, and Susan wondered what happened for there to be such hostility.

Then there was the other traitor the Witch had mentioned. Susan had not missed the minuscule flash of anger in Arielle's eyes, nor the more obvious anger from Edmund. Arielle had known the other man, and had probably told Edmund of him. But Susan also saw the guilt and grief that accompanied the anger, as well as the pain when the Witch declared Edmund would die upon the Stone Table.

For once since stepping into Narnia, Susan's logic did not fail her. Arielle knew the other traitor the Witch talked of, knew him personally, and unlike Edmund, the Witch hadn't renounced her claim on his life.

Susan thought back to another thing she didn't know about Arielle. After the young Queen announced that Edmund would not die upon the Table, the camp had erupted into cheers, and relief had flooded through her as Lucy pounced on Edmund and Peter visibly relaxed.

That relief quickly disappeared when the Witch had challenged Arielle. "How do I know your promise will be kept?"

The soldiers did not have time to react to the insult to their leader before the woman... changed. An aura of emerald, something, had appeared around Arielle, curling off her skin like steam. Her eyes became the same glowing green, the color taking over the whites. The Queen seemed to age before their eyes, the thirteen year old becoming twenty, thirty, forty years old as the power and wisdom that can only come from years of knowledge surrounded her.

At the same time, the air had thickened, until Susan struggled to draw even a single breath. All thoughts had scattered from her mind, and she found that moving her body was an impossible task. Time itself seemed to slow to a near halt, color and sound fading from her perception.

And then everything returned to normal, the display taking less than a second and leaving many staggering. Peter's sword fell from limp fingers, and Edmund trembled. Only Lucy seemed to be largely unaffected by whatever Arielle had done.

The Witch had half sat, half fallen into her chair, pale and struggling to breathe. It took a few moments for her guard to collect themselves enough to carry her out of the camp. When she disappeared however, the camp erupted into cheers once more.

Susan found herself glancing back at Arielle, catching the woman's eye. Weariness, hidden from all but Susan's sharp gaze - having seen such weariness in her mother often - lined the Queen's body and face. Whatever Arielle had done, it had taken a lot out of her, and Susan found herself worrying that Arielle might have gone too far.

A concerned frown made it's way onto her face, drawing a wry smile from the tired brunette. With nothing more than a nod of acknowledgement, Arielle turned and disappeared once more into her tent.

Arielle did not join Edmund and Peter in their afternoon chess tournament. Instead, Susan and Lucy did, watching from either side of their brother's as the four conversed.

Finally, Susan asked the question on all of their minds. "The thing Arielle did... what was that?"

Peter and Edmund shrugged, and the three eldest siblings turned in surprise when Lucy answered, "Magic." She raised an eyebrow - something she'd picked up from Arielle - at their skeptical expressions. "What? It's certainly not impossible. We are talking about the Faithful Queen, Lady of the Lantern Wastes, Queen from the Age of Prophecy."

"Age of Prophecy?" Edmund echoed. "What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" Susan scolded him and bopped him over the head for his language, while Lucy and Peter frowned at the dark haired boy.

"Is that what everyone is calling it now?" An amused voice wondered. The four siblings looked up to see Arielle there, for once without her staff in hand. One of her short swords took its place, hanging from her right hip. Her dagger could be seen strapped to her right calf. Arielle sank to the ground in between Lucy and Peter, still looking exhausted. "You'd think historians would have a bit more imagination."

"I overheard some soldiers talking." Lucy said. "Why do they call it the 'Age of Prophecy?'"

"During my reign, I translated many prophecies from the language they were originally written in." Arielle explained. "Including the one about you four."

"Oh, is that why it doesn't rhyme?" Susan asked dryly. Peter and Lucy grinned, while Edmund cocked his head in confusion.

Arielle laughed. "Translation isn't perfect, I'll admit. But to even read, much less understand, the Old Tongue, one had to be able at the very least to comprehend the Deep Magic. Aside from Aslan and Jadis, I think I am the only one who could, though I'm certain a handful of others knew of the Deep Magic."

Peter frowned. "If Jadis and Aslan could understand the language, why weren't the prophecies translated before?"

"Jadis doesn't hold much stock in prophecies." Arielle shrugged. Rightly so. One could not guarantee a specific meaning to any of them, and even the shortest of the damn riddles often came with unexpected surprises. More often than not, trying to interpret and anticipate a prophecy only brought grief. "And like I said before, Aslan isn't tame. He comes and goes as he chooses. He would never deign to be cooped up in a room poring over old texts and carvings. Though, if anyone were to know the true meaning behind a prophecy, it would be him." She added thoughtfully.

"So then it was magic you used earlier. Deep Magic." Lucy said. Arielle nodded, and the little girl's brow furrowed. "But, why did it feel... off?"

Arielle looked at Lucy curiously. "My magic had no affect on you, did it?" When she shook her head, Arielle leaned back, thinking. To be so unaffected by her magic that the spell did not even register indicated a powerful magical ability, whether she be merely Immune, or possess a latent ability as Mage. Both could sense magic, though Arielle had never fully cultivated that particular magical skill. Unfortunately, any tests to discover which ability Lucy possessed would have to wait until after the war.

She forced her thoughts back to the present conversation. "To answer your question, Lucy, Deep Magic is the power that created this world, and it is that same power that governs the core of Narnia. Deep Magic gave life to many of the creatures here, and made many animals different, smarter, from the 'dumb beasts' back on Earth. I can wield the Deep Magic, but really only for certain purposes. Using the magic for anything else is exhausting, and extremely hard to do."

"Is that what the Witch uses?" Edmund asked. Arielle shook her head. Frankly, she didn't know what foul power Jadis wielded, only that she'd never encountered the like of it anywhere else. Edmund sighed. "Well, at least she needs to use that wand of hers. As far as I've seen, she can't cast that petrification spell without it. If we could break it..."

"While that is a sound observation," Arielle cautioned, "To actually carry out such a plan would be extremely dangerous. On top of using her wand in battle, Jadis is a master of dual blades. I've dueled her on several occasions, and never have I defeated her. There is a reason she's been able to keep the throne for a century."

Susan nodded. It made sense. After all, there would have been Narnians who detested the Witch's rule. Eventually someone would have tried to kill the Witch. "So what do we do now?"

The Queen sat forward, bringing the Pevensies' undivided attention to her. "We prepare. If I know Jadis - and I do - she will attack when we least expect it. Calculating the size of her army and the time she'll need to mobilize, I expect that they will be ready for a full assault at dawn. We need a working plan against an army three times our size."

Lucy and Susan gasped, never having heard the odds. Edmund and Peter however, glanced at each other, plans already going through their heads.

"We'll need to set the conditions for battle." Peter immediately said. "High ground for our archers with enough protection against enemy fire. Obviously, a frontal assault would be near suicide."

Edmund absently turned a chess piece over in his hands. "I'd suggest hit - and - run tactics in the forest, but it's too dense for our larger warriors to move easily, and the dwarves would have difficulty as well. We need to break up the Witch's army before the close quarters fighting turns personal." He thought back to the maps he and Peter had spent the past week pouring over, logistics of both armies, various tactical advantages and disadvantages. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he smiled.

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Care to share?" He asked, quite used to Edmund's tactical genius. Eagerly, Edmund began to illustrate his plan, impressing even Arielle. She gave a small, sad smile. Edmund nearly matched Gariv's skill in tactics. She'd have loved to watch a chess game between the two.

Edmund's plan gained approval from both Arielle and Oreius, who promptly began giving orders to the soldiers in preparation for the coming battle. The Pevensies' had not been excluded from this, and Oreius assigned them positions. Only Edmund and Lucy found themselves positioned near each other, being close combat fighters but unskilled in riding a horse.

With their orders and everything planned out, all anyone could do was wait. Peter tried on his armor again, and checked his shield and Rhindon. Susan went to the archery range and emptied her quiver three times before going through some of her close combat moves using her bow. Edmund played a series of chess games against himself in an attempt to keep his thoughts from straying to the next day's inevitable confrontation with the Witch. Lucy wandered the camp, chatting with Ainkirk, the beavers, and the other soldiers about anything unrelated to the battle.

The youngest Pevensie passed Arielle's tent when she heard a female voice say, " - must you be the one to do this?" Inching closer, Lucy felt a ripple pass over her skin like cool water. That must be her magic. Lucy thought.

There was no change to the voices on this side of the magic veil, and Lucy remembered Arielle mentioning how her magic didn't affect her. That thought escaped to the back of her mind when Arielle replied wearily, "I made a promise, Amberfall. No matter how steep the cost, I will not break my word to Peter, or myself for that matter. But Aslan needs to know what is going on, and I know that you can find him in a matter of hours."

"Surely another soldier would be willing -"

Arielle's voice grew sharp with impatience and exhaustion. "But it was I who made the bargain. Jadis will not accept another, nor could I ask someone to take my place."

Lucy heard the whisper of a breeze, and realized the dryad had sighed. "Do Their Highnesses know?"

"No, and that will not change. They can't know, Amberfall. It would distract them, and they need to be able to focus if they are to survive tomorrow."

"Very well, Milady." Heart pounding, Lucy scampered silently backwards until the shadows partially hid her small figure. Amberfall, a dryad of deep orange blossoms, drifted past her hiding place swiftly on the near non existent wind, and Lucy held her breath, praying she wouldn't be seen.

She got lucky. Amberfall disappeared, and Lucy moved as quickly as she dared back to her tent where she lay in the darkness, thinking about what she had just heard.

Author's Note:

So, quite a bit happens in this chapter.

I've always thought that Susan would have had a hard time in Narnia, since she's so logical about everything. But while it is a bit of a burden, it comes in handy at times.

Another thing: I've always pegged Edmund to be more of the strategist instead of his brother. He uses his head more, while Peter tends to be a bit more emotional. We see evidence of this in the second movie, but I won't give away spoilers for those of you who haven't seen it.

I thank those of you who have reviewed, with a special thanks to NinaVuelta93 for her especially heartening words.

Unfortunately Lady Hannah, I cannot answer your questions for two reasons. First, I have not decided 100% how I would answer your question, and secondly, my answer would give away major spoilers. I do understand where you are coming from and I have considered that aspect of the book. I am not offended either - I'm Christian as well, but as I said, I've yet to decide if I will include that particular aspect.

To ThatClichedWriter, I can answer a couple of your questions. To your question of where Aslan is, that'll be something you can make up yourself, as it won't be important to the story. And its Aslan. He could be doing anything. To your last question of when Arielle came to Narnia this time around, I haven't decided yet when, or if that detail will be important either. Great questions though!

Also, I have made minor edits and corrections to a couple chapters - nothing major that would require you to go back and reread them. But if you notice something different, that would be why.

As usual, reviews are more than welcome.

Thanks for reading,

~Lassie