chatelaine of cair paravel

[charning]

In the wood, near but not too near the Lantern, drives a sledge, drawn by a reindeer under the whip of a Dwarf, and carrying a woman, of sorts. She is taller, and paler, and somehow - grander, more terrible, colder even than the deep winter through which she rides. The furs are decorative; she wears nothing over her ears, which, were she human, would spell frostbite given how long she has been on this ride.

The harness-bells jingle tinnily.

Comments

[alicornucopia]

"Only a little nightmare," the specter says modestly.

[pythbox]

"Nice," says Winter. "So is that your job? Nightmare people until they do what Jadis wants?"

He seems very impressed by this!

[alicornucopia]

"Occasionally. I have also seen use as a spy," the specter adds. "Being insubstantial helps. Her Majesty finds me useful."

[pythbox]

"I bet!" says Winter, gazing at him admiringly.

[alicornucopia]

The Specter smiles. "I am called Wisp," he adds.

[pythbox]

"Nice to meetcha, Wisp," says Winter. "I'm Winter, but I guess you heard."

[alicornucopia]

"Yes. Her Majesty must favor you to call you that."

[pythbox]

"Guess she does!" he agrees. "Think that means she'll give me more jellybeans?"

[alicornucopia]

"Possibly. Or she may dispense them only as a reward when you have done things she particularly approves."

[pythbox]

Winter giggles.

[charning]

It turns out that jellybeans are dispensed partly according to random whim, but mostly as rewards - never as a whole jar all at once, but handsful and occasionally only one or two at a time, if his teachers (ogres, wolves, dwarves, all manner of vicious beasts teaching him to kill, occasionally on live captives) praise his quickness with a knife, or if he says something that amuses her over dinner, or if she finds his smile particularly charming.

Jadis treats him much like a useful, working pet - her sheepdog, or perhaps her hunting falcon. When she is present with him at her side he does not have such a thing as personal space; she arranges him for her comfort as readily as she arranges her own limbs, and sometimes hand-feeds him the jellybeans.

[pythbox]

He eats up the jellybeans and drinks in the lessons and kills on command and laughs at strange moments and purrs like a kitten when she touches him.

And he develops a habit of wandering into the treasure room and touching the magical barrier.

[charning]

That is quite all right. He will never get through it; his recreation is his business. The other minions will tease him about it - and will also tease him if he solicits nightmares from the specter or anything of that nature - but they are conscious of his favored status and mostly note it quietly for later rather than making a scene about it.

He has been in her service for a year, and managed to kill a number of creatures for her who have been informed on by the Secret Police but proved too inconvenient to haul to the castle for stoning, when she says:

"Winter, I should like to retain you for a good bit longer, and Sons of Adam are so ephemeral, so I should like it if you would go to a place which I will describe for you, and go into it, and take an apple and eat it, and then I can keep you as long as I please."

And she calls for a map, and indicates the path to a certain garden.

[pythbox]

"Okay," he says cheerfully. "Wow, that's a long way off. When do I start?"

[charning]

"Today," she says. "And it is quite a long way, so bring whatever companion you like, except for the core of my Guard, who I will need here, and ensure that you pack well for it. I would give you a few jelly beans to content you on your way, but you would only eat them all at once, so instead I will give you a large number when you come back, and that will have to do."

[pythbox]

Winter laughs. "It's a deal, your majesty."

[charning]

"There may be some writing around the garden," she adds, almost as an afterthought. "Don't trouble yourself about it. I have eaten one of the apples myself."

[pythbox]

"Okay," he says, grinning up at her. (The difference in height between them has shrunk in the past year; he comes all the way up to her shoulder now, a little more when his hair is running particularly wild.)

[charning]

She smooths said hair and plants a chilly kiss on his forehead. "Go, prepare for your journey, and you will be back all the sooner, and be my eternal Winter."

[pythbox]

"Bye, your majesty," he says, and he scampers off to pack.

He doesn't bring a companion; he does bring food that will last, and flasks for water, and a sword and a knife and a good coat. And the map. From all of the hunting he has done for his Queen, he knows little tricks like how to take shelter in the snow and which trees to trust with his business; he won't have any trouble crossing the country of Narnia.

After that, it may get interesting.

[alicornucopia]

It does not get very interesting. Winter may be a human, but he has been in Narnia long enough to pick up the speech and habits and dress of Narnians, and could be mistaken for a young midgety giant or a certain type of incubus. No creatures he meets outside of Narnia's borders know who or what the White Witch keeps at her right hand; they see the blades he carries and the way he walks and presume that his business, if he doesn't trouble them with it, is his own.

There are a great many mountains in his way, with hazardous slopes and even bitterer cold at the high altitudes.

But once they have been crossed, there is a garden.

[pythbox]

He pushes back his hood and looks at the garden with a feeling of immense satisfaction.

[alicornucopia]

There are some words, just as the Queen said.

Come in by the gold gates or not at all
take of my fruit for others or forbear
for those who steal or those who climb my wall
shall find their heart's desire and find despair

[pythbox]

Shrugging, he tries the gate.

[alicornucopia]

It opens.