queen of narnia

[charning]

Jadis is enraged. Aslan, back! Confirmed by the deputy of her own Maugrim, who died on the sword of the very child she thought she'd caught! Maugrim, dead. She paces. She comes too close to Winter for her liking on one of her passes through her throne room and rather than turn an instant before she means to she backhands him out of her way into the nearest wall. She paces and fumes and roars.

Finally she spins on her toe to face Winter, who may still be on the floor in his careless way but has surely recovered from the blow by now. "You," she says, "must go to the lion, and tell him that I desire safe conduct to treat with him on a matter of as much importance to him as to me. Go peacefully, I do not mind if you alarm the pitiful creatures who side with him but do not harm them while I seek parley. Do you understand, my Winter?" She bends to crook her first two fingers under his chin to turn his head up for frigid eye contact, inspecting him, thinking furious thoughts to which he's only an accessory. "I think the lion may be unnerved to see you. We will see."

Comments

[neverbeatme]

"I don't know. I brought my sword, anyway, we're not completely defenseless. And they didn't seem like they were going to come back. Let's try it."

[deepest_magic]

Bella nods and creeps up to the Stone Table and pulls the folding knife she brought from Earth out of the pocket that doesn't contain cordial - then stops, and carefully checks Aslan's pulse, in case the cordial might do it after all - then shakes her head and gets to work on the ropes.

[neverbeatme]

James's only sharp implement is... her sword. Rather than try to use it, she surveys the cords for the loosest available knot and starts picking at it with her fingernails.

[deepest_magic]

"There's - look. There are mice on him. Already there's - oh."

The mice are nibbling on the ropes.

"In-between animals," murmurs Bella.

[neverbeatme]

"Yeah," says James. She steps back, carefully, to give the mice room to work; they're much faster than she is.

[deepest_magic]

They're not faster than Bella with her little pocketknife, though, so Bella keeps working, pausing to stroke one mouse with a forefinger. It squeaks.

Eventually Bella and mice together have him completely unbound.

[neverbeatme]

It's almost morning by now; the sky is lightening by the moment. James glances eastward.

[deepest_magic]

"It's been all night. And we haven't slept. That's probably not going to help, is it," sighs Bella. "I'm freezing. We can't carry him anywhere, maybe not even drag him, but maybe we should just walk back to the camp."

[neverbeatme]

"Yeah," she says. "Whatever he was planning, I don't think we can make much difference to it from here."

[deepest_magic]

Bella lays her hand against Aslan's face, and turns away.

Off they go.

[alicornucopia]

From behind them, there is a deafening CRACK!, lightning on shattering crockery on a gunshot.

[deepest_magic]

Bella jumps about a foot in the air, knuckles whitening, and turns round to see.

[neverbeatme]

James is quicker to turn, and her hand goes for her sword—but then she sees the Stone Table, broken in half.

"He did something," she says, and she runs toward the broken Table.

[deepest_magic]

Bella's right behind her, scepter ticking along with each step and keeping her upright.

[alicornucopia]

There is no Lion on the Table. There is no longer a Table. It has cracked in half, split down the middle, broken and jagged.

[neverbeatme]

She stops and leans on it to catch her breath. She can't really tell, just from looking at the broken stone and the absence of a lion, if something important and magic happened - but she has a strong feeling that it did.

[deepest_magic]

"Some kind of magic, and I hope it was his," says Bella, squinting at the deserted ex-table.

[alicornucopia]

"Yes!" exclaims a great voice from behind them. "It is magic." There, gleaming in the rising sun, tossing his restored mane, is Aslan.

[neverbeatme]

"I knew it!" says James, and she runs up to hug him, flinging her arms around his neck and burying her face in his glorious golden mane so that her next words come out somewhat muffled. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

[deepest_magic]

Bella is only a half-step behind her. "How does it work?" she exclaims into his fur. "What happened?"

[alicornucopia]

"Although the Witch knew the Deep Magic," says Aslan, chuckling faintly, "there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge only goes back to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed not even the most dubious treachery was killed in her prey's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself start working backward. And now - children," he says, with a smile of sorts growing on his face, "I feel my strength returning - catch me if you can!" He tosses his head to shake them off and makes a great leap over their heads to the other side of the table.

[deepest_magic]

Well, Bella can run, now, though probably not to outrun Aslan, so she will try. After him she goes.

[neverbeatme]

James, giggling, chases him too.

[alicornucopia]

Aslan is very much faster than they are, but he occasionally almost lets them catch him, and now and then he chases back and tosses one or the other of them in the air, only to catch her and put her back on the grass and be off again.

When the sun is quite up Aslan stops abruptly to pounce on them and roll them over in a heap, and they feel just as one ought to in the bright morning, not the least bit hungry or thirsty or sleeplessly tired.

"And now," says Aslan, "I feel I am going to roar. You ought to put your fingers in your ears."

[deepest_magic]

Bella giggles and does exactly that.